Users increasingly benefit from the capability of wireless networks and mobile devices that deliver and process multimedia content in compressed forms. For the display of a high quality video, a mobile device usually decodes and then down-samples it to fit the original image to their small screen. But this arrangement requires extra energy and computing complexity for down-sampling. In this paper, we introduce a video decoding framework which obviates separate down-sampling process for mobile devices. Simulation results show a saving of 26 to 49 % of the total energy required for decoding at the cost of a 0.9 to 6.1% degradation in picture quality.


Thesis abstract

This dissertation is a contribution to the philosophy of mental disorder with a focus on children and youth and questions about what interventions they need.

I start by asking whether non-suicidal self-harm in youth is a mental disorder. Non-suicidal self-harm involves someone causing themselves harm with no intent to try to kill themselves. Young people cutting themselves alone and when with peers may be viewed as destructive, abnormal and irrational. Yet, I argue that non-suicidal self-harm in youth is never a mental disorder in its own right. Although non-suicidal self-harm in youth is not a disordered behaviour, that does not imply that it never merits intervention.

This leads to the question of what criteria should be applied when deciding whether to offer mental health interventions. I claim that whether one has a mental disorder should not determine whether one is offered a mental health intervention. The argument is made through considering the cases of non-suicidal self-harm in youth and unruly behaviour in children and youth. Unruly behaviour includes a wailing toddler, a child deliberately breaking items and a youth crossing police lines when protesting.

Unruly behaviour is another interesting case. In some instances, there is a high likelihood of negative outcomes for some children and youth who are behaving in an unruly way. However, unruly behaviour may also be part of a passing phase and helpful for development. Furthermore, in some cases, unruly behaviour may be praiseworthy, and encouraging unruliness may advance an individual's welfare. The case of unruly behaviour, then, raises the question of when mental health clinicians should intervene.

The cases of non-suicidal self-harm and unruly behaviour help make my central claims. I say that behaviours and thoughts that are usually part of a passing phase and produce goods appropriate to that phase of life are not mental disorders; that managing life in the best way one can with the abilities available at a particular stage of life is not disordered; and, furthermore, that whether one has a mental disorder should not determine whether one is offered a mental health intervention. Finally, I say that, rather than depending on whether a person has a mental disorder, interventions should be offered only when they will advance the welfare of the service user.

My dissertation will appeal to philosophers. I also hope that youth, parents, teachers, clinicians, policy makers and similar will be interested in the contents. This is because important practical questions are asked that challenge common views, and that guide policies and clinical practice to improve the welfare and service outcomes for children and youth.


: In this study, a low-power, high-speed, layout-ef fi cient 8 b × 8 b unsigned parallel multiplier based on pair-wise algorithm with wave-pipelining is introduced. Simpli fi ed interconnection and data propagation in forward direction with no feedback in pair-wise multiplication technique is the key to achieve high-performance wave-pipelined multiplier. In the proposed work, normal process complementary pass-transistor logic is used to build all the leaf cells of combinational block. The input/output registers are designed with high-performance pulse-triggered true single-phase clocking fl ip fl op. Post-layout simulation with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited 0.18 µm single-poly double-metal complimentary metal oxide semiconductor technology using Tanner EDA V.13 shows that the proposed multiplier works at 6.25 GHz clock frequency and achieves the throughput of 6.25 billion multiplications per second with average power dissipation of 18.54 mW and overall latency of 3.24 ns at 25°C temperature and at 2 V supply rail.


BACKGROUND
Early identification of hearing loss has led to routine fitting of hearing aids in infants and young children. Amplification provides opportunities to optimize child development, although it also introduces challenges for parents to navigate. Audiologists have a central role in providing parents with support to achieve effective management strategies and habits.

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to explore current practices of pediatric audiologists who work with children birth to 5 yr of age, regarding their support of parent learning in achieving effective hearing aid management, identify existing gaps in service delivery, and to determine if audiologists were receptive to receiving training related to effective approaches to provide counseling and support to parents.

RESEARCH DESIGN
A cross-sectional, population-based survey was used.

STUDY SAMPLE
Three hundred and forty-nine surveys were analyzed from pediatric audiologists who provided services to children birth to 5 yr of age. Responses were received from 22 states in the United States.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Responses were collected through the mail and online. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the information.

RESULTS
More than half (61%) of the audiologists in the study had been providing pediatric hearing aid services to children birth to 5 yr of age for >10 yr. Of the audiologists who reported monitoring hours of hearing aid use, the majority reported that they used data logging (90%). More than half of the audiologists (57%) who shared data logging with parents reported that they encountered defensiveness from parents when addressing hearing aid use. Information and skills that were not routinely provided by one-third to one-half of the audiologists included the following: how to get access to loaner hearing aids (30%), available hearing aid options/accessories (33%), available financial assistance (36%), how to teach hearing aid management to other caregivers (38%), how to do hearing aid maintenance (44%), and how to do a Ling 6 sound check (52%). Many audiologists reported they did not frequently collaborate with speech-language pathologists (48%), early interventionists (47%), or physicians (68%). More than half of the audiologists indicated a desire for more training in counseling skills, for all 14 items queried, to support parents with hearing aid management (53-79%), regardless of their previous training experience.

CONCLUSIONS
For young children with hearing loss to achieve optimal benefit from auditory experiences for speech and language development, they need evidence-based, comprehensive, and coordinated hearing aid management. Audiologists have an important role for teaching information and skills related to hearing aids, supporting parent learning, and collaborating with other providers. Pediatric audiologists in this study recognized and desired the need for further training in counseling skills that can better prepare them to meet the emotional needs of parents in the hearing aid management process.


Introduction African, Caribbean and Black (ACB) communities are disproportionately infected by HIV in Ontario, Canada. They constitute only 5% of the population of Ontario yet account for 25% of new diagnoses of HIV. The aim of this study is to understand underlying factors that augment the HIV risk in ACB communities and to inform policy and practice in Ontario. Methods and analysis We will conduct a cross-sectional study of first-generation and second-generation ACB adults aged 15–64 in Toronto (n=1000) and Ottawa (n=500) and collect data on sociodemographic information, sexual behaviours, substance use, blood donation, access and use of health services and HIV-related care. We will use dried blood spot testing to determine the incidence and prevalence of HIV infection among ACB people, and link participant data to administrative databases to investigate health service access and use. Factors associated with key outcomes (HIV infection, testing behaviours, knowledge about HIV transmission and acquisition, HIV vulnerability, access and use of health services) will be evaluated using generalised linear mixed models, adjusted for relevant covariates. Ethics and dissemination This study has been reviewed and approved by the following Research Ethics Boards: Toronto Public Health, Ottawa Public Health, Laurentian University; the University of Ottawa and the University of Toronto. Our findings will be disseminated as community reports, fact sheets, digital stories, oral and poster presentations, peer-reviewed manuscripts and social media.


Renewable power generators are increasingly being integrated to electricity networks to achieve future renewable energy targets in power generation. In particular, wind power generation has already reported substantial penetration levels in electricity networks. Traditionally, flicker phenomenon is considered to be one of the power quality issues in power distribution networks due to fluctuating consumer loads connected to the network. Large-scale integration of wind power generators may create significant voltage fluctuations in distribution feeders due to stochastic and intermittent nature of the wind resources. This study aims to investigate and characterize the flicker emission under different control strategies for DFIG based wind generators. This study demonstrates a direct correlation between flicker emission and wind generator control strategies under different wind and network conditions. Therefore, additional control strategies should be implemented together with the main control strategy to reduce flicker emission during variable wind conditions.


Background One approach to eliminating sexually transmitted Infections (STIs) in a community is to screen high-risk persons, followed by the treatment and education of people who test positive. We examined a Triplex PCR assay to detect urine samples in pregnant women. major goal of this study was to determine the prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct.), Neisseria gonorrhoeae (Ng.) and Ureaplasma Urealyticum (Uu.) and to apply a Triplex PCR techniques to detect 3 pathogens in one specimens. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 399 pregnant adolescents women. All participants received prenatal care and delivered at urban hospital in Sabzevar- Iran. A socio- demographic questionnaire was completed. A Triplex PCR with universal primers was developed for screening of subjected women in this study. Descriptive and univariate analyses were performed to describe disease prevalence. Results Of pregnant adolescents, 15.28% were diagnosed with either Ct., Ng. or Uu.infection. The prevalence of Ct. was 12.28%, and that of Ng 1.25% and finally 19.54% of pregnant had Uu. infection. In univariate analysis, Ct. was associated with having had any level of education (P < 0.05), abortion (P < 0.05), and Uu. was associated with PTD (P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis did not show any significant association. Conclusions Compared with available data, a decline of STIs prevalence was observed in our setting. This might be the result of community-based education programmes focusing on changes to sexual behaviour. However, STIs rates are still high, and the problem needs more concrete and sustained efforts for its control. Screening for Ct., Ng. and Uu.is recommended during pregnancy. Based on our finding in this study, the overall high incidence of Ct.and Uu. support screening recommendations for pregnant women in Sabzevar- Iran.


Incorporating graph side information into recommender systems has been widely used to better predict ratings, but relatively few works have focused on theoretical guarantees. Ahn et al. (2018) firstly characterized the optimal sample complexity in the presence of graph side information, but the results are limited due to strict, unrealistic assumptions made on the unknown preference matrix. In this work, we propose a new model in which the unknown preference matrix can have any discrete values, thereby relaxing the assumptions made in prior work. Under this new model, we fully characterize the optimal sample complexity and develop a computationally-efficient algorithm that matches the optimal sample complexity. We also show that our algorithm is robust to model errors, and it outperforms existing algorithms on both synthetic and real datasets.


The authors report their observation of Fano-like resonance in a metallic nanostructured array consisting of constituent overlapping gold nano-rectangles, which leads to the possibility of generating a dual-band extinction spectrum. The calculated extinction cross-sections of the nanostructure under linearly polarized light excitations, by the boundary element method, are in excellent agreement with the observed results. Electromagnetic model analysis of plasmon modes at the Fano dip in the extinction spectrum reveals that this mode is an anti-bonding mode sustained by the constituent overlapping nano-rectangles, whereas the other plasmon modes are resonant with bonding modes. The excited Fano dip is highly sensitive in both wavelength and amplitude to the background dielectric medium. The tunability of induced Fano resonance associated with an enhanced electric field in the visible region suggests promising applications, particularly in refractive index sensing.


— This paper is focused firstly on production of monomers bis (2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET) and oligomers by using Nano zinc oxide with different particle size (55&94) nm with different weight ratio (0.05, 0.15 and 0.5) by using chemical recycling glass condenser at 190˚C. The second purpose is to study the effect of catalyst ratio, time of reaction and yield of products of the product. Elemental analysis for Carbon –Hydrogen and Nitrogen (CHN), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) have been investigated. Results indicated the catalytic activity was found to correlate with surface area; however, Nano ZnO (55) nm has shown an exceptional activity, still it is higher than Nano ZnO (94) nm in order to reduce the reaction time until 60 minutes instead of 7 hours without catalyst. The analysis of the thermograms has indicated the presence of various kinds of monomer, dimer and oligomers that are formed during the recycling; this is particularly evident due to new peaks indicating the formation of BHET monomer and oligomer of lower molecular masses. Nano catalyst.


The four pieces that make up this work are taken from Muldoon's Oxford Clarendon Lectures of 1998. Together, they take the form of an A-Z, or abecedary of Irish literature, in which his imagination forges links between disparate aspects and individuals in the Irish literary landscape, ranging back and forth between modern and medieval. From Beckett and Bowen, through MacNeice, Swift and Yeats - and guided throughout by Joyce - "To Ireland, I" moves lightly through the long grass of Irish writing. The result is a provocative handbook for the literary traveller, who is treated to an astonishing display of scholarship and idiosyncratic inwardness from Irish literature over the course of a millennium.


Variants are the new units suggested for component-based software implementation to contain just one set of features that a traditional component might normally contain. They help us to implement the specialization of components without the need for long inheritance trees and strong dependencies in object oriented counterpart. Variants can become very effective in component customization process when the variant production is automated by means of variant generators.

In this paper we provide a simple component-based methodology based on the variants that help us to implement software in pure component-based manner. Such an approach guarantees the execution of a uniform processes throughout the whole software development operation. A system produced by our methodology has the capacity to produce many generic and domain specific components as by-products that can be utilized in further applications. Our methodology includes the activities to identify, represent, decompose and optimize the components, sub-components and their variants.


Despite federal, state, and local school efforts to quell bullying, anti-bullying efforts fall short and student reports of bullying continue to increase. Students representing marginalized identity groups are subject to multiple forms of discrimination and seek solidarity with similarly marginalized peers in order to counter feelings of alienation and isolation. For multi-marginalized students, the likeliness of alienation and isolation increase, oppression is compounded, and the challenges of identity negotiations increase. At the intersection of multi-marginalized identities, there is an increased prevalence of social homelessness--a term used to describe a student who upon first glance should be wholly accepted in one or more social categories; however, because of his or her competing identities, the individual is unable to fully participate in the life of the social group without hiding a part of his/her identity. Although educational research around this topic recognizes how the stratification that exists in the larger society plays a significant role in how students manage their minority identities in schools, little qualitative research has been undertaken to investigate the complexities of identity gaps when individuals are multi-marginalized. Further, educational leaders tasked with creating bully-free schools that are safe and socially just for multi-marginalized students are without a theoretical lens to facilitate their understanding of their students' lived experience or engage in critical discourse on debunking the racist and heterosexist hegemonies that exist in schools. Consequently, the purpose of this qualitative study was to understand and make sense of how multi-marginalized students negotiate their identities, and to provide educators with a heuristic theory that informs their approach to school leadership. Utilizing constructivist grounded theory as a conceptual framework, I sought to unpack the k-12 stories of multi-marginalized individuals with bifurcated identities, and to generate substantive theory regarding social homelessness. Through semi-structured interviews with 14 African American men who identify as same-gender-loving (SGL), I collected data on (a) how African American SGL males negotiated their multi-marginalized identities in k-12 educational spaces; and (b) what impact--if any--their identity negotiation had on the relationships they built with other students, particularly students who belonged to only one of their marginalized identity groups. The initial data and field notes were analyzed using a grounded theory coding paradigm to explore causal relationships and significant patterns. The substantive theory that emerged from the study is grounded in the participants' experiences and depicts social homelessness as the central phenomenon among participants. This theory cites three causal conditions to social homelessness: alienation, shame, and lack of acceptance from peers. It also highlights four ways students respond to being socially homeless: over-achieving, seeking peer validation, becoming invisible and privileging identities. Because this study was intended to heuristically support the work of principals, the most important aspect of the theory of social homelessness is the notion that adult intervention has the potential to change outcomes for socially homeless students. Although these findings suggest the need for further research on multi-marginalized identity negotiation, the substantive theory of social homelessness that emerged from the study can serve as a heuristic lens useful to educational leaders as they construct socially just climates in their schools.


The volume integral equation used in the method of moments based resistance and inductance extractors is reduced to a novel surface integral equation featuring a global surface impedance boundary condition as well as a product of volume and surface integral operators. The reduction is achieved by employing the equivalence principle representation of the electric field in the conductor cross-section via equivalent surface current density on the conductors' boundary. As no approximation is utilized in the reduction of the volume integral equation to the surface one, the method of moment solution of the latter does not compromise the accuracy of volumetric current approximation.


B223 Background
 Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the five most common cancers worldwide. The prognosis of HCC is poor and the metastatic rate is high in HCC patients. However, the mechanism of HCC metastasis remains largely unclear. Here we investigated the potential role of SDF-1 and its receptor, Chemokine (C-X-C motif) receptor 4 (CXCR4), in HCC metastasis and explored the therapeutic potential of CXCR4 blockade for the treatment of HCC metastasis.
 Methods and Results
 This study included three parts. In vitro, higher levels of CXCR4 expression were detected in metastatic HCC cell lines (MHCC 97H and MHCC 97L) than non-metastatic cell line (PLC) by western blot, flow cytometry, and immuno-fluorescent staining. Interestingly, metastatic cell lines secreted lower levels of SDF-1 into the culture medium than non-metastatic cells. SDF-1 up-regulated adhesion molecule ICAM-1, induced filapodia formation and stimulated the chemotaxis of MHCC97L and MHCC97H cells. Blockade of CXCR4 activity by CXCR4 antagonist, CTCE-9908 (Chemokine Therapeutics Corp.) inhibited SDF-1 mediated migration of MHCC97L and MHCC97H cells at 5 µM. On the other hand, CTCE-9908 suppressed proliferation of tumor cells and induced cell apoptosis with doses higher than 100 μM. In contrast, CTCE-9908 did not arrest cell cycle progression even at the highest doses.
 In vivo, an orthotopic HCC model was induced by injection of MHCC97L cells into the left lobe of the liver of nude mice and the tumor-bearing mice were treated with CTCE-9908 for 6 weeks. Administration of CTCE-9908 subcutaneously significantly decreased the number of circulating tumour cells and decreased the number of metastatic tumor nodules in the lung. A mild inhibitory effect on tumor growth was also observed with CTCE-9908 treatment.
 The expression of CXCR4 in human HCC tumor and non-tumorous tissues was investigated by immunohistochemisty. CXCR4 was highly expressed in tumour tissues with different staining patterns. Diffused nuclear and cytoplasmic staining was identified in the non-metastatic tumor tissues, while strong nuclear staining only was detected in the tumor tissues with secondary lung metastasis.
 ConclusionSDF-1/CXCR4 axis plays an important role in the migration and metastasis of HCC. Blockade of SDF-1/CXCR4 interaction is a potential therapeutic strategy for the treatment of HCC metastasis.


From the Publisher:
With computers becoming embedded as controllers in everything from network servers to the routing of subway schedules to NASA missions, there is a critical need to ensure that systems continue to function even when a component fails. In this book, bestselling author Martin Shooman draws on his expertise in reliability engineering and software engineering to provide a complete and authoritative look at fault tolerant computing. He clearly explains all fundamentals, including how to use redundant elements in system design to ensure the reliability of computer systems and networks.
Market: Systems and Networking Engineers, Computer Programmers, IT Professionals.


This study determined relationship of knowledge and health practices of the respondents to diabetes mellitus II tendency. It further determined the influence of the demographic and health profile to diabetes mellitus II tendency. Data from 101 respondents were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results of the correlation analysis reveal that demographic profile such as education and income has a strong positive correlation but age has negative correlation to knowledge. Knowledge is strongly correlated to health practices when treated as a whole. However, when knowledge was correlated with the individual dimensions of health practices, only dietary intake emerged to be related. Age, body mass index, and waist-to-hip ratio showed a positive relationship and education indicated a negative relationship when demographic and health profiles were correlated to diabetes mellitus II tendency. However, health practices and their dimension, when correlated to diabetes mellitus II tendency, did not show any relationship. The predictors of diabetes mellitus II tendency, based on the model generated by AMOS, were age and body mass index . When the two are combined as one variable, it could explain a total of 22% of the magnitude of variance in diabetes mellitus II


This paper investigates the application of the legal stigma of infamia (disrepute) in Late Antiquity. The legal status is used as a lens through which to view the changing systemic, religious, and social landscapes between the reigns of Diocletian and Justinian, indicating the various uses and, ultimately, abuses of the status, as well as the marked consequences of expanding its definition. The use of the legal status to marginalize religious deviants in particular is inspected. This analysis reveals that the amendment of infamia to include heretics, apostates, and pagans signals the use of classical law to define orthodoxy and to articulate the anxiety over the pagan-Christian religious transition. The unforeseen consequences of infamia9s expansion were the abetment of violence in the fourth and fifth centuries. Moreover, the disqualification of religious deviants from serving on curial councils had a noticeable impact on some municipalities in the later empire, and may have created a loophole with which to avoid curial service altogether.


One ultimate goal of synthetic chemistry is to install or manipulate any functional group at any position of a molecule. This Account discusses the potential and possible approaches to use catalysis to enable a reaction to occur at one of many C-H bonds or at one of several nearly identical functional groups.


Abstract The value of macroalgae to the pharmaceutical and food industries has increased, due to their richness in compounds with relevant biological activities and health effects. However, there are still many species that are worth exploring, like the edible Fucus spiralis L., widespread throughout the European and African Atlantic coasts. In order to demonstrate the phycochemical, pharmacological and nutritional potential of F. spiralis, this work presents a comprehensive review of studies regarding the bioactivities of F. spiralis extracts and their phycochemicals. A critical analysis of studies is presented, identifying the challenges and opportunities, and unveiling the knowledge gaps in order to guide future research with this alga. Although the studies performed so far have shown the potential of F. spiralis, this review shows that there is still a big gap in the knowledge about its metabolites. In this context, it is suggested that future investigations should focus more on the isolation and unequivocal structural characterization of the metabolites, such as phlorotannins. In addition, some weaknesses in the reviewed literature are mentioned here, which should be avoided in future work, in order to allow a better evaluation of the validity of results and their comparison.


ABSTRACT Extended-spectrum-β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing pathogens are associated with extensive morbidity and mortality and rising health care costs. Scant data exist on the impact of antimicrobial therapy on clinical outcomes in patients with ESBL bloodstream infections (BSI), and no large studies have examined the impact of cefepime therapy. A retrospective 3-year study was performed at the Detroit Medical Center on adult patients with BSI due to ESBL-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae or Escherichia coli. Data were collected from the medical records of study patients at five hospitals between January 2005 and December 2007. Multivariate analysis was performed using logistic regression. One hundred forty-five patients with BSI due to ESBL-producing pathogens, including K. pneumoniae (83%) and E. coli (16.5%), were studied. The mean age of the patients was 66 years. Fifty-one percent of the patients were female, and 79.3% were African-American. Fifty-three patients (37%) died in the hospital, and 92 survived to discharge. In bivariate analysis, the variables associated with mortality (P < 0.05) were presence of a rapidly fatal condition at the time of admission, use of gentamicin as a consolidative therapeutic agent, and presence of one or more of the following prior to culture date: mechanical ventilation, stay in the intensive care unit (ICU), and presence of a central venous catheter. In multivariate analysis, the predictors of in-hospital mortality included stay in the intensive care unit (odds ratio [OR], 2.17; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.98 to 4.78), presence of a central-line catheter prior to positive culture (OR, 2.33; 95% CI, 0.77 to 7.03), presence of a rapidly fatal condition at the time of admission (OR, 5.13; 95% CI, 2.13 to 12.39), and recent prior hospitalization (OR, 1.92; 95% CI, 0.83 to 4.09). When carbapenems were added as empirical therapy to the predictor model, there was a trend between empirical carbapenem therapy and decreased mortality (OR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.26 to 1.50). When added to the model, receipt of empirical cefepime alone (n = 43) was associated with increased mortality, although this association did not reach statistical significance (OR, 1.66; 95% CI, 0.71 to 3.87). The median length of hospital stay was shorter for patients receiving empirical cefepime than for those receiving empirical or consolidated carbapenem therapy. In multivariate analysis, empirical therapy with cefepime for BSI due to an ESBL-producing pathogen was associated with a trend toward an increased mortality risk and empirical carbapenem therapy was associated with a trend toward decreased mortality risk.


Utility-maximizing consumption and investment strategies in closed form are unknown for realistic settings involving portfolio constraints, incomplete markets, and potentially a high number of state variables. Standard numerical methods are hard to implement in such cases. We propose a numerical procedure that combines the abstract idea of artificial, unconstrained complete markets, well-known closed-form solutions in affine or quadratic return models, straightforward Monte Carlo simulation, and a standard iterative optimization routine. Our method provides an upper bound on the wealth-equivalent loss compared to the unknown optimal strategy, and it facilitates our understanding of the economic forces at play by building on closed-form expressions for the strategies considered. We illustrate and test our method on the life-cycle problem of an individual who receives unspanned labor income and cannot borrow or short sell. The upper loss bound is small, and our method performs well in comparison with two existing methods.

This paper was accepted by Wei Xiong, finance.


Jing Liu, PhD, is Senior Study Director, Westat, Inc., Rockville, MD. OBJECTIVE. The relation between prenatal cocaine exposure and quality of movement was studied at 4 mo using the Posture and Fine Motor Assessment of Infants (PFMAI–I). METHOD. Posture and fine motor scores of 4-month-old infants exposed to cocaine in utero (n 5 370) were compared with an unexposed group (n 5 533) within the context of gestational age, medical and demographic characteristics, and level of prenatal substance exposure using the PFMAI–I. RESULTS. Infants prenatally exposed to cocaine had significantly lower posture scores than infants in the unexposed group. There was no main effect of cocaine exposure on fine motor scores; however, there were independent effects of gestational age at birth on both posture and fine motor scores at 4-mo corrected age. CONCLUSION. These findings demonstrate independent contributions of prenatal cocaine exposure and prematurity to risk of motor delay and support the validity of the PFMAI–I as a measure of motor competence in early infancy.


The CMS apparatus was identified, a few years before the start of the LHC operation at CERN, to feature properties well suited to particle-flow (PF) reconstruction: a highly-segmented tracker, a fine-grained electromagnetic calorimeter, a hermetic hadron calorimeter, a strong magnetic field, and an excellent muon spectrometer. A fully-fledged PF reconstruction algorithm tuned to the CMS detector was therefore developed and has been consistently used in physics analyses for the first time at a hadron collider. For each collision, the comprehensive list of final-state particles identified and reconstructed by the algorithm provides a global event description that leads to unprecedented CMS performance for jet and hadronic tau decay reconstruction, missing transverse momentum determination, and electron and muon identification. This approach also allows particles from pileup interactions to be identified and enables efficient pileup mitigation methods. The data collected by CMS at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV show excellent agreement with the simulation and confirm the superior PF performance at least up to an average of 20 pileup interactions.


Cervin, A. 2019. Popliteal Artery Aneurysms epidemiology, treatment and results. Digital Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Medicine 1568. Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. ISBN 978-91-513-0642-1. Popliteal aneurysms (PA) are limb threatening, since the aneurysm thrombose and emboli from the aneurysm sac occlude the distal vessels, resulting in chronic or acute limb ischaemia. Open surgical repair (OSR) has been challenged by endovascular repair (ER), a minimal invasive technique. Little is known of long-term result, and comparisons of the methods have been difficult, since patients chosen for ER are mainly asymptomatic and have better outflow. The overall aim of this thesis was to study epidemiology and risk factors to optimize patient selection and techniques for surgical treatment of PA. Papers I and II: Data on all patients treated 2008-2012 (592 PAs in 499 patients) were analysed in the Swedish Vascular registry, Swedvasc. Patency was inferior after ER, in particular for patients with acute ischaemia. Nested in this cohort, a case-control study was performed, and the legs treated by ER (77) were matched, by indication, with twice the number treated with OSR (154). Medical records and radiologic images were collected and examined in a core-lab. In this matched cohort, the only independent risk factors for occlusion were ER and poor outflow. In a sub-group analysis of ER, risk factors for occlusion were acute ischaemia, poor out-flow, smaller stent graft diameter and elongation. Paper III: Prevalence of PA was studied in men, screened for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and of sub aneurysmal aorta, 25-29 mm. Prevalence of PA was high, 14.2%, and correlated with dilatation of the iliac arteries. Paper IV: Operations for ruptured PA (rPA) were identified in Swedvasc 1987-2012, medical records were reviewed. Compared with patients treated for other indications, they were 8 years older, had twice as large aneurysms (mean 64 mm) and many were treated with anticoagulants. The initial clinical picture was misleading. In conclusion, when treating PA the preferred surgical technique is OSR with a vein graft. Anatomical features of the popliteal artery and outflow vessels affect outcome. These findings are important for future surgical decision making.


A 28-year-old asexual Malaysian male presented for emergency assessment with suicidal thoughts, paranoid delusions and increasing time spent on ritualistic behaviours that included hand washing, door checking and religious chanting. His obsessions were primarily related to counting, perfectionism, contamination and chanting. The patient found himself compelled to complete numerous rituals including chanting religiously to 1000, having to restart in the event of an error during such and also described delusions of being followed by a woman who was analysing his life pattern in order to steal from him. He then started to proclaim himself to be Buddha as he believed this would keep his dead grandmother away from him, thus avoiding supposed persecution from her. Following optimisation of both escitalpram and olanzapine, a slight reduction in the patient's ritualistic behaviour and psychotic phenomenon were witnessed.


Deep Neural Networks are state-of-the-art in a large number of challenges in machine learning. However, to reach the best performance they require a huge pool of parameters. Indeed, typical deep convolutional architectures present an increasing number of feature maps as we go deeper in the network, whereas spatial resolution of inputs is decreased through downsampling operations. This means that most of the parameters lay in the final layers, while a large portion of the computations are performed by a small fraction of the total parameters in the first layers. In an effort to use every parameter of a network at its maximum, we propose a new convolutional neural network architecture, called ThriftyNet. In ThriftyNet, only one convolutional layer is defined and used recursively, leading to a maximal parameter factorization. In complement, normalization, non-linearities, downsamplings and shortcut ensure sufficient expressivity of the model. ThriftyNet achieves competitive performance on a tiny parameters budget, exceeding 91% accuracy on CIFAR-10 with less than 40 k parameters in total, 74.3% on CIFAR-100 with less than 600 k parameters, and 67.1% On ImageNet ILSVRC 2012 with no more than 4.15 M parameters. However, the proposed method typically requires more computations than existing counterparts.


This paper reports on a study which investigated the collaborative interaction patterns exhibited by five-year-old pre-primary children in an educational computer environment. A case study method was used in one pre-primary centre in a metropolitan city, to examine the patterns of collaborative interaction among young children whilst engaged, in dyads, with the computer within a naturalistic classroom environment. A total of 243 interactions were identified and classified into 16 interaction patterns. Factors facilitating and inhibiting collaborative interaction were identified as: developmental appropriateness of the software; preexisting computer competency and attitude towards computer; mutual friendship between collaborators; children's social goals; appropriate structure of enjoyable learning environment; mutual understanding of the turn-taking system; and non-isolated physical settings. In effect, this study shows that early childhood educators will be in a better position to integrate the computer into their classroom and to promote positive prosocial interaction among children whilst engaged at the computer, if it were to be afforded the same status as other traditional early childhood learning materials and activities.


"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?" There are few legal phrases that the layperson can repeat verbatim; this is one of them. But how many people truly understand the nuances and ramifications of testifying under oath? Many assume that if they do not provide the "whole truth" under oath, they will face a perjury charge. However, perjury is a charge often threatened but rarely used. The offense requires that the defendant willfully and knowingly make a false statement, under oath, regarding a material fact.

The federal perjury statute does not contemplate a scenario in which a defendant (or declarant, deponent, witness, or interviewee) withholds truthful information in an attempt to mislead the questioner and alter the outcome of a judicial proceeding — in sum, not telling the "whole truth." But, in Bronston v. United States, the Supreme Court considered just this situation, holding that the language of the federal perjury statute does not contemplate a defendant who intentionally omits material information. Instead, the Court broadly ruled that "literally truthful" answers are categorically forbidden from being the basis of perjury. The Court placed the burden on the questioner to elicit the desired answer from a witness when confronted with a literally truthful, yet unresponsive and misleading answer. Such an onus suggests that all questioners possess the abilities of a mind reader.

This Article demonstrates that the Bronston Court created unforeseen consequences. Currently, a sophisticated defendant can dodge a perjury charge by providing a literally true answer while omitting pertinent information. Sometimes, these answers communicate a lie, but as long as they are literally truthful under the Bronston Court's broad interpretation, a defendant could never face a perjury charge. Congress can fill the holes of this decision by amending the federal perjury statutes to criminalize those who intentionally give incomplete or misleading responses regarding material information under oath.


There are many factors that impact student learning, with quality educators being one of the most important elements for student success. Accordingly, the promotion of quality teacher preparation programs has become a priority for tertiary institutions, researchers, policymakers and practitioners. There is a known disparity between tertiary experiences and the classroom reality that leaves graduate teachers feeling unprepared for the teaching profession.  Employing a contextualized learning approach such as situated learning theory in teacher preparation programs can reduce this gap and successfully prepare graduate teachers for the teaching arena. This research project surveyed one cohort (n=154) at the conclusion of a four-year initial teacher education program, and again six months after graduation, as well as analyzed the subject outlines of the core final year subjects. The study found that the final year of the program incorporated the key tenets of situated learning theory, integrated theory and practice, and prepared the graduates for the realities of the teaching profession by effectively contextualizing their tertiary learning.


This Note investigates the wisdom and validity of 40 CER. § 124.55(b), a Clean Water Act regulation promulgated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as part of the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting program. The Clean Water Act provides affected states with an opportunity to certify federally administered NDES permits before issuance by EPA. State certification is a meaningful moment in water quality regulation, and judicial review of these critical decisions takes place in state courts. Unfortunately, 40 C.ER. § 124.55(b), designed to bring certainty and finality to permit-holders, effectively removes state courts from the process of ensuring that state certifications are legally sufficient after permit issuance. In doing so, the regulation dismantles an essential tool of the Clean Water Act. It also renders 40 CER. § 124.55(b) invalid. Thus, 40 C.ER. § 124.55(b) should be repealed by EPA or invalidated by the courts, so that environmental organizations can effectively challenge illegal state certifications. While significant legal obstacles-standing, jurisdiction, and statutes of limitations, to name a few-stand in the way of a challenge to the validity to 40 CER. § 124.55(b), there is a good chance that such a challenge could ultimately find success.


Extraordinary architectural examples of shell structures have been built using reinforced masonry and concrete. The current sparse use of this construction type can be attributed, among other reasons, to a lack of simple design methods, tools and criteria. Extended Limit Analysis of Reinforced Masonry (ELARM) is a new method for the structural analysis and design of reinforced concrete, reinforced masonry or reinforced composite (masonry and concrete) arched structures. It is implemented computationally to create a flexible design and analysis tool, able to provide immediate graphical and intuitive results. The method is based on limit analysis but takes into account the material's limited compressive strength and the vault's cross-sectional bending capacity provided by the reinforcement as an equivalent increase of the thickness. The plastic theorems are then applied considering the new virtual boundaries of the vault's intrados and extrados. ELARM is validated through the comparison of its predictions with the results of load tests on two full-scale composite barrel vaults. The vaults feature a structural system composed of a two-layered tile vault as an integrated formwork for a reinforced concrete layer. They were tested under vertical loading up to failure. Both the vertical and horizontal displacements of the vaults were monitored during the tests. The characterisation of the materials composing the vaults was also carried out to introduce the measured material properties and strengths in the equilibrium equations for the computation of the new virtual thickness. This paper presents the new structural analysis and design method, its experimental validation and some practical design examples to show the potential of the tool. It offers an intuitive process of design in which shape can be adapted and optimised, also having the material properties and thickness, loads and reinforcement quantity and placement as variable parameters. The presented examples include reinforcement optimisation and form-finding procedures and the analysis of a non-compression-dominated structure.


The University of Huddersfield has benefited from an increase in the number of foreign students who have brought our courses and campus an international dimension and so provided a global perspective for British students unable or unwilling to study abroad. However, the increase in non-native English speakers (NNESs) has brought challenges for tutors who want to make their courses accessible and engaging for all of their students.

This guide derives from a University Teaching and Learning Project which considered issues related to the use of English by NNES students. Having researched the experience and opinions of NNES students and staff who work with them, it seeks to identify and disseminate good practice for tutors that will benefit NNES students, without adversely affecting native English speakers. The full project report is available for anyone who is interested.

The emphasis here is on the use of English, although to divide language from broader concepts of culture, identity and thought is highly questionable, and entails arbitrary distinctions. Similarly, the important area of internationalisation of the curriculum is beyond the scope of this guide. Nevertheless, this restricted focus on language allows tutors to at least begin to analyse their courses so as to open them up to NNESs, without detriment to native English speakers.

The points for consideration below relate to two areas:

• The period prior to the start of a University course, including the setting of linguistic entry requirements

• Teaching strategies

The suggestions and questions that follow are only tentative because staff know their own courses. Local contingencies and exigencies affect what practice is possible, and what works successfully, so this guide is primarily intended to open a discussion within course teams about working with NNES students.


In analyzing the dialogue between science and religion, the author finds that it is hampered
by three semantic problems. The first denies, or at least undervalues, the two modes of
knowing most apropos to religion: the emotional and the intuitive/mystical modes. Secondly, the uncritical use of language causes considerable confusion. The third problem
limits discussion to what Stephan Schwartz has called the \"Grand Material Paradigm.\" As
the conclusion of the essay, a precis of an alternate cosmology is presented.


A seven-month-old male collie was brought to our clinic with complaints of exhaustaion and fatigue for the past month, inability to stand on its hind legs, loss of voice and anorexia for the past week. In clinical examination, increase in heart frequency, difficulty in lifting the head, tetraparesis, regurgitation and urinary incontinence were observed. MG was suspected and 0.05 mg/kg i.m. neostigmine methylsulfate was given for clinical diagnosis. A positive response was seen within 30 minutes of drug application. The same drug was administered 3 hours later and the same positive clinical findings were observed. The disease was diagnosed as MG. The serum AChR antibody concentration was determined to be 0.03 nmol/l. Pyridostigmine bromide was used for four weeks and prednisolone was used for two weeks. The patient was able to walk normally after 15 days and had a good appetite. The dog was sent back home in good health six weeks later and the disease did not relapse for more than two years.


The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical analysis of a widely accepted risk discourse. This discussion presents a range of data which aims to highlight weaknesses in the widespread application of the 'risk society' thesis (Beck 1992). This paper uses the lives of young people as a context specific example. This selection of quantitative and qualitative data, taken from a school-based case study, is juxtaposed against theoretical reasoning throughout this paper. Three main assumptions made by the 'risk society' thesis are critiqued using this empirical data: (1) risk is a negative concept, (2) risk is aligned with uncertainty and worry, and (3) those living in the 'risk society' have become sceptical of expert opinions. The conclusion suggests that by using pockets of mixed methodology the extensive acceptance of the 'risk society' thesis can be critiqued. By stimulating this debate it becomes clear that each of the individual criticisms need further research. This paper provides a platform for future empirical work which would look to strengthen the social constructionist framework involved in an appreciation of risk, moving away from the recent trend in grand risk theorising, to context specific data collection and explanation.


This paper investigates the relationship between fiscal consolidation, business plans and firm investment. Based on a detailed narrative of tax changes in Germany covering 40 years of fiscal adjustments, we define and exploit the exogenous variation of tax bills to quantify the effect of tax changes on firm future investment plans as well as on realized investment. We find that firms in the manufacturing sector revise downwards their planned investment by about 4% subsequently to a tax increase equal to 1% of the value added in the total manufacturing industry. On the contrary realized investment growth drops by around 8% at impact. Furthermore we find that income and consumption taxes are most harmful to investment and that firms base their investment plans considering laws currently under discussion, anticipating future tax changes. Not taking into account this anticipation effect would lead to strongly biased estimates.


During the last two decades, molecular genetic studies and the completion of the
 sequencing of the Arabidopsis thaliana genome have increased knowledge of
 hormonal regulation in plants. These signal transduction pathways act in concert through
 gene regulatory and signalling networks whose main components have begun to be elucidated.
 Our understanding of the resulting cellular processes is hindered by the complex, and
 sometimes counter-intuitive, dynamics of the networks, which may be interconnected through
 feedback controls and cross-regulation. Mathematical modelling provides a valuable tool to
 investigate such dynamics and to perform in silico experiments that may not be easily
 carried out in a laboratory. In this article, we firstly review general methods for
 modelling gene and signalling networks and their application in plants. We then describe
 specific models of hormonal perception and cross-talk in plants. This mathematical
 analysis of sub-cellular molecular mechanisms paves the way for more comprehensive
 modelling studies of hormonal transport and signalling in a multi-scale setting.


Species introduced deliberately or inadvertently by humans to areas outside their native ranges affect native species in many ways. Some impacts, such as predation and herbivory, are obvious, but others are subtle and may result from complex, sometimes indirect interactions of more than two species. No habitat or area is immune to impacts of introduced species, but some sorts of sites, such as anthropogenically disturbed areas and oceanic islands, are particularly prone to invasions. Arrival of a new invader may lead to evolution by both the invader and native species with which it interacts.

Keywords:

chain reaction;
invasional meltdown;
nonindigenous species;
predation


Background and Objectives
This study examined the effect of a Paid Family Leave program in California (CA-PFL) on employment among middle-aged female caregivers. We also examined differences in the relationship between the availability of paid family leave (PFL) and employment in socioeconomic subgroups of midlife women.

Research Design and Methods
Data came from multiple years (2000‒2014) of the Current Population Survey (CPS) (N = 68,773 individuals). Applying a Difference in Differences (DiD) approach to removing potential selection biases related to program participation, we used a logistic regression to estimate the effects of PFL.

Results
There was a significant increase in the likelihood of working based on CA-PFL. This positive effect, however, was found only among the early middle-aged, the near-poor, and those had the highest level of education.

Discussion and Implications
Among the late middle-aged, caregiving burden may not affect decisions on whether to exit the labor market, and PFL may not significantly mitigate the well-known negative effects of intense and multiple caregiving roles (parents, spouse, and/or children with disabilities). Future studies should examine PFL effects and their correlates such as age-cohorts, caregiving intensity, and retirement patterns. The unexpected null findings of CA-PFL's effect on employment outcomes for the poor and those with low education levels suggests these vulnerable groups might not be able to fully benefit from the originally intended goal of the policy, instead being left more vulnerable compared to the near poor. Such a possibility increases the importance of focused research and policymaking attention for this group.


Field and laboratory data and theoretical analyses reported in the literature suggest that the rate of dissolution of minerals depends on the density of dislocations in the crystal structure. However, new data for the re action of sanidine at 95°C in dilute aqueous solutions at pH = 3 show no significant differences in the rates or stoichiometry of mass release for undeformed and experimentally deformed sampies with low and high dislocation densities, respectively. Stoichiometric and thermodynamic analyses of the aqueous solution data suggest periods of initial preferential release of K relative to SiOz, followed by stoichiometric release of K and SiOz, and then incongruent precipitation of a silica-bearing phase. However, the Na to K release ratio is greater than the stoichiometric ratio in the sanidine. Preferential secondary mineral precipitation at deforma tion features leads to AI:SiOz ratios that are lower in solutions in experiments with deformed sanidine than in the undeformed sanidine experiments. Scanning electron microscopy shows development of etch pits in both deformed and undeformed specimens, but the relation between etch pits and dislocations is equivocal. Key-words : feldspar dissolution, dislocations, etch pits, stoichiometric dissolution, incongruent precipitation.


Organizational commitment is one of the key that determines the success of an organization. Apparatus which has a high commitment to the organization will show a caring attitude towards his work, have the responsibility in carrying out their duties and be loyal to the organization. Based on the background and formulation of the problem, this study aims to analyze the influence of motivation and organizational climate on employee organizational commitment of the Regional Secretariat of Batam. The population in this study were employees of the Public Relations, Division of General and Regional Secretariat of the Protocol Section of Batam amounted to 75 people. Data was collected using questionnaires, variables in this research is independent variable motivation (X I) and Organizational Climate (X2), whereas the related variable is the commitment of the organization (Y I). The results showed that motivation has a significant influence on organizational commitment variable, it is shown with SPSS significance value (0.000) ttable (1992) and organizational climate also have a significant and positive impact on organizational commitment, it is shown by the significant value of SPSS (0.000) ttable (1992), while the motivation and organizational climate collectively having a significant relationship shown by the high significance of SPSS (0000) value of Ftable (3.124). In conclusion in this research is that motivation, organizational climate within the Regional Secretariat of Batam are collectively creating high commitment and certainly will ensure the quality of governance that must be maintained and improved the qualities.


It was aimed in this study to determine the effect of the number of joints in frames produced from Oriented Strand Board (OSB) and of the type of adhesive on the diagonal tensile strength (DTS) of the frame. With this objective, a total of 152 specimens were prepared from OSB in accordance with the principles in the EN 2470 test standard. The diagonal tensile test was applied to the specimens in the universal test equipment in accordance with ASTM-D 1037. According to the statistical analysis of the data obtained from the tests, the number of dovetail joints and the type of adhesive had significant effects on the DTS. The highest DTS (0.117 N/mm2) was obtained in the specimens with a single dovetail joint and bonded with the PVAc adhesive. This alternative was followed by the specimens with a double dovetail joint bonded with the PVAc adhesive (0.078 N/mm2) and the specimens with a single dovetail joint bonded with the PU adhesive (0.073 N/mm2). The lowest DTS occurred in the specimens with single and double joints without adhesive. According to these results, adhesive should definitely be used in the corner joining of the dovetail joints, and the single dovetail joint joining type bonded with PVAc adhesive is preferred.


Text classification is widely used in many real-world applications. To obtain satisfied classification performance, most traditional data mining methods require lots of labeled data, which can be costly in terms of both time and human efforts. In reality, there are plenty of such resources in English since it has the largest population in the Internet world, which is not true in many other languages. In this paper, we present a novel transfer learning approach to tackle the cross-language text classification problems. We first align the feature spaces in both domains utilizing some on-line translation service, which makes the two feature spaces under the same coordinate. Although the feature sets in both domains are the same, the distributions of the instances in both domains are different, which violates the i.i.d. assumption in most traditional machine learning methods. For this issue, we propose an iterative feature and instance weighting (Bi-Weighting) method for domain adaptation. We empirically evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of our approach. The experimental results show that our approach outperforms some baselines including four transfer learning algorithms.


Operational prediction of excessive convective rainfall and the ensuing urban flooding has been an integral part of the Urban Drainage and Flood Control District's (UDFCD) Flash Flood Prediction Program (F2P2) since 1979. The primary goal of this program is to provide advance warning of flash flooding potential to the appropriate county and city officials to evoke timely response. In the past three years of the program, increasing use has been made of microcomputer technology to assist in assessing rainfall potential and disseminating timely communication to local officials. Microcomputer based models of convective cloud rainfall production are linked to a surface meteorological data network and satellite delivered weather data services to provide continuing assessment of heavy rainfall potential in the program response area. A micro-based expert system is used to assist in the prediction of associated severe weather occurrences. Finally, electronic mail is used to assist in the delivery of forecasts and assessments of the flash flood potential to F2P2 users through an electronic bulletin board.


Abstract This paper is concerned with the task of incrementally acquiring and refining the knowledge and algorithms of a knowledge-based system in order to improve its performance over time. In particular, we present the design of DE-KART, a tool whose goal is to provide increasing levels of assistance in acquiring and refining indexing and retrieval knowledge for a knowledge-based retrieval system. DE-KART starts with knowledge that has been entered manually, and increase its level of assistance in acquiring and refining that knowledge, both in terms of the increased level of automation in interacting with users, and in terms of the increased generality of the knowledge. DE-KART is at the intersection of machine learning and knowledge acquisition: it is a first step towards a system which moves along a continuum from interactive knowledge acquisition to increasingly automated machine learning as it acquires more knowledge and experience.


A computationally efficient molecular dynamics implementation of a polarizable force field parametrized from ab initio data is presented. Our formulation, based on a second-order expansion of the energy density, models the density response using Gaussian basis functions derived from density functional linear response theory. Polarization effects are described by the time evolution of the basis function coefficients propagated via an extended Lagrangian formalism. We have devised a general protocol for the parametrization of the force field. We will show that a single parametrization of the model can describe the polarization effects of LiI in the condensed phase.


The reproduction number R, the average number of people that a single individual with a contagious disease infects, is central to understanding the dynamics of the COVID-19 epidemic. Values greater than one correspond to increasing rates of infection, and values less than one indicate that control measures are being effective. Here, we summarise how changes in the behaviour of individuals alter the value of R. We also use matrix models that correctly recreate distributions of times that individuals spend incubating the disease and being infective to demonstrate the accuracy of a simple approximation to estimate R directly from time series of case numbers, hospital admissions or deaths. The largest uncertainty is that the generation time of the infection is not precisely known, but this challenge also affects most of the more complex methods of calculating R. We use this approximation to examine changes in R in response to the introduction of lockdown restrictions in England. This suggests that there was a substantial reduction in R before large scale compulsory restrictions on economic and social activity were imposed on 23rd March 2020. From mid-April to mid-June decline of the epidemic at national and regional level has been relatively slow, despite these restrictions (R values clustered around 0.81). However, these estimates of R are consistent with the relatively high average numbers of close contacts reported by confirmed cases combined with directly measured attack rates via close interactions. This implies that a significant portion of transmission is occurring in workplaces; overcrowded housing or through close contacts that are not currently lawful, routes on which nationwide lockdown will have limited impact.


Global observations of quasi-zonal jet-like structures have recently been reported in estimates of upper ocean circulation. To date, these observations have come primarily from float-derived and altimeter-derived estimates of zonal velocity. Here, we explore the existence of similar structures in the ocean using satellite-derived estimates of sea surface temperature (SST) from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for the Earth Observing System (AMSR-E). Applying an ocean front detection algorithm globally to microwave measurements of SST, we find that repeated ocean fronts occur along quasi-zonal bands in a multiyear (2002–2011) average of detections. Such a pattern is also observed in SST gradient magnitude. Composite analyses of SST, sea surface height (SSH), and upper ocean temperatures from Argo profiling floats suggest repeated fronts in the subtropics occur as a result of neighboring anticyclonic and cyclonic eddies. Horizontal advection in the presence of a background temperature gradient likely plays a role as evidenced by the tilt of temperature anomalies with depth. High gradient events found within the bands are observed to propagate westward with speed comparable to mesoscale eddies and we estimate these events explain 20% of the observed variance in SST gradient magnitude (2002–2011). In a final analysis, we regress the decay of the bands with averaging period and observe mild-to-strong persistence throughout much of the World Ocean. These findings support the view that propagating eddies help give rise to the bands. Whether or not eddies follow preferred paths remain unanswered.


COSKUN, F. and E. CAKIR, 2014. Effect of the addition of different spices on some characteristics of boza during storage. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 20: 1079-1084 The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of cinnamon, sage, lemon and clove on some properties of boza during storage. Crude boza s with spices was fermented for 1 day, and they were stored in the refrigerator for 5 days (the end of fermentation was the first day of storage). Both a decrease in the amount of total sugar (%), pH and viscosity, and a steady increase in ethyl alcohol (%) and acidity (%) values of all boza were observed during storage. Properties in lemon boza changed most. The highest reduction of total mezophilic aerobic bacteria and lacticacid bacteria counts was obtained in clove boza and sage boza, respectively. However, the highest reduction of yeast count was detected in clove, cinnamon and sage boza. In this study, coliform bacteria, mould and Staphylococcus aureus were not found. According to the sensory analysis, on the first day of storage, the highest score was in lemon boza in terms of appearance, in cinnamon boza in terms of flavors and in sage boza in terms of consistency. On the fourth day, the highest score was in plain boza in terms of appearance, in cinnamon boza in terms of flavor sand consistency. There was a positive impact of adding spices on the shelf life and aroma of boza. Modifications are not enough in boza studies. Therefore, this study is important in terms of contributing to studies in this direction.


A novel caspase-like activity, which is directly regulated with cell proliferation is a candidate to regulate the abundance of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, p27(KIP1), in human lymphoid cells. This activity, which we term KIPase activity, can also cleave a subset of caspase substrates. Here we demonstrate that KIPase is a novel enzyme distinct from any of the previously characterized human caspases. We show that KIPase is active in a variety of cell lineages, its activity is associated with the proliferation of the human T-cell line, Jurkat, and is not inhibited by the broad spectrum caspase inhibitor z-VAD-fmk. Gel filtration analysis revealed that KIPase has a native molecular mass of approximately 100-200 kDa. Furthermore, the activity of KIPase does not change during apoptosis induced by either ligation of FAS or exposure of cells to etoposide. The uniqueness of KIPase is demonstrated by the fact that none of the human caspases tested (1-10) are able to cleave a specific KIPase substrate (Ac-DPSD-AMC) and that an aldehyde modified derivative of the DPSD tetra peptide is unable to inhibit caspases, but is a good inhibitor of KIPase activity. This supports a hypothesis whereby KIPase is a currently unidentified caspase-like enzyme which regulates the abundance of p27(KIP1) in a proliferation-dependent manner.


Social security benefits designed to meet the extra costs faced by disabled people have been in place since the early 1970s, and currently cost nearly £15 billion per year. Over the period the benefits have enjoyed bilateral political support, and the only major changes (eg in 1992) have been to extend entitlement and increase expenditure. But remarkably little is known about the impact of these benefits exactly what difference they make to claimants care and mobility arrangements, to their overall standard of living, and to their social inclusion and sense of identity. The Department for Work and Pensions is considering how to study the impact of disability benefits in more depth. The Department has commissioned this feasibility study, to summarise the questions and assess alternative research approaches, with a view to launching more detailed investigations.


This paper addresses the issue of automatic classification of the six universal emotional categories (joy, surprise, fear, anger, disgust, sadness) in the case of static images. Appearance parameters are extracted by an active appearance model(AAM) representing the input for the classification step. We show how Relevant Component Analysis (RCA) in combination with Fisher's Linear Discriminant (FLD) provides a good "plug-&-play" classifier in the context of facial expression recognition framework. We test this method against several other classification techniques, including LDA, GDA and SVM, on the Cohn-Kanade database.


A growing demand for energy supply worldwide, coupled with the necessity to reduce emission of greenhouse gases, has led to a renewed interest in nuclear energy as an alternative to fossil fuels for electricity production in the last years. One of the main drawbacks to the development of nuclear energy as a power source has traditionally been the problem of waste disposal. Thermal reactors have a limited capability to burn the minor actinides (such as Np, Am and Cm) which are formed by neutron capture under irradiation and represent the main source of today's nuclear waste problem. Two waste management options are currently available: spent fuel is either conditioned for final storage or it is recycled to extract reusable materials like uranium and plutonium before the remaining materials are vitrified for storage. This book explores a third option: the partitioning of minor actinides from the spent fuel, followed by their transmutation to produce short-lived fission products. Such technologies exploit the waste in a practical and valuable way. The book presents the high-temperature thermodynamic studies of the transuranium oxides and their solid solutions, obtained from the vapor pressure measurements at high temperatures on actinide oxide samples using a Knudsen cell coupled with a mass spectrometer. The experimental work was complemented by thermodynamic evaluations and modelling. Each chapter is dedicated to a systematic study on actinide oxide and constitutes a paper which has been already published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.


The traditional method for proving loop termination requires us to define a bound function of program variables. The criterion in this method is well-defined and can be easy to apply, as such functions are obvious for many loops. However in some cases, it can be very difficult to define a bound function. In this paper, we discuss how to prove loop termination by using alternative methods. First we show how to prove loop termination by solving a recursive relation that defines the number of iterations remaining in any execution state. Then we introduce a step-by-step approach for applying this recursive relation method. This new method can also be used to investigate preconditions that lead to loop termination in non-deterministic cases. Finally, we illustrate another method that uses a more general criterion for proving loop termination. The new criterion is a generalization of the classical one. This paper does not attempt to offer a one-size-fits-all approach. Rather, it provides some alternative methods that make proving loop termination easier in some cases, where termination might otherwise be difficult if not impossible to prove.


Globally, anthropogenic environmental change is exacerbating the already vulnerable conditions of many people and ecosystems. In order to obtain food, water, raw materials and shelter, rural people modify forests and other ecosystems, affecting the supply of ecosystem services that contribute to livelihoods and well-being. Despite widespread awareness of the nature and extent of multiple impacts of land-use changes, there remains limited understanding of how these impacts affect trade-offs among ecosystem services and their beneficiaries across spatial scales. We assessed how rural communities in two forested landscapes in Indonesia have changed land uses over the last 20 years to adapt their livelihoods that were at risk from multiple hazards. We estimated the impact of these adaptation strategies on the supply of ecosystem services by comparing different benefits provided to people from these land uses (products, water, carbon, and biodiversity), using forest inventories, remote sensing, and interviews. Local people converted forests to rubber plantations, reforested less productive croplands, protected forests on hillsides, and planted trees in gardens. Our results show that land-use decisions were propagated at the landscape scale due to reinforcing loops, whereby local actors perceived that such decisions contributed positively to livelihoods by reducing risks and generating co-benefits. When land-use changes become sufficiently widespread, they affect the supply of multiple ecosystem services, with impacts beyond the local scale. Thus, adaptation implemented at the local-scale may not address development and climate adaptation challenges at regional or national scale (e.g. as part of UN Sustainable Development Goals or actions taken under the UNFCCC Paris Agreement). A better understanding of the context and impacts of local ecosystem-based adaptation is fundamental to the scaling up of land management policies and practices designed to reduce risks and improve well-being for people at different scales.


"American Socialists and Evolutionary Thought, 1870-1920" demonstrates how evolutionary theories fundamentally shaped, and ultimately undercut, the American socialist movement. Mark Pittenger examines the attempts of radicals in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to synthesise the evolutionary ideas of Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer with socialist philosophy, social theory and political practice. In contrast to authors who have shown the influence of Darwinism on conservative and progressive political ideologies, Pittenger establishes that radicals also took scientific ideas seriously and wanted to link the public fascination with evolution to their own cause. Looking at theoretical, political and fiction writing by American socialists, Pittenger identifies debates among factions during two distinct periods: the Gilded Age, during which socialism was a fragmented aggregation of largely non-Marxist individuals and organisations; and the Progressive Era, when socialism coalesced into a distinctly Marxist movement, seeking political and economic power via the American Socialist Party. Many activists of both eras saw evolutionary science as the necessary foundation for socialist theory and practice. Some tried in various ways to incorporate pragmatism, cultural relativism, and rights for blacks and women into their programmes, or worked to democratise scientific knowledge in service of the class struggle. But, as a result of the social pressure on socialists to adopt less radical positions and of their own desires to appeal to a broader constituency, the Marxist call for a workers' revolution receded in importance, replaced by the less painful notion that socialism would arrive as the result of natural and inevitable processes. As socialists broadened their message it became difficult to distinguish it from other types of progressive reform. Pittenger's insights regarding the role of evolutionary science in American socialist thought are an important contribution to understanding why socialism has not had more of an impact on modern American society.


The chapter provides an overview of early receptive and productive phonological development in Israeli Hebrew. We report on perception studies which show that Hebrew-learning infants are familiar with the rhythms and phonotactic structures of Hebrew, as demonstrated by their preference for iambic words and for frequent word pattern-structures ( miskalim ). We also describe the emergence of languagespecific phonetic categories, demonstrated by the different responses of Hebrew and Arabic-learning infants. We then summarize findings from prior research regarding the phonological characteristics of the early words produced by Hebrew-learning toddlers. Examination of onset-less word forms produced by a 2-year-old child reveals that onset omission is especially frequent in iambic target words with codas. We discuss these findings from the perspective of wholeword phonology.


There are ongoing security and privacy concerns regarding mobile platforms that are being used by a growing number of citizens. Security and privacy models typically used by mobile platforms use one-time permission acquisition mechanisms. However, modifying access rights after initial authorization in mobile systems is often too tedious and complicated for users. User studies show that a typical user does not understand permissions requested by applications or are too eager to use the applications to care to understand the permission implications. For example, the Brightest Flashlight application was reported to have logged precise locations and unique user identifiers, which have nothing to do with a flashlight application's intended functionality, but more than 50 million users used a version of this application which would have forced them to allow this permission. Given the penetration of mobile devices into our lives, a fine-grained context-dependent security and privacy control approach needs to be created. We have created Mithril as an end-to-end mobile access control framework that allows us to capture access control needs for specific users, by observing violations of known policies. The framework studies mobile application executables to better inform users of the risks associated with using certain applications. The policy capture process involves an iterative user feedback process that captures policy modifications required to mediate observed violations. Precision of policy is used to determine convergence of the policy capture process. Policy rules in the system are written using Semantic Web technologies and the Platys ontology to define a hierarchical notion of context. Policy rule antecedents are comprised of context elements derived using the Platys ontology employing a query engine, an inference mechanism and mobile sensors. We performed a user study that proves the feasibility of using our violation driven policy capture process to gather user-specific policy modifications. We contribute to the static and dynamic study of mobile applications by defining 'application behavior' as a possible way of understanding mobile applications and creating access control policies for them. Our user study also shows that unlike our behavior-based policy, a 'deny by default' mechanism hampers usability of access control systems. We also show that inclusion of crowd-sourced policies leads to further reduction in user burden and need for engagement while capturing context-based access control policy. We enrich knowledge about mobile 'application behavior' and expose this knowledge through the Mobipedia knowledge-base. We also extend context synthesis for semantic presence detection on mobile devices by combining Bluetooth, low energy beacons and Nearby Messaging services from Google.


Aim/Background: Quantitative structure activity relationship studies are important ligandbased methods used in drug discovery process. The development of Quantum mechanics and its application in the study of smaller and macromolecules have accelerated their applications in the field of drug discovery. Extensive developments in QSAR studies (either 2D or 3D) could be the result of progressive applications of Quantum mechanics. Latest drug discovery modules depends solely on the advanced computational methods such as 3D QSAR and molecular docking approach. It is believed that a few drug discovery groups from industries still depend on the 2-dimensional QSAR techniques as a part of the lead optimization. Our study aims on learning the application of five important binary fingerprinting techniques based on the quantum mechanics involving 2D QSAR studies for designing novel pyrazolo quinazolines as selective inhibitors of CDK2/CyclinA. Materials and Methods: A dataset of 47 analogues of pyrazolo quinazolines were selected with their inhibitory activity on CDK2/Cyclin A. The derivatives were divided into training and test sets. The Kernel based partial regression was run using five important binary fingerprints and statistical significance of each fingerprint was analysed. Results: Out of the five fingerprints selected, the fingerprint linear arrived at the optimized 2D QSAR model through the kernel-based regression analysis. The final developed model expressed the importance of the presence of Carboxamide groups on the pyrazole ring that could positively contributes to the inhibitory activity. Conclusion: The developed model could be of use to design better analogues with enhanced selectivity and specificity as inhibitors of CDK2/Cyclin A that would provide a clear insight amongst the researchers for the development of novel and potent clinically useful anticancer agents.


Z-position errors are generally the largest contributor to the uncertainty in sidelobe levels that are measured on a planar near-field range. The position errors result from imperfections in the mechanical rails that guide the motion of the measurement probe and cause it to deviate from an ideal plane. The deviations ( , ) z x y δ can be measured with precise optical and/or laser alignment tools and this is generally done during installation and maintenance checks to verify the scanner alignment. If the measurements are made to a very small fraction of a wavelength in Z and at intervals in X and Y approximating one half wavelength, the sidelobe uncertainty can be estimated with high confidence and is usually very small. For Z-error maps with lower resolution the resulting error estimates are generally larger or have lower confidence. This paper describes a method for estimating the Zposition error from a series of planar near-field measurements using the antenna under test. Measurements are made on one or more planes close to the antenna and on other planes a few wavelengths farther away. The Z-distance between the close and far planes should be as large as the probe transport will allow. The difference between the holograms calculated from the close and far measurements gives an estimate of the Z-position errors. This approach has the advantage of using the actual AUT and frequency of interest and does not require specialized measurement equipment.


In recent years, the field of bioinformatics has seen a surge of interest in the development of interoperability and compatibility standards. These range from standards for data exchange and controlled vocabularies (ontologies) to minimum experimental information and data analytics. To date, the bioinformatics field has been free of the standards litigation that has affected other technology-based industries. But with the increasing adoption of standards by bioinformatics researchers and vendors, the issues faced by other standards groups will become increasingly relevant. This article reports the results of an industry-wide study of bioinformatics standards development activities and the policies and procedures adopted by each such standards development organization. This study suggests that the majority of bioinformatics standards development organizations are ill-equipped to address or deter process abuse and patent hold-up. In many cases, these organizations either lack written policies entirely, or adopt vague, aspirational statements regarding a desire that materials produced to be "open" and publicly available. Accordingly, I recommend that bioinformatics standards-development organizations carefully review their existing policies and procedures. To the extent that they do not address key points regarding process openness and intellectual property, these policies and procedures should be revised. In order to assist organizations with this exercise, I offer a straightforward policy template that can be adapted to the specific needs and requirements of individual bioinformatics standards organizations. It is hoped that these modest prophylactic measures will enable the bioinformatics community to avoid the disruptive and costly standards-related litigation that has affected other industries.


Due to climate change and human activities over the last fifty years, the spring flow volume of karst groundwater has sharply diminished in China. Climate change is one of the critical factors that initiates a series of karst hydrogeologic and water ecological environmental problems, because the precipitation shows a decreasing trend while the temperature shows an increasing trend. The Jinci Spring is one of the largest, most famous springs in northern China. This study employed data from the Taiyuan Meteorological Station and ten precipitation stations in and around the Jinci Spring region as well as the runoff data gathered from two hydrological monitoring stations during 1960–2012. The sliding average method and the Mann-Kendall test were used to analyze the variation tendency of precipitation, temperature, and land evaporation in this area. Finally, the following were calculated: the varying pattern of the karst groundwater recharge amount and the response of the recharge amount to precipitation, land evaporation, and river runoff by quantitative analysis. The results indicated that the precipitation and land evaporation amount decreased at first and then subsequently increased. Likewise, the variation trend of the karst groundwater recharge amount in the spring region was roughly consistent with the precipitation variation pattern. In contrast, the temperature displayed an increasing trend. The climate change resulted in a reduction of the karst groundwater recharge amount, and it had the greatest influence in the 1990s, which caused the karst groundwater recharge amount to decrease 26.75 mm as compared to that of the 1960s (about 39.68% lower than that of the 1960s). The Jinci Spring had zero flow during this period. The reduction in precipitation was one of main factors that caused the cutoff of the Jinci Spring.


This paper proposes a within estimator for three-level data, such as time-variant bilateral trade flows. The estimator helps to address the computational difficulties in estimating, for instance, the gravity model of bilateral trade that needs to control for unobserved country-pair and country-time heterogeneity using fixed effects. Unlike the traditional within transformation that removes cross-sectional heterogeneity, the proposed transformation method removes all three types of heterogeneity, each of which varies in two dimensions of three-level data. We demonstrate the properties of the estimator using empirical examples and Monte Carlo simulations. Simulation results show that the proposed estimators with the adjusted standard errors consistently estimate coefficient parameters and perform correct inference when no data are missing or the missing data are random. When missing data are not random, the proposed within transformation can reduce bias to various degrees, depending on the order of demeaning and sources of bias. As an empirical application, we investigate the WTO effect puzzle by applying the proposed estimator to show that WTO membership has a definite positive effect on bilateral trade flows.


The contemporary approach to political economy is built around vested interests - elites, lobbies, and rent-seeking groups which get their way at the expense of the general public. The role of ideas in shaping those interests is typically ignored or downplayed. Yet each of the three components of the standard optimization problem in political economy - preferences, constraints, and choice variables - rely on an implicit set of ideas. Once the manner in which ideas enter these frameworks is made explicit, a much richer and more convincing set of results can be obtained. In particular, new ideas about policy--or policy entrepreneurship--can exert an independent effect on equilibrium outcomes even in the absence of changes in the configuration of political power.


Objectives: We'd like to present our experience in treating long (>5 cm) anterior urethral stricture by penile skin flap as dorsal on-lay in one-stage procedure. Patient and Methods: Between January 1998 and December 2010, 18 patients (aged from 28-65 years) presented with long urethral stricture, 5.6-13.2 cm, (penile in 6, bulbar in 2, and combined in 10 cases), those were repaired utilizing long penile skin flaps placed as dorsal on-lay flap in one-stage (Orandi flap 6 cm in 6 cases, circular flaps 7-10 cm in 8, and spiral flaps 10-15 cm in 4). Uroflowmetry and RUG were done following catheter removal and at 6 and 12 months. Results: The urethral patency was achieved in 77% of patients. The complications were fistula in 1 patient (5.5%), re-stricture occurred in 3 patients (16.6%) that required visual internal urethrotomy (VIU), and 2 patients (11%) showed curvature on erection that did not interfere with sexual intercourse. Diverticulum (penile urethra) was seen in 1 patient (5.5%) containing stones and was excised surgically. There was penile skin loss in 3 patients (16.6%). All patients completed at least one year follow-up period. Conclusion: Free penile skin flaps offer good results (functional and cosmetic) in long anterior urethral stricture. Meticulously fashioned longitudinal, circular or spiral penile skin flaps could bridge urethral defects up to 15 cm long.


The practice of the Public Utilities Board (PUB) of Singapore is to provide the Singapore public with high quality drinking water. In 2001, in keeping with this practice and due to an increased emphasis on diversification of its water supply, the PUB undertook a major project to expand the capacity of the Chestnut Avenue Waterworks (CAWW) by 273,000 m 3 /d (60 Migd) using membrane technology. In 2003, Zenon Environmental, as part of a team with the owner's engineer, Black & Veatch, main contractor Thames Water Projects/SembCorp Engineers & Constructors and local Zenon licensee, Hyflux Engineering, installed and commissioned a 273,000 m 3 /d enhanced coagulation/ultrafiltration membrane plant - the largest of its type in the world at the time. This paper describes the innovative aspects of the CAWW membrane plant design and summarizes the results of its first year of operation. Certain aspects of the full-scale system design are particularly noteworthy. Whereas typical immersed membrane systems employ expensive process pumps to create the vacuum necessary to produce filtrate, the CAWW system relies on a simple siphon to produce filtrate. No permeate pumps are required and this dramatically reduces capital and operating cost through simplified design, reduced controls and minimized floor space. The land area needed for membrane filtration and related process equipment is equivalent to obtaining 180 m 3 /d of capacity per m 2 of land area.


Background The antibody specificities of an infant progressively form in response to infections, environmental exposures, and vaccinations. While many adults develop antibodies to self-antigens, it remains unknown if these are present in infants and toddlers. Methods Serum, peripheral blood, and clinical data have been collected from 102 healthy children (1–2 year of age). ANA titers were measured by QuantiaLite ELISA (Inova) and reactivity to 125 diverse autoantigens tested by autoantibody array. Targeted sequencing was performed in 60 children to capture HLA alleles and potentially pathogenic genetic variations in 100 plus loci that are implicated in various autoimmune, rheumatic and immune system related diseases. Sequencing libraries were made using KAPA Biosystems kits. Custom target oligos were synthesized from Nimblegen. Deep sequencing was performed using Illumina HiSeq 4000 platform. Sequencing reads were aligned to reference genome and variants were called using GATK Pipeline. Secondary data analysis is done using Metlab, GraphPad Prism, Haploview and Golden Helix programs. Results Approximately 28% of very young children have moderate to high-titer autoantibodies, similar to adults, however, no female gender bias was observed. Significant differences between the child and adult immune repertoires were seen. Some samples demonstrated strong signatures of non-nuclear antigens reactivities. Interestingly, the ANA positive group of children exhibited significantly high titers of anti-alpha fodrin IgG (p=0.01), an autoantibody reported in juvenile Sjogren's syndrome. Analysis of sequencing data identified regulatory polymorphisms in HLA class II and III regions that were associated with ANA positivity. About 8% of the ANA positive children also carried autoimmune disease associated HLA-DR-DQ alleles. HLA alleles and regulatory haplotypes were analyzed in relation to various clinical features in children. Serum C4 level measured in subset of ANA positive children identified few with reduced expression. Conclusions While the immune repertoire of very young children is typically thought of as naïve and self-tolerant, a significant fraction of very young children makes autoantibodies as detected by commercial ANA ELISA and autoantigen arrays. This supports the conclusion that ANA and other autoantibodies are consequences of general body development and immune upregulation and not markers of pathology. One of the major genetic determinants of 'pre-clinical' autoimmunity as measured by ANA is the human major histocompatibility locus, HLA. Within HLA, several 'endophenotypes' emerge, including expression of a complement protein involved in immune complex removal, as well as multiple proteins associated with antigen presentation, including MHC class II. These findings support the idea that there is quantifiable genetic risk for the development of autoimmunity that can be measured in very young individuals.


In this paper, we present TransDec, an end-to-end-data-driven system which enables spatiotemporal queries in transportation systems with dynamic, real-time and historical data. TransDec fuses a variety of real-world spatiotemporal datasets including massive traffic sensor data, trajectory data, transportation network data, and point-of-interest data to create an immersive and realistic virtual model of a transportation system. With TransDec, we address the challenges in visualization, monitoring, querying and analysis of dynamic and large-scale transportation data in both time and space.


Logistic Bandits have recently attracted substantial attention, by providing an uncluttered yet challenging framework for understanding the impact of non-linearity in parametrized bandits. It was shown by Faury et al. (2020) that the learning-theoretic difficulties of Logistic Bandits can be embodied by a large (sometimes prohibitively) problem-dependent constant $\kappa$, characterizing the magnitude of the reward's non-linearity. In this paper we introduce a novel algorithm for which we provide a refined analysis. This allows for a better characterization of the effect of non-linearity and yields improved problem-dependent guarantees. In most favorable cases this leads to a regret upper-bound scaling as $\tilde{\mathcal{O}}(d\sqrt{T/\kappa})$, which dramatically improves over the $\tilde{\mathcal{O}}(d\sqrt{T}+\kappa)$ state-of-the-art guarantees. We prove that this rate is minimax-optimal by deriving a $\Omega(d\sqrt{T/\kappa})$ problem-dependent lower-bound. Our analysis identifies two regimes (permanent and transitory) of the regret, which ultimately re-conciliates Faury et al. (2020) with the Bayesian approach of Dong et al. (2019). In contrast to previous works, we find that in the permanent regime non-linearity can dramatically ease the exploration-exploitation trade-off. While it also impacts the length of the transitory phase in a problem-dependent fashion, we show that this impact is mild in most reasonable configurations.