Photoelastic modulator (PEM)-based ellipsometry employed either lock-in amplifiers or the Fourier analysis technique to obtain the ellipsometric parameters almost in real-time that makes the system with a feature of fast measurement speed, higher stability, and sensitivity at small retardations. Since the PEM modulation frequency is too high to compare it with the exposure time of the camera, photoelastic modulator – based approach is not applicable for a two-dimensional ellipsometric measurement. Here, we represent a novel technique that coordinates with the light pulses and PEM modulation that can freeze the time-varied signals. Thus, two-dimensional ellipsometric parameters can be obtained within few seconds. In addition to ellipsometric measurement, this approach also can be extended to other imaging polarimetry measurements, such as Stokes parameters and Mueller matrix. Moreover, since the chromatic dispersion of birefringence was also a significant issue in the polarization modulation systems, we proposed an equivalent phase retardation technique to deal with this issue. This tech- nique was confirmed by a dual wavelength measurement result without changing the optical configuration of the system. The concept and the theory of this system were indicated in the preceding section, and the passage below described some calibration issues for the photoelastic modulator. Some measurement results were revealed in the final part of this chapter.


The basic aqueous coordination chemistry of Ru-II has been studied using the catalytically important TPPTS phosphine (TPPTS = trisodium salt of 3,3 ',3 ''-phosphinetriylbenzenesulfonic acid) and small gas molecules (H-2, CO, N-2) as ligands. As a result, new water-soluble ruthenium mixed hydride complexes, presumably key species in many industrial catalytic processes, have been formed and identified. The Ru-II mixed hydrides were synthesized, and their formation was followed in situ by multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, pressurizing aqueous Ru-II-TPPTS systems with H-2 and CO gas in sapphire NMR tubes. The formation equilibrium of these complexes is highly dependant on the temperature and the gas pressures. Under 50 atm of N-2, the unique [RuH(CO)(N-2)(TPPTS)(2)(H2O)](+) complex has been identified, which could be the first step toward dinitrogen activation.


Birdsong is comprised of rich spectral and temporal organization, which might be used for vocal perception. To quantify how this structure could be used, we have reconstructed birdsong spectrograms by combining the spike trains of zebra finch auditory midbrain neurons with information about the correlations present in song. We calculated maximum a posteriori estimates of song spectrograms using a generalized linear model of neuronal responses and a series of prior distributions, each carrying different amounts of statistical information about zebra finch song. We found that spike trains from a population of mesencephalicus lateral dorsalis (MLd) neurons combined with an uncorrelated Gaussian prior can estimate the amplitude envelope of song spectrograms. The same set of responses can be combined with Gaussian priors that have correlations matched to those found across multiple zebra finch songs to yield song spectrograms similar to those presented to the animal. The fidelity of spectrogram reconstructions from MLd responses relies more heavily on prior knowledge of spectral correlations than temporal correlations. However, the best reconstructions combine MLd responses with both spectral and temporal correlations.


Objectives High-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) is the primary cause of cervical cancer. As Chlamydia trachomatis is also linked to cervical cancer, its role as a potential co-factor in the development of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) grade 2 or higher was examined. Methods The placebo arms of two large, multinational, clinical trials of an HPV6/11/16/18 vaccine were combined. A total of 8441 healthy women aged 15–26 years underwent cervicovaginal cytology (Papanicolaou (Pap) testing) sampling and C trachomatis testing at day 1 and every 12 months thereafter for up to 4 years. Protocol-specified guidelines were used to triage participants with Pap abnormalities to colposcopy and definitive therapy. The main outcome measured was CIN. Results At baseline, 2629 (31.1%) tested positive for hrHPV DNA and 354 (4.2%) tested positive for C trachomatis. Among those with HPV16/18 infection (n=965; 11.4%) or without HPV16/18 infection (n=7382, 87.5%), the hazard ratios (HRs) associated with development of any CIN grade 2 according to baseline C trachomatis status were 1.82 (95% CI: 1.06 to 3.14) and 1.74 (95% CI 1.05 to 2.90), respectively. The results were comparable when only the 12 most common hrHPV infections were considered, but the excess risk disappeared when the outcome was expanded to include CIN grade 3 or worse. Conclusion Further studies based on larger cohorts with longitudinal follow-up in relation to the C trachomatis acquisition and a thorough evaluation of temporal relationships of infections with hrHPV types, C trachomatis and cervical neoplasia are needed to demonstrate whether and how in some situations C trachomatis sets the stage for cervical carcinogenesis. Trial registration NCT00092521 and NCT00092534.


In situ temperature dependence of the Photoluminescence under 325nm irradiation is used to investigate defect populations existing in different surface flaws in high purity fused silica. Five photoluminescence bands peaking at 1.9, 2.1, 2.3, 2.63 and 3.11 eV have been detected in the spectral area ranging from 1.6 up to 3.6 eV. The Gaussian deconvolution of spectra allows dividing the five luminescence bands in two categories. The former corresponds to bands showing a significant intensity enhancement while temperature decreases; the latter corresponds to bands remaining insensitive to the temperature evolution. Such a behavior brings new information on defects involved in laser damage mechanism at 351 nm in nanosecond regime.


Piecewise-linear in rates (PWLR) Lyapunov functions are introduced for a class of chemical reaction networks (CRNs). In addition to their simple structure, these functions are robust with respect to arbitrary monotone reaction rates, of which Mass-Action is a special case. The existence of such functions ensures the convergence of trajectories towards equilibria, and can be used to establish their asymptotic stability with respect to the corresponding stoichiometric compatibility class. We give the definition of these Lyapunov functions, prove their basic properties, and provide algorithms for constructing them. Examples are provided, relationship with consensus dynamics are discussed, and future directions are elaborated.


Context Failure to notify patients of test results is common even when electronic health records (EHRs) are used to report results to practitioners. We sought to understand the broad range of social and technical factors that affect test result management in an integrated EHR-based health system. Methods Between June and November 2010, we conducted a cross-sectional, web-based survey of all primary care practitioners (PCPs) within the Department of Veterans Affairs nationwide. Survey development was guided by a socio-technical model describing multiple inter-related dimensions of EHR use. Findings Of 5001 PCPs invited, 2590 (51.8%) responded. 55.5% believed that the EHRs did not have convenient features for notifying patients of test results. Over a third (37.9%) reported having staff support needed for notifying patients of test results. Many relied on the patient's next visit to notify them for normal (46.1%) and abnormal results (20.1%). Only 45.7% reported receiving adequate training on using the EHR notification system and 35.1% reported having an assigned contact for technical assistance with the EHR; most received help from colleagues (60.4%). A majority (85.6%) stayed after hours or came in on weekends to address notifications; less than a third reported receiving protected time (30.1%). PCPs strongly endorsed several new features to improve test result management, including better tracking and visualization of result notifications. Conclusions Despite an advanced EHR, both social and technical challenges exist in ensuring notification of test results to practitioners and patients. Current EHR technology requires significant improvement in order to avoid similar challenges elsewhere.


Jack is determined to find his missing father. He tracks him down to the seamy side of town and an underworld that has no place in modern society. A second thought-provoking book from this lively new author.

A wonderfully original story to follow this author's debut as a children's author with Wipe Out. As in Wipe Out, the book follows a child through a difficult journey but humour and hope spreads through the novel, giving it that feel-good factor at the end.

Jack decides to track down his father when his mother announces she is to re-marry. Jack is a bit of a geek – he's a whizz-kid into nutritional values of food and goes to a school for gifted children. It's this that introduces the element of humour to the novel, through his friendships at school with other equally gifted kids.

During Jack's search, he befriends a homeless Big Issue seller, plus dog, and a Black soul singer and soul music is a feature of the novel. The two men try to dissuade Jack from finding his father, since they know he lives with the a 'no-good bunch of hobos' who live on the streets, funded by crime and even child abuse.

Written in Mimi Thebo's distinctive voice, this second novel is sure to attract attention.


A 2 year old male child presented to us with progressively enlarging white spot in the left eye for 15 days. The child was not able to perceive light in OS and examination revealed a free floating cyst in the anterior chamber with neovascular glaucoma along with a plaque like lesion in the inferotemporal sclera. Fundus examination showed a flat whitish lesion in the pars plana with glaucomatous optic disc cupping.


Palaemonetes zariquieyi, an endemic palaemonid species of shrimp that lives in freshwater and brackish coastal habitats in eastern Spain, shows an abbreviated, non-feeding larval development comprising only three zoeal stages. To identify the endogenous bioenergetic fuel that allows for food-independent development from hatching to metamorphosis, larvae were reared under controlled laboratory conditions, and ontogenetic changes in dry weight (W), elemental (CHN), and lipid composition (total lipids, principal lipid classes, and fatty acids [FA]) were quantified at the onset of each zoeal stage and in the first juvenile. Values of W, C, and H per larva and per mass unit of W decreased throughout the time of larval development, while the N content showed only a weak decline (suggesting strong lipid but only little protein degradation). Correspondingly, directly measured values of total lipids (both in μg/larva and in % of W) decreased gradually, with neutral lipids (NL) consistently remaining the predominant and most strongly used fraction; sterol esters and waxes were not detected. In contrast to the NL, the fraction of polar lipids (PL) per larva remained stable and, as a consequence, tended to increase as a percentage of total lipids. Likewise, other important lipid fractions such as free FA and cholesterol remained stable throughout the time of larval development. Among the FA, palmitic (16:0), oleic (18:1n–9), linoleic (18:2n–6), and eicosapentaenoic (20:5n–3) acid were predominant, showing a significant decrease during larval development; stearic (18:0), vaccenic (18:1n–7), and arachidonic acid (20:4n–6) were found only in small amounts. Our results indicate that the lecithotrophic development of P. zariquieyi is primarily fuelled by the utilization of lipids (especially triacylglycerides and other NL), which is reflected by a decreasing carbon content. Proteins and PL, by contrast, are preserved as structurally indispensable components (nerve and muscle tissues, cell membranes). The abbreviated and non-feeding mode of larval development of P. zariquieyi may have an adaptive value in land-locked freshwater habitats, where planktonic food limitation is likely to occur. The patterns of reserve utilization are similar to those previously observed in other palaemonid shrimps and various other groups of decapod crustaceans with lecithotrophic larvae. This suggests a multiple convergent evolution of bioenergetic traits allowing for reproduction in food-limited aquatic environments.


Currently, more and more distributed systems are built based on the service oriented architecture (SOA), which can be implemented using Web service technologies. The benefits of SOA include better interoperability, scalability, maintainability and reuse. Service composition techniques allow creating new services by integrating existing services programmatically. They are instrumental in realizing the full potential of SOA. A typical service is often stateful: it offers multiple operations, and invoking these operations must be properly choreographed to achieve the desired result. The choreography rules can be captured and specified by a behavioral interface, also called service conversation protocol. A conversation protocol is important for a stateful service to be utilized properly. Incorporation of stateful services into a service composition poses interesting challenges, such as how to extend the current service description scheme to allow specification of conversation protocols, and how to utilize the service description correctly and efficiently. In this dissertation, we present a design and analysis framework for service oriented distributed systems. The cornerstone of the framework is a unified service specification model based on Colored Petri nets. The service specification model is suitable for both service compositions and conversation protocols, and thus it supports incorporating partners exhibiting complex protocols. It also enables formal analysis of compositions: (1) verification of the correctness; (2) automatic derivation of the conversation protocol for the newly-created composite service. The framework consists of a modeling and analysis toolkit supporting the composition model, a translator between one of the standard composition languages and the model, a novel technique to derive conversation protocol automatically from composition, and a visual composition designer that integrates design and analysis components. The framework supports service composition involving partner services with complex conversation protocols.


This paper offers a new analysis of Japanese scrambling, under which some instances of scrambling phenomena are derived from the process of linearization. It is specifically proposed that the absence of formal agreement in Japanese enables Spell-Out to apply solely to an argument of the verb. The spelled out argument is "dislocated" at PF by the mechanisms of linearization of spelled out syntactic objects. Radical reconstruction effects, along with various other properties of Japanese scrambling such as the proper binding effects, are captured as a natural consequence of the proposed analysis, because the scrambled constituent actually does not undergo any syntactic movement but rather stays in the base-generated position. It is also argued that an analysis of scrambling ought to be eclectic in the sense that another strategy, which employs null operator movement to establish the relation between the dislocated element and the gap, is also available in Japanese, as originally proposed by Ueyama (2002). Thus, the optionality of Japanese scrambling is shifted under the proposed analysis to the optional application of Spell-Out (made possible by the absence of formal agreement) and the optional selection of a null operator in the numeration. The paper is concluded with the speculation that the availability of the latter strategy is due to the rich use of predication in Japanese.


The effects of a novel dihydrothienopyridine Ca antagonist S-(+)-methyl-4,7-dihydro-3-isobutyl-6-methyl-4-(3-nitrophenyl)-thieno [2,3-b]pyridine-5-carboxylate (S-312-d), on the amount of amino acid release during cerebral ischemia and delayed neuronal death in the hippocampal CA1 region of stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats were studied and compared with those of nimodipine. The released amino acids were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography after microdialysis. Cerebral ischemia was produced by occlusion of the bilateral common carotid arteries for 20 min. Intraduodenal administration of 0.3 mg/kg of S-312-d at 60 min before the carotid occlusion significantly decreased the ischemic release of glutamate and taurine, but did not influence their basal release. However, nimodipine did not inhibit the ischemic glutamate release even at a dose of 10 mg/kg. Similar peripheral hemodynamic effects were observed before and during bilateral carotid occlusion in groups treated with S-312-d or nimodipine. During the carotid occlusion, almost no cerebral blood flow was observed in either group. Therefore, the inhibitory effect of S-312-d on ischemic amino acid release probably arises from its potent direct action on neuronal cells. The neuronal cell densities of the CA1 subfield at 7 days after 20-min bilateral carotid occlusion significantly decreased in the vehicle-control group compared with the sham-operated group. Intraperitoneal administration of 0.1 mg/kg of S-312-d at 60 min before ischemia prevented the decrease of neuronal cell density compared with the vehicle control. These results show that S-312-d can offer marked neuronal protective effects against ischemic injury.


The production of bioenergy is considered to be a promising energy source for a sustainable energy mix and it is politically promoted in many countries. With the exception of Brazilian ethanol, bioenergy not competitive to fossil energy sources, and therefore needs to be subsidised. Several types of bioenergy are based on bulky raw biomass with high per unit transport costs, importantly impacting on the plant's production costs and profitability. In addition, considerable quantities of digestates are released, causing disposal costs. Various studies in the past aimed primarily at analysing transport costs of inputs. In this paper we focus on disposal costs of fermentation digestates from biogas production in Germany and analyse different processing techniques and their impact on profitability for three plant size in three case study areas. Our results show that especially in regions with only a small amount of agricultural land and a large heterogeneity in its agricultural area, processing of digestates increases the profitability of biogas production. The same accounts for regions with high livestock density, where the area needed for disposal is comparatively large. The cost efficiency is enforced by a high share of animal excrements on input and the biogas plant size.


This chapter addresses evolutionary aspects tangential to the categorization of green and blue in selected contemporary varieties of Arabic and Aramaic spoken in the Near East. Its objective is to focus attention on the need for a combined linguistic and cultural study of this region on a macro-areal scale, after the model of R. E. MacLaury's (1997) Mesoamerican colour survey. The present research intimates that the Bedouin Arabic hybrid colour paradigm – with its minimal set of basic categories, lexicalized alongside an elaborate word-stock for non-basic, (though functionally salient) unsaturated, natural hues (of livestock, steppe terrain, and more) – represents an early evolutionary stage in Semitic colour categorization focused essentially on brightness values. Hence the undifferentiated dark / cool region of the Old Arabic spectrum covered by the basic term axdar "green, blue, and black". The comparative chromatic data here adduced from ancient and modern Semitic suggest that the tendency to fuse green and blue into a single category in this region represents a relic trait in certain parts of the Near East, concomitant with a still ongoing shift from brightness to hue categories.


This article examines the post-application employment consequences for individuals registering complaints to Employment Tribunals following dismissal or redundancy. We consider several pieces of evidence: (a) the probability of finding another job, (b) the time taken to get a new job and (c) the pay/status of the new job. Our results indicate that age plays a significant role in aspects (a) and (c), while those who previously held managerial positions generally took longest to get a new job and found it most difficult to achieve a similar level of pay/status in their current jobs. Long-term health problems/disability is associated with significantly worse outcomes on all three measures. Respondents whose cases were dismissed by tribunals without hearings fared worst in terms of obtaining a new job and the time it took to do so. There are, however, fewer differences by tribunal outcome in the relative pay/status of the claimant's current job.


A depressive mood disorder has been for the past decade the mood disorder with the highest prevalence in the general population. Independent studies done in South Africa indicated a prevalence of depression between 13% to 53%. These results do not concur with official published statistics indicating a prevalence of depression in 16% of the general population over a lifetime. Depression is probably under diagnosed by general practitioners and only a small proportion of adolescents with depression are recognised and even less receive any support for their depression. The aim of this study was to explore the following: the prevalence of symptoms of depression in grade 10 learners in schools in Stellenbosch, gender differences regarding the prevalence of depression symptoms in grade 10 learners, the prevalence of specific symptoms of depression and to explore similarities between symptoms of depression and the adolescent developmental phase. The study was conducted by means of the Beck Depression Inventory. The survey was conducted with 201 grade 10 learners with the necessary permission. The results regarding the prevalence of depression symptoms and gender differences regarding the prevalence of depression correlate with international statistics. This study found that more respondents indicated one or more symptom of depression at the given time than indicated by the literature. It was also found that some adolescent developmental tasks are similar to some symptoms of depression. Further research in South Africa regarding the prevalence of symptoms of depression was recommended.


In early 2004, a review of UK housing supply undertaken by Kate Barker (the Barker Review) was published. The review looked at a range of issues which might be constraining the number of houses being built in the UK. In the final report, one of the solutions proposed to encourage the supply of land for residential development is a form of betterment tax. The UK has a disastrous history of betterment taxes, each of which failed in its aims of securing for the state added value from development rights. The property industry has reacted with concern at the recent proposals for a new development tax and this paper discusses the issue of using a development tax as a device both to secure the supply of residential land to meet the UK's needs and to provide funding for much needed infrastructure to support the new developments. The paper also discusses the valuation issues which have underpinned earlier attempts at recapturing betterment for the community and, in the light of these, reviews the taxation proposals of the Barker Review.


In this paper, an efficient approach based on multi-objective genetic algorithms (MGA) is proposed to minimise the response of MDOF structures. The optimal design parameters of TMD in terms of damping coefficients and spring constant corresponding of TMD are determined through minimisation of two performance index contain inter-story drifts and acceleration of floors for safety and habitability respectively under one-dimensional earthquake loading simulated by passing a Gaussian white noise process through a second order filter yielding which is well-known Kanai-Tajimi spectrum. For further numerical verification of proposed method, a ten-story shear building implemented with TMD is analysed and the results are compared with other established methods. The results show the efficiency of this method for obtaining optimal parameters of TMD in comparison with other methods. The other advantage of this method is attaining better performance of designed TMD under both of near-field and far-field earthquakes.


Legal positivism as a jurisprudential theory is often associated with the project of understanding 'law as it is' rather than 'law as it ought to be.' H.L.A. Hart, widely regarded as the most influential legal philosopher of the 20th century and the founder of contemporary legal positivism, characterized his project as 'descriptive sociology,' an attempt to provide theoretical insight into the workings of actual modern legal systems. Since most people, as well as most lawyers, would say that the law's enforceability through sanctions, whether criminal or civil, is a key feature of law, it is surprising that Hart rejected the view that coercion is essential to the nature of law. It is equally surprising that Joseph Raz, the most influential positivist of the last quarter century, agrees with this rejection. Indeed, according to Hart, coercion is merely ancillary to the main functions of law in society, and according to Raz, coercion is not an essential feature of law because it plays no necessary conceptual role in elucidating and distinguishing law as an institutionalized normative system.In this article, I argue that Hart and Raz are both mistaken here - i.e., that coercion is essential to the nature to law. In particular, with respect to Hart, I argue that (1) in order to understand his account regarding the role of coercion in a theory of the nature of law, we must analyze his criticisms of John Austin's and Hans Kelsen's sanction-centered accounts of law; (2) Hart's critique of Austin and Kelsen reveal a fundamental role for the concept of obligation; (3) Hart's critique of Austin and Kelsen reveal a fundamental role for an explanation of the experiences of law-subjects; (4) Hart rejects sanction-centered accounts because they could not adequately account for legal obligation and obscured how law functions in society; (5) Hart's theory of obligation, however, requires an explication of the legal sanction in order to differentiate legal obligation from other forms of obligation; and (6) Hart's focus on the experience of law-subjects undermines his claim that the internal point of view is primary for understanding the nature of modern legal systems.With respect to Raz, I argue that: (1) in order to understand his account of the role of coercion in a theory of the nature of law, we must first understand his account of institutionalized normative systems; (2) his account of such systems apparently implies that coercion is unnecessary for the existence of a legal system; (3) this account, however, fails because it does not provide a basis for distinguishing a legal system from other institutionalized normative systems within the same society (specifically, religious systems and popular morality); and (4) his conceptual methodology implies a different conclusion than the one offered.


[1] The multidecadal observational CO2 record from the Mauna Loa Observatory (MLO) in Hawaii exhibits variations at subannual frequencies associated with variations in both carbon sources and sinks and atmospheric transport. However, the atmospheric transport influence on MLO's CO2 variability in general and its seasonal characteristics in particular have received relatively little attention. In this study, we explore the impact of seasonal atmospheric circulation on MLO CO2 variability. Because of MLO's central tropical North Pacific location between zones of intense midlatitude westerly flow to the north and tropical easterly flow to the south, the air mass transport to the site broadly consists of either long-range transport, typically originating from the west over or near the Eurasian continent, and short-range transport, typically originating from the east over the Pacific Ocean. Climatologically, the source regions of air masses arriving at MLO reflect seasonal modulation; most notably, while the period October-June is characterized by both the short- and long-range transport pathways, with the latter more prominent, especially during Northern Hemisphere (NH) spring, the period July-September is dominated by the short-range pathway with little long-range transport. At interannual timescales, the relationship between atmospheric transport and MLO CO2 also displays distinct seasonality: The correlation of observed MLO CO2 variability with simulated variability associated with cyclostationary sources interacting with an interannually varying reanalysis circulation field, i.e., an "atmospheric circulation only" estimate of MLO CO2 variability, is relatively strong during the NH cold season (November-May) but is weak during the warm season (June-October). Use of both Eulerian- and Lagrangian-based techniques, including composite analysis and clustering of Lagrangian back trajectories, highlights distinct atmospheric circulation flow patterns associated with anomalous positive and negative excursions of MLO CO2 concentrations, with the El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) playing a significant, though seasonally variable, role. Consistent with simple correlation analysis, the strongest concurrence between circulation fields composited with respect to observed and simulated MLO CO2 is evident during the NH autumn, winter, and spring seasons. Back trajectory cluster analysis supports the physicality of the composite analysis in terms of the origins of air masses arriving at MLO. The seasonal role of atmospheric transport variability may have important implications for the interpretation of the recent downward trends in the observed CO2 seasonal cycle amplitude and maxima, features that also appear in the simulated CO2 record. Indeed, both the circulation analyses as well as available radon-222 data for MLO point toward a decadal shift in the origin of air masses arriving at MLO during the April-June period that favors lower CO2 concentrations.


A growing minority representation in the information technology (IT) workforce coupled with a "youth bulge" in developing Asian countries are indicative of increasing diversity in the U.S. IT workforce. For researchers and practitioners, this diversity raises new management concerns. To better comprehend these emerging issues, this study compares career experiences and perceptions of South Asian women in the U.S. IT workforce with those of American women IT professionals. In doing so, it contrasts social, cultural, and individual factors that impact these career experiences. Interviews revealed that while most women from South Asia did not identify career genderization in the workplace, American IT professionals perceived greater stereotyping and discrimination. Although both groups equally felt the pressures of worklife balance, the impact of these pressures on long-term commitment to IT careers was felt differently across the two groups. Differences also are evident in perceptions of IT work, mentoring relationships, and coping mechanisms relied upon by the two groups. The article concludes with recommendations for improved diversity integration in the workforce and provides suggestions for future research in multicultural settings. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Abstract Isolation is a known force in evolutionary biology and one of the main factors in speciation. One of the main consequences of severe isolation is reduced mate choice, which results in the occurrence of inbreeding as a result of isolation. We investigated the effects of individual genome-wide heterozygosity measured as the multilocus heterozygosity (MLH) on biochemical markers of hemostasis and inflammation in 1,041 individuals from the island of Vis, Croatia, where inbreeding is prevalent and a wide range of variation in the genome-wide heterozygosity is expected. Assessment of individual genome-wide heterozygosity was based on genome-wide scans using 800 microsatellite (STR) and 317,503 single nucleotide (SNP) polymorphic markers in each examinee. In addition, for each examinee we defined a personal genetic history (PGH) based on genealogical records. The association between PGH and MLH and fibrinogen, D-dimer (Dd), von Willebrand factor (vWF), tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), and C-reactive protein (CRP) was performed with a mixed model, controlling for possible confounding effects. PGH was a significant predictor only for tPA (P < 0.001), whereas neither of the two MLH measures exhibited significant association with any of the investigated traits. The effects of individual genome-wide heterozygosity are most likely expressed in highly polygenically determined traits or in traits that are mediated by rare and recessive genetic variants. Weak associations between PGH and MLH and markers of hemostasis and inflammation suggest that their genetic control may not be highly polygenic and that they could be promising targets for genetic association studies.


The diseases of the spine looks like simple diseases, because most of them show with symptom of back pain, however, we all know they are extremely complex diseases and some times of challenging solutions.Fortunately, concomitant to the technological development there was a great development in the diagnostic area in last three decades, allowing to us a better understanding of the diseases of the spine.The minimally invasive spine surgery (MISS) is developing continually thanks to technological evolution and the own concept of MISS has been modified in last decades.Formerly, MISS was defined as being percutaneous procedures with or without the aid of endoscope, however, in the modernity, MISS is defined as being all kind of techniques that has the objective of lessen trauma to the tissues and get maximally effective clinical outcomes with the aid of modern technology that means to relieving the vertebral pain through interventional pain management, percutaneous procedures with or without assistance of video endoscope, mini incision techniques, motion preservation techniques and even percutaneous fusion surgeries.The objective of the presentation is to show the main technological evolutions that came to happen in the all fields of the spine diseases in the last decades (degenerative, traumatic, deformity, inflammatory and tumors) and how it was in the past, how is in the present and how will be in the future.


Composites are prone to failure during operating conditions and that is why vast research studies have been carried out to develop in situ sensors and monitoring systems to avoid their catastrophic failure and repairing cost. The aim of this research article was to develop a flexible strain sensor wire for real-time monitoring and damage detection in the composites when subjected to operational loads. This flexible strain sensor wire was developed by depositing conductive silver (Ag) nanoparticles on the surface of nylon (Ny) yarn by electroless plating process to achieve smallest uniform coating film without jeopardizing the integrity of each material. The sensitivity of this Nylon/Ag strain sensor wire was calculated experimentally, and gauge factor was found to be in the range of 21–25. Then, the Nylon/Ag strain sensor wire was inserted into each composite specimen at different positions intentionally during fabrication depending upon the type of damage to detect. The specimens were subjected to tensile loading at a strain rate of 2 mm/min. Overall mechanical response of composite specimens and electrical response signal of the Nylon/Ag strain sensor wire showed good reproducibility in results; however, the Nylon/Ag sensor showed a specific change in resistance in each direction because of the respective position. The strain sensor wire designed not only monitored the change in the mechanical behavior of the specimen during the elongation and detected the strain deformation but also identified the type of damage, whether it was compressive or tensile. This sensor wire showed good potential as a flexible reinforcement in composite materials for in situ structural health monitoring applications and detection of damage initiation before it can become fatal.


In their creative and scholarly work, faculty members occasionally develop ideas for innovations that might lead to the creation of new commercial products or services. In such cases, the faculty
member should consider how patents, trademarks, and copyrights help protect those ideas as they are developed into a commercial reality.
A panel of UNCG faculty discuss their experiences
with the Office of Innovation Commercialization, including observations about patents, trademarks, and copyrights, how faculty can benefit, and how their activities can be viewed in the promotion and tenure process .


Abstract. Given a set S of n sites (points), and a distance measure d , the nearestneighborsearching problem is to build a data structure so that given a query point q , the site nearest to q can be found quickly. This paper gives data structures for this problem when the sites and queries are in a metric space. One data structure, D(S) , uses a divide-and-conquer recursion. The other data structure, M(S,Q) , is somewhat like a skiplist. Both are simple and implementable. The data structures are analyzed when the metric space obeys a certain sphere-packing bound, and when the sites and query points are random and have distributions with an exchangeability property. This property implies, for example, that query point q is a random element of
 $ S\cup\{q\} $ . Under these conditions, the preprocessing and space bounds for the algorithms are close to linear in n . They depend also on the sphere-packing bound, and on the logarithm of the distanceratio
 $ \Upsilon(S) $ of S , the ratio of the distance between the farthest pair of points in S to the distance between the closest pair. The data structure M(S,Q) requires as input data an additional set Q , taken to be representative of the query points. The resource bounds of M(S,Q) have a dependence on the distance ratio of S
 $\cup$ Q . While M(S,Q) can return wrong answers, its failure probability can be bounded, and is decreasing in a parameter K . Here K≤ |Q|/n is chosen when building M(S,Q) . The expected query time for M(S,Q) is O(Klog  n)log
$\Upsilon(S\cup Q)$ , and the resource bounds increase linearly in K . The data structure D(S) has expected O( log n)O(1) query time, for fixed distance ratio. The preprocessing algorithm for M(S,Q) can be used to solve the all nearest neighbor problem for S in O(n(log  n)2(log ϒ(S))2) expected time.


The head movement of a walking pigeon Columba livia is characterized by two alternating phases, a thrust phase and a hold phase. While the head is rapidly thrust forward during the thrust phase, it has been shown repeatedly that it remains virtually motionless with respect to translation along a horizontal axis (roll axis) during the hold phase. It has been shown that the stabilization during the hold phase is under visual control. This has led to the view that the pigeon's head-bobbing is an optokinetic response to stabilize the retinal image during the hold phase. However, it has never been shown explicitly that the head is really held stable in space with respect to other translatory or rotatory dimensions. Using videography, we show here that this is in fact the case: except for a small but systematic slip that presumably serves as an error signal for retinal image stabilization, the head of the pigeon remains locked in space not only with respect to the horizontal (roll) axis but also with respect to vertical translation (along the yaw axis) and with respect to rotation around the pitch and yaw axes.


Political pluralists and civic republicans have launched constitutional and political theory into a controversy of paradigmatic proportions. Pluralists insist that politics is no more than a struggle between autonomous and rational individuals or groups who strive to satisfy their preexisting private interests. Civic republicans argue instead that the government should pursue the common good, not preexisting private interests. Something vital is missing from this debate: a recognition of and confrontation with American racism. In the context of American society, no constitutional or political theory can succeed without a comprehensive awareness and understanding of racism. The Constitution must be understood, interpreted, and applied with the goal of reducing and eliminating the racism constantly at the forefront of discussion. Professor Richard Delgado in his article, Zero-Based Racial Politics: An Evaluation of Three Best Case Arguments on Behalf of the Nonwhite Underclass, suggests that the nonwhite poor should reconsider their traditional affiliation with political liberals. Delgado considers whether the nonwhite poor are most likely to gain social justice by aligning with either conservatives, liberals, or civic republicans. The surprising conclusion is that the nonwhite poor should turn to the conservatives in their quest for social justice. This article explores Delgado's commitment to political pluralism and argues that Delgado overlooks or minimizes the way that racism often skews both an individual's perception of self-interest and his or her rational calculation of how to satisfy that interest. It explores the potential of civic republicanism to lead to social justice and begins to reconstruct a constitutional and political theory with the goal of reducing racism at its core.


During the COVID-19 pandemic, TV broadcasters and clubs were challenged to provide alternative formats and content for fans of Germany's favorite sport, football [soccer]. Thus, they emulated matchdays and created a Bundesliga feeling in new ways. The authors focus on this alternative creative sports coverage during the Coronavirus crisis and consider the effect on the audience. TV broadcasters, for instance, recreated Bundesliga matchdays through broadcasting historical matches, sticking with the original fixtures from before the crisis, while offering renewed commentary. Clubs conducted the Bundesliga Home Challenge, that is, FIFA20 videogame matches with their professional and eSport players, covering these matches on Twitter and their website. The authors argue that these efforts of keeping up the beloved structure of daily sports events satisfy social and entertaining belongings that are normally continually recreated through watching and talking about live sports events. Moreover, they discuss the possible sustainability of these innovative ways of sport communication.


Classical computers require large memory resources and computational power to simulate quantum circuits with a large number of qubits. Even supercomputers that can store huge amounts of data face a scalability issue in regard to parallel quantum computing simulations because of the latency of data movements between distributed memory spaces. Here, we apply a cache blocking technique by inserting swap gates in quantum circuits to decrease data movements. We implemented this technique in the open source simulation framework Qiskit Aer. We evaluated our simulator on GPU clusters and observed good scalability.


Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by positive symptoms such as disorganized speech, delusions and hallucinations and negative symptoms such as deficits of attention, affective flattening and social withdrawal in nature. There are several receptor involve in schizophrenia, one of these 5-HT2A receptor i.e. serotonin receptor.  The serotonin receptor 5-HT2A has been involved in several neurological conditions and potent 5-HT2A inhibitors have therapeutic effects that use for the treatment of schizophrenia and depression. First and second generations of antipsychotics tend to block receptors in the brain's dopamine pathways, but antipsychotic drugs encompass a wide range of receptor targets. In this study, 3D QSAR analysis using kNN-MFA method was performed on a series of benzathaizapine and pyrrolobenzezapine derivatives as 5-HT2A inhibiters and 5 potent novel 5-HT2A inhibitors discovered. Here, inhibition constants, Ki for 21 antipsychotics, which already approved for clinical treatment, the best model were evaluated using random selection method that use for the division dataset in to training and test set. kNN-MFA methodology with simulating annealing were used for the model building. The selected best QSAR model has training set of 17 molecules and test set of 4 molecules. Significant values of the cross-validated correlation q2 (0.77) and the fitted correlation r2 (0.95) revealed that this model have reasonable power to predict the biological affinity of new compound in interactions serotonin 5-HT2A receptor. The drug likeness of these molecules was checked through ADME property prediction. Keywords: Serotonin, 5-HT2A receptor, Schizophrenia Cite this Article Chaudhary Richa, Mishra B N,  Srivastava Vivek et  al . In- silico Design of Novel Inhibitors for 5-HT2A Receptor to Recuperate Schizophrenia.  Research & Reviews: A Journal of Bioinformatics . 2015; 2(2): 11–17p


Stem cell-based methods for myocardial regeneration suffer from considerable cell attrition. Artificial matrices reproducing mechanical and structural properties of the native tissue may facilitate survival, retention and functional integration of adult stem or progenitor cells, by conditioning the cells prior to, and during, transplantation. Here we combined autologous cardiosphere-derived cells (CDCs) with nanotopographically defined hydrogels mimicking the native myocardial matrix, to form in vitro cardiac stem cell niches, and control cell function and fate. These platforms were used to produce cardiac patches that could be transplanted at the site of infarct. In culture, highly anisotropic, but not more randomized nanotopographic, control augmented cell adhesion, migration, and proliferation. It also dramatically enhanced early, and, in the presence of mature cardiomyocytes, late cardiomyogenesis. Nanotopography sensing and transcriptional response was mediated via p190RhoGAP. In a rat infarction model, engraftment of nanofabricated scaffolds with CDCs enhanced retention and growth of transplanted cells, and their integration with the host tissue. The infarcted ventricle wall increased in thickness, with higher cell viability and better collagen organization. These results suggest that nanostructured polymeric materials that closely mimic the extracellular matrix structure on which cardiac cells reside in vivo can be both very effective tools in investigating the mechanisms of cardiac differentiation and the basis for cardiac tissue engineering, thus facilitating stem cell-based therapy in the heart.


The motivation for this thesis is to investigate how storm sea states in deep water transforms as the waves propagate towards shallow water. This is connection with the design of bottom fixed wind turbines in finite water depths. In order to investigate how the sea state is transformed, there have been performed a model test where the generated waves are measured as they propagate over a sloping beach. Theory behind different shallow water effects and how these will transform the sea state, is presented. The results obtained from the present model test have also been compared to similar model tests, and the comparison generally shows the same behavior. The results show that the surface process of the waves transforms into a nonlinear process, and the deviations from a Gaussian process shows this clearly in terms of values for skewness and kurtosis. It is seen that wave breaking will be an dissipation important in the wave spectra, significant wave height and the distributions of wave and crest heights in the sea state. Where wave breaking is seen to reduce the energy content in the wave spectrum, and contributes to make the proposed conventional distribution functions for both wave and crest height distributions conservative. The significant wave height is also seen to be transformed by effects from shoaling. For the largest individual waves it is seen that the waves in the measured time series are asymmetrical with respect to the front and back of the wave. This effect along with the calculated Ursell number for these waves indicates that there is a need for sophisticated wave model in order to model the surface elevation of the waves with corresponding wave kinematics.


A commercial DNA probe kit (Gen-probe) for the detection of rRNA from legionellae was evaluated for its accuracy in diagnosing Legionnaires' disease in 167 patients with pneumonia. The test was performed on freshly obtained clinical respiratory tract samples. Cultures and direct immunofluorescence antibody (DFA) staining of the samples and serological tests were performed simultaneously for all patients. The probe assay result was positive in six patients; five of them had other laboratory evidence of disease (positive cultures or positive serological results or both). Depending on the diagnostic criteria, the probe test had a sensitivity of 31-67%, a specificity of 99% and positive predictive values of 67-83%. The diagnostic performance of the DNA probe assay in this study was superior to that of the DFA test. The results indicate that the examination of respiratory tract secretions by the Gen-probe kit is a suitable screening test for the diagnosis of Legionnaires' disease.


Raymond Durgnat delineates the many facets of Alfred Hitchcock's prolific career and the controversies that these have aroused among the critics -- critics who have seen Hitchcock as master of the aesthetic "touch" and who prefer his English to his American period, or those for whom Hitchcock is a dark Roman Catholic moralist.Durgnat's Hitchcock is a fascinating mixture of contrarieties. He tends to admire Hitchcock for his ability to tell a story and to control and manipulate order so that he can play his audience with suspence, for his "rare sense of how far dramatic conflicts can be complicated and in which ways," and for the conjuction or layering of elements in films like "Rear Window", "Vertigo", and "Psycho", which constitutes the real Hitchcock "touch."Durgnat reminds us that Hitchcock's ability to capture a feeling of everyday realism, particularly in the background and details of his early films, is something of a feat -- "realism in the '30s was a rarer and more difficult achievement...the director couldn't just point a TV camera in the street, but first had to notice [these details], then to love them enough to remember and to re-create them and lastly to slide them deftly into a thriller context. "


The Internet offers several tools such as shopping bots and search engines that help potential buyers search for lower prices. This paper defines buyers' online search strategy as using one or more of these tools to search for lower prices, and empirically investigates the validity of economics of information search theory in explaining buyers' choice of a particular online search strategy. We find that buyers' attitudes toward the price offered by their preferred online seller, their perception of online price dispersion, and their awareness of shopping agents have a significant effect on their choice of online search strategy. An understanding of buyers' choice of online search strategies can help an online seller to estimate its expected probability of making an online sale, optimize its online pricing, and improve its online promotional and advertising activities.


Reports of an intensification of domestic abuse under COVID-19 restrictions has been described by the UN as a 'shadow pandemic'. Drawing upon interviews with domestic abuse survivors (n=11), plus interviews (n=18) and surveys (n=22) with support service providers in Scotland, this article develops a nuanced understanding of how the conditions created by the pandemic interacted with existing experiences of domestic abuse, highlighting the relatively overlooked experiences of survivors who have separated from their abusers. The findings reveal how pandemic conditions triggered, mirrored and amplified experiences and impacts of domestic abuse through the complex interplay between isolation, anxiety, lone-parenting, financial concerns and protective requirements such as mask wearing. Participants described an increase in economic abuse, abuse online and the manipulation of child contact arrangements as the restrictions imposed by the pandemic facilitated perpetrator behaviours. However, survivors' resilience, coping mechanisms, and in some cases enhanced feelings of safety, were also notable. These findings generate insights into the evolving but persistent nature and dynamics of domestic abuse though the pandemic, including how domestic abuse interacts with, creates, and is compounded by gendered inequalities irrespective of whether survivors have separated from their abuser.


Despite the importance of the speech act as an analytic category, a general comprehensive
definition of it that allows for methodical definitions of particular
acts has not been provided. As a consequence, large areas of language use are
often treated inadequately, both in learning research and in course planning.
Among other problems, applied linguists presuppose different dimensions in discourse
and their codings of utterances are insufficiently reliable. Therefore, valid
comparisons regarding their empirical results or their design proposals are often
impossible.
The lack of definitions ESOL work requires is intimately associated to a
defective understanding of the nature of acts. Existing classifications separate
akin acts and group diverse ones together. To clarify the confusions, it is necessary
to distinguish sharply acts which make present, create or modify knowledge
from acts that set deontic conditions, ie acts like defining, classifying and
generalizing from acts like ordering, requesting and inviting. The first kind,
which are referred to here as dissertation acts, are not a subtype of illocutionary
acts, as has previously been considered. Rather, they constitute a category at the
same hierarchical leveL
The distinction is shown to be fundamental following the same approaches
that Strawson, Austin, Searle and Widdowson used to establish the sentence, the
proposition and the speech act as independent units. The discussion leads to two
general definitions of illocutionary and dissertation acts, which postulate a fixed
number of parameters for each. Sets of conceivable values for every parameter
are also delimited. Hence, a given combination of values determines a particular
act, and all possible acts are determinable.
The systematic framework thus produced suggests spiral research and teaching
programmes which, at different stages, focus on speech act elements, speech
acts and speech act combinations. These would allow analysts and students to
discern the global organization of a discourse from its final results. They might
also lead to a better understanding of its linguistic realization.


This paper undertakes a leverage analysis of mega-events in the context of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.  A leverage analysis apparently different from an impact analysis; it focuses on how to maximize the potential positive impacts and minimize the negative impacts for an event that will be held in the future.  To analyze the circumstance of the Beijing Olympics that are amendable to leveraging, the research methodology employed is empirical with method of semi-structured in-depth interviews with the government officials, tourism industry people and the local community members in Beijing.  This research conducted a leveraging analysis from three perspectives: environmental, socio-cultural, and tourism/economic perspectives.  From each perspective, four angles would be investigated: identifying the potential impacts of 2008 Olympics; determining the leveraging activities for the potential impacts; uncovering the opportunities for leveraging the potential impacts, and exploring the challenges in leveraging the potential impacts.  Because there is not any existing theory on a leverage analysis in the context of Beijing Olympic Games, this research was conducted with the guidance of "grounded theory".  The research indicated that the government aims to take use of the opportunity of hosting the "Green Olympics" to reap the ambition of making Beijing into a "greener" city, but how long would the policies last when the games are over is essential for the effectiveness.  Similarly, the socio-culture would be leveraged by implementing the "People's Olympic" theme.  Finally, the tourism in Beijing would be leveraged by a series of leveraging activities derived form the Olympic Games.  The findings of this research will contribute to the event studies and the leveraging studies.


The symbiotic association of Rhizobium strains and two species of legumes, Lathyrus maritimus (L.) Bigel. and Oxytropis campestris (L.) DC found in subarctic regions of Newfoundland were investigated. The root nodule bacteria were isolated and routinely characterized using standard techniques for Rhizobium species. The isolate of L. jnaritimus was found to resemble fast-growing Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar vicia, except in its ability to tolerate a wide range of pH and a high concentration of NaCl. The isolate of 0. Campestris exhibited characteristics which resembled those of both slow-growing and fast-growing strains. Both isolates could grow, although slowly, at a low temperature (5°C). -- Cross inoculation tests were performed using the isolates on other legume species. The isolate of O. campestris could not infect any of the hosts used while that of L. maritimus could infect Vicia cracca. -- Growth patterns and external morphology of the symbiotic root nodules were studied. The beaded structure of field-collected nodules indicate that they resume growth after overwintering annually. The results of laboratory-grown specimens showed that nodules of both species attain a maximum size after which no growth occurs. Nitrogen fixation was assessed in the legumes using the acetylene reduction method with nodulated root systems. The two species showed highest nitrogenase activity at 20°C and were still capable of activity at low tempertures; for example, nodules of L. maritimus and 0. campestris were able to maintain 35% and 80% of their maximum activities respectively at 5°C, showing their adaptation to nitrogen fixation in the cold. -- The anatomy of L. maritimus root nodules was studied using light and electron microscopy. They were found to possess a zonal differentiation from the tip to the point of attachment to the root; i.e. the meristem, invasion zone, early symbiotic zone, late symbiotic zone and the senescent region. Nodules possessed lipid bodies which were more abundant in the cortical cells. The lipid bodies may be involved in the protection of the nitrogen-fixing tissue from the cold environment by forming an insulating jacket around it. -- These studies indicate that the legumes and their symbionts are adapted to function effectively at low temperature and therefore could be of significance in land reclamation and for other purposes in marginal northern agricultural areas. The unique characteristics shown by the isolates can be useful to other Rhizobium and Bradyrhizobium strains by transferring them, using DNA recombinant techniques.


Reservoir classification is an essential step for the exploration and production process in the oil and gas industry. An appropriate automatic reservoir classification will not only reduce the manual workloads of experts, but also help petroleum companies to make optimal decisions efficiently, which in turn will dramatically reduce the costs. Existing methods mainly focused on generating reservoir classification in a single geological block but failed to work well on a new oilfield block. Indeed, how to transfer the subsurface characteristics and make accurate reservoir classification across the geological oilfields is a very important but challenging problem. To that end, in this paper, we present a focused study on the cross-oilfield reservoir classification task. Specifically, we first propose a Multi-scale Sensor Extraction (MSE) to extract the multi-scale feature representations of geological characteristics from multivariate well logs. Furthermore, we design an encoder-decoder module, Specific Feature Learning (SFL), to take advantage of specific information of both oilfields. Then, we develop a Knowledge-Attentive Transfer (KAT) module to learn the feature-invariant representation and transfer the geological knowledge from a source oilfield to a target oilfield. Finally, we evaluate our approaches by conducting extensive experiments with real-world industrial datasets. The experimental results clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed approaches to transfer the geological knowledge and generate the cross-oilfield reservoir classifications.


We study the diffraction of Hermite–Gaussian beams by N equally spaced slits (finite grating) in a planar screen by means of the Rayleigh–Sommerfeld theory in the scalar diffraction regime. We find in the far field the existence of constant-intensity angles when the incident-beam position on the screen is changed. We have determined the optimal conditions under which this new diffraction property can be achieved. Also, a novel effect called the constant-intensity-angles-collapse effect is presented, in which the constant-intensity angles collapse to the minima of the diffraction pattern when the incident spot size is enlarged. For the grating case, deep dips at the maxima of the diffraction patterns of Hermite–Gaussian beams are predicted. Also, for a grating we have found that large segments of these diffraction patterns are independent of the incident-beam position (called constant-intensity curves). The results of this report may be useful for considering unstable vibrational systems in which constant intensities at some angular direction of the far field are required.


Numerous studies have noted that depth psychology has been one of the most prevalent frameworks for the interpretation of Buddhism in the West. Similarly, many commentators have bemoaned the assimilation of Buddhist thought and practice into western psychological discourse. This paper argues, however, that such critiques often fail to adequately distinguish between reductive approaches that reduce Buddhist phenomena to psychological states, and dialogical enterprises that utilize psychology as a tool to extend, through dialogue, the aims of Buddhism. Through a focus on what I identify as "West Coast Vipassana," a distinctive current within the American Insight Community, I examine attempts to incorporate personal life into Buddhist practice. While there are numerous incidents of the reductive approach in the Buddhist-psychology interface, I interpret West Coast Vipassana as providing a more legitimate and dialogical or "skillful means" approach to Buddhist practice in a contemporary Western climate.


. In recent years, named entity linking (NEL) tools were primarily developed in terms of a general approach, whereas today numerous tools are focusing on speci  c domains such as e.g. the mapping of persons and organizations only, or the annotation of locations or events in microposts. However, the available benchmark datasets necessary for the evaluation of NEL tools do not re  ect this focalizing trend. We have analyzed the evaluation process applied in the NEL benchmarking framework GERBIL [37,30] and all its benchmark datasets. Based on these insights we have extended the GERBIL framework to enable a more  ne grained evaluation and in depth analysis of the available benchmark datasets with respect to different emphases. This paper presents the implementation of an adaptive  lter for arbitrary entities and customized benchmark creation as well as the automated determination of typical NEL benchmark dataset properties, such as the extent of content-related ambiguity and diversity. These properties are integrated on different levels, which also enables to tailor customized new datasets out of the existing ones by remixing documents based on desired emphases. Besides a new system library to enrich provided NIF [11] datasets with statistical information, best practices for dataset remixing are presented, and an in depth analysis of the performance of entity linking systems on special focus datasets is presented.


The Office of the Ombudsman is taking on the biggest case in the history of the Philippines. No less than a former president is charged with crimes against the people. Can the Ombudsman do its job? The author believes so. The Constitution provides that the Ombudsman has authority over the actions of all public officials and employees, offices and agencies, including the Office of the President. It is the official critic of laws, procedures and practices in government. It is the protector of the people against graft and corruption on all levels of government. The Ombudsman has a battle plan. If followed properly, it will stop graft and corruption before it starts, and make the guilty pay. To accomplish its goals, the Ombudsman will tap the active support of the citizenry and government offices such as the Commission on Audit (COA) , the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). Through proper methods and the, support of public and private sectors, the author believes that there could be day be only high standards of ethics and efficiency in government.


In today's digital world, it is common for students to bring their Internet-connected devices to classes. However, using these devices for non-class-related purposes during lessons can be distracting and detrimental to students' academic performance as well as frustrating for instructors. Defined as the use of organizational resources for work-related purpose (in this case, studies-related purpose; Lim, 2002), cyberloafing has a negative impact on the learning environment as it causes distraction and affects students' attention and ability to focus. In this study, we examined students' cyberloafing behavior through the lens of the theory of planned behavior (TPB). We also examined two new constructs, namely class engagement and habit. In addition, this study tested the role of two specific subjective norms, i.e., descriptive and prescriptive norms, in predicting students' intention to cyberloaf. Data from 238 university students were analyzed with Consistent Partial Least Squares (PLSc) analysis using SMART PLS. Results showed that both habit and intention were significantly related to cyberloafing behavior. Attitude, prescriptive norms and perceived behavioral control were significant in predicting students' intention to cyberloaf. However, descriptive norms were not significantly related to intention. Finally, class engagement played an important role in determining students' attitude towards cyberloafing, descriptive norms and perceived behavioral control. In general, results of this study provided support that the extended theory of planned behavior is useful in explaining students' cyberloafing behavior. Implications of the findings for theory and practice are discussed.


Objective: This study aimed to analyse the risk factors of the recurrence and metastasis of breast cancer after breast-conserving surgery.
Methods: There were 102 breast cancer patients who underwent breast surgery reservations in 404 Hospital of the Chinese People's Liberation Army from January 2011 to December 2014. We had recorded these cases' 5-y recurrence rate and transfer rate after 1-5 y follow-up and retrospectively analysed the clinical data (including age, tumor size, margin status, receptor status and lymph node metastasis, etc.). The aim of this study was to analyse and summarize the risk factors for breast cancer patients who underwent tumor recurrence and metastasis after breast surgery.
Results: The patients were followed up for one to five years. Their 5-y recurrence rate was 10.78% and the transfer rate was 8.82%. According to Cox proportional hazards regression model, breast cancer breast tumor recurrence risk factors include: tumor volume>2 cm, margin invasion positive, HER-2 receptor-positive, estrogen receptor-positive, lymph node metastasis and tumor stage III (HR=3.7, 5.3, 3.8, 5.5, 5.3, 3.7). Tumor metastasis risk factors include: tumor volume>2 cm, HER-2 receptor-positive, estrogen receptor-positive, lymph node metastasis and tumor stage III (HR=5.3, 3.4, 2.3, 4.6, and 2.9).
Conclusion: Breast cancer patients retained the breast after the tumor volume>2 cm, with cutting edge invasion, HER-2 and estrogen receptor-positive, patients with lymph node metastasis, and stage III is associated with postoperative tumor recurrence. If tumor volume>2 cm, HER-2 and estrogen receptorpositive, patients with lymph node metastasis and stage III are related to tumor metastasis after operation.


The identification of the source of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) in gases within unconsolidated deposits outside municipal landfill sites, where there are multiple potential contributing gas inputs, is important for regulation and to inform gas management policy. Stable isotope analysis was applied to ground gas samples from boreholes close to but external to landfill cells, and landfill gas, to differentiate CH4 from biological and abiological geological sources at sites in NW England. Landfill flare gas and landfill without external gas inputs were biogenic references. Ground gases adjacent to one landfill had potential external CH4 inputs from underlying Coal Measures. Mineshaft vent gas and commercially-supplied North Sea gas were used as non-biological, thermogenic, source references. Ground gas samples were subjected to Compound-Specific Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (GC-IRMS) and conventional IRMS examination. δ13CCH4 values for landfill flare gas and landfill Site 1 were −65.0 and −61.0‰, and δDCH4 values were −319 and −298‰ respectively, consistent with a wholly biogenic origin. δ13CCH4 values for Site 2 landfill were −55 to −48‰, and δDCH4 values were −173 to +55‰. Mineshaft vent gas and North Sea gas CH4 δ13CCH4 values were −46.2 and −43.5‰, and δDCH4 values were −214 and −203‰, respectively. Given their similarity to these data, gases in the vicinity of Site 2 landfill are considered to have a thermogenic CH4 contribution, due to 13C and D enrichment in CH4.


Recently, the European Commission (EC) has placed a focus on social tourism issues within Europe. The underlying logic of this intervention is that social tourism aims for social equity, aiding access to tourism to provide fair tourism for all citizens and contributing towards sustainability of the European tourism industry. By linking social tourism to sustainable development, the EC sets priorities for future policies to foster mobility within the community. Yet, most European countries have different approaches, priorities and diverse ideological interpretations of the role of the state in tourism provision. Consequently, systems and practices vary strongly between nations and seem to put the ideal of a common approach a very distant prospect. This paper outlines the context of these approaches to social tourism to highlight these challenges and to propose initiatives for the future integration of the European social tourism sector. It presents a comparative analysis of social tourism systems in seven European countries with important social tourism structures. The paper assesses different interpretations of social tourism, examining development and employment issues. In addition, the paper assesses the links with the commercial tourism sector and provides recommendations for future development in the social tourism sector and consequences for European policy.


Religion as a tool of Stalin's government; Histories of the USSR during World War II generally portray the Kremlin's restoration of the Russian Orthodox Church as an attempt by an ideologically bankrupt regime to appeal to Russian nationalism in order to counter the mortal threat of Nazism. Here, Steven Merritt Miner argues that this version of events, while not wholly untrue, is incomplete. Using newly opened Soviet-era archives as well as neglected British and American sources, he examines the complex and profound role of religion, especially Russian Orthodoxy, in the policies of Stalin's government during World War II. Miner demonstrates that Stalin decided to restore the Church to prominence not primarily as a means to stoke the fires of Russian nationalism but as a tool for restoring Soviet power to areas that the Red Army recovered from German occupation. The Kremlin also harnessed the Church for propaganda campaigns aimed at convincing the Western Allies that the USSR, far from being a source of religious repression, was a bastion of religious freedom. In his conclusion, Miner explores how Stalin's religious policy helped shape the postwar history of the USSR.


Deutsch and coworkers (Deutsch, 1991; Deutsch, North, & Ray, 1990) have proposed that individual differences in the perception of the "tritone paradox" derive from listeners9 reference to a mental pitch template, acquired through experience with the pitch range of their own voice, as well as with the voice ranges typical of their language community. These authors have reported a correspondence between perceptual results and the upper limit of the individual voice range for a small group of selected subjects, as well as a striking difference in tritone perception between American and British listeners. The present study compared groups of Dutch, British, and American listeners on two tritone tests and also collected voice pitch data for the first two groups in a reading task. There was no within-group correlation of perceptual results with individual differences in voice range. Differences in tritone perception as a function of stimulus characteristics (spectral envelope) were much larger than reported by Deutsch, which casts doubt on the notion of stable individual pitch templates. A significant difference between British and American listeners, with the Dutch group in between, was found in one of the two tritone tests but not in the other. Although the origin of this difference remains unclear, it seems unlikely that it has anything to do with regional differences in voice pitch range.


Chalcopyrite Cu(In,Ga)(Se,S)2 (CIGS) semiconductors are potential candidates for use in photoelectrochemical (PEC) hydrogen generation due to their excellent optical absorption properties and high conduction band edge position. In the present research, CIGS thin film was successfully prepared on a transparent substrate (F:SnO2 glass) using a solution-based process and applied for a photocathode in solar water splitting, which shows control of the surface state associated with sulfurization/selenization process significantly influences on the PEC activity. A ZnS passivation surface layer was introduced, which effectively suppresses charge recombination by surface states of CIGS. The CIGS/ZnS/Pt photocathode exhibited highly enhanced PEC activity (∼24 mA·cm-2 at -0.3 V vs RHE). The performances of our CIGS photocathode on the transparent substrate were also characterized under front/back light illumination, and the incident photon to current conversion efficiency (IPCE) drastically changed depending on the illumination directions showing decreased IPCE especially under UV region with back illumination. The slow minority carrier (electron) transportation is suggested as a limiting factor for the PEC activity of the CIGS photocathode.


Personal data stored in the Cloud may contain account numbers, passwords, notes, and other important information that could be used and misused by a miscreant, a competitor, or a court of law. These data are cached, copied, and archived by Cloud Service Providers (CSPs), often without users' authorization and control. Self-destructing data mainly aims at protecting the user data's privacy. All the data and their copies become destructed or unreadable after a user-specified time, without any user intervention. Besides, the decryption key is destructed after the user-specified time. In this paper, we present SeDas, a system that meets this challenge through a novel integration of cryptographic techniques with active storage techniques based on T10 OSD standard. We implemented a proof-of-concept SeDas prototype. Through functionality and security properties evaluation of the SeDas prototype, the results demonstrate that SeDas is practical to use and meets all the privacy-preserving goals described above. Compared with the system without self-destructing data mechanism, throughput for uploading and downloading with the proposed SeDas acceptably decreases by less than 72%, while latency for upload/download operations with self-destructing data mechanism increases by less than 60%.


The paper presents potential utilization of Second Life© (SL) in enhancing learning/training construction project management. The virtual environment supports the learning process by enabling learner to visualize the construction projects in 3D. Furthermore, SL provides an excellent platform for learners to interact with their peers and mentors in this virtual environment for exploring the learning activities collectively. The learners, as a group, learn more effectively by using virtual environment where they can get involve in life-cycle of a building project i.e., from conceptual design to completion stage dealing with major issues like resources, cost, quality and time. Project-based learning is an appropriate paradigm for addressing construction project management problems. The dynamic nature of SL provides an excellent platform for learner groups to interact and go through various aspects of the building project collaboratively. The virtual environment of SL supports the learning process by quick and easy visualization the construction projects. Furthermore, SL provides virtual environment for learners where they can interact with their peers and mentors for exploring the learning activities collectively. SL is a truly global venue where participants from across the world can be invited to work collaboratively and to provide feedback on construction projects. This interactive approach toward construction projects helps in sharing experiences and improving quality of understanding of the real life issues in construction project management in virtual environment, eventually eliminating risks of making costly mistakes on site. This paper highlights the benefits and challenges of the application of SL for learning construction project management. Findings of this study were validated through active feedback collected from a group of learners using SL in an academic environment. Furthermore, this study also contributed to knowledge as the findings of this research can be used by future researchers to carry out studies on the similar application of virtual reality for fostering strong learner involvement in the learning process. The study would be beneficial for building professionals involved in the academia in general.


Rejection by membrane adsorption has been observed and widely reported. However, little is known about whether membranes possess an adsorption capacity. Experimental data showed that when a hydrophobic polypropylene (PP) microfilter was used to filter a large volume of particle-free surface water containing dissolved natural organic matter (NOM), later batches of microfiltration (MF) permeate caused more flux decline to a fresh 20K-Dalton polyethersulfone (PES) ultrafilter. This suggests that membranes can have an adsorption capacity for foulants. In this research, the gradual increase in absorbance of ultraviolet (UV) light by subsequent batches of MF permeate was observed, and supports the findings from previous studies, that only a small fraction of NOM causes membrane fouling. Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectrometry and energy dispersive spectroscopy of fouled PP and PES membranes suggests foulants containing amide, aromatic, ether, hydroxyl and silicate functional groups. Silicates appear to participate in membrane fouling, and its removal with the small fraction of fouling NOM can reduce the fouling potential of water. These data improve our understanding of membrane fouling by natural waters, and have implications for the design of membrane plants that filter natural waters.


Background Parathyroid hormone (PTH) is an effective anti-osteoporosis agent, after binding to its receptor PTHR1, several signaling pathways, including cAMP/protein kinase A (PKA) and phospholipase C (PLC)/protein kinase C (PKC), are initiated through G proteins; with the cAMP/PKA pathway as the major pathway. Earlier studies have reported that PTHR1 might also activate PKC via a PLC-independent mechanism, but this pathway remains unclear. Material/Methods In HEK293 cells, cAMP accumulation was measured with ELISA and PKC was measured with fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) analysis using CKAR plasmid. In MC3T3-E1 cells, real-time PCR was performed to examine gene expressions. Then assays for cell apoptosis, cell differentiation, alkaline phosphatase activity, and mineralization were performed. Results The FRET analysis found that PTH(1–34), [G1,R19]PTH(1–34) (GR(1–34), and [G1,R19]PTH(1–28) (GR(1–28) were all activated by PKC. The PKC activation ability of GR(1–28) was blocked by cAMP inhibitor (Rp-cAMP) and rescued with the addition of active PKA-α and PKA-β. The PKC activation ability of GR(1–34) was partially inhibited by Rp-cAMP. In MC3T3-E1 cells, gene expressions of ALP, CITED1, NR4a2, and OSX that was regulated by GR(1–28) were significantly changed by the pan-PKC inhibitor Go6983. After pretreatment with Rp-cAMP, the gene expressions of ALP, CITED1, and OPG were differentially regulated by GR(1–28) or GR(1–34), and the difference was blunted by Go6983. PTH(1–34), GR(1–28), and GR(1–34) significantly decreased early apoptosis and augmented osteoblastic differentiation in accordance with the activities of PKA and PKC. Conclusions PLC-independent PKC activation induced by PTH could be divided into two potential mechanisms: one was PKA-dependent and associated with PTH(1–28); the other was PKA-independent and associated with PTH(29–34). We also found that PTH could activate PLC-independent PKC via PKA-dependent mechanisms.


Shellfish or to be specific, the family of freshwater mussels and the species known as Corbicula fluminea or in the local dialect recognized as "etak" is one of the food peculiar to Kelantan. "Etak" is a filter feeder. Therefore, a lot of pollutants could be accumulated in the "etak's" tissues including pathogenic bacteria which are mainly contributed by improperly treated sewage discharged into the river. Besides direct contamination from the habitats, C. fluminea may also be contaminated during preparation and sale. The objective of this study is to identify the correlation between water quality, shellfish tissue contaminations and the cases of gastrointestinal diseases in Kota Bharu as well as to study the stage of bacteria contamination in the shellfish preparation cycle and to compare the bacteria concentration in river bed and selling points of shellfish. The methodology in this study involves water quality sampling and shellfish sampling, with lab analysis being done by accredited lab and secondary data was obtained from Department of Health, Kota Bharu regarding the cases of gastrointestinal diseases in Kota Bharu. There are two stages of shellfish sampling, the first stage is raw "etak" from the river bed and the second stage is process "etak". Three sampling stations were chosen. Shellfish tissues were analyzed by bacteriology lab of Fisheries Research Institute located in Batu Maung, Penang and water quality analysis was performed by accredited laboratory. During the study, bacterial contamination in raw C. fluminea or "etak" was found to be high and exceeded the standard especially for Escherichia coli and Fecal coliform. Raw C. fluminea was found to be unsafe for consumption. Bacterial contamination in processed C. fluminea or "etak" was also found to be high but lesser in concentration as compared to raw one. Bacteria contamination occurred mainly in the river bed although contamination during the selling process is also possible. High concentrations of bacteria in the river result in high concentrations of bacteria in "etak" tissues and these could possibly lead to high gastrointestinal diseases in Kelantan, particularly in Kota Bharu.


The principal optical observable emission resulting from ionospheric modification (IM) experiments is the atomic oxygen red line at 630 nm, originating from the O(1D–3P) transition. Because the O( 1D) atom has a long radiative lifetime, it is sensitive to collisional relaxation and an observed decay faster than the radiative rate can be attributed to collisions with atmospheric species. In contrast to the common practice of ignoring O-atoms in interpreting such observations in the past, recent experimental studies on the relaxation of O( 1D) by O(3P) have revealed the dominant role of oxygen atoms in controlling the lifetime of O( 1D) at altitudes relevant to IM experiments. Using the most up-todate rate coefficients for collisional relaxation of O( 1D) by O, N2, and O2, it is now possible to analyze the red line decays observed in IM experiments and thus probe the local ionospheric composition. In this manner, we can demonstrate an approach to remotely detect O-atoms at the altitudes relevant to IM experiments, which we call remote oxygen sensing by ionospheric excitation (ROSIE). The results can be compared with atmospheric models and used to study the temporal, seasonal, altitude and spatial variation of ionospheric O-atom density in the vicinity of heating facilities. We discuss the relevance to atmospheric observations and ionospheric heating experiments and report an analysis of representative IM data.


The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of a rumen-protected niacin product (RPN; 65% nicotinic acid; NiaShure, Balchem Corp., New Hampton, NY) on lipid metabolism, oxidative stress, and performance of transition dairy cows. Thirty nonlactating multiparous Holstein cows in late gestation were paired according to expected calving date and randomly assigned to 12 g/cow per day of RPN product or to an unsupplemented control (CON) diet. Treatment diets were fed from 21 d before expected calving through 21 d after parturition. Blood samples were taken on d -21, -14, -7, 1, 7, 14, and 21 relative to calving for plasma nonesterified fatty acid (NEFA), β-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA), glucose, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) analyses. Liver samples were taken by biopsy on d 1 and 21 relative to calving for triglyceride (TG) analysis. Data were analyzed for a randomized complete block design with repeated measures. Pre- and postpartum dry matter intake, milk yield, and protein were unaffected by treatment. Milk fat percentage (5.08 vs. 4.44%) and somatic cell score (3.93 vs. 2.48) were reduced for RPN. Treatment × time interactions were observed for energy-corrected milk (ECM) and fat-corrected milk (FCM) yields; RPN reduced ECM and FCM yields by 8.5 and 8.9 kg/cow per day, respectively, in the first week of lactation. Although body weight and condition score decreased during the experimental period, no differences due to treatment were observed. However, calculated postpartum energy balance tended to be improved for RPN because of the reduction in ECM yield. Time and treatment × time effects were observed for plasma NEFA. On d 1 postpartum, NEFA reached 1,138±80 μEq/L for CON compared with 698±80 μEq/L for RPN. Cows supplemented with RPN tended to have lower plasma NEFA concentrations than CON cows on d 7 and 14 postpartum. Plasma BHBA, glucose, and SOD and liver TG concentrations were unaffected by treatment. In conclusion, supplementation with 12 g/cow per day of the RPN product provided a bioavailable source of niacin that modified lipid metabolism but did not affect milk yield over the first 3 wk of lactation or oxidative stress of transition dairy cows.


TiO2-based nanocrystal semiconductor materials are attracting attention as novel promising catalysts for the application of solar energy in organic synthesis. Due to the strong oxidative ability of the photo-induced hole in the TiO2 valence-band (h+vb) (2.9 V vs. NHE), under UVA or sunlight irradiation, TiO2 nanomaterials have enough ability to activate and cleave most C–H, C–C, and C–X bonds, including the most inert bonds such as the C–H bond of CH4, the NN bond of N2, and the CO bond of CO2, to construct various and complex target organic compounds. On the other hand, the TiO2 conductive-band electron (e−cb) with a suitable redox potential (−0.3 V vs. NHE) can be readily eliminated by common oxidants, such as dioxygen, benzoquinone (BQ), and Ag+, and even reagents themselves; this readily allows the achievement of a very high catalytic turnover frequency. Recently, through finding the right substrates, fine-tuning the reaction conditions, as well as modifying the TiO2 catalysts, a series of highly selective transformations in organic synthesis have been realized by TiO2 photocatalysis. Some of the ideal examples provide novel alternative insights into the traditional single-electron-transfer (SET) mechanism and separate reactions between h+vb oxidations and e−cb reductions in TiO2 photocatalysis. Especially, C–C bond formation mediated by TiO2-based photocatalysts sometimes display a similar powerful ability as that mediated by the noble metal Pd-, Ru-, Ir-, and Rh-based catalysts. C–C bond formation reactions, despite being considered as the center of organic synthesis, have rarely been covered in previous reviews on TiO2 photocatalytic organic transformations. In this minireview, we have mainly reviewed and discussed the state-of-the-art TiO2-based photocatalysts for C–C bond formation application in organic synthesis; most of the C–C bond formation reactions are beyond the familiar SET oxidation transformations mediated by traditional TiO2 photocatalysis. Herein, TiO2 photocatalytic Michael addition, anti-Markovnikov addition, and [2 + 2 + 2] oxidative cyclizations were mainly considered. The unconventional roles of both photo-generated h+vb and e−cb and relevant reaction mechanisms have been highlighted for every kind of C–C bond formation reaction. Moreover, an enantioselective C–C bond formation reaction by TiO2 modified by a chiral organocatalyst and an organic dye under visible-light irradiation is displayed. This review covers the current basic principles, statuses, challenges, and future directions of TiO2-photocatalyzed C–C bond formation reactions.


The hydrological connectivity of freshwater ecosystems in the Amazon basin makes them highly sensitive to a broad range of anthropogenic activities occurring in aquatic and terrestrial systems at local and distant locations. Amazon freshwater ecosystems are suffering escalating impacts caused by expansions in deforestation, pollution, construction of dams and waterways, and overharvesting of animal and plant species. The natural functions of these ecosystems are changing, and their capacity to provide historically important goods and services is declining. Existing management policies—including national water resources legislation, community‐based natural resource management schemes, and the protected area network that now epitomizes the Amazon conservation paradigm—cannot adequately curb most impacts. Such management strategies are intended to conserve terrestrial ecosystems, have design and implementation deficiencies, or fail to account for the hydrologic connectivity of freshwater ecosystems. There is an urgent need to shift the Amazon conservation paradigm, broadening its current forest‐centric focus to encompass the freshwater ecosystems that are vital components of the basin. This is possible by developing a river catchment‐based conservation framework for the whole basin that protects both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.


The ATLAS (A Toroidal LHC ApparatuS) Inner Detector provides charged particle tracking in the centre of the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The Inner Detector consists of three subdetectors: the Pixel Detector, the Semiconductor Tracker (SCT), and the Transition Radiation Tracker (TRT). This paper summarizes the tests that were carried out at the final stage of SCT+TRT integration prior to their installation in ATLAS. The combined operation and performance of the SCT and TRT barrel and endcap detectors was investigated through a series of noise tests, and by recording the tracks of cosmic rays. This was a crucial test of hardware and software of the combined tracker detector systems. The results of noise and cross-talk tests on the SCT and TRT in their final assembled configuration, using final readout and supply hardware and software, are reported. The reconstruction and analysis of the recorded cosmic tracks allowed testing of the offline analysis chain and verification of basic tracker performance parameters, such as efficiency and spatial resolution, in combined operation before installation.


The mindful sport performance enhancement (MSPE) protocol is designed to enhance mindfulness, emotional regulation, and attentional awareness and control. The MSPE consists of trainer led group sessions teaching the concepts of mindfulness through discussion and meditation practice. However, little research has tested the MSPE protocol's adaptability and generalizability to National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division-I teams and practitioners independent of the MSPE protocol's creators. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to test the efficacy of an adapted MSPE protocol. The adapted MSPE protocol was delivered to a NCAA Division I team while a second team participated as a potentially equivalent control group. Both teams completed measures of attentional control, flow, rumination, and mindful attention as primary outcome variables. Results revealed significant decreases in rumination and trait anxiety, as well as improvements in concentration control and focusing ability compared with the control group. Findings support the external validity of the MSPE protocol to adapt to independent practitioners and a previously unstudied combination of sport and level of competition.


There will be two life anniversaries of George Placzek in 2005:
that of his birth on 26 September 1905, and that of his passing
away on 9 October 1955. Placzek was an outstanding scientist
who made substantial contributions to the fields of molecular
physics, scattering of light from liquids and gases, the theory
of atomic nucleus and the interaction of neutrons with
condensed matter. His theory of Raman effect is a pioneering
work in the field. Lev Landau and George Placzek derived the
Landau-Placzek formula for the ratio of intensities of the
Brillouin and the Rayleigh scatterings of light. Hans Bethe and
George Placzek provided a fundamental theory of neutron
absorption resonances, deriving important laws and selection
rules. Papers by Niels Bohr, Rudolf Peierls and George Placzek
deal with the theory of nuclear reactions and rank among the
classics. The well-known optical theorem bears the names of
Bohr, Peierls and Placzek. In a series of experiments, Otto
Frisch and Placzek discovered that the absorption of neutrons
in matter is strongly dependent upon the atomic mass and the
velocity of the neutrons, but for slow neutrons and light
elements the neutron-capture cross section is inversely
proportional to the velocity. On the eve of the World War II,
Placzek was very helpful in formulating the theory of nuclear
fission, an example of his many contributions still not
properly appreciated. In 1943-1946, he occupied a leading
position in the Manhattan Project, forming and later leading
its Montreal Theory group in Chalk River. In 1948, he obtained
a tenure at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.
George Placzek was born in Brno, Moravia, in what is now the
Czech Republic but which in 1905 was part of Austro-Hungary.
The oldest son of Alfred and Marianne Placzek, George spent his
childhood in Brno and in Alexovice, where the family possessed
a textile factory, Skene & Co. He had a brother, Friedrich, one
year younger and a sister, Edith, twelve years younger. George
studied in the Deutsches Staatsgymnasium in Brno between 1918
and 1924 and then went to study physics in the University of
Vienna and in Charles University Prague. He graduated with
distinction in Vienna in 1928. Placzek often served as an
insightful critic, identifying weak arguments and forcing his
colleagues to formulate their scientific ideas clearly. These
features made him a welcome collaborator and team member. Many
renowned physicists became his collaborators and friends, e.g.
(besides the above mentioned ones), Werner Heisenberg, Enrico
Fermi, Edoardo Amaldi, Edward Teller, Felix Bloch, Victor
Weisskopf, George Gamow, John Wheeler, Robert Oppenheimer, Leon
Van Hove and others. Placzek belongs to great persons of the
physics of the 20th century. He has set an example not only by
his discoveries, but also by the stimulating style of his
scientific work.