Abstract Ponatinib is a pan-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) with efficacy in multirefractory CML patients who have failed other TKIs. Despite excellent response rates, resistance or intolerance may develop. We conducted a retrospective review of the outcome of patients with chronic (CP) and accelerated (AP) phase CML refractory to prior TKI who discontinued ponatinib for resistance or intolerance. Nineteen CP patients, discontinued due to resistance (n = 13), toxicity (n = 5) and to pursue stem cell transplantation (n = 1). At discontinuation, 14 were still in CP, three had progressed to AP and two to blast phase (BP). Three CP patients improved their cytogenetic response (CyR) to complete CyR (CCyR), two after SCT and one on omacetaxine. None of the 12 patients, without a major cytogenetic response at ponatinib discontinuation, including all patients treated with subsequent TKIs, responded to therapy. Seventeen AP patients, stopped ponatinib due to resistance (n = 15) or intolerance (n = 2). At discontinuation, 14 were still in AP and three had progressed to BP. Four patients were treated with SCT and one achieved major molecular response. None of the 12 patients treated with non-SCT approaches responded to subsequent therapy. Median survival for all patients was 16.6 months after ponatinib discontinuation (31, 9 and 13 months for patients in CP, AP and BP, respectively). Median survival was 60 months for patients who discontinued ponatinib for toxicity and 11 months for those who discontinued for resistance. Long-term outcome of patients with ponatinib failure are poor with estimated one-year OS and EFS rates of 54% and 40%, respectively. New treatment options are required for this subset of patients.


ABSTRACT Microsphere technology was used to develop formulations of rifampin for targeted delivery to host macrophages. These formulations were prepared by using biocompatible polymeric excipients of lactide and glycolide copolymers. Release characteristics were examined in vitro and also in two monocytic cell lines, the murine J774 and the human Mono Mac 6 cell lines. Bioassay assessment of cell culture supernatants from monocyte cell lines showed release of bioactive rifampin during a 7-day experimental period. Treatment of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv-infected monocyte cell lines with rifampin-loaded microspheres resulted in a significant decrease in numbers of CFU at 7 days following initial infection, even though only 8% of the microsphere-loaded rifampin was released. The levels of rifampin released from microsphere formulations within monocytes were more effective at reducing M. tuberculosis intracellular growth than equivalent doses of rifampin given as a free drug. These results demonstrate that rifampin-loaded microspheres can be formulated for effective sustained and targeted delivery to host macrophages.


The authors propose a criterion for the comparison of different sampling strategies (synchronous, asynchronous and random) and filtering algorithms used in digital instruments which provide the estimate of the time average of a signal processed with a nonlinear conversion of multiple inputs (e.g. wattmeters, RMS voltmeters, . . .). This criterion uses the Bayesian approach to incorporate, for every sampling strategy, any prior information on the influences of each incidental quantity which can vary the output of the instrument, transforming this output into a statistic. The asymptotic mean-squared error of the measurements has been assumed as an estimator of the error and its general expression, valid for the most common sampling strategies used in practice, has been deduced. This asymptotic error is a function of the frequency response of the digital filter used and, eventually, of the characteristic function of the probability distribution selected for the random variables generating the sampling instants. The particular formulae for different sampling strategies and filtering algorithms are discussed and compared


Intracellular transport via the microtubule motors kinesin and dynein plays an important role in maintaining cell structure and function. Often, multiple kinesin or dynein motors move the same cargo. Their collective function depends critically on the single motors' detachment kinetics under load, which we experimentally measure here. This experimental constraint—combined with other experimentally determined parameters—is then incorporated into theoretical stochastic and mean-field models. Comparison of modeling results and in vitro data shows good agreement for the stochastic, but not mean-field, model. Many cargos in vivo move bidirectionally, frequently reversing course. Because both kinesin and dynein are present on the cargos, one popular hypothesis explaining the frequent reversals is that the opposite-polarity motors engage in unregulated stochastic tugs-of-war. Then, the cargos' motion can be explained entirely by the outcome of these opposite-motor competitions. Here, we use fully calibrated stochastic and mean-field models to test the tug-of-war hypothesis. Neither model agrees well with our in vivo data, suggesting that, in addition to inevitable tugs-of-war between opposite motors, there is an additional level of regulation not included in the models.


Background: Patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) have symptoms related to severe anemia, edema, and heart failure. Although dialysis improves ESRD syndromes, the optimum timing for initiation of dialysis is unclear. Recent observational studies have suggested that early commencement of dialysis can be harmful. Given that early dialysis may increase the risk of death, avoiding an early start to dialysis is recommended. Patients with diabetic nephropathy (DN) may have risk factors for early dialysis. However, the risk factors for early dialysis are unclear in ESRD patients with DN. The aim of this study was to elucidate the risk factors for early initiation of dialysis in patients with DN and ESRD. Methods: From April 2009 to December 2012, we identified Japanese DN patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate of less than 15 mL/minute/1.73 m 2 . The patients were divided into late or early dialysis groups based on the timing of start of dialysis. Results: We evaluated 52 patients who commenced dialysis during the observation period, including 33 in the late dialysis group and 19 in the early dialysis group. There was a significant association between early dialysis and age $ 65 years (odds ratio 4.59). The incidence of pneumonia before starting dialysis was significantly higher in elderly patients than in nonelderly patients. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that elderly patients with DN and ESRD have an increased risk of early initiation of dialysis, and occurrence of pneumonia is also associated with early dialysis. To avoid early commencement of dialysis, booster pneumococcal vaccination could be useful in elderly DN patients with ESRD.


Prostate specific antigen (PSA) is still the best available tumour marker in prostate cancer (PCa), but presents some limits. Therefore, there is a need for novel markers in the detection and management of PCa. The 80-kDa soluble form of E-cadherin (sE-cad) and the cytokine IL-6 are being discussed as supplemental serum markers for PCa. In this study, sE-cad and IL-6 serum levels were determined in patients with pathological localized or locally advanced PCa without any previous treatment. These patients underwent radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP) in accordance with the EAU Guidelines on Prostate Cancer. The molecules were determined via immunoenzymatic assays in samples collected before and after surgery. Statistical analysis was performed by Student's t-test and Pearson's correlation test. sE-cad levels were 6.0 ± 2.7 and 4.6 ± 2.3 µg/ml, before and after RRP, respectively. A highly statistically significant decrease in sE-cad concentrations after RRP was observed (p<0.0001), in 50/61 patients (82%). sE-cad levels before and after surgery were correlated (Pearson's correlation coefficient, r=0.6993, p<0.0001). sE-cad values detected after surgery were higher in patients with PSA levels >10 ng/ml (p<0.05). sE-cad levels before RRP were significantly higher in patients with G3 tumours compared to those with G2 tumours (p<0.02). Finally, sE-cad concentrations both before and after surgery were higher in tumours with Gleason score =7 compared to those with Gleason score <7 (p<0.002 and p<0.05, respectively). Preliminary data from 20 patients indicated a statistically significant increase in IL-6 levels after RRP (11.2 vs. 7.2 pg/ml, p<0.001). This is the first study on the reduction in sE-cad levels after RRP in PCa patients. Moreover, it shows that preoperative sE-cad concentrations are higher in patients with less differentiated PCa. Promising findings of this pilot study may lead to investigation of sE-cad in a larger study with follow-up.


Dr. Paul O'Neill is an independent curator, artist and writer based in Bristol. Until recently, he was the Great Western Research Alliance (GWR) Research Fellow in Commissioning Contemporary Art with Situations at the University of the West of England, Bristol.

O'Neill has curated or co-curated more than fifty exhibition projects including: We are Grammar, Pratt Manhattan Gallery, New York (2011); Coalesce: happenstance, SMART, Amsterdam (2009); D.B, Four Gallery, Dublin (2008); Tape Runs Out, Text and Work Gallery, Bournemouth (2007); Intermittent, Gallery for One, Dublin (2007); Making Do, The Lab, Dublin (2007); Our Day Will Come, Zoo Art Fair, London (2006); General Idea: Selected Retrospective, Project, Dublin (2006); Mingle-Mangled, as part of Cork Caucus, Cork (2005); La La Land, Project, Dublin (2005). He is an associated visiting lecturer on the de Appel Curatorial Programme and on the MFA Curating, Goldsmiths, London. His writing has been published in many books, catalogues, journals and magazines and he is a regular contributor to Art Monthly. He is reviews editor for Art and the Public Sphere Journal and on the editorial board of The Exhibitionist and The Journal of Curatorial Studies. He is editor of the curatorial anthology, Curating Subjects (2007), and co-editor of Curating and the Educational Turn with Mick Wilson (2010), both published by de Appel and Open Editions (Amsterdam and London), and Locating the Producers: Durational Approaches to Public Art (Amsterdam, Vaiz, 2011) edited with Claire Doherty. He is currently working on an authored book with MIT Press, entitled The Culture of Curating, Curating Culture(s), (2012).


In Japan, regular blueberry harvest season is very limited, from June to September. Due to the increased demand of Japanese customers, year-round production of blueberry fruit has become important to compensate the amount of import of fresh and frozen blueberry. Therefore, in Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT), we established a plant factory controlled environment with four seasons to develop new cultivation methods for year-round production by accelerating plant's life cycle. In this study, we investigated morphological characters of blueberry plants for year-round production and its fruit quality in response to different light wavelengths using light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in the plant factory. Three-year-old 'Sharpblue' plants were irradiated with 100% blue (B) (459 nm), 100% red (R) (631 nm), 1:1 = red:blue (R and B), respectively. Fluorescent light (F) was used as control. Other environmental factors were set the same for all treatments and control. At 165 days after treatment, (R and B) treated plants and control ones showed satisfying vegetative growth with flowers and high potential for continuous flowering, while plants under (B) were retarded in growth with cessation of shoot elongation, showing low potential for continuous flowering although many flowers were observed during the study. However, the strongest plant vigor with bigger leaves but few flowers were found in plants treated with (R). In terms of fruit quality, higher Brix% and less acidity were found in fruits under (R and B) and (B) than in those of the other plants applied with (R) and (F). Bigger fruit size and heavier fruit weights were found in plants under (R and B). Thus, these results suggest that light quality has a strong influence on continuous flowering for year-round and high-quality fruit production in blueberry.


The public policy debate on the appropriate American response to climate change is now in full swing. There are no longer significant voices disputing that climate change is real or that it is primarily the result of human activity. The issue today is what the United States should do about climate change given the risks the country faces and the likely economic impacts. The question is whether putting a price on carbon domestically is worth the cost.In this Article we make the case that the United States should act aggressively to mitigate the effects of climate change. In doing so we take on and debunk the "climate change winner" argument, which asserts that the United States is likely to fare well in a warmer world, at least compared to most other states and, therefore, faces no rational incentive to invest in expensive mitigation efforts that will largely benefit other states. In this view, impacts on the United States are best addressed through a strategy of adaptation rather than mitigation - the construction of both literal and figurative sea walls to reduce the effects of global warming. The dominant response to this argument has been an appeal to a perceived moral obligation on the United States based on its wealth and its historical greenhouse gas emissions. Though we are sympathetic to this moral argument, this Article takes a different approach.We demonstrate that even if one accepts that the premises of the climate change winner argument - that impacts on the United States will be less severe than elsewhere and that the United States is not morally obliged to help foreign states - the case for American action on climate change is strong. Considering only the narrow self-interest of the United States, we show that the climate change winner argument is wrong.We explain that existing estimates systematically underestimate the likely economic impact of climate change, and we provide rough estimates of what a more complete accounting would reveal. The sources of downward bias in existing models are numerous and include undue optimism about future warming, overlooked asymmetries around expected increases in temperature, and a failure to account for catastrophic events, non-market costs, cross-sectoral impacts, and impacts on productivity. Also ignored by existing estimates are the ways in which climate change impacts abroad will spillover into the United States through economic effects, national security, migration and disease, creating additional costs.This Article shows that climate change is not simply a problem for the rest of the world. It is far likelier than current models suggest to lead to serious negative consequences for the United States. If this is so, the country should take prompt and aggressive action to address climate change, not out of benevolence or guilt, but out of simple self-interest.


Curcumin, a safe nutritional component and a highly promising natural antioxidant with a wide spectrum of biological functions, has been examined in several metal toxicity studies, but its role in protection against mercury toxicity has not been investigated. Therefore, the detoxification and antioxidant effects of curcumin were examined to determine its prophylactic/therapeutic role in rats experimentally exposed to mercury (in the from of mercuric chloride‐HgCl2, 12 µmol kg−1 b.w. single intraperitoneal injection). Curcumin treatment (80 mg kg−1 b.w. daily for 3 days, orally) was found to have a protective effect on mercury‐induced oxidative stress parameters, namely, lipid peroxidation and glutathione levels and superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and catalase activities in the liver, kidney and brain. Curcumin treatment was also effective for reversing mercury‐induced serum biochemical changes, which are the markers of liver and kidney injury. Mercury concentration in the tissues was also decreased by the pre/post‐treatment with curcumin. However, histopathological alterations in the liver and kidney were not reversed by curcumin treatment. Mercury exposure resulted in the induction of metallothionein (MT) mRNA expressions in the liver and kidney. Metallothionein mRNA expression levels were found to decrease after the pre‐treatment with curcumin, whereas post‐treatment with curcumin further increased MT mRNA expression levels. Our findings suggest that curcumin pretreatment has a protective effect and that curcumin can be used as a therapeutic agent in mercury intoxication. The study indicates that curcumin, an effective antioxidant, may have a protective effect through its routine dietary intake against mercury exposure.


The paper questions the widespread perception according to which Tuaregs' relationship to citizenship would be characterized by hostility, skepticism or indifference, a perception which is often applied to transnational minorities, in particular when they are associated to a mobility culture and/or a remote territory. It focuses on both mobile and sedentary Tuaregs from Niger and Mali in their various and complex relationship to state membership, which spans legally from statelessness to multiple citizenship, and practically from semi-passive attitudes toward the state to active assimilation. The paper shows how new forms of belonging, including belonging to the state(s), have emerged among Tuaregs together with the reconfiguration of territorial and community bonds, and seeks to assess the impact of some variables, such as mobility and territorial localization, on individual and collective attitudes towards citizenship.


In this work, we present non-contact atomic force microscopy (nc-AFM) and Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) simulations of the (001) surface of silver and supported MgO thin films. From the calculated force spectroscopy, we predict atomic resolution at tip-surface distances of less than 5 A. For KPFM, we study the influence of charges localized on either the tip or on the surface on the Kelvin voltage. It is shown that the Kelvin voltage changes when the tip is placed above an MgO monolayer, only if the layer has a permanent net dipole. For point charges on the silver surface we examine the lateral resolution in the distance range of 1 to 3 nm, which is the standard working distance in KPFM. We show that point charges appear as nanometer large spots in Kelvin images, which is due to a long-range electrostatic interaction with the tip apex. [DOI: 10.1380/ejssnt.2011.6]


Galaxy clusters play a leading role in both present and planned
cosmological investigations. They represent the biggest collapsed structure of the Universe, sitting on top of the highest peaks of the dark matter density field. These objects are considered from long time as cosmological probes; the possibility to link their observed properties to the fundamental quantities of their host haloes,
modelled as a function of cosmological parameters, is in fact very concrete.
The advantage in using these objects for this kind of studies
comes from a) the presence of multiple independent methods covering
the whole spectrum to determine the total halo mass: this helps in understanding the systematics that affect different procedures and then provide a robust mass estimate; b) the less sophisticated modelling required to link the observations with cosmologically relevant quantities, as for these masses the baryon physics has only a marginal influence; the same cannot be exploited with e.g. galaxies, as the link
between the total mass and observable quantities is much more influenced by baryon physics. These positive aspects apply also to the case of clustering of galaxy clusters. Moreover, clusters have a large clustering signal, due to the high bias and a very negligible contribution from non-linear redshift-space distortions caused by peculiar motions of objects in virialized haloes. All of these advantages counterbalance the larger measurement uncertainties due to the paucity
of cluster sample with respect to galaxy clustering analyses.
Moreover, the possibility to combine all the probes the galaxy clusters can provide gives us an unique instrument to address the fundamental puzzles in the present-day cosmology. In this Thesis we will exploit the clustering of an optically selected sample of galaxy clusters, focusing in particular on the two-point correlation function.


As part of the Pocket Primer series, this book was designed for someone like you who needs to master Access programming fundamentals without spending too much time. All you need is a short book to get you started. It will show you only the things you need to know to feel at home with VBA. What you learn in this book on Access programming will also apply to, say, Excel programming. The book is divided into nine chapters that progressively introduce you to programming Microsoft Access 2016.Features: Includes a companion disc with all of the Hands-On files needed to complete the chapter projects and all the images from the text Introduces you to programming Microsoft Access 2016


In connection with the general problem of providing air flow to an aircraft power plant located within a fuselage, an investigation was conducted in the Langley 8-foot high-speed tunnel to determine the effect on external drag and pressure distribution of air inlet openings located at the nose of a streamline body. Air outlet openings located at the tail and at the 21-percent and 63-percent stations of the body were also investigated. Boundary layer transition measurements were made and correlated with the force and the pressure data. Individual openings were investigated with the aid of a blower and then practicable combinations of inlet and outlet openings were tested. Various modifications to the internal duct shape near the inlet opening and the aerodynamic effects of a simulated gun in the duct were also studied. The results of the tests suggested that outlet openings should be designed so that the static pressure of the internal flow at the outlet would be the same as the static pressure of the external flow in the vicinity of the opening.


X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) is a powerful probe of electronic and spatial structure that has been at the heart of many advances in physics, biology, chemistry, engineering and the earth sciences. Unfortunately, the existing experimental techniques are subject to fundamental limitations that complicate the interpretation of x-ray absorption spectra in many important cases. These limitations have motivated an effort to develop an alternative measure of the absorption cross-section that is not subject to the same set of limitations. In this thesis, a technique known as inverse partial fluorescence yield (IPFY) is described which addresses this problem. IPFY differs from existing approaches in a significant way — by using an energy-discriminating photon detector, one gains access to fluorescence information from both resonant and non-resonant x-ray emission processes. We will show that the non-resonant emission is fundamentally related to the total absorption cross-section of a material through an inverse relation. This will be proven by extension of the general theory of fluorescence yield for the case of a thick, homogeneous specimen. We will also demonstrate the utility of IPFY with measurements of NiO, NdGaO3, La1.475Nd0.4Sr0.125CuO4, and stainless steel 304 at soft and intermediate x-ray energies. These experiments will highlight some essential features of IPFY spectroscopy and demonstrate how it can be an invaluable tool when the other experimental techniques fail to provide reliable spectra. We will also demonstrate how one can exploit the geometry dependence of IPFY to quantitatively determine the composition of a sample and the total x-ray absorption coefficient. Additionally, we will consider the special cases of multilayers and powder specimens, where the theory of fluorescence yield requires approximations and is not as well-behaved as in thick, homogenous specimens. Ultimately, these experiments and theoretical developments will be used to support the claim that IPFY is a bulk sensitive measure of the total x-ray absorption coefficient. Moreover, we will show that IPFY is not affected by saturation effects, is insensitive to surface contamination layers and provides reliable spectra even for strongly insulating materials. These properties make IPFY a suitable spectroscopic technique for studying XAS in a wide range of materials.


Benchmarks are essential for computer architecture research and performance evaluation. Constructing a good benchmark suite is, however, non-trivial: it must be representative, show different types of behavior and the benchmarks should not be easily tweaked. This paper uses principal components analysis, a statistical data analysis technique, to detect differences in behavior between benchmarks. Two specific types of benchmarks are identified. Eccentric benchmarks have a behavior that differs significantly from the other benchmarks. They are useful to incorporate different types of behavior in a suite. Fragile benchmarks are weak benchmarks: their execution time is determined almost entirely by a single bottleneck. Removing that bottleneck reduces their execution time excessively. This paper argues that fragile benchmarks are not useful and shows how they can be detected by means of workload characterization techniques. These techniques are applied to the SPEC CPU95 and CPU2000 benchmark suites. It is shown that these suites contain both eccentric and fragile benchmarks. The notions of eccentric and fragile benchmarks are important when composing a benchmark suite and to guide the sub-setting of a benchmark suite.


Adiponutrin (PNPLA3) is a predominantly liver-expressed transmembrane protein with phospholipase activity that is regulated by fasting and feeding. Recent genome-wide association studies identified PNPLA3 to be associated with hepatic fat content and liver function, thus pointing to a possible involvement in the hepatic lipoprotein metabolism. The aim of this study was to examine the association between two common variants in the adiponutrin gene and parameters of lipoprotein metabolism in 23,274 participants from eight independent West-Eurasian study populations including six population-based studies [Bruneck (n = 800), KORA S3/F3 (n = 1644), KORA S4/F4 (n = 1814), CoLaus (n = 5435), SHIP (n = 4012), Rotterdam (n = 5967)], the SAPHIR Study as a healthy working population (n = 1738) and the Utah Obesity Case-Control Study including a group of 1037 severely obese individuals (average BMI 46 kg/m2) and 827 controls from the same geographical region of Utah. We observed a strong additive association of a common non-synonymous variant within adiponutrin (rs738409) with age-, gender-, and alanine-aminotransferase-adjusted lipoprotein concentrations: each copy of the minor allele decreased levels of total cholesterol on average by 2.43 mg/dl (P = 8.87 x 10(-7)), non-HDL cholesterol levels by 2.35 mg/dl (P = 2.27 x 10(-6)) and LDL cholesterol levels by 1.48 mg/dl (P = 7.99 x 10(-4)). These associations remained significant after correction for multiple testing. We did not observe clear evidence for associations with HDL cholesterol or triglyceride concentrations. In conclusion, our study suggests that adiponutrin is involved in the metabolism of apoB-containing lipoproteins.


The structure and dynamic properties of the C-terminal region of the human class alpha glutathione transferase A1-1 have been investigated with high-resolution NMR methods. On the basis of crystallographic and fluorescence measurements, this 13-residue segment of the enzyme is presumed to be disordered in the unliganded enzyme. When the product or product analogue is bound, a C-terminal alpha-helix is observed in crystal structures. Conflicting data exists regarding the structure of this region when one of the substrates, glutathione (GSH), is bound. The NMR studies presented here show that in the unliganded protein, this region of the protein samples different conformations, most likely an ensemble of helix-like structures. Addition of either GSH or the conjugate between GSH and ethacrynic acid (EASG) causes this segment to become a stable alpha-helix. In the GSH complex, the ends of this helix exhibit dynamic behavior on both the millisecond and nanosecond time scales. In contrast, there is no evidence of millisecond dynamics in the EASG complex. The ligand-induced ordering of the enzyme reduces the intrinsic affinity of the enzyme for its product, facilitating enzymatic turnover.


Animals sustain the ability to operate after injury by creating qualitatively different compensatory behaviors. Although such robustness would be desirable in engineered systems, most machines fail in the face of unexpected damage. We describe a robot that can recover from such change autonomously, through continuous self-modeling. A four-legged machine uses actuation-sensation relationships to indirectly infer its own structure, and it then uses this self-model to generate forward locomotion. When a leg part is removed, it adapts the self-models, leading to the generation of alternative gaits. This concept may help develop more robust machines and shed light on self-modeling in animals.


I explore the connection between income inequality and health in both poor and rich countries. I discuss a range of mechanisms, including nonlinear income effects, credit restrictions, nutritional traps, public goods provision, and relative deprivation. I review the evidence on the effects of income inequality on the rate of decline of mortality over time, on geographical pattens of mortality, and on individual-level mortality. Much of the literature needs to be treated skeptically, if only because of the low quality of much of the data on income inequality. Although there are many puzzles that remain, I conclude that there is no direct link from income inequality to ill-health; individuals are no more likely to die if they live in more unequal places. The raw correlations that are sometimes found are likely the result of factors other than income inequality, some of which are intimately linked to broader notions of inequality and unfairness. That income inequality itself is not a health risk does not deny the importance for health of other inequalities, nor of the social environment. Whether income redistribution can improve population health does not depend on a direct effect of income inequality and remains an open question.


While much has been published about the ways in which students gain from contact with faculty, much less is known about the patterns and correlates of such contact for faculty members. Drawing upon data from a survey of faculty (n=901) conducted at a large, highly selective, research-extensive university in spring 2004, this study explores the factors that promote or inhibit faculty members' engagement in two types of out-of-class interactions with undergraduate students: research-based activities and other out-ofclass activities that are less narrowly focused on academic issues. We test four explanations of faculty engagement using OLS regression, and estimate separate models for research-based and other types of out-of-class involvement. Our results provide little support for two of the most prevalent explanations of factors that inhibit faculty involvement: competing time demands, and a lack of institutional rewards or supports for out-of-class interaction. Two other explanations received more support. First, faculty members' personal values and beliefs were strongly associated with their extent of engagement in out-ofclass interactions, particularly for non-research based interactions. Second, the block of variables reflecting faculty members' interpersonal knowledge and abilities had the strongest association with engagement in out-of-class interactions; this relationship was nearly twice as strong for activities that were not research-based than for those that were circumscribed as research. Our findings suggest that institutions may best be able to support out-of-class interactions between faculty and undergraduate students by brokering information flows concerning opportunities for engagement and the actual "how to's" of making such interactions work.


Utilizing a nationally representative sample of households from Sri Lanka, this study examines gender differences in the long-term impact of temporary labor migration. We use a propensity score matching (PSM) framework to compare households with return migrants, households with current migrants, and equivalent nonmigrant households in terms of a variety of outcomes. Our results show that households that send women abroad are relatively poor and utilize migration to catch up with the average household, whereas sending a man abroad allows an already advantaged household to further strengthen their economic position. We also find that remittances from females emphasize investment in home improvements and acquisition of farm land and nonfarm assets, whereas remittances of men are channeled more toward housing assets and business ventures.


This article explores the obstacles to obtaining legal rights for animals, both within the animal rights movement and within the broader political context. The author examines in which arena legal change might best be sought - the courts, the legislature, state governments, or the federal government. Finally, it makes a number of suggestions as to what type of laws would be the most successful in advancing the interests of animals.


In this paper, we study the Differentially Private Empirical Risk Minimization (DP-ERM) problem with non-convex loss functions and give several upper bounds for the utility in different settings. We first consider the problem in low-dimensional space. For DP-ERM with non-smooth regularizer, we generalize an existing work by measuring the utility using ℓ2 norm of the projected gradient. Also, we extend the error bound measurement, for the first time, from empirical risk to population risk by using the expected ℓ2 norm of the gradient. We then investigate the problem in high dimensional space, and show that by measuring the utility with Frank-Wolfe gap, it is possible to bound the utility by the Gaussian Width of the constraint set, instead of the dimensionality p of the underlying space. We further demonstrate that the advantages of this result can be achieved by the measure of ℓ2 norm of the projected gradient. A somewhat surprising discovery is that although the two kinds of measurements are quite different, their induced utility upper bounds are asymptotically the same under some assumptions. We also show that the utility of some special non-convex loss functions can be reduced to a level (i.e., depending only on log p) similar to that of convex loss functions. Finally, we test our proposed algorithms on both synthetic and real world datasets and the experimental results confirm our theoretical analysis.


Battery Breakdown Although a range of materials can be used for chemically storing electrical charge, many cannot be made into batteries that retain their capacity over many cycles. Failure may be because of secondary reactions, poisoning through the formation of surface coatings, or volumetric changes leading to fracture. Ebner et al. (p. 716, published online 17 October) studied this last scenario in an operating battery using synchrotron x-ray tomographic microscopy, tracking both the chemical changes in the battery and the resulting mechanical changes in a tin oxide model system, which is known to undergo large volume changes. Synchrotron x-ray tomography can be used to study failure modes in an operating battery. High–energy-density materials that undergo conversion and/or alloying reactions hold promise for next-generation lithium (Li) ion batteries. However, these materials experience substantial volume change during electrochemical operation, which causes mechanical fracture of the material and structural disintegration of the electrode, leading to capacity loss. In this work, we use x-ray tomography during battery operation to visualize and quantify the origins and evolution of electrochemical and mechanical degradation. Tomography provides the time-resolved, three-dimensional chemical composition and morphology within individual particles and throughout the electrode. In the model material tin(II) oxide, we witness distributions in onset and rate of core-shell lithiation, crack initiation and growth along preexisting defects, and irreversible distortion of the electrode, highlighting tomography as a tool to guide the development of durable materials and strain-tolerant electrodes.


A taxometric analysis of the latent structure of the repressor construct was conducted using original indices derived from both the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MCSDS: Crowne & Marlowe, 1964) and the trait version of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI: Spielberger, Gorsuch, Lushene, Vagg, & Jacobs, 1983). Both Mean Above Minus Below A Cut (MAMBAC: Meehl & Yonce, 1994) and Maximum Slope (MAXSLOPE: Grove & Meehl, 1992) analyses were conducted with data from 1040 undergraduates who completed a battery of self-report questionnaires that included the MCSDS, STAI, and the NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) (Costa & McCrae, 1992). Results were interpreted using simulated data that matched parameters of the collected data. Findings with traditional indices of the repressor construct did not support the hypothesis that the repressor construct is taxonic, and rather provided some evidence in support of a dimensional latent structure. Findings indicated that both the stability and agreeableness personality scales of the NEO-FFI, as well as traditional indices, capture core features of the repressor construct. Repressors reported above average levels of both stability and agreeableness, but normal levels of extraversion, openness, and conscientiousness. Findings from the NEO-FFI suggest that repressors may have difficulties asserting needs in relationships and that the denial of negative emotions may be more central to the repressor construct than the claiming of positive emotions. Implications of findings from the current study for choices about research design, analysis, and interpretation of studies about the repressor construct are discussed.


This paper surveys control architectures proposed in the literature and describes a control architecture that is being developed for a semi-autonomous underwater vehicle for intervention missions (SAUVIM) at the University of Hawaii. Conceived as hybrid, this architecture has been organized in three layers: planning, control and execution. The mission is planned with a sequence of subgoals. Each subgoal has a related task supervisor responsible for arranging a set of pre-programmed task modules in order to achieve the subgoal. Task modules are the key concept of the architecture. They are the main building blocks and can be dynamically re-arranged by the task supervisor. In our architecture, deliberation takes place at the planning layer while reaction is dealt through the parallel execution of the task modules. Hence, the system presents both a hierarchical and an heterarchical decomposition, being able to show a predictable response while keeping rapid reactivity to the dynamic environment.


The October 2013 government reshuffle in Morocco marks the latest round in the drawn-out tug of war between the Palace and the Justice and Development Party (Parti de la justice et du développement, PJD), which heads the ruling coalition. The Palace came out as the clear winner, and thereby managed to roll back some of the limited concessions granted in response to the protests in early 2011. Regional dynamics – support from the Arab Gulf monarchies and authoritarian reconstruction in Egypt after the July 2013 coup – and the dispute between the PJD and its coalition partner, the Istiqlal (Independence) Party (Parti de l'istiqlal, PI), worked to the Palace's advantage. Even though the relation between the PJD and the Palace has ameliorated considerably compared to one decade ago, the Palace's strategic aim is to weaken the party while at the same time using it to stabilize the regime. In the short term, and as long as the PJD is able to retain popular support, it will remain in office and retain a limited margin of maneuver for reform. Profound political reforms as well as structural socioeconomic and judicial reforms, however, are likely to be postponed to the mid to long term. European Union policy makers should use the EU's long and close relations with the Palace to encourage it to allow more substantial reform and cede power to the elected government.


To date the embryogenesis rate in oil palm tissue culture averages 6%. Thus, there is
a need to find ways to increase this rate and also to create a selection system that is
able to distinguish embryogenically competent calli from their non-embryogenic
counterpart at an early stage. Using cold plaque screening of oil palm suspension
cultures, about 1000 clones were isolated. About sixty-four percent of the clones
have extremely low expression levels in suspension cultures and non-embryogenic
calli. Another 22% were found to be up-regulated in suspension cultures compared to
non-embryogenic calli. Out of the 600 sequenced clones, 46% were found to be
novel or similar to proteins with unknown functions. Most of the other genes were
found to be involved in cell metabolism and proliferation, which leads to an increase
in the expression of genes involved in namely, protein synthesis and signal
transduction pathways.
cp919.1, a TUBBY-like protein homolog or a similar member of the TULP family is
up-regulated in non-embryogenic callus. cp 194.2, a member of a novel
serine/threonine kinase subfamily, is up-regulated in embryogenic callus. As hypothesized in the mammalian systems, cp194.2 may play a role in the disruption of
the extracellular matrix surrounding the proembryogenic masses. Transcripts of
cp664.2, a truncated leucine-rich-repeat encoding protein and cp610.2, a HD-Zip II
gene were up-regulated in suspension cultures. The role of cp610.2 is unknown, but
it may be involved in the transcription of genes involved in early embryogenesis.
3N42.2 was isolated by RT-PCR followed by cDNA library screening. 3N42.2, a
NAC superfamily member, like CUCI/2 may be expressed in the presumptive shoot
apical meristem of the embryos and then be restricted to the boundary regions of the
apical meristem at later embryogenic stages. 3N42.2 expression then remains at the
boundary regions of the meristem during post-embryonic development. cp194.2,
cp610.2 and 3N42.2 may be used as markers for early somatic embryogenesis.
Functional elucidation needs to be carried out to understand the roles that these
proteins play in plant development.


AIM
The purpose of this study was to investigate factors that may have contributed to absenteeism among bursary students undertaking a four-year Nursing Diploma course (R425), and the extent to which these factors impacted on students' absenteeism at a selected nursing campus in KwaZulu-Natal.
METHODOLOGY
The study adopted a quantitative approach, utilizing a non –experimental descriptive design. Data were collected by means of self-administered questionnaires consisting of closed and open-ended questions. Data analyses were done using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 21(SPSS- 21). One hundred and twenty-six bursary students from the first year to the third year of training participated in the study.
FINDINGS
The study revealed that absenteeism at the nursing campus under study existed at all levels of student training, and that it occurred more in the clinical area than in the college area. Clinical factors identified included escorting very ill patients without indemnity, working late shifts (19h00) before a day off, allocation to one work area without rotation, and a lack of appreciation for a job well done and criticism. College factors such as stipend, transport problems, and lecturers and their teaching methods did not have any impact on student absenteeism.


OBJECTIVE
To establish a protocol to collect temporal-spatial gait analysis variables by use of a portable walkway system in Labrador Retrievers at a walk and to determine reference values.

ANIMALS
56 healthy Labrador Retrievers.

PROCEDURES
6 passes across the walkway (3 passes in each direction) were recorded. Inclusion criteria for a pass were that the dog was at a walk (velocity, 60.0 to 90.0 cm/s) and had minimal head turning. The first 3 passes that met the inclusion criteria were analyzed for each dog.

RESULTS
Mean stride length was 88.4 cm. Mean stance time (ST) of forelimbs and hind limbs was 0.62 and 0.56 seconds, respectively. Mean stance time percentage (ST%; proportion of stance time to total gait cycle time) for forelimbs and hind limbs was 55.6% and 50.2%, respectively. Mean total pressure index (TPI) of forelimbs and hind limbs was 27.1 and 17.4, respectively. Mean number of sensors (NS) activated by each paw strike of forelimbs and hind limbs was 17 and 13, respectively. Mean forelimb-to-hind limb symmetry ratios were 1.11 (ST), 1.10 (ST%), 1.62 (TPI), and 1.37 (NS). Symmetry ratios for left limbs to right limbs, left forelimb to right forelimb, and left hind limb to right hind limb were 1.00.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
A protocol for collection of temporal-spatial gait analysis variables with a portable walkway system in Labrador Retrievers at a walk was developed, and reference values for variables and symmetry ratios were reported. Further research will determine the extent to which symmetry ratios differ in dogs with orthopedic disorders.


We tested the ability of the drug pentoxifylline to inhibit the activity of the vasoactive hormone angiotensin II in vascular smooth muscle cells. Cell proliferation, intracellular cAMP, and expression of cell cycle proteins were measured in cells isolated from male Sprague-Dawley rats. Angiotensin II significantly induced proliferation in VSMCs (p < 0.01). Pentoxifylline significantly blocked this induction in a dose-dependent manner (p < 0.05), and a dose of 0.5 mM was sufficient to completely reverse the effect of angiotensin II. Angiotensin II reduced production of cAMP from 34.62 ± 0.59 pmol/mg protein in untreated cells to 17.49 ± 3.30 pmol/mg protein (p < 0.05). cAMP production was restored to 40.68 ± 0.49 and 41.50 ± 1.78 pmol/mg protein in the presence of 1.0 and 2.0 mM pentoxifylline, respectively. In addition, the same treatments increased cAMP production in untreated cells to 54.82 ± 4.40 and 67.68 ± 4.29 pmol/mg protein, respectively (p < 0.05). Angiotensin II significantly upregulated (p < 0.05) cyclin D1 mRNA 2-fold, but not cyclin E, cyclin A, CDK2, CDK4, or P27. Pretreatment with pentoxifylline prevented this effect. Similarly, the drug blocked the ability of angiotensin II to increase the abundance cyclin D1 protein. Conclusion: Pentoxifylline attenuated angiotensin II-induced proliferation by stimulating cAMP production and partially regulating the cell cycle. However, studies are required to investigate the effects of the drug on the hypertensive vessel wall.


As a young and developing profession for the last two decades, psychotherapy in Malaysia is not widely known to those outside of the country. Therefore, this paper seeks to provide an overview of the development of psychotherapy in Malaysia. The paper first begins with a review of the Malaysian social-cultural context and mental health scenario, followed by the current practice of psychotherapy and psychotherapists in Malaysia. The title of 'psychotherapist' covers a broad range of professionals in Malaysia. Since the 1970s, the practice of psychotherapy, mostly brought in from the Western world, has evolved from the psychoanalytic tradition to behavioural and cognitive-behavioural traditions. Family systems work is, however, limited. There is growing interest in integrating indigenous cultural beliefs with the Western model of psychotherapy, as well as exploring alternative means to traditional face-to-face counselling mode. This paper therefore discusses several contemporary issues of concern within the field, as well as future directions, in relation to the practice of psychotherapy, research areas as well as training and development of future therapists. With still much room for growth and development, the field presents as a fertile ground for those up for the adventure and challenges of pioneering and revolutionary work.


With a focus on the cultural life of public spaces, the research examines how public and private actors can collectively support a broader range of public experiences, interactions and social values. In addition, the study investigates how planning for public space can promote public value through culture. The culture of public space, or what one could refer to as the everyday street scene, is arguably the most visible manifestation of public life: a social barometer for cultural vibrancy and economic health. Once an outcome of economic progress and a symbol of power, the design of cities, including the recomposition of urban space, is now increasingly perceived as an aesthetic means to an economic end. But perversely, the homogenisation of urban landscapes and public space is an issue of contemporary concern for planners, architects, politicians and the everyday person strolling down the street.


CASE DESCRIPTION This case is about an urgent care clinic that has used a very elaborate differentiation strategy to establish a competitive advantage against competition that has much greater resources. The personal values and experiences of the owners play an integral part in their developing this business model and how they run the business. The industry analysis contained in this case points out the driving forces and Key Success Factors (KSF) of the walk-in clinic industry. Also, the case contains appropriate information for a SWOT analysis. The case is designed to be used in a senior level business policy or marketing strategies class. This class is designed to be taught in one class period of 50-75 minutes. The amount of time the student is expected to spend outside of class will vary from 1-3 hours based on how many of the questions in the "teaching notes " are assigned. CASE SYNOPSIS This is the story of an urgent care clinic that has developed a successful strategy that allows it to complete extremely well against the largest medical clinic in its community and to insulate itself from the threat of the retail walk-in-clinic. The author's childhood experience of visiting Disneyland and his continued fascination with "The Disney Way" has allowed him to develop a strategy that gives him a sustainable competitive advantage. His focus on the "experience" his patients have when they come to his clinic separates him from the competition. To enhance the patient's "experience," Physicians Quality Care has created the position of "Patient Concierge," built a movie theatre in the clinic, put in a mechanical ride for children, and bought a cappuccino machine to provide patients with free cappuccinos. His emphasis on customer service can be seen in how he hires and trains employees. As you read this case you will feel like you are in Disneyland taking a trip down "Main Street, U. S. A." INTRODUCTION In the 1950s little Jimmy Hoppers had a life changing experience while visiting relatives in California-Disneyland. Jimmy was wowed by the amusement park, not because it was an amusement park, but because it was not like any amusement park he had ever seen. He saw an amusement park that dared to dream, that offered things that no other amusement park offered, that parents as well as children enjoyed. Jimmy never forgot this dream, and when he decided to open his own urgent care clinic after practicing medicine for twenty-five years with a large medical group in his home town of Jackson, Tennessee, he remembered the "Disney Experience" and used it as his guide for the clinic-Physicians Quality Care. As he dared to dream, he envisioned an urgent care clinic that offered its patrons free snacks, a movie theatre, a reading library, a waiting room with "current" issues of magazines, but most importantly a courteous staff. Before we can really appreciate Physicians Quality Care's business model, we need a good understanding of the walk-in clinic business. WALK-IN MEDICAL CLINIC INDUSTRY When in urgent need of non-life threatening medical care, the consumer has basically three choices~the emergency room, the private physician's office, or the walk-in clinic (Ortinau 1986). The emergency room is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you have a serious, possibly life-threatening illness, it may be the most appropriate choice. The down side to the emergency room is the long wait and the added cost. You may wait in the emergency room for several hours to see the doctor, and it is likely to cost you several times more money than the other options~on average $570 versus $166 for the private physician's office and $110 for the walk in clinic (Roizen 2009). The private physician's office is less expensive, but it is also less accessible. The private physician's office is normally open from 9:00 until 5:00 p.m. Monday thru Friday, and it is often difficult to get into see the doctor in a timely manner. …


This paper proposes to speedup sampled microprocessor simulations by reducing warmup times without sacrificing simulation accuracy. It exploiting the observation that of the memory references that precede a sample cluster, references that occur nearest to the cluster are more likely to be germane to the execution of the cluster itself. Hence, while modeling all cache and branch predictor interactions that precede a sample cluster would reliably establish their state, this is overkill and leads to long-running simulations. Instead, accurately establishing simulated cache and branch predictor state can be accomplished quickly by only modeling a subset of the memory references and control-flow instructions immediately preceding a sample cluster. Our technique measures memory reference reuse latencies (MRRLs) - the number of completed instructions between consecutive references to each unique memory location - and uses these data to choose a point prior to each cluster to engage cache hierarchy and branch predictor modeling. By starting cache and branch predictor modeling late in the pre-cluster instruction stream, we were able to reduce overall simulation running times by an average of 90.62% of the maximum potential speedup (accomplished by performing no pre-cluster warmup at all), while generating an average error in IPC of less than 1%, both relative to the IPC generated by warming up all pre-cluster cache and branch predictor interactions.


Women have greater incidence and prevalence of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) than men during the reproductive life phase when ovarian hormones fluctuate, suggesting that ovarian hormones have a significant role in MDD etiology in women. As the core symptoms of MDD are indicative of alterations in stress responding, emotional processing, and mood regulation, examining the effects of the estrogen on these processes in women may provide a better understanding of the role of estrogen in the sex difference in MDD rates. The general aim of this dissertation was to examine neural, emotional, and attentional processes related to stress response alterations and cognitive bias in MDD in women. To examine menstrual phase and estradiol level effects on the neural and mood response to psychosocial stress, healthy, normally cycling women were examined at either the high or low estradiol phase of the menstrual cycle. Participants were exposed to the Montreal Imaging Stress Task (MIST), with brain activity measured through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and behavioral response assessed with subjective mood and stress measures. We found that women during the high estradiol phase showed significantly less hippocampal deactivation during psychosocial stress compared to women during the low estradiol phase. Additionally, women with higher estradiol levels also had less subjective distress in response to the MIST than women with lower estradiol levels. These results suggest that high estradiol may be protective against the shifts in brain system activity and negative mood responses associated with psychosocial stress. Periods of low estradiol may enhance the negative impact of psychosocial stress on neural activity and mood and thus contribute to MDD risk in vulnerable women. The relation of cognitive bias to depression history in women was examined in postmenopausal women with and without a history of major depression using an emotion dot probe task during fMRI. Women with remitted MDD showed greater attentional facilitation for negative images than women with no history of MDD that was directly correlated with amygdala activity for negative images and amygdala-hippocampal connectivity in a resting scan. These findings provide evidence that differences in activity and functional connectivity in emotional processing networks may provide a neurobiological basis for continued cognitive bias in remitted MDD. Preliminary data indicate that estradiol treatment reduces amygdala-hippocampal connectivity specifically in women with a history of MDD and has interactive effects with MDD history on the mood response to psychosocial stress following the MIST such that women with a history of MDD appear to benefit from estradiol treatment while women without such history do not. Women with a history of or vulnerability to MDD may be particularly sensitive to the positive effects of estradiol on brain systems important to regulating emotional responses to psychosocial stress. The findings presented in this dissertation suggest that estrogen fluctuations across the menstrual cycle and at other reproductive events may contribute to depression risk through effects on brain systems integral to emotional evaluation and response with potential cognitive consequences.


Abstract Natural transformation in the Gram-positive pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae occurs when cells become "competent," a state that is induced in response to high extracellular concentrations of a secreted peptide signal called competence stimulating peptide (CSP) encoded by the comC locus. Two main CSP signal types (pherotypes) are known to dominate the pherotype diversity across strains. Using 4,089 fully sequenced pneumococcal genomes, we confirm that pneumococcal populations are highly genetically structured and that there is significant variation among diverged populations in pherotype frequencies; most carry only a single pherotype. Moreover, we find that the relative frequencies of the two dominant pherotypes significantly vary within a small range across geographical sites. It has been variously proposed that pherotypes either promote genetic exchange among cells expressing the same pherotype, or conversely that they promote recombination between strains bearing different pherotypes. We attempt to distinguish these hypotheses using a bioinformatics approach by estimating recombination frequencies within and between pherotypes across 4,089 full genomes. Despite underlying population structure, we observe extensive recombination between populations; additionally, we found significantly higher (although marginal) rates of genetic exchange between strains expressing different pherotypes than among isolates carrying the same pherotype. Our results indicate that pherotypes do not restrict, and may even slightly facilitate, recombination between strains; however, these marginal effects suggest the more likely possibility that the cause of CSP polymorphism lies outside of its effects on transformation. Our results suggest that the CSP balanced polymorphism does not causally underlie population differentiation. Therefore, when strains carrying different pherotypes encounter one another during cocolonization, genetic exchange can occur without restriction.


A collection of unlabelled tournaments ${\cal P}$ is called a hereditary property if it is closed under isomorphism and under taking induced sub-tournaments. The speed of ${\cal P}$ is the function $n \mapsto |{\cal P}_n|$, where ${\cal P}_n = \{T \in {\cal P} : |V(T)| = n\}$. In this paper, we prove that there is a jump in the possible speeds of a hereditary property of tournaments, from polynomial to exponential speed. Moreover, we determine the minimal exponential speed, $|{\cal P}_n| = c^{(1+o(1))n}$, where $c \simeq 1.47$ is the largest real root of the polynomial $x^3 = x^2 + 1$, and the unique hereditary property with this speed.


This article is based on research carried out by the author during a year's full time study at Shoreditch College, Surrey, in 1972-73. It was a follow-up to the concept of schoolbased production lines, first pioneered by the Schools Council Design and Craft Project centred at Keele University, and set out to survey and analyse the development of school-based 'factory days' which had emerged and aroused much interest in a number of areas up and down the country. Under the general heading of Preparation for Occupational Role, the method was originally aimed at young school leavers and the so called R . o.S. L . A. pupils, but its potential for other ages and abilities as a wider and more meaningful educational experience was soon realised. The author's interest in this appr ach was initially aroused by being personally involved with a production line experiment in his own school and later by the suggestion of a member of the Keele Project central team that this was a worthwhile field for research.


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What could possibly be more straightforward than the assessment of an injured ankle? Patients with ankle injuries, usually sustained recreationally or in a simple fall, attend emergency departments throughout the world in their hundreds of thousands every year. Most of these patients will have sustained simple injury to ligamentous soft tissue or a small avulsion fracture of no clinical significance. A minority will have sustained more serious fractures, requiring immobilisation or internal fixation. Patients with ankle injury constitute approximately 5% of all patients who visit emergency departments, although fewer than 15% of these patients will have clinically significant fractures.

Differentiating between these two groups of patients is not always easy, particularly for relatively inexperienced clinicians. The safety net for indeterminate examination has always been recourse to radiography. However, such an unselective policy has resulted in inestimable numbers of unnecessary exposures to radiation for …


Purpose: To evaluate variability in right ventricular-to-left ventricular (RV/LV) diameter ratios introduced by differences in measurement methods and the subsequent influence on the accuracy of predicting outcomes for patients with acute pulmonary embolism (PE). Materials and Methods: For 200 consecutive computed tomography pulmonary angiograms positive for acute PE, RV/LV diameter ratios were retrospectively measured using 3 different 4-chamber reformations and from axial images alone. The first 4-chamber reformation method (4ch-1) was a single oblique technique using LV morphology landmarks; the other 2 methods (4ch-2 and 4ch-3) were double oblique techniques that created an intermediate short-axis image to identify the maximum RV diameter but with different approaches to reach short-axis images. Interobserver variability was measured using 30 cases. Receiver-operating characteristic analysis compared the accuracy of predicting outcomes among the 4 measurements for PE-related death, and for death or the need for intensive therapies (composite outcome). Results: The difference in median RV/LV diameter ratios was insignificant among 4ch-2 (1.01), 4ch-3 (1.02), and axial (1.03) datasets, whereas that from 4ch-1 (0.93) was significantly lower (P<0.001). Correlation between observers was excellent for all 4 datasets (r=0.881 to 0.925). Compared with 4ch-1, the other 3 datasets equally achieved higher accuracy in predicting PE-related 30-day mortality (area under curve: 0.55 vs. 0.69 to 0.73, P=0.007 to 0.019) and a composite outcome (area under curve: 0.65 vs. 0.77 to 0.78, P=0.003 to 0.010). Conclusions: Double oblique 4-chamber reformation methods that use intermediate short-axis images to optimize RV size predict outcomes better in patients with acute PE than do single oblique methods using only LV landmarks; however, their accuracy is not superior to that from measurements based on axial images.


New, rapid techniques to quantify the different pools of soil organic matter (SOM) are needed to improve our understanding of the dynamics and spatio-temporal variability of SOM in terrestrial ecosystems. In this study, total organic carbon (TOC) and oxidizable organic carbon (OCWB) fraction were calibrated and predicted by mid- and near-DRIFT spectroscopy in combination with partial least squares (PLS) regression method. PLS regression is a multivariate calibration method that can decompose spectral data (X) and soil property data (Y) into a new smaller set of latent variables and their scores that best describe all the variance in the data. Oxidizable organic carbon content was measured by a modified Walkley-Black method, and total organic carbon was measured by the carbon analyzer. The floodplain and Blackland Prairie soils in Texas were used for prediction of TOC and OCWB using mid- and near-DRIFT spectroscopy. Floodplain soil is mainly composed of quartz and kaolinite, whereas Blackland Prairie soils contain high concentrations of smectitic clays and low to high concentrations of carbonate minerals. The total organic carbon of 68 soil samples from two Texas sites varied between 0.19 and 4.36 wt.% C, and the oxidizable organic carbon of 26 samples from floodplain soils was in the range of 0.05 to 1.33 wt.% C. TOC and OCWB of soil were successfully calibrated and predicted by the PLS regression method using mid- and near-DRIFT spectroscopy. The correlation using mid-IR spectra for TOC (r = 0.96, RMSEV = 0.32 for calibration; r = 0.93, RMSEP = 0.44 for prediction) was about the same as the near-IR result (r = 0.95, RMSEV = 0.37; r = 0.93, RMSEP = 0.42). Therefore, we can also use mid-infrared region for quantification of total organic carbon in soils. The PLS1 regression model (r = 0.92) for prediction of OCWB using mid-IR spectra was more accurate than the PLS2 regression model (r = 0.90). PLS models showed better correlation with spectral data than the univariate least square regression method(r = 0.83) with TOC measured by the carbon analyzer. This study shows that the partial least squares (PLS1) method using mid-and near-IR spectra of neat soil samples can be used to predict both total organic carbon and oxidizable carbon fraction as a fast and routine quantitative method.


Large commercial banking firms are monitored by specialized private sector monitors and by specialized government examiners. Previous research suggests that bank exams produce little useful information that is not already reflected in market prices. In this article, we apply a new research methodology to a unique data set, and find that government exams of large national banks produce significant new information which financial markets do not fully internalize for several additional months. Our results indicate that specialized government monitors can identify value-relevant information about private firms, even if those firms are already actively followed by investors and their private-sector agents.


It is a mistake to debate the merits of alternative exchange rate regimes for Canada independently of other features of the monetary order. A coherent order requires a well-defined goal for monetary policy, one that the authorities are capable of achieving, and that anchors private sector expectations. For it to be liberal, the relevant authorities should be accountable to the electorate for their performance. These criteria are applied in comparing the merits of: (i) Canada's current monetary order, based on inflation targets and a flexible exchange rate; (ii) a North American monetary union; (iii) a Canadian currency board; (iv) a legislatively fixed exchange rate; and (v) an adjustably pegged exchange rate. The paper concludes that the current order is well-conceived because cross-border labour mobility is limited, Canadian money wages and prices are sticky, and the real exchange rate between Canada and the United States is subject to real shocks. Among the fixed exchange rate options, all of which are inferior to current arrangements, a full monetary union is judged the most economically viable, though politically illiberal, while a pegged rate seems to provide an untrustworthy basis for a coherent monetary order.


The Healing Drum traces the extraordinary cultural legacy of the Minianka tribe of West Africa, for whom music serves a sacred, healing function for the individual and society. The authors explore the Minianka view of humanity, music, and the cosmos relative to work, celebration, herbal medicine, dance, trance, initiation, and death. The first book of its kind, delivering a message of untapped wisdom and power from a little-known culture through the universal medium of music.


A Nonlinear Dynamic Inversion (NDI) baseline control architecture based on a nonlinear reference model and augmented by an adaptive element is developed for an agile modern fighter aircraft. This paper mainly focuses on the nonlinear reference model and on a modified NDI error feedback architecture. The chosen reference model contains the main nonlinear plant characteristics and is therefore able to fully exploit the physical capabilities of the fighter aircraft. Starting with the classical inversion control laws, the implemented NDI-based error feedback baseline controller architecture is tailored according to the modifications motivated by the new reference model. In order to keep closed-loop performance in the vicinity of the nominal case, even in the presence of severe uncertainties and turbulence, the aforementioned baseline controller is augmented by an adaptive layer. The employed control architecture has proven its capabilities and its robustness for a large set of uncertainties and in the presence of turbulence effects.


Based on his studies of over 9,000 families, Murray A. Straus, the foremost researcher on family violence in the world, discusses the extent to which parents in the United States use corporal punishment (such as spanking and slapping) and its effects on their chil-dren. The question of whether corporal punishment is an effective method of discipline is hotly debated. Straus contends that this believed-to-be-"minor" form of physical violence is precursor to much violence that plagues our world. Children who are spanked quickly learn that love and violence can go hand in hand. Since spanking is generally done by loving, caring parents--for the child's own good--a child can learn that hitting is "morally right." Straus describes what he has learned through two decades of research: children who are spanked are from two to six times more likely to be physically aggressive, to become juvenile delinquents, and later, as adults, to use physical violence against their spouses, to have sadomasochistic tendencies, and to suffer from depression. Straus alerts parents to these risks, and argues that spanking adversely affects not only the children who are subjected to it but society as a whole. This groundbreaking book, now available in paperback with a substantive new introduction and new concluding chapter, is essential reading for parents as well as teachers, lawyers, and judges. Professionals in fields such as social work, child protection, delin-quency and criminology, psychology, and politics will find it of critical importance.


We present the design of a Network Forensic Alliance (NFA), to allow multiple administrative domains (ADs) to jointly locate the origin of epidemic spreading attacks. ADs in the NFA collaborate in a distributed protocol for post-mortem analysis of worm-like attacks. Information exchange between any two participating ADs is limited to traffic records that are known to both sides, maintaining the privacy of participants. Such an architecture is incentive-compatible - participants benefit by gaining better local investigative capabilities, even with partial deployment. Further, we show that by sharing local investigation results, ADs can achieve global investigative capabilities that are comparable to a centralized implementation with access to global traffic records. Our evaluation demonstrates that it is feasible for large-scale attack investigation to be incrementally deployed in an Internet-like federation.


The work in this thesis reports on the design, growth, fabrication, measurement and analysis of n-GaSb/Al0.2Ga0.8Sb heterostructures. Initially a growth study was completed in order to minimise the native n-type GaSb defects (usually of p ~ × 1017cm−3 ) and to calibrate the n-type doping (achieved using Te). This growth study then informed simulations of the band structure and the transport properties via Schrodinger-Poisson and transport lifetime modelling, allowing an investigation for the design of a high mobility n-GaSb/Al0.2Ga0.8Sb structure, to ensure correct confinement. The optimum designs from the simulation study were then grown and fabricated into 8-pad geometry non-gated Hall bars. The metallisation recipe researched further as initial recipes were deemed unsuitable. The resulting devices were then measured as a function of magnetic field and temperature to obtain the transport properties (mobility and carrier density).It has been shown that an optimum set of growth conditions (Tg= 475 °C, V/III=1.3) reduces the p-type native defects resulting in a hole concentration of 5 × 1016 cm−3 at room temperature. Simulations of AlGaSb/GaSb heterostructures were completed, investigating the conduction band and the effect of the p-type defects. It was found that doping below the well is necessary for confinement in these structures. Both square and triangular quantum wells were grown on semi-insulating GaAs substrates with an interfacial misfit array to prevent strain. These samples were fabricated where the metallisation recipe Pd/In/Pd/Au was used, allowing cold temperature measurements. Measurements of the transport properties across a temperature range of (3-300) K at lowfield (< 3 T) resulted in a peak mobility of 9030 cm2 /Vs, where background impurity scattering was shown to be the limiting scattering rate. High field measurements of a doped heterojunction resulted in Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations visible up to 100 K. As the first transport measurements of confined n-GaSb/AlGaSb, these results inform the direction of optimisation for high mobility devices in this material.


Title of Document: ESSAYS ON MAKING INTERDEPENDENT DECISIONS AND THEIR EVALUATIONS. Shweta S. Oza, Doctor of Philosophy, 2007. Directed By: Prof. Joydeep Srivastava, Department of Marketing This dissertation comprises of two essays that investigate factors influencing interdependent decision-making and the evaluations of such decision outcomes. In the first essay, we examine the influence of time taken by a bargaining opponent to respond to an offer on bargainers' perceptions of their own bargaining outcomes. Extending previous research in several important ways, we propose and test a conceptualization where inferences of opponent's reservation price lie at the core of the underlying explanation. Second, we provide additional insight into the underlying process by showing that delay influences perceptions of bargaining outcomes only when it is related to the bargaining. Third, unlike previous work that examined the effect of delay when an offer was accepted, we extend the inquiry to situations where an offer is rejected. Fourth, we identify and test two factors – knowledge of opponent's best alternative to negotiated agreement and persuasion knowledge – that moderate the influence of response time on perceptions of bargaining outcomes. Results of five studies provide insight into the underlying process by identifying and testing boundary conditions for the effect of delay. In the second essay, we focus on generic campaigns that are funded voluntarily (rather than mandatory contributions), and examine the influence of situational factors (e.g., market trends) and solicitation appeals on voluntary contributions to a generic campaign. Viewing generic advertising campaigns as a public goods problem, a conceptual framework based on goal systems theory is developed to suggest that situational factors such as market trends induce different goals, which in turn, influence voluntary contributions. The conceptual framework also suggests that a solicitation appeal that is more congruent with the induced goal is likely to be more effective in increasing voluntary contributions relative to incongruent appeals. Consistent with the framework, three studies show that voluntary contributions to generic campaigns are higher when the market trend is declining versus increasing. Further, solicitations that make the induced goal and the means to achieve that goal salient are more effective in increasing contributions. The implications of the findings are discussed along with directions for future research. ESSAYS ON MAKING INTERDEPENDENT DECISIONS AND THEIR EVALUATIONS.


Astronomers knew early in the twentieth century that some galaxies have emission-line nuclei. However, even the systematic study by Seyfert (1943) was not enough to launch active galactic nuclei (AGN) as a major topic of astronomy. The advances in radio astronomy in the 1950s revealed a new universe of energetic phenomena, and inevitably led to the discovery of quasars. These discoveries demanded the attention of observers and theorists, and AGN have been a subject of intense effort ever since. Only a year after the recognition of the redshifts of 3C 273 and 3C 48 in 1963, the idea of energy production by accretion onto a black hole was advanced. However, acceptance of this idea came slowly, encouraged by the discovery of black hole X-ray sources in our Galaxy and, more recently, supermassive black holes in the center of the Milky Way and other galaxies. Many questions remain as to the formation and fueling of the hole, the geometry of the central regions, the detailed emission mechanisms, the production of jets, and other aspects. The study of AGN will remain a vigorous part of astronomy for the foreseeable future.


Background: Research indicates expert and novice teachers communicate differently during instruction. However, these differences have yet to be investigated in relation to student learning. Receiver selectivity theory offers an interpretive framework for understanding how expert-novice communication differences might function to discriminate student learning when it is defined as the student's ability to recall the most important information the teacher intended to communicate. Purpose: This study examined expert and novice golf instructors' communication and student learning using receiver selectivity as a theoretical framework. Specifically, student recall was investigated in relation to the teachers' communication behaviors and the perceived outcomes of these behaviors. Participants and setting: Stage theory guided the selection of four expert and four novice female golf instructors (n = 8). Eight students, who were male and female and varied in age (19–26) and skill level, were also recruited for participation. This study was conducted at two golf course driving ranges in Orlando, Florida and by telephone from the researcher's university. Study design: This study employed a qualitative research design to provide a descriptive account of expert and novice golf instructors' communication from the perspective of the teachers' students, identify perceived outcomes of teacher communication, and examine student recall. Receiver selectivity theory guided data collection and interpretation of the results. Research techniques were drawn from seminal sourcebooks on semi-structured interviews and data management/reduction. Data collection: Students were assigned to take an individual lesson on the full swing with either an expert or a novice teacher. Following their lessons, the teachers were asked to identify the target information they had intended to communicate to their students. Two weeks later, students were asked by telephone to identify the most important information from their lessons, to describe their teachers' communication behaviors, and to discuss the perceived outcomes of their teachers' communication. Data analysis: Teacher and student perceptions of target information were compared to determine if students recalled what teachers had intended to communicate in their lessons. Inductive analysis was used to find patterns of expert and novice communication behaviors. Student interviews were searched for statements about perceived outcomes of teacher communication. Findings: Seven of the eight students recalled the target information their teachers had intended to communicate. Themes in the teachers' communication behaviors revealed expert-novice differences but perceived outcomes of teacher communication were positive – and in some cases, the same – for both groups. Conclusions: Positioned against receiver selectivity theory, the findings indicate both expert and novice teachers successfully engaged students in the learning process. Teacher behaviors (both expert and novice) and their perceived outcomes support previous research highlighting strategies for increasing student learning. Distinctive elements of this study, including nonverbal behaviors that were featured and the one student to one teacher ratio, are important considerations for explaining divergent findings between this study and those of previous research comparing the expositive discourse of expert and novice classroom teachers.


Biorefineries are multi-product facilities that convert biomass into a broad variety of products (energy, biofuels, chemicals, feed, and food). In this paper, a new systematic approach to select and rank different biorefinery conversion pathways is proposed using the Integer-Cut Constraint (ICC) method applied to a MILP problem. In particular, two different statements of the constraints are analyzed. The first step is building a superstructure collecting several biomass conversion models. The ICC method allows different conversion pathways to be evaluated inside the superstructure and ordered according to the objective function values. The key value of a rank of pathways including suboptimal routes allows a fair comparison between alternative biorefinery options and may widen the choice to suboptimal ones. The method is applied to a case study in which various biomass-to-fuel technologies are analyzed to set up a rank of the most promising conversion processes in the current Swiss market.


Catastrophic deforestation and environmental degradation have become habits of thought about forest landscapes in Latin America's tropics. Yet these truisms blind analysts to three surprising changes. First, deforestation has slowed dramatically. Next, forest resurgence-largely a function of natural regeneration-is widely documented throughout the region on previously deforested lands. Finally, the importance of tree systems and complex environmental mosaics in working landscapes to produce livelihoods and environmental services and as supporting matrices for conservation is increasingly recognized. These dynamics over the last decade would have been unimaginable in the 1980s, the period that most shaped Euro-American perceptions of tropical forest trends. Deforestation "hot spots", each with a different political ecology, remain and command attention, but it is important to recognize that platforms for alternatives exist. Latin America has become an innovator in tropical environmental policy, institutions, incentives, and practices that support forested landscapes. These dynamics and other related issues will be further elucidated in this document.


Scholars, litigants, and courts have debated the status of so-called "RAM copies" - instantiations of copyrighted works in the random access memory of computing devices - for decades. The Second Circuit's decision in Cartoon Network v. CSC Holdings has recently reignited the controversy over these putative copies. There the court held that CSC did not create copies within the meaning of the Copyright Act when it buffered fleeting segments of television programs. In many respects, the Second Circuit's holding is a straightforward application of the Act's nested definitions of "copies" and "fixed." But because the court declined to apply the bright line rule that emerged from MAI v. Peak and its progeny - that all temporary instantiations incidental to the use of digital technologies qualify as copies - Cartoon Network has met with vigorous disapproval from copyright industry representatives. But Peak has faced sustained scholarly criticism for both expanding the scope of the copyright grant and misreading statutory language, legislative history, and precedent. By backing away from the categorical holding in Peak, the Second Circuit sidestepped many of its faults. But Cartoon Network gives rise to another set of concerns, chief among them the absence of a clear standard for distinguishing transitory instantiations from those sufficiently permanent to qualify as copies. While Peak offers a uniform, predictable, but overly inclusive rule for RAM copies, Cartoon Network provides an outcome more consistent with sound statutory interpretation and copyright policy, but lacking in predictive power. The difficulties inherent in both Peak and Cartoon Network flow in part from their treatment of the statutory requirement that fixed copies persist for longer than a "transitory duration." Peak ignored this requirement altogether, while Cartoon Network treated it as determinative without articulating its contours. Without a clearer conception of the outer bounds of transitory duration, courts are ill equipped to undertake the more nuanced analysis of RAM instantiations Cartoon Network suggests. This paper attempts to bring the contours of "transitory duration" into sharper focus. It draws on three sets of considerations: the application of the transitory duration requirement in the context of copyrightability; qualitative considerations related to the function of RAM instantiations; and a comparison of the work RAM copies do in the copyright system and the traditional role of the reproduction right. On the basis of these considerations, this paper offers a set of concrete factors courts should take into account when classifying RAM instantiations. These factors will lend greater predictability to the RAM instantiation analysis without sacrificing consistency with the text of the Copyright Act and the policies that underlie it.


Race, Criminal Justice, and Migration Control: Enforcing the Boundaries of Belonging, edited by Mary Bosworth, Apla Parmar, and Yolanda Vazquez, is an anthology of essays involving the intersectionality of race separated into four sections: 1) Race, Borders, and Social Control; 2) Race, Policing, and Security; 3) Race, Courts, and the Law; and 4) Race, Detention, and Deportation. As an introduction to intersectionality between race, and gender and class, this anthology gives a somewhat comprehensive compilation of migration issues stemming in countries that exercise firm control over migration of incoming migrants and exiting migrants. Each article focuses on an issue ongoing with a specific population of people, and how the mechanisms in place for migration function criminally and divisively.


The growing attention to global warming due to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the process of fossil fuel-based energy production is expressed in the Kyoto Protocol, which prescribes, on average, a 7 percent reduction in GHG emissions for developed countries. Although Israel was not included in the list of the obligated countries (Annex A), it should consider the economic implications of participating in the emission reduction effort, as such a commitment becomes highly feasible following the Bali roadmap which oblige a successor to the Kyoto Protocol to launch negotiations including all parties to the UNFCCC on a future framework, stressing the role of cooperative action and of common though differentiated responsibility. This study aimed to quantify the economy-wide consequences for Israel of meeting the targets of the Kyoto Protocol, employing a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model of the Israeli economy. Initially, to this end, we constructed a social accounting matrix (SAM) to serve as a benchmark by combining physical energy and emission data and economic data from various sources. The efficacy of decentralized economic incentives for CO2 emission reduction, such as carbon taxes on emissions and auctioned emission permits, was assessed in terms of their impact on economic welfare. In addition, we tested for the ensuing so-called double dividend. Two distinct cases were analyzed. In the first one, we tested a revenue-neutral environmental policy which proportionally cut pre-existing taxes. Labour supply was assumed to be exogenously fixed. The results showed that, although significant CO2 emission reduction can be achieved, followed by modest economic cost, no double dividend could be discerned. Next, in order to check for the employment double dividend (lower CO2 emissions and lower unemployment), we introduced labor market imperfections, with the aim of cutting income tax. The results of this case indicate that an employment double dividend is possible under a rather standard set of assumptions. Moreover, for higher substitutability between the energy composite input and the labor-capital one, an even strong form of double dividend can be obtained. We performed several sensitivity analyses with respect to the modeled production function, which re-confirmed the finding that higher substitution possibilities lead to lower welfare costs 3 associated with a given emission reduction target. We qualify this general result by also showing that the opposite holds when the emission tax rate is held constant, rather than reduced. It may be concluded on the basis of this analysis that a double dividend may be an achievable goal under a GHG emission reduction policy in the case of economies such as Israel. The CGE approach applied in this research is adopted for the first time to the Israeli economy and should contribute to better informed debate on environmental policy in Israel.


The search for robust features for face recognition in uncontrolled environments is an important topic of research. In particular, there is a high interest in Gabor-based features which have invariance properties to simple geometrical transformations. In this paper, we first reinterpret Gabor filtering as a frequency decomposition into bands, and analyze the influence of each band separately for face recognition. Then, a new face verification scheme is proposed, combining the strengths of Gabor filtering with Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) modelling. Finally, this new system is evaluated on the BANCA and MOBIO databases with respect to well known face recognition algorithms. The proposed system demonstrates up to 52% relative improvement in verification error rate compared to a standard GMM approach, and outperforms the state-of-the-art Local Gabor Binary Pattern Histogram Sequence (LGBPHS) technique for several face verification protocols on two different databases.


There are generic elements in environmental risk assessments, which are independent of the subject to which risk analysis is applied. Examples of these elements are as follows: baseline study, hazard identification, hazards' concentration assessment, risk quantification, etc. Another important example of such generic elements is exposure assessment, which is required in a risk analysis process for landfill leachate as it would in any other environmental risk issue. Furthermore, computer models are also being developed to assist risk analysis in different fields. However, in the literature review of risk assessment approaches in general and risk analysis regarding landfills in particular, it was discovered that a comprehensive risk assessment methodology addressing all relevant modules and submodules for landfill leachate does not exist. A range of knowledge deficiencies and models' limitations has been uncovered in the literature reviewed to date. One of which is the absence of a holistic exposure assessment framework aided with a corresponding computer model specifically for quantitative risk analysis of landfill leachate. The same is the case for landfill gas and degraded landfill waste (although both are not the focus of this article). From the perspective of landfill leachate, this article attempts to outline an integrated and holistic framework of the exposure assessment accompanied with a computer model, thereby bridging knowledge gaps. © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 2011