Whangarei lies within the Puhipuhi-Whangarei Volcanic Field, one of two fields located in Northland. The purpose of this project was to use a palynological study to provide information on the minimum ages of the young Whangarei cones, their vegetation history, and the approximate date of human arrival. Wetlands in the craters of the Maungatapere and Rawhitiroa basaltic cones were selected for this study since they both occupy discrete areas which only collect sediment from within their respective cones. A single peat core from each wetland was processed for fossil pollen and radiocarbon dating. Radiocarbon dating was performed by the University of Waikato, providing minimum ages for the volcanoes. The date for the base of the Maungatapere core was 10530 ± 136 cal. yr BP, and an age of 2775 ± 52 cal. yr BP was determined for the basal peat from Rawhitiroa. K-Ar dating performed previously indicated that these cones were about 0.30 my old. The pollen data indicated that a kauri-conifer-broadleaved forest was consistently present around Whangarei during the Holocene. At Maungatapere the arrival of Maori at c. 1360 AD was inferred from the marked decrease in Dacrydium cupressinum and the appearance of new species. This was an important horticultural site and was not repeatedly burned. At Rawhitiroa, the arrival of Maori possibly at c. 1200 AD was indicated by a decline in forest trees and the increased abundance of Pteridium esculentum and charcoal fragments. This occurred prior to the deposition of the Kaharoa Tephra, the presence of which was noted in the Rawhitiroa core. The Maungatapere wetland is currently a fertile swamp forest while the Rawhitiroa wetland is an infertile bog dominated by Sphagnum and sedges. The difference in the fertility of the two wetlands can be partially attributed to the activities of humans. Repeated forest fires at Rawhitiroa increased waterlogging and stimulated the growth of herbaceous wetland vegetation, causing the rapid build-up of peat and infertile conditions. The forest at Maungatapere was not repeatedly burned and the wetland became drier over time, maintaining its fertility. The incomplete core of peat infill at Maungatapere was a limitation of this project.


Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to develop a dynamic, stochastic, mechanistic simulation model of a dairy business to evaluate the cost and benefit streams coinciding with technology investments. The model was constructed to embody the biological and economical complexities of a dairy farm system within a partial budgeting framework. A primary objective was to establish a flexible, user-friendly, farm-specific, decision-making tool for dairy producers or their advisers and technology manufacturers. Design/methodology/approach - The basic deterministic model was created in Microsoft Excel (Microsoft, Seattle, Washington). The @Risk add-in (Palisade Corporation, Ithaca, New York) for Excel was employed to account for the stochastic nature of key variables within a Monte Carlo simulation. Net present value was the primary metric used to assess the economic profitability of investments. The model was composed of a series of modules, which synergistically provide the necessary inputs for profitability analysis. Estimates of biological relationships within the model were obtained from the literature in an attempt to represent an average or typical US dairy. Technology benefits were appraised from the resulting impact on disease incidence, disease impact, and reproductive performance. In this paper, the model structure and methodology were described in detail. Findings - Examples of the utility of examining the influence of stochastic input and output prices on the costs of culling, days open, and disease were examined. Each of these parameters was highly sensitive to stochastic prices and deterministic inputs. Originality/value - Decision support tools, such as this one, that are designed to investigate dairy business decisions may benefit dairy producers.


Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) is an attractive alternative technique to
conventional liquid extraction due to its several distinct properties. This novel
interesting extraction method which was developed in 1960 is an energy efficient,
economically viable and environmentally friendly process. This study evaluated the
effect of supercritical carbon dioxide extraction on the extraction yields and major
bioactive flavonoid compounds from the herbal matrices. Two basic extraction
methods were investigated: conventional soxhlet extraction (CSE) and supercritical
carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) extraction. High-Performance Liquid Chromatography
(HPLC) was used to identify and quantify bioactive flavonoid compounds of
produced extracts. Results obtained from the two extraction methods were compared
for a higher extraction yield and concentration of flavonoid compounds. In the study
of supercritical carbon dioxide extraction and conventional soxhlet extraction
spearmint (Mentha spicata L.) leaves were selected. For optimizing of SC-CO2 extraction process three most important variables including temperature, pressure
and extraction dynamic time have been studied. The full factorial in complete
randomize design (CRD) based on three levels and three factors was employed to
obtain the optimum condition for SFE. Based on the simultaneous optimization of
crude extract yield and concentration of flavonoid compounds the optimum
condition was found at temperature of 60 ᵒC, pressure of 200 bar and extraction
dynamic time of 60 min. In conventional soxhlet extraction study, different solvents
were used to evaluate the effect of different applied solvents on the extraction yield
and major bioactive flavonoid compounds. Ethanol: water (70:30) was found as a
preferable solvent among the other applied solvents due to its higher extraction yield,
flavonoid compounds concentration and lower toxicity effects. Compared with
supercritical carbon dioxide extraction the higher concentration of bioactive
flavonoid compounds was obtained and extraction time was reduced by applying
SC-CO2 extraction. However, the higher crude extract yields were obtained by using
conventional soxhlet extraction. The influence of co-solvent (modifier) on the
extraction yield and extracted flavonoid compounds from spearmint (Mentha spicata
L.) leaves was also studied. In this study ethanol acted as co-solvent to improve the
efficiency of polar compounds (flavonoids) extraction. Co-solvent flow rate of 6
g/min was found as a preferable modifier flow rate to obtain higher extraction yield
and bioactive flavonoid compounds concentration.


This paper presents a specific structure of neural network as the functional link artificial neural network (FLANN). This technique has been employed for classification task of data mining. In fact, there are a few studies that used this tool for solving classification problems. In this present research, we propose a hybrid FLANN (HFLANN) model, where the optimization process is performed using 3 known population based techniques such as genetic algorithms, particle swarm and differential evolution. This model will be empirically compared to FLANN based back-propagation algorithm and to others classifiers as decision tree, multilayer perceptron based back-propagation algorithm, radical basic function, support vector machine, and K-nearest Neighbor. Our results proved that the proposed model outperforms the other single model.


We aimed to identify and quantify CD117+ and CD90+ endogenous cardiac progenitor cells (CPC) in human healthy and diseased hearts. We hypothesize that these cells perform a locally acting, contributing function in overcoming medical conditions of the heart by endogenous means. Human myocardium biopsies were obtained from 23 patients with the following diagnoses: Dilatative cardiomyopathy (DCM), ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM), myocarditis, and controls from healthy cardiac patients. High-resolution scanning microscopy of the whole slide enabled a computer-based immunohistochemical quantification of CD117 and CD90. Those signals were evaluated by Definiens Tissue Phenomics® Technology. Co-localization of CD117 and CD90 was determined by analyzing comparable serial sections. CD117+/CD90+ cardiac cells were detected in all biopsies. The highest expression of CD90 was revealed in the myocarditis group. CD117 was significantly higher in all patient groups, compared to healthy specimens (*p < 0.05). The highest co-expression was found in the myocarditis group (6.75 ± 3.25 CD90+CD117+ cells/mm2) followed by ICM (4 ± 1.89 cells/mm2), DCM (1.67 ± 0.58 cells/mm2), and healthy specimens (1 ± 0.43 cells/mm2). We conclude that the human heart comprises a fraction of local CD117+ and CD90+ cells. We hypothesize that these cells are part of local endogenous progenitor cells due to the co-expression of CD90 and CD117. With novel digital image analysis technologies, a quantification of the CD117 and CD90 signals is available. Our experiments reveal an increase of CD117 and CD90 in patients with myocarditis.


The prospect of improving "noncognitive" skills through intervention increases the need to understand how to represent them in evaluations. Economic assessment of such efforts rarely incorporates these factors, especially when a benefit-cost approach is employed. Programs targeting such skills are more likely to be assessed through approaches that do not monetize noncognitive ability (e.g., using cost-effectiveness analysis). This could lead to ineffective policy formulations in situations where policy is swayed toward programs that can show monetized effects. Benefit-cost analyses (BCAs) that are employed for programs that target noncognitive competencies currently may underestimate the true economic impact if such skills are left out of the equation. The limitations in valuing these skills impede thorough economic assessment for important and effective programs that target noncognitive competencies. This is especially the case for programs for younger children where readily monetized outcomes are few. The targeted outcomes in programs for children are often noncognitive skills, skills that are perceived as vital to healthy human development and valued by parents, teachers, and educators. In this paper, we review the state of valuation of key noncognitive skills that are often targeted in social policy intervention directed toward children in youth. We examine the state of valuation of noncognitive skills through a summary of the frameworks in research for characterizing noncognitive ability and by considering the measurement approaches for noncognitive skills in terms of origin (interpersonal versus intrapersonal) and measurement type (observed versus assessed). We review examples of recent BCAs that have employed shadow prices for certain noncognitive skills. Finally, we consider what research is necessary to facilitate valuation in BCA in the future. Shadow price methodology should be carried out in a rigorous manner that recognizes uncertainty in cost projections. Improved methodologies in this area will increase the potential for more comprehensive BCA in evaluations of programs for children and youth.


A scene containing dynamic fluids can be created in a number of ways. There are two approaches that will highlight the problems and obstacles that might occur. Today's leading fluid simulator, RealFlow, simulates the fluid dynamics. A comparison between the two approaches will be made and are analyzed. Through experimentation, one of the approaches fails to produce the set requirements in the experiment and furthermore the two approaches differ in efficiency.


The mechanical energy generated by the contraction of the subumbrellar swimming muscles to power the jet cycle in the hydromedusan jellyfish Polyorchis penicillatus (Eschscholtz, 1829) was measured. This energy was experimentally partitioned into three components during the contraction. The sum of these components was taken to be the mechanical energy generated by the muscles during the jet cycle and was between 8.9×10 −5 and 1.4×10 −4 J per contraction. Energy from one of these components is stored as strain energy in the mesoglea and powers the refilling phase. The mesoglea can clearly act as an effective elastic structure to antagonize the contraction of the swimming muscles completely, and it may be designed to function at some optimum. The mechanical significance of elastic energy storage systems in jet-propelled animals is discussed, and this significance is clearly displayed in Polyorchis . The unusually long-duration action potential of the swimming muscles may be an important component of the swimming mechanism, allowing the muscles to store energy in an elastic structure at the end of the contraction phase when little hydrodynamic thrust is developed. It is suggested that the action potential of vertebrate cardiac muscle may have a similar mechanical function.


MATLAB By Example guides the reader through each step of writing MATLAB programs. The book assumes no previous programming experience on the part of the reader, and uses multiple examples in clear language to introduce concepts and practical tools. Straightforward and detailed instructions allow beginners to learn and develop their MATLAB skills quickly. The book consists of ten chapters, discussing in detail the integrated development environment (IDE), scalars, vectors, arrays, adopting structured programming style using functions and recursive functions, control flow, debugging, profiling, and structures. A chapter also describes Symbolic Math Toolbox, teaching readers how to solve algebraic equations, differentiation, integration, differential equations, and Laplace and Fourier transforms. Containing hundreds of examples illustrated using screen shots, hundreds of exercises, and three projects, this book can be used to complement coursework or as a self-study book, and can be used as a textbook in universities, colleges and high schools.No programming experience necessary to learn MATLABExamples with screenshots and plentiful exercises throughout help make MATLAB easy to understandProjects enable readers to write long MATLAB programs, and take the first step toward being a professional MATLAB programmer


Understanding local knowledge has become a central academic project among those interested in Africa and developing countries. In South Africa, land reform is gathering pace and African people hold an increasing proportion of the livestock in the country. Animal health has become a central issue for rural development. Yet African veterinary medical knowledge remains largely unrecorded. This book seeks to fill that gap. It captures for the first time the diversity, as well as the limits, of a major sphere of local knowledge. Beinart and Brown argue that African approaches to animal health rest largely in environmental and nutritional explanations. They explore the widespread use of plants as well as biomedicines for healing. While rural populations remain concerned about supernatural threats, and many men think that women can harm their cattle, the authors challenge current ideas on the modernisation of witchcraft. They examine more ambient forms of supernatural danger expressed in little-known concepts such as mohato and umkhondo. They take the reader into the homesteads and kraals of rural black South Africans and engage with a key rural concern - vividly reporting the ideas of livestock owners. This is groundbreaking research which will have important implications for analyses of local knowledge more generally as well as effective state interventions and animal treatments in South Africa. William Beinart is Rhodes Professor of Race Relations, African Studies Centre, University of Oxford; Karen Brown is an ESRC Research Fellow at the Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine, University of Oxford. Southern Africa (South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Swaziland): Wits University Press


Purpose This work investigates how short-term changes in blood glucose concentration affect the refractive components of the diabetic eye in patients with long-term Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Methods Blood glucose concentration, refractive error components (mean spherical equivalent MSE, J0, J45), central corneal thickness (CCT), anterior chamber depth (ACD), crystalline lens thickness (LT), axial length (AL) and ocular aberrations were monitored at two-hourly intervals over a 12-hour period in: 20 T1DM patients (mean age ± SD) 38±14 years, baseline HbA1c 8.6±1.9%; 21 T2DM patients (mean age ± SD) 56±11 years, HbA1c 7.5±1.8%; and in 20 control subjects (mean age ± SD) 49±23 years, HbA1c 5.5±0.5%. The refractive and biometric results were compared with the corresponding changes in blood glucose concentration. Results Blood glucose concentration at different times was found to vary significantly within (p<0.0005) and between groups (p<0.0005). However, the refractive error components and ocular aberrations were not found to alter significantly over the day in either the diabetic patients or the control subjects (p>0.05). Minor changes of marginal statistical or optical significance were observed in some biometric parameters. Similarly there were some marginally significant differences between the baseline biometric parameters of well-controlled and poorly-controlled diabetic subjects. Conclusion This work suggests that normal, short-term fluctuations (of up to about 6 mM/l on a timescale of a few hours) in the blood glucose levels of diabetics are not usually associated with acute changes in refractive error or ocular wavefront aberrations. It is therefore possible that factors other than refractive error fluctuations are sometimes responsible for the transient visual problems often reported by diabetic patients.


The present study was undertaken with aim to understand the perceptions of indigenous communities about climate change pattern and its local impacts on climate variables, seasons, agriculture, biodiversity and adaptive strategies in geographical and technological-isolated Pangi valley situated in Chamba district, Himachal Pradesh. Randomly selected 120 respondents were interviewed and their perceptions were recorded on pre-designed questionnaire. The climate change impacts are experienced in the form of decreased snowfall (98.3%), temperature rise (97.5%), late onset of monsoon (90.8%), decreased rainfall (76.7%), reduced snow-melted water availability (86.7%) and increased drought incidences (85.8%) of over the years. Further, these climatic changes affecting agriculture through early shifts in crop season (80.8%), shorter growing season (91.7%), introduction of fruit and vegetable crops (90.8%), increased incidence of insect-pest (81.2%) and diseases (84.2%) and thereby decline in crop yield (70%). However, majority of the respondents undertaken adaptive strategies such as crop diversification, traditional mixed-cropping, mixed farming, crop rotation and agroforestry/agro-horticulture systems to cope with climate change but they are either little or unaware of modern farming practices such as snow water/glacier runoff harvesting, agro advisory services, mulching and zero tillage as adaptation strategies.


Fundamental understanding of biomass pretreatment and its influence on saccharification kinetics, total sugar yield, and inhibitor formation is essential to develop efficient next-generation biofuel strategies, capable of displacing fossil fuels at a commercial level. In this study, we investigated the effect of residence time and temperature during ionic liquid (IL) pretreatment of switchgrass using 1-ethyl-3-methyl imidazolium acetate. The primary metrics of pretreatment perfor-mance are biomass delignification, xylan and glucan depolymerization, porosity, surface area, cellulase kinetics, and sugar yields. Compositional analysis and quantification of process streams of saccharides and lignin demonstrate that delignification increases as a function of pretreatment temperature and is hypothe-sized to be correlated with the apparent glass transition temperature of lignin. IL pretreatment did not generate monosaccharides from hemicellulose. Compared to untreated switchgrass, Brunauer – Emmett – Teller surface area of pretreated switchgrass increased by a factor of ∼ 30, with a corresponding increase in saccharification kinetics of a factor of ∼ 40. There is an observed dependence of cellulase kinetics with delignification efficiency. Although complete biomass dissolution is observed after 3 h of IL pretreatment, the pattern of sugar release, saccharification kinetics, and total sugar yields are strongly correlated with temperature.


ABSTRACT: This instructional case focuses on an accounting and financial reporting fraud involving DHB Industries, Inc., the nation's largest manufacturer of bullet-resistant vests. Three executives of this Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) registrant, including its founder and CEO, masterminded a large-scale fraud that grossly misrepresented DHB's financial statements. The three executives colluded to conceal their misdeeds from the four accounting firms that served as the company's independent auditors over the course of the fraud. In late 2010, a federal jury convicted DHB's former CEO and COO of multiple counts of fraud and related charges. This case addresses a wide range of auditing issues raised by the DHB fraud, including the identification of fraud risk factors, auditing of related-party transactions, the impact of frequent auditor changes on audit quality, and the internal control reporting responsibilities of auditors.


The study investigates the effects of oxidizer composition on stability and combustion and emission characetristics of stratified premixed CH4-O2-CO2 flames in a dual annular counter-rotating swirl (DACRS) burner for wider near blowout operability of gas turbines. Flame stratification was achieved by dividing the incoming reactants into primary and secondary streams of different oxygen fractions (OF). The effects of primary and secondary OFs (primary OFs: 60%, 50%, and 30%; and secondary OFs: 60%, 50%, 40%, and 30%) were investigated at fixed inlet throat velocities and equivalence ratios (φ) of the primary and the secondary streams of 6m/s and 2m/s and of 0.9 and 0.55, respectively. Two distinct flame shapes, the v-shaped and the conical-shaped, were identified as function of the oxidizer composition. V-shaped flames with enhanced flow mixing, strong inner and outer recirculation zones (IRZ and ORZ), and intensive interactions between both streams at lower Damkohler number (Da) were recorded for OFs within 30% to 50%. This indicates the ability of the DACRS burner to extend the lean blow-out limit by holding stratified stable flames of lower OFs. The flame shape turned into a conical shape at OFs of 60%-60% for both streams, the IRZ disappeared, intensive reaction rates of higher Da attained, and the flashback mechanism approached. Weake flame/flow interactions were observed at OFs higher than 50% with excessive combustion temperature near the burner tip. CH4 disspeared very close to the burner tip indicating fast reactions.


Background:
Chest wall tumors are rare and mostly malignant. More than half of the
malignancies are primary and the remainder are metastatic. Many studies have
reported that metastatic lesions occur with about the same frequency as primary
tumor. We evaluate common histological types of chest wall tumors in a tertiary
center for respiratory and thoracic diseases (National Research Institute of Tuberculosis
and Lung Disease). Method: We performed a retrospective study of chest wall
tumors at National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (NRITLD)
from April 2001 to March 2010. The pathology slides of patients were retrieved
from the pathology archive of NRITLD and reviewed by two pathologists. The
lesions were classified as primary or metastatic according to the relevant
clinical data and imaging findings. Result: A total of 124 chest wall tumors
were identified in patients with a mean age of 47.7 years (range 4-90 years).
The male/female ratio was 2:1. The most commonly affected side was the right
(42.7%). There were 105 malignant tumors (84.7%), out of which 49 (46.2%) were
primary and 57 (53.8%) were metastatic in origin. The majority of the
metastatic lesions were epithelial tumors (36/57) (63.1%). The metastatic
origin was clear in 51 cases, mostly arising from the lungs (35.7%). The most
common types of primary chest wall tumors were primitive neuroectodermal tumor
(15/49, 30.6%), chondrosarcoma (7/49, 14.3%), and malignant fibrous
histiocytoma, undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (5/49, 10.2%). The most
common benign tumor was lipoma (5/18, 35.7%). Conclusion: Most common tumors of chest wall in this study were
malignant, mostly metastatic epithelial neoplasms.


James Mozur traces the development of Chingiz Aitmatov's fiction from the early 1950s through the mid-1970s, including "Farewell, Gul'sary!, The White Ship, The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years, " and "The Place of the Skull." He discusses each major work against the political and cultural background in which it was created and thereby widens our understanding of post-Stalinist Soviet literature. Chingiz Aitmatov was born in Kirghizstan in 1928 and published his first stories in the 1950s in both Russian and Kirghiz. He soon took his place as spokesman for the progressive wing of official Soviet Russian literature, striving for greater openness in Soviet letters and for a new approach toward diverse nationalities. Unlike many other writers, Aitmatov continued to flourish in the cultural tumult following the collapse of the communist state, being appointed to government posts by Gorbachev and becoming Soviet ambassador to Luxembourg in 1991."


The Pharmacy Abroad section of AJHP features brief, informal, and topical communications related to pharmacy in other countries. Contributions are welcomed from pharmacists abroad or from pharmacists who have traveled abroad. AJHP also encourages pharmacists from outside of the United States to submit traditional manuscripts (e.g., scientific studies, descriptions of practice innovations), which are evaluated for publication in the primary sections of the journal.


The decapentaplegic (dpp) gene product, a member of the transforming growth factor-beta family, is required in Drosophila embryos for normal gastrulation and the establishment of dorsal-ventral polarity in the embryo. dpp is also expressed at specific positions in the visceral mesoderm along the developing midgut. We find that mutations that eliminate the visceral mesoderm expression of dpp lead to defects in midgut morphogenesis and alter the spatially localized expression of the homeotic genes Sex combs reduced (Scr), Ultrabithorax (Ubx), and Antennapedia (Antp) in the visceral mesoderm. The extracellular dpp protein migrates from the visceral mesoderm across the apposing endodermal cell layer in a region of the endoderm that expresses the homeotic gene labial (lab). Mesodermal expression of dpp is required for the expression of lab in these endodermal cells indicating that dpp mediates an inductive interaction between the two germ layers. We propose that extracellular dpp protein regulates gut morphogenesis, in part, by regulating homeotic gene expression in the visceral mesoderm and endoderm of the developing midgut.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Achillea eriophora has been used in traditional medicine for treatment of gastrointestinal disorders and cardiovascular disease. This study was performed to determine its cardiovascular effects and its interaction with adrenergic system. METHODS: In this study, 15 male wistar rats (weighed 220-250 g) were divided randomly into 3 groups. The first group received distilled water (Epinephrine solvent), epinephrine (0.04 mg/kg) and epinephrine plus extract solvent (ethanol 70%), respectively. The second group received distilled water, epinephrine and epinephrine plus extract (60 mg/kg), respectively. The third group received extract and after the onset of the extract effects, epinephrine were injected. In different groups, blood pressure and heart rate were recorded via arterial cannula linked to pressure transducer and AD instrument powerlab. FINDINGS: Extract significantly reduced mean arterial blood pressure (67±8, 65±3, 67±8), compared to the base stage (86±5, 84±6, 86±5) (p<0.05). In addition, a significant reduction was observed in the diastolic pressure in the presence of the epinephrine plus extract (76±7) in comparison with the stage that epinephrine injected (85±6) (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Result of the study showed that A. eriophora extract reduces diastolic pressure in the presence of the epinephrine. It can be concluded that A. eriophora has a hypotensive effect that this effect seems at least in part, related to vascular factors.


This article comments on Danie Strauss's Philosophy : Discipline of the disciplines . It deals with some differences between the author's interpretation of the Philosophy of the Cosmonomic Idea and the views of Dooyeweerd and Strauss. I call these differences 'nuances' because our religious starting point is the same. This implies a realist religious view, confessing that God created the world according to laws which are invariant because He sustains them. We know God only through Jesus Christ, who submitted himself to God's laws. Partial knowledge of God's laws can be achieved by studying the law-conformity of the creation. In particular, I shall discuss the relevance of artefacts for the future development of the Philosophy of the Cosmonomic Idea.


The dissertation shows how mismatched content/medium relationships can supersede the responses of traditional pairings when the medium dominates the discursive power of the discourse. The dissertation in part looks at a historical case study to help us understand some modern uses where mismatched pairings have been used to enhance audience attention. I begin with an overview of related theories that pertain to genre inception development and demise. Next I describe an historic occasion where a mismatched content/medium pairing was to some extent responsible for reshaping geo-political relations: Modern concepts of democracy rest within the genre of a political communication that originated from the writing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Looking at the Declaration of Independence alongside the British government's response to it in John Lind's lengthy pamphlet An Answer to the Declaration of the American Congress I discuss normative uses of genres during the eighteenth century to show how the success of the Dunlap Broadside version of the Declaration of Independence the official version ordered by the Second Continental Congress is a product of a larger message that is implied by the broadside in conjunction with its content of revolutionary thinking. The dissertation concludes with modern-day examples where mismatched content/medium pairings are being used in strategies to increase public awareness of messages that were originally introduced through traditional pairings.


Marvin Minsky was one of the founders of artificial intelligence, and with John McCarthy, he created MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Minsky, who recently passed away at the age of 88, was also a lifelong devotee of science fiction, to the almost total exclusion of all other forms of fiction. (He also penned a science fiction novel of his own, The Turing Option, written with Harry Harrison.)


In this dissertation, I develop empirical methods, built on the recent advances in industrial organization, to study charitable giving and fundraising in the charity market. In the first essay, we propose a multiple discrete choice model with differentiated charitable products and estimate the model using a unique data set of donor lists for the ten largest charitable organizations in Pittsburgh. We find that some private benefits such as invitations to private dinner parties and special events are effective tools for fundraising. Our policy simulations suggest that the composition of private benefits has a potentially large impact on donor behavior. In the second essay, I investigate the determinants of donations to charitable organizations by incorporating their managerial capacity and fundraising productivity. Using data from environmental charities, I find that managerial capacity has a significantly positive impact on raising donations, which demonstrates the long-run benefits of managerial expenses. Fundraising productivity is a charity-specific and serially-correlated unobserved variable that causes an endogeneity problem in the estimation of the donation function. After controlling for the fundraising productivity, the estimated impact from managerial capacity on donations is significantly increased, while the impact from fundraising expenditure is significantly decreased. Finally, after estimating the donation function, I construct a measure of fundraising productivity and show that it is a key factor in explaining the variation of donations, suggesting that policy discussions should account for charities' differences in fundraising productivity and the causes of such differences.


OBJECTIVE/SETTING
The Toddler Overweight and Tooth Decay Prevention Study (TOTS) was an overweight and early childhood caries (ECC) project in the Pacific Northwest. It targeted American Indian (AI) toddlers from birth, to effect changes in breastfeeding and sweetened beverage consumption.

DESIGN/INTERVENTION/PARTICIPANTS
The intervention cohort was children born in three communities during 12 months; expectant mothers were identified through prenatal visits, and recruited by tribal coordinators. The local comparison cohorts were children in those communities who were aged 18-30 months at study start. A control longitudinal cohort consisted of annual samples of children aged 18-30 months in a fourth community, supplying secular trends.

OUTCOME MEASURES
d1-2mfs was used to identify incident caries in intervention, comparison, and control cohorts after 18-to-30 months of follow-up in 2006.

RESULTS
No missing or filled teeth were found. For d1t, all three intervention cohorts showed statistically significant downward intervention effects, decreases of between 0.300 and 0.631 in terms of the fraction of affected mouths. The results for d2t were similar but of smaller magnitudes, decreases of between 0.342 and 0.449; these results met the .05 level for significance in two of three cases. In light of an estimated secular increase in dental caries in the control site, all three intervention cohorts showed improvements in both d1t and d1t.

CONCLUSION
Simple interventions targeting sweetened beverage availability (in combination with related measures) reduced high tooth decay trends, and were both feasible and acceptable to the AI communities we studied.


Chromatin Association of UHRF1 during The Cell Cycle Bothayna Al-Gashgari Ubiquitin-like with PHD and RING Finger domains 1 (UHRF1) is a nuclear protein that associates with chromatin. Regardless of the various functions of UHRF1 in the cell, one of its more important functions is its role in the maintenance of DNA methylation patterns by the recruitment of DNMT1. Studies on UHRF1 based on this function have revealed the importance of UHRF1 during the cell cycle. Moreover, based on different studies various factors were described to be involved in the regulation of UHRF1 with different functionalities that can control its binding affinity to different targets on chromatin. These factors are regulated differently in a cell cycle specific manner. In light of this, we propose that UHRF1 has different binding behaviors during the cell cycle in regard to its association with chromatin. In this project, we first analyzed the binding behavior of endogenous UHRF1 from different unsynchronized cell systems in pull-down assays with peptides and oligonucleotides. Moreover, to analyze UHRF1 binding behavior during the cell cycle, we used two different approaches. First we sorted Jurkat and HT1080 cells based on their cell cycle stage using FACS analysis. Additionally, we synchronized HeLa cells to different stages of the cell cycle by chemical treatments, and used extracts from cellsorting and cell synchronization experiments for pull-down assays. We observed that UHRF1 in different cell systems has different preferences in regard to its binding to H3 unmodified and H3K9me3. Moreover, we detected that UHRF1, in general, displays different patterns between different stages of cell cycle; however, we cannot draw a final model for UHRF1 binding pattern during cell cycle.


BACKGROUND
coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can induce an exaggerated inflammatory response. Vitamin D is a key modulator of the immune system. We hypothesized that vitamin D deficiency (VDD) could increase the risk of developing severe COVID-19 infection.

METHODS
patients with confirmed COVID-19 seen at the emergency department of our hospital with recent measurements of 25(OH)D were recruited. We explored the association of vitamin D deficiency (VDD), defined as 25-hydroxyvitamin D < 20 ng/mL, with a composite of adverse clinical outcomes.

RESULTS
we included 80 patients, of which 31 (39 %) presented the endpoint. VDD tended to predict an increased risk of developing severe COVID-19 after adjusting for age, gender, obesity, cardiac disease, and kidney disease [OR 3.2 (95 % CI: 0.9-11.4), p = 0.07]. Age had a negative interaction with the effect of VDD on the composite outcome (p = 0.03), indicating that the effect was more noticeable at younger ages. Furthermore, male gender was associated with VDD and with severe COVID-19 at younger ages.

CONCLUSIONS
in this retrospective study, vitamin D deficiency showed a signal of association with severe COVID-19 infection. A significant interaction with age was noted, suggesting VDD may have a greater impact in younger patients. These findings should be confirmed in larger, prospective, adequately powered studies.


Every nation possesses a certain nation brand image, with or without nation branding. A well thought-out nation branding campaign can, however, project a nation's image and solicit its global recognition. Such an endeavour concurrently instils a greater sense of belonging, self-determination and ideals of public communication in the domestic audience. The value of nation branding for tapping the economic potential of a nation remains arguable. In this paper, an effort has been made to understand how a developing country like Azerbaijan is gaining international recognition through an apt utilisation of nation branding tools. Strategic, conceptual and practically relevant aspects are being analysed to ascertain the efficacy of nation branding techniques and their impact on national image building. With occasional reference to the international brands of the developed countries, this study is focused on the endeavours of Azerbaijan to market its name and build its own national brands.


Summary Planning for conservation success requires identifying effective and efficient monitoring strategies but multiple types of uncertainty affect the accuracy and precision of wildlife abundance estimates. Observation uncertainty, a consequence of sampling effort and design as well as the process of observation, is still understudied, with little attention given to the multiple potential sources of error involved. To establish error minimization priorities and maximize monitoring efficiency, the direction and magnitude of multiple sources of uncertainty must be considered. Using monitoring of two contrasting ungulate species in the Serengeti ecosystem as a case study, we developed a 'virtual ecologist' framework within which we carried out simulated tests of different monitoring strategies for different types of species. We investigated which components of monitoring should be prioritized to increase survey accuracy and precision and explored the robustness of population estimates under different budgetary scenarios. The relative importance of each process affecting precision and accuracy varied according to the survey technique and biological characteristics of the species. While survey precision was mainly affected by population characteristics and sampling effort, the accuracy of the survey was greatly affected by observer effects, such as juvenile and herd detectability. Synthesis and applications. Monitoring efficiency is of the utmost importance for conservation, especially in the context of limited budgets and other priorities. We provide insights into the likely effect of different types of observation and process error on population estimates for savanna ungulates, and more generally present a framework for evaluating monitoring programmes in a virtual environment. In highly aggregated species, the main focus should be on survey precision; sampling effort should be defined according to wildlife spatial distribution. For random or slightly aggregated species, accuracy is the key factor; this is most sensitive to observer effects which should be minimized by training and calibration by observer.


We have designed and constructed a new Compact Cloud and Aerosol Lidar (ComCAL) for the deployment in field campaigns including participation in ship cruises with our research vessel Polarstern. The backscattered light of a Nd:YAG Laser at 1064 nm, 532 nm, and 355 nm is collected by a telescope in a Newtonian configuration and 40 cm aperture.At 532 nm and 355 nm the polarisation is selected by a rotating Glan-Taylor prism which is synchronized with the laser. This configuration allows the measurement of the depolarization without the need for calibration. Biomass burning aerosol has recently been shown to fluoresce when irradiated by a UV laser beam. A 32-channel spectrometermeasures Raman scattering and aerosol fluorescence simultaneously. The measurement of wavelength dependent backscatter, extinction, depolarization,and fluorescence allows a detailed study of atmospheric aerosol. The systems determines aerosol optical properties and their vertical distribution in the range from 700 m up to 20 km. The aerosol types, their origins and abundance can be deduced from that data. These are important parameters for the study of the effect of natural and anthropogenic aerosols on climate.


We develop a dynamic adverse selection model where a career-concerned buy-side analyst advises a fund manager about investment decisions. The analyst's ability is privately known, as is any information she learns over time. The manager wants to elicit information to maximize fund performance while also identifying and retaining high-skill analysts. We characterize the optimal dynamic contract, show that it has several features supported by empirical evidence, and derive novel testable implications. The fund manager's optimal contract both maximizes the value of information and screens out low-skill analysts by incentivizing the analyst to always provide honest advice.


Purpose – This paper is the third in a trilogy of papers to explore the use of accounting as a fundamental element in senior management's narrative regarding the privatization of a major transportation enterprise, Canadian National Railway (CN). The paper aims to examine how two accounting performance benchmarks (the operating ratio, and free cash flow) were deployed to help sustain a rhetoric of post-privatization success. The aptness (and the danger) of accounting language in strategic narrative is highlighted. Design/methodology/approach – The paper describes the importance of senior management discourse in the aftermath of a privatization. A narrative perspective is adopted, in which an imagined future post-privatization era initially articulated in accounting language is then told and re-told as the post-privatization years unfold. Accounting performance measures highlighted in the story of success of the privatization in the Annual Letters to Shareholders by the CEOs of CN in the ten years following privatization in 1995, and celebrated in the Annual Report, are examined critically. Findings – The results emphasize the important features and role of accounting language and accounting-based performance benchmark measures in the narrative construction of the success of a privatization by corporate leaders. Research limitations/implications – Case studies possess the strength of specific instance detail and interpretation, and the ostensible weakness of interpretation of a sample of one. But such research can provide for a reframing of conceptual perspectives and stimulate additional efforts to interrogate the role of accounting language in events of major social change. Practical implications – The paper strongly endorses the adoption of a critical analytical perspective by those affected by a major social change (such as a privatization) in which the role of accounting language is subtle, but nonetheless persuasive and enduring. Originality/value – The paper examines a case study in which the narrative framing of success is made rhetorically potent by deploying accounting performance measures. The paper reinforces the view that accounting is not an innocent bystander in the political and narrative manoeuvrings associated with a privatization. Accounting does not axiomatically provide an objective measure of some underlying financial truth, but is part of an arsenal of rhetoric to achieve political ends.


Many elderly undergo cardiac surgery. The prevalence of malnutrition in elderly is high and increases with comorbidity. This thesis aims to clarify some aspects on performing surgery in elderly concerning nutritional status, nutritional treatment and age-related physiology.Study I: 886 patients were assessed preoperatively by body mass index (BMI) and S-albumin and postoperatively for mortality and morbidity.. Low BMI increased the relative hazard for death and low S-albumin increased the risk for infection. BMI and S-albumin are useful in preoperative evaluationsStudy II: we followed energy intake in 31 patients for five postoperative days. Scheduled and unscheduled surgery did not differ in preoperative resting energy expenditure (REE). REE increased by 10-12% postoperatively, more in unscheduled CABG. Nutritional supplementation increased total energy intake. All patients exhibited postoperative energy deficits, less prominent in the supplemented group. There were no differences in protein synthesis or muscle degradation. Study III: in 16 patients, .we measured stress hormones and insulin resistance before surgery and for five postoperative days Patients were insulin resistant on the first two days. We saw no clearly adverse or beneficial effects of oral carbohydrate on insulin resistance or stress hormone response. Study IV: 73 patients, with early enteral nutrition (EN), were observed until discharge or resumed oral nutrition. EN started within three days in most patients. In a minority, problems occurred (gastric residual volumes, tube dislocation, vomiting, diarrhoea, aspiration pneumonia). In the cardiothoracic ICU individually adjusted early EN is feasible. Study V: in 16 patients, splanchnic blood flow (SBF) enhancing treatments (dopexamine (Dpx) or EN) were compared. Dpx increased systemic blood flow, but had only a transient effect on SBF. EN had no effect on systemic blood flow or SBF. Neither Dpx, EN or the combined treatment, exhibited any difference between groups on systemic or splanchnic VO2 or oxygen extraction ratio.


ABSTRACT Aim: STS constitutes a rare, heterogeneous family of tumours of mesenchymal origin. The limited treatment options available for advanced STS underline the need for reliable preclinical models to test novel therapeutic strategies. Methods: Patient-derived xenografts were established in nu/nu NMRI mice by subcutaneous implantation of fresh, surgically resected tumour specimens from consenting patients with STS treated at University Hospitals Leuven. We mainly focused on STS subtypes which harbour specific genetic alterations (e.g. translocations, gene amplifications). Once tumour growth was observed, pieces of tumour were re-transplanted to a next generation of mice. At each passage tumour fragments were collected for histological and molecular characterization. Specific genomic alterations were confirmed in subsequent passages by fluorescence in situ hybridization. A STS xenograft model was considered to be established after observing stable histological and molecular features for at least two passages. Results: Until now we have transplanted a total of 65 patient-derived STS samples. We were able to successfully establish 12 well-characterized STS models maintaining the features of the original tumour: myxofibrosarcoma (3 models); dedifferentiated liposarcoma (2); synovial sarcoma (2); epithelioid haemangioendothelioma (1); malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumour (1); mesenchymal chondrosarcoma (1); leiomyosarcoma (1) and sarcoma not otherwise specified (1). Some of these models have already been successfully used for in vivo testing of novel agents including tyrosine kinase inhibitors or cytotoxic prodrugs. In addition, 12 other xenografts are still in early stages of engraftment, not yet fulfilling our criteria of "established model". Conclusions: Our newly established STS xenografts maintain the histological and molecular characteristics of the original patient sample, therefore offering a promising preclinical platform for testing anti-cancer drugs. The availability of models of some ultra-rare entities would also allow us to study the biology of these diseases. Disclosure: All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.


If you want to gain proficiency and expertise with SolidWorks surface modeling, this is the resource for you. You'll learn how to apply concepts, utilize tools, and combine techniques and strategies in hands-on tutorials. This Bible covers the range from sketching splines and shelling to modeling blends and decorative features. Complete with professional tips and real-world examples, this inclusive guide enables you to coax more out of SolidWorks surfacing tools.


The purpose of the present study was to determine whether first-year college students' interaction with a dog would have a positive effect on their mood and anxiety. A sample of 35 first-year college students, aged 18-19 years, was partially randomly assigned to a condition for five minutes in which the participant either interacted with a dog (n = 19) or watched an informational video that included dogs (n = 16). Before the experimental treatment, students completed the Pet Attitude Scale, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule-Expanded Form, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Perceived Stress Reactivity Scale to evaluate their animal preferences, mood, anxiety, and stress. After the experimental treatment, participants again completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule-Expanded Form and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory to assess for possible changes in mood and anxiety. Results indicated that those who directly interacted with the dog reported increases in positive mood, but those who just watched dogs did not. All participants, regardless of condition, experienced declines in negative mood and anxiety across time. Thus, there appear to be some benefits to interacting with dogs, specifically regarding improvements in positive mood. Further studies, especially those with larger sample sizes and that take place during times of elevated stress are needed in order to more fully examine the potential for positive effects of dog interactions on college students.


Early therapeutic decision-making is crucial in patients with higher-risk MDS. We evaluated the impact of clinical parameters and mutational profiles in 134 consecutive patients treated with azacitidine using a combined cohort from Karolinska University Hospital (n=89) and from King's College Hospital, London (n=45). While neither clinical parameters nor mutations had a significant impact on response rate, both karyotype and mutational profile were strongly associated with survival from the start of treatment. IPSS high-risk cytogenetics negatively impacted overall survival (median 20 vs 10 months; p<0.001), whereas mutations in histone modulators (ASXL1, EZH2) were associated with prolonged survival (22 vs 12 months, p=0.01). This positive association was present in both cohorts and remained highly significant in the multivariate cox model. Importantly, patients with mutations in histone modulators lacking high-risk cytogenetics showed a survival of 29 months compared to only 10 months in patients with the opposite pattern. While TP53 was negatively associated with survival, neither RUNX1-mutations nor the number of mutations appeared to influence survival in this cohort. We propose a model combining histone modulator mutational screening with cytogenetics in the clinical decision-making process for higher-risk MDS patients eligible for treatment with azacitidine.


The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Kwajalein Experiment (KWAJEX) was designed to obtain an empirical physical characterization of precipitating convective clouds over the tropical ocean. Coordinated datasets were collected by three aircraft, one ship, five upper-air sounding sites, and a variety of continuously recording remote and in situ surface-based sensors, including scanning Doppler radars, profilers, disdrometers, and rain gauges. This paper describes the physical characterization of the Kwajalein cloud population that has emerged from analyses of datasets that were obtained during KWAJEX and combined with long-term TRMM ground validation site observations encompassing three rainy seasons. The spatial and temporal dimensions of the precipitation entities exhibit a lognormal probability distribution, as has been observed over other parts of the tropical ocean. The diurnal cycle of the convection is also generally similar to that seen over other tropical oceans. The largest precipitating cloud elements—those with rain areas exceeding 14 000 km 2 —have the most pronounced diurnal cycle, with a maximum frequency of occurrence before dawn; the smallest rain areas are most frequent in the afternoon. The large systems exhibited stratiform rain areas juxtaposed with convective regions. Frequency distributions of dual-Doppler radar data showed narrow versus broad spectra of divergence in the stratiform and convective regions, respectively, as expected because strong up- and downdrafts are absent in the stratiform regions. The dual-Doppler profiles consistently showed low-level convergence and upper-level divergence in convective regions and midlevel convergence sandwiched between lower- and upper-level divergence in stratiform regions. However, the magnitudes of divergence are sensitive to assumptions made in classifying the radar echoes as convective or stratiform. This sensitivity implies that heating profiles derived from satellite radar data will be sensitive to the details of the scheme used to separate convective and stratiform rain areas. Comparison of airborne passive microwave data with ground-based radar data indicates that the pattern of scattering of 85-GHz radiance by ice particles in the upper portions of KWAJEX precipitating clouds is poorly correlated with the precipitation pattern at lower levels while the emission channels (10 and 19 GHz) have brightness temperature patterns that closely correspond to the lower-level precipitation structure. In situ ice particle imagery obtained by aircraft at upper levels (11 km) shows that the concentrations of ice particles of all densities are greater in the upper portions of active convective rain regions and lower in the upper portions of stratiform regions, probably because the active updrafts convey the particles to upper levels, whereas in the stratiform regions sedimentation removes the larger ice particles over time. Low-level aircraft flying in the rain layer show similar total drop concentrations in and out of convective cells, but they also show a sudden jump in the concentration of larger raindrops at the boundaries of the cells, indicating a discontinuity in growth processes such as coalescence at the cell boundary.


Abstract Researchers using drift-fence sampling with associated pitfall traps have analyzed a number of problems associated with this technique. One unquantified problem is the effect foraging vertebrate predators might have on animals captured in pitfall traps. We used Deer Cam® cameras and track-monitoring stations to estimate amount and variety of vertebrate predators attending pitfall arrays in Bastrop and Guadalupe counties, Texas. We recorded 316 photographs of 19 species of vertebrates over 327 camera days among 16 drift-fence arrays. During 1,838 trap nights, we documented 679 individual track sets at track-monitoring stations established on 50 individual pitfall traps and 8 control plots. Ten potential vertebrate predators were documented visiting pitfall arrays with the raccoon (Procyon lotor) being the most frequently recorded species. Statistical analyses indicate that presence of predators at track-monitoring stations or pitfall traps did not influence detectability or capture success of small vertebrates. However, these results could be confounded by the low effect size and reduced power due to low number of animals captured in pitfall traps during the study. Consistent and frequent visits by predators to pitfall traps indicate that risks exist for confined animals and the potential consequences increase for rare or endangered taxa, which potentially could be exposed to higher levels of predation when confined to pitfall traps.


Over the last two decades, the complementary properties of symbolic and connectionist systems have led to a number of attempts at hybridizing the two approaches to leverage their strengths and alleviate their shortcomings. The fact that those attempts have generally fallen short of their goals largely reflects the difficulties in integrating computational paradigms of a very different nature without sacrificing their key properties in the process. In this paper, we propose that biological plausibility can serve as a powerful constraint to guide the integration of hybrid intelligent systems. We introduce a hybrid cognitive architecture called SAL, for "Synthesis of ACT-R and Leabra". ACT-R and Leabra are cognitive architectures in the symbolic and connectionist tradition, respectively. Despite widely different origins and levels of abstraction, they have evolved considerable commonalities in response to a joint set of constraints including behavioral, physiological, and brain imaging data. We introduce the ACT-R and Leabra cognitive architectures and their similarities in structures and concepts then describe one possible instantiation of the SAL architecture based on a modular composition of its constituent architectures. We illustrate the benefits of the integration by describing an application of the architecture to autonomous navigation in a virtual environment and discuss future research directions.


Since 2003, Darfur has lost nearly half of its six million inhabitants. As many as 500,000 people have been slaughtered, 2.2 million have been displaced, and an untold number have been savagely raped—all victims of a brutal five-year genocide orchestrated by the Sudanese government. The women of Darfur have borne the brunt of the violence: constantly targeted for rape, left physically and emotionally broken. The use of rape as a weapon of war should have shocked the conscience of the world, but we have failed to act, and instead have allowed the women of Darfur to be victimized repeatedly. This note argues that the international community must take two steps to save the women of Darfur: (1) continue criminal prosecutions of those responsible for the genocide in the International Criminal Court and (2) immediately undertake humanitarian solutions in Darfur, including aid disbursement, reparations, military intervention, and political pressure. It is only by combining legal and restorative solutions that the forgotten women of Darfur will truly receive justice.


American corporate law has long drawn a bright line between for-profit and non-profit corporations. In recent years, hybrid or social enterprises have increasingly put this bright-line distinction to the test. This Article asks what we can learn about the purpose of the American business corporation by examining its history and development in the United States in its formative period from roughly 1780-1860. This brief history of corporate purpose suggests that the duty to maximize profits in the for-profit corporation is a relatively recent development. Historically, the American business corporation grew out of an earlier form of corporation that was neither for-profit nor nonprofit in today's parlance but rather, served a multitude of municipal, religious, charitable, educational, and eventually business purposes in early nineteenth-century New England. The purposes of early American business corporations—rather than maximization of profit to private shareholders— were often overtly public, involving development of local transportation, finance, and other much-needed economic infrastructure. With the rise of factory-based manufacturing, railroads, and other capital-intensive industries in the middle decades of the nineteenth century and the advent of general incorporation statutes, the purpose of the American business corporation shifted fundamentally from public to private. By 1860, the stage was set for the modern firm. This Article concludes that the corporation has no intrinsic purpose. The corporation's defining features are separate legal personality and the ability to aggregate capital toward any otherwise lawful end, whether for-profit or nonprofit. Social enterprises today more closely resemble the early American business corporation than the profit-maximizing modern firm. Social enterprise should be seen less as a legally uncertain novelty than a return to ∗ Clinical Assistant Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School. 1. 1 WILLIAM BLACKSTONE, COMMENTARIES *467. 2 Michigan Business & Entrepreneurial Law Review [Vol. 9:1 the business corporation's nineteenth-century American roots. Finally, this Article suggests potential limitations for social enterprise.


In today's complex embedded systems not all applications are running all the time, but depend on the operational mode. By incorporating knowledge about the temporal behavior of such multi-mode systems, it is possible to share hardware by means of partial reconfiguration, and thus, reduce costs and improve performance. In this paper, we specify the temporal behavior of the functionality by applying known models based on state machines. In addition, we introduce an architectural model that allows to express the characteristics of nowadays partially reconfigurable architectures, focusing on FPGAs. We develop a symbolic encoding of this novel system specification, which allows to perform a unified system synthesis for allocation, binding, placement of partially reconfigurable modules, and routing the on-chip communication. The proposed encoding enables the use of sophisticated optimization techniques, coupling a SAT solver with a Multi-objective Evolutionary Algorithm. The proposed methodology is highly applicable for building multi-mode systems on advanced reconfigurable technology. We demonstrate this by experiments on test-cases from the image processing domain applying state-of-the-art technology. The results show the superiority of the presented approach in terms of run-time and quality of the found solutions compared to existing system synthesis approaches.


Size‐frequency distributions (SFDs) have been used to assess the ecological status of different populations in a variety of ecosystems and recently have become widely used to examine reef corals. SFDs may reflect the response of time‐varying influences of the environment, including the intensity and frequency of disturbances and the degree of environmental degradation. Here we elucidate the biases that can arise in the application of popular and traditional sampling methods (e.g. quadrat, belt‐transect, and line‐intercept). We show that these biases on the estimated SFD arise due to boundary effects of the sampling units. Incorrect evaluations of SFDs may lead to biased estimations of the ecological status of coral populations and may result in, among other things, erroneous nature reserve management policies. Our analysis is based on analytical calculations, simulations, and field observations. We have developed simple mathematical corrections, which provide unbiased estimations for previously collected data acquired by these widely used methods. In addition, we offer alternative sampling methods that do not suffer from these shortcomings. Eliminating these types of sampling errors will not only provide better assessments of the status of a given coral reef, but will also make way for more precise comparisons among coral reefs in different regions. Although we discuss the biases of SFDs in regard to reef coral populations, the work is equally relevant in other ecological contexts.


Ensuring the total reliability and availability of complex systems such as safe mechatronic systems or cost-sensitive machine components is of increasing importance. To monitor such systems during operation, parameters subjected to several influences affecting the efficiency, functionality, and safety are measured. It is of major interest to infer the actual State-of-Health of critical components from acquired data. The supervision of critical components of mechatronic systems becomes an important task and will be discussed here. The degree of wear and the functionality of complex systems are significant for the system reliability. The overall reliability of technical systems must be ensured in order to reduce the risks and costs of a system failure. To classify the machine state using easy-to-measure signals, two aspects are important: the filtering and the interpretation of the measured data. Core of this contribution is the development and application of a state-related evaluation for diagnostic-oriented data filtering approach to be used directly with industrial data or measurements from technical systems in operation. The data used in this contribution are taken from experiments generated using a wear test rig. The test rig designed for evaluation of tribological effects consists of two wear plates which interact with each other. A connection between measured macroscopic data (sliding force equivalent data resulting from test rig's operation) and the degree of wear of the lubricated surface is established to calculate information about the state of a sliding surface between the two machine parts. The time behavior of the pressure is taken using arithmetic mean value and sliding window technique. The filtering method is explained in previous work of the authors [1]. The actual level of wear, calculated using the integrated damage increments, and the actual changes of the level of wear are utilized to define three states (healthy/good condition; small changes in condition; non healthy/not in good condition) heuristically. This concept is briefly introduced in [1]. A comparison of different measurements with the same operating conditions shows similar results. doi: 10.12783/SHM2015/76


Left ventricular noncompaction (LVNC) is a recently and increasingly recognized form of cardiomyopathy. It is character- ized by the presence of an extensive trabeculated layer of myocardium and multiple deep intertrabecular recesses reinforc- ing the luminal aspect of the compacted part of the ventricular wall. It is probably secondary to an arrest of the normal process of compaction that occurs early in fetal life. LVNC seems to be a morphologic abnormality with genetic heteroge- neity; both familial and isolated cases have been described. A few causal mutations have been discovered. Clinically, LVNC presents with: heart failure (usually severe), systemic embolism, arrhythmia or sudden death. Association of LVNC with other congenital heart and neuromuscular diseases has been reported. The diagnosis is generally made by the echocar- diographic demonstration of a thick noncompacted layer with a maximal noncompacted to compacted ratio > 2; flow from the left ventricular (LV) cavity into the intertrabecular recesses; and areas of hypokinesia with depressed systolic and diastolic function. Also, magnetic resonance imaging appears promising to increase the diagnostic accuracy. Prognosis was initially thought to be very poor; but this belief has changed in the last years. There is no specific therapy for LVNC, so patients are treated with digoxin, inhibitors of angiotensin converting enzyme, diuretics and beta blockers. Anticoagu- lation is recommended after embolic episodes. Cardiac transplantation remains as the last option for cases refractory to medical therapy.


Describing shots through the occurrence of semantic concepts is the first step towards modeling the content of a video semantically. An important challenge is to automatically select the right concepts for a given information need. For example, systems should be able to decide whether the concept "Outdoor" should be included into a search for "Street Basketball". In this paper we provide an innovative method to automatically select concepts for an information need. To achieve this, we provide an estimation for the occurrence probability of a concept in relevant shots, which helps us to quantify the helpfulness of a concept. Our method reuses existing training data which is annotated with concept occurrences to build a text collection. Searching in this collection with a text retrieval system and knowing about the concept occurrences allows us to come up with a good estimate for this probability. We evaluate our method against a concept selection benchmark and search runs on both the TRECVID 2005 and 2007 collections. These experiments show that the estimation consistently improves retrieval effectiveness.


BACKGROUND
The number of circulating LDL particles is a strong indicator of future cardiovascular disease (CVD) events, even superior to the concentration of LDL cholesterol. Atherogenic (primarily LDL) particle number is typically determined either directly by the serum concentration of apolipoprotein B (apo B) or indirectly by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy of serum to obtain NMR-derived LDL particle number (LDL-P).

CONTENT
To assess the comparability of apo B and LDL-P, we reviewed 25 clinical studies containing 85 outcomes for which both biomarkers were determined. In 21 of 25 (84.0%) studies, both apo B and LDL-P were significant for at least 1 outcome. Neither was significant for any outcome in only 1 study (4.0%). In 50 of 85 comparisons (58.8%), both apo B and LDL-P had statistically significant associations with the clinical outcome, whereas in 17 comparisons (20.0%) neither was significantly associated with the outcome. In 18 comparisons (21.1%) there was discordance between apo B and LDL-P.

CONCLUSIONS
In most studies, both apo B and LDL-P were comparable in association with clinical outcomes. The biomarkers were nearly equivalent in their ability to assess risk for CVD and both have consistently been shown to be stronger risk factors than LDL-C. We support the adoption of apo B and/or LDL-P as indicators of atherogenic particle numbers into CVD risk screening and treatment guidelines. Currently, in the opinion of this Working Group on Best Practices, apo B appears to be the preferable biomarker for guideline adoption because of its availability, scalability, standardization, and relatively low cost.


Manufacturing industries strive to produce improved component accuracy while not reducing machine tool
availability or production throughput. The accuracy of CNC production machines is one of the critical factors in
determining the quality of these components. Maintaining the capability of the machine to produce in-tolerance
parts can be approached in one of two ways: run to failure or periodic calibration and monitoring. The problem is
analogous to general machine tool maintenance, but with the clear distinction that the failure mode of general
machine tool components results in a loss of production, whereas that of accuracy allows parts to be produced,
which are only later detected as non-conforming as part of the quality control processes. This distinction creates
problems of cost-justification, since at this point in the manufacturing chain, any responsibility of the machine is
not directly evident. Studies in the field of maintenance have resulted in cost calculations for the downtime
associated with machine failure. This paper addresses the analogous, unanswered problem of maintaining the
accuracy of CNC machine tools. A mathematical cost function is derived that can form the basis of a strategy for
either running until non-conforming parts are detected or scheduling predictive CNC machine tool calibrations.
This is sufficiently generic that it can consider that this decision will be based upon different scales
of production, different values of components etc. Therefore, the model is broken down to a level where these
variables for the different inputs can be tailored to the individual manufacturer.


Widely acclaimed throughout Latin America after its 1992 release in Argentina, "The Absent City" takes the form of a futuristic detective novel. In the end, however, it is a meditation on the nature of totalitarian regimes, on the transition to democracy after the end of such regimes, and on the power of language to create and define reality. Ricardo Piglia combines his trademark avant-garde aesthetics with astute cultural and political insights into Argentina's history and contemporary condition in this conceptually daring and entertaining work. The novel follows Junior, a reporter for a daily Buenos Aires newspaper, as he attempts to locate a secret machine that contains the mind and the memory of a woman named Elena. While Elena produces stories that reflect on actual events in Argentina, the police are seeking her destruction because of the revelations of atrocities that she - the machine - is disseminating through texts and taped recordings. The book thus portrays the race to recover the history and memory of a city and a country where history has largely been obliterated by political repression. Its narratives - all part of a detective story, all part of something more - multiply as they intersect with each other, like the streets and avenues of Buenos Aires itself. The second of Piglia's novels to be translated by Duke University Press - the first was "Artifical Respiration" - this book continues the author's quest to portray the abuses and atrocities that characterise dictatorships as well as the difficulties associated with making the transition to democracy. Translated and with an introduction by Sergio Waisman, it includes a new afterword by the author.


This thesis examines professionalism of English language teaching (ELT) in one particular setting, the state of Kerala in southern India.

It reveals that there is an independent and unrecognised professionalism amongst ELT professionals in the setting. This includes a lack of recognition of the efficacy of methods and approaches traditionally used in the setting and a lack of recognition of the informal professional development that is happening in the setting. This professionalism is unrecognised by local ELT professionals because of their belief in 'Western TESOL'. I am only able recognise it when I learn, through an autoethnography of my own professionalism, to put aside my own preoccupations with 'Western TESOL'.

The initial objective of this study was to attempt to gain insights into local perspectives surrounding ELT methodology and teacher education, set against a background of a perceived need for methodological change in the setting. However, once the study had begun, it became clear that my own professional background and experiences, my 'Western TESOL' 'professional baggage', combined with the fact that I was coming into the setting as an outsider, seeing it through distant eyes, was affecting the ways in which I was viewing the setting and interpreting the events happening within it. As I began to offload some of this 'professional baggage', realising that my 'Western TESOL' understanding of the setting did not necessarily match local participants' understandings of it, I began to question and re-evaluate the data I had collected. For example, I realised that I was focusing on what I saw as the negative aspects of what I was observing and being told about ELT in the setting, and comparing these to approaches to ELT in 'Western TESOL' settings that I was more familiar with. Over time, I began to look at these same aspects in a more positive light, seeing different perspectives and valuing what I was seeing or being told in different ways. My re-evaluations of the data from the setting over time also thus became a focus of the study.

The study as a whole is therefore ethnographic in terms of attempting to understand local perspectives, using open-ended questionnaire, classroom observation, interview and field note data, with an autoethnographic dimension to acknowledge the influence of my own distant eyes perspective in understanding these local perspectives. It brings into focus how I, as a researcher, through re-evaluating my own data and as a result gaining greater insight into my own positioning, was able to give credit to different perspectives on the data collected, particularly the data from classroom observations and teacher accounts of practice, and in the light of this to offer possible ways forward for ELT in the setting.

It has implications for local ELT professionals in terms of understanding and appreciating their own professionalism. It also has implications for TESOL professionals in unfamiliar settings in terms of the need to understand the complexity of these settings, rather than make hasty judgments about local practices, particularly in the case of 'Western TESOL' professionals working in 'non-Western TESOL' settings.

It may therefore be of interest both to 'Western' teachers, teacher trainers and academics working or researching, or intending to work or carry out research, in settings with which they are not familiar, particularly 'non-Western TESOL' settings, and to local TESOL professionals and academics in the setting for the study.


A wide-range frequency offset correction is an essential function in the coherent-detection optical (CO) orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system. However, unlike conventional radio-frequency OFDM systems, the frequency offsets of CO systems come from the laser instability and bring much higher randomness and uncertainty between the local oscillation source and the incoming signal. Therefore, it is difficult to achieve low complexity and high precision for the frequency offset estimation at the same time. To fulfill the requirement of the CO-OFDM transmission system, we propose a novel algorithm using sample-shifted training symbols for the fast acquisition of the frequency offset in the CO-OFDM system. Based on the characteristics of optical coherency and the CO-OFDM symbol interval, the dynamic tracking of the frequency offset variation can also be simplified by using the OFDM pilot subcarriers.


The nine books under consideration reflect a tendency in recent scholarship to view Europe as an object of research and of theoretical and philosophical reflection. The question of Europe has now had an impact on the diverse fields of sociology, anthropology, political science, philosophy and history which have all responded in different ways to the recognition that a transnational project engineered by nation-states is transforming those very entities that gave rise to it and something new is being created in this process. Although it is debated exactly how new, it is generally agreed that something new is emerging with the enhanced momentum of Europeanization in recent years which has led from a transformation of the state to a transformation of society and the construction of new conceptions of the self, power and culture. As several of the selected books demonstrate, this relatively new object of research and consciousness in the social and human sciences does not replace national societies but operates alongside them and is even articulated within national societies as part of their socio-cognitive self-understanding in a post-national era. Indeed, as Douglas Holmes's book shows, nations are still capable of arousing powerful expressions of belonging (see also Delanty and O'Mahony, 2002). But Europe is no longer a residual category in contemporary conceptions of the nation: it has a huge presence in all societies as an economic, legal and symbolic entity. The question of Europe is now a central dimension of the wider societal transformation of modernity, the reflection on which is also a reflection on the meaning of Europe. It is thus difficult to be specific on what we are talking about, for 'Europeanization' is not leading to a society, a state, a cultural or a geographical entity that can be specified with precision, but a process. Even if we take the now expanding European Union as the geopolitical entity, as several of our authors do, the problem still remains – exactly what is Europe as an object of research?


Candida fungi is grouped in the fermenting fungi strain. Candida types are usually the normal flora and mostly get pathogens in immune system deficiency. The most common place of candidiasis infection is in the mouth. One of the effective factors of colonization intensity of this fungi is the mouth hygiene. The goal of this study is to determine the mouth fungi flora of dentistry students of Mazandaran University of medical science and to determine the correlation of this flora with the indexes of OHI-s, DMFT and saliva pH of this individuals. 119 individuals of dentistry students of Mazandaran participated in this analytic descriptive study. Clinical examinations for DMFT and OHI-s indexes were conducted. Saliva and plaque samples which were cultured in the saborodextrose and typedetermined in chromagar . After gathering data they were imported to SPSS22 and were analyzed. In total, 61 cases were albicans typed. DMFT index average was calculated to be 5.31±3.44, pH was 7.07±0.77 and OHI-s was 1.33±0.67. DT in individuals with colonization is meaningfully more than individuals who had colonization lower than 50 (P-value≤0.05). No meaningful differences between the growth number of lingual plaque and mouth saliva were observed. Among the sub-indexes of DMFT, DT had the lowest value. Considering OHI-s, students were placed in the medium level. The DMFT would be decreased down by increasing teeth brushing, mouth washing and flossing times. A meaningful correlation between gender and average of pH and OHI-s indexes was observed.


Every year, hundreds of thousands of women and girls from Southeast Asia are forced or tricked into marrying Chinese men who exploit them for sex and childbearing. Although an emerging body of research and reports has revealed the scale and living conditions of the trafficked brides, there have not yet been systematic studies that would help stakeholders understand the real needs of the victims. Bride trafficking victims are generally defined as those who are deprived of their rights and married against their will. However, our investigation found that in China, cases which involve seemingly willing victims are barely covered by the current trafficking victim identification system, despite the existence of "the principle of the irrelevance of consent" (UNODC, 2014). Due to the lack of unified measures and feasible research methods, empirical research on such groups is very limited. In an effort to fill this gap, this article identifies this category as "demi bride trafficking" and includes an academic exploration of the transnational trafficked marriages in China as well as a descriptive analysis based on the interviews of various NGOs, experts, and government officials. By analysing the dysfunction of external interventions and the potential link between the Belt Road Initiative and the increasing number of human trafficking cases, this paper then suggests that currently, the most effective solution is to address it internally, with a focus on fulfilling victims' individual demands, which in turn requires an individual tailored victim protection system to be built.


This paper deals with partial discharge measurement and partial discharge characteristics on a three-phase construction. A simplified model of three-phase gas insulated switchgear is used in the experiment to simulate three-phase electric field in three-phase equipment. A particle was adhered on the different positions on the conductor and on the tank to produce partial discharge. Partial discharge signals flowing on three phase conductors were measured simultaneously with three high frequency current transformers clamped on the three- phase lines through capacitive voltage divider. Partial discharge signals induced on the enclosure were measured with the current transformer and the detecting impedance. The circuit was calibrated and examined by injecting known charges from a pulse calibrator to some points in the circuit. The calibration results indicate that measuring partial discharge signals only at the enclosure or on one of the phases of three phase construction will result in the position dependent sensitivity for partial discharges. Experimental results show that partial discharge inception voltages of a particle adhered on different position differed depended on the particle position. Phase of partial discharge inception voltage also depended on the particle position. Experimental results show that partial discharge caused by a particle on one phase conductor was induced and detected on the other phase conductors. Polarity and magnitude of discharge current flowing on each phase depended on the particle position. Each particle at different position generated discharge current which flowed on each phase so that the magnitude ratios of the currents flowing on each phase were unique for each particle. These results were discussed with considering electric field characteristic in three-phase construction and coupling capacitance between three-phase conductors and between the conductors and the tank.


La Maison des Fondateurs in Le Brassus Switzerland is going to represent the watch making manufacture Audemars Piguet. Audemars Piguet stands for the finest quality, precision as well as innovation based on traditional watchmaking expertise and craftsmanship. La Maison des Fondateurs has been developed from a competition proposal to the execution project by the architects BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group. The created interlocking all glass spiral evolves the building volume out of the rough, natural landscape providing a perfect linear museum path for the building program. Despite the severe loading and weather conditions, inspired by the high values of Audemars Piguet the project team designed the building to the technical limits. The curved and very large insulated facade glass units as well as the curved glass partition walls of the interlocking glass spiral are forming the load bearing structure. All vertical and horizontal loads are transferred by these glass components making solid columns and shear wall obsolete. The article reflects the close collaboration of the designers, engineers, specialist contractor and industry. The global structural concept, transfer of the concentrated point loading into the curved structural glass element, testing procedures as well as the structural bonding beyond standards and the context of energy efficiency are discussed and elaborated.


Dissipation rate of prometryn, oxyfluorfen and imazethapyr was estimated in the Mollisol San Anton and the Vertisol Fraternidad soil series, both soils from the south semi-arid coastal region of Puerto Rico. The study was carried out in two consecutive years. The herbicides were applied one day after seeding pigeon peas at Juana Diaz (San Anton soil series) and Lajas (Fraternidad soil series) Agricultural Experiment Substations. Herbicide rates were 2.24, 0.28 and 0.070 kg ai/ha for prometryn, oxyfluorfen and imazethapyr, respectively. Soil samples at 15-cm depth were collected at 0, 28, 56,112 and 168 days after application. Field half-lives between 2 and 43, 31 and 88, and 19 and 46 days were found for prometryn, oxyfluorfen and imazethapyr, respectively. Substantial dissipation rate variability for above mentioned herbicides has been shown to occur within the soil and year treatments. These findings suggest very short and variable persistence for the three herbicides in both soils under a tropical climate.


Two alternate visions for shaping and explaining the governance of economic globalization have been in competition for the past 20 years: an ad hoc, laissez-faire vision promoted by the United States versus a managed vision relying on multilateral rules and international organizations promoted by the European Union. Although the American vision prevailed in the past decade, the current worldwide crisis gives a new life and legitimacy to the European vision. This essay explores how this European vision, often referred to as 'managed globalization', has been conceived and implemented and how the rules that Europe fashioned in trade and finance actually shaped the world economy. In doing so, we highlight the paradox that managed globalization has been a force for liberalization.


The ultimate, behind-the-scenes look at the Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, as he prosecutes the sprawling war on terror and emerges as a figure second only to the President in his ability to capture the country's attention and confidence. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has become the leading spokesman for the Bush administration on all matters related to the military and its prosecution of the war on terror. Midge Decter, an accomplished political jounalist who has enjoyed over two decades of personal friendship with Rumsfeld, will answer the question of why and how he has come to play such a critical role at this obviously critical moment. Partly biographical and partly analytical, the book will focus on Rumsfeld's past and current activities as well as what he represents: an ethos of sturdiness, frankness, and resilience that has clearly resonated with the American public in a post-Clinton wartime era. Decter has gained Rumsfeld's full cooperation, and she will trail him through the Pentagon and beyond as he prosecutes the war on terror, including any impending military campaign against Iraq. The daily stresses of advising the president, handling the media, crafting military policy, and dealing with issues of life and death will be examined from the inside--as it is happening. This book will offer a dynamic, intimate, behind-the-scenes look at the biggest political star (apart from the president himself) of the Bush administration.


ABSTRACT: Reduced plasma and tissue concentrations of carnitine, a cofactor required for fatty acid oxidation, are present in patients with inherited disorders of mitochondrial acyl-CoA oxidation that are associated with accumulations of acylcarnitines. To determine whether the secondary carnitine deficiency in these patients is due to excessive urinary loss of acylcarnitines, the development of carnitine deficiency was examined in patients with four different acyl-CoA oxidation disorders, including medium-chain and long-chain fatty acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiencies, iso-valeric acidemia, and propionic acidemia. After a 3-mo period of treatment with oral carnitine to raise plasma total carnitine concentrations to or above normal, patients were started on a carnitine-free diet and the changes in plasma total and free carnitine levels and urinary total and free carnitine excretion were followed for 5 d. Patients with all four disorders showed a return of plasma carnitine levels and urinary carnitine excretion to baseline within 2 to 4 d. The rapidity of these changes could not be explained solely by excessive acylcarnitine wasting. Continued excretion of free carnitine in all patients indicated the additional presence of an impairment in renal transport of free carnitine. Consistent with this interpretation, estimates of renal thresholds for free carnitine gave values that were less than that for a control child in all four disorders and ranged as low as one half those reported in normal individuals. These results suggest that secondary carnitine deficiency in the acyl-CoA oxidation disorders is due to indirect as well as direct effects of accumulated acylcarnitines. Lowered renal free carnitine thresholds in these patients may reflect inhibition of free carnitine transport in the kidney by acylcarnitines.


Dynamic time warping (DTW) is a useful method for aligning, comparing and combining time series, but it requires them to live in comparable spaces. In this work, we consider a setting in which time series live on different spaces without a sensible ground metric, causing DTW to become ill-defined. To alleviate this, we propose Gromov dynamic time warping (GDTW), a distance between time series on potentially incomparable spaces that avoids the comparability requirement by instead considering intra-relational geometry. We derive a Frank-Wolfe algorithm for computing it and demonstrate its effectiveness at aligning, combining and comparing time series living on incomparable spaces. We further propose a smoothed version of GDTW as a differentiable loss and assess its properties in a variety of settings, including barycentric averaging, generative modeling and imitation learning.


Higher education is in a state of transformation across the world. However, given the worldwide economic situation, there are emerging tensions that bear upon this upheaval such as reactive versus proactive approaches with respect to knowledge paradigms; a focus on the knowledge economy versus the knowledge society; and knowledge relevance versus competitively driven knowledge. The net effect of this is that graduates require a range of attributes that enable them to deal with, not only employability, but also an increasing concern with global issues and the development of civic awareness and responsibility. One of the major initiatives in Scotland that has tried to tackle these issues is the 'The Graduates in the 21st Century Enhancement Theme'. This aims to encourage Scottish higher education institutions to focus on the development of graduate attributes. It is recognised this needs to be co-ordinated in such a way as to equip an increasingly diverse student population with the attributes required for citizenship in a knowledge society and economy. There is also a focus on personalisation; a concept that has been imported from the United States and has been applied to both school education and tertiary education. It is, however, also part of a wider agenda for the reform of all public services that responds more directly to the diverse needs of individuals rather than imposing uniform solutions on people. Citizens increasingly are provided with choice and customisation in public services and this has now also become a key feature of higher education in terms of policy roll-outs on personal development planning and more generally as part of the wider participation agenda. The implications this turn towards citizenship are evaluated through reference to the tension between individualistic notions of customisation versus attempts to create a more democratic and inclusive approach.


RGB-D cameras, such as Microsoft Kinect, are active sensors that provide high-resolution dense color and depth information at real-time frame rates. The wide availability of affordable RGB-D cameras is causing a revolution in perception and changing the landscape of robotics and related fields. RGB-D perception has been the focus of a great deal of attention and many research efforts by various fields in the last three years. In this article, we summarize and discuss our ongoing research on the promising uses of RGB-D in three-dimensional (3-D) mapping and 3-D recognition. Combining the strengths of optical cameras and laser rangefinders, the joint use of color and depth in RGB-D sensing makes visual perception more robust and efficient, leading to practical systems that build detailed 3-D models of large indoor spaces, as well as systems that reliably recognize everyday objects in complex scenes. RGB-D perception is yet a burgeoning technology: a rapidly growing number of research projects are being conducted on or using RGB-D perception while RGB-D hardware quickly improves. We believe that RGB-D perception will be on the center stage of perception and, by making robots see much better than before, will enable a variety of perception-based research and applications.


We have established a facile and scaleable approach to fabricate tubular graphitic-C3N4 using melamine. The construction of the unique tubular morphology is a result of the pre-treatment of melamine with HNO3. Herein, for the first time, we have explored the electrochemical properties of g-C3N4 as an electrode material for supercapacitors. Tubular g-C3N4 has significant advantages due to its distinctive morphology, high surface area (182.61 m2 g−1) and combination of carbon with nitrogen. Therefore, tubular g-C3N4 demonstrated a good specific capacitance of 233 F g−1 at a current density of 0.2 A g−1 in 6 M KOH electrolyte. Furthermore, tubular g-C3N4 maintained a high capacitance retention capability (90%) after 1000 cycles. The photocatalytic activity of tubular g-C3N4 was evaluated using the organic dyes such as Methylene Blue (MB) and Methylene Orange (MO) under visible light. Tubular g-C3N4 demonstrated good photocatalytic activity and enhanced stability compared to bulk g-C3N4. The enhanced performance is because of the high surface area, which contains more active sites for reaction. The encouraging performance of tubular g-C3N4 in supercapacitors and as a photocatalyst points toward it being a prospective material for energy storage that is environmentally clean.