There is now strong epidemiological and animal research showing that undernutrition in
gestation and early postnatal life is linked with a higher incidence of cardiovascular disease in
adulthood. The physiological processes involved are not yet clear. The aim of this thesis was to
investigate how aspects of the cardiovascular system in the adult sheep are affected by early life
periods of undernutrition, and to investigate to concept that mismatches in these periods may
influence these responses. Welsh Mountain ewes received 100% of global nutritional requirements at all times (C) except
from minus 30 to day of conception (B), from minus 15 to 15 days after conception (A), or from
day 1 of gestation to 31 days gestation (U) when they received 50% of total nutrient
requirements. Offspring of groups C & U were then fed ad libitum (CC & UC) or at a level that
reduced body weight to 85% of individual target weight from 12 to 25 weeks postnatal age (CU
& UU). The adult sheep cardiovascular function was studied at 2.5 years and 3.3 years. At 2.5 years the UC males showed an increased interventricular wall thickness without loss in
function. These effects were not seen if early postnatal restriction was also received. In contrast,
females subject in the gestational undernutrition (UC) showed a dampened heart rate response
to a stressor, which was not seen when combined with a postnatal challenge (UU). Basal
adrenaline was elevated in male and female singletons exposed to the postnatal challenge (CU
& UU). The stressor produced an enhanced adrenaline response in the females in the postnatally
challenged group (CU). This effect was attenuated when combined with a gestational challenge
(UU). Thus early life undernutrition alters adult cardiovascular physiology and may have
consequences for cardiovascular function and disease in later life. These effects are sex-specific.
The cardiovascular system is affected by the mismatch between gestation and early postnatal
nutrition.


We consider implicit signatures over finite semigroups dete rmined by sets of pseudonatural numbers. We prove that, under relatively simple hypotheses on a pseudovariety V of semigroups, the finitely generated free algebra for the largest such signature is closed under taking factors withi n the free pro-V semigroup on the same set of generators. Furthermore, we show that the natural analogue of the Pin-Reutenauer descriptive procedure for the closure of a rational language in the free group with respect to the profin ite topology holds for the pseudovariety of all finite semigroups. As an application, we establish that a pseudovariety enjoys this property if and only if it is full.


Episodes of increased global risk aversion, also known as risk-off episodes, have become more frequent and severe since 2007. During these episodes, currency markets exhibit recurrent patterns, as the Japanese yen, Swiss franc, and U.S. dollar appreciate against other G-10 and emerging market currencies. The pattern of these moves can be explained by a combination of fundamental factors, such as the nominal interest rate, the international investment position and measures of exchange rate misalignment, and market-liquidity factors, such as bid-offer spreads and restrictions on international capital flows. We also find that currency performance in a risk-off episode has become more related to a currency?s yield and relationship to broader risks in recent years.


A better understanding of how solid malignancies arise in an immunocompetent host, avoid immune recognition, and ultimately progress to widely disseminated cancer is essential to effectively harness the immune system against solid tumors. Because of their extra-lymphatic localization, it has been proposed that solid malignancies are just ignored by the immune system, thereby allowing their uncontrolled growth and dissemination. Alternatively, as most of the solid tumors are unable to express costimulatory molecules, the "signal one without signal two" model of tolerance induction has been frequently evoked to account for the failure of the immune system to reject antigenic tumors in vivo. In this study, we showed, however, that the extra-lymphatic growth of solid tumors is not immunologically ignored by the lymphoid compartment, resulting instead in the early induction of antigen-specific CD4(+) T-cell tolerance. Furthermore, analysis of parent-into-F1 bone marrow (BM) chimeras demonstrates that presentation of tumor antigens by BM-derived antigen-presenting cells represents the dominant mechanism in solid tumor-induced CD4(+) T-cell tolerance. Our findings of early development of antigen-specific T-cell unresponsiveness mediated by BM-derived antigen-presenting cells, not only provides a plausible explanation for the failure of the immune system to reject antigenic solid tumors in vivo, but more importantly, they have identified a barrier that, if appropriately manipulated, may lead to approaches to effectively harness the immune system against solid malignancies.


The Orthodox tradition is not above all as pneumocentric as it may seem, but triadocentric, which considers both the divine life ad intra as well as that life ad extra, always beginning with the whole of the Trinity according to the patristic principle: Everything proceeds from the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit. It is precisely from this vital role occupied by the Trinity in the Eastern theological universe that the importance and unique role of the Spirit in the work of salvation also follows. One can see that Eastern theology revolves around the primary reality of the divinization, understood as the true communion of humankind with God the Trinity. The importance of the Spirit derives precisely from the fact that He represents the divine Person from whom comes the immediate outbreaking of divine life in humankind and in all of creation. The divinization of the human person and of creation comes about through Christ and the Church. It is for this reason that this Orthodox pneumatological reflection concentrates its thought on the quadrinominial relationship: Spirit-Christ-Church-Eucharist. From this is also derived the strong eschatalogical accent which inspires the whole ecclesiological pneumatology of some Orthodox theologians. It thus becomes a synthesis of the thinking of some of them. The author takes into account, above all, the pneumatological reflection of Vladimir Lossky, of Goergeij Florovsky and of the Metropolite of Pergamo Joannis Zizoulas.


There has been substantial work developing simple, efficient no-regret algorithms for a wide class of repeated decision-making problems including online routing. These are adaptive strategies an individual can use that give strong guarantees on performance even in adversarially-changing environments. There has also been substantial work on analyzing properties of Nash equilibria in routing games. In this paper, we consider the question: if each player in a routing game uses a no-regret strategy, will behavior converge to a Nash equilibrium? In general games the answer to this question is known to be no in a strong sense, but routing games have substantially more structure.In this paper we show that in the Wardrop setting of multicommodity flow and infinitesimal agents, behavior will approach Nash equilibrium (formally, on most days, the cost of the flow will be close to the cost of the cheapest paths possible given that flow) at a rate that depends polynomially on the players' regret bounds and the maximum slope of any latency function. We also show that price-of-anarchy results may be applied to these approximate equilibria, and also consider the finite-size (non-infinitesimal) load-balancing model of Azar [2].


Solar photovoltaic technologies could fully deploy and impact the energy conversion systems in our society if mass‐produced energy‐storage solutions exist. A supercapacitor can regulate the fluctuations on the electrical grid on short time scales. Their mass‐implementation requires the use of abundant materials, biological and organic synthetic materials are attractive because of atomic element abundancy and low‐temperature synthetic processes. Nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) coming from the forest industry is exploited as a three‐dimensional template to control the transport of ions in an electrolyte‐separator, with nanochannels filled of aqueous electrolyte. The nanochannels are defined by voids in the nanocomposite made of NFC and the proton transporting polymer polystyrene sulfonic acid PSSH. The ionic conductivity of NFC‐PSSH composites (0.2 S cm–1 at 100% relative humidity) exceeds sea water in a material that is solid, feel dry to the finger, but filled of nanodomains of water. A paper‐based supercapacitor made of NFC‐PSSH electrolyte‐separator sandwiched between two paper‐based electrodes is demonstrated. Although modest specific capacitance (81.3 F g–1), power density (2040 W kg–1) and energy density (1016 Wh kg–1), this is the first conceptual demonstration of a supercapacitor based on cellulose in each part of the device; which motivates the search for using paper manufacturing as mass‐production of energy‐storage devices.


The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) grew out of the insurgency in Iraq and flourished in the vacuum left after the civil war in Syria and the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. Its support among Sunni Arabs sprang from their distrust of the Shia government in Iraq and the persecution of Sunni Iraqis after the U.S. withdrawal. Their violent tactics are widely televised as the conduct executions almost every day that become more and more brutal. Although they display the behavior and structure of a traditional insurgency, they also show characteristics of an emerging state actor, and have demonstrated their global reach through acts of violence across the globe. Additionally, their cyber presence on the web and social media enable them to reach thousands of disenfranchised Muslims across the global and potentially inspire acts of violence by ISIL followers. This paper reviews the relevant literature and presents a causal loop diagram to model the dynamic behavior behind ISIL's rise and continued support across the globe. It goes on to examine the potential impacts of several policy options to combat ISIL through the use of these causal loop diagrams.


The main objectives of this thesis were to estimate the incidence and etiology of invasive infections in neonates and to characterize invasive strains of group B streptococci from a defined geographic area. All infants aged 0-120 days with a bacterial or fungal isolate from blood or CSF in the defined area were identified. Invasive GBS isolates from neonates and adults were collected from normally sterile sites. All relevant clinical information was available for all patients. The GBS isolates were characterized by coagglutination with type specific antisera for serotypes Ia, Ib and II-VIII. Indirect whole cell based fluorescent antibody test was used for typing of the surface proteins, alpha c protein, beta c protein and rib. Multiplex and specific PCR were used for genotyping of the surface protein encoding genes, bca, bac, epsilon/alp1, rib, alp2 and alp3. All strains were tested with E-test against 12 antibiotics. The incidence of invasive infections day 0-27 was found to be 3.7/1 000 live births with aerobic Gram-negative rods, GBS and Staphylococcus aureus dominating. The incidence of very late onset infections was 20 times higher in preterm than in term neonates. The total incidence of CoNS infections was 1.1/1 000 live births. The most common serotypes in neonates were serotypes III (60 %), V (22 %) and Ia (10 %) and from adults V (42 %) and III (25 %). Surface proteins were detected in 51 %. The genes were identified alone or in combinations in 99 % of the strains. Both surface proteins and encoding genes were significantly related to certain serotypes. Two GBS strains were resistant to penicillin G. Intermediate susceptibility to erythromycin and clindamycin increased over the study period. The incidence of invasive neonatal infections increased but the case fatality rate decreased compared to a preceding study from the same area. CoNS are important pathogens in preterm neonates. Serotype V had doubled its frequency in both neonates and adults. Demonstration of serotypes, genotypes and surface proteins in GBS strains are useful in epidemiological studies and in formulation of vaccines and should continuously be followed. No genotype or surface protein was so common that it could be a GBS vaccine candidate alone. Penicillin remains the drug of choice for GBS in the investigated geographic area.


Success-to-truth inferences have been the realist stronghold for a long time. Scientific success is the parameter by which realists claim to discern approximately true theories from false ones. But scientific success needs to be probed a bit deeper. In this article, I tell three tales of scientific success, by considering in turn success from nowhere, success from here now, and success from within. I argue for a suitable version of success from within that can do justice to the historically situated nature of our scientific knowledge. The outcome is a new way of thinking about success-to-truth inferences along perspectivalist lines.


We are standing at the dawn of the next great industrial revolution. With 3-D printers people can print an infinite number of personalized and customized "things." However, one manifestation of this bold new technology threatens to cast a specter on innovation: 3D printed guns. This article explores how efforts to regulate, or even ban 3D guns, must satisfy constitutional scrutiny under both the First and Second Amendments. The Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms includes a subsidiary right to acquire arms — what else are you going to keep and bear — which covers both the buyer, and seller in the transaction. Further, the seller has to obtain guns, including newly manufactured firearms. Thus, the Second Amendment supply chain protects a right to make arms. These constitutional guarantees preserve the right to acquire and make firearms, by 3D printer or other means. Prohibitions on sharing and receiving information about 3D guns, in the form of CAD source code files, violate the First Amendment right to free speech. The fact that information about 3D guns is distributed in electronic format does not shield it from the Bill of Rights. Further, the "hybrid" First and Second Amendment right offers heightened constitutional protections when the government attempts to restrict speech about the right to keep and bear arms.I concluded by offering a preliminary analysis of several proposals to regulate 3D guns. First, laws that prohibit the manufacturing and possession of 3D guns, without a showing that the weapons are highly dangerous, would likely be unconstitutional. Second, bans on individuals making and possessing 3D guns for personal use would represent an unprecedented expansion of gun control laws, as there are virtually no regulations on homemade firearms. Third, the application of the International Traffic in Arms Regulation ("ITAR"), designed to keep dangerous weapons and munitions out of the hands of foreign nationals is an an ill-equipped, and as applied unconstitutional means to regulate 3D guns.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Clonidine is an imidazolynic compound which exhibits partial alpha2-receptor agonist action, with anxiolytic and hypnotic properties. When spinally administered, it produces selective effects in pain modulation and may prolong surgical anesthesia and motor block. This study aimed at evaluating the effects of combined clonidine and 0.5% hyperbaric bupivacaine on spinal anesthesia. METHODS: Thirth ASA I or II patients off both genders, aged between 16 and 57 years and scheduled to undergo surgical inguinal hernia repair were randomly divided into three groups in this prospective double blind study. After monitoring, patients were sedated with 2 mg venous midazolam 10 minutes before surgery, followed by paramedian spinal puncture (L3-L4) in the left lateral position with a 25G Quincke needle. After CSF confirmation, 1 ml of one of the proposed solutions were injected with 15 mg hyperbaric bupivacaine: Group I - 150 µg clonidine; Group II - 75 µg clonidine + 0.5 ml bi-distilled water; and Group III - 1 ml bi-distilled water. The following parameters were evaluated: sensory block level at 5, 20 and 30 minutes, time for two metamers regression, sedation scores through a 0 to 3 scale, motor block by a modified Bromage's scale, postoperative pain and analgesics requirement. RESULTS: Demographics and maximum sensory level (mode) were similar for all groups. Anesthesia regression and muscle relaxation were longer for Group I. There were no difference in sedation and hemodynamic parameters between groups. Group I had a prolonged analgesia as compared to other groups, what was confirmed by the less need for analgesics as a function of time. CONCLUSIONS: Clonidine has not changed cephalad spread and hemodynamic effects of spinal anesthesia with 0.5% hyperbaric bupivacaine. However, it has promoted better analgesia during the four hours observed after blockade and a prolonged anesthesia.


In the recent report, Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action, the American Association for the Advancement of Science laid out a blueprint for reforming undergraduate biology education. A key component of the vision is ensuring that all students understand certain core concepts that are necessary for biological literacy, and that they are able to demonstrate a set of core competencies in disciplinary practice. The core concepts and competencies were integrated into every aspect of a first year Inquiries in Biology course at Northeastern University. This course is offered to students majoring in Biology, Biochemistry, and Behavioral Neuroscience who have Advanced Placement credit for General Biology. The class is small (35 students), and is organized largely in a seminar format with no textbook and very minimal lecturing. However, the integration strategies presented here should be applicable to larger classes, as well as classes that are more lecture-focused.


State-of-the-art statistical methods in neuroscience have enabled us to fit mathematical models to experimental data and subsequently to infer the dynamics of hidden parameters underlying the observable phenomena. Here, we develop a Bayesian method for inferring the time-varying mean and variance of the synaptic input, along with the dynamics of each ion channel from a single voltage trace of a neuron. An estimation problem may be formulated on the basis of the state-space model with prior distributions that penalize large fluctuations in these parameters. After optimizing the hyperparameters by maximizing the marginal likelihood, the state-space model provides the time-varying parameters of the input signals and the ion channel states. The proposed method is tested not only on the simulated data from the Hodgkin-Huxley type models but also on experimental data obtained from a cortical slice in vitro.


In this paper, I describe how collaborative problem formulation can be facilitated by the language used to describe the problem and by a tool that eases use of that language. The situations that constitute urban design problems are extremely complex, and formulating these problems is usually an intractable task. As a procedurally rational response to this intractability, scholars and practitioners have prescribed ways in which such complex problems can be systematically formulated. Some of these are tools for representing problem information, others are procedures for systematically manipulating the information. Whatever the approach, applying these tools and procedures requires a high level of expertise and effort, and this represents a serious disincentive for using them in everyday design endeavors. Problem formulation methods could be made more accessible and useful through computer-based tools that encode the expertise necessary to implement the methods. One such tool is SmartDRAW, which provides expert support for creating FAST diagrams of problematic situations. The FAST diagram is a diagrammatic vehicle for representing the different parts of a view of a problem and the relationships among the parts. First, I describe the FAST diagram and discuss why it is suited to formulating complex problems. Then, I describe how SmartDRAW provides expert support in constructing FAST diagrams, and discuss how this could be done more effectively for groups.


This article describes and contrasts the public health response to two human rabies cases: one organ recipient diagnosed within days of symptom onset and the transplant donor who was diagnosed 18 months post‐symptom onset. In response to an organ‐transplant‐related rabies case diagnosed in 2013, organ donor and recipient investigations were conducted by multiple public health agencies. Persons with potential exposure to infectious patient materials were assessed for rabies virus exposure. An exposure investigation was conducted to determine the source of the organ donor's infection. Over 100 persons from more than 20 agencies spent over 2700 h conducting contact investigations in healthcare, military and community settings. The 564 persons assessed include 417 healthcare workers [5.8% recommended for post‐exposure prophylaxis (PEP)], 96 community contacts (15.6% recommended for PEP), 30 autopsy personnel (50% recommended for PEP), and 21 other persons (4.8% recommended for PEP). Donor contacts represented 188 assessed with 20.2% recommended for PEP, compared with 5.6% of 306 recipient contacts recommended for PEP. Human rabies cases result in substantial use of public health and medical resources, especially when diagnosis is delayed. Although rare, clinicians should consider rabies in cases of encephalitis of unexplained aetiology, particularly for cases that may result in organ donation.


Personal response system (PRS) is an infrared frequency "clicker" system which promotes active, engaged learning in the classroom while collecting individual student responses to questions and statements electronically. The purpose of this study was to describe the use of the Personal Response System in a behavioral sciences graduate research methods course. The study explored how the use of PRS as game-based learning increases students' engagement. Qualitative and quantitative data are collected. The following elements are analyzed: engagement in research topics, participation, perceptions, opinions, and grades of 29 participants. The results are reported and discussed in the context of student engagement. SMALL GROUP TEST OF THE PERSONAL RESPONSE SYSTEM (PRS) IN A BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE GRADUATE RESEARCH METHODS COURSE


The present study aimed to analyse technical and tactical aspects of rugby teams competing in the 2016/17 PRO12 Championship (12 professional club teams from Wales, Scotland, Italy, and Ireland) according to: margin of victory (close and balanced games, 1–9 and 10–26 points of difference in final score, respectively), ranking position [the four best placed clubs from each nation (the 1st–4th team) and the three following ranked clubs (the 5th–7th team)], and game outcome and ranking combined (winning and losing performances in the 1st–4th and 5th–7th team subgroups). One hundred and thirty-two games were analyzed according to 20 key performance indicators. A non-parametric approach was applied to evaluate differences (p≤0.05) between teams. In close games, winning teams reported less possession (p=0.039), defended more (tackles made, p=0.039), and carried the ball less than losing counterparts (p=0.05), whereas in balanced games, winning teams were found to be much better than losers in "tries for" (p<0.0001) as well as "tries against" (p<0.0001), and "clear breaks" (p=0.0003). The teams of the 1st–4th subgroups were found to be more oriented to provide a solid defence than the 5th–7th winning teams, which were more offensive oriented (possession, p=0.01; gain line carries, p=0.001; passes, p<0.0001). Finally, a similar scenario to that of balanced games emerged for winning and losing performances in the 1st–4th and 5th–7th team subgroups. Coaches and physical trainers of elite northern hemisphere rugby union teams should be aware that successful performances mainly consist of a strong defence, tackling, scrumming, breaking the defensive line and high occurrences of possessions during the attacking phase.


In 2007, the United States Army Corps of Engineers granted Mingo Logan Coal Co. a permit to discharge dredge and fill material into four West Virginia streams and their tributaries. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did not file an objection despite concerns about the discharge's environmental impacts. Two years later, EPA moved to withdraw the permit in light of new information and circumstances regarding the discharge's impact on wildlife. EPA claimed that it was authorized to withdraw the permit under Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act, which provides the Administrator of EPA with the authority to veto specification sites "whenever he determines" a discharge will have an "unacceptable adverse effect" on identified environmental resources. Mingo Logan appealed EPA's permit withdrawal on the grounds that EPA exceeded its authority under the Clean Water Act. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld EPA's authority to retroactively withdraw the permit. Although the court's decision has sweeping implications for the reach of EPA, this Comment argues that such broad administrative authority is justified by the plain text of the Clean Water Act and the need for the federal government to take immediate action during environmen-


This project implemented the Dynamic Class Based Threshold (DCBT) queue management algorithm in addition to a packet requeuing mechanism called Cut-In Packet Scheduling (ChIPS). These algorithms were then compared to other popular queue management schemes. To achieve this goal, code was developed as an extension to the Linux kernel. Extensive testing of DCBT, ChIPS, and other Linux queuing mechanisms took place in a controlled environment. Testing showed that these implementations were effective and fair as queue management schemes.


Total Quality Management (TOM) is a topic that is often linked to company performance. Some studies showed that TOM has influence on performance, while some others showed contrary results. This study examined the effect of TQM on innovation performance of manufacturing companies in West Java. The method of data collection was conducted through mailed questionnaires, which consist of 155 respondents using purposive sampling. Multiple regression analysis is a statistical tool that was chosen to analyze the hypotheses. The results indicated that all TQM variables had significant influence on innovation performance. Keywords: TQM, innovation performance, Ma4ufacturing companies


Participatory research methods aim to break down the distinction between researchers and the researched. Infants are increasingly being seen as participants in research, but the nature of their participation is being questioned following an increased interest in participatory research with children. This article offers a perspective on participatory research that positions infant participants in ethically symmetrical ways to adult participants. It poses this can be achieved, when researchers adopt a methodological attitude that recognises, respects, and incorporates the active involvement of infants in research processes. Framed by the notion of 'ethical symmetry', the article draws on data from the author's doctoral work to demonstrate how attempts to achieve ethical symmetry were enacted. The importance of reciprocal and authentic relationships with infant participants as a driving force in the research is discussed, and implications for incorporating ethical symmetry in research with infants are discussed.


A composite, near-vertical, hydrothermal breccia body penetrating Precambrian granitic gneiss near Skrøyvstad, Nord-Trøndelag, consists of 1.5-2 m wide outer zones of fractured and negligibly dis rupted, stilbite-veined country rock, and a 0.5 m-thick central zone of subrounded to rounded, abra ded fragments or 'pebbles' encrusted with radiate stilbite. The two zones are representative of shatter breccia and pebble breccia, respectively. The central pebbly zone is cemented by stilbite and also by later, low-density aphanitic quartz, possibly a type of chalcedony or in part devitrified opal. The in situ shattering of the gneiss is thought to be due to hydraulic fracturing and rupture following the build-up of pressure from ascending, trapped hydrothermal solutions. The resulting failure and ac companying decompression led to propagation of the main fissure and the violent ingress of ascending hydrothermal fluids. In this highly mobile, fluidised conduit system the rock fragments were abraded and milled, and subsequently coated with zeolite nucleating from the cooling solutions. Comparable composite breccia bodies described from many parts of the American cordilleras and from SW Eng land occur above the apical portions of hydrous granitoid plutons and some carry rich mineralisations. Although the age of the Skrøyvstad breccia is unknown, arguments are presented for a Devonian or younger emplacement. There are no upper constraints on the age and it may even be as late as Terti ary if comparisons with breccia dykes occurring in SE Greenland are taken into account. The breccia is believed to overlie a hidden granite body. lndications of the presence of such a subsurface pluton just south of Skrøyvstad are found in gravimetric data.


Who should bear the costs of the COVID-19 pandemic? While multilateral institutions are beginning to consider how to distribute them, President Trump and others have suggested suing China for damages. This "lawsuit approach" draws on a deep-seated conception of international law: States have a sovereign "right to be left alone"; the only limit to this right is a correlative duty to avoid harming others. Those harmed can, then, sue for damages. In this view, who should pay for the costs of the pandemic (and how much) is not a normative question about justice, but rather one about factual causes and actuarial calculations.

In this Article, we explore this lawsuit approach—not for its legal viability, but for its conceptual implications. We exhaustively and critically assess the doctrinal discussion on China's international liability for the pandemic while also pointing at deep theoretical implications that this novel crisis has for international law more broadly.
Specifically, we make three novel claims. The first is that the arguments made using the lawsuit approach (based on the International Health Regulations and the no-harm principle), when meticulously analyzed under existing international norms, run into unexpected obstacles. On top of the jurisdictional and evidentiary hurdles noted by many, we argue that the lawsuit approach faces difficulties stemming from the lack of deep normative agreement in international law on how to deal with unprecedented challenges such as COVID-19.

Our second claim draws on the first. Given the need to fill these normative voids, the lawsuit approach leads back to the global conversation about the allocation of losses that it carefully tries to avoid. This normative dependence cannot be spared by analogy with domestic law. Domestic law builds upon thick cultural understandings that fill empty legal concepts (such as "harm" or "causation"), making them readily operative. International law, however, lacks an equivalent thick culture to fill these voids and therefore requires complex reconstructions of what states owe to one another.
Our third claim further extends the foregoing reasoning. The lawsuit approach relies on international law as a means to achieve corrective justice while denying its implications for distributive justice. We argue that this is conceptually impossible. Allocating responsibility for the pandemic implicates inherently distributive concepts: To decide, an adjudicator would need to rely on a pretorian rule detailing how much effort and resources countries should dedicate to avoiding harm to other countries. That rule is conceptually distributive, independent of its content. The misfortunes derived from the pandemic are not conceptually different from the misfortunes of poverty, financial breakdowns, or climate change. Those going down the road of the lawsuit approach might be unpleasantly surprised by where that road leads them.


Hydrochemical investigations of groundwater in an urban area of Lome, Togolese Republic were used to evaluate the groundwater quality. The quantities of chemical components (major and some minor elements, temperature, pH, TDS and EC) in groundwater samples were determined and submitted to statistical analysis. The majority of the samples contained high concentrations of Na+ and Cl- (Na-Cl water type). The samples also contained high concentrations of NO3-, which is a serious water quality issue. This NO3- originates from the soil surface and enters the groundwater by infiltration. NO3- and Cl- were the relegate parameter for the drinking use and their content in 78.94% and 63.15% of water samples were greater than 57 mg/L and 260 mg/L respectively. Na+ levels ranging from 37 mg/L to 1430 mg/L. Factor analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis were used to identify the key parameters that describe groundwater quality and cluster the wells into homogeneous zones for future monitoring of groundwater quality, respectively. All water samples analyzed have an EC ranging from 840 μS/cm to 8680 μS/cm which shows saline water. Only P4 was slightly mineralized and have lower EC (334 μS/cm). pH (5.07–7.42) was found to be function of HCO3- concentrations (73.2 mg/L to 463.6 mg/L) in the water.


A survey of the global carbon reservoirs suggests that the most stable, long-term storage mechanism for atmospheric CO2 is the formation of carbonate minerals such as calcite, dolomite and magnesite. The feasibility is demonstrated by the proportion of terrestrial carbon bound in these minerals: at least 40,000 times more carbon is present in carbonate rocks than in the atmosphere. Atmospheric carbon can be transformed into carbonate minerals either ex situ, as part of an industrial process, or in situ, by injection into geological formations where the elements required for carbonate-mineral formation are present. Many challenges in mineral carbonation remain to be resolved. They include overcoming the slow kinetics of mineral-fluid reactions, dealing with the large volume of source material required and reducing the energy needed to hasten the carbonation process. To address these challenges, several pilot studies have been launched, including the CarbFix program in Iceland. The aim of CarbFix is to inject CO2 into permeable basaltic rocks in an attempt to form carbonate minerals directly through a coupled dissolution-precipitation process.


This thesis examines the day to day practices that constituted Anne Lister's (1791-1840) sexuality and sociability within the range of her writings, as well as her society. Anne's writings were a detailed account, spanning her lifetime, of her own love and relationships with the 'fairer sex' (Whitbread 1988, 145). Anne's sociality, seen in her correspondence and plain handwritten journal entries, has been explored by Muriel Green in Miss Lister of Shibden Hall and Jill Liddington in Female Fortune and Nature's Domain (Green 1992; Liddington 1998; 2003). As a gentlewoman of adequate means, Anne has garnered some attention from women's historians interested in her agency within an early nineteenth century social and historical context. Anne's sexual identity has been extensively analysed over the past nearly twenty years by lesbian feminists, queer theorists, women's historians and historians of sexuality concerned with the history and development of modern Western female homosexuality and gender. The source for theorising Anne's sexuality has been the edited selections of the crypted journal entries, published by Helena Whitbread in I Know My Own Heart and No Priest but Love (Whitbread 1988; 1992). However, many analyses deal either with the theorisation of Anne's sexuality or her sociality; the theoretical difficulty with reconciling these categories has troubled the analysis of her complex subjectivity. Drawing upon the archival materials, I have used an interdisciplinary feminist approach to analyse the sexual and social processes of Anne's everyday interactions in her writings. Taking the seven month period of the sojourn to Paris in 1824-25, I have focused upon Anne's textual practices within her journal volume and letters during her residence in Paris, her social practices with the other guests at the guesthouse 24 Place Vendome and her sexual practices with her lover, the widow Mrs. Maria Barlow. The journal volumes and correspondence are a valuable historical record of one gentlewoman's engagement with early nineteenth century British culture.


Machine Readable travel documents have been rapidly put in place since 2004. The initial standard was made by the ICAO and it has been quickly followed by the Extended Access Control (EAC). In this paper we discuss about the evolution of these standards and more precisely on the evolution of EAC. We intend to give a realistic survey on these standards. We discuss about their problems, such as the inexistence of a clock in the biometric passports and the absence of a switch preventing the lecture of a closed passport. We also look at the issue with retrocompatibility that could be easily solved and the issue with terminal revocation that is harder.


Plasma arc cutting is a non-conventional manufacturing process that has potential for modern day metal cutting demands with good dimensional accuracy and high-quality surfaces without any extra operation. In this experimental study, AISI 304, AISI 430 and EN S235JR sheet materials having 5 mm. thicknesses, has cut with plasma arc cutting. Each material has cut with 6 different variations. Current, cutting speed, arc voltage, gas pressure and gas flow rate have been changed as process parameters. The quality of the cut has been monitored by measuring the edge roughness, the hardness of the heat-affected zone (HAZ) and the results has compared.


This paper applies the algorithm of Hastie et al., (2004) to the problem of learning the entire solution path of the one class support vector machine (OC-SVM) as its free parameter ν varies from 0 to 1. The OC-SVM with Gaussian kernel is a nonparametric estimator of a level set of the density governing the observed sample, with the parameter ν implicitly defining the corresponding level. Thus, the path algorithm produces estimates of all level sets and can therefore be applied to a variety of problems requiring estimation of multiple level sets including clustering, outlier ranking, minimum volume set estimation, and density estimation. The algorithm's cost is comparable to the cost of computing the OC-SVM for a single point on the path. We introduce a heuristic for enforced nestedness of the sets in the path, and present a method for kernel bandwidth selection based in minimum integrated volume, a kind of AUC criterion. These methods are illustrated on three datasets.


How does a Venus flytrap know when to snap shut? Can it feel an insect's spindly legs? How do flowers know when it's spring? Can they actually remember the weather? And do they care if you play them Led Zeppelin or Bach? From Darwin's early fascination with stems and vines to "Little Shop of Horrors", we have always marvelled at plant diversity and form. Now, in "What a Plant Knows", the renowned biologist Daniel Chamovitz presents an intriguing and refreshing look at how plants experience the world. Highlighting the latest research in plant science, he takes us into the lives of different types of plants, and draws parallels with the human senses to reveal that we have much more in common with sunflowers and oak trees than we may realize. He explains how a willow knows when its neighbours have been taken over by a group of hungry beetles, and why an avocado will ripen in a paper bag with a banana (it's the pheromones). He shows how plants know up from down, and settles the debate, once and for all, over whether or not plants appreciate that music you've been playing. Covering touch, sound, smell, sight, and even memory, Chamovitz considers whether it's too much to ask if plants are aware.


This study makes the following contributions to the study of the politics of patronage appointments in Latin America: Conceptually it adopts Kopecký, Scherlis, and Spirova's (2008) distinction between clientelistic and nonclientelistic types of patronage politics and widens these authors classification of patrons' motivations for making appointments, specifically as a lens for the study of patronage practices within Latin America's presidentialist regimes. Analytically, it sets up a new taxonomy of patronage appointments based on the roles that appointees' play vis-à- vis the executive, the ruling party, and the public administration – one that can be used for the comparative study of the politics of patronage. Empirically, it applies this taxonomy to a pilot study of the politics of patronage in Argentina and Uruguay under two left-of-center administrations. Theoretically, it contributes to theory-building by relating the findings of our research to the differences in party systems and presidential powers within the two countries under study, and to agency factors associated with the respective governments' own political projects. The article concludes that differences in patronage practices are a manifestation of two variant forms of exercising governmental power: a hyper-presidentialist, populist one in Argentina and a party-centered, social-democratic one in Uruguay.


This report presents the schedulability analysis for control messages when networked control loops built on top of the Controller Area Network (CAN) are dynamically allocated bandwidth in terms of their controlled plants' dynamics. The bandwidth allocation policy is theoretically described by an optimization problem and practically solved by the distributed bitwise arbitration of CAN messages when message identifiers, i.e., priorities, reflect control applications demands. This poses the problem of assessing whether the set of real-time messages will meet their deadlines regardless of run-time priority changes. This is solved by an schedulability analysis based on recent results on worst-case response time techniques for real-time CAN applications. The analysis ends up with the schedulability test for this type of applications.


Isotropic and anisotropic magnetic behavior of the frustrated spin-chain compound $\ensuremath{\beta}\ensuremath{-}{\mathrm{TeVO}}_{4}$ is reported. Three magnetic transitions observed in zero magnetic field are tracked in fields applied along different crystallographic directions using magnetization, heat capacity, and magnetostriction measurements. Qualitatively different temperature-field diagrams are obtained below 10 T for the field applied along $a$ or $b$ and along $c$, respectively. In contrast, a nearly isotropic high-field phase emerges above 18 T and persists up to the saturation that occurs around 22.5 T. Upon cooling in low fields, the transitions at ${T}_{\mathrm{N}1}$ and ${T}_{\mathrm{N}2}$ toward the spin-density-wave and stripe phases are of the second order, whereas the transition at ${T}_{\mathrm{N}3}$ toward the helical state is of the first order and entails a lattice component. Our microscopic analysis identifies frustrated ${J}_{1}\text{\ensuremath{-}}{J}_{2}$ spin chains with a sizable antiferromagnetic interchain coupling in the $bc$ plane and ferromagnetic couplings along the $a$ direction. The competition between these ferromagnetic interchain couplings and the helical order within the chain underlies the incommensurate order along the $a$ direction, as observed experimentally. While a helical state is triggered by the competition between ${J}_{1}$ and ${J}_{2}$ within the chain, the plane of the helix is not uniquely defined because of competing magnetic anisotropies. Using high-resolution synchrotron diffraction and $^{125}\mathrm{Te}$ nuclear magnetic resonance, we also demonstrate that the crystal structure of $\ensuremath{\beta}\ensuremath{-}{\mathrm{TeVO}}_{4}$ does not change down to 10 K, and the orbital state of ${\mathrm{V}}^{4+}$ is preserved.


In a passage of the Lawiers Logike that is ostensibly concerned with the rhetorical figures of description, Abraham Fraunce surprisingly defines "chronographia," the description of time, by reference to its antithesis. Citing "Master Lambard", Fraunce gives the following example: "an arrest is a certain restraint of a man's person, depriving it of his own will and liberty, and binding it to become obedient to the will of the law; and it may be called the beginning of imprisonment."1 (1588a: 64r) Stasis or arrestation of the body is here used ironically to exemplify interruption of the essentially incorporeal passage of time. Spatial confinement is used to signify a certain displacement or self-consciousness of temporality. Similarly inverting the usual order of disciplines, Fraunce uses law to exemplify rhetoric: a legal definition is used to illustrate what Renaissance rhetoricians variously term a "sensable figure" (Puttenham 1589: 136, 148) or "figure of amplification." (Peacham 1593: R iv b) In Fraunce's own Ramist lexicon, the figure of description is termed "an imperfect definition" and, again using a legal example of the general category of figure or scheme, he cites the maxim "the common law is common use." (Fraunce 1588a: 64) This journal article is available in Law Text Culture: http://ro.uow.edu.au/ltc/vol5/iss2/9 Rhetoric and Somatics: Training the Body to do the Work of Law


The Food Safety Review (FSR) is a partnership between industry, government, academia, and the consumer. The reason for our review is to increase consistency among local health departments and their interpretations of the state food service rules. The mission of the FSR is to work in partnership with the Department of Health in developing advisory technical interpretations of the state food service regulations and other matters relating to Kuwait Administrative Code, interpretation of food handling practices and processes, guidance on 'equivalency' determinations, providing recommendations for revisions to the Kuwait State Board of Health, and finally, facilitating communications to all stakeholders regarding FSR activities and actions. This review gives a comprehensive evaluation of the safety and quality of food consumed in the state of Kuwait. The database presented in this review has been gathered from projects, local Kuwait conferences and published papers, by different scientists in Kuwait, regarding food safety, quality, health, spoilage, contaminants, and general awareness of hygiene. As a result of the information presented in this review a detailed action plan for the strengthening of Kuwait Food Safety System is proposed.


In this study, a series of novel scaffold-based 3-(((substituted phenyl)amino)methyl)-2-methylquinazolin-4(3H)-one compounds, 3a-3r, was synthesized, characterized, and screened for its in vitro activity against the H37Ra strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. A number of analogs were found to have highly potent anti-tuberculosis activity. Compound 3m in particular had potent activity equal to that of the standard anti-tuberculosis drug rifampicin. New leads can be generated with the model developed in this study and this model will be optimized with the eventual goal of preparing new anti-tuberculosis agents.


Pre-school age is a crucial age, in the formation of character, morals and personality of a young mother's role in the moral development of children can not be ignored, because the mother was the first person closest to the child, also bonding between mother and child existed before child was born. That is why a mother is very necessary to guide and educate their children to control behavior through education that would have started from an early age in the family. This study aims to determine how the mother's role in the moral development of preschoolers. Types of
qualitative research is descriptive, where researchers try to describe the phenomenon or the fact that looks as it is. The researchers used four subjects who have preschool age children .. Location of the research conducted Landung Sari village, jl. Utomo Tirto Kab. Malang conducted in January through March 2007. Data collection techniques used were interviews and observations, and supporting data from informers who come from close family and neighbors subjects. The results broadly suggest that the role of mothers in the moral development of preschool children is very important, as the figure nearest the child's mother can be a good example. Various efforts in guiding the child's mother in connection with its role in achieving the moral development of children as well as a foundation for children in the face of later life such as, from four different subjects have a busy, but it did not become an obstacle because it is basically still can play an important subject for children. As parents set the example and model for children, instilling the closeness and openness to children and families. Of the four subjects only one subject that has not been able to apply consistency in teaching and applying the norms in children, while three other subjects were quite good. The four subjects have the same desire, to equip children with religious values and teachings to worship early on, children become good and obedient to parents, because of discipline and religious is very important, but it also teaches general knowledge, as provision of education and preparing children to have a broader knowledge.


Abstract. Cloud optical properties in the trade winds over the eastern Caribbean Sea have been shown to be sensitive to cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations. The objective of the current study was to investigate the CCN properties in the marine boundary layer (MBL) in the tropical western North Atlantic, in order to assess the respective roles of inorganic sulfate, organic species, long-range transported mineral dust and sea-salt particles. Measurements were carried out in June–July 2013, on the east coast of Barbados, and included CCN number concentrations, particle number size distributions and offline analysis of sampled particulate matter (PM) and sampled accumulation mode particles for an investigation of composition and mixing state with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in combination with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). During most of the campaign, significant mass concentrations of long-range transported mineral dust was present in the PM, and influence from local island sources can be ruled out. The CCN and particle number concentrations were similar to what can be expected in pristine marine environments. The hygroscopicity parameter κ was inferred, and values in the range 0.2–0.5 were found during most of the campaign, with similar values for the Aitken and the accumulation mode. The accumulation mode particles studied with TEM were dominated by non-refractory material, and concentrations of mineral dust, sea salt and soot were too small to influence the CCN properties. It is highly likely that the CCN were dominated by a mixture of sulfate species and organic compounds.


Resident bone marrow macrophages provide a microenvironment for erythropoiesis, forming erythroblastic islands (EBIs) via adhesion molecules. In this study, we examined vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) expression in human bone marrow specimens using immunohistochemistry. VCAM-1 was strongly expressed in CD169 macrophages in EBIs and weakly in sinusoidal vascular endothelial cells. In reactive erythropoiesis, including hemolytic and megaloblastic anemia, the extended cytoplasm of VCAM-1 CD169 macrophages circumscribed the erythroid cells. The strong affinity between VCAM-1 macrophages and erythroid cells was also observed in polycythemia vera (PV), essential thrombocythemia (ET), and chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). VCAM-1 density was significantly higher in PV than in ET and CML (p < 0.001), and correlated with blood erythrocyte count in all three neoplasms (p < 0.001). In ET, the VCAM-1 density was higher in cases with the JAK2 mutation than with the CALR mutation. In myelodysplastic syndrome with erythroid predominance but unclear EBI formation, punctate VCAM-1 cytoplasmic processes of macrophages were seen between erythroblasts, similar to those seen between granulocytic precursors in CML, suggesting incomplete contact of VCAM-1 macrophages with dysplastic erythroid cells. These results suggest that VCAM-1 macrophages create a niche for reactive and neoplastic erythropoiesis and may be a therapeutic target in PV. doi:10.11482/KMJ-E43(2)79 (Accepted on August 4, 2017)


Unsupervised protein language models trained across millions of diverse sequences learn structure and function of proteins. Protein language models studied to date have been trained to perform inference from individual sequences. The longstanding approach in computational biology has been to make inferences from a family of evo lutionarily related sequences by fitting a model to each family independently. In this work we combine the two paradigms. We introduce a protein language model which takes as input a set of sequences in the form of a multiple sequence alignment. The model interleaves row and column attention across the input sequences and is trained with a variant of the masked language modeling objective across many protein families. The performance of the model surpasses current state-of-the-art unsupervised structure learning methods by a wide margin, with far greater parameter efficiency than prior state-of-the-art protein language models.


Discrete mathematics and theoretical computer science are closely linked research areas with strong impacts on applications and various other scientific disciplines. Both fields deeply cross fertilize each other. One of the persons who particularly contributed to building bridges between these and many other areas is Lszl Lovsz, a scholar whose outstanding scientific work has defined and shaped many research directions in the last 40 years. A number of friends and colleagues, all top authorities in their fields of expertise and all invited plenary speakers at one of two conferences in August 2008 in Hungary, both celebrating Lovszs 60th birthday, have contributed their latest research papers to this volume. This collection of articles offers an excellent view on the state of combinatorics and related topics and will be of interest for experienced specialists as well as young researchers.


The experiment was conducted to examine the effect of various dietary protein levels during starting period (0-9 weeks) on compensatory growth period (9-12 weeks) of crossbred hens between cockerel native chicken and laying hens. Thirty two day old chicks were randomly divided into four different groups. For the first 9 weeks, each groups were fed with four different treatments : P1 type with 21,13% dietary protein, P2 type with 18,71% dietary protein, P3 type with 16,58% dietary protein, and P4 type with 14,79% dietary protein. At 9 weeks of age, each treatment group were then divided into 4 replications. The all chickens were then fed with P1 type feed until the end of the experiment during compensatory growth period. The variables observed were consumption (feed, protein, energy), the final body weight, the weight gain, the feed conversion, the protein efficiency ratio, and the energy efficiency ratio. The collected data were analysed using the one-way classification of variance analysis (CRD), followed by testing the significant means using The Duncan ' s Multiple Range Test (DMRT). The result showed that the various dietary protein during the starting period did not cause significant differences on feed consumption during the compensatory growth period. The consumption of the P3 type and the P4 type feed during the starting period resulted a better weight gained and feed conversion during compensatory growth period than the use of the P1 type. The highest compensatory growth was achieved by the treatment group with the P3 type feed, as there was no significant difference of the chicken's final body weight compared to chickens being fed with higher protein percentage (21,13%). There was also no significant difference of the protein and energy consumption among the treatment groups. Protein efficiency ratio and energy efficiency ratio of chicken fed with P3 and P4 type of feed are better than those fed with a higher dietary protein level. I n conclution crossbred hens fed with high protein level (more than 18.71%) did not significantly affected on the weight gain and the final body weight during 9 to 12 weeks of rearing .


The intracellular free calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) was measured in single NG108-15 cells using indo-1-based microfluorimetry. In cells differentiated for 6-14 days in serum-free, forskolin (5 microM)-supplemented medium, application of micromolar concentrations of [D-Ala2,D-Leu5]-enkephalin (DADLE) inhibited Ca2+ influx mediated by voltage-gated Ca2+ channels. DADLE, at concentrations ranging from 1 nM to 1 microM, also produced rapid transient increases in [Ca2+]i (EC50 = 10 nM). The [Ca2+]i increases elicited by DADLE did not correlate with the inhibitory effects of the peptide. DADLE-induced [Ca2+]i increases were blocked by naloxone. In single cells, sequential application of selective opioid agonists (30 nM) evoked responses of the rank order DADLE = [D-Pen2,D-Pen5]-enkephalin > (trans)-(+-)-3,4-dichloro-N-methyl-N-(2-[1-pyrrolidinyl]cyclohexyl) benzeneacetamide > [D-Ala2,N-Me-Phe4,Gly5-ol]-enkephalin, consistent with activation of a delta-opioid receptor. The response was completely blocked by removal of extracellular Ca2+ or application of 1 microM nitrendipine, indicating that the increase in [Ca2+]i results from Ca2+ influx via dihydropyridine-sensitive, voltage-gated Ca2+ channels. Substitution of N-methyl-D-glucamine for extracellular Na+ or application of 1 microM tetrodotoxin greatly reduced, and in some cases blocked, the DADLE-induced [Ca2+]i increase, consistent with amplification of the response by voltage-gated Na+ channels. The [Ca2+]i increase was mimicked by both dibutyryl-cAMP and phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate. These findings are consistent with a delta-opioid-induced depolarization, possibly mediated by a second messenger, that subsequently recruits voltage-sensitive Ca2+ channels. In contrast to differentiated cells, undifferentiated cells responded to DADLE with a modest [Ca2+]i increase that was not sensitive to nitrendipine. In these cells, activation of the same second messenger system may elevate [Ca2+]i by mobilization from intracellular stores rather than influx. In addition to previously described inhibitory coupling to adenylyl cyclase and Ca2+ channels in NG108-15 cells, these results suggest that a novel, excitatory, effector system may also couple to opioid receptors.


This thesis addresses the problem of industrial real-time process optimization that suffers from the presence of uncertainty. Since a process model is typically used to compute the optimal operating conditions, both plant-model mismatch and process disturbances can result in suboptimal or, worse, infeasible operation. Hence, for practical applications, methodologies that help avoid re-optimization during process operation, at the cost of an acceptable optimality loss, become important. The design and analysis of such approximate solution strategies in real-time optimization (RTO) demand a careful analysis of the components of the necessary conditions of optimality. This thesis analyzes the role of constraints in process optimality in the presence of uncertainty. This analysis is made in two steps. Firstly, a general analysis is developed to quantify the effect of input adaptation on process performance for static RTO problems. In the second part, the general features of input adaptation for dynamic RTO problems are analyzed with focus on the constraints. Accordingly, the thesis is organized in two parts: For static RTO, a joint analysis of the model optimal inputs, the plant optimal inputs and a class of adapted inputs, and For dynamic RTO, an analytical study of the effect of local adaptation of the model optimal inputs. The first part (Chapters 2 and 3) addresses the problem of adapting the inputs to optimize the plant. The investigation takes a constructive viewpoint, but it is limited to static RTO problems modeled as parametric nonlinear programming (pNLP) problems. In this approach, the inputs are not limited to being local adaptation of the model optimal inputs but, instead, they can change significantly to optimize the plant. Hence, one needs to consider the fact that the set of active constraints for the model and the plant can be different. It is proven that, for a wide class of systems, the detection of a change in the active set contributes only negligibly to optimality, as long as the adapted solution remains feasible. More precisely, if η denotes the magnitude of the parametric variations and if the linear independence constraint qualification (LICQ) and strong second-order sufficient condition (SSOSC) hold for the underlying pNLP, the optimality loss due to any feasible input that conserves only the strict nominal active set is of magnitude O(η2), irrespective of whether or not there is a change in the set of active constraints. The implication of this result for a static RTO algorithm is to prioritize the satisfaction of only a core set of constraints, as long as it is possible to meet the feasibility requirements. The second part (Chapters 4 and 5) of the thesis deals with a way of adapting the model optimal inputs in dynamic RTO problems. This adaptation is made along two sets of directions such that one type of adaptation does not affect the nominally active constraints, while the other does. These directions are termed the sensitivity-seeking (SS) and the constraint-seeking (CS) directions, respectively. The SS and CS directions are defined as elements of a fairly general function space of input variations. A mathematical criterion is derived to define SS directions for a general class of optimal control problems involving both path and terminal constraints. According to this criterion, the SS directions turn out to be solutions of linear integral equations that are completely defined by the model optimal solution. The CS directions are then chosen orthogonal to the subspace of SS directions, where orthogonality is defined with respect to a chosen inner product on the space of input variations. It follows that the corresponding subspaces are infinite-dimensional subspaces of the function space of input variations. It is proven that, when uncertainty is modeled in terms of small parametric variations, the aforementioned classification of input adaptation leads to clearly distinguishable cost variations. More precisely, if η denotes the magnitude of the parametric variations, adaptation of the model optimal inputs along SS directions causes a cost variation of magnitude O(η2). On the other hand, the cost variation due to input adaptation along CS directions is of magnitude O(η). Furthermore, a numerical procedure is proposed for computing the SS and CS components of a given input variation. These components are projections of the input variation on the infinite-dimensional subspaces of SS and CS directions. The numerical procedure consists of the following three steps: approximation of the optimal control problem by a pNLP problem, projection of the given direction on the finite-dimensional SS and CS subspaces of the pNLP and, finally, reconstruction of the SS and CS components of the original problem from those of the pNLP.


Spotify is a peer-assisted music streaming service that has gained worldwide popularity in the past few years. Until now, little has been published about user behavior in such services. In this paper, we study the user behavior in Spotify by analyzing a massive dataset collected between 2010 and 2011. Firstly, we investigate the system dynamics including session arrival patterns, playback arrival patterns, and daily variation of session length. Secondly, we analyze individual user behavior on both multiple and single devices. Our analysis reveals the favorite times of day for Spotify users. We also show the correlations between both the length and the downtime of successive user sessions on single devices. In particular, we conduct the first analysis of the device-switching behavior of a massive user base.


Oligo{2,2'-{1,4-phenylenebis[nitrilomethylylidene]}bis(6-methoxyphenol)} (OPNMMP) was synthesized from o-vanillin and p-phenylene diamine by oxidative polycondensation with NaOCl in an aqueous alkaline. Then, a new Schiff Base epoxy oligomer resin, OPNMMP-epichlorohydrine (EPC), was produced with EPC. The structures of the resulting compounds were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, 1 H-NMR, and C-NMR. Further characterization processes were preformed by thermogravimetry (TG)-differential thermal analysis, gel permeation chromatography, and solubility testing. Also, the kinetics of the thermal decomposition of OPNMMP-EPC were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis. The TG curves showed that the thermal decomposition of OPNMMP-EPC occurred in one stage. The kinetic parameters related to the decomposition kinetics of OPNMMP-EPC were obtained from TG curves with the following methods: Friedman, Flynn-Wall-Ozawa, Kissinger, invariant kinetic parameter, and Coats-Redfern (CR), under an N 2 dynamic atmosphere and different heating rates (5, 10, 15, and 20°C/min). The mechanism function and pre-exponential factor were also determined by a master plots method. The apparent activation energies of the thermal decomposition were calculated from these methods for OPNMMP-EPC. The analysis of the results obtained by the CR and master plots methods showed that the decomposition mechanism of OPNMMP-EPC in N 2 was a deceleration-type mechanism.


Landslides in Hong Kong and in other countries and regions pose a great danger to human life and property. In Hong Kong, many buildings, factories and important facilities are either very close to or on the hillside. During a landslide, life and property may be at risk. Therefore, any pre-warning of slope failure will allow time for people to evacuate and take other preventive measures. Many landslides in Hong Kong have a deep-seated slip and noticeable displacement may occur prior to failure. Sometimes, the landslide is progressive in nature. It is possible to forewarn a landslide by monitoring any pre-failure displacement. Therefore real-time slope monitoring may potentially play an important role in landslide warning and prevention. An automated integrated slope monitoring and warning system has been developed by the authors in Hong Kong. The integrated system consists of (a) a conventional slope monhoring-warning package and (b) a multi-antenna Global Positioning System (GPS) package. The conventional package includes (i) in-place inclinometers, (ii) piezometers, (iii) rain gauges and (iv) a Time Domain Reflectometcr (TDR). The multi-antenna GPS package is a special technology newly developed for monitoring surface movements of a slope. The integrated system has a remote data acquisition/control unit connecting an office computer to a data-logger at the site for both the conventional package and the GPS package separately for data communication and control with visual software. In this approach, the two packages can work jointly or independently to monitor a slope. When working together, the two packages are set up at the same slope site and used to collect data of sub-surface ground movements, pore water pressures, rain falls, surface ground movements. The data from the two packages are then transferred to the same office computer, processed and analyzed together. The integrated data can be automatically retrieved, temporarily stored and transmitted from the two packages. Software can perform data download, storage, analysis and real-time display. All data from the two packages are integrated and analyzed using a database developed by the authors. The integrated system was installed to monitor a full-scale test at loose-fillslope site at the Kadoorie Agriculture Research Centre, Hong Kong, from April 2002 to November 2002. The slope was loaded to failure. The system monitored the entire slope loading and failure process and collected valuable data. The analysis of data has shown that the integrated system is reliable, accurate and effective for monitoring slope movements and warning of any potential slope failure.


Intersectoral partnerships mirror the changing nature of the relationships among state, business and civil society organizations, and are often considered innovative mechanisms to overcome single actor failure in the context of globalization. This article analyzes the capacity of partnerships to promote sustainable change in global agrifood chains from a governance and a development perspective. The global coffee, cotton, and cocoa chains serve as main fields of application. From a governance perspective, the emergence of partnerships is largely positive inasmuch as partnerships act as initiators and agents of change which, although still mostly confined to niche markets, unfolds a chain-wide governance effect. From a development perspective, partnerships can be viewed critically as their top-down and business-driven nature leads to uncertain benefits for producers and results in the marginalization of certain development concerns. These differing conclusions can be explained by the fact that partnerships largely embody the neoliberal agenda, which raises specific questions, particularly from a development perspective.


Abstract There is growing demand for an understanding of peace beyond the absence of violence. As such research focuses increasingly on the issue of state legitimacy as a tool to assess and understand peace processes. In this paper the relationship between service provision and state legitimacy is studied to assess whether the provision of services like electricity to rural communities of war-torn countries through state actors contributes to the consolidation of the post-war political system. The qualitative analysis of two localities in post-war Nepal highlights that service provision in the form of electricity through micro-hydropower yields tremendously positive socio-economic effects for rural communities. However, socio-economic development in combination with interactions among villagers has strengthened local autonomy through emphasising alternative local governance structures. This highlights that the relationship between service provision and state legitimacy is more complex than previous research anticipates. The absence of a positive effect on state legitimacy raises the question of whether in its current case-specific form service provision is conducive to the broader peace-building efforts in post-war Nepal, because it stresses the divide between state and society.


With the development of Software Defined Networking, its software programmability and openness brings new idea for network security. Therefore, many Software Defined Security Architectures emerged at the right moment. Software Defined Security decouples security control plane and security data plane. In Software Defined Security Architectures, underlying security devices are abstracted as security resources in resource pool, intellectualized and automated security business management and orchestration can be realized through software programming in security control plane. However, network management has been becoming extremely complicated due to expansible network scale, varying network devices, lack of abstraction and heterogeneity of network especially. Therefore, new-type open security devices are needed in SDS Architecture for unified management so that they can be conveniently abstracted as security resources in resource pool. This paper firstly analyses why open security devices are needed in SDS architecture and proposes a method of opening security devices. Considering this new architecture requires a new security scheduling mechanism, this paper proposes a security resource scheduling algorithm which is used for managing and scheduling security resources in resource pool according to user s security demand. The security resource scheduling algorithm aims to allocate a security protection task to a suitable security resource in resource pool so that improving security protection efficiency. In the algorithm, we use BP neural network to predict the execution time of security tasks to improve the performance of the algorithm. The simulation result shows that the algorithm has ideal performance. Finally, a usage scenario is given to illustrate the role of security resource scheduling in software defined security architecture.


KEY MESSAGE A youth-oriented approach involves asking practical questions to develop tailored services for youth in the agribusiness sector. 2SCALE has been experimenting with various options to support young producers and entrepreneurs. Making agriculture interesting to youth requires making it attractive and remunerative by having access to land, finance and technologies in order to modernize. Besides production another alternative for youth inclusion was explored: specialized service delivery to value chain actors. This paper provides examples of how 2SCALE tackled youth inclusion in its partnerships.


Current trends in the automotive industry towards engine downsizing mean turbocharging now plays a vital role in engine performance. A turbocharger increases charge air density using a turbine to extract waste energy from the exhaust gas to drive a compressor. Most turbocharger applications employ a radial inflow turbine. However, mixed flow turbines can offer non-zero blade angles, reducing leading edge (LE) separation at low velocity ratios. The current paper investigates the performance of a mixed flow turbine with three different volute aspect ratio (AR) designs (AR = 0.5, 1 and 2). With constant A/r (ratio of volute area to centroid radius), the AR = 0.5 volute design produced a 4.3% increase in cycle averaged mass flow parameter (MFP) compared to the AR = 2 design. For the purpose of performance comparison, it was necessary to manipulate the volute A/r's to ensure constant MFP for aerodynamic similarity. With the volute A/r's manipulated to ensure constant MFP for aerodynamic similarity, the maximum variation of cycle averaged normalized efficiency measured between the designs was 1.47%. Purely in the rotor region, the variation in normalized cycle averaged efficiency was 1%. The smallest tested volute aspect ratio showed a significant increase in volute loss while the ARs of 1 and 2 showed similar levels of loss. The smallest AR volute showed significant secondary flow development in the volute. The resulting variation in LE incidence was found to vary as a result.


We report here our combination of cryogenic, messenger-tagging, infrared (IR) spectroscopy with ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) and mass spectrometry (MS) as a way to identify and analyze a set of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) ranging from trisaccharides to hexasaccharides. The added dimension of IR spectroscopy provides a diagnostic fingerprint in the OH and NH stretching region, which is crucial to identify these oligosaccharides, which are difficult to distinguish by IMS alone. These results extend our previous work in demonstrating the generality of this combined approach for distinguishing subtly different structural and regioisomers of glycans of biologically relevant size.


Network Intrusion Detection System (NIDS) analyzes network traffic for malicious activities and report's findings from events that intend to compromise the security of the computers and other equipment. NIDS looks into both headers and payloads of the network packets to identify possible intrusions. NIDS models that only use Central Processing Units (CPU) such as the IDS Snort, have in the last decade struggled with the CPU as the bottleneck of the system. Network traffic has been increasing more rapidly than the clock-speed of CPUs. The CPUs have gained more cores, but lack implementation for utilizing multi-core CPUs and are unable to cope with the bandwidth throughput we are starting to see in high-tech network infrastructure that they are set to protect. The massive flows of data packets overload the NIDS and lead to packet loss which makes them pass by unchecked for malware and intrusion attempts, increasing the false-negative rate. The main cause of this is the network packet inspection module in the detection engine of the NIDS. The detection engine consists of numerous functions and ultimately contains an algorithm for string searching. This thesis will focus on accelerating the NIDS by parallelizing this algorithm. In the recent years modern GPUs have evolved from being a tool that only displays highend graphics for games, to be used for general-purpose scientific and engineering computing across a range of platforms [35]. GPU computing is the short term used when ordering the GPU to take over and accelerate the computationally-intensive calculations normally done by the CPU, and instead let the CPU take care of the more sequential parts of the application. They then work together solving tasks in a heterogeneous co-processing computing model. Using Graphics Processing Units (GPU) for general-purpose scientific and engineering computing has grown exponentially the last few years. This has happened mostly from the work Nvidia has put into their CUDA platform and programming model. Some of the most common areas for use of GPU is fluid dynamics, seismic processing, molecular dynamics, computational chemistry, finance and supercomputing. Programs need to be specifically designed to run optimized on a GPU, and special programming APIs have been designed explicitly for GPU computing. The most well known ones are CUDA and OpenCL. In the recent year's modern GPUs have evolved from being the tool that displays high-end graphics for games, to be the tool used in general-purpose scientific and engineering computing across a range of platforms. The goal of this project was to harness the power within GPUs and use it to accelerate NIDS such as Snort, by using CUDA technology. Several papers have been published on the topic of GPU acceleration, however only a handful of them targeted NIDS with varying results. We believe this can be improved dramatically by further research in how different hardware components interact and how to exploit the components and their APIs in new ways for creating high-performance algorithm solutions. We present our implementations of known string search algorithms programmed in C++ and CUDA, with analysis of these algorithms and conclude with contributions from our experiments


There has been a dramatic rise in the use of Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART), including In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) throughout the world over the past three decades. Because they represent >1% of the birth cohorts in many developed countries, much attention is being paid to the health and well-being of ART children. Children born after assisted reproductive techniques (ART) have an increased risk of several adverse perinatal outcomes compared with their naturally conceived peers.  Morbidity in this particular group of neonates pertains mostly to multiple gestation and prematurity. Morbidities more specific to ART/IVF have however been noted such as elevated risks of congenital malformations and imprinting disorders.  Since many factors can potentially influence the neonatal outcome such as risks associated with the ART procedures themselves, advanced parental age, higher incidence of maternal nulliparity and underlying cause of parental subfertility among others, the exact pathological role played by ARTs in the occurrence of congenital malformations and genetic disorders is still unclear. In this review we aim to discuss the important epidemiological aspects of ART/IVF and the neonatal outcomes of IVF-conceived offspring.


Basidiospores are implicated in the distribution and genetic diversity of Ganoderma boninense, cause of basal stem rot (BSR) and upper stem rot (USR) of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis). Measurement of aerial basidiospores within plantations in Sumatra showed continuous and high production over 24 h (range c. 2–11 000 spores m−3) with maximum release during early evening. Basidiospores applied to cut surfaces of fronds, peduncles and stems germinated in situ. Equivalent, extensive wounds are created during plantation harvesting and management and represent potential sites for formation of infective heterokaryons following mating of haploid basidiospore germlings. Use of spore-sized micro-beads showed that basidiospores could be pulled up to 10 cm into severed xylem vessels, where they are relatively protected from dehydration, UV irradiation and competing microflora. Diversity of isolates from five locations on two plantations was assessed by RAMS fingerprinting. Isolates from within individual palms with USR were identical and represent single infections, but different USR infections had unique band patterns and revealed separate infections. Some BSR-affected trees contained more than one isolate, and thus had multiple infections. There was one example of adjacent BSR palms with the same isolate, indicating vegetative spread, but there were no identical genets from BSR infections and adjacent fallen palms. Isolate diversity was as great within a plantation as between plantations. It is evident that basidiospores play a major role in spread and genetic variability of G. boninense. Evidence for direct basidiospore infection via cut fronds, indirectly through roots via colonized debris and less frequently, infection by vegetative, clonal spread is considered.


The in vitro activity of a naturally occurring complex carbohydrate, CAN-296, was evaluated by testing 132 clinical and ATCC isolates of yeast and Aspergillus fumigatus, many of which were azole-resistant. The in vitro susceptibility tests were performed by standardized broth micro- and macrodilution methods and results were compared with those obtained for amphotericin B, fluconazole, ketoconazole, flucytosine and the pneumocandin L-733,560. All tested Candida species showed highly uniform susceptibility to CAN-296 at concentrations of 0.078 to 0.312 microgram/ml; non-albicans Candida were as susceptible to CAN-296 as the Candida albicans strains. Multi-azole-resistant Candida species were highly sensitive to CAN-296. Minimum inhibitory concentration measurements did not differ from minimum lethal concentrations by more than two-fold for all tested Candida species. Aspergillus fumigatus, on the other hand, showed only moderate susceptibility to CAN-296. The kinetics of the anti-Candida activity of CAN-296 was investigated by kill-curve experiments using C. albicans and C. glabrata and the results were compared with those obtain for amphotericin B. CAN-296 was found to be rapidly fungicidal in concentrations ranging from 4-16 fold the mean MIC value. The broad spectrum of anti-Candida activity together with the rapid fungicidal effect make this complex carbohydrate a promising agent for clinical use.


To date, literature exploring maternal healthcare utilization among Muslim populations has largely focused on religious differences. However, little research exists exploring maternal healthcare utilization within Muslim populations. This highlights a research gap because studies across religious groups may obscure important variation within Islamic women. The primary objective of this study assessed if there is equity in MHU among Muslim mothers in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Multivariate logistic regression revealed inequities to be present in the three countries. Predicted probabilities revealed a narrower equity gap in MHU in Bangladesh compared to India and Pakistan. The successes of Bangladesh's recent efforts to reduce inequity within its Muslim community offer lessons for policy-makers in India and Pakistan. The results from this study underscore the need to look past Islam as a reason for inequity and look further within Muslim communities for solutions.


Objective: To analyze the factors related to the depressive symptoms in elderly of a community with low socio-economic indicators. Methods: Epidemiological cross-sectional population-based household study. The study included 316 elderly resident of a city in Brazil's northeast Region. Data were collected in January 2011. The depressive symptoms were evaluated by means of a Geriatric Depression Scale (15-item version). The independent variable included socio-demographic factors, health state, functional limitation and life style. Crude and adjusted Poisson regression models were used in the statistical analyses. Results: The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 20 %. The adjusted regression model showed that the depressive symptoms were positively related to the female sex (PR = 2.00); marital status: single (PR = 2.73) and divorced (PR = 3.59); change for worse (PR = 2.53) or better (PR = 2.86) health state in comparison to the 12 previous months; worse health state in relation to other people of the same age (PR = 2.22); and functional limitation (PR = 1.72). There was an inverse association between the depressive symptoms and financial difficulty (PR = 0.46). Conclusions: The results suggest that socio-demographic factors, health self-assessment and functional capacity can be stronger depression determinants than morbidity and life style.


OBJECTIVE
We examined the effects of a guided imagery intervention on perceived stress in pregnant adolescents.

METHOD
Thirty-five pregnant adolescents recruited from a local alternative education program participated in a guided imagery intervention. Participants listened to a pregnancy-specific guided imagery recording on four separate occasions during their pregnancies. Perceived stress was measured immediately before and after each session using the Perceived Stress Measure-9 (PSM-9).

RESULTS
Participants' pre- and postsession PSM-9 scores for three of the four sessions demonstrated a significant reduction in stress. Participants' baseline stress levels also decreased significantly across the four listening sessions. The greatest reductions in stress within and between sessions occurred in the early sessions, with effects diminishing over time.

CONCLUSION
Pregnant teens experienced initial short- and long-term stress reduction during a guided imagery intervention, supporting the use of guided imagery to reduce stress in pregnant adolescents.


The article analyzes the technological shifts which took place in the second half of the 20th and early 21st centuries and forecasts the main shifts in the next
half a century. On the basis of the analysis of the latest achievements in innovative technological directions and also on the basis of the opportunities provided by the theory of production revolutions the authors present a detailed analysis of the latest production revolution which is denoted as 'Сybernetic'. The authors give some forecasts about its development in the nearest five decades and up to the end of the 21st century. It is shown that the development of various self-regulating systems will be the main trend of this revolution. The authors argue that at first the transition to the beginning of the final phase of the Cybernetic Revolution will start in the field of medicine (in its some innovative directions). In future we will deal with the start of convergence of innovative technologies which will form the system of MBNRIC-technologies (i.e. the technological paradigm based on medicine, bio- and nanotechnologies, robotics, IT and cognitive technologies). The article gives a detailed analysis of the future breakthroughs in medicine, bio- and nanotechnologies as well as some other technologies in terms of the development of self-regulating systems with their growing ability to select optimum modes of functioning as well as of other characteristics of the Cybernetic Revolution (resources and energy saving, miniaturization, individualization, etc.).


Woods et al. report that the Tec family tyrosine kinase Itk is recruited to detergent insoluble membranes and phosphorylated upon TCR stimulation. This recruitment requires the kinase domain and plekstrin homology domains of Itk and is dependent of the activity of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K). To monitor β1 integrin function, the authors assayed adherence of Jurkat cells or human T cells stimulated with phytohemagglutinin to a fibronectin substrate. Enhanced binding of the cells was observed only during conditions in which an active form of Itk was recruited to the membrane and in which the tyrosine kinase Lck was activated. Integrin activation was inhibited by transfection of Jurkat cells or human T cells blasts with dominant negative forms of Itk. Thus, Itk appears to link TCR activation with the integrin-mediated signaling pathways controlling cell adhesion. M. L. Woods, W. J. Kivens, M. A. Adelsman, Y. Qui, A. August, Y. Shimizu, A novel function for the Tec family tyrosine kinase Itk in activation of β1 integrins by the T-cell receptor. EMBO J. 20, 1232-1244 (2001). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Some of Darwin's views on descent with modification were developed alongside his adoption of a number of concepts inspired by the domain that we would now call science and technology. Focusing on the period from Darwin's circumnavigation journey to the publication of the Origin in 1859, this essay explores the rich manuscript and published documentation left by Darwin to trace in detail his exposure to contemporary technologies and notions of invention. It argues that the parallel Darwin established on several occasions between the history of life on earth and human inventions was more than a metaphor. According to Darwin's radical evolutionary perspective, life and invention—including his own theory explaining descent with modification—belonged to the same domain. It further argues that Darwin's technology of life approach allowed him to make room for a plurality of causes driving evolutionary change, while at the same time avoiding the question of the origin of life. This same approach helped him to mold his scientific persona, while marking his distance from a mixed population of naturalists that included materialists as well as exponents of speculative German natural philosophy, although these were all frequent sources of reflection during his most creative years.


This research develops an assessment tool and provides initial findings of whether RCAs are meeting their obligations under the Civil Defence and Emergency Management (CDEM) Act 2002, which states that the road network, among the other lifelines utilities, should be able to 'function to the fullest possible extent during and after an emergency'. A self-assessment benchmarking tool was developed and implemented in order to allow road controlling authorities (RCAs) to evaluate themselves and develop plans for improving their emergency response and recovery planning arrangements. Based on our study of the CDEM Act 2002, we conceptualised a multi-criteria assessment, which included three main expectations in terms of meeting the CDEM Act 2002 requirements. The self-assessment tool was applied to a case study, which gathered 26 valid responses from participant RCAs. The results revealed that most of the participant RCAs met the requirements of the CDEM Act 2002. These results were presented to the roading industry and their feedback was that the benchmarking framework and the self-assessment tool should be incorporated into RCA practice. It is recommended that subsequent work be conducted in terms of developing auditing schemes that verify whether the RCAs have evidence that supports their self-assessment. (a)


In this study, the response surface methodology (RSM) based on the central composite design (CCD) was used to optimize the preparation condition of polypropylene-grafted maleic anhydride (PP-g-MA) microporous membrane by thermally-induced phase separation (TIPS) method. A mixture of dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and dioctyl phthalate (DOP) was used as diluent. The effect of polymer composition and quenching bath temperature on the morphology and performance of the fabricated microporous membranes was investigated by using RSM. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine which variables and interactions between variables had a significant effect on our responses. The ANOVA revealed that the bath temperature was the most significant variable associated with porosity and pure water flux responses and the polymer concentration was the most significant variable associated with tensile response. The obtained results also showed that with increasing the polymer concentration and decreasing the quenching bath temperature, the membrane porosity and pure water flux decreased, whereas the membrane tensile increased. The regression equations were reasonably validated and used to predict and optimize the performance of PP-g-MA membranes within the limits of the variables. Finally, the maximum responses (flux of 115.6 L/m2h, porosity of 62% and tensile of 1.6 MPa) were obtained under the following conditions: polymer concentration of 28.5 wt% and temperature of 329 K. Further, comparison of laboratory-made and commercial membranes in a membrane bioreactor (MBR) system showed that the rate of membrane fouling was decreased by 4.2 times.


Digestion is the process by which large ingested molecules are mechanically and chemically broken down to produce smaller forms. These can then be absorbed more easily across the wall of the gastrointestinal tract. In infants there is no mechanical breakdown. The molecules that are being digested therefore need to be in a form that can be easily broken down. This happens chemically to allow for easy digestion and decrease abdominal cramps.


The synthesis and supramolecular organization of a novel class of rod-coil type diblock oligomers will be discussed. The diblock oligomers consist of a rodlike α-helical oligopeptide segment that is conjugated to an oligo(styrene) coil. In comparison with most of the rod-coil type oligomers that have been investigated so far, these peptide-based diblock oligomers possess some unique features: (i) the conformation of the oligopeptide rod segment can be reversibly manipulated under the action of appropriate external stimuli, and (ii) the self-assembly of these molecules is (also) driven by directed hydrogen-bonding interactions. The diblock oligomers are prepared by ring-opening polymerization of γ-benzyl-L-glutamate N-carboxyanhydride using a primary amine-terminated oligo(styrene) as the initiator. The diblock oligomers form thermotropic liquid-crystalline phases, whose supramolecular organization depends both on the relative block-lengths and on the conformation of the peptide segment.


During the last decade, 'Hybrid Warfare' has become a novel yet controversial term in academic, political and professional military lexicons, intended to suggest some sort of mix between different military and non-military means and methods of confrontation. Enthusiastic discussion of the notion has been undermined by conceptual vagueness and political manipulation, particularly since the onset of the Ukrainian crisis in early 2014, as ideas about Hybrid Warfare engulf Russia and the West, especially in the media. Western defense and political specialists analyzing Russian responses to the crisis have been quick to confirm that Hybrid Warfare is the Kremlin's main strategy in the twenty-first century. But many respected Russian strategists and political observers contend that it is the West that has been waging Hybrid War, Gibridnaya Voyna, since the end of the Cold War. In this highly topical book, Ofer Fridman offers a clear delineation of the conceptual debates about Hybrid Warfare. What leads Russian experts to say that the West is conducting a Gibridnaya Voyna against Russia, and what do they mean by it? Why do Western observers claim that the Kremlin engages in Hybrid Warfare? And, beyond terminology, is this something genuinely new?


Count data can be analyzed using generalized linear mixed models when observations are correlated in ways that require random effects. However, count data are often zero-inflated, containing more zeros than would be expected from the typical error distributions. We present a new package, glmmTMB, and compare it to other R packages that fit zero-inflated mixed models. The glmmTMB package fits many types of GLMMs and extensions, including models with continuously distributed responses, but here we focus on count responses. glmmTMB is faster than glmmADMB, MCMCglmm, and brms, and more flexible than INLA and mgcv for zero-inflated modeling. One unique feature of glmmTMB (among packages that fit zero-inflated mixed models) is its ability to estimate the Conway-Maxwell-Poisson distribution parameterized by the mean. Overall, its most appealing features for new users may be the combination of speed, flexibility, and its interface's similarity to lme4.