I. INTRODUCTION For many years jurisdictional conflicts in international economic law have been at the center of economic disputes between nations. Such conflicts have in turn attracted significant scholarly attention.(1) This is especially true in the field of antitrust law.(2) Jurisdictional conflicts have also arisen, or can be expected to arise, in other areas of law, including civil rights law(3) export control legislation(4) waste export controls(5) and in RICO Act applications.(6) Jurisdictional conflicts also have a long tradition in the economically important field of securities law.(7) These conflicts have usually involved the United States and European states or offshore capital market states. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in adjudicating many of these disputes, has applied an expansive view of U.S. jurisdictional reach. Other countries dislike this approach. Many critics, however, overlook the fact that the European Court of Justice has also broadly applied the competition laws of the European Economic Community. German courts have also rendered judgments that have had extraterritorial effects. The internationalization of capital markets(8) has led to conflicts(9), mainly in the areas of insider trading, fraud claims, registration and disclosure laws, margin requirements and takeover regulations, as well as others. This Article seeks to provide an economic analysis of jurisdictional conflicts. In addition, an effort will be made to demonstrate how possible solutions to these jurisdictional disputes respond to efficiency requirements. A review of the decisions resolving these conflicts will not be undertaken,(10) nor will this Article engage in a detailed discussion of how the relevant rules of public international law apply to these conflicts.(11) Economic analysis, although not widely utilized in international law(12) can prove helpful in explaining some instances of state behavior.(13) For example, jurisdictional doctrines can be evaluated based on their relation to efficiency. Game theory models can also be applied to determine the results obtained from an application of positive economic analysis to different problems. Both methods should yield useful information, if the underlying assumptions are logically consistent. II. TWO ILLUSTRATIVE CASES Two recent cases concerning the extraterritorial application of U.S. securities laws are discussed below to illustrate the types of conflicts that will later be analyzed. A. Consolidated Gold Fields Plc. v. Minorco's S.A.(14) This case concerned an attempted hostile takeover of a British corporation, Consolidated Gold Fields, by a Luxembourg holding company, Minorco, S.A.. U.S. residents held 2.5 percent of the outstanding shares of Consolidated Gold Fields.(15) Of these shares, only 0.025 percent were held directly, while the rest were held indirectly through nominee accounts in the United Kingdom or through the ownership of American Depositary Receipts.(16) The total value of these shares was approximately 120 million U.S. dollars. The undisclosed background of the attempted takeover engendered the dispute. The takeover was initiated by the Oppenheimer family from South Africa, which allegedly indirectly controlled Minorco. The strategy of the Oppenheimer family was to acquire the twelve percent market share of the western hemisphere gold market which Consolidated Gold Fields and its subsidiaries controlled.(17) Minorco already controlled twenty percent of the gold market in the western hemisphere. At the time the tender offer was made, Minorco represented that the offer "is not being made directly or indirectly in, or by use of the mails or by any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce or of any facility of a national securities exchange of, the United States of America . . ."(18) All direct contacts with U.S. shareholders, which would have the effect of bringing the transaction under the rubric of U. …


Abstract An extreme, dorsally hyperextended posture of the spine (opisthotonus), characterized by the skull and neck recurved over the back, and with strong extension of the tail, is observed in many well-preserved, articulated amniote skeletons (birds and other dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and at least placental mammals). Postmortem water transport may explain some cases of spinal curvature in fossil tetrapods, but we show how these can be distinguished from causes of the opisthotonic posture, which is a biotic syndrome. Traditional biotic explanations nearly all involve postmortem causes, and have included rigor mortis, desiccation, and contraction of tendons and ligaments. However, examination of the process of rigor mortis and experimental observations of drying and salinity in carcasses of extant animals show that these explanations of the "dead bird" (opisthotonic) posture account for few or no cases. Differential contraction of cervical ligaments after death also does not produce the opisthotonic posture. It is not postmortem contraction but perimortem muscle spasms resulting from various afflictions of the central nervous system that cause these extreme postures. That is, the opisthotonic posture is the result of "death throes," not postmortem processes, and individuals so afflicted assumed the posture before death, not afterward. The clinical literature has long recognized that such afflicted individuals perish from asphyxiation, lack of nourishment or essential nutrients, environmental toxins, or viral infections, among other causes. Accepting the actual causes of the opisthotonic posture as perimortem and not postmortem provides insights into the causes of death of fossilized specimens, and also revises interpretations of paleoenvironmental conditions of many fossil deposits. The opisthotonic posture tells us more about the circumstances surrounding death than about what happened after death. Finally, the opisthotonic posture appears to have a phylogenetic signal: it is so far reported entirely in ornithodiran archosaurs (dinosaurs and pterosaurs) and in crown-group placentals, though the distribution in mammals may expand with further study. It seems important that the opisthotonic posture has been observed extensively only in clades of animals that are known or thought to have high basal metabolic rates: hypoxia and related diseases would be most likely to affect animals with high oxygen use rates.


Abstract Abstract—To reduce maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality, health care payers are experimenting with ways to better align incentives to promote high-quality maternal health services. This review examined 26 recent initiatives of health care payers in 16 low- and middle-income countries to pay for quality, and not solely quantity, of maternal health services. Payers measured quality by assessing availability of structural inputs (24 of 26 cases), adherence to processes (25 of 26 cases), and observation of key outputs of health facilities (14 of 26 cases). Two payers sought to also assess quality through observed patient outcomes. In 25 of the initiatives, payers used the quality assessment to adjust facility payments; in the remaining initiative, the payer used the quality assessment to adjust payments to provincial governments, which in turn pay facilities. The recent growth in such payment systems suggests more health care payers have identified ways to link quality measurement with provider payment mechanisms. Eleven impact evaluations of systems documented changes in provider behavior consistent with various elements of quality; however, only three evaluations reported effects on maternal or newborn morbidity and mortality and do not conclude whether the design or flaws in how it was implemented led to the results. Implementation fidelity—the degree to which the initiative was implemented as designed—was not widely addressed and is an area for future research. Furthermore, although payers in low- and middle-income countries have identified ways to operationalize a payment system that adjusts payments based on some measure of quality, the complexity and level of resources required to operationalize them raise concerns about sustainability.


This study aimed to investigate to what extent the use of hands-on science activities influences on students' academic achievement in science. Review of literature revealed several research studies focusing upon such aim and thus, a meta-analysis of these researches was carried out to obtain an overall effect size estimate of hands-on science activities on science achievement. Of the available studies, 15 with multiple outcomes satisfied the pre-determined inclusion criteria. In addition to the estimation of overall effect size using fixed- and random-effects models, subgroup analyses were also run through a mixed-effect model to determine whether heterogeneity in effect size estimates is due to the influence of moderator variables. Results showed that the estimated effect size was statistically significant ( Z =8.57,  p  < .01). The magnitude of the overall effect size estimate indicated that the hands-on activities had a very large impact on students' science achievement (Hedge`s  g  = 1.55, 95% CI= [1.20-1.91]). The effect size estimates for each moderator variable was also statistically significant at alpha level of .01, but no difference was found within sub-categories of moderator variables.


Periodontal disease is a chronic inflammatory disease that leads to the destruction of the bone support of the tooth. Its clinical manifestation varies from a simple gingivitis to a periodontitis. The main cause of this pathology is plaque buildup. Various chemical compounds have been introduced with antibacterial and anti-plaque properties. The main one is chlorhexidine gluconate. With the increased use of natural derivative compounds, interest in aloe vera (AV) has increased. AV has various effects on the human being, among which it promotes wound healing, has an anti-inflammatory effect, has an antibacterial and antiviral effect. Therefore the purpose of this review is to evaluate the antibacterial power of an aloe vera based mouthwash formulation. Several articles were considered through a systematic review of the different search engines. Three articles were examined which compared the effectiveness of an aloe vera-based mouthwash with a chlorhexidine-based mouthwash. Experiments on humans have been considered. The 3 papers showed a completely similar efficacy of chlorhexidine compared to aloe vera. In fact, studies have shown that this natural product has the same anti-plaque beneficial effects as chlorhexidine. It does not have the side effects of chlorhexidine. further clinical trials will be needed to assess whether long-term side effects of aloe vera are actually present. The studies analyzed have a short follow-up, so some long-term effects could not


Erwinia amylovora is a highly virulent, necrogenic, vascular pathogen of rosaceous species that produces the exopolysaccharide amylovoran, a known pathogenicity factor, and levan, a virulence factor. An in vitro crystal violet staining and a bright-field microscopy method were used to demonstrate that E. amylovora is capable of forming a biofilm on solid surfaces. Amylovoran and levan production deletion mutants were used to determine that amylovoran was required for biofilm formation and that levan contributed to biofilm formation. In vitro flow cell and confocal microscopy were used to further reveal the architectural detail of a mature biofilm and differences in biofilm formation between E. amylovora wild-type (WT), Deltaams, and Deltalsc mutant cells labeled with green fluorescent protein or yellow fluorescent protein. Scanning electron microscopy analysis of E. amylovora WT cells following experimental inoculation in apple indicated that extensive biofilm formation occurs in xylem vessels. However, Deltaams mutant cells were nonpathogenic and died rapidly following inoculation, and Deltalsc mutant cells were not detected in xylem vessels and were reduced in movement into apple shoots. These results demonstrate that biofilm formation plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of E. amylovora.


A bilevel mode converter is analyzed for providing low-loss coupling between the small fundamental mode of a silicon nanowire waveguide and the larger mode of a conventional silicon-on-insulator (SOI) rib waveguide. The bilevel converter can also be used to improve the coupling efficiency between a lensed fiber and a silicon nanowire waveguide. The mode converter consists of two tapers formed at different levels. The top taper comprises a parabolic and sine taper, which is optimized to improve the mode conversion efficiency. Numerical analyses are given by using a three-dimensional semivectorial beam propagation method. The design has good tolerance against misalignment of the two masks needed for the double etch.


Civil orders which take effect after a person has been released from a sentence of imprisonment have become more common features of Irish law. Despite representing a major departure from the principle that when a person has served a sentence the state has no further "call" on that person, such orders have received limited attention. This article examines some of these new orders, in particular section 26 and section 26A of the Criminal Justice Act 2007. It argues that these orders should be of concern, suggesting that they are likely to act as barriers to reintegration of ex-prisoners, represent a "failure model" of criminal justice and have the potential to undermine the presumption of innocence of those released from prison.


Crustal rebound from water drawdown The ongoing drought across the western United States has taken a toll on underground water storage. Borsa et al. use almost imperceptible crustal uplift to estimate the regional water depletion from the drought. Inverting GPS data maps the impact of the drought on local aquifers over the past few years. The deficit so far in the western United States adds up to 240 gigatons of water, the equivalent of a 10-cm layer across the region. Certain areas of California have fared much worse, with local depletions up to five times the regional average. Science, this issue p. 1587 GPS measurements of crustal rebound in the western U.S. quantify drought-induced regional water depletion. The western United States has been experiencing severe drought since 2013. The solid earth response to the accompanying loss of surface and near-surface water mass should be a broad region of uplift. We use seasonally adjusted time series from continuously operating global positioning system stations to measure this uplift, which we invert to estimate mass loss. The median uplift is 5 millimeters (mm), with values up to 15 mm in California's mountains. The associated pattern of mass loss, ranging up to 50 centimeters (cm) of water equivalent, is consistent with observed decreases in precipitation and streamflow. We estimate the total deficit to be ~240 gigatons, equivalent to a 10-cm layer of water over the entire region, or the annual mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet.


This study challenges the current design of forest resource use contracts in Latin America. Radical rethinking of forest resource contracts is imperative, due to the constraints that now face the successful achievement of forest policy objectives of economic development and conservation of forest resources. The constraints identified in this study include: 1) financial incentives that favor selective logging rather than management in tropical forests; 2) lack of a technical basis for silviculture in neo-tropical forests; 3) governments that lack the administrative capacity and political will to impose management; 4) cultural and social norms that fail to recognize local users of forest resources. This study is intended to serve as a turning point in forest concession policy and provide useful guidelines for policy analysts, non-governmental organizations, and multilateral lending institutions interested in facilitating this process. A comprehensive rethinking of forest resource contracts will greatly benefit all those relying on the economic development and conservation of forests in Latin America.


In this work we discuss the secondary market for life insurance policies in the United States of America. First, we give an overview of the life settlement market: how it came into existence, its growth prospects and the ethical issues it arises. Secondly, we discuss the characteristics of the different life insurance products present in the market and describe how life settlements are originated. Life settlement transactions tend to be long and complex transactions that require the involvement of a number of parties. Also, a direct investment into life insurance policies is fraught with a number of practical issues and entails risks that are not directly related to longevity. This may reduce the efficiency of a direct investment in physical policies. For these reasons, a synthetic longevity market has evolved. The number of parties involved in a synthetic longevity transaction is typically smaller and the broker-dealer transferring the longevity exposure will be retaining most or all of the risks a physical investment entails. Finally, we describe the main methods used in the market to evaluate life settlement investments and the role of life expectancy providers.


There are four ways in which the phrase "καθαρίσας τῷ λουτρῷ τοῦ ὕδατος ἐν ῥήματι" has been interpreted by several scholars. These are the following: (1) baptism imagery, (2) redemption imagery, (3) cleansing by the Word, and (4) cleansing through the Holy Spirit. Due to the different interpretations that exist of the phrase "καθαρίσας τῷ λουτρῷ τοῦ ὕδατος ἐν ῥήματι" in Eph 5:26, there were three objectives of this study. First, this study sought to understand the meaning of this phrase using historical-grammatical method of analysis. Second, an analysis of the broader context of the passage in the other significant passages, in the New Testament, and the Old Testament was conducted to understand the broader context of washing. Third, some implications were drawn of the findings of the study. The meaning that was determined from the analysis of the passage was a cleansing imagery that points to Christ's salvation and redemption, as proclaimed by the word God. This was consistent with the syntactical and the grammatical analysis, the context of the passage, and the context of Ephesians. Paul was seen to be comparing the sacrificial love of Christ towards the church, in His death, with the love that the husband's should have for their wives. This expression was preferred above all the other interpretation. Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies The major contribution was also seen in the biblical context, where washing was used primarily as a metaphorical imagery of the cleansing that Christ gives, to those who believe in the New Testament. Second in the Old Testament, washing in relation to moral impurity was related to repentance and cleansing imagery as well. Though it was clear that no ablutions could cleanse one of their moral impurities, the washing that was effected by God upon believers was seen as having a cleansing effect to their moral iniquities. Furthermore, some texts suggested a messianic hope of this cleansing, which was to be fulfilled in Jesus. There were also some theological implications that were seen as the result of the study. These were in relation to some themes in soteriology, especially in relation to baptism. Second, some implications were seen in the roles of husband and wife.


Recent advances in behavioral genetics have enabled the discovery of genetic scores linked to a variety of economic outcomes, including education. We build on this progress to demonstrate that the same genetic variants that predict educational attainment independently predict household wealth in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). This relationship is partly explained by higher earnings, but a substantial portion of this association cannot be explained mechanically by income flows or bequests. This leads us to explore the role of beliefs, financial literacy and portfolio decisions in explaining this genetic gradient in wealth.We show that individuals with lower genetic scores are more prone to reporting "extreme beliefs" (e.g., reporting that there is a 100% chance of a stock market decline in the near future) and they invest their savings accordingly (e.g., avoiding the stock market). Our findings suggest that genetic factors that promote human capital accumulation contribute to wealth disparities not only through education and higher earnings, but also through their impact on the ability to process information and make good financial decisions. The association between genetic ability and wealth is substantially lower among households receiving a defined benefit pension. Policies that transfer greater responsibility to individuals to manage their wealth might therefore exacerbate the consequences of labor market inequality.


Interest in the role of self-confidence in sport performance has been high in sport psychology research. A measure to assess general physical self-efficacy has recently been developed, but without application to competitive sport performance. The present study examined the role of general and task-specific self-efficacy in women's intercollegiate gymnastics. It also assessed the reliability and validity of the Physical Self-Efficacy Scale in a competitive sport setting. The Physical Self-Efficacy Scale was found to be a reliable and valid instrument for measuring an individual's general physical self-efficacy in sport. However, the task-specific measures of self-efficacy and the gymnast's prediction of how they would perform proved to be much more powerful variables for predicting actual gymnastic performance. The results are discussed in terms of the relationships between different types of self-efficacy and sport performance and the problems associated with self-efficacy measurement.


Summary: In this study five xanthate (Reversible Addition-Fragmentation chain Transfer (RAFT)/Macromolecular Design through Interchange of Xanthates (MADIX)) agents were synthesized, namely monofunctional, difunctional, trifunctional and tetrafunctional species of the form SC(O-Z)-S-R, with different leaving groups and different activating moieties some of which are completely novel. Polyvinyl acetates (PVAc) in the form of linear, three armed and four armed star shaped polymers were then successfully synthesized in reactions mediated by these xanthate RAFT/MADIX agents.


Iron assumes a critical part in every living being. Iron deficiency in the body may leads to the most prevalent disease i.e. Anemia. However this deficiency of iron in the body can be prevented by using iron utensil instead of aluminum and stainless steel utensil. Through this study, the effect of utensil on iron content of food has been demonstrated by X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (XFR) method. Foods cooked in non-iron utensil has been found less iron content in food as comparison to the food cooked in iron utensil. Increment in iron content was found to be 0.007 mg/5 g in Bengal gram and 0.0011 mg/5 g increased in Beetroot halwa when cooked in iron utensil.


Students of Family Law will no doubt have their own views on the concept of shared parenting and may believe that shared parenting either is or should be, part of English law. However, this is not enshrined in law and Section 11 of the Children and Families Act 2014 (which inserts new sections 1(2)A, 1(2)B, 1(6) and 1(7) into the Children Act 1989) which came into force on 22 October 20141, introduces the presumption of parental involvement, not shared parenting, into family law. Heralded by the Justice Minister Simon Hughes as one of a number of 'bold' reforms to the Family Justice system it is seen by many commentators as a missed opportunity which changes little, if anything. This article briefly outlines the Act's key provisions in terms of family law and considers the implications of the Section 11 presumption.


High-throughput experimental techniques and bioinformatics tools make it possible to obtain reconstructions of the metabolism of microbial species. Combined with mathematical frameworks such as flux balance analysis, which assumes that nutrients are used so as to maximize growth, these reconstructions enable us to predict microbial growth. Although such predictions are generally accurate, these approaches do not give insights on how different nutrients are used to produce growth, and thus are difficult to generalize to new media or to different organisms. Here, we propose a systems-level phenomenological model of metabolism inspired by the virial expansion. Our model predicts biomass production given the nutrient uptakes and a reduced set of parameters, which can be easily determined experimentally. To validate our model, we test it against in silico simulations and experimental measurements of growth, and find good agreement. From a biological point of view, our model uncovers the impact that individual nutrients and the synergistic interaction between nutrient pairs have on growth, and suggests that we can understand the growth maximization principle as the optimization of nutrient synergies.


The effect of fireworks on air quality was assessed from the ambient concentrations of various air pollutants (SO2, NO2, PM10 and TSP) during Diwali festival in Hisar city (India), in November 1999. The extensive use of fireworks was found to be related to short-term variation in air quality. During the festival the concentration of SO2 was observed to be increased approximately 10-fold at few sites, whereas the concentrations of NO2, PM10 and TSP increased 2-3 times, compared to the data collected on a typical winter day in December 1999. The maximum NO2 concentration was observed a day after the festival. The diurnal pattern of the above pollutants showed a slight increase in the night. The levels of these pollutants observed during Diwali were found to be moderately high, which can be associated with serious health impacts.


Abstract In 2017, the EFSA Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens (NDA) concluded that betaine as a novel food (NF) is safe to be used at a maximum intake level of 6 mg/kg body weight per day in addition to the intake from the background diet. Following the present request from the European Commission, the EFSA NDA Panel was asked to deliver a scientific opinion on betaine by carrying out the assessment for the revised uses and use levels of betaine as proposed by the applicant. Thus, EFSA performed an intake assessment based on individual data from the EFSA Comprehensive European Food Consumption Database and the new proposed uses of the NF for the general population. The resulting ranges for the mean and high‐level estimated intakes of betaine for the general population do not exceed the safe level of intake previously established. The Panel concludes that the NF, betaine, is safe under the new proposed conditions of use.


In Hock: Pazvning in America from Independence through the Great Depression. By Wendy Woloson. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010. Pp. 233. Cloth, $35.00.)Reviewed by Jane KamenskyWe are all in hock now, Wendy Woloson points out in the final chapter of this deeply researched and lucidly written study of pawnbrokerage in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century America. Having feasted for decades on credit-card debt - "pawning's mirror opposite" (182) - many Americans now find themselves in famine, pawning consumer goods bought dear with plastic for a little cash loaned at equally high interest rates. Long on the downswing, pawning is making a comeback: The number of pawnshops in the United States has nearly doubled since 1988. Surely the time is ripe for Woloson's probing history of the pawnshop seen from both sides of the counter and many other angles of vision as well. Using an enormous variety of evidence, including business records, personal documents, trade cards, satiric prints, sheet music, dime novels, penny papers, and much more, In Hock redeems pawnbrokerage from stereotypes that have haunted the trade since its inception. Woloson reveals instead a vibrant and complex facet of the emerging industrial economy in cities ranging from Boston to Birmingham to Leadville, Colorado. At its best, Woloson's study makes a worthy companion to Stephen Mihm's A Nation of Counterfeiters: Capitalists, Con Men, and the Making of the United States (Cambridge, MA, 2007), Seth Rockman's Scraping By: Wage Labor, Slavery, and Survival in Early Baltimore (Baltimore, 2010; reviewed earlier in this issue), and other recent books probing the murky interstices of early American capitalism.Woloson opens In Hock with a visit to her neighborhood pawnshop, the bright and cheerful McGarry's, a family business serving Philadelphians for two generations. "The place is neat and clean," she writes, "the atmosphere relaxed and friendly. The radio is tuned to NPR" (1). Pawnbrokers aren't who we think they are, in other words. Bankers, rescuers, and retailers by turns, they're a far cry from the seedy lowlifes of popular imagination. Primetime stereotypes don't get the pawners right, either, Woloson discovered. She herself pawned a gold necklace for $40.00 - another $6.00 due in five months if she wants to redeem it - all in the service of explaining to her reader the basic terms of the strange trade that is her subject.The reductive stereotypes Woloson wants so badly to dispel are the subject of her second chapter. The caricature of the pawnbroker as a rapacious and marginal figure and his customers as impoverished victims is an old one, arriving in British North America in the mid eighteenth century, before pawnbrokerage itself took root. Stories and images printed in London and reprinted in the colonies beginning in the 1 760s made pawnbrokers "anathema to the emerging capitalist system" (22). Cast as greedy, irrational foreigners (often Jews), pawnbrokers were merchants gone through the looking glass: They took goods and gave money with strings attached, doubly impeding their customers' pursuits of happiness. Woloson marshals mountains of evidence on this point, and her readings of these cultural texts are nuanced and persuasive. But starting the book with a lengthy explication of the stereotypes she wishes to dispel works against her agenda. She devotes nearly a quarter of In Hock to documenting what the pawnbroker was not.Far more revealing are the tour de force middle chapters of In Hock, which offer a painstaking social history of pawning from the perspectives of brokers, clients, and police. In America as in Europe, pawnbrokers followed immigrants to cities, where new kinds of lending arose to meet the needs of newly arrived populations. …


This paper presents the luminescence spectra of potassium–aluminoborate glasses containing copper (i) and chloride ions in the temperature interval 20°C–300°C. It shows that, when the temperature is increased, the luminescence thermochromic effect is observed in the glass, consisting of a short-wavelength shift of the maximum of the luminescence band by 100 nm while insignificantly changing the luminescence intensity at the maximum.


The ever growing availability of phylogenomic data makes it increasingly possible to study and analyze phylogenetic relationships across a wide range of species. Indeed, current phylogenetic analyses are now producing enormous collections of trees that vary greatly in size. Our proposed research addresses the challenges posed by storing, querying, and analyzing such phylogenetic databases. Our first contribution is the further development of STBase, a phylogenetic tree database consisting of a billion trees whose leaf sets range from four to 20000. STBase applies techniques from different areas of computer science for efficient tree storage and retrieval. It also introduces new ideas that are specific to tree databases. STBase provides a unique opportunity to explore innovative ways to analyze the results from queries on large sets of phylogenetic trees. We propose new ways of extracting consensus information from a collection of phylogenetic trees. Specifically, this involves extending the maximum agreement subtree problem. We greatly improve upon an existing approach based on frequent subtrees and, propose two new approaches based on agreement subtrees and frequent subtrees respectively. The final part of our proposed work deals with the problem of simplifying multi-labeled trees and handling "rogue" taxa. We propose a novel technique to extract conflict-free information from multi-labeled trees as a much smaller single labeled tree. We show that the inherent problem in identifying rogue taxa is NP-hard and give fixed-parameter tractable and integer linear programming solutions.


This provocation contests the familiar construction of classical Athens as an ideal exemplar of democratic politics through a focus on the city's material fabric, its visual artworks, and the performances which took place within its public spaces. It highlights the city's ongoing process of material re-building (particularly following the Persian invasion of 480 BCE), during which process many of its old artworks were appropriated or re-purposed to express democratic aspirations and anxieties. It also foregrounds the ongoing tensions given articulation through the city's new showpiece building projects and performance events, including theatrical tragedy and comedy. The aim, throughout, is to challenge cliched (and idealising) views of classical Athens as a unified and serene white-marble vista. Instead, this provocation cultivates an alternative vision of the democratic city as unfinished, insecure, and frequently disunited: a permanent "work-in-progress" in both a material and a political sense. In conclusion, the Athens of the fifth century BCE is re-positioned as a timely (though not a "timeless") reminder to today's politically-engaged artists, educators, and activists that democratic self-definition and practice can only be sustained through a vigorous, ongoing, and open-ended process of debate, confrontation, and contestation within the civic and creative spaces of the city.


Successful adenoviral (Ad) vector-mediated strategies for breast cancer gene therapy and virotherapy have heretofore been hindered by low transduction efficiency. This has recently been understood to result from a relative paucity of expression of the primary adenovirus receptor, coxsackie-adenovirus-receptor (CAR), on primary tumor cells. To further investigate this issue, we evaluated the expression of CAR on breast cancer cell lines as well as primary breast cancer cells. With the exception of one patient sample, CAR expression was notably higher in the tumor cells from patients compared to CAR expression in the tumor cell lines. Furthermore, we explored CAR-independent targeting strategies to breast cancer tissue by exploring a panel of infectivity-enhanced Ad vectors, which contain CAR-independent targeting motifs for their utility in breast cancer gene therapy and virotherapy. These targeting motifs included Ad 3 knob (Ad5/3), canine Ad serotype 2 knob (Ad5CAV-2), RGD (Ad5.RGD), polylysine (Ad5.pK7), or both RGD and polylysine (Ad5.RGD.pK7), and were tested using the breast cancer tissue slice model, which is the most stringent substrate system available. Of all the tested tropism modified Ad vectors, Ad5/3 exhibited the highest transductional efficiency in breast cancer. These preclinical results suggest that Ad5/3 is the most useful modification to achieve higher clinical efficacy of breast cancer gene therapy and virotherapy.


In order to have an effective marketing program you should only solicit prospects who really need your services, who are genuinely interested in doing business with you, and who have the ability to pay. This suggests that you must be very selective in choosing your prospects. It is important that you make an in-depth study of each potential client. There is no point in your firm spending a great deal of time developing a client when the end result will be only to bid you against a firm which your target client had planned to give the work to the entire time. Following are six fundamental tips on how to effectively market your company to your select target clients.


Since its birth in 1944, the World Bank has had a strong focus on development projects. Yet, it did not have a project evaluation unit until the early 1970s. An early attempt to conceptualize project appraisal had been made in the 1960s by Albert Hirschman, whose undertaking raised high expectations at the Bank. Hirschman's conclusions -- published first in internal Bank reports and then, as a book in 1967 -- disappointed many at the Bank, primarily because they found it impractical. Hirschman wanted to offer the Bank a new vision by transforming the Bank's approach to project design, project management and project appraisal. What the Bank expected from Hirschman, HOWEVER, was not a revolution but an examination of the Bank's projects and advice on how to make project design and management more measurable, controllable, and suitable for replication. The history of this failed collaboration provides useful insights on the unstable equilibrium between operations and evaluation within the Bank. In addition, it shows that the Bank actively participated in the development economics debates of the 1960s. This should be of interest for development economists today who reflect on the future of their discipline emphasizing the need for a non-dogmatic approach to development. It should also be of interest for the Bank itself, which is stressing the importance of evaluation for effective development policies. The history of the practice of development economics, using archival material, can bring new perspectives and help better understand the evolution of this discipline.


Title of Dissertation: THE ROLE OF SEQUENCE IN THE STRUCTURE OF SELF-ASSEMBLING 3D DNA CRYSTALS Maithili Saoji, Doctor of Philosophy, 2015. Dissertation Directed By: Dr. Paul Paukstelis, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. DNA is a widely used biopolymer for the construction of nanoscale objects due to its programmability and structural predictability. DNA oligonucleotides can, however, exhibit a great deal of local structural diversity. DNA conformation is strongly linked to both environmental conditions and the nucleobase identities inherent in the oligonucleotide sequence, but the exact relationship between sequence and local structure is not completely understood. We previously determined the X-ray crystal structure of a DNA 13-mer that forms a continuously hydrogen bonded threedimensional lattice through Watson-Crick and non-canonical base pairs. In the current work I examined how the sequence of the Watson-Crick duplex region influenced crystallization of this 13-mer. I screened all possible self-complementary sequences in the hexameric duplex region and found 21 oligonucleotides that crystallized. Sequence analysis showed that one specific Watson-Crick base pair influenced the crystallization propensity and the speed of crystal self-assembly. I determined X-ray crystal structures for 13 of these oligonucleotides and found sequence-specific structural changes suggesting that this base pair may serve as a structural anchor during crystal assembly. I explored the crystal self-assembly and nucleation process and demonstrated that crystals grown from mixtures of two different oligonucleotide sequences contained both the oligonucleotides. These results suggested that crystal self-assembly is nucleated by the formation of Watson-Crick duplexes. Finally, I also examined how a single nucleotide addition to the DNA 13mer leads to a significantly different overall structure under identical crystallization conditions. The 14-mer crystal structures described here showed that all of the predicted Watson-Crick base pairs were present, but the major difference as compared to the parent 13-mer structure was a significant rearrangement of noncanonical base pairs. This included the formation of a sheared A-G base pair, a junction of strands formed from base triple interactions, and tertiary interactions that generated structural features similar to tandem sheared G-A base pairs. The adoption of this alternate non-canonical structure was dependent in part on the sequence of the Watson-Crick duplex region. These results provided important new insights into the sequence/structure relationship of short DNA oligonucleotides and demonstrated a unique interplay between Watson-Crick and non-canonical base pairs that are responsible for crystallization fate. THE ROLE OF SEQUENCE IN THE STRUCTURE OF SELF-ASSEMBLING 3D DNA CRYSTALS


Biocompatible Polymer Microarrays for Cellular High-Content Screening by Salvatore Pernagallo The global aim of this thesis was to study the use of microarray technology for the screening and identification of biocompatible polymers, to understand physiological phenomena, and the design of biomaterials, implant surfaces and tissue-engineering scaffolds. This work was based upon the polymer microarray platform developed by the Bradley group. Polymer microarrays were successfully applied to find the best polymer supports for: (i) mouse fibroblast cells and used to evaluate cell biocompatibility and cell morphology. Fourteen polyurethanes demonstrated significant cellular adhesion. (ii) Analysis of the adhesion of human erythroleukaemic K562 suspension cells onto biomaterials with particular families of polyurethanes and polyacrylates identified. A DNA microarray study (to access the global gene expression profiles upon cellular binding) demonstrated that interactions between cells and some polyacrylates induced a number of transcriptomic changes. These results suggested that, during these interactions, a chain of cellular changes is triggered, most notably resulting in the downregulation of membrane receptors and ligands. (iii) Identification of polymers with potential applications in the field of stem cell biology. Polymers were identified that showed attachment, promotion and stabilisation of hepatocyte-like cells. A polyurethane support (PU-134) was pinpointed, which significantly improved both hepatocyte-like cell function and "lifespan". A second project investigated biomaterials that promoted adhesion, growth and function of endothelial progenitor cells. A new polymer matrix was identified which contained the necessary signals to promote endothelial phenotype and function. This has potential application in the creation of blood vessels and the endothelialisation of artificial vessel prostheses and stent coatings for improving angioplasty therapy. (iv) The study of bacterial adhesion, focusing on the adhesion of food-borne pathogenic bacterium Salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium, strain SL1344, and the commensal bacterium Escherichia coli, strain W3110. Several polymers were found to support selective bacterial enrichment, as well as others that minimised bacterial adhesion.


The reduction of building energy consumption requires appropriate planning and design of the building's envelope. In the last years, new innovative materials and construction technologies used in new or refurbished buildings have been developed in order to achieve this objective, which are also needed for reducing greenhouse gases emissions and building maintenance costs. In this work, the thermal conductance of a brick, made of wood and cement, used in a low-rise building, was investigated with a heat flow meter (HFM) and with numerical simulation using the Ansys ® software package (Canonsburg, PA, USA). Due to their influence on the buildings' thermal efficiency, it is important to choose an appropriate design for the building blocks. Results obtained by the finite element modeling of the construction material and by in-situ analysis conducted on a real building are compared, and furthermore a thermal optimization of the shape of the material is suggested.


The de facto standard application program interface (API) for TCP/IP applications is the "sockets" interface. Although this API was developed for Unix in the early 1980s it has also been implemented on a wide variety of non-Unix systems. TCP/IP applications written using the sockets API have in the past enjoyed a high degree of portability and we would like the same portability with IPv6 applications. But changes are required to the sockets API to support IPv6 and this memo describes these changes. These include a new socket address structure to carry IPv6 addresses, new address conversion functions, and some new socket options. These extensions are designed to provide access to the basic IPv6 features required by TCP and UDP applications, including multicasting, while introducing a minimum of change into the system and providing complete compatibility for existing IPv4 applications. Additional extensions for advanced IPv6 features (raw sockets and access to the IPv6 extension headers) are defined in another document [4].


We used the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)/rhesus macaque model to study events that underlie sexual transmission of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). Four female rhesus macaques were inoculated intravaginally with SIVmac251, and then killed 2, 5, 7, and 9 d later. A technique that detected polymerase chain reaction- amplified SIV in situ showed that the first cellular targets for SIV were in the lamina propria of the cervicovaginal mucosa, immediately subjacent to the epithelium. Phenotypic and localization studies demonstrated that many of the infected cells were likely to be dendritic cells. Within 2 d of inoculation, infected cells were identified in the paracortex and subcapsular sinus of the draining internal iliac lymph nodes. Subsequently, systemic dissemination of SIV was rapid, since culturable virus was detectable in the blood by day 5. From these results, we present a model for mucosal transmission of SIV and HIV-1.


We present evidence from a firm level experiment in which we engineered an exogenous change in managerial compensation from fixed wages to performance pay based on the average productivity of lower-tier workers. Theory suggests that managerial incentives affect both the mean and dispersion of workers' productivity through two channels. First, managers respond to incentives by targeting their efforts towards more able workers, implying that both the mean and the dispersion increase. Second, managers select out the least able workers, implying that the mean increases but the dispersion may decrease. In our field experiment we find that the introduction of managerial performance pay raises both the mean and dispersion of worker productivity. Analysis of individual level productivity data shows that managers target their effort towards high ability workers, and the least able workers are less likely to be selected into employment. These results highlight the interplay between the provision of managerial incentives and earnings inequality among lower-tier workers.


Syntactic ambiguity has been addressed in almost all major linguistic theories; however, within transformational generative grammar it has been assigned a far greater methodological importance than in other schools. This paper investigates the different types of ambiguity and their role in the development of linguistic arguments. An operational framework is presented in which the external adequacy condition of structural ambiguity can be evaluated. A detailed investigation is presented of the arguments based on structural ambiguity which have been put forth in the literature in support of an independent syntactic level of deep structure. It is concluded that such arguments fail, primarily because of fundamental problems concerning the status and empirical nature of ambiguity.


Cultured skin fibroblasts from patients with Huntington's chorea were prepared for indirect immunofluorescence using monospecific antibodies to tubulin, actin, and fibronectin. The fibroblasts were also visualized by transmission electron microscopy. The fibroblasts were observed after 3 hours of plating and treatment with various concentrations of colcemid and cytochalasin B to test the reaction of the microfibrillar network to stressful conditions. Disorders were not apparent in the cytoskeletal system (microtubules, microfilaments, and intermediate filaments) when compared with normal controls. Fibronectin was arranged in a fibrillar pattern similar to that seen with actin immunofluorescence. This colinear arrangement was not disturbed in Huntington's chorea cells. Microtubules, microfilaments, and 10-nm intermediate filaments became more parallel as the incubation period increased from 3 to 24 hours. This study showed that the cytoskeleton and the attachment of one surface protein (fibronectin) are not affected in Huntington's chorea.


In the 21st century, rapid changes in our society necessitate continuous review and practice of emergency plans. Traditional Face-to-Face (FtF) interactions in making emergency plans and training responders seem insufficient. The Virtual Team (VT), a new team form allowing a dynamic recruitment of experts from a global extent and a conduction of teamwork whenever it is needed, provides a more agile solution. This paper introduces a Group Support System (GSS) called Collaborative Scenario (Collario), aiming to facilitate effective collaboration in creating and discussing scenarios in VTs and to utilise scenarios as a vehicle in reviewing and practising emergency plans on a continuous basis. This research is still in progress. Three professionals have been involved in system demonstrations and interviews. Although it is still too early to make any conclusions, it is encouraging to know that all the three experts think that Collario is easy to use and might be useful for various Emergency Preparedness purposes.


We fabricated a multifunctional sensor for strain and temperature measurement based on ZnO film deposited on kapton film. Raman spectroscopy confirmed the growth of ZnO wurtzite crystal structure. Results from cantilever set-up with peltier module shows a linear dependence between resistance and strain which is in agreement with the gauge relationship between relative resistance and strain. Gauge factor was found to be in the range of 16.01 to 25.05. Excellent repeatability and stability with fast response time in the range of 10ms-12ms were achieved. Similar device performance was also found at different temperature.


Requirements engineering (RE), as a part of the project development life cycle, has increasingly been recognized as the key to ensuring on-time, on-budget, and goal-based delivery of software projects;compromising this vital phase is nothing but project failures. RE of big data projects is even more crucial because of the main characteristics of big data, including high volume, velocity, and variety. As the traditional RE methods and tools are user-centric rather than data-centric, employing these methodologies is insufficient to fulfill the RE processes for big data projects. Because of the importance of RE and limitations of traditional RE methodologies in the context of big data software projects, in this paper, a big data requirements engineering framework, named REBD, has been proposed. This conceptual framework describes the systematic plan to carry out big data projects starting from requirements engineering to the development, assuring successful execution, and increased productivity of the big data projects.


Broadband intracavity-absorption spectroscopy is demonstrated in a singly idler-resonant optical parametric oscillator made of β-barium borate, pumped by the third harmonic of an injection-seeded Q-switched Nd:YAG laser. IR 1.53-μm absorption of idler radiation by transitions of acetylene is detected with enhanced sensitivity in the upconverted spectrum of the signal radiation at 461 nm. Quantitative comparison of computer-simulated pulse-energy spectra with experimental absorption spectra indicates that the experimental detection sensitivity is close to the theoretical limit.


The analysis accuracy and precision of any multivariate calibration method will be severely degraded if unmodeled sources of spectral variation are present in the unknown sample spectra. A synthetic method for correcting errors generated by the presence of unmodeled components or other sources of unmodeled spectral variation has been developed. If the spectral shape of the unmodeled spectral component can be obtained and mathematically added in variable amounts to the original calibration spectra, then a new synthetic multivariate calibration model can be generated from the augmented data to accommodate the presence of the unmodeled source of spectral variation. The new method is demonstrated for a case where unmodeled temperature variations are present in the unknown sample spectra of dilute aqueous solutions of urea, creatinine, and NaCl. When constant-temperature partial least-squares (PLS) models are applied to spectra of variable-temperature samples, the standard errors of prediction (SEP) are approximately an order of magnitude higher than those of the original cross-validated SEPs of the constant-temperature PLS models. Synthetic models based upon constant-temperature data augmented with a classical least-squares (CLS) estimate of the spectral effect of temperature obtained from variable-temperature aqueous sample spectra are demonstrated to significantly reduce errors when predicting concentrations from spectra of solutions at variable-temperature. We demonstrate that the prediction precisions approach the original calibration precisions when the new synthetic PLS models are applied to variable-temperature solution spectra. Although spectrometer drift added bias errors to the analyte determinations, a method is demonstrated that can minimize the effect of long-term drift on prediction errors through the measurement and use of spectra obtained from a small subset of samples measured during both calibration and prediction. In addition, sample temperature can be predicted with high accuracy (±0.13 °C) with this new synthetic PLS modeling method without the need to recalibrate using actual variable-temperature sample data. Therefore, the synthetic method eliminates the need for expensive generation of new calibration samples and collection of their spectra. The method is quite general and can be applied by using any known source of spectral variation and used with any multivariate calibration method.


Our interest is in estimating the stress-strength reliability R = P[Y < X], where X and Y follow the Lomax distribution with common scale parameter. We discuss the problem in the situation where the stress measurements and the strength measurements are both in terms of records. Firstly, we obtain the MLE of R in general case (the common scale parameter is unknown). The MLE of the three unknown parameters can be obtained by solving one non-linear equation. We provide a simple fixed point type algorithm to find the MLE. We propose percentile bootstrap confidence intervals of R. A Bayes point estimator of R, and the corresponding credible interval using the MCMC sampling technique have been proposed. Secondly, assuming the common scale parameter is known, the MLE of R is obtained. Using exact distributions of the MLEs of the two unknown parameters, we construct the exact confidence interval of R. In this case, Bayes estimators have been obtained using Lindley's approximations. Analysis of a simulated data set has been presented for illustrative purposes. Finally, the different proposed methods have been compared via Monte Carlo simulation study.


Metal-free carbon quantum dots (CQDs) have attracted great interest, but the rapid preparation of doped CQDs with tunable optical properties is still an urgent task. Herein, we report that covalent organic frameworks (covalent triazine-based frameworks, CTF-1) with layered structures can be rapidly exfoliated and cut into N-doped CQDs. The cutting mechanism involves triazine hydrolysis and breaking the bonds between the triazines and benzene rings. Experiments and density functional theory (DFT) calculations confirm that the fluorescence of the obtained CQDs mainly originates from the intrinsic state emission induced by localized π–π* transitions, despite the contribution of the defect state emission. Due to their unique chemical structure, the CQDs could be further utilized as an efficient PL probe for detecting Hg2+. This study may open up new avenues for developing new kinds of CQDs using covalent organic frameworks as the starting materials.


Background/aim Currently there is not an effective antiviral treatment for COVID-19, but a large number of drugs have been evaluated since the beginning of the pandemic, and many of them have been used for the treatment of COVID-19 despite the preliminary or conflicting results of the clinical trials. We aimed to review and summarize all of the current knowledge on the antivirals for COVID-19. Results There are 2 main drug groups for SARS-CoV-2: agents that target proteins or RNA of the virus or interfere with proteins or biological processes in the host that support the virus. The main drug groups include inhibitors of viral entry into the human cell (convalescent plasma, monoclonal antibodies, nanobodies, mini proteins, human soluble ACE-2, camostat, dutasteride, proxalutamide, bromhexin, hydroxychloroquine, umifenovir nitazoxanid, niclosamide, lactoferrin), inhibitors of viral proteases (lopinavir/ritonavir, PF-07321332, PF-07304814, GC376), inhibitors of viral RNA (remdesivir, favipiravir, molnupiravir, AT-527, merimepodib, PTC299), inhibitors of host proteins supporting virus (plitidepsin, fluvoxamine, ivermectin), and agents supporting host natural immunity (Interferons). Conclusion When taking into account the results of all the available laboratory and clinical trials on the subject, monoclonal antibodies seem to be the most effective treatment for COVID-19 at the moment, and high-titer convalescent plasma also could be effective when administered during the early phase of the disease. As lopinavir/ritonavir, hydroxychloroquine, merimepodib, and umifenovir were found to be ineffective in RCTs, they should not be used. Additional studies are needed to define the role of remdesivir, favipiravir, interferons, ivermectin, dutasteride, proxulutamide, fluvoxamine, bromhexine, nitazoxanide, and niclosamid in the treatment of COVID-19. Finally, the results of phase trials are waited to learn whether or not the newer agents such as molnupiravir, PF-07321332, PF-07304814, plitidepsin and AT-527 are effective in the treatment of COVID-19.


This paper estimates demand and supply of mortgage credit by using a hierarchical trend model. The empirical analysis is based on loan-level data covering the years 2005-2014 in the Netherlands. We find that high-income households take out higher loan amounts and have higher collateral values. Interest rates are negatively related to both loan amounts and collateral values. The common trend in the loan equation, a proxy for the changes in demand and supply of mortgage credit over time, suggests a large decline in mortgage demand and supply after 2007. The common trend in the collateral value equation is highly correlated with the common trend in the loan equation, suggesting a high pass-through rate of changes in credit conditions from loan to value. We also find that young household cohorts can afford to buy better quality houses in 2014 than in 2005, even if they could borrow less. On the contrary, older household cohorts take out higher loans in 2014 than in 2005, but their collateral values do not change. We argue that younger households took up less mortgage debt as they became more credit constraint over time. Older households on the other hand suffered from negative home equity, forcing them to take up higher mortgage loans.


Morris Berman is well known as an innovative cultural historian and social critic. He has taught at a number of universities in Europe and North America, and has held visiting endowed chairs at Incarnate Word College (San Antonio), the University of New Mexico, and Weber State University. During 1982-88 he was the Lansdowne Professor in the History of Science at the University of Victoria, British Columbia. Berman won the Governor's Writers Award for Washington State in 1990, the Rollo May Center Grant for Humanistic Studies in 1992, and the Neil Postman Award for Career Achievement in Public Intellectual Activity (from the Media Ecology Association) in 2013.


OBJECTIVE
Early detection of renal involvement in lupus prevents poor outcomes. Although published guidelines recommend urine dipstick as an appropriate screening test and evidence suggests a majority of American rheumatologists use dipstick to screen for proteinuria, the performance of this diagnostic approach in lupus has not been reported. We examined the validity of qualitative urine dipstick versus quantitative 24-hour measurement to accurately detect proteinuria, including low-level proteinuria.

METHODS
We performed a diagnostic accuracy study using paired samples from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Ohio State University School of Medicine lupus cohorts. All qualitative urine dipstick values were obtained within 1 day of a 24-hour urine collection.

RESULTS
We analyzed the performance of 3 urine dipstick assays to detect proteinuria compared to 24-hour protein/creatinine ratios, using 2224 dipstick measures from 296 patients. The sensitivity of a > or = 1+ dipstick result to detect quantitative proteinuria (> or = 0.50 g protein/g creatinine) was 82.7% for the Clinitek, 97.7% for the Atlas, and 85.5% for the Bayer assay. The corresponding sensitivity to detect low-level proteinuria, (0.50-0.99 g protein/g creatinine) was 63.1%, 96.4%, and 80.7%, respectively. The specificity to correctly exclude proteinuria (< 0.50 g protein/g creatinine) with negative/trace results was 86.1%, 62.2%, and 59.4%. There was considerable variability in the range of protein/creatinine ratios detected at each dipstick level of proteinuria.

CONCLUSION
Urine dipsticks demonstrate substantial variability and often poor validity to accurately detect proteinuria at quantitative levels; this warrants further diagnostic evaluation. Clinicians should consider quantified proteinuria assays as a more accurate screening tool in the diagnostic evaluation of lupus nephritis.


In this article, we rehabilitate the integrating rising bubble technique as an effective means of obtaining discharge measurements. Since Sargent (1981, 1982a), the technique has not been applied widely, mainly as a result of practical difficulties. We hypothesize that modern image processing techniques can greatly improve the rising bubble technique. We applied the technique in both a laboratory setup and a field study, after determining the bubble rising velocity for our nozzles in the specific case. During our measurements, we captured digital photographs of the bubble envelope at the water surface, each picture being a single measurement of the discharge. The photographs were corrected for lens distortion and reprojected so that accurate distances on water surface level could be obtained. This easy digital procedure resulted in accurate discharge measurements, even when turbulence was involved and the averages of multiple image analyses yielded good results. The study shows that the rising bubble technique can be a preferable discharge gauging technique in some situations. Recent developments in image processing facilitate the method substantially.


Time surfaces are a versatile tool to visualise advection and deformation in flow fields. Due to complex flow behaviours involving stretching, shearing, and folding, straightforward mesh-based representations of these surfaces can develop artefacts and degenerate quickly. Common counter-measures rely on refinement and adaptive insertion of new particles which lead to an unpredictable increase in memory requirements. We propose a novel time surface extraction technique that keeps the number of required flow particles constant, while providing a high level of fidelity and enabling straightforward load balancing. Our solution implements a 2D particle relaxation procedure that makes use of local surface metric tensors to model surface deformations. We combine this with an accurate bicubic surface representation to provide an artefact-free surface visualisation. We demonstrate and evaluate benefits of the proposed method with respect to surface accuracy and computational efficiency.


Livedoid vasculopathy (LV) is a hyalinizing vascular disease characterized by painful purple macules and papules that subsequently ulcerate. This vasculopathy may be associated with chronic venous insufficiency, deep venous thrombosis, factor V Leiden mutation, protein C deficiency, antiphospholipid syndrome, increased homocysteine levels, abnormalities in fibrinolysis, increased platelet activation and sickle cell disease. Difficult venous access, unreliable measurement of peripheral O2 saturation and increased susceptibility to venous embolic events may be a challenge for anesthetists. There is limited data about anesthetic management of livedoid vasculopathy in the literature. This case report describes successful anesthetic management of two patients with livedoid vasculopathy.


In this paper, we consider the problem of planning any-angle paths with small numbers of turns on grid maps. We propose a novel heuristic search algorithm called Link* that returns paths containing fewer turns at the cost of slightly longer path lengths. Experimental results demonstrate that Link* can produce paths with fewer turns than other any-angle path planning algorithms while still maintaining comparable path lengths. Because it produces this type of path, artificial agents can take advantage of Link* when the cost of turns is expensive.


This thesis may be interesting for developers within video game industry, people who design the behaviour of agent systems, or those interested in complex robotic control systems. What potential fields give to the world of AI is a new way to implement the behaviour of the agents, giving weights to all the elements in the world, so the agent can decide if making some action deserves the cost, the combination of several potential fields is what makes this technique so efficient. An agent was created applying this technique. Implemented as a client application, the agent used the Quake protocol to connect and communicate with the server. Some tests were run on the model concerning the different functionalities a gamer agent should implement. The model turned out to be a success in a virtual environment like quake 2. Taking care of all the entities in the map and environmental factors, the agent is able to keep his state in balance, move to the most interesting positions and be able to face combat situations. The implementation is clean and mathematical oriented. Using algorithms as the heart of the model, we make the code lightweight in comparison with old bot models.


Changes in tastes and preferences in importing countries as well as the need to keep the environment safe, especially in developed markets, has contributed to a rising trend in the demand for sanitary and phytosanitary measures for quality products. However, the stringency and the preponderance of these measures have effects on trade, particularly for the developing and least developed countries in Africa. The effects often influence the attainment of the development aspirations of these Africa countries, especially employment, poverty reduction and sustainable growth. To this end, this study investigates the export effects of the EU standards for Africa. It uses the two-step Helpman et al. (2008) extensive and intensive trade margins model for two high-value foods and two traditional products. The EU standard requirements for each product are called the 'hurdle to pass' before the product can gain access to the EU market. In all, 52 African countries are considered in an empirical analysis covering the period 1995 to 2012. The study finds that product standards for fish and cocoa are trade-enhancing at the extensive margins, but this is not the case at the intensive margins. However, the standards are trade-inhibiting at both the extensive and intensive margins of exports for vegetables, while the standards are trade-restrictive at the extensive margins and trade-enhancing at the intensive margins for coffee. Thus, the findings suggest that the impacts of standards on exports are commodity-specific due to the significant differences in the costs of compliance, the size of the exporting firms or countries, access to development assistance and the commodity-specific interests of countries. The study recommends development partnerships and alliance policies on the part of Africa, with the development of institutions that can improve the level of standard-compliance in all African exporting markets.


This contribution asks which factors predict early school leaving, non-completion, and completion in upper secondary education in Norway? The data comprises survey and public register data for 9,749 students. The analyses identified three major groups of variables predicting early school leaving, non-completion, and completion: social background, earlier school performance, and academic and social identification, and engagement with the school and its content. The far most predictive variable was earlier school performance, as measured by grades from last year of compulsory education. On this basis the study suggests that measures to prevent early school leaving and non-completion must build upon the fact that the students enter upper secondary education with very different prerequisites to master the demands that meet them.


Apnea and airway obstruction are common during monitored anesthesia care (MAC). Because their early detection is essential, we sought to measure the efficacy of capnography as an indicator of apnea during MAC at a variety of oxygen flow rates compared with thoracic impedance. Anesthesia care providers using standard American Society of Anesthesiologists monitors were blinded to capnography and thoracic impedance monitoring. Ten (26%) of the 39 patients studied developed 20 s of apnea; none was detected by the anesthesia provider, but all were detected by capnography and impedance monitoring. There was no difference in detection rates between the two methods. Higher oxygen flow rates decreased the amplitude of the capnograph but did not interfere with apnea detection. This pilot study revealed that apnea of at least 20 s in duration may occur in every fourth patient undergoing MAC. Although these episodes were undetected by the anesthesia provider, they were reliably detected by both capnography and respiratory plethysmography. Monitoring of nasal end-tidal CO2 is an important way to improve safety in patients undergoing MAC.


We propose and demonstrate an accurate method of measuring the effective refractive index and thermo-optic coefficient of silicon-on-insulator waveguides in the entire C-band using three Mach-Zehnder interferometers. The method allows for accurate extraction of the wavelength dispersion and takes into account fabrication variability. Wafer scale measurements are performed and the effective refractive index variations are presented for three different waveguide widths: 450, 600, and 800 nm, for the TE polarization. The presented method is generic and can be applied to other waveguide geometries and material systems and for different wavelengths and polarizations.


Abstract Martin Luther's early writings and sermons contain the frequent use of a stylistic feature I call doublets. While there are several variations possible, doublets usually connect two words of the same grammatical form— finite verbs, adjectives or adverbs, and substantives—with a coordinate conjunction. Rather than necessarily diffusing audience attention, as one contemporary scholar suggests, or typically sacrificing vivacity, as is the concern of an eighteenth‐century theorist, Luther's doublets—when we examine them in context—are an effective tool for consolidating mental focus and strengthening adherence to a thesis. The medieval practice of enarratio, his familiarity with the parallelism and doubling in scripture, and his work with bible translation all probably contributed to Luther's tendency to use doublets.


Background: Detection of breast cancer coupled with mastectomy negatively affects patients' emotional state. The psychosocial effect is a distortion of body image, including decreased femininity, sexuality, and quality of life. Breast reconstruction can be performed at different times using different techniques, improving the comfort and quality of life of these patients. Method: This was a retrospective study of 16 female patients who underwent breast reconstruction between October 2008 and October 2011. The following parameters were analyzed: age, complications, techniques, time of reconstruction, adjuvant therapies (i.e., chemotherapy and radiotherapy), and satisfaction with reconstruction. Data were collected through chart reviews, and patient satisfaction with the procedure was measured using a specific questionnaire. Results: Among the 16 patients, 15 (93.75%) reported being very satisfied, and the remaining 1 patient (6.25%) was somewhat satisfied; no patient re ported dissatisfaction after reconstruction; the 1 patient who reported being somewhat dissatisfied had not completed all stages of breast reconstruction. Conclusions: Despite the small sample size, the results indicate that reconstruction positively affected the quality of life of patients undergoing mastectomy, regardless of the technique or time chosen for reconstruction, resulting in a high degree of satisfaction with a change in body contouring.


Water has always been an important resource for Central Asian states and peoples. Different rulers at different times used water, and access to it, as an instrument of political and even military influence. When the Russian Empire expanded into Central Asia, seizing substantial parts of three central Asian khanates (Bukhara, Khiva and Khoqand) and established its own protectorate over these states, its also found that water was one of the most effective means to control the rulers and peoples of Central Asia. The use of water and irrigation policy as an instrument of rule was effectively used by the Russian Empire in its relations with the Central Asian khanates and this has already been the subject of investigation. This paper analyses the legal regulation of water use and the irrigation policy of the Russian Empire in Turkestan in order to influence the Bukharan Emirate and the Khivan Khanate during the epoch of the Russian protectorate (1870s–1910s). The paper demonstrates how the internal "water law" was a starting point in Russian policy towards Bukhara and Khiva, and shows that each subsequent stage was closely connected to the evolution of the "water law" in the Russian Turkestan. The sources are official documents (including legal acts) of the Russian Empire, correspondence of Russian and Central Asian statesmen, memoirs of contemporaries and the notes of Russian visitors to khanates (diplomats, engineers, etc.) who participated in the realization of Russian water policy in Bukhara and Khiva and could estimate its effectiveness


Chrisopher Strachey was the most significant contributor to the design and implementation of the programming language CPL. At the time there was little understanding of the complexities of computer language design and how type systems could cope with lists and the kinds of structures needed to represent, for instance, parse trees. The CPL project cannot be regarded as being successful since it did not result in a usable CPL compiler. The reasons being that the language became too large and complicated, there were insufficient people to implement the compiler and, in the middle of the three year project, all work had to be transferred from Edsac 2 to Titan, a newly designed version of the Ferranti Atlas computer which as yet had no operating system. Even so, we can be proud of the work that went into CPL and its influence on the design of many later languages.


According to the Federal Highway Administration, over 6 million lane-miles are in rural areas, and more than two-thirds of these rural roads are owned and operated by local entities. Rural areas face a number of highway safety challenges due to the nature of their facilities. Roadway departure crashes are frequently severe and account for the majority of fatalities in rural areas. This document provides information on effectively identifying roadway departure safety issues in local areas, choosing the countermeasures that address them, and evaluating the benefits of those treatments. It is geared toward local road managers and other practitioners with responsibility for operating and maintaining their roads. This document offers information on the procedures and processes to improve the safety of local rural roadways and to reduce the potential for future roadway departure crashes.


We compared two tasks that are widely used in research on mentalizingfalse belief stories and animations of rigid geometric shapes that depict social interactionsto investigate whether the neural systems that mediate the representation of others' mental states are consistent across these tasks. Whereas false belief stories activated primarily the anterior paracingulate cortex (APC), the posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus (PCC/PC), and the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ)components of the distributed neural system for theory of mind (ToM)the social animations activated an extensive region along nearly the full extent of the superior temporal sulcus, including a locus in the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), as well as the frontal operculum and inferior parietal lobule (IPL)components of the distributed neural system for action understandingand the fusiform gyrus. These results suggest that the representation of covert mental states that may predict behavior and the representation of intentions that are implied by perceived actions involve distinct neural systems. These results show that the TPJ and the pSTS play dissociable roles in mentalizing and are parts of different distributed neural systems. Because the social animations do not depict articulated body movements, these results also highlight that the perception of the kinematics of actions is not necessary to activate the mirror neuron system, suggesting that this system plays a general role in the representation of intentions and goals of actions. Furthermore, these results suggest that the fusiform gyrus plays a general role in the representation of visual stimuli that signify agency, independent of visual form.


A study of the turbellarian commensal fauna of the brittlestar Ophiothrix purpurea in Hansa Bay (Papua New Guinea) revealed the presence of a remarkably well-adapted lichomolgid copepod : Telestacicola xen- ophiothricis n. sp. (Rynchomolgidae, Poecilostomatoida). Fourteen out of 118 (12 %) ophiuroids inspected were infested by one to three copepods (a total of 18 specimens observed). The body colour of this commensal crustacean mimics perfectly the pattern of orange-red and pink lines of the central disk of the host, and this complex and uncommon mimicry could indicate a high host specificity. T. xenophiothricis is the fourth member in this genus, but is the first encountered on ophiuroids (Echinodermata), while it is the tenth species of Poecilostomatoida amongst the 46 known species of Copepoda associated with ophiuroids (others are 22 Siphonostomatoida, 13 Cyclopoida and one Harpacticoida). Furthermore, the generic assignment of Doridicola claudus Humes & Stock is discussed, and the species is allocated to the genus Telestacicola.


Profound transformations in communal land tenure systems are taking place in parts of southern Africa that have resulted from decades of interventions, particularly the shrinking of the commonage through capture of extensive tracts of lands by private interests. Some policies have been into place that envisage improved management of common rangeland resources through privatisation. However, empirical evidence is lacking as to what extent these may have been successful. Traditional management systems in communal areas have been broken down to the extent that many of them are now more characteristic of open access systems. An alternative to meeting the challenge of managing resources in common rangelands is to develop community-based rangeland resource management systems that build on the strengths of traditional management approaches. Therefore a call is made on the use of indigenous knowledge systems and empowering communities to manage their rangeland resources, in order to prevent open access and promoting improved rangeland management and more sustainable livelihoods.


Participatory evaluation (PE) is frequently used to assess community plans and actions. But how is a PE process designed and carried out? Which methodological elements differentiate PE from other assessment practices? And what kind of tools and instruments are used? This article attempts to answer these questions, though a review of the most recent literature and guidebooks on the EP methodology. Some methodological reflections on the EP process conducted in three community plans are given and described. In this paper we analyze the most relevant methodological aspects observed during entry into the community (1), context analysis (2), the formation of the steering group (3), the application of participatory techniques and dynamics to evaluate community actions, their multiplication (4), and the evaluation and closure of the three processes of EP (5). Results allow identifying relevant methodological contributions to the implementation of future processes of Participatory Evaluation in community settings, as the key stakeholders to the process of entry into the community, some elements to consider in order to encourage participation, and the role of the professional evaluators team.


Amongst the zimbabwe societies of central southern Africa, between c. AD 800 and 1500, stock especially cattle were a critical means of "signifying social relationships between communities and power over people" (Hall). Archaeowology shows that cattle provided meat and perhaps secondary products for the zimbabwe elites, with prime meat reserved for the most powerful members of the community. Archaeozaological and other archaeological data also indicate flows of cattle as tribute to the elites not only from within their polities but also from Kalahari pastoralist societies on the periphery of the zimbabwe states. Moreover, there is evidence amongst bath the zimbabwe communities and the pastoralist societies that contrai of stock and "patronage on the hoof", as well as being critical for the maintenance of clientship, may also have been a primary stimulus in the development of social stratification in the first place. These findings may well have relevance to the debate on the development and maintenance of social stratification in prehistoric Europe.


Introduction
The ASR XL (DePuy) total hip replacement (THR) is a notable example of a modern metal-on-metal (MOM) implant design that has demonstrated unacceptable survival rates, leading to its recall by the manufacturer; national joint registries have reported revision rates at 7 years of 40% when paired with the Corail stem [1].
The ASR XL THR has a considerably greater risk of revision than the ASR resurfacing hip, which used the same bearing design. This suggests that material loss at the head-stem junction may be responsible for the greater percentage of THR failures observed in this design. The Pinnacle MOM-THR (DePuy) however used the same Corail stem as the ASR XL THR but demonstrated better clinical results, with revision rates of less than 10% at 7 years [1].
The ASR XL and MOM Pinnacle are two designs that have been widely used in hip replacement surgery. The reasons for the differences in the failure rates of the two designs are not fully understood. Comparing the mechanisms of failure of both hips will help surgeons understand whether patients with MOM Pinnacle hips will experience the same types of problems as with those seen with the ASR XL.
The aims of this retrieval study were to investigate the significance of differences between the ASR XL and MOM Pinnacle in relation to: (1) pre-revision whole blood Co/Cr ratios, (2) visual evidence of taper corrosion, (3) volumetric material loss at the bearing surfaces and (4) volumetric material loss at the taper surfaces.
Methods
This study involved a series of failed MOM hips consisting of the ASR XL (n=30) and Pinnacle (n=30), all that had been used with a Corail stem. The bearing material in each design was cobalt-chromium and the Corail stem is of a cementless titanium 12/14 design.
The ASR XL and Pinnacle had a median head diameter of 47mm (39-55) and 36mm (36-40) respectively, and a median time to revision of 38.5 months (12-74) and 55 months (14-86) respectively. Pre-revision whole blood metal ion levels were collected for each Table 1 summarises patient and implant data for the hips in this study.
The female taper surfaces of all 60 heads were examined macroscopically and microscopically to assess the severity of corrosion. Each surface was graded with a score of between 1 (no corrosion) and 4 (severe corrosion) using a well-published scoring system, which has been shown to be statistically reliable.
A Zeiss Prismo (Carl Zeiss Ltd, Rugby, UK) coordinate measuring machine (CMM) was used to determine the volume of material loss at the cup and head bearing surfaces. Up to 300,000 data points were collected using a 2mm ruby stylus that was translated along 400 polar scan lines on the surface. The raw data was used to map regions of material loss by comparing with the unworn geometry of the bearing.
A Talyrond 365 (Hobson, Leicester, UK) roundness measuring machine was used to measure the volumetric material loss at each of the head taper surfaces. Published protocols were used to take a series of 180 vertical traces along the taper surface using a 5μm diamond stylus; worn and unworn regions were mapped and used to calculate material loss.
Neither the volumetric measurement data nor corrosion scores were normally distributed. Therefore non-parametric tests were performed to assess the statistical significance of differences between the two designs in relation to the parameters under investigation in this study.
Results
Both the whole blood Co ion levels and the Co/Cr ratios, Figure 1, of the ASR XL hips were significantly greater than the Pinnacles (p<0.05). There was no significant difference between the whole blood Cr ion levels between the two designs (p=0.0542).
18 of the ASR XL hips presented evidence of edge wearing of the cup, compared with 14 Pinnacle hips; this difference was not significant (p=0.438). The length of the stem trunnion contact engagement length with the taper was approximated as being 10.5mm for both
designs. The median time to revision of the ASR XL hips was significantly less than the Pinnacle hips (p<0.01).
There was visual evidence of corrosion in 93% (n=28) and 90% (n=27) of head tapers for the ASR XLs and Pinnacles respectively. Moderate to severe corrosion was observed in 67% (n=20) of ASR XLs compared to 60% (n=18) of Pinnacles. There was however no statistically significant difference between the scores of the two groups (p=0.927).
Figure 2 presents the distribution of material loss rates for the bearing and taper surfaces of the two designs in this study. The median total bearing surface (combined cup and head) rate of material loss for the ASR XL and Pinnacle hips was 4.45mm3/year (0.32-22.85) and 4.03mm3/year (0.87-62.12) respectively. There was no significant difference between the two groups (p=0.928).
The median material loss rate at the taper surfaces of the ASR XL and Pinnacle hips was 0.62mm3/year (0-4.20) and 0.30mm3/year (0-3.12); this difference was not significant (p=0.198).
Discussion
The work of this study presents comparisons of retrieval findings between the ASR XL and Pinnacle MOM-THRs; these hip designs were two of the most commonly implanted in patients worldwide.
The significantly greater whole blood Co/Cr ratios found in the ASR XL group compared to the Pinnacle group are of interest. It is speculated that a Co/Cr ratio of greater than 1 may be an indicator of corrosion of an implant whereby more Cr ions are retained on the surface, whilst comparatively more Co ions are released into the blood. In the current study we found wear rates at the bearing surfaces of both designs to be comparable, suggesting that the significantly greater Co/Cr ratios in the ASR XL hips must be due to greater corrosion at the taper junction than the Pinnacles.
Although the ASR XL hips had been implanted for a significantly shorter period of time, our visual assessment of the corrosion of the taper junctions found that corrosion scores were comparable between the two designs; indeed, a marginally greater number of ASR XL tapers
had evidence of moderate to severe corrosion. This finding, coupled with the elevated Co/Cr ratios suggests that the ASR XL design is more susceptible to corrosion at the taper junction than the Pinnacle hip.
We found that the median rate of material loss at the ASR XL taper was over twice that of the Pinnacle taper. Whilst not statistically significant, this difference may be due to a greater risk of corrosion at this interface in the ASR XL design.
The differences in material loss and corrosion that were observed at the taper junctions may be explained by considering the larger head sizes of the ASR XL hips in comparison to the Pinnacles. It has previously been shown that increasing head size is correlated with greater visual evidence of corrosion and that increased frictional torque along the taper junction due a larger head diameter can increase the risk of fretting-corrosion.
It is suggested therefore that the combination of the larger head sizes of the ASR XLs coupled with the comparatively short, rough surface of the Corail trunnion results in a cumulative effect leading to greater corrosion at the taper junction.
Significance
The results of the study suggest that the combination of (1) increased frictional torque in the larger ASR XLs and (2) the rough Corail trunnion surface, results in greater corrosion at the taper junction in comparison to the Pinnacle hips; this helps to explain the higher risk of revision in this hip design.


We use data obtained from a series of Michigan Surveys of Consumer Attitudes to study stock market beliefs and portfolio choices of individual investors. We find that expected returns over the medium- and long-term horizon appear to be extrapolated from past realized returns. The findings also indicate that a more optimistic assessment of macroeconomic conditions coincides with higher expected returns and lower expected volatility, implying strongly procyclical Sharpe ratios. These results are given added credence by the empirical finding that reported portfolio concentrations in equities tend to be higher for respondents who anticipate higher returns and lower uncertainty. Overall, our empirical results lend support to the hypothesis that equity valuations are lower during recessions--and--subsequent returns are higher--because of undue pessimism about future returns, rather than high risk aversion.


The Danian molluscan fauna from the Paris Basin presents a chronological interest of first importance for the understanding of the diversification of European marine ecosystems at the beginning of the Cenozoic. The method consisting in the study of all external prints of molluscs from silicone rubber casts reveals an unexpected faunal diversity. The systematics of 23 species of Patellogastropoda and Vetigastropoda (pro parte) from the Danian perireefal limestone of Vigny (Val-d'Oise, France) and other Danian localities of the Paris Basin are presented here. This study will be completed by further papers in which the Danian molluscan fauna will be revised. Ten new species are described and included in the families Acmaeidae (Scurria dysporista n. sp., Scurriopsis deretrana n. sp.), Fissurellidae (Emarginula (s.s.) horrida n. sp., E. (s.s.) minacis n. sp., E. (s.s.) eucosmia n. sp., E. (s.s.) cavernosa n. sp., Entomella necopinata n. sp., Hemitoma (Montfortia) davincii n. sp., Clypidina (Montfortula) celinae n. sp.) and Pleurotomariidae (Leptomaria meyeri n. sp.). Nine species are reported for the first time from the Danian of Paris Basin (Acmaea simplex, Patella vincenti, Proscutum montense n. comb., Emarginula (s.s.) coralliora, E. (s.s.) montensis, Diodora corneti, D. dolloi, D. concentrica, Praescissurella corneti). Emarginula cretacea d'Orbigny, 1850 is considered a nomen dubium. A new species from the Thanetian of Bioues (Haute-Garonne, France), Emarginula (s.s.) villattae n. sp., is introduced and Emarginula (s.s.) jagti n. nom. is proposed as a replacement name for Emarginula radiata Binkhorst, 1861 non Adams, 1851.


BACKGROUND
Zidovudine therapy improves survival in advanced human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and delays progression from earlier stages to advanced stage of HIV disease. The duration of the benefit of zidovudine therapy, however, may be limited.

OBJECTIVE
To quantitate the duration of the survival benefit of zidovudine therapy in a heterogeneous patient population receiving care for HIV infection in an urban clinic.

METHODS
We analyzed data from 393 HIV-infected patients with CD4+ cell counts of 0.5 x 10(9)/L (500 cells/microliter.) or less who first presented for care at The Johns Hopkins HIV Clinic, Baltimore, Md, from July 1989 through December 1993. Follow-up extended to a maximum of 3 years (median, 2 years). Survival probabilities in patients who received and who did not receive zidovudine therapy were analyzed by Kaplan-Meier methods and by multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis adjusting for both time-dependent and fixed prognostic covariates.

RESULTS
Adjusting for baseline differences in CD4+ cell count, clinical stage of HIV disease, and prophylaxis for Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, Cox regression analysis showed a significant effect of zidovudine compared with no treatment on the risk of dying during the first year of therapy (relative hazard for death, 0.32; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.18 to 0.59). However, analysis of the time-dependent effect of zidovudine therapy showed that there was a diminishing relative hazard between treatment and no treatment of 0.75 (95% CI, 0.45 to 1.26) at 1 to 2 years of therapy and a relative hazard of 1.61 beyond 2 years (95% CI, 0.70 to 3.71).

CONCLUSION
The survival advantage of zidovudine therapy is time dependent, lasting between 1 and 2 years in patients with CD4+ cell counts of 0.5 x 10(9)/L or less. Alternative antiretroviral treatment may be indicated at that time.


During the last few decades, the incidence of sleep-onset insomnia, due to delay of circadian phase, has increased substantially among adolescents all over the world. We wanted to investigate whether a small dose of melatonin given daily, administered in the afternoon, could advance the sleep timing in teenagers. Twenty-one students, aged 14–19 yrs, with sleep-onset difficulties during school weeks were recruited. The study was a randomized, double blind, placebo (PL)-controlled crossover trial, lasting 5 wks. During the first 6 d in wks 2 and 4, the students received either PL or melatonin (1 mg) capsules between 16:30 and 18:00 h. During the first 6 d of wk 5, all students received melatonin. Wks 1 and 3 were capsule-free. In the last evening of each week and the following morning, the students produced saliva samples at home for later melatonin analysis. The samples were produced the same time each week, as late as possible in the evening and as early as possible in the morning. Both the student and one parent received automatic mobile text messages 15 min before saliva sampling times and capsule intake at agreed times. Diaries with registration of presumed sleep, subjective sleepiness during the day (Karolinska Sleepiness Scale, KSS) and times for capsule intake and saliva samplings were completed each day. Primary analysis over 5 wks gave significant results for melatonin, sleep and KSS. Post hoc analysis showed that reported sleep-onset times were advanced after melatonin school weeks compared with PL school weeks (p  <  .005) and that sleep length was longer (p  <  .05). After the last melatonin school week, the students fell asleep 68 min earlier and slept 62 min longer each night compared with the baseline week. Morning melatonin values in saliva diminished compared with PL (p  <  .001) and evening values increased (p  <  .001), indicating a possible sleep phase advance. Compared with PL school weeks, the students reported less wake up (p  <  .05), less school daytime sleepiness (p  <  .05) and increased evening sleepiness (p  <  .005) during melatonin weeks. We conclude that a small dose of melatonin given daily, administered in the afternoon, could advance the sleep timing and make the students more alert during school days even if they continued their often irregular sleep habits during weekends. (Author correspondence: firstname.lastname@example.com)


Several schedulability analyses have been proposed for a variety of parallel task systems with real-time constraints. However, these analyses are mostly restricted to global scheduling policies. The problem with global scheduling is that it adds uncertainty to the lower-level timing analysis which on multicore systems are heavily context-dependent. As parallel tasks typically exhibit intense communication and concurrency among their sequential computational units, this problem is further exacerbated. This paper considers instead the schedulability of partitioned parallel tasks. More precisely, we present a response time analysis for sporadic DAG tasks atop multiprocessors under partitioned fixed-priority scheduling. We assume the partitioning to be given. We show that a partitioned DAG task can be modeled as a set of self-suspending tasks. We then propose an algorithm to traverse a DAG and characterize such worst-case scheduling scenario. With minor modifications, any state-of-the-art technique for sporadic self-suspending tasks can thus be used to derived the worst-case response time of a partitioned DAG task. Experiments show that the proposed approach significantly tightens the worst-case response time of partitioned parallel tasks comparatively to the state-of-the-art when the most accurate technique is chosen.