of a thesis at the University of Miami. Thesis supervised by Professor David S. Nolan. No. of pages in text. (156) The Intertropical Convergence Zone is characterized by a hierarchy of transients within a large range of spatial and temporal scales that propagate both eastward and westward with varying speeds in synoptic-scale-like waves. Among these tropical structures, the Convectively Coupled Kelvin Waves constitute one of the most significant in terms of contribution to the total ITCZ variability. The first part of this work analyzes the senstivitity of simulated CCKWs to domain size, horizontal resolution and forcing, using the WRF model. The simulations are performed using two types of idealized domains: the "aquachannel" (an oceanic surface with the Earth dimensions, but extending to the latitude of 60 degrees in both hemispheres on the beta plane), and the "aquapatch" (similar configuration as the aquachannel except for its longitudinal extent, which is 1/3 of the former, or approximately 13000 km), with both cases using periodic boundary conditions. The aquapatch is integrated in low and high resolution, and also in a doublynested configuration, in which convection is solved explicitly in the innermost grid. The model intercomparison is carried out throughout the use of several techniques such as power spectra, filtering, wave tracking and compositing, and it is extended to some simulations from the "AquaPlanet Experiment". The second part of this work addresses a topic that has not previously been studied: the life cycle of the CCKWs. A subjective technique is applied to isolate early, mature and decay stages, and then spatial structures as well as propagation speeds of each phase are compared, resulting in some distinctive differences. Moreover, this analysis reveals a "de-coupling" between super cloud clusters and the pressure wave, which is found to be connected with the dissipation of the clusters.


Muscle mass is maintained through an interplay between anabolic and catabolic pathways. The ubiquitin-proteasome system plays an important role in the proteolysis progress during skeletal muscle atrophy which can be blocked by some proteasome inhibitors. But few studies have demonstrated the ability of these inhibitors to preserve muscle mass and architecture under catabolic condition in vivo. The insulin-like growth factor-1/phosphatidylinositide 3-kinases/protein kinase B/mammalian target of rapamycin (IGF-1/PI3K/Akt/mTOR) pathway was associated with anabolic pathways. The activation of IGF-1 causes muscle hypertrophy; however, it cannot be used as a drug target. Myostatin pathway maintains activation that can induce skeletal muscle atrophy involved with various transcriptional and genetic factors. Skeletal muscle atrophy is a debilitating consequence of multiple chronic diseases and conditions that involve starvation. It reduces treatment options and positive clinical outcomes as well as compromising quality of life and increasing morbidity and mortality. Though considerable research has been undertaken to find the drug target and the molecular mechanisms that improve skeletal muscle atrophy, no drug was approved to treat skeletal muscle atrophy. However, these years, the signaling pathways involved in muscle atrophy were clarified and some effective treatments were currently available to prevent, attenuate, or reverse muscle atrophy for experiment research.


Qatari educational curriculum standards emphasize student-centered classrooms where students actively engage in inquiry and problem solving. Classrooms characterized by these elements should emerge as more successful on Qatari standards-based assessments, but little research has been done to determine whether these elements exist. The purpose of this study was to develop profiles of Qatar schools and to examine the relationships among classroom processes, teacher and student perceptions, and student achievement in math and science classrooms in higher and lower achieving elementary schools. Data were collected in October, 2008, in 17 schools randomly selected from 46 schools that had implemented the standards for at least 3 years. Descriptive data for school profiles were generated and compared qualitatively. Findings indicate that the percentage of standards met by schools is very low and the incidence of classroom behaviors associated with student-centered classrooms is also very low across schools (0% to 9.53%). However, teachers report high levels of efficacy on a 6 point scale for teaching in reform-oriented schools and perceive that they are implementing high levels of standards-based practices. Reports of inquiry practices were lower (4.2 to 5.76) but still high compared to observation of these practices. While schools making more progress meeting standards tended to exhibit higher levels of student-centered behaviors, no patterns existed for teacher perceptions. They tended to be high despite achievement level or level of observed implementation. Students' perceptions of classroom environment and problem solving also were high, but variations by achievement level were noted with higher performing schools reporting greater student-centeredness and problem-solving activities. The mismatch between participant perceptions and both observed behaviors and achievement has implications for the implementation of reform in general and professional development in particular.


Digital literacy has been an increasingly-debated and discussed topic since the publication of Paul Gilster's seminal Digital Literacy in 1997. It is, however, a complex term predicated on previous work in new literacies such as information literacy and computer literacy. To make sense of this complexity and uncertainty I come up with a 'continuum of ambiguity' and employ a Pragmatic methodology. This thesis makes three main contributions to the research area. First, I argue that considering a plurality of digital literacies helps avoid some of the problems of endlessly-redefining 'digital literacy'. Second, I abstract eight essential elements of digital literacies from the research literature which can lead to positive action. Finally, I argue that co-constructing a definition of digital literacies (using the eight essential elements as a guide) is at least as important as the outcome.


Ab s t r Ac t Introduction: An adverse drug reaction (ADR) is any undesirable effect of a drug to the patient beyond its anticipated therapeutic effects while used clinically. Aims and objective: To analyze the incidence of ADRs in a tertiary care hospital reported from April 2015 till December 2017. Materials and methods: Two hundred ADR forms were included in the study and analyzed. These were codified into various drug classes according to anatomical therapeutic chemical (ATC) classification based on WHO–ATC Index 2019 besides categorized into preventable or not modified Schumock and Thornton scale. Severity was assessed based on a scale by Hartwig et al. Also, the ADRs were classified based on MedDRA 13.01 to system organ class (SOC) and preferred terms (PT) falling under respective SOC. Results: Maximum ADRs were reported by dermatology. Most commonly, it involved gastrointestinal system (GIT) followed by skin. Antibiotics and anti-cancer drugs caused maximum ADRs. About two-thirds were classifiable as moderate to severe, whereas about one-third were preventable. About 10% of cases were such that left deep impact of sequelae or were not recovered and one case was fatal. Conclusion: Extreme vigilance by clinicians is of utmost crucial virtue in detecting, diagnosing, and reporting such ADR for continued drug safety monitoring.


The microtubule assembly process has been extensively studied, but the underlying molecular mechanism remains poorly understood. The structure of an artificially generated sheet polymer that alternates two types of lateral contacts and that directly converts into microtubules, has been proposed to correspond to the intermediate sheet structure observed during microtubule assembly. We have studied the self-assembly process of GMPCPP tubulins into sheet and microtubule structures using thermodynamic analysis and stochastic simulations. With the novel assumptions that tubulins can laterally interact in two different forms, and allosterically affect neighboring lateral interactions, we can explain existing experimental observations. At low temperature, the allosteric effect results in the observed sheet structure with alternating lateral interactions as the thermodynamically most stable form. At normal microtubule assembly temperature, our work indicates that a class of sheet structures resembling those observed at low temperature is transiently trapped as an intermediate during the assembly process. This work may shed light on the tubulin molecular interactions, and the role of sheet formation during microtubule assembly.


The "rationale" is the fundamental economic reasons for skills development
levies, such as that currently employed in South Africa, are well
established. The history behind the adoption of the Skills Development
Levies Act makes it clear that these reasons were understood and the
underlying theory was applied. However, it can also clearly be construed
that it was the intention of the Act that companies should bear the
incidence of the levy. This does not fit in with international experience and
economic theory, however. Models of taxation, as well as research,
suggest that workers tend to bear the burden of a levy scheme through
lower real wages and employment levels. Furthermore, there is scope for
possible inefficiencies in the system that may lead to workers bearing more
of the burden than human capital theory would suggest should be the case.
The levy-grant system, although not opposed, is therefore questioned in
terms of its political basis and justifications. The conclusion that policymakers
may have understood the basis behind a levy, but misconstrued its
incidence, has various implications for efficiency in the labour market.


This classic in organizational theory provides a succinct overview of the principal schools of thought as it presents a critical, sociopsychological, and historical orientation to the field of organizational analysis. Vividly written, with theories made concrete by specific, student-oriented examples, it takes a critical view toward organizations, analyzing their impact on individuals, groups, and society as a whole. New chapters on economic theories of organization and the conditional power theory are among the features of this revised edition.


The Citrullus lanatus (Thunb) is commonly known as watermelon belonging to family Cucurbitaceae. Traditionally, the plant has been used as anthelmintic, anticancer, antibacterial, demulcent and diuretic. The review of literature available online suggested that geographical variation wise quantitative determination of total phenols and flavonoids in plant material has not been carried out. Thus, it was planned to quantify total phenols and flavonoids content in this plant collected from different geographical places of India such as Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana. The various extract and fractions were prepared separately using Soxhletion and reflux techniques, respectively, as per standardized procedure. The extracts / fractions were subjected to preliminary phytochemical testes. The various crude extracts / fractions were subjected to quantitative determination of total phenols and flavonoids content using well established procedures known as Folin Ciocalteu's assay and aluminium chloride assay, respectively. The ethyl acetate fractions of Citrullus lanatus fruits obtained from different geographical sites contained higher content of total phenols and flavonoids than their respective acetone extract and ethanol extract. Amongst various extracts / fractions of tested samples of plant, Rajasthan sample contained higher content of total phenols and flavonoids followed by Punjab and Haryana samples. As preliminary phytochemical screening of ethanol and its ethyl acetate fractions showed presence of phenolic and flavonoids constituents. Thus, it can be also concluded that these compounds may be responsible for scientifically reported pharmacological profile of this plant.


The objective of this study was to establish normative data concerning grasp and pinch strength for use by clinicians who are treating children with hand problems. A population of 474 children ages 5 to 12 were tested using the Jamar dynamometer and the Preston pinch guage. Means and standard deviations of all measurements for all subjects were determined. Results of the study indicate that there is a steady increase in both grasp and pinch strength that coincides with the increase in chronological age and development; males are consistently stronger than females across the age range in all tests, although the differences are not striking. Hand dominance was judged not to be an important factor in predicting strength in this population.


This article explores the implications of Bennett v. Spear for public law standing. The unanimous Bennett Court, in its opinion by Justice Scalia, applies slightly reformulated but ultimately manipulable "zone of interests" criteria; the opinion also utilizes a new framework for standing analysis under Article III of "procedural rights" claims. The Bennett Court looks for case- specific allegations that an alleged procedural misstep "alters the legal regime" by having "coercive" and "virtually determinative effect." This new framework arguably resolves a second (but unbriefed to the Court) split in the circuits over standing for "procedural rights" plaintiffs. Bennett's new framework threatens to turn the overlapping "redressability" and "traceability" standing criteria into a substantial hurdle for plaintiffs claiming an agency procedural misstep, and undercuts the instructions provided by the Court in Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife. Bennett gives no apparent weight to implicit legislative valuation of procedures. Professor Buzbee argues that Bennett is a problematic decision that can and should be narrowly construed to give appropriate heed to legislative judgments about the importance of procedures associated with a regulatory goal. The article closes by arguing that half of Bennett's new redressability-traceability test--the "alters the legal regime" language--offers a means to harmonize disparate standing treatment of plaintiffs alleging reverse discrimination and more typical administrative law or environmental law claims, and also could ensure that courts play a role in policing agency actions under diverse initiatives designed to enhance regulatory flexibility.


Coping with media change is the modus operandi in societies shaped by an ongoing media saturation of everyday lifeworlds. However, demands to participate in media change are sometimes perceived as challenging. In this regard, media nostalgia, understood as the longing for past media culture and technology, is introduced as a resource to cope with media change. Presenting results from an online survey, a structural equation model (SEM) illustrates that those who are stressed by media change draw on media nostalgia as a way of coping whereas media nostalgic engagements become unlikely when individuals feel comfortable with media change. This article argues that certain current individual and societal appearances of media nostalgia are related to people's coping attempts.


Background: Ultrasound is used to observe the imaging manifestations of COVID-19 in order to provide reference for real-time bedside evaluation.Purpose: To explore the ultrasonic manifestations of peripulmonary lesions of non-critical COVID-19, so as to provide reference for clinical diagnosis and efficacy evaluation.Materials and Methods: The clinical and ultrasonic data of 20 patients with clinically diagnosed non-critical COVID-19 treated in Xi'an Chest Hospital during January and February 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. Conventional two-dimensional ultrasound and color Doppler ultrasound were used to observe the characteristics of lesions. Results: All 20 patients (40 lungs and 240 lung areas) had a history of travel, residence or close contact in/with Wuhan, and 5 of them caught COVID-19 after family gatherings. Lesions tended to occur in both lungs. Lesions in the lung areas: 14 in L1+R1 area (14/40), 17 in L2+R2 area (17/40), 17 in L3+R3 area (17/40), 17 in L4+R4 area (17/40), 20 in L5+R5 area (20/40), and 28 in L6+R6 area (28/40). Lesion types: rough and discontinuous pleural line (36/240), subpleural consolidation (53/240), air bronchogram sign or air bronchiologram sign in subpleural peripleural consolidation (37/240), visible B lines (91/240), localized pleural thickening (19/240), localized pleural effusion (24/240), poor blood flow in the consolidation detected by color Doppler ultrasound (50/53).Conclusion: The non-critical COVID-19 has characteristic ultrasonic manifestations, which are visible in the posterior and inferior areas of the lung. The lesions are mainly characterized by a large number of B lines, subpleural pulmonary consolidation and poor blood flow. Lung ultrasound can provide reference for the clinical diagnosis and efficacy evaluation. Chinese Clinical Trial Registry: ChiCTR2000030032Approval for Scientific Research Project: No. 2020-S0001


This paper describes the design, manufacture and testing of a 5 kW floating VAHT for use in tidal, ocean, and river installations. This work is based on the results of research contracts administered by the Canadian National Research Council Hydraulics Laboratory and Energy Mines and Resources, Canada. The complete turbine assembly is mounted on a standard 5.5 metre fiberglass boat hull which provides floatation, a self mooring capability, space for auxiliary equipment and maintenance personnel, a trailering capability, and self launching and propulsion to the selected site. The hull is stable and seaworthy with reserve floatation. The electrical system is an 'off-grid' stand alone system with a Thomson and Howe load control governor which maintains a constant frequency of 60 Hz at 240 volts.


Literature on 'green value' shows that certified office buildings have higher rents than conventional buildings. However, more recent works indicate that this rental premium diminishes with the expanding supply of certified buildings. Some authors suggest that this premium for certified buildings could evolve into a depreciation of buildings with poor environmental performance. As certified buildings become the rule for new office developments, buildings with poor environmental performance would no longer meet tenants' functional requirements and would become obsolete. This paper analyses sustainability features as a new factor of obsolescence. First part proposes a theoretical model to account for sustainability in refurbishment decision-making. In particular, we assume that refurbishment cycles are planned over a building's life to counter obsolescence and physical deterioration. Second part consists in an empirical study based on the French market. It analyses which are the sustainability characteristics sought after by real estate managers beyond the brand of the environmental labels. This paper contributes to research on 'green value' through a focus on obsolescence. The results could be used by investors to better evaluate sustainability in their investment decisions.


This paper investigates the use of grey theory to enhance the concept of an R-fuzzy set, with regards to the precision of the encapsulating set of returned significance values. The use of lower and upper approximations from rough set theory, allow for an R-fuzzy approach to encapsulate uncertain fuzzy membership values; both collectively generic and individually specific. The authors have previously created a significance measure, which when combined with an R-fuzzy set provides one with a refined approach for expressing complex uncertainty. This pairing of an R-fuzzy set and the significance measure, replicates in part, the high detail of uncertainty representation from a type-2 fuzzy approach, with the relative ease and objectiveness of a type-1 fuzzy approach. As a result, this new research method allows for a practical means for domains where ideally a generalised type-2 fuzzy set is more favourable, but ultimately unfeasible due to the subjectiveness of type-2 fuzzy membership values. This paper focuses on providing a more effective means for the creation of the set which encapsulates the returned degrees of significance. Using grey techniques, rather than the arbitrary configuration of the original work, the result is a high precision set for encapsulation, with the minimal configuration of parameter values. A worked example is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of using grey theory in conjunction with R-fuzzy sets and the significance measure.


Effects of hydrocarbons, salinity, tidal height, bioenergetics and competition on the oyster reef fauna were studied. Dried oyster shell was exposed to crude oil in the laboratory and plastic trays filled with control and oil-exposed shell were then deployed at two locations, in two seasons and at two tidal levels, with immersion periods of two and five weeks. Salinity exhibited a significant effect with sub tidal site having higher diversity. Hydrocarbon effects were less prominent. To determine effects of cleaners, Corexit 9580 was applied both alone and in combination with oil on cultch. At high concentrations, the cleaner ameliorated hydrocarbon effects. Hydrocarbon effects seemed to be less prominent than salinity and aerial exposure. In the next chapter, effects of salinity on the survival and bioenergetics of mud crabs Panopeus simpsoni and Eurypanopeus depressus were examined. Crabs were exposed to a range of salinities to determine the effects of salinity on tolerance. P. simpsoni exhibited a 28d LC50 of 6.97 PSU while E. depressus had a 28d LC50 of 0.19 PSU. Crabs were exposed to four salinities for bioenergetic measurements. Energy expenditure was highest at the lowest salinity and decreased as salinity increased. Scope for growth declined below 17.5 PSU. E. depressus was capable of surviving lower salinities than P. simpsoni. However, the physiological responses do not significantly differ between the two species. In the next chapter laboratory experiments were conducted to see if these two crab species differ in resource holding potential. Crabs were placed in aquaria at two salinities and refugia were checked daily for shelter occupancy. To determine if resource iv holding potential for refugia influenced predation risk, a second laboratory experiment was performed with a blue crab predator in each tank. The numbers of mud crabs of each species surviving were recorded. E. depressus was dominant over P. simpsoni in occupying the shelters at both salinity levels. E. depressus exhibited a higher survival in the presence of the predator. E. depressus's ability to tolerate lower salinities, and its dominance in resource holding potential, may lessen predation risk and allow colonization of more estuarine sites.


We evaluate the performance of limited partners' (LPs) private equity investments over time. Using a sample of 14,380 investments by 1,852 LPs in 1,250 buyout and venture funds started between 1991 and 2006, we find that the superior performance of endowment investors in the 1991-1998 period, documented in prior literature, is mostly due to their greater access to the top-performing venture capital partnerships. In the subsequent 1999-2006 period, endowments no longer outperform, and neither have greater access to funds that are likely to restrict access nor make better investment selections than other types of institutional investors. We discuss how these results are consistent with the general maturing of the industry, as private equity has transitioned from a niche, poorly understood area to a ubiquitous part of institutional investors' portfolios.


Defects in cardiac valve morphogenesis and septation of the heart chambers constitute some of the most common human congenital abnormalities. Some of these defects originate from errors in atrioventricular (AV) endocardial cushion development. Although this process is being extensively studied in mouse and chick, the zebrafish system presents several advantages over these models, including the ability to carry out forward genetic screens and study vertebrate gene function at the single cell level. In this paper, we analyze the cellular and subcellular architecture of the zebrafish heart during stages of AV cushion and valve development and gain an unprecedented level of resolution into this process. We find that endocardial cells in the AV canal differentiate morphologically before the onset of epithelial to mesenchymal transformation, thereby defining a previously unappreciated step during AV valve formation. We use a combination of novel transgenic lines and fluorescent immunohistochemistry to analyze further the role of various genetic (Notch and Calcineurin signaling) and epigenetic (heart function) pathways in this process. In addition, from a large-scale forward genetic screen we identified 55 mutants, defining 48 different genes, that exhibit defects in discrete stages of AV cushion development. This collection of mutants provides a unique set of tools to further our understanding of the genetic basis of cell behavior and differentiation during AV valve development.


Conventional reliability tests for the evaluation of pad cratering resistance are mainly classified into two categories: the board level test and the joint level test. The board level test is to imitate the loading conditions during normal operation. However, this type of test is expensive and not flexible. The joint level test is used extensively in the industry because it has the advantages of lower cost, higher throughput, and more quantitative results. It also allows the elimination of confounding factors such as PCB and component stiffness. Therefore, it is always desirable to predict the board level performance by a joint level test. In order to achieve this objective, the correlation between the joint level and the board level tests must be fully understood. Nevertheless, a precise correlation between the two types of tests for pad cratering evaluation is yet to be defined.
 This study investigates the pad cratering failure mode for the correlation of critical failure factors between joint and board level tests. An intermediate critical failure factor could be taken as a failure criterion in board level testing for failure detection. For verifying the validity of such a failure criterion, an experimental study should be performed. The 4-point bending test is chosen as the board level test for critical failure factor validation. In addition, an innovative pin shear test method is developed as the joint level test for failure factor detection. Both test methods are assessed by a series of parametric studies with an optimized process to ensure the accuracy of the results. From the results of the experimental study and simulation, the critical failure factor correlation is established between the board level 4-point bending and the joint level pin shear test. Using finite element analysis (FEA), the critical failure strain is identified from the pin shear test model and will be employed as the board level failure criterion. Subsequently the obtained failure criterion is verified by a 4-point bending model. As a result, this indirect correlation method can predict the board level failure with various geometric parameters.


Introduction: Syndactyly is a congenital anomaly of the hand, occurring in approximately 1 in every 2000 births. It is more common in male patients and is present in both hands in 50% of the cases. The objective of this study was to describe a series of cases of patients with hand syndactyly, operated at the Sarah Hospital in Brasília using modified Skoog's technique and orthosis. Methods: The modified Skoog's technique was performed to correct syndactyly. Wrist-hand and finger orthosis was applied postoperatively, and the appearance of the scar was assessed according to the Vancouver Scar Scale. Results: Forty-five patients were assessed during five years, of whom 30 (66%) were male and 15 were female, all aged between 1 and 4 years (mean age: 2 years [60%]); 37% of cases were associated with syndromes and 50% were simple bilateral cases. Complications observed in simple syndactyly occurred in 8% of patients and included scar retraction, visible scars, and ungual changes; three patients (6%) underwent revision surgery with z-plasty and confection of a new web space commissure to correct scar retraction, and four patients required finger realignment, observed in complex syndactyly. Conclusion: This technique resulted in 92% good functional outcomes, 8% complications associated with the surgical technique, and three revision procedures with z-plasty and confection of the web space commissure with a new flap and skin graft to correct scar retraction. The Vancouver scale was used to assess scar quality, and pigmentation between the fingers (due to skin graft) had the highest score.


Due to the recent oil boom, the Fort Berthold Reservation has experienced a dramatic increase in highway and local traffic. To support energy transportation and provide safe roads, the reservation needs costefficient and effective transportation planning for present and future needs. A quality road network for the reservation is crucial for transportation operations and management. This study will demonstrate how to integrate multiple road networks to provide comprehensive digital roads using public sources and provide guides to perform a quality control (QC) assessment before delivering data and using these data for geospatial analysis. This paper will also provide the fundamental concepts for quality assurance (QA) and QC. Thus, tribal geographic information system (GIS) professionals working with other reservations will gain second-hand experience configuring quality checks and processes for automation and running the automated data checks. With the integrated road networks, the tribal transportation agency can develop bike line management, conduct ambulance service coverage analysis, develop a program of asset management, and plan road maintenance and rehabilitation. The authors recommend that the agency develop a linear referencing system (LRS) on the proposed road network to adopt efficient asset management and version control.


In furtherance of our endeavour towards the synthesis of novel bioactive agents, a panel of (E)-3-((7-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-oxo-2H-chromen-8-yl)methylene)indolin-2-one derivatives were synthesized using diverse 5-substituted oxindoles and 7-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-oxo-2H-chromene-8-carbaldehyde (3a). These synthesized analogues were further evaluated for their in vitro cytotoxic activity against MDA-MB-231 (breast), MCF-7 (breast), DU145 (prostate), PC-3 (prostate) and A549 (lung) cancer cell lines by employing the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Among all the synthesized compounds, compounds 7q (IC50 = 9.52 and 9.9 μM) and 7r (IC50 = 15.3 and 11.7 μM) showed the most significant cytotoxicity towards DU145 and PC-3 cancer cell lines respectively. Compounds 7q and 7r were found to be comparatively safe towards normal human prostate epithelial (RWPE-1) cells. The apoptosis inducing effect of compounds 7q and 7r on PC-3 and DU145 cancer cells was further investigated using the annexin V-FITC/propidium iodide staining assay, which confirmed the increase in the percentage of early apoptotic cells. Moreover, the cell cycle analysis revealed cell cycle arrest particularly at the G0/G1 phase in the PC-3 and DU145 cells. In addition, the treatment with compounds 7q and 7r led to collapse of the mitochondrial membrane potential (DΨm) and increased levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the PC-3 and DU145 cells. Western blotting was performed to examine the appearance of active forms of cytochrome c and cleaved PARP (Poly ADP ribose polymerase), indicator proteins of apoptosis in PC-3 cells; the study confirmed the triggering of the mitochondrial mediated apoptotic pathway upon exposure to compounds 7q and 7r.


Unsupervised algorithms which do not make use of labels are commonly found in computer vision and are widely applicable to all problem settings.In the presence of expert-labeled ground truth information, however, these algorithms are not optimal. Altering the unsupervised models to include labelsis not always a straight forward modification. In this dissertation, we explore various ways to incorporate human supervision.We first start with the task of visual sequence recognition and demonstrate ways to effectively make use of temporal information. Next, we tackle the problem of scene segmentation anddevise a novel framework to discriminatively train a generative hierarchical model with nonparametric Bayesian priors; the methodology can be easily appliedto other nonparametric Bayesian models. Finally, we approach the difficult problem of object segmentation and describe how shape priors can be infused intoa generative Bayesian segmentation model. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our models and algorithms on datasets which are widely used by the research community and universallyregarded as difficult. The dissertation concludes with active venues for future research.


Accelerometers are reliable, valid, and versatile tools for measuring physical activity for research studies. However, compliance to protocols of accelerometer use by participants of research studies is crucial in order to ensure the most accurate measure of their physical activity. It is possible that aging effects on physical and cognitive health will limit the ability of an older adult to be compliant with wearing an accelerometer. Unfortunately, research investigations into the factors that predict compliance to accelerometer protocols in older adults are nonexistent. We used data from the study entitled Environmental Correlates of Physical Activity Among Older Adults: A Healthy Aging Network Research Collaboration to investigate compliance to an accelerometer protocol in a cohort of 201 individuals 65 years of age and older in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania. We had two main hypotheses: (a) Compliance generally decreases with age among older adults and (b) the effect of age on compliance will be attenuated when controlling for demographic variables, cognitive and physical functioning, and walking behavior.The results show that 89.90% (n=178) of participants had at least four valid days of accelerometer wear and therefore met the valid person criteria and 50.00% (n=99) of participants had seven valid days of accelerometer wear and therefore met the compliant person criteria based on the accelerometer protocol. The best multivariate logistic regression model to predict being a valid person included IADL (p=0.002) score and a constant (p<.001) while the best multivariate logistic regression model to predict being a compliant person included Modified Guralnik Lower Body Score (p=0.008), White race (p=0.018), and a constant (p=0.036).While we hypothesized that compliance would decrease with advancing age in older adults, this analysis found no significant relationship between age and compliance. The results of this analysis did, however, show that several characteristics were associated with compliance, which supports the idea that compliance to an accelerometer protocol is influenced by certain characteristics among older adults. This research has public health significance because participants with characteristics associated with lower compliance will be consistently excluded from analyses involving measures of physical activity with accelerometers until compliance is increased to acceptable levels.


THE IDEAL OF KINGSHIP IN THE WRITINGS OF CHARLES WILLIAMS, C.S. LEWIS, AND J.R.R. TOLKIEN: DIVINE KINGSHIP IS REFLECTED IN MIDDLE-EARTH. Christopher Scarf. Cambridge: James Clark & Co., 2013. 200 p. 9780227174012. $50.00. PUBLISHED BY A BRITISH COMPANY WITH A LONG HISTORY of specialization in academic theological works, this book provides a thought-provoking study of a narrow but well-developed concept. Scarf focuses not simply on kingship, but the exact ways in which many presentations of or allusions to kingship as it appears in the fiction, nonfiction, and poetry of the three best-known Inklings is a reflection of a very specific concept about God. The book is structured in a rather simple manner, focusing first on Williams, then Lewis, then Tolkien, before pulling it all together in a conclusion that points out the main similarities in their ideas. While this makes the book highly accessible for the reader or researcher who is interested in only one of the three, it is not a convenient structure for the reader who is primarily interested in the ways that their ideas about kingship as a reflection of the divine reflect or interact with each other. That sort of reader would be best served by beginning with the conclusion and then going back through the other chapters in order to understand how each chapter supports the claims he makes. The primary conclusions that Scarf draws from his meticulous study of the work of these three authors is as follows: they share a belief that a king is a "viceregent" of God, they believe that kings owe their allegiance to God, they believe that kings have an inherent glory, and they believe, in a paradoxical way, that the crucified Christ is a model for kingship. As viceregent, the king makes decisions in the place of God. As such, kings must be obedient to God and therefore cannot be the absolute authority themselves. Intrinsic to the title instead the person, the glory of Kings reflects not their own power, but the power of God. And finally, the kings that these three write about do not use their countries to serve their own ends and interests, but instead love their people in a self-sacrifical way. They put their kingdoms before themselves. These themes are presented through close examinations of a wide variety of the work of each of these three authors. These close readings are, in fact, the strongest feature of this book. Scarf does not hesitate to venture into works rarely discussed, including such texts as Charles Williams's set of poems titled The Silver Stair and several of his biographies of British Royalty. One example of Scarf at his best is a two-page explanation of Williams's Shadows of Ecstasy which focuses on the way in which King Inkamasi works as a Christ-figure; another is the way he explores an argument in Lewis's Preface to Paradise Lost regarding who should be ruled as opposed to who should do the ruling. At the same time, Scarf also spends a good amount of time on some of the better known works of these authors. He gives a particularly lucid interpretation of Charles Williams's Arthurian poems, focusing on Arthur as Christ's viceregent, on money as a symbol of sacrifice, and the importance of hierarchy and order in these texts. The time spent on Tolkien's Silmarillion discussing Iluvatar's role as a God-figure is also well done. …


A Review of the HHS Family Planning Program provides a broad evaluation of the Title X family planning program since its establishment in 1970. The program successfully provides family planning services to its target audience of low-income individuals, but there is room for improvement. While the program's core goals are apparent, a secondary set of changing priorities has emerged without a clear, evidence-based strategic process. Also, funding for the program has increased in actual dollars, but has not kept pace with inflation or increased costs. Several aspects of the program's structure could be improved to increase the ability of Title X to meet the needs of its target population. At the same time, the extent to which the program meets those needs cannot be assessed without a greater capacity for long-term data collection.A Review of the HHS Family Planning Program recommends several specific steps to enhance the management and improve the quality of the program, as well as to demonstrate its direct contribution to important end results, such as reducing rates of unintended pregnancy, cervical cancer, and infertility. The book will guide the Office of Family Planning toward improving the effectiveness of the program. Other parties who will find the research and recommendations valuable include programs receiving Title X funding from the Office of Family Planning, policy makers, researchers, and professional organizations.


A Modest Memo is a satire in the form of a legal memo written for President-Elect Donald Trump circa November 2016. It counsels Mr. Trump to obtain Mexican funding for a U.S.-Mexico "Wall" via United Nations Security Council sanctions. These sanctions would freeze remittances (that is, "hold them hostage") until Enrique Pena Nieto wired the U.S. sufficient monies for construction. The memo, which is entirely the product of my imagination and legal study, contemplates one of the many possible worst case scenarios threatened by the Trump presidency. Through the arts of law and literature, I aim to show how the rule of law may so easily buckle and splinter beneath the increasing tide of U.S. as well as global nationalism and racism. I take inspiration, of course, from Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal (1729), as well as the legal-literary experiments found in Derrick Bell's Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism (1993) and Richard Delgado's Storytelling for Oppositionists and Others: A Plea for Narrative, 87 Michigan Law Review 2411 (1989).


This book represents the result of an interdisciplinary and international effort to provide an updated overview of the theoretical and methodological principles of bioimpedance, and their applications in sports science.The structure and the writing style are intended to be useful for scholars and students in a range of academic disciplines, as well as for professionals wishing to expand and consolidate their knowledge in the field.
The first chapter, entitled "Body composition", describes the variability of body composition in the two sexes, during the life cycle, and in different populations, considering the relationship to life style and health status. It also summarises the relevant models for the analysis of body composition.The second chapter "Bioelectrical impedance analysis: principles, instruments, and measurement methods" is centred on bioimpedance - the theoretical principles, the advantages and limitations, the measurements and analytical procedures -, illustrating both the conventional procedure based on predictive equations and the alternative ones, such as phase angle and bioelectrical impedance vector analysis (BIVA).The third chapter "Bioelectrical impedance analysis: Research on body composition in sports science" discusses the more recent applications of bioimpedance, and of BIVA in particular, in the field of physical training and sport.
AuthorsThe authors of this book are distinguished researchers in the field of Anthropology, Physiology, Nutrition, Sports science who share a research interest in body composition analysis: Roberto Buffa (University of Cagliari, Italy); Francesco Campa (University of Bologna, Italy); Jorge Castizo-Olier (Pompeu Fabra University, Spain); Marta Carrasco-Marginet (University of Barcelona, Spain); Edilson Serpeloni Cyrino (Londrina State University, Brazil); Hannes Gatterer (Institute of Mountain Emergency Medicine, Eurac Research, Italy); Luis Alberto Gobbo (Sao Paulo State University, Brazil); Maria Cristina Gonzalez (Catholic University of Pelotas, Brazil); Steven B. Heymsfield (Pennington Biomedical Research Center, USA); Alfredo Irurtia (University of Barcelona, Spain); Josely Correa Koury (State University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil); Haydee Serrao Lanzillotti (State University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil); Henry Lukaski (University of North Dakota, USA); Elisabetta Marini (University of Cagliari, Italy); Margherita Micheletti (University of Torino, Italy); Alessia Moroni (University of Torino, Italy); Lexa Nescolarde Selva (Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Spain); Esther Rebato (University of the Basque Country, Spain); Analiza Monica Silva (University of Lisboa, Portugal; Silvia Stagi (University of Cagliari, Italy); Antonio Talluri (FatByte, Italy); Stefania Toselli (University of Bologna, Italy).


Part 1 Manipulation of DNA: Lab session 1 - culturing E. Coli for plasmid isolation: preparation of solid media, making stabs cultures, streaking out plasmid clones on LB/carb plates, growth curve of E. Coli, cultures for plasmid preparations Lab session 2 - growth curve of E. Coli: examination of clones, E. Coli growth curve, preparation of solutions for large scale plasmid DNA preps, inoculation of cultures for large scale plasmid DNA preps Lab session 3A - large scale preparation of plasmid DNA by alkaline lysis Lab session 3B - purification of plasmid DNA using columns Lab session 3C - purification of plasmid DNA using cesium gradients Lab session 3D - purification of plasmid DNA using polyethylene glycol Lab session 4 - preparation of vector DNA - ethidium bromide spot test, preparation of Hindill Cut, phosphated vector, gel electrophoresis, electrophoresis of pUR288, shrimp alkaline phosphatase treatment of pUR288, overnight cultures for transformation-competent cells Lab session 5 - transformation of E. Coli - preparation of frozen, transformation-competent cells, test ligations of pUR288 electrophoresis of ligation products, transformation Lab session 6 - preparation and ligation of insert DNA: analysis of vector preparation, isolation of myo-3 DNA from agarose, ligations Lab session 7A - transformation of E. Coli with ligated DNA and labelling a DNA probe: CaCl2-mediated transformation, electrophoration, electrophoresis of ligation reactions, random primed DNA labelling with Dig-11-dUTP Lab session 7B: labelling DNA with radioactive nucleotides: random primer labelling of DNA using 32p-dCTP Lab Session 8 - DNA probe preparation, replica plating: estimating the yield of the DIG-labelled probe, making replica plates Lab session 9 - colony hybrid dilations, DNA probe: colony hybridizations - transfer of colonies to nylon membranes, prehybridization, DNA/DNA hybridization, adding DNA probe Lab session 10 - restriction of map of plasmid p2D, colony nybridizations. Part 2 Restriction enzyme reactions colony hybridization with a DNA probe - washing filters probed with Dig-11-dUTP labelled myo-3 fragment colony hybridization with a DNA probe - washing filters probed with 32p-dCTP labelled myo-3 fragment gel electrophoresis of restriction digests Lab session 11 - screening colonies with monoclonal antibodies: colony hybridizations - mAb probe, first day, alkaline lysis minipreps, finish restriction maps Lab session 12 - isolation and characterization of miniprep DNA from potential transformants. (Part contents).


The Ethical Issues in Retirement Income Planning study gathered the perceptions of expert retirement income planners. The good news is that the retirement income planners surveyed expressed a high level of satisfaction with the retirement planning profession's ethical climate, as 64% of respondents believed that the overall ethical culture in the retirement income industry was solid as compared to 36% that expressed some concern. However, advisors were not without concerns. When asked to rank those concerns, a dominant theme emerged through the survey's quantitative and qualitative findings: Respondents believed that ethical violations were the result of a lack of education and not purposeful malfeasance. The number one ethical concern respondents identified was financial elder abuse. Respondents were not overly concerned that financial advisors were the primary perpetrators but were worried about the industry's ability to identify cases of financial elder abuse and exploitation, noting that most retirement advisors had not been adequately trained to recognize the signs of abuse, which are often subtle and ambiguous. Respondents reported that they saw very few acts of outright fraud or deceit. Respondents generally believed that retirement advisors, while well-intentioned, often lacked sufficient knowledge in three main areas: Social Security, Medicare, and tax planning. They feared that these knowledge limitations might lead practitioners to make recommendations that were not in the best interest of their clients. An additional and related concern was that consumers would not be able to act as a check since in many cases they lacked the financial literacy to understand the complex products or plans offered to them. In some cases, clients simply trusted their advisor and remained disengaged from the planning process. Respondents also perceived that this level of client dependence reflected a general lack of understanding of the financial advisor's pivotal role in the process of planning for retirement.


The approach to portfolio construction proposed in this paper is based on recent results on stochastic reachability. It is assumed that investors' preferences are expressed in terms of target sets to be reached at each time period over a specified finite horizon. A portfolio is defined optimal if it maximizes the probability of its value to belong to the target sets. A case study drawn from the US market shows the interest and applicability of the approach. The optimal solution we obtain exhibits a contrarian attitude, whereby risky exposures are enhanced in case of negative performances and reduced in case of positive performances. A comparison with the constant proportion portfolio insurance method highlights advantages and drawbacks of the proposed approach.


This paper argues that the 'competitive liberalisation' of national governments of the past several decades has created a 'market' for regional economic integration agreements (EIAs). Evidence shows that countries that have selected into EIAs - such as free trade agreements - have 'chosen well' in the sense that the same economic characteristics that explain and predict bilateral EIAs also explain and predict bilateral trade flows. We show that previous ex post empirical evaluations of the effects of EIAs on trade have tended to underestimate the effects due to ignoring the (endogenous) self-selection bias of country pairs into EIAs. Accounting for this bias, we find that European economic integration had a much larger impact on trade over the period 1960-2000 than previously found, and other more recent EIAs have had economically and statistically significant effects on members' trade. The results shed further light on understanding the causes and consequences of the growth of regionalism. Copyright 2008 The Authors.


Background: Shivering is a condition characterized by an increase muscular activity that often occurs after anesthetic action, especially in patients undergoing surgery with general anesthesia. The combination of anesthesia and surgery can cause a disruption of the function of regulating body temperature which will cause a decrease in the body's core temperature causing hypothermia. The results of previous studies stated that the incidence of shivering after anesthesia was reported to range from 5-65%in patients undergoing general anesthesia and about 33-56.7% in patients undergoing neuraxial anesthesia. Aims: The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the level of knowledge of nurses on the behavior of prevention of postoperative hypothermia with general anesthesia. Methods: This type of research was observational analytic research using theapproach cross-sectional. The sample in this study were 20 respondents with this sampling technique is total sampling or saturated sampling, and data collection techniques using questionnaires. While the analysis used is thetest chi square. Result: The result of the statistical calculation with chi square value was p value of 0.000 with a significanceof 0.05. Then Ha is accepted. Conclusion:  There is a relationship between knowledge of the behavior of hypothermic prevention of postoperative patients with general anesthesia in the recovery room of St. RSU. Vincentius Singkawang. Advice for nurses to always pay attention to the patient's body temperature after anesthesia to prevent hypothermia or the incidence of shivering.


ABSTRACT Tidal flexure in ice shelf grounding zones has been used extensively in the past to determine grounding line position and ice properties. Although the rheology of ice is viscoelastic at tidal loading frequencies, most modelling studies have assumed some form of linear elastic beam approximation to match observed flexure profiles. Here we use density, radar and DInSAR measurements in combination with full-Stokes viscoelastic modelling to investigate a range of additional controls on the flexure of the Southern McMurdo Ice Shelf. We find that inclusion of observed basal crevasses and density dependent ice stiffness can greatly alter the flexure profile and yet fitting a simple elastic beam model to that profile will still produce an excellent fit. Estimates of the effective Young's modulus derived by fitting flexure profiles are shown to vary by over 200% depending on whether these factors are included, even when the local thickness is well constrained. Conversely, estimates of the grounding line position are relatively insensitive to these considerations for the case of a steep bed slope in our study region. By fitting tidal amplitudes only, and ignoring phase information, elastic beam theory can provide a good fit to observations in a wide variety of situations. This should, however, not be taken as an indication that the underlying rheological assumptions are correct.


The unique ability of the tuberculosis (TB) bacillus, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, to persist for long periods of time in lung hypoxic lesions chiefly contributes to the global burden of latent TB. We and others previously reported that the M. tuberculosis ancestor underwent massive episodes of horizontal gene transfer (HGT), mostly from environmental species. Here, we sought to explore whether such ancient HGT played a part in M. tuberculosis evolution towards pathogenicity. We were interested by a HGT-acquired M. tuberculosis-specific gene set, namely moaA1-D1, which is involved in the biosynthesis of the molybdenum cofactor. Horizontal acquisition of this gene set was striking because homologues of these moa genes are present all across the Mycobacterium genus, including in M. tuberculosis. Here, we discovered that, unlike their paralogues, the moaA1-D1 genes are strongly induced under hypoxia. In vitro, a M. tuberculosis moaA1-D1-null mutant has an impaired ability to respire nitrate, to enter dormancy and to survive in oxygen-limiting conditions. Conversely, heterologous expression of moaA1-D1 in the phylogenetically closest non-TB mycobacterium, Mycobacterium kansasii, which lacks these genes, improves its capacity to respire nitrate and grants it with a marked ability to survive oxygen depletion. In vivo, the M. tuberculosis moaA1-D1-null mutant shows impaired survival in hypoxic granulomas in C3HeB/FeJ mice, but not in normoxic lesions in C57BL/6 animals. Collectively, our results identify a novel pathway required for M. tuberculosis resistance to host-imposed stress, namely hypoxia, and provide evidence that ancient HGT bolstered M. tuberculosis evolution from an environmental species towards a pervasive human-adapted pathogen.


We present new planning and learning algorithms for RAE, the Refinement Acting Engine (Ghallab, Nau, and Traverso 2016). RAE uses hierarchical operational models to perform tasks in dynamically changing environments. Our planning procedure, UPOM, does a UCT-like search in the space of operational models in order to find a near optimal method to use for the task and context at hand. Our learning strategies acquire, from online acting experiences and/or simulated planning results, a mapping from decision contexts to method instances as well as a heuristic function to guide UPOM. Our experimental results show that UPOM and our learning strategies significantly improve RAE's performance in four test domains using two different metrics: efficiency and success ratio.


According to current knowledge information in human peripheral nerves is transmitted in frequency coded format. The number of action potentials per time instance carries the information in the axon. The frequency coded transmission happens with a very low rate compared to its theoretical capacity. This means that free capacity exists in the nerves. In this study the amount of pulse interval coded information, which could be embedded to the natural frequency coded information in axons without changing its information content, was evaluated with help of simulations. The simulations showed that attached to natural transmission there would flow even double amount of pulse interval coded information, parallel to the frequency coded information. In future there could be many useful applications of this capacity.


Seasonal dynamics of soft-bottom polychaetes were investigated at 29 stations (depths: 8-77 m) in Izmir Bay (Aegean Sea, eastern Mediterranean) between 1997 and 2002. A total of 396 species belonging to 44 families were encountered, of which 32 species were new records for the Turkish fauna. Diversity and evenness index values were high at stations located in the outer part of the bay, whereas azoic conditions occurred in the polluted inner part of the bay, particularly in summer and autumn (fall). The highest population density was recorded at station 29 (inner part), with 11620 ind. m -2 , where Capitella capitata capitata was the most dominant species (6820 ind. m -2 ). Stations located in the semi-polluted zone of the bay were generally characterized by high biomass values (max. 33.6 g m -2 ). The cluster and nMDS analysis showed that the soft-bottom of the bay has four major polychaete communities, mainly structured by prevailing environmental conditions and types of substratum.


This document contains an evaluation of the five candidate protocols
for an IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) protocol, based on the
requirements document produced by the IPFIX Working Group. The
protocols are characterized and grouped in broad categories, and
evaluated against specific requirements. Finally, a recommendation is
made to select the NetFlow v9 protocol as the basis for the IPFIX
specification. This memo provides information for the Internet
community.


The terms urban and rural are commonly used in an oppositional or compartmentalised fashion. Policies promoting regional development have similarly been developed by urban or rural authorities and agencies with little cross referencing. This paper argues that compartmentalisation is not always the best mechanism and that there are benefits to be gained by taking an integrated urban-rural approach focusing on commonalities, complementarities and links rather than differences. Literature and policy documents at the European Union, national and regional levels are increasingly stressing interdependencies placing a new emphasis on functional regions and sub-regions rather than dichotomised town and country. This paper presents the results of research into joint working between urban and rural local authorities in Britain. Local authorities, together with other public and private partners, have increasingly engaged in cross-boundary collaboration to address issues relating to sustainable regional development in the widest sense. The paper reports primary research in the United Kingdom into the scale and scope of such collaboration. In terms of scale, it is clear that joint working between urban and rural partners is increasingly common. This way of working has been promoted and supported by national agencies such as the Local Government Association and the Countryside Agency. With regards to scale, there is a very wide range of projects where urban-rural collaboration is used to address issues ranging from transport planning, sustainability and environment issues, via economic development, tourism and job creation to social exclusion, health and youth issues. Projects also range in size from just a few partners to over 30; from very small budgets to budgets well over £35 million; and from short term projects to long term initiatives of up to seven years plans and earmarked funding. Alongside a literature review, the research is based on a national postal questionnaire survey and telephone interviews with key informants in selected case studies. It reports the experiences of partners and benefits and challenges of urban-rural joint working. The paper also discusses urban-rural joint working in the light of the European spatial policy agenda, particularly in relation to the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP), the European Spatial Observatory Network (ESPON) and the Study Programme on European Spatial Planning (SPESP) and European funding programmes such as Interreg. Does the European agenda, and funding opportunities, inspire and facilitate joint working at regional and sub-regional levels? Or, is urban-rural joint working the result of a pragmatic 'bottom-up' approach to address issues that demand collaboration at a different geographical scale than that of individual local authorities? What scope is there for exchange of best practice between different regions and across national boundaries regarding this way of working? The paper concludes that the urban-rural interdependency perspective can be developed as a useful tool to increase our understanding of sustainable regional development. It can provide a framework to aide spatial planning in the widest sense at the regional and sub-regional levels. At a more theoretical level, the urban-rural interdependency perspective has the potential to contribute to the development of a social economy approach to regional development.


This article reports on the role and responsibilities of external examiners on undergraduate law degrees in the UK. It is believed to be the first qualitative national survey of external examiners as a group within the UK. The results indicate that law external examiners are predominately male, white and occupy senior posts although there are clear distinctions between 'old' (pre 1992) and 'new' (post 1992) universities. The study is significant because it throws light on differing practices across the UK in 'old' and 'new' universities in relation to number of visits, induction, perception of standards, fee structure, number and nature of tasks to be completed and (in particular) the power to change marks even if only samples have been moderated. As a result of this report there is evidence that there have been changes in practice in law schools.


Background— There are limited population-based national data on prognosis in survivors of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), particularly on long-term survival and the risk of recurrence. Methods and Results— Record linkage of hospital and mortality data identified 387 452 individuals in England who were admitted to hospital with a main diagnosis of AMI between 2004 and 2010 and who survived for at least 30 days. Seven years after an AMI, the risk of death from any cause in survivors of first or recurrent AMI was, respectively, 2 and 3 times higher than that in the English general population of equivalent age. For all survivors of a first AMI, the risk of a second AMI was highest during the first year and the cumulative risk increased more gradually thereafter. For men, 1- and 7-year cumulative risks were 5.6% (95% confidence interval [CI], 5.5–5.7) and 13.9% (95% CI, 13.7–14.1); for women, they were 7.2% (95% CI, 7.1–7.4) and 16.2% (95% CI, 16.0–16.5). Older age, higher deprivation, no revascularization procedures, and presence of comorbidities were associated with higher recurrence risk. Conclusions— Survivors of both first and recurrent AMI remained at a significantly higher risk of death compared with the general population for at least 7 years after the event. For survivors of first AMI, the influence of predisposing factors for second AMI lessened with time after the initial event. The results reinforce the importance of acute clinical care and secondary prevention in improving long-term prognosis of hospitalized AMI patients.


Multi-domain network resource reservation systems are being deployed, driven by the demand and substantial benefits of providing predictable network resources. However, a major lack of existing systems is their coarse granularity, due to the participating networks' concern of revealing sensitive information, which can result in substantial inefficiencies. This paper presents Mercator, a novel multi-domain network resource discovery system to provide fine-grained, global network resource information, for collaborative sciences. The foundation of Mercator is a resource abstraction through algebraic-expression enumeration (i.e., linear inequalities/equations), as a compact representation of the available bandwidth in multi-domain networks. In addition, we develop an obfuscating protocol, to address the privacy concerns by ensuring that no participant can associate the algebraic expressions with the corresponding member networks. We also introduce a super-set projection technique to increase Mercator's scalability. Finally, we implement Mercator and demonstrate both its efficiency and efficacy through extensive experiments using real topologies and traces.


The purpose of this article is to engage in a new conceptualisation of liminality, as it applies to space and place in societies emerging from conflict but not yet at peace. We adopt a case study approach of two urban environments: Derry/Londonderry, a city that experienced acute levels of violence during the Northern Ireland conflict, and Bilbao, the largest city in the Basque Country, which has been at the crux of the cultural and economic struggle for Basque independence. The visual, built environment has been significantly reconfigured in both cities to communicate the transition from conflict. Yet the optics of peacebuilding does not necessarily reflect the experiences of communities as they move through complex processes. A more nuanced and critical reading of the urban environment often reveals stagnation within peace processes and the existence of liminal, inbetween spaces. This paper suggests that 'transitional optics' in societies moving out of conflict can physically illuminate the complex nature of building peace, and argues that the idea of permanent liminality can offer new ways of understanding the ways in which transitional processes can become trapped. An 'end-point' is not always achievable, or perhaps, for some, desirable. The characteristics of permanent liminality can be identified in three main areas: political imagery, physical regeneration and public space as a conflict arena.


We present a detailed description of the Voronoi Tessellation (VT) cluster finder algorithm in 2+1 dimensions, which improves on past implementations of this technique. The need for cluster finder algorithms able to produce reliable cluster catalogs up to redshift 1 or beyond and down to 1013.5 solar masses is paramount especially in light of upcoming surveys aiming at cosmological constraints from galaxy cluster number counts. We build the VT in photometric redshift shells and use the two-point correlation function of the galaxies in the field to both determine the density threshold for detection of cluster candidates and to establish their significance. This allows us to detect clusters in a self-consistent way without any assumptions about their astrophysical properties. We apply the VT to mock catalogs which extend to redshift 1.4 reproducing the ΛCDM cosmology and the clustering properties observed in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey data. An objective estimate of the cluster selection function in terms of the completeness and purity as a function of mass and redshift is as important as having a reliable cluster finder. We measure these quantities by matching the VT cluster catalog with the mock truth table. We show that the VT can produce a cluster catalog with completeness and purity >80% for the redshift range up to ∼1 and mass range down to ∼1013.5 solar masses.


This paper proposes a scheme for pump-wavelength selection in an optical packet switch (OPS) with parametric wavelength converters (PWCs). In this scheme, pump wavelengths can be dynamically changed in all time slots, and more than one PWC is allowed to convert a wavelength in a chained manner. The objective of this scheme is to minimize the packet loss rates of the OPS. This scheme is called dynamic pump-wavelength selection with chained parametric wavelength conversion (DPS-C). DPS-C selects the pump wavelength for each PWC so as to maximize the number of successful requests, which refer to packets that wish to be forwarded to their requested output fibers. A PWC, which has the advantage of multiple wavelength conversion, uses a pump wavelength that can be flexibly chosen to define which wavelengths can be converted from/to. The set of original and converted wavelengths, where the pump wavelength is set in the middle of the two wavelengths, is called the conversion pair. Each PWC supports several conversion pairs. The OPS allows each wavelength to be converted using combinations of available conversion pairs, which are not used by any requests, from more than one PWC. A simulation shows that DPS-C outperforms the conventional scheme in terms of packet loss rates in both uniform and nonuniform traffic patterns.


PURPOSE
Gastrointestinal (GI) leiomyosarcoma is an uncommon malignant cancer arising in the smooth muscle of the alimentary tract. It is known for its widely variable patterns and aspecific symptoms and signs preventing correct clinical assessment in the majority of cases. We will illustrate the key role of diagnostic imaging in the detection and staging of this lesion, describing the most suggestive imaging findings for the correct diagnosis.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
January, 1990, to June, 1998, we examined 12 patients with GI leiomyosarcoma; they were 10 men and 2 women whose age ranged 42 to 85 years (mean: 63.7 years). Four lesions were found in the stomach, 3 in the jejunum and ileum, and 2 in the rectum. Due to the difficult clinical assessment of this type of lesion and to the development of emergency conditions, we could plan no diagnostic protocol in advance; thus, the most suitable diagnostic imaging approach was decided on the spot for studying the supposedly involved GI portions. Double contrast studies, US, CT and endoscopy were performed and each patient underwent at least two examinations.

RESULTS
Barium contrast studies were performed in 9 patients: the lesion was detected in 7 cases and tumor site and extent were defined in 5, while the double contrast study of the colon allowed to exclude large bowel involvement in 2 ileal tumors. In all 9 cases US and US-guided endoscopy permitted better assessment of extra-luminal spread and involvement of adjacent organs. CT, which is essential to staging, provided useful information suggesting the lesion nature: a round, inhomogeneous mass in continuity with the intestinal wall, with irregular margins, peripheral enhancement after i.v. injection of contrast material and a central necrotic area. Histology confirmed CT diagnosis in 7/9 cases while an aspecific diagnosis of large retroperitoneal and abdominal lesion was made in 2 cases. CT did not allow to define the origin of 2 large exophytic lesions in the stomach and jejunum and missed peritoneal metastases in 3 cases.

CONCLUSIONS
Although the aspecific and quite variable clinical patterns make it extremely difficult to plan a correct diagnostic protocol, in our experience all diagnostic imaging techniques played a fundamental role in identifying and staging alimentary tract leiomyosarcoma. Particularly, CT showed high sensitivity and specificity in characterizing and staging this lesion but exhibited rather poor sensitivity in recognizing peritoneal spread.


The purpose of this article is to present which pathologies are recognisable in osteoarchaeological remains, particularly: arthropathies, traumatic lesions, tumours, metabolic diseases and dental pathologies. In addition to explaining in general terms how these diseases occur, we bring in support of the above, examples of pathologies related to our osteological sample. The human remains come from a dozen archeological sites covering necropolises and medieval churches of the province of Varese (dated from the 7th Century to the Modern Age). The findings that we hereby present were analysed according to the methods of physical anthropology and paleopathology.


In last decade considerable efforts have been made in the study of impact of photovoltaicunits on the power system performance. Maintaining the power factor at the connection point of photovoltaicunits is important since it allows greater flexibility of supply and power quality demanded by consumers. In this paper a power factor analysis of group of fixed roof photovoltaic power plants (PVPPs) connected to the low voltage distribution network is presented. Power factor analysis was based on the extensive yearly measurement of electricity production of seven PVPPs, recording maximal mean 15-minutes power as well as one-minute power at the 20 kV feeder head and PVPPs connecting points. The correlation between power factor of the feeder and electricity production of the PVPPs for the specific period of day are obtained. Besides, the effects of the power factor of PVPPs on the voltage conditions in the low voltage network are analyzed. Discussions of the results and conclusions that may be of interest to improve the performance of small and medium size on-grid PVPPs, are presented.


In recent years much research has investigated whether values, social norms, and attitudes differ across countries and whether these differences have measurable effects on economic behavior. One area in which such studies are particularly relevant is tax compliance, given both the noted differences across countries in their levels of tax compliance and the marked inability of standard economic models of taxpayer compliance to explain these differences. In the face of these difficulties, many researchers have suggested that the intrinsic motivation for individuals to pay taxes – what is sometimes termed their "tax morale" – differs across countries. However, isolating the reasons for these differences in tax morale is notoriously difficult. In a common approach, studies sometimes referred to as "cultural studies" have often relied upon controlled laboratory experiments conducted in different countries because such experiments can be set up with identical experimental protocols to allow cultural effects to be isolated. In this paper we first analyze a cross-section of individuals in Spain and the United States using the World Values Survey (WVS). In line with previous experiments, our findings indicate a significantly higher tax morale in the United States than in Spain, controlling in a multivariate analysis for additional variables. We then extend our multivariate analysis to include 14 European countries in the estimations. Our results again indicate that the United States has the highest tax morale across all countries, followed by Austria and Switzerland. We also find a strong negative correlation between the size of shadow economy and the degree of tax morale in those countries.


Experiments have been performed in a blowdown supersonic wind tunnel to investigate the effect of arrays of sub-boundary layer vortex generators placed upstream of a normal shock/ boundary layer interaction. The investigation makes use of a recovery shock wave and the naturally grown turbulent boundary layer on the wind tunnel floor. Experiments were performed at Mach numbers of 1.5 and 1.3 and a freestream Reynolds number of 28 × 106. Two types of vortex generators were investigated - wedge-shaped and arrays of counter-rotating vanes. It was found that at Mach 1.5 the vane-type VGs eliminated and the wedge-type VGs greatly reduced the separation bubble under the shock. When placed in the supersonic part of the flow both VGs caused a wave pattern consisting of a shock, re-expansion and shock. The re-expansion and double shocks are undesirable features since they equate to increased total pressure losses and hence increased -wave drag. Furthermore there are indications that the vortex intensity is reduced by the normal shock/ boundary layer interaction. When the shock was located directly over the VGs there was no re-expansion present, but the 'damping' effect of the shock on the vortex persisted. It appears that the vortices produced by the wedge-shaped VGs lift off the surface more rapidly. Similar results were observed at Mach 1.3, where the flow was unseparated.


Abstract Wild hyacinth (Camassia angusta) is a perennial species native to mesic prairies of the midwestern and south-central United States. In Illinois, the only extant population of this state-endangered species is in a small section of degraded black-soil prairie along a railroad track right-of-way south of Elwin, Macon County. The objectives of this study were to determine the population status, seed production, and effects of scarification and stratification on germination of C. angusta. The population was surveyed from 1990 to 2007. A survey of other plant species present was conducted in 1999. The site consisted of approximately 75% native and 25% exotic species. The number of flowering stems of Camassia angusta fluctuated significantly (28 to 169 plants) during the course of this study. Prescribed spring burns and a construction equipment disturbance may be partially responsible for these fluctuations. A large percentage of undeveloped fruit, resulting in low seed production (<3,000), as well as low seed germination (8%), may be responsible for this population's inability to increase consistently in number of individuals.


In a web system, configuration is crucial to the performance and service availability. It is a challenge, not only because of the dynamics of Internet traffic, but also the dynamic virtual machine environment the system tends to be run on. In this paper, we propose a reinforcement learning approach for autonomic configuration and reconfiguration of multi-tier web systems. It is able to adapt performance parameter settings not only to the change of workload, but also to the change of virtual machine configurations. The RL approach is enhanced with an efficient initialization policy to reduce the learning time for online decision. The approach is evaluated using TPC-W benchmark on a three-tier website hosted on a Xen-based virtual machine environment. Experiment results demonstrate that the approach can autoconfigure the web system dynamically in response to the change in both workload and VM resource. It can drive the system into a near-optimal configuration setting in less than 25 trial-and-error iterations.


Aim: Menopause is a physiological process, with potential to lead to various pathological/psychological complications, leading to change in quality of life (QOL). Although literature suggests the effect of menopause on various aspects of life, there is scarcity of studies from rural setup in this regard. Thus, it is essential to assess extent of menopause-related changes, its awareness, and coping mechanisms in rural couple. This study aimed to find the prevalence of postmenopausal symptoms, its severity, and effect on QOL of rural women and the couples' coping mechanisms. Materials and Methodology: A cross-sectional survey was conducted by approaching 250 families from two villages of Gujarat, India. Inclusion criteria were any woman having attained menopause naturally within last 10 years and having her husband available for data collection. Hundred such couples consenting for participation were included in the study. Data on demographic variables, menopause-specific QOL, personal health of women, and coping of the couple were collected. Results: The prevalence of menopausal symptoms was found to be 47%. Mean (standard deviation) age at menopause was 44.9 (4.9) years. The prevalence of at least one symptom related to vasomotor was 21.3%, physical 91.5%, psychosocial 44.7%, and sexual was 0%. "QOL and Bother" analysis revealed that all those with menopausal symptoms also had their QOL affected from mild-to-moderate extent. The husbands of women with menopausal symptoms were aware of their condition; however, neither of them exhibited use of the active coping mechanism. The avoidant emotional coping strategy appeared to be followed by most. Conclusion: Couples were found to be aware of menopause; however, the symptoms arising as consequence of it seem to be accepted as natural age-related changes. This could possibly account for not taking any active coping strategy despite reporting of mild-to-moderate botheration by women and awareness in both. Rigorous health education and awareness about menopausal changes might be beneficial.


Data gathered from semi-structured interviews with 33 reunited birth mothers show they had been stigmatized for their unwed motherhood and hid this identity to protect self from social censure. The public exposure created by reunion contact with their adult placed children required new ways to manage this stigma trait. The women engaged in a process of identity talk supported by their understanding of altered perceptions of female sexuality and a "no choice" discourse that drew upon historical changes in the social position of unwed mothers. This identity talk increased their self-efficacy by providing stronger control over their presentation of self.


Microaggression is a comment or action that subtly and often unconsciously or unintentionally expresses a prejudiced attitude toward a member of a marginalized group. Microaggressions are often subtle and ambiguous, it's often hard to know if you're committing one or if you're on the receiving end. The recipients of microaggressions always feel a sense of powerlessness and invisibility, while the aggressors are often unaware of the harm they've brought. The impact of microaggressions always negatively affects both mental and physical health of recipients and results in persistent health problems. My goal of the thesis is to make the invisible visible. Leverage technology to help people notice and rethink their microaggression behavior in real time, educate and inform people to interact better with each other. The first step to solve the problem is to raise awareness of unconscious behavior in real time during the conversation. People should be able to recognize their own inappropriate actions or be reminded by other people immediately so that they can realize what is considered unacceptable. Learning to be empathetic is another factor in the process. People need to experience and feel emotionally and mentally while confronting with each other so that the aggressor will be more understanding about the recipient's feeling and the impact of a certain microaggression. It's also important to help people form a consistent habit and an inclusive mind to change their inappropriate behavior in a long-term period. They will be able to view and track specific types of microaggressions based on their activities and get a reminder of their performance in a daily basis to help them keep aware of what they are saying and doing all the time. It is hoped that my exploration in microaggression can bring more awareness to people and help them address microaggressions more easily and confidently.


Mobility is a challenge that architecture has always had to confront; Aristotle was merely the first to philosophize about it. In the present age of digital nomadism, the art of building, with its traditional focus on immobility in fixed places, finds itself confronted by the temptation to relinquish its characteristic rootedness and to abandon itself to the irresistible pull of mobility. In countless manifestos, avant-garde architects describe how they intend to dissolve buildings and indeed whole cities, create an architecture based on a machine aesthetic that prominently involves mobility, and give their buildings legs or wheels. Notwithstanding the many prophets of doom that see solid, sedentary architecture sacrificed to mobile lifestyles, architects continue to take up the challenge and design portable houses. The results are often both practical and innovative, as is demonstrated on the more than 800 pages of this new title in the Construction and Design Manual series, in which 43 international design teams present works ranging from architectural follies to handicapped accessible furnishings and life-saving shelters.


This article critically evaluates the network-centrism of much of contemporary world cities research and queries its capacity to unveil key accumulation processes under financialized globalization. Our object of inquiry is the world city archipelago (WCA), a material yet non-contiguous space of world city 'islands', which is (re)produced through the socio-spatial practices of advanced producer services (APS) firms as they assist in constructing (financial) accumulation strategies for their clients. Scrutinizing the WCA with a singular focus on networks can veil dynamics that lead to internal stratification and hierarchy between world cities and their constitutive outside. Alternatively, these veiled dimensions are better grasped by territorial, scalar and place-based abstractions. As an example, we unveil WCA space by studying the space of APS practices in three recent cases of Eurobond issuance. By comparing these three instances through an encompassing approach, a bounded geography of a financialized accumulation space is identified, which contains London and other world cities as a necessary space of dependence but also stretches out to various contingent spaces of engagement at the fringes of the WCA network: offshore jurisdictions and places of debt origination. We conclude by making the case for a heightened sensitivity in respect of core–periphery structures that exist between the WCA and its outside, but also within the WCA itself.


The tourism industry is one of the largest in the world; it is also an industry which is growing in terms of its overall contribution to global GDP and employment and in terms of the number of destinations which seek to attract tourists (World Travel and Tourism Council, 2015). Concurrent developments in information communication technology serve to amplify the tyranny of choice faced by tourist destination decision makers by providing greater information on the growing list of possible destinations, resulting in an ever more complex decision making process. The holiday destination decision is one which evoke high levels of product and purchase decision involvement, both of which encourage an extended, more comprehensive decision making process; this in turn elicits the collection and assimilation of greater amounts of information about the various alternatives. Information search, however, is limited by a number of factors (the time available to the decision maker and cognitive processing capacity being chief amongst the limitations), therefore the information about each destination that is critically analysed by the decision maker during the destination decision making process is not uniform. Understanding the role that the various information sources play (how they are perceived, whether they are used and whether their use influences the likelihood of the destination being chosen or not) during the tourist destination decision making process is important to professionals engaged in the marketing of tourist destinations. However, in the words of Choi et al (2012, p. 26) 'there has been no empirical research attempting to explore information use patterns within the structure of the decision-making process in the tourism literature'. As a result, the aim of this research was to identify and evaluate a complete choice set model of the extended Destination Decision Making process and review critically the role of information sources within that affect the process.
A web based questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data from a sample (judgement sampling was used due to the lack of a sample frame) who were asked (amongst other things) about the destinations that they considered during the destination decision making process, why they rejected destinations, which information sources they used to research the destinations and what their perceptions of the information sources were. The data collected were analysed using SPSS statistical software package. The findings confirmed the validity of the choice set model which was presented and tested within this research. The findings also demonstrated that a construct of 'perceived utility of information sources' exists which is a compound of the sources' perceived level of bias, how up to date it is, how easy it is to access and the value that can be obtained through that source. An information sources' perceived utility was found to be positively correlated to whether it is used or not. Furthermore, the results of this research identified statistically significant relationships between the use of an information source and the likelihood of the destination researched through that source being selected (or rejected), thus drawing a link between perceived utility, use of an information source and the likelihood of destination selection/rejection. Finally, the results of statistical analysis also showed that demographic differences affect the perceived utility of information sources, whether they were used in the destination decision making process and the likelihood of a destination being researched through the source being selected or not. The findings of this research can be used by professionals responsible for destination marketing who can establish the perceived utility of the information sources that they use amongst their target market in order to maximise the likelihood of their destination being selected.


Make complex analytical reports simple and deliver valuable business data using OBIEE 11g with this comprehensive and practical guide Overview Improve the productivity of business intelligence solution to satisfy business requirements with real-life scenarios Practical guide on the implementation of OBIEE 11g from A to Z including best practices Full of useful instructions that can be easily adapted to build better business intelligence solutions In Detail Extracting meaningful and valuable business information from transactional databases is crucial for any organization. OBIEE 11g is a reporting tool that satisfies all the business requirements regarding complex reporting. It consists of a powerful back-end engine with a repository and a highly customizable graphical web interface. Oracle Business Intelligence 11g R1 Cookbook provides all the key concepts of the product including the architecture of the BI Server. This practical guide shows each and every step of creating analytical reports starting from building a well-designed repository. You will learn how to create analytical reports that will support different business perspectives. This practical guide covers how to implement OBIEE 11g suite in order to enable BI developers to create sophisticated web based reports. All of tasks will be covered step by step in detail. You will explore the architecture of the Oracle Business Intelligence Server and learn how to build the repository (RPD). We will also discuss how to implement the business rules in the repository with real-life scenarios. Best practices of a successful BI implementation are esssential for any BI developer so they are also covered in depth.If you are planning to implement OBIEE 11g suite, this step-by-step guide is a must have resource.All the key tasks are defined in detail and supported with diagrams and screenshots. What you will learn from this book Understand the architecture of the Oracle BI Server Explore the three layers of the repository and learn how to implement complex business rules Build a secure, well-designed repository for the BI Server Work with multidimensional sources to improve the performance of the analyses Create the simple analyses and use advanced features of the analyses Measure the productivity by implementing Key Performance Indicators Customize dashboards to support your business requirements Build a BI solution based on the best practices Approach Providing simple solutions, useful techniques and best practices to ensure that your business is intelligent as it can possibly be, this book is a must buy for anyone that works with Oracle BI Who this book is written for If you are a business analyst, BI administrator or developer working with Oracle Business Intelligence 11g R1 then this book is exactly what you have been looking for. Hands on practical examples, real world solutions and best practices make this book an essential guide for Oracle BI. Clear a space on your desk as you won't want this handy reference to be too far away.


The validity of the design storm concept has been challenged by several investigators since the development of computer simulation models. Of particular interest are the studies that compare system performance. Continuous simulation involves the generation of surface runoff quantity and quality time series with a physically-based catchment model, from long-term historical precipitation data. The simulated response of the system is described statistically, and the proposed design is adjusted until an acceptable risk of violation is obtained in terms of frequency or return period of the variable of interest. The large number of factors that affect the quality of surface runoff prevents the use of any single event for proper analysis and design. It is the frequency response of the system which is significant, and also duration. Thus, long-term historical rainfall data are required.


In the wake of Stalin's death in 1953, the Soviet Union entered a period of relative openness known as the Thaw. Soviet citizens took advantage of the new opportunities to meditate on the nation's turbulent history, from the Bolshevik Revolution, to the Terror, to World War II. Perhaps the most influential of these conversations took place in and around Novyi mir (New World), the most respected literary journal in the country. In The Readers of Novyi Mir, Denis Kozlov shows how the dialogue between literature and readers during the Thaw transformed the intellectual life and political landscape of the Soviet Union. Powerful texts by writers like Solzhenitsyn, Pasternak, and Ehrenburg led thousands of Novyi mir's readers to reassess their lives, entrenched beliefs, and dearly held values, and to confront the USSR's history of political violence and social upheaval. And the readers spoke back. Victims and perpetrators alike wrote letters to the journal, reexamining their own actions and bearing witness to the tragedies of the previous decades. Kozlov's insightful treatment of these confessions, found in Russian archives, and his careful reading of the major writings of the period force today's readers to rethink common assumptions about how the Soviet people interpreted their country's violent past. The letters reveal widespread awareness of the Terror and that literary discussion of its legacy was central to public life during the late Soviet decades. By tracing the intellectual journey of Novyi mir's readers, Kozlov illuminates how minds change, even in a closed society.


Abstract Objective: The aim of this investigation was to describe tumour characteristics, treatments and survival in patients with urinary bladder cancer (UBC) in a national population-based cohort, with special reference to gender-related differences. Material and methods: All primary UBC patients with urothelial pathology reported to the Swedish National Registry of Urinary Bladder Cancer (SNRUBC) from 1997 to 2011 were included in the study. Groups were compared regarding tumour, node, metastasis classification, primary treatment and survival. Results: In total, 30,310 patients (74.9% male, 25.1% female) with UBC were analysed. A larger proportion of women than men had stage T2–T4 (p < 0.001), and women also had more G1 tumours (p < 0.001). However, compared to women, a larger proportion of men with carcinoma in situ or T1G3 received intravesical treatment with bacillus Calmette–Guérin or intravesical chemotherapy, and a larger proportion of men with stage T2–T4 underwent radical cystectomy (38% men vs 33% women, p < 0.0001). The cancer-specific survival at 5 years was 77% for men and 72% for women (p < 0.001), and the relative survival at 5 years was 72% for men and 69% for women (p < 0.001). Conclusions: In this population-based cohort comprising virtually all patients diagnosed with UBC in Sweden between 1997 and 2011, female gender was associated with inferior cancer-specific and relative survival. Although women had a higher rate of aggressive tumours, a smaller proportion of women than men received optimal treatment.


UKM Mulyasari is one of the starfruit juice producers in Agrosuko, Poncokusumo Malang. This UKM has beed produce since 2011 that have 4 employes with 50 carton/week and omzet Rp. 1000.000/week. UKM Mulyasari stillused conventional filtration filter system which causesseveral problemssuch as the formation of deposits, murky juiced produced, and short-shelf life of the starfruit juice. Therefore, we used ultrafiltration machine with polysulphone membrane and mesh as the filter medium to overcome these problem. Apllication of machine ultrafilration as well known MORFIN (Modified Ultrafiltration Machine) able to produce star fruit which reduce the bacterial ultrafiltration up to 85,5%, reduce pectin up to 53,33% and reduce the number of total dissolved solids up to 46,36%. Futhermore, a shellf life of fruit juice also increase from 10 days to 2 week, increasing of production from 50 cartons to 100 cartons eveery week, increasing of effectiveness workwhichrequires onlyone-timefiltrationfor 25minutes and development and diversification product in UKM Mulyasari.