Aims: The primary aim of our randomised control trial (RCT) was to evaluate the relative efficacy of two dental office based interventions compared to usual care. One intervention consisted of a combination of dental practitioner advice to quit and proactive telephone counselling (3A's), and the other arm consisted of a dental practitioner delivered intervention based on the 5A's of the Clinical Practice Guideline (5A's). Method: 2177 tobacco using patients were enrolled from 68 dental practices in Mississippi. We collected 3-month outcome data from 76% (n = 1652) of participants. Results: Smokers in the two intervention conditions quit at a higher rate than those in usual care; χ2 (1, n = 1381)  = 3.10, p<0.05. Although not significant, more patients in the 5A's condition quit than those in the 3A's. Of patients in the 3A's Condition, 50% reported being asked by their dentist or hygienists about fax referral to the quitline, and 35% were referred. Quitline counsellors contacted 143 (70%) referred participants. Conclusion: These results suggest that there are both advantages and disadvantages to the use of quitlines as an adjunct to brief counselling provided by dental practitioners. Patients receiving quitline counselling quit at higher rates than those who did not; however, only a small percentage of patients received counselling from the quitline. Therefore, it appears that dental professionals may be most effective in helping their patients to quit by regularly providing the 5A's plus proactively referring only those patients who are highly motivated to a quitline for more intensive counselling.


Numerous studies have examined the effects of gender diversity in groups on creative performance, and no clear effect has been identified. Findings depend on situational cues making gender diversity more or less salient in groups. A large-scale study on two cohorts (N = 2,261) was conducted among business students to examine the impact of the gender diversity in small groups on divergent thinking in an idea-generation task performed by synchronous electronic brainstorming. Participants were automatically randomized in three- or four-member groups to generate ideas during 10 min on a gendered or neutral task. Then, five categories of groups where the proportion of men/women in groups varied from three/four men to three/four women were compared to examine creative performance on three divergent thinking measures (fluency, flexibility, and originality). A Multivariate Generalized Linear Mixed Model (mGLMM) showed greater fluency in all-women groups than in other groups (except mixed-gender groups composed of two men and two women), and more specifically "solo" groups composed of a single woman/man among a majority of men/women. For flexibility and originality, the superiority of all-women groups was found only in comparison to "solo" groups composed of a single woman. As gender differences are more salient in "solo" groups than in other groups faultlines may appear in groups, leading to a deleterious impact on creative performance.


The basement membrane communicates with the adjacent cells through cell surface proteins and can alter gene expression and transcript splicing. Pelisch et al. now provide evidence for the involvement of the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) pathway and the phosphatidyinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway in the alternative splicing of fibronectin transcripts in a mammary epithelial cell line (EpH4) in response to laminin-rich basement membrane (lr-BM). Twelve isoforms of fibronectin are generated by alternative splicing of three discrete regions: EDII (extra domain II), EDI (extra domain I), and IIICS (type III connecting segment). EpH4 cells plated on lr-BM showed decreased inclusion of the EDI exon, no change in the inclusion of the EDII exon, and decreased inclusion of the IIICS exon that contains the integrin-binding motif LDV. Cells plated with lr-BM showed activation of JNK and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) but not of p38 or PI3K. Inhibition of JNK pharmacologically with silencing RNA (siRNA) or by expression of a dominant-negative blocked the effect of lr-BM on fibronectin splicing. Although PI3K inhibition or p38 inhibition did decrease the ratio of EDI+:EDI− and LDV+:LDV− transcripts in untreated cells, exposure to lr-BM further decreased these ratios, indicating that these two kinases are not involved in the lr-BM regulation of fibronectin splicing. Exposure of cells to lr-BM produced a sustained activation of JNK, but a transient activation of ERK was followed by dephosphorylation below basal levels. Pharmacological inhibition of ERK in untreated cells suggested that ERK (like p38 and PI3K) is involved in the basal inclusion of EDI- and LDV-containing IIICS exons. Overexpression of active JNK was not sufficient to alter splicing in the absence of lr-BM, which suggests that the interplay between JNK and ERK signaling may be important for the changes in splicing of fibronectin. F. Pelisch, M. Blaustein, A. R. Kornblihtt, A. Srebrow, Cross-talk between signaling pathways regulates alternative splicing: A novel role for JNK. J. Biol. Chem. 280, 25461-25469 (2005). [Abstract] [Full Text]


A well-known difficulty with solving Constraint Satisfaction Problems (CSPs) is that, while one formulation of a CSP may enable a solver to solve it quickly, a different formulation may take prohibitively long to solve. We demonstrate a system for automatically reformulating CSP solver models by combining the capabilities of machine learning and automated theorem proving with CSP systems. Our system is given a basic CSP formulation and outputs a set of reformulations, each of which includes additional constraints. The additional constraints are generated through a machine learning process and are proven to follow from the basic formulation by a theorem prover. Experimenting with benchmark problem classes from finite algebras, we show how the time invested in reformulation is often recovered many times over when searching for solutions to more difficult problems from the problem class.


Background: Recent WHO guidelines recommended a universal "test and treat" strategy for malaria mainly by use of the rapid diagnostic test (RDT) in all areas. There are concerns about RDT that use the antigen histidine-rich protein2 (HRP2) to detect Plasmodium falciparum, because infection can persist after effective treatment. Aim: The aim of this paper is to describe the accuracy of the first response (HRP2)-RDT compared with malaria microscopy used for guiding the field treatment of patients in an outbreak situation in the Al-Rahabah area in Al-Rydah district in Hadramout/Yemen. Materials and Methods: An ad hoc cross sectional survey of all febrile patients in the affected area was conducted in May 2011. The field team was developed including the case management group and the entomology group. The group of case management prepared their plan based on "test and treat" strategy by using First Response Malaria Antigen HRP2 rapid diagnostic test for falciparum malaria, artemsinin-based combination therapy (ACT) according to the national policy of anti-malaria drugs in Yemen were supplied to treat those who were found to be RDT positive in the field; also blood smear films were taken from every patient with fever in order to validate the use of the RDT in the field. Blood film slides prepared and read by skilled lab technicians, the fourth reading was done by one lab expert in the malaria referral lab. Results: The accuracy parameters of HRP2 compared with microscopy are: Sensitivity (74%), specificity (94%). The positive predictive value is 68% and the negative predictive value is 96%. Total agreement is 148/162 (93%) and the overall prevalence is 14%. All the positive malaria cases were of P. falciparum either coming from RDT or microscopy. Conclusions: HRP2-rapid test is an acceptable test as a guide for field treatment in an outbreak situation where prompt response is indicated. Good prepared blood film slides should be used as it is feasible to evaluate the accuracy of RDTs as a quality control tool.


The antioxidant activities of Chlorella in vitro and in vivo were investigated. Chlorella showed a strong antioxidant effect compared to various vegetables in a 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay. To evaluate the antioxidant and anti-cataract effects in vivo, a 7.3% Chlorella powder was fed to rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes for 11 wk. At the end of the experiment, Chlorella had decreased the blood glycated hemoglobin (hemoglobin A1c) and serum cholesterol levels significantly, however, it had not affected the serum glucose concentration. The serum lipid peroxide value (TBARS value) in the rats fed Chlorella was lower than that of the control rats. In the liver and kidney, Chlorella also reduced chemiluminescent intensities. In addition, it delayed the development of lens opacities. The lens lipid peroxide content of the rats fed Chlorella was lower than that of the control rats, however the differences were not significant. These results indicate that Chlorella has antioxidant activity and may be beneficial for the prevention of diabetic complications such as cataracts.


ABSTRACT:Introduction: Despite improved knowledge of the health care needs of formerly incarcerated women, there exists a gap regarding the relationship between health, health care access, and relapse among rural women returning to the community during the opioid epidemic.Purpose: With an emphasis on health care access, this study examined healthrelated factors associated with opioid relapse among women reentering the community in rural Appalachia.Methods: As part of a larger study, 400 rural women reporting a history of substance use were recruited from three Appalachian jails in Kentucky. Analyses focused on participants reporting a history of illicit opioid use prior to incarceration, who had also completed follow-up interviews at 6- and 12-months post-release from jail.Results: Fifty-five percent of participants reported relapse to opioids during the 12-month follow-up period. Compared to those who did not use opioids during this time, women who relapsed reported poorer mental and physical health, as well as encountered more barriers to needed health services. They were also more likely to report a usual source of care. Multivariate regression analyses reveal that, even when controlling for other known correlates of opioid use and relapse to any non-opioid drug during the follow-up period, the number of barriers to health service utilization was a significant predictor of opioid relapse.Implications: Stakeholders should address the complex reentry needs of women who use opioids in rural Appalachia. This includes examining innovative approaches to reduce extensive barriers to quality health care utilization, such as implementing telehealth for opioid use treatment.


Two areas of shale diapirism in a deltaic setting were examined using 3D seismic data from offshore Brunei to determine the origin, evolution and geometry of shale diapirs. The study areas cover parts of the Egret and Ampa fields within the Baram Delta province. The Ampa diapir consists of a small bulge of the mobile Setap shale around which lies a zone of chaotically disrupted country-rock reflections. At the crest of this chaotic zone, vertical, cylindrical shale pipes arise that end in a wider head. The diapir heads wear halos of high amplitude reflections, probably due to the presence of methane gas. The Egret data show the same features, except that the bulge of the source layer is not detected due to low reflectivity and chaotic reflections at the base of the overburden. The bulging of the Setap shale on the Ampa data is interpreted as modified reactive diapirism in response to differential loading. The initial reactive diapir shape was modified by lateral or oblique upward migration of fluidized shales into the hanging wall of the fault controlling the reactive diapir. This probably occurred as a network of dykes and sills. The presence of some preserved bedding is indicated by weak but coherent reflectivity from the area initially defined as chaotic shale. The spreading of overpressure and the injection of shale into the overburden is thought to be a late phenomenon, possibly Late Pliocene or Early Pleistocene and the mobility of the shale is attributed to overpressure increase due to gas generation within the Setap shale and maybe the lower part of the overburden. Gas migration, perhaps ahead of the diapir intrusion, probably facilitated the mud injection. The Ampa and Egret diapirs formed in two diapiric phases, an early reactive diapirism and a later active diapirism. But the phases have little in common; they are seperated by about 9 million years of inactivity and differ in process and probably differ in degree of overpressure, in overpressure generating mechanism, and in properties of the diapiric mud.


Intestinal mucositis is a commonly encountered complication of chemotherapy. However, there are few effective treatments or preventive methods. Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) stabilizes cell membranes, acts as an antioxidant and inhibits apoptosis, thereby exerting cytoprotective effects. The aim of the present study was to examine the ability of UDCA to protecting against chemotherapy-associated mucositis. Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to five groups: Control, vehicle + 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), 5-FU + UDCA (10 mg/kg/day), 5-FU + UDCA (100 mg/kg/day) and 5-FU + UDCA (500 mg/kg/day). Following randomization, a single dose of 5-FU was injected and varying amounts of UDCA was administered to each group. UDCA was administered orally to rats for 6 days, beginning 1 day prior to 5-FU administration. The rats were sacrificed 1 day following the last UDCA administration and intestinal tissue specimens were prepared for analysis. UDCA administration attenuated body weight loss, decreased inflammatory cytokine levels and curbed intestinal villus damage in the 10 and 100 mg/kg/day groups. When compared with the jejunal villi lengths in the vehicle+5-FU group (212.8±58.0 µm), those in the 5-FU + UDCA (10 mg/kg/day) and 5-FU + UDCA (100 mg/kg/day) groups were significantly greater [331.3±18.0 µm (P=0.001) and 310.0±112.6 µm (P=0.046), respectively]. Tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6 levels were reduced in the 10 and 100 mg/kg/day UDCA groups (P<0.05). UDCA considerably attenuated the elevation in inflammatory cytokines and intestinal villus damage. The results of the study suggest that UDCA may be used as a protective agent against chemotherapy-associated intestinal mucositis.


Environmentally friendly products and procedures are being developed both in industry and academia, mainly due to the depletion of fossil resources and the growing global awareness of the need to protect the environment. Thus, since polyurethanes represent a highly demanded class of polymers, straightforward, isocyanate and phosgene-free methods are required for the synthesis of their precursors (monomers) in order to achieve a sustainable production. To foster the discussion with the final goal to meet such a sustainable production, this review provides an overview of classic as well as modern and more sustainable routes towards polyurethanes and their precursors.


The aim of this PhD thesis was to functionally characterise the hyperthermophilic topoisomerase IA reverse gyrase from the eubacterium Thermotoga maritima with respect to its unique ATP-dependent positive plasmid supercoiling activity. We set out to apply single molecule FRET to observe conformational changes in the N-terminal helicase-like domain and the C-terminal topoisomerase domain of reverse gyrase during topoisomerase activity. Initially, the protocol for the purification of T. maritima reverse gyrase was improved to yield mg amounts of monomeric enzyme with 95% purity. Requirements for positive plasmid supercoiling by reverse gyrase from T. maritima were defined and optimal reaction conditions were established for the rest of the work. However, no universal nucleotide utilisation pattern for topoisomerase activity of reverse gyrases in general exists and various heterogeneous nucleotides-dependent topoisomerase activities have been reported for reverse gyrases from different organisms. Reverse gyrase from T maritima exhibits no topoisomerase activity in the absence of nucleotides but relaxes plasmids in an ADP- and ADPNP-dependent manner. Reverse gyrase positively supercoils plasmid DNA in the presence of ATP. Surprisingly, hydrolysis of ATPγS efficiently promotes positive supercoiling to a similar extend as ATP hydrolysis. Mutation of the GKT sequence in the Walker A motif of the helicase-like domain renders reverse gyrase inactive for nucleotide hydrolysis and reveals vastly reduced topoisomerase activity. Most interestingly, we observed AMP generation in the presence of short double-stranded DNA substrates and plasmid DNA. During plasmid relaxation, ADP and ADPNP are converted into AMP. The same is true for ATP and ATPγS during positive supercoiling. Possibly, ATP is hydrolysed to AMP by reverse gyrase via intermediately generated ADP and energy may be obtained from ADP cleavage. Further investigating the function of the reverse gyrase domains, we demonstrated that the helicase-like domain is a DNA-stimulated ATPase that harbours all determinants for adenine nucleotide binding and hydrolysis of reverse gyrase. The full-length enzyme shows highly reduced ATPase compared to the isolated helicase-like domain even in the presence of DNA. Consequently, the coupling of DNA binding to ATP hydrolysis is diminished in full-length reverse gyrase and the effect of DNA binding on KM,ATP is much smaller than for the isolated helicase-like domain. Thus, the helicase-like domain of reverse gyrase is a nucleotide-dependent switch. Notably, full-length reverse gyrase from T. maritima binds DNA much more tightly compared to the helicase-like domain and single-stranded DNA binds in a cooperative manner. Artificial 20-, 40- and 60-mer DNA constructs were used to elucidate cooperative binding of reverse gyrase. We show that the binding affinity increases with substrate length. In contrast, the DNA-dependent ATPase activity of T. maritima reverse gyrase decreases with substrate length. Cooperative binding was demonstrated for single-stranded DNA substrates longer than 40 nt and points to possible protein-protein interactions of reverse gyrase that may play a role in the positive supercoiling cycle. In order to observe conformational changes in reverse gyrase with smFRET during the supercoiling cycle, fluorescent labelling is required. However, labelling of reverse gyrase cysteine mutants for smFRET measurements is quite challenging. Reverse gyrase from T. maritima contains eight native cysteines in two putative zinc fingers that have to be intact for positive supercoiling activity. Hence, we improved the conditions accordingly for selective labelling of reverse gyrase cysteine mutants. smFRET measurements indicated that the helicase-like domain might be in a more closed conformation compared to the available crystal structure from A. fulgidus reverse gyrase. Furthermore, the gap between the latch region and the topoisomerase domain is suggested to open during the supercoiling cycle, but the calculated FRET distances correspond to the closed conformation observed in the crystal structure. Conformational changes during the catalytic cycle of reverse gyrase have been predicted for the helicase-like domain and the topoisomerase domain. No conformational changes in the helicase-like domain and the topoisomerase domain are detected with different DNA substrates and adenine nucleotides. Thus, the labelled reverse gyrase mutants may either be inactive under the conditions chosen for smFRET measurements or might have been inactivated by fluorescent labelling. Other positions will be chosen to investigate regions prone to undergo conformational changes during the catalytic cycle without impairing the topoisomerase activity of T. maritima reverse gyrase.


Background/Context Ever since the Enlightenment, there has been a strong tendency in educational theory and practice to think of education as the "production" of a subject with particular qualities, most notably the quality of rationality. This way of thinking has deeply influenced the theory and practice of democratic education and has led to an approach that is both instrumentalistic (it sees education as the instrument for the production of the democratic person) and individualistic (it conceives of the democratic person as an isolated individual with a pre-defined set of knowledge, skills and dispositions). Focus of Study In this article, I argue that the way in which we understand democratic education has everything to do with our conception of the democratic person. Through a discussion of the work of Immanuel Kant, John Dewey, and Hannah Arendt I present three different answers to the question as to what it means to be a democratic person. I refer to these as an individualistic, a social, and a political conception of democratic subjectivity, respectively. I argue that each provides a different rationale for democratic education. While the individualistic and the social conception are closely connected to ideas about democratic education as the production of the democratic individual (either by educational strategies directed at this individual, or by creating opportunities for individuals to participate in democratic life), I suggest, using ideas from Hannah Arendt, that there is a different way to articulate what it means to be a democratic subject. This way of understanding what it means to be a democratic subject, to which I refer to as a political understanding of the democratic person, no longer focuses on the production of democratic individuals and no longer thinks of itself as having to prepare individuals for future democratic action. Instead, it focuses on opportunities for democratic action and democratic "learning-in-action." Conclusions/Recommendations What schools can do—or at least should try to do—is to make democratic action possible. This involves creating conditions for children and students to be subjects and to experience what it is and means to be a subject. The learning related to this is not something that comes before democratic subjectivity. It rather follows from having been or not having been a subject. It is learning about the fragile conditions under which action and subjectivity are possible. Because subjectivity is no longer something that only occurs or is created in schools, the approach to democratic education that follows from my considerations puts the question about the responsibility for democratic education back where it actually belongs, namely, in society at large. I argue that it is an illusion to think that schools alone can produce democratic citizens. In so far as action and subjectivity are possible in schools and society, schools can perform the more modest and more realistic task of helping children and students to learn about and reflect upon the fragile conditions under which all people can act, under which all people can be a subject. A society in which individuals are not able or not allowed to act, cannot expect from its schools to produce its democratic citizens for it. I therefore conclude that schools can neither create nor save democracy— they can only support societies in which action and subjectivity are real possibilities.


Riis [ Electron. J. Combin. , 14(1):R44, 2007] introduced a guessing game for graphs which is equivalent to finding protocols for network coding. In this paper we prove upper and lower bounds for the winning probability of the guessing game on undirected graphs. We find optimal bounds for perfect graphs and minimally imperfect graphs, and present a conjecture relating the exact value for all graphs to the fractional chromatic number.


ABSTRACT One-hundred and ninety-two fossil marine vertebrate specimens, preserved as bone elements cropping out at Cerro Los Quesos (Pisco Basin, Peru), are identified and reported on a 1:4,000 scale geological map and in the corresponding stratigraphic section. All the fossils originate from the Pisco Formation, which is dated in this area to the late Miocene (from 7.55 Ma to ≥6.71 Ma, based on 40Ar/39Ar analyses of three volcanic ash layers along the section). Specimens are particularly concentrated near the top of the two main hills, where the geologically youngest portion of the examined section crops out. The impressive fossil assemblage includes cetaceans (91.6%), represented by mysticetes (balaenopteroids and cetotheriids) and odontocetes (phocoenids, physeteroids, and ziphiids, including the holotype of Nazcacetus urbinai). Seals, a crocodile, a seabird, bony fish, and sharks are also reported. Isolated large teeth of Carcharocles and Cosmopolitodus are common and, in several instances, associated to mysticete skeletons. Together with a similar work recently published for the other late Miocene locality of Cerro Colorado, this work represents a case study for the detailed inventory of the extraordinary paleontological heritage of the Pisco Basin. As such, it constitutes the basis for future taphonomic, paleoecological, and systematic studies, as well as for a much-needed conservation effort.


Dialysis disequilibrium syndrome (DDS) is a known complication of dialysis with a wide spectrum of clinical presentations including self-limiting nausea, to the extreme version of it resulting in coma and death. The differing clinical presentations are the result of the varying severity of increased intracranial pressure. Preventative measures have made its occurrence much less frequent, but its diagnosis should be considered when neurological symptoms are temporally related to dialysis even when preventative measures have been implemented. We report the case of a patient with acute kidney injury (AKI) in the setting of chronic kidney disease (CKD) who developed DDS following initial dialysis despite precautionary measures. J Med Cases. 2014;5(8):437-440 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.14740/jmc1847w


In this paper we study the self stabilization of structured overlay maintenance in decentralized peerto-peer (P2P) systems. Our study addresses a number of limitations of existing overlay maintenance protocols, such as the reliance on a continuously available bootstrap system, the assumption of a known system stabilization time, and the need to maintain large local membership lists. In particular, we present a precise specification for self-stabilizing overlay maintenance protocols, with additional requirement on messaging and local state costs. All properties of the specification are desired by applications, while together they prohibit protocols with the limitations existed in previous proposals. We then provide a complete protocol with proof showing that it satisfies the specification. Finally, we show how to improve our self-stabilizing protocol to significantly reduce topology convergence time.


ABSTRACT Despite the increasing acknowledgment of scholars and practitioners that many large-scale agricultural land acquisitions in developing countries fail or never materialize, empirical evidence about how and why they fail to date is still scarce. Too often, land deals are portrayed as straightforward investments and their success is taken for granted. Looking at the coffee sector in Laos, the authors of this article explore dimensions of the land grab debate that have not yet been sufficiently examined. Coffee concessionaires in southern Laos often fail to use all of the land granted them and fail to produce high yields on the land they do use. Thus, the authors challenge the often-assumed superiority and effectiveness of large-scale versus small-scale production, specifically the argument that they modernize agricultural production and optimize land use. They argue that examining failed investments is as important as studying successful ones for understanding the implications of the land grabbing phenomenon for social, economic, and environmental outcomes. Knowledge about the scale of "failed land deals" provides important motivation for national governments to close the gap between intentions and actual outcomes. This article engages with the current debate on quality of investment and challenges the approach of employing land concessions as a vehicle for economic development in the Lao coffee sector and in other sectors and countries.


Bolton based Michael Dewhurst recently gained a Certificate in Advising on Service and Education Development from the University of Central Lancashire as part of the North West Demonstration Project in Mental Health. Commissioned by five education and training consortia in the region, the
project aims to test the delivery of competency-based education and training given to mental health professionals.
Working with a group of carers and users of the mental health services, Michael was required to complete an individual project demonstrating that be was competent in making enquiries about a service and delivering feedback to its managers and staff. Michael first heard about the course through the Bolton Patients Council for Mental health and initially got involved because be was interested in doing research on alcoholism but found few people willing to assist him and so changed to survey mental health users admitted to the accident and emergency department. Undertaking his research at Royal Bolton Hospital, Michael's main research involved attending mental health drop-ins and day centres and asking people to complete a questionnaire in confidence. From the replies he discovered that patients are often shouted at on assessment and aren't listened to, that staff failed to take patients mental health problems into account on admission to the emergency department and that there are often assumptions that patients with mental health problems are wasting the staffs time. Michael concluded his findings by recommending that staff should be trained to give valued treatment to patients, the need for mental health patients to be valued, to involve service users in developing the admissions process and to respect the individual regardless of the presenting problem or behaviour. Since presenting his findings Royal Bolton Hospital have implemented various changes to their accident and emergency assessment procedures which include staff receiving Mental Health Awareness training along with more funding being sought for specialist psychiatric nurses. Sector Manager of the Mental Health Directorate of tlle Bolton Hospitals NHS Trust, Simon Pierce, said, "The Trust is already involved in a number of service users advisory projects, Across the trust there is a patient council, which feed back to staff, who feel that better results are being achieved using this feedback. There is even a two-day staff induction programme designed by patients, which tries to inform staff in the directorate what the mental health services are like from a users point of view." Michael enjoyed the course and said, "By doing the project, I have found that I am not as ignorant as I was to those who have mental illness problems and look on it in a different light."
30th October 2001
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Relationships to estimate confidence intervals for linear regressions were presented to determine the uncertainty of estimates obtained from first-order models, when the concentration in grab samples of the parameter studied has a lognormal distribution. This uncertainty is a function of the number of samples on which the model was calibrated, the locations where these samples were taken, and the variance of the grab sample. Also shown is an estimate of the probability that the true value of the predicted parameter lies above a given critical value, even though its estimate is below that value. The probability can be used as a criterion to determine if the model's results are adequate for the modeler's purposes, or to estimate how many additional samples are required to reduce this probability to levels that are acceptable, or both. As a consequence, sampling, modeling, and decision making based on the model's output is presented as one cycle within an iterative process.


In this paper we extend the notion of list-decoding to the setting of interactive communication and study its limits. In particular, we show that any protocol can be encoded, with a constant rate, into a list-decodable protocol which is resilient to a noise rate of up to 1/2-ε and that this is tight. Using our list-decodable construction, we study a more nuanced model of noise where the adversary can corrupt up to a fraction α Alice's communication and up to a fraction β of Bob's communication. We use list-decoding in order to fully characterize the region Ru of pairs (α, β) for which unique decoding with a constant rate is possible. The region Ru turns out to be quite unusual in its shape. In particular, it is bounded by a piecewise-differentiable curve with infinitely many pieces. We show that outside this region, the rate must be exponential. This suggests that in some error regimes, list-decoding is necessary for optimal unique decoding. We also consider the setting where only one party of the communication must output the correct answer. We precisely characterize the region of all pairs (α, β) for which one-sided unique decoding is possible in a way that Alice will output the correct answer.


ISPs' indirect copyright liability permits regulation where traditional legislation fails to meet requirements of copyright protection in a new digital environment, and makes a third party possibly to prevent or decrease the risk of copyright infringement at low cost. However, though it has been hailed as a forceful tool for governing ISPs' liability for fierce copyright infringement committed by their users over the Internet in most of the jurisdictions, the strength of this liability regime is still being challenged. Some argued that imposing indirect liability on the ISPs may lead to ISPs' over-zealous censorship and thereby decrease or limit free access to copyright materials. Meanwhile, the ISPs also argued that it is unfair for them to bear the full social costs generated by their users' unlawful activities, merely because they are providing facilities and services. So far, dozens of studies have been produced to criticise those arguments and justify ISPs' indirect copyright liability from legal point of view; however, less attention has been paid to the economic implication of ISPs' indirect copyright liability and the significance it achieves at the confluence of law and economics. Utilizing an evaluation criterion: economic efficiency-Hicks-Kaldor criterion and a simple economic model: cost-benefit analysis, both are drawn from the theory of economics, this paper examines economic strength of indirect liability regime in the context of ISPs' liability for online copyright infringement. It employs a string of relevant cases against those who allegedly facilitate copyright infringements to compare the costs and benefits of ISPs' indirect copyright liability and also three applications of it including vicarious liability, contributory liability and inducement liability. The paper finally concludes that only ISPs' indirect copyright liability regime shaped by the technology through the development of the Internet is the most efficient liability regime to tackle extensive online copyright infringements and bring long term social welfare to the society. This paper was presented at the 23rd BILETA Annual Conference 2008 on March, 2008, and it has been published in the conference proceeding of the 23rd BILETA Annual Conference 2008.


Mobile devices have become ubiquitous, admitting a range of new contexts for information access. Indeed, these devices are now becoming a significant means of conducting information seeking even where desktops and other large screen devices are available. This has required the development of new design patterns that cater for the advantages and disadvantages presented by these devices' sensors and smaller screens. In turn, understanding how these new features effect information seeking has required development of new evaluation frameworks. This paper presents one such framework, as well as describing our experience when developing and evaluating mobile search user interfaces. Keywords : Search User Interface Evaluation, Reporting Tools, Mobile User Search Interface Evaluation.


The best way to learn about Romantic poetry is to plunge in and read a few Romantic poems. This book guides the new reader through this experience, focusing on canonical authors – Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Keats, Blake, and Shelley – and including less familiar figures as well. Each chapter explains the history and development of a genre or sets out an important context for the poetry, with a wealth of practical examples. Michael Ferber emphasizes connections between poets as they responded to each other and to the great literary, social, and historical changes around them. A unique appendix resolves most difficulties new readers of works from this period might face: unfamiliar words, unusual word order, the subjunctive mood, and meter. This enjoyable and stimulating book is an ideal introduction to some of the most powerful and pleasing poems in the English language, written in one of the greatest periods in English poetry.


This dissertation presents the work carried out and results from a project looking to develop and improve the performance of two-axis motorised camera systems. These systems are used in the defence industry for force protection and border control in the land, maritime and airborne markets. Firstly, the various technical challenges that must be overcome to provide a good performance of such a system operating in harsh environmental conditions are discussed. The aims and objectives of the research project are then presented; followed by a mini-project which was carried out as an introduction to research methods. This mini-project looked at measuring the stresses in a supporting beam for a radar system which provided familiarisation with the hardware
and software that was to be used for the remainder of the project. A complete simulation model of the camera system being modelled is then presented including discussion of harmonic drive gear models, sensors and friction. The results from work carried out to fit the model to the physical system are also included and the model was shown to be a good representation of the physical system. An evaluation of various controllers was carried out on an experimental test rig to compare them against a number of key performance metrics
such as the end of roll glitch effect in stabilised systems. From this evaluation it was decided that, due to the high friction in the drive units, a friction compensation algorithm should be used. This algorithm is discussed and the results from its implementation were shown to reduce the end of roll glitch by approximately 50%, showing a significant improvement over the traditional control scheme. These results were confirmed on the physical system. Finally, conclusions from the research are drawn and recommendations for areas of further work are discussed.


Do children use the same resources to learn verb meaning across languages? One approach to language acquisition in which universality has been extensively debated is the syntactic bootstrapping hypothesis, which proposes that children use the argument structure of a verb as a cue to its meaning (Landau & Gleitman 1985, Gleitman 1990, Naigles et al. 1993). In recent years, the extent to which verbal morphology and morphosyntax can be informative of verb semantics has been the subject of cross-linguistic research, with one of the primary questions being whether possibly (syntactic) universal cues have an advantage over language-specific (morphological) ones (e.g. Lidz et al. 2003, Göksun et al. 2008, Matsuo et al. 2012, Trueswell et al. 2012 and Leischner et al. 2016). Using corpora and experimental acquisition data from Icelandic, a language with almost no argument-drop and rich case morphology, we provide qualified support for a morphosyntactic bootstrapping account that does not exclusively rely on universal cues, since a learning model detects the available systematic mappings of form and meaning (Yang 2016). In specific contexts, we argue that morphology can be as salient as the number of arguments. Additionally, we argue that experimental comprehension results show the necessary basis for the welldocumented productivity of the Icelandic non-default dative (Maling 2002, Svenonius 2002, Jónsson and Eythórsson 2005, Ingason 2010 and Barðdal 2011 i.a.). Specifically, we show that non-default subject case marking rules can be accounted for with Yang's (2016) Tolerance Principle (TP). Lidz et al. (2003), based on ideas of universal syntax-semantics mapping, argued that children initially rely on argument number and ignore morphological form to bootstrap verb meaning, even when the morphology provides stronger cues. This has been challenged from various perspectives, one of them being typological evidence against the universality of argument structure cues (Brown & Bowerman 2008). Still, even work on argument-drop languages such as Japanese and Turkish reveals that children use syntactic frames as cues – in addition to e.g. case


CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE
The latest update of the Bethesda System divided the category of atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS) into ASC-US (undetermined significance) and ASC-H (high-grade intraepithelial lesion cannot be ruled out). The aims here were to measure the prevalence of pre-invasive lesions (cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, CIN II/III) and cervical cancer among patients referred to Instituto Fernandes Figueira (IFF) with ASC-H cytology, and compare them with ASC-US cases.

DESIGN AND SETTING
Cross-sectional study with retrospective data collection, at the IFF Cervical Pathology outpatient clinic.

METHODS
ASCUS cases referred to IFF from November 1997 to September 2007 were reviewed according to the 2001 Bethesda System to reach cytological consensus. The resulting ASC-H and ASC-US cases, along with new cases, were analyzed relative to the outcome of interest. The histological diagnosis (or cytocolposcopic follow-up in cases without such diagnosis) was taken as the gold standard.

RESULTS
The prevalence of CIN II/III in cases with ASC-H cytology was 19.29% (95% confidence interval, CI, 9.05-29.55%) and the risk of these lesions was greater among patients with ASC-H than with ASC-US cytology (prevalence ratio, PR, 10.42; 95% CI, 2.39-45.47; P = 0.0000764). Pre-invasive lesions were more frequently found in patients under 50 years of age with ASC-H cytology (PR, 2.67; 95% CI, 0.38-18.83); P = 0.2786998). There were no uterine cervical cancer cases.

CONCLUSION
The prevalence of CIN II/III in patients with ASC-H cytology was significantly higher than with ASC-US, and division into ASC diagnostic subcategories had good capacity for discriminating the presence of pre-invasive lesions.


Abstract. Due to their large source strengths, biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) are important for atmospheric chemistry. Terpenoids, mainly consisting of isoprene, monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes, are the dominant BVOC class. There are two general mechanisms for their emissions: emissions directly from de novo biosynthesis (de novo emissions) and emissions from organs wherein the terpenoids are stored (pool emissions). While isoprene emissions are pure de novo emissions, the mechanism for monoterpene and sesquiterpene emissions is not always distinct. In particular, conifers have large storage pools and both mechanisms may contribute to the emissions. To obtain more insight into the mechanisms of the terpenoid emissions from Eurasian conifers, we conducted 13CO2 and 13C-glucose labelling studies with Norway spruce (Picea abies L.) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). The results from the labelling experiments were further compared to diurnal modulations measured for the emission fluxes of the respective terpenoids, as well as to their release from reservoirs in needles and bark tissue. The comparison allowed the following comprehensive statements for the investigated conifers. Consistent to other studies, we found that constitutive monoterpene emissions mainly originate from storage pools but with compound-specific fractions of de novo emissions. In contrast, stress-induced monoterpene and sesquiterpene emissions are entirely of de novo nature. We also found at least three different carbon sources for monoterpene and sesquiterpene biosynthesis. These sources differ with respect to the timescale after which the recently assimilated carbon reappears in the emitted terpenoids. Carbon directly obtained from assimilated has a short turnover time of few hours, while carbon from other alternative carbon sources has intermediate turnover times of few days and even longer. Terpenoid biosynthesis is not restricted to the presence of light and the carbon for terpenoid biosynthesis can be delivered from the alternative carbon sources. In particular for sesquiterpenes, there can be substantial de novo emissions in darkness reaching up to around 60 % of the daytime emissions. The use of the alternative carbon sources for sesquiterpene synthesis is probably linked to the mevalonic acid (MVA) pathway. The higher the contribution of the MVA pathway to terpenoid synthesis, the higher is the nocturnal de novo emission. In general, the emission mechanisms of monoterpene and sesquiterpene are more complex than assumed so far. Besides pools for terpenoids themselves, there are also pools for terpenoids precursors. Terpenoid synthesis from alternative carbon sources leads to nighttime emissions and hence the amplitude of diurnal modulations of terpenoid emissions may be determined by an overlap of three mechanisms involved: emissions from storage pools, emissions in parallel to CO2 uptake and emissions from alternative carbon sources.


This study was focused on the engine performance of single cylinder hydrogen fueled port injection internal combustion engine. GT-Power was utilized to develop the model for port injection engine. One dimensional gas dynamics was represented the flow and heat transfer in the components of the engine model. The governing equations were introduced first, followed by the performance parameters and model description. Air-fuel ratio was varied from stoichiometric limit to a lean limit and the rotational speed varied from 2500 to 4500 rpm while the injector location was considered fixed in the midway of the intake port. The effects of air fuel ratio, crank angle and engine speed are presented in this study. From the acquired results show that the air-fuel ratio and engine speed were greatly influence on the performance of hydrogen fueled engine. It was shown that decreases the Brake Mean Effective Pressure (BMEP) and brake thermal efficiency with increases of the engine speed and air-fuel ratio however the increase the Brake Specific Fuel Consumption (BSFC) with increases the speed and air-fuel ratio. The cylinder temperature increases with increases of engine speed however temperature decreases with increases of air-fuel ratio. The pressure fluctuations increased substantially with increases of speed at intake port however rise of pressure at the end of the exhaust stroke lead to reverse flow into the cylinder past exhaust valve. The fluctuation amplitude responded to the engine speed in case of exhaust pressure were given less than the intake pressure. The volumetric efficiency increased with increases of engine speed and equivalent ratio. The volumetric efficiency of the hydrogen engines with port injection is a serious problem and reduces the overall performance of the engine. This emphasized the ability of retrofitting the traditional engines with hydrogen fuel with minor modifications.


On 7 March the Constitutional Court held a ceremonial court session in honour of the late former Chief Justice Arthur Chaskalson, who passed away in December. Speakers at the service included Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng; President of the Black Lawyers Association, Busani Mabunda; former President of the National Association of Democratic Lawyers (NADEL), Gcina Malindi; a representative of the General Council of the Bar, McCaps Motimele; the chief executive officer of the Law Society of South Africa (LSSA), Nic Swart; and Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Andries Nel.


This paper addresses the questions of what effect local regulations can have on pollutants with different lifetimes and how surface observations and remotely sensed data can be used to determine the impacts. We investigated the decadal trends of tropospheric sulfur dioxide (SO2) and aerosol pollution over Maryland and its surrounding states, using surface, aircraft, and satellite measurements. Aircraft measurements indicated fewer isolated SO2 plumes observed in summers, a ∼40% decrease of column SO2, and a ∼20% decrease of atmospheric optical depth (AOD) over Maryland after the implementation of local regulations on sulfur emissions from power plants (∼90% reduction from 2010). Surface observations of SO2 and particulate matter (PM) concentrations in Maryland show similar trends. OMI SO2 and MODIS AOD observations were used to investigate the column contents of air pollutants over the eastern U.S.; these indicate decreasing trends in column SO2 (∼60% decrease) and AOD (∼20% decrease). The decrease of upwind SO2 emissions also reduced aerosol loadings over the downwind Atlantic Ocean near the coast by ∼20%, while indiscernible changes of the SO2 column were observed. A step change of SO2 emissions in Maryland starting in 2009–2010 had an immediate and profound benefit in terms of local surface SO2 concentrations but a modest impact on aerosol pollution, indicating that short‐lived pollutants are effectively controlled locally, while long‐lived pollutants require regional measures.


Traditional production of raisins by hand harvesting and drying grapes on paper trays is labor intensive and at risk to inclement weather. Dried-on-vine (DOV) raisin production uses mechanical harvesters and the risk of rain damage is reduced. Earlier-ripening raisin cultivars have been developed and released that are suited for this new production system. Raisin breeders would also benefit by knowing if there are differences in drying rates among cultivars. If raisin cultivars were both early ripening and had rapid dry rates, then they would be well suited for DOV raisin production. In a study over three seasons from 2002 to 2004, results showed significant differences among cultivars for drying rates. Summer Muscat, Diamond Muscat, and Primus dried the fastest and Thompson Seedless consistently dried the slowest. DOVine and Selma Pete were intermediate. Water loss was affected more by berry size than by Brix. Drying rate increased more by removing the epicuticular wax by a chloroform dip than by rubbing. Summer Muscat dried faster than Thompson Seedless even when wax was removed by chloroform or rubbing. Results indicate that skin characteristics in addition to epicuticular wax might play a role in the differences in raisin cultivar drying rate. There were large differences among cultivars in the amount of cuticle as compared to epicuticular wax. These findings show that breeding advances are possible in the development of raisin grapes with high drying rates.


Thermal oxidation of copper is a simple and scalable method to produce copper oxide nanowires. We report for the first time the formation of nanowires on copper powder during thermal oxidation and the resulting nanowire coverage that is dependent on the initial particle size. Systematic thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and in situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies of thermal oxidation of particles of different sizes provide insights into the size-dependent process and evolution of the various phases of copper and copper oxide with time. Furthermore, we find that a large void is formed within these particles after oxidation and propose a mechanism based on the Kirkendall effect. The unique tunability of hierarchical features and hollow interior can be used to create new scalable structures for applications in a variety of areas including thermal management and catalysis.


The present study allowed music majors (n = 40) and nonmajors (n = 30) to record their perceptions of tension in two selections of jazz music using the Continuous Response Digital Interface (CRDI). Both musical stimuli were recorded versions of "St. Louis Blues" by W. C. Handy, The first was a popular, stylized version sung by Nat King Cole, and the second, which included an extensive improvisatory section, was performed by Ella Fitzgerald. In comparing these results to earlier studies dealing with music majors' and nonmajors' perceived tension and aesthetic response, there are certain factors that remain constant Music majors' responses did not seem to differ markedly in overall contour from nonmusic majors' responses, which is consistent with previous research. Graphs of perceived tension responses are much more highly differentiated than are graphs of perceived aesthetic response. These graphs produce a pattern that is unique to that musical selection (or in this case, a highly stylized performance). Subjects had no trouble performing the task or using an existing internal definition of musical tension. This existing internal definition is probably applied to a variety of musical styles, including jazz. This study also seemed to indicate a definite order effect in the presentation of the stimuli, which may relate to the way listeners put what they hear into a musical context.


With refreshing eloquence, James O. Freedman sets down the American ideals that have informed his life as an intellectual, a law professor, and a college and university president. He examines the content and character of liberal education, discusses the importance of letters and learning in forming his own life and values, and explores how the lessons and the habits of mind instilled by a liberal education can give direction and meaning to one's life. He offers a stirring defense of affirmative action in higher education. And he describes how, in the midst of undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, liberal education helped him in that most human of desires--the yearning to make order and sense out of his experience.Part intellectual biography and part examination of the world of higher education, "Idealism and Liberal Education "is a quintessentially American book, animated by a confidence that reason, knowledge, idealism, and the better angels of our natures will further human progress.Freedman offers, as models for shaping one's life, profiles of some of his heroes--Thurgood Marshall, Alexander M. Bickel, Vaclav Havel, Louis D. Brandeis, Felix Frankfurter, Hugo L. Black, Flannery O'Connor, Eudora Welty, George Orwell, Edmund Wilson, Martin Luther King, Jr., George F. Kennan, Ralph J. Bunche, and Harry S Truman.This volume speaks to all Americans who are drawn to the power of liberal education and democratic citizenship and who yearn for the inspiration to lead thoughtful, committed lives."This thought-provoking book should be required reading for young people entering college and for the people who advise them. Freedman explores the purpose and importance of a liberal education in shaping values, character, and imagination and convincingly argues for the need for the wisdom and perspective it provides, whatever one's chosen field."--Marian Wright Edelman, President, Children's Defense Fund"In this wide-ranging series of essays, Freedman reveals himself again as one of America's most erudite, articulate, and reflective university presidents. Students, parents, fellow presidents, and all who love learning will find something in these pages to ponder with profit."--Derek Bok, Former President, Harvard University"Idealism and Liberal Education "is an inspiring intellectual diary of James O. Freedman. . . . It is a forceful affirmation of liberal education as a social and cultural force in shaping the minds and characters of our youth as future citizens and leaders of our democracy. It is a tribute to the joy of learning."--Vartan Gregorian, President, Brown University"Beautifully written and a pleasure to read. At a time when the idea of the liberal university is under attack from all sides, Freedman has given a wondrous personal reaffirmation of its place in our lives."--David HalberstamJames O. Freedman is President of Dartmouth College."


On April 16, the Justice Department released four previously classified memos issued by its Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) that provided legal guidance on the permissibility of certain aggressive techniques used during the interrogation of high-ranking al Qaeda suspects. The memos examined these techniques in light of the prohibition against torture under the Convention Against Torture (Torture Convention),[1] the U.S. criminal statute that implements the Torture Convention ("the anti-torture statute"),[2] and the prohibition on cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment under the Torture Convention. The release of the memos has provoked considerable discussion about possible criminal accountability for government officials who carried out interrogations or who formulated the legal guidance authorizing them. This Insight addresses questions regarding possible criminal liability for the responsible officials and some issues of state responsibility of the United States under international law.


Self-awareness or the ability to be informed about system internal state is an important attribute for any system to have before it is capable of self-management. This is irrespective of which of the self-* properties of self-management in autonomic systems we choose to achieve. A system needs to have a continuous stream of real-time data to analyze to allow it be aware of its internal state. To this end, previous approaches have utilized system performance metrics and system log data as a means of characterizing system behaviour and internal state. In this work, we propose a scheme which utilizes the entropybased information content to group spatio-temporal partitions of system log data into conceptual clusters. We evaluate our method using cluster cohesion, cluster separation and cluster conceptual purity as metrics on High Performance Cluster (HPC) system log data. The results show that our proposed method not only produces well-formed clusters but also clusters that can mapped to different kinds of alert behavior with a high degree of confidence. These results provide evidence that clusters produced by the proposed method characterize the different behaviors of the system and hence capture information about internal state. Hence they have value for the enhancement of self-awareness. The ability to differentiate among types of behavior (both normal and abnormal) is also valuable for self-monitoring and fault detection as deviations from types of normal behavior could be indicative of a fault.


The Media Access Control (MAC) serves as an imperative part of wireless communication networks which enables efficient provisioning of communication resources for device interconnectivity and ensures Quality of Service (QoS). The emergence of Large-Scale Internet of Things (LS-IoT) networks is characterised by a multi-domain distributed wireless communication network that provides end-to-end connectivity for a multitude of active heterogeneous Machine-to-Machine (M2M) devices. The nature of LS-IoT networks requires robust and scalable MAC protocols to manage concurrent, dynamic and massive media access and resource allocation. Several reviews have been conducted on MAC protocols with a handful of them focused on LS-IoT networks or massive M2M networks. In this paper, the characterisation of LS-IoT networks and the MAC component are extensively discussed delineating the impact of LS-IoT on the MAC. Emerging research issues on the MAC for LS-IoT networks including high collision probability, high control overheads, spectrum constraints, timing constraints, hardware constraints, energy consumption and hidden terminals are discussed. Some recently proposed solutions in literature for enhancing the MAC in LS-IoT networks are discussed under LS-IoT specific MAC protocol enhancement classifications. The contributions and drawbacks of the recent solutions in literature are discussed and summarised. The Future direction that is oriented towards the use of virtualisation within the framework of Network Function Virtualisation (NFV) and Software-Defined Networking (SDN) approaches is proposed. This is aimed at providing a dynamic distributed multidimensional MAC resource scaling approach for LS-IoT access network devices to ensure a robust and effective MAC for massive M2M devices in LS-IoT networks.


Self-perception is the level of competency at which individuals evaluate themselves in certain areas or domains (Marsh & Shavelson, 1985). An individual's self-perceptions contribute to their global self-worth, and even predict performance (Cuellar, 2014; Harter & Neemann, 2012). Self-perception is an increasingly popular area of study, and there is a gap in the research as it pertains to college student-athletes (Harter & Neemann, 2012). This study measures selfperception scores, as well as experiences with racial discrimination, of 306 NCAA Division I student-athletes using the Self-Perception Profile for College Students (Harter & Neemann, 2012). Scores are compared across race/ethnicity and gender. Findings suggest that White student-athletes have significantly higher self-perception scores than racial minorities, and recent discrimination (discrimination experiences within the last year) is a significant predictor of multiple areas of self-perception. Results also indicate significant gender differences exist in several areas of self-perception. The implications of this study prompt faculty, and other campus stakeholders to pursue positive relationships with the student-athletes they encounter. Positive relationships between student-athletes and faculty can help raise student-athlete self-perceptions, and in turn, performance in a variety of areas. Table of


In this paper we present results related to achieving finegrained activity recognition for context-aware computing applications. We examine the advantages and challenges of reasoning with globally unique object instances detected by an RFID glove. We present a sequence of increasingly powerful probabilistic graphical models for activity recognition. We show the advantages of adding additional complexity and conclude with a model that can reason tractably about aggregated object instances and gracefully generalizes from object instances to their classes by using abstraction smoothing. We apply these models to data collected from a morning household routine.


Myotubular myopathy is a severe congenital disease inherited as an X-linked trait (MTM1; McKusick 31040). It has been mapped to the long arm of chromosome X, to the Xq27-28 region. Significant linkage has subsequently been established for the linkage group comprised of DXS304, DXS15, DXS52, and F8C in several studies. To date, published linkage studies have provided no evidence of genetic heterogeneity in severe neonatal myotubular myopathy (XLMTM). We have investigated a family with typical XLMTM in which no linkage to these markers was found. Our findings strongly suggest genetic heterogeneity in myotubular myopathy and indicate that great care should be taken when using Xq28 markers in linkage studies for prenatal diagnosis and genetic counseling.


For half a century Alfred Hitchcock created films full of gripping and memorable music. Over his long career he presided over more musical styles than any director in history and ultimately changed how we think about film music. This book is the first to fully explore the essential role music played in the movies of Alfred Hitchcock. Based on extensive interviews with composers, writers, and actors, and research in rare archives, Jack Sullivan discusses how Hitchcock used music to influence the atmosphere, characterization, and even storylines of his films. Sullivan examines the director's important relationships with various composers, especially Bernard Herrmann, and tells the stories behind the musical decisions. Covering the whole of the director's career, from the early British works up to Family Plot, this engaging look at the work of Alfred Hitchcock offers new insight into his achievement and genius and changes the way we watch--and listen--to his movies.


Smallholder farming systems in Papua New Guinea (PNG) are intensifying and becoming increasingly reliant on cash cropping. In the Highlands of PNG, coffee is the main cash crop and sweet potato the predominant subsistence crop. Due to the seasonality of coffee and low prices, farmers are increasingly growing vegetables and fruits for sale. This diversification in the cropping system has implications for nutrient dynamics and soil fertility. The aim of this study was to identify and quantify the movement of nutrient in food garden systems and interpret the effects of these nutrient movements on soil fertility. The study was conducted on six farms in Bena in the Eastern Highlands of PNG. At each farm, soil samples were collected from three food gardens. The aim of the soil sampling was to collect samples from areas with and without application of coffee pulp, fire ash, mulch or fertilizer. Harvested crop samples were also collected, washed and separated into consumable and non-consumable parts (e.g. skin), weighed, oven dried, ground and analysed for nutrient content. The two main pathways of nutrient flow quantified in this study were the output in harvested crop and input in inorganic fertilizers.

Soil fertility was generally adequate, except for extractable P and exchangeable K. Many individual gardens also had low soil N concentrations. The application of nutrient sources such as coffee pulp, kitchen peelings and ash was limited, but the areas that had physical evidence of such applications generally had higher soil K concentrations. Crops grown for market had the highest nutrient concentrations because of the addition of fertilizers. Crops like broccoli and sweet potato had high nutrient concentrations but the amount exported per square meter was lower than cauliflower and cassava due to lower planting density and plant biomass. Market demand also affects the net export of nutrients, as greater market demand for certain vegetables like broccoli and sweet potato will result in greater nutrient export. The amounts of N and K exported in harvested crops exceeded the amounts imported in inorganic fertilizers, resulting in a negative balance of those nutrients. The P balance was positive, which may result in its accumulation. However, the extractable P concentration in soil was low so the accumulated P may still not be fully available to crops.

The low input farming system currently practiced by smallholder farmers will continue to deplete the soil nutrients and the soil may become deficient in N, P and K. The process of crop harvesting and preparation results in the production of residues or wastes that might be better managed to retain nutrients. However, this option may be perceived as inconvenient and not practiced because the value of the nutrients in the waste is not appreciated. Therefore, adoption of these nutrient retention methods will require education about the value of nutrients in waste products versus the value of convenience.


This report summarizes an investigation of the behavior of a beam to column joint of a 32 year old shear-critical bridge pier and a companion one-quarter scale model of the two column prototype bent under reversed cyclic lateral loading. The prototype specimen was retrieved from the field and prepared for testing by welding a self equilibrating reaction frame onto the reinforcing steel of the cap beam. The model and the prototype were tested under constant vertical (gravity) loads. The cyclic lateral loading was applied through a horizontally connected actuator in case of the model, and two parallel actuators inclined at 24 deg with the horizontal were used for the prototype testing in order to simulate lateral force effects in an entire two-column bent. Experimentally observed shear strengths were compared with code-based strength evaluation techniques. Evaluation shows that the pier would possess inadequate shear capacity and thus be classified as shear-brittle with no ductility capability. It is also shown that if code-based evaluation procedures are followed, this class of bridge pier is classified as unsafe and shear-brittle, but may be capable of resisting minor earthquakes through elastic response. However, if a dependable ductile mechanism is assumed, as demonstrated by good experimental behavior, a safe seismic response can be assumed for all Seismic Performance Categories in the United States.


Many current traffic management schemes are tested and implemented using traffic simulation. An Origin-Destination (OD) matrix is an ideal input for such simulations. The underlying travel demand pattern produces observed link counts. One could use these counts to reconstruct the OD matrix. An offline approach to estimate a static OD matrix over the peak period for freeway sections using these counts is proposed in this research. Almost all the offline methods use linear models to approximate the relationship between the on-ramp and off-ramp counts. Previous work indicates that the use of a traffic flow model embedded in a search routine performs better than these linear models. In this research, that approach is enhanced using a microscopic traffic simulator, AIMSUN, and a gradient-based optimization routine, MINOS, interfaced to estimate an OD matrix. The problem is highly nonlinear and non-smooth, and the optimization routine finds multiple local minima, but cannot guarantee a global minima. However, with a number of starting "seed" matrices, an OD matrix with a good fit in terms of reproducing traffic counts can be estimated. The dominance of the mainline counts in the OD estimation and an identifiability issue is indicated from the experiments. The quality of the estimates improves as the specification error, introduced due to the discrepancy between AIMSUN and the real-world process that generates the on-ramp and off-ramp counts, reduces.


Studying Engineering at Murdoch University enables students to experience many facets of engineering. In the Electrical Engineering based courses there is a vital need to have an understanding of various programming languages and methods and then explore ways in which this knowledge can be utilised. This document describes how the Microsoft Kinect can be utilized to control 3D images, specifically medical images, through the use of programming skills and software development kits.

This project involves learning how the Microsoft Kinect sensor actually works and requires the development of two programs that utilised this sensor and can be easily implemented. The first program is designed to display information that the Kinect sensor is able to detect. By developing this program, it enables a user to quickly gain an understanding of what data is available for manipulation. The second program is designed to manipulate a generic 3D image through the use of a set of gestures initiated by the user. This enables the user to see how the information retrieved from the sensor in the first program can be manipulated for useful purposes, by the creation of algorithms.

The development of these two programs required the learning of a new language. The language that was used is called C#, and it is a complex object orientated language. Through the use of the language in the Microsoft Visual Studios 2010 programming environment, it was possible to create the programs through many iterations of development. The thesis documents how this approach was made, both the method of learning C# and also incorporating and utilising the benefits of C# into the programs.

From the research conducted it was found that creating effective gestures was quite difficult as it required some form of predictive logic, and that incorporating medical 3D imagery was at a completely different level of programming skills. Despite these difficulties an effective, easy to use and modifiable program was developed that will allow future research to continue in this field. Therefore possible future projects and developments are also discussed in order to give the reader an idea of what the sensor is capable of if time and knowledge are readily available.


Polystyrene (PSt) radicals and poly(methyl acrylate) (PMA) radicals, derived from their monobrominated precursors prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), were formed in the presence of the radical trap 2-methyl-2-nitrosopropane (MNP), selectively forming PSt-PMA diblock copolymers with an alkoxyamine at the junction between the block segments. This radical trap-assisted, atom transfer radical coupling (RTA-ATRC) was performed in a single pot at low temperature (35 °C), while analogous traditional ATRC reactions at this temperature, which lacked the radical trap, resulted in no observed coupling and the PStBr and PMABr precursors were simply recovered. Selective formation of the diblock under RTA-ATRC conditions is consistent with the PStBr and PMABr having substantially different KATRP values, with PSt radicals initially being formed and trapped by the MNP and the PMA radicals being trapped by the in situ-formed nitroxide end-capped PSt. The midchain alkoxyamine functionality was confirmed by thermolysis of the diblock copolymer, resulting in recovery of the PSt segment and degradation of the PMA block at the relatively high temperatures (125 °C) required for thermal cleavage. A PSt-PMA diblock formed by chain extenstion ATRP using PStBr as the macroinitiator (thus lacking the alkoxyamine between the PSt-PMA segements) was inert to thermolysis. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013, 51, 3619–3626


Background Rivers around the world are drying with increasing frequency, but little is known about effects on terrestrial animal communities. Previous research along the San Pedro River in southeastern AZ, USA, suggests that changes in the availability of water resources associated with river drying lead to changes in predator abundance, community composition, diversity, and abundance of particular taxa of arthropods, but these observations have not yet been tested manipulatively. Methods and Results In this study, we constructed artificial pools in the stream bed adjacent to a drying section of the San Pedro River and maintained them as the river dried. We compared pitfall trapped arthropods near artificial pools to adjacent control sites where surface waters temporarily dried. Assemblage composition changed differentially at multiple taxonomic levels, resulting in different assemblages at pools than at control sites, with multiple taxa and richness of carabid beetle genera increasing at pools but not at controls that dried. On the other hand, predator biomass, particularly wolf spiders, and diversity of orders and families were consistently higher at control sites that dried. These results suggest an important role for colonization dynamics of pools, as well as the ability of certain taxa, particularly burrowing wolf spiders, to withstand periods of temporary drying. Conclusions Overall, we found some agreement between this manipulative study of water resources and a previous analysis of river drying that showed shifts in composition, changes in diversity, and declines in abundance of certain taxa (e.g. carabid beetles). However, colonization dynamics of pools, as well as compensatory strategies of predatory wolf spiders seem to have led to patterns that do not match previous research, with control sites maintaining high diversity, despite drying. Tolerance of river drying by some species may allow persistence of substantial diversity in the face of short-term drying. The long-term effects of drying remain to be investigated.


The effective delivery of public agricultural goods and services is fundamental to boosting the performance of agriculture in many developing countries, including Nigeria. Making public spending more efficient in providing public goods and services, such as agricultural research and extension, is critical for increasing productivity growth and farmer incomes (World Bank 2007a). While fiscal decentralization in Nigeria offered new opportunities for the provision of public goods and services, it also created challenges for the achievement of public spending efficiency due to inadequate capacity and accountability at the subnational level (Khemani 2006; World Bank 2007a). A review of public expenditures in Nigeria finds evidence for both technical and allocative inefficiency in public spending, particularly at the subnational level (Olomola et al. 2014). Low budget implementation or large differences between budgets and final expenditures, as well as large deviations between capital and recurrent spending, at the subnational level underscore the importance of understanding the drivers of public expenditure allocations in agriculture. This type of understanding will help to identify how best to support effective public expenditures in agriculture and to promote efficiency in the allocation of resources.


Understanding the long-term patterns of great earthquake rupture along a subduction zone provides a framework for assessing modern seismic hazard. However, evidence that can be used to infer the size and location of past earthquakes is typically erased by erosion after a few thousand years. Meter-scale cracks that cut the surface of coastal areas in northern Chile and southern Peru preserve a record of earthquakes spanning several hundred thousand years owing to the hyperarid climate of the region. These cracks have been observed to form during and/or shortly after strong subduction earthquakes, are preserved for long time periods throughout the Atacama Desert, demonstrate evidence for multiple episodes of reactivation, and show changes in orientation over spatial scales similar to the size of earthquake segments. Our observations and models show that crack orientations are consistent with dynamic and static stress fi elds generated by recent earthquakes. While localized structural and topographic processes infl uence some cracks, the strong preferred orientation over large regions indicates that cracks are primarily formed by plate boundary‐scale stresses, namely repeated earthquakes. We invert the crack-based strain data for slip along the well-known Iquique seismic gap segment of the margin and fi nd consistency with gravity anomaly‐based inferences of long-term earthquake slip patterns, as well as the magnitude and location of the November 2007 Tocopilla earthquake. We suggest that the meter-scale cracks can be used to map characteristic earthquake rupture segments that persist over many seismic cycles, which encourages future study of cracks and other small-scale structures to better constrain the persistence of asperities in other arid, tectonically active regions.


For seismic resistant design of critical structures, a dynamic analysis, based on either response spectrum or time history is frequently required. Due to the lack of recorded data and randomness of earthquake ground motion that might be experienced by the structure under probable future earthquakes, it is usually difficult to obtain recorded data which fit the necessary parameters (e.g. soil type, source mechanism, focal depth, etc.) well. In this paper, a new method for generating artificial earthquake accelerograms from the target earthquake spectrum is suggested based on the use of wavelet analysis and artificial neural networks. This procedure applies the learning capabilities of neural network to expand the knowledge of inverse mapping from the response spectrum to the earthquake accelerogram. At the first step, wavelet analysis is utilized to decompose earthquake accelerogram into several levels, which each of them covers a special range of frequencies. Then for every level, a neural network is trained to learn the relationship between the response spectrum and wavelet coefficients. Finally, the generated accelerogram using inverse discrete wavelet transform is obtained. In order to make earthquake signals compact in the proposed method, the multiplication sample of LPC (Linear predictor coefficients) is used. Some examples are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.


A seismic survey was conducted off the northeastern coast of Sakhalin Island, Russia in 2010. The survey area was adjacent to the only known near-shore feeding ground of the Critically Endangered population of western gray whales Eschrichtius robustus in the western Pacific south of the Aleutian Islands. This study examined the effectiveness of efforts to minimize the behavioural responses of the whales to vessel proximity and sound during the survey. Two shore-based behavioural observation teams monitored whale movements and respirations pre-, during and post-seismic survey. Theodolite tracking and focal-animal follow methods were used to collect behavioural data. Mixed linear models were used to examine deviations from 'normal' patterns in 10 movement and 7 respiration response variables in relation to vessel proximity, vessel/ whale relative orientations and 8 received sound metrics to examine if seismic survey sound and/or vessel activity influenced the whales' behaviour. Behavioural state and water depth were the best 'natural' predictors of whale movements and respiration. After considering natural variation, none of the response variables were significantly associated with seismic survey or vessel sounds. A whale's distance from shore and its orientation relative to the closest vessel were found to be significantly influenced by vessel proximity, which suggested some non-sound related disturbance. The lack of evidence that the whales responded to seismic survey sound and vessel traffic by changing either their movement or respiration patterns could indicate that the current mitigation strategy is effective. However, power analyses suggest that our sample sizes were too small to detect subtle to moderate changes in gray whale behaviour.


Matrix factorization techniques such as the singular value decomposition (SVD) have had great success in recommender systems. We present a new perspective of SVD for constructing a latent space from the training data, which is justified by the theory of hypergraph model. We show that the vectors representing the items in the latent space can be grouped into (approximately) orthogonal clusters which correspond to the vertex clusters in the co-rating hypergraph, and the lengths of the vectors are indicators of the representativeness of the items. These properties are used for making top-$N$ recommendations in a two-phase algorithm. In this work, we provide a new explanation for the significantly better performance of the asymmetric SVD approaches and a novel algorithm for better diversity in top-N recommendations.


Studies of pre-Grenvillian (1.4–1.3 Ga) plutons offer insight into the dynamics of arc amalgamation and backarc rifting prior to continental collision during the Ottawan orogeny. The Central Metasedimentary Belt boundary thrust zone (CMBbtz) is a northeast-southwest–trending thrust zone consisting of metaplutonic thrust sheets enveloped in gneissic tectonites and calcitic-dolomitic marble. Tonalitic CMBbtz thrust sheets (Dysart and Redstone), located in the southern Ontario Grenville Province (Canada) are made up of upper amphibolite facies, foliation-concordant metatonalite (+ amphibole ± biotite ± accessory zircon and titanite) and amphibolite (± biotite ± clinopyroxene). These thrust sheets are thought to have formed and amalgamated onto the Laurentian margin prior to Ottawan orogeny. Major and trace element analyses show that the metatonalite rocks have calc-alkaline affinity and amphibolite rocks have both calc-alkaline and tholeiitic affinities, suggesting an arc environment. Laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) geochronology of zircon from the two thrust sheets yield igneous ages of ca. 1350–1300 Ma for diorite and granodiorite, ca. 1150–1100 Ma ages from Dysart tonalite interpreted to record metamorphic zircon growth, and a ca. 1086 Ma Ottawan metamorphic age from a Dysart amphibolite. The ca. 1150–1100 Ma metamorphic event has not been previously documented within these thrust sheets of the CMBbtz, but correlates well with thermal events in the allochthonous Parry Sound domain to the west, as do ca. 1350 Ma igneous ages of tonalite in both areas. These data support the hypothesis that the CMBbtz and Parry Sound domain may have been initially linked. Widespread ca. 1350 Ma crust along with distinct 1460–1400 Ma depleted mantle model ages (TDM) are also consistent with a shared genesis with the Dysart–Mount Holly suite in New York and Vermont, and support the correlation between the CMBbtz thrust sheets and the Adirondack Highlands–Mount Holly belt as a rifted arc. Alternatively, the CMBbtz thrust sheets and the Adirondack Highlands–Mount Holly belt may represent contemporaneous arc development at different parts of the convergent margin; however, we support the correlation between the CMBbtz thrust sheets and the Adirondack-Highlands–Mount Holly belt.


Interstitial fluid pressure induces autocrine proliferative and proinvasive glutamate signaling in some cancer cells. In the central nervous system, the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) plays an important role in learning and memory. Functional NMDARs are present in various human tumors, and the NMDAR agonist glutamate has been implicated in cancer growth and progression. Having previously identified NMDAR as potentially involved in the invasion of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNET), Li and Hanahan investigated the role of this receptor in PNET biology. Both the NR1 and NR2b subunits of NMDAR were present in tumors from mouse models of PNET, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, and breast cancer, and NR2b was especially prevalent at the invasion fronts of tumors. Vesicular glutamate transporters (vGluts), which are required for glutamate secretion, were present in PNET cells. NR2b was expressed in several types of human tumors, and poor patient prognosis correlated with greater abundance of NR2b and vGlut2. The βTC-3 line of cultured mouse PNET cells were only weakly invasive in traditional transwell migration assays, but they were more invasive when hydrostatic pressure was applied to mimic in vivo interstitial fluid pressure. Inhibiting NMDAR with the antagonist MK801 (i) blocked the invasiveness of βTC-3 cells in the modified in vitro invasion assay that incorporated hydrostatic pressure, (ii) reduced βTC-3 cell proliferation and survival under static culture conditions, (iii) inhibited the invasiveness of various human NR2b-positive tumor cell lines in vitro, and (iv) reduced the tumor burden in the mouse PNET model. Under conditions of hydrostatic flow, the amount of glutamate present in βTC-3 cell medium increased, suggesting that fluid flow promoted the secretion of glutamate, which could then act as an autocrine signal in these cells. Fluid flow also enhanced the surface localization of NMDAR and triggered activation of Ca2+/calmodulin kinase (CaMK) and MEK-MAPK (mitogen-activated or extracellular signal–regulated protein kinase–mitogen-activated protein kinase) signaling pathways downstream of NMDAR in βTC-3 cells as compared to cells under static conditions. These results suggest that in vivo hydrostatic pressure may induce some cancer cells to secrete glutamate, which can act in autocrine fashion to activate signaling pathways downstream of NMDAR that promote tumor cell proliferation and invasion. L. Li, D. Hanahan, Hijacking the neuronal NMDAR signaling circuit to promote tumor growth and invasion. Cell 153, 86–100 (2013). [PubMed]


This article reviews recent merger decisions in the European Union telecoms sector and finds that the European Commission has adapted its approach since 2014 due to the experience of price increases or unfulfilled commitments with previous mergers. In recent decisions the Commission has indicated that it considers the negative effects of '4-to-3' concentrations to outweigh any potential benefits. Remedies are becoming more structural, with the mobile virtual network operator model regarded as insufficient to remedy competition concerns. Parties must offer remedies which can be implemented with certainty and in a timely way, and upfront measures have been required to ensure entry of a fourth mobile network operator in the market. Efficiencies arguments have largely been rejected for not being merger-specific or unlikely to be passed on to consumers.


the return value of the horticulture supplyer business in Batu is greater than the value of the interest earned from the bank which is 2% per month. Thus the investment is more profitable than investing in the bank.
The results of data analysis, the rate of return before making partnership with UD. Wiguna Makmur, the business has an average operating profit rate of Rp1. 901 785,-. During the cooperation with UD. Wiguna Makmur has an average rate of profit of Rp 1,258,319, -. And after a joint venture with Wiguna Makmur has an average rate of profit of Rp 10,701,625, -.
Viewed from the financial aspects of cooperation with UD. Wiguna Makmur has not been increased from the level of financial effort, but the decision to conduct cooperation rather than not having an impact on business continuity.
Overall, when viewed from the aspect of financial cooperation from the level of R /C, B /C and the profit has decreased, but in terms of corporate sustainability in the future prospects, it has significant progress and development of the business by the increasing of the value of R /C, B /C and post profits in the early period of cooperation from the business. After working together, the business experienced a rapid growth in the period from inception of business.
This is because of the existence of market expansion due to the cooperation that directly learn the way of the market. With this partnership, the more experience are obtained in related matters from raw material until it is ready marketed . In addition there are also concerns of
business experience to business management, delivery and processing of products from raw materials until it is ready to send. After breaking the cooperation with UD. Wiguna Makmur businesses experiencing of more difficult obstacles to get the trust of consumers in an effort to expand the market coverage. The difficulty in market development since there is no partner who has a brand on the consumer. In addition, the age of the business is still a new, so the
consumer is difficult to believe the product.Keyword : Feasibility Business Analysis, Feasibility Investment Analysis, Comparative Profitability Analysis Opportunity to develop business in the distribution of agricultural products in Indonesia is still open wide enough because of the large number of agricultural products found in
Indonesia, so it has an impact on the need of supplyer. Business of Heny Nurmanto S.Sn, MM in Batu is a business engaged in agribusiness. This business sells products supplyer up to the supermarket. The Scope of delivery destination is in east Java which includes Malang,
Sidoarjo, Gresik, and Kediri Feasibility analysis is attempt to assess the feasibility level in implementing horticultural supplyer business. The results of this analysis is used as a consideration in taking decisions in
a business. The existence of this feasibility analysis are expected to avoid the risk of failure in marketing the product. The feasibility analysis was done by analyzing the investment criteria.
It also conducted a comparative analysis of feasibility and levels of business efficiency .
Because the analysis is done monthly in each production, the cumulative calculation is done every month.
Based on the results of the discussions that have been obtained, it can be concluded that the ability of investment business supplyer horticulture in Batu in providing benefits to total invested capital is reasonable and acceptable. It is analyzed by six method of investments
eligibility with the following results: The result of the calculation by NPV (Net Present value) method was obtained a value of Rp 20.769491, -. Means, supplyer horticulture business in Batu is feasible to continue. From the calculation of gross value of B /C, the ratio is 1.06,
means, business in Batu supplyer horticulture eligible to continue. From the calculation of Net B /C, the ratio is 1.6, this suggests that businesses in Batu supplyer horticulture is feasible to continue. From the calculation of the value of profitability ratio at 1.57, then
supplyer horticultural businesses in Batu eligible to continue. From the calculation obtained of payback period 0.08 month. It means that horticultural supplyer business in Batu can restore all the cost of investment for 0,08 month. IRR calculations obtained value of 7%. So


Oxygen is a crucial element for life of most organisms. Key regulator of oxygen sensing and responding intracellular machinery is heterodimeric transcription factor HIF1 (hypoxia inducible factor 1). Presence of oxygen leads to rapid ubiquitination and proteozomal degradation of cytoplasmic subunit HIF1alpha. This process is abolished in hypoxia, leading to accumulation of alpha subunit and dimerization with HIF1beta (also called ARNT). Upon binding of HIF1 heterodimer to hypoxia responsive elements, transcription of many specific genes involved in oxygen homeostasis is induced (Wang et al., 1995). Moreover hypoxia increases a production of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) (Chandel et al., 2002). ROS can modulate cell signaling through transcription and also through posttranslational modifications of intracellular signaling pathways (Finkel, 2011). Additionally, further mechanisms of low oxygen sensing excluding the involvement of HIF and ROS were reported (Wouters and Koritzinsky, 2008). Thus, so called hypoxia signaling could be promoted via different HIF and ROS dependent and independent manners. Since hypoxia is known to regulate stem cell fate both in vivo and in vitro, the main aim of our study is to clarify the role of HIF and ROS in hypoxic response of embryonic stem cell. We used wild-type and HIF1alpha deficient (-/-) mouse embryonic stem cell (mES) to analyze signaling pathways responsible for stemness maintenance. We compared effects of hypoxia (1% O2) and pharmacologically induced stabilization of HIF in normoxic conditions on mES signaling. To clarify effects of ROS, various redox modulators were involved in our study. Posttranslational modifications of JAK/STAT3, MEK/ERK, PI3K/Akt, p38 and Notch signaling cascades were analyzed, as well as effects on proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis these mES cells. Our data show HIF1alpha and ROS-dependent down regulation of MEK/ERK signaling under hypoxic conditions. On the other hand, either hypoxia or ROS scavengers do not affect activation of JAK/STAT3 signaling. Activities of PI3K/Akt and p38 signaling pathways were downregulated independently on HIF1alpha or ROS. Interestingly, the pharmacological inhibition of prolylhydroxylases, which leads to increase of HIF1 stability in normoxia, does not affect any analyzed signaling pathways. In conclusion, our results clearly document the complexity of cellular responses to hypoxic conditions, where the important part of such responses is HIF1alpha independent.


Closed-form integral expressions are developed for the mean and variance of power and energy received from a diffusely reflective object upon illumination by laser radiation with partial temporal coherence. Expressions are presented in dimensionless form and analytic approximations to the integrals are given for signal variations at a receiver caused by fully developed laser speckle. Results are presented in terms of three parameters: the mutual Fresnel number of the receiver and object, the number of longitudinal modes of the illuminating source, and the dimensionless mode spacing of the illuminating source. The calculations assume high light levels and free-space geometry.