Quasar spectra have a variety of absorption lines whose origins range from energetic winds expelled from the central engines to unrelated, intergalactic clouds. We present multiepoch, medium-resolution spectra of eight quasars at z ~ 2 that have narrow "associated" absorption lines (AALs, within ±5000 km s-1 of the emission redshift). Two of these quasars were also known previously to have high-velocity mini-broad absorption lines (mini-BALs). We use these data, spanning ~17 yr in the observed frame with 2-4 observations per object, to search for line-strength variations as an identifier of absorption that occurs physically near ("intrinsic" to) the central active galactic nucleus. Our main results are the following: Two out of the eight quasars with narrow AALs exhibit variable AAL strengths. Two out of two quasars with high-velocity mini-BALs exhibit variable mini-BAL strengths. We also marginally detect variability in a high-velocity narrow absorption line system, blueshifted ~32,900 km s-1 with respect to the emission lines. No other absorption lines in these quasars appeared to vary. The outflow velocities of the variable AALs are 3140 and 1490 km s-1. The two mini-BALs identify much higher velocity outflows of ~28,400 and ~52,000 km s-1. Our temporal sampling yields upper limits on the variation timescales from 0.28 to 6.1 yr in the quasar rest frames. The corresponding minimum electron densities in the variable absorbers, based on the recombination timescale, are ~40,000 to ~1900 cm-3. The maximum distances of the absorbers from the continuum source, assuming photoionization with no spectral shielding, range from ~1.8 to ~7 kpc.


Streamlined and Improved Methods at Polling Locations and Early (SIMPLE) Voting Act of 2015 Amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) to require each state to allow individuals to vote in a federal election on each day during the 15-day period ending on the second day immediately preceding the election date in the same manner as voting is allowed on election day. Requires a state to ensure that each polling place that allows early voting in a federal election is located within reasonable walking distance of a stop on a public transportation route. Requires the Election Assistance Commission to issue standards for the administration of early voting in a federal election. Requires each state to provide a sufficient number of voting systems, poll workers, and other election resources (including physical resources) at a polling place used in a federal election to ensure: (1) a fair and equitable waiting time for all voters in the state, and (2) that no individual will be required to wait longer than one hour to cast a ballot at the polling place. Requires each state to develop, and implement to the greatest extent practicable, a contingency plan under which it shall provide any polling place on a federal election day whose waiting times exceed one hour with additional poll workers, machines, ballots, and other equipment and supplies, including a polling place at which individuals may cast ballots before the election date. Requires the Commission to report to Congress biennially on the impact of this Act's early voting and waiting time provisions on the administration of elections for federal office. Prescribes requirements for the counting of provisional ballots that will be treated as votes. Allows civil money penalties, intervention by aggrieved parties, and private actions to address HAVA violations by a state or jurisdiction.


We propose a new model of interdealer trading. Dealers trade together to reduce their inventory holding costs. Core dealers share these costs efficiently and provide liquidity to peripheral dealers, who have heterogeneous access to core dealers. We derive predictions about the effects of peripheral dealers' connectedness to core dealers and the allocation of aggregate inventories between core and peripheral dealers on the distribution of interdealer prices, the efficiency of interdealer trades, and trading costs for the dealers' clients. For instance, the dispersion of interdealer prices is higher when fewer peripheral dealers are connected to core dealers or when their aggregate inventory is higher.


The purpose of this thesis is twofold: to examine the validity of the rotating-field and cross-field theories of the single-phase induction motor when applied to a cage rotor machine; and to examine the extent to which skin effect is likely to modify the characteristics of a cage rotor machine. A mathematical analysis is presented for a single-phase induction motor in which the rotor parameters are modified by skin effect. Although this is based on the usual type of ideal machine, a new form of model rotor allows approximations for skin effect phenomena to be included as an integral part of the analysis. Performance equations appropriate to the rotating-field and cross-field theories are deduced, and the corresponding explanations for the steady-state mode of operation are critically examined. The evaluation of the winding currents and developed torque is simplified by the introduction of new dimensionless factors which are functions of the resistance/reactance ratios of the rotor and the speed. Tables of the factors are included for selected numerical values of the parameter ratios, and these are used to deduce typical operating characteristics for both cage and wound rotor machines. It is shown that a qualitative explanation of the mode of operation of a cage rotor machine is obtained from either theory; but the operating characteristics must be deduced from the performance equations of the rotating-field theory, because of the restrictions on the values of the rotor parameters imposed by skin effect.


Background: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a pathogen that has historically been identified in hospital-acquired infections since the mid 1900's. Epidemiologically significant trends have occurred which have identified the increasing prevalence of MRSA in the community setting. Methods: An investigation of all isolates positive for Staphylococcus aureus of the inpatient population was conducted over a nine year time period in a university teaching hospital. Additionally, a unit specific case/control study was conducted during an outbreak of MRSA in a neonatal intensive care unit. Results: From January of 1997 through December of 2005, the number of isolates identified as positive for S. aureus had increased. Additionally, the proportion of MRSA to Methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) had increased from 40 to 60%. A chi-square test was conducted comparing the number of isolates positive for MRSA in 1997 versus 2005 which was found to be statistically significant with a P value < 0. 001. Additionally, from January 1997 through December 31, 2001, the first greatest change in proportion of MRSA to MSSA was noted. The increase in isolates identified as positive for MRSA was found to be approximately three times as great. The comparison of isolates identified as MRSA in 1997 versus 2001 was statistically significant with a P value <0.001. A hospital-acquired case is defined as one in which the specimen positive for MSSA or MRSA was obtained 48 hours after admission to the hospital. Conversely, a community-acquired case is defined as having a culture positive for MSSA or MRSA obtained within 48 hours of admission. Using a chi-square test we found no statistically significant difference in identification of the acquisition of MSSA or MRSA as to whether the patients were adrnitted from home or another health care institution. The number of community-acquired cases identified as positive for MRSA was higher than those that were hospitalacquired. Lastly, through a case/control study of infants leading to NlCU employee screening for identification of employees for positive colonization status with MRSA, we identified the common source who served as a reservoir for transmission of this pathogen. Conclusion: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus has emerged as a significant public health burden and serves as a warning requiring the attention of key stakeholders to implement rigorous actions to control the spread and reduce the development of multi-drug resistant organisms.


Improved processing of seismic noise data enables detailed imaging of deep Earth structures. Insights into Earth's thermal and chemical structure, from the inner core to the crust, have historically been gained from analyzing seismic waves excited by earthquakes (1). However, the resolution of these methods is limited because nearly all earthquakes occur along tectonic plate boundaries, leaving large areas that are seismically quiet. Recent developments in seismic noise tomography have shown great potential for high-resolution imaging of Earth's interior structure (2). This approach yields data wherever a seismic instrument can be deployed, but the seismic noise signals (3) used to image the crustal and upper mantle structures often lack resolution for most of the remaining mantle. On page 1063 of this issue, Poli et al. (4) overcome some of these limitations, enabling the imaging of deep-Earth structures.


The root epidermis of Arabidopsis provides an exceptional model for studying the molecular basis of cell fate and differentiation. To obtain a systems-level view of root epidermal cell differentiation, we used a genome-wide transcriptome approach to define and organize a large set of genes into a transcriptional regulatory network. Using cell fate mutants that produce only one of the two epidermal cell types, together with fluorescence-activated cell-sorting to preferentially analyze the root epidermis transcriptome, we identified 1,582 genes differentially expressed in the root-hair or non-hair cell types, including a set of 208 "core" root epidermal genes. The organization of the core genes into a network was accomplished by using 17 distinct root epidermis mutants and 2 hormone treatments to perturb the system and assess the effects on each gene's transcript accumulation. In addition, temporal gene expression information from a developmental time series dataset and predicted gene associations derived from a Bayesian modeling approach were used to aid the positioning of genes within the network. Further, a detailed functional analysis of likely bHLH regulatory genes within the network, including MYC1, bHLH54, bHLH66, and bHLH82, showed that three distinct subfamilies of bHLH proteins participate in root epidermis development in a stage-specific manner. The integration of genetic, genomic, and computational analyses provides a new view of the composition, architecture, and logic of the root epidermal transcriptional network, and it demonstrates the utility of a comprehensive systems approach for dissecting a complex regulatory network.


We build a conversational agent which knowledge base is an online forum for parents of autistic children. We collect about 35,000 threads totalling some 600,000 replies, and label 1% of them for usefulness using Amazon Mechanical Turk. We train a Random Forest Classifier using sent2vec features to label the remaining thread replies. Then, we use word2vec to match user queries conceptually with a thread, and then a reply with a predefined context window.


Today, fiber reinforced materials are present in many industrial applications to implement lightweight solutions. These materials are used for example in automotive, aerospace and medical sectors. In the last couple of years, fiber reinforced materials with a thermoplastic matrix have gained importance due to their thermo formability and good recyclability. Besides the joining of these materials by mechanical fasteners, they can also be joined by welding in order to generate complex parts. A new welding method for composites is laser transmission welding. This welding technique has high potential for excellent reproducibility, high flexibility, and automation. The weld seam quality of several kinds of thermoplastics can be affected by the moisture content of the matrix material. During laser transmission welding, both parts are heated up at the interface. Due to the process heat, moisture in the composite evaporates and can cause pores in the connection area. The authors investigated the influence of the moisture content on the weld seam quality of endless glass fiber reinforced polyetherimide (GF PEI) welded to GF PEI containing carbon black. Before welding, the material was conditioned in three different ways to generate "dry", "wet" and "room humid" samples. With the materials, lap shear samples were produced with different welding parameters. The lap shear strength results were correlated to the moisture content and the utilized welding parameters. Furthermore, cross sections were prepared to determine the amount of pores in the joining zone and correlated to the lap shear strength results.


In this article, I argue that the debate about the irrational consequences of rationality, discussed within the tradition of the Frankfurt School, and applied to technology and machinery in the concept of technological rationality (Marcuse 1941 ; 1960 ; 2007/1964 ; 2009/1965), can help us better understand and criticise contemporary algorithmic capitalism. In particular, the dialectical relation between technics and technology proposed by Marcuse (1941) can help us better understand the contexts of building digital technologies as tools for control and domi-nance. I analyse Alphabet Inc.'s (Google) documents, such as the Securities and Exchange Filing (SEC) Form 10-Ks in the period between 2004 and 2016, as well as Search Quality Rating Guidelines (SQRG) between 2016 and 2017. Based on recorded corporate growth, I argue that the company developed on the foundation of three interconnected technological rationalities: organisational rationality of flexible management values and labour utilisation ; in-formational rationality of generating value from advertising and audience labour ; and rationality of surplus value accumulation based on reification of labour and consciousness. The company produces two main types of commodities: audience commodity and algorithmic commodity, each solidifying the company's control and dominance over Internet usage habits.


Loss of analyte from biological samples during the post-mortem interval or during storage has potentially serious implications in forensic toxicology and represents a challenge for the forensic toxicologist, especially in the interpretation of case results. The initial aim of the studies in this thesis was to evaluate the stability of some important drugs and compounds in blood under different storage conditions in order to optimize the preservation of these compounds. A second aim was to evaluate a new method of stabilizing these compounds in blood by storing them as dried blood spots on filter paper. The third aim was to investigate methods by which corrections could be made for analyte losses based on quantification of their degradation products, which would serve as markers of the former presence of the compounds even if they were no longer detectable.
The background to toxicology and its classification systems is reviewed along with the most common areas of application, including forensic toxicology. Details are given of the most commonly-used matrices and of current problems facing forensic toxicologists, particularly the problem of analyte instability. The literature concerning stability of drugs and pesticides in biological samples are reviewed and discussed as well as methods applied to enhance and stabilize analytes for long storage periods. Background is provided on methodologies used in the work reported in this thesis, including extraction techniques and instrumental analysis by LC-MS/MS and GC/MS. Also, because of its importance in forensic toxicology at present validation procedures and requirements are also discussed.
An initial study was made of drug stability during storage in blood samples for 1 year under conventional laboratory conditions using selected drugs from the benzodiazepine group, alprazolam, lorazepam, oxazepam and estazolam. Blank blood containing these drugs at low and high concentrations was stored in tubes at -20° C, 4°C and room temperature. Half of the tubes contained fluoride-oxalate preservative. Blood samples were analysed on the first (day zero), second and fourth days, and after one week, two weeks, one month, two months, three months, six months and one year using a method which was developed and validated for this study based on solid phase extraction (SPE) and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Alprazolam and estazolam were stable at -20° C and 4° C, but decreased by almost 10% at room temperature (RT) at both concentrations. Lorazepam and oxazepam were stable at 20°C but were poorly stable at 4° C and decreased by 100% at RT by the end of the 1 year period. Sodium fluoride stabilised the drugs by approximately 13% compared to unpreserved samples. The long-term stability of alprazolam and estazolam is attributed to the presence of the trizolo ring in their structures which makes the compounds more resistant to hydrolysis, the most prominent degradation reaction affecting benzodiazepines.

A similar study was performed on the stability of morphine-3- and 6-glucuronide and codeine-6-glucuronide in blood and urine under the same storage conditions. These compounds were stable at -20° C, losing less than 7% but losses were higher at 4° C, up to 18% in blood and 28% in urine, and at room temperature up to 54% in blood and 78% in urine after 1 year. Sodium fluoride did not have a significant effect (<10% increase in stability).

An investigation was carried out on stabilisation of hydrolytically-labile benzodiazepines and cocaine in blood during storage as dried blood spots (DBS) on filter paper. An analytical method was developed and validated for this study based on SPE and LC-MS/MS analysis. The drugs selected were flunitrazepam, temazepam, oxazepam, lorazepam, nitrazepam, diazepam and cocaine. Blood spots (100 µl blood) on Guthrie card 903 containing the drugs at 1000ng/ml were dried overnight at RT. Spots were cut out and extracted with buffer (pH 6), which was analysed with the validated method. DBS were stored in duplicate at RT, 4°C and -20°C for up to one year. Degradation of the drugs in DBS in all storage conditions was less than for the corresponding liquid blood samples stored under similar conditions. More than 80% of each analyte could be recovered from DBS after one month while 15 % cocaine and 74 % of the benzodiazepines were recovered after 1 year under all conditions.

The degradation of diazepam, temazepam, chlorodiazepoxide and oxazepam by hydrolysis was studied over a 1 month period under conditions designed to accelerate the reaction (80 °C, pH 2 and 12) and the hydrolysis products 2-methylamino 5-chlorobenzophenone (MACB) and 2-amino 5-chlorobenzophenone (ACB) were analysed by a method based on SPE and LC-MS/MS which was developed and validated for this study. MACB and ACB in whole blood and urine were evaluated as indicators of the original drug concentrations. Blank blood and urine containing these compounds at 1000 ng/ml stored at high temperature (80°C) and under acidic (pH 2) and basic (pH 12) conditions at room temperature for one month. The samples were analyzed in duplicate at days 1, 2, 4, 7, 14 and 30. MACB and ACB were the main hydrolysis products and their concentrations increased as degradation of the drugs proceeded. They could be detected when the starting materials had completely disappeared. However, MACB and ACB were found to be further degraded under some of the conditions used and a further study was made of the conversion of MACB to ACB. It was concluded that the drugs studied were more sensitive to alkaline pH than to acidic pH or high temperature and that MACB and ACB can be used to confirm the original presence of these drugs in samples, especially when they have decomposed due to poor or prolonged storage conditions.

A final study was made of organophosphates (OPs) and their dialkylphosphate (DAP) hydrolysis products. A new method was developed and validated for analysis of OPs and DAPs in blood samples based on SPE and GCMS after derivatization with N-tert-butyldimethylsilyl-N-methyltrifluroacetamide. The influence of sodium fluoride preservative and storage as DBS on filter paper on the stability of OPs in blood was assessed over a 3 day period at RT. With preservative, DAPs concentrations increased as degradation of the OPs proceeded and they could be detected when the parent compounds had completely disappeared. OPs in DBS showed good stability in comparison to liquid blood samples containing NAF and the parent compounds were detected at the end of the observation period.
It was concluded that careful attention should be given to the storage of samples to avoid loss of analyte and erroneous interpretation of results. DBS could be an effective and inexpensive way of increasing analyte retention but routine use of preservatives without evaluation of their effects is discouraged, as these may accelerate loss of analyte.


One of the most severe pains experienced by a woman is that of childbirth. Providing analgesia for labor has always been a challenge more so because of the myths and controversies surrounding labor. It is imperative to understand the pain transmission during various stages of labor in order to select a proper technique for providing labor analgesia. The adverse effects of labor pain are numerous and affect both the mother as well as the fetus. Currently lumbar epidural is considered to be the gold standard technique for labor analgesia. Local anaesthetics like bupivacaine and ropivacaine are commonly used and adjuvants like clonidine, fentanyl and neostigmine have been extensively studied. However, despite being so popular, epidural analgesia is not without complications, with hypotension being the most common. Other complications include accidental dural puncture, infection, intravascular placement, high block and epidural hematoma. Other neuraxial techniques include continuous caudal analgesia, and combined spinal epidural analgesia. The numerous studies investigating the various aspects of this method have also served to dispel various myths surrounding epidural analgesia like increased incidence of cesarean section and instrumental delivery, prolongation of labor and future back pain. The future of labor analgesia lies in the incorporation of ultrasound in identifying the epidural space helping in proper catheter placement. The keywords labor epidural in the PUBMED revealed a total of 5018 articles with 574 review articles and 969 clinical trials. The relevant articles along with their references were extensively studied.


The works of Malory portray a masculinity which is based on prowess in combat and desire for a more or less unattainable woman. Despite this, the masculinity is deeply concerned with homosocial desire verging on the homoerotic, and with discussing emotional experiences. Similarly, the masculinity of Hawaii Five-0 (2010) is based in shared violence, but diverges from the standard type of masculinity portrayed in cop shows by including homoerotic elements as well as the discussion of emotional experiences. Thus, Hawaii Five-0 is not only groundbreaking but in fact reinvents a masculinity which was once unremarkable in a work of chivalry.


A 47-year-old woman underwent left radical nephrectomy in 1995, and pathological diagnosis showed a primary renal cell carcinoma with clear cell subtype. Four years later on her routine checkup, abdominal computerized tomography revealed a 9-cm of predominantly solid and partially cystic tumor in the pelvic cavity. The patient was referred to Gynecologic Department and a total hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy was subsequently performed under the diagnosis of a left ovarian tumor. A cut surface of the solid component of the tumor was macroscopically yellowish. Pathological examination revealed alveolar growth of tumor cells with abundant clear cytoplasm including fat components. In some areas of the tumor, there were patterns of tubular structures which were cystically dilated. The typical findings usually found in the primary ovarian clear cell adenocarcinoma were absent in the tumor, and the final pathological diagnosis was left ovarian metastasis of renal cell carcinoma. The ovarian metastasis of renal cell carcinoma is quite rare and to our knowledge only eleven cases were reported in the past 20 years. We report on a case and review the literature.


Approximately 50% of Wistar "BB" rats spontaneously develop overt diabetes mellitus characterized by loss of β-cells and "insulitis." To define abnormalities of immunoregulation in these rats, we quantitated their major circulating lymphocyte subsets. Independent of the development of diabetes, we found the BB rats to have a markedly increased percentage of circulating B lymphocytes which is secondary to a severe T-cell lymphocytopenia, with the major circulating T-cell subset reacting with monoclonal antibody W3/25 markedlydecreased. This lymphocytopenia is present in every animal studied and contrasted with studies of the nondiabetic Wistar strain from which the "BB" rats were developed.


Culverts can impact the migration and dispersal of aquatic animals and result in population fragmentation, increasing the risk of local extinction for endangered species such as the white-clawed crayfish Austropotamobius pallipes . This study used radio telemetry and passive integrated transponder (PIT) telemetry to determine whether existing and experimental covered culverts affect the upstream and downstream movements of adult white-clawed crayfish. Daily crayfish movement rates did not differ significantly between an unlit 363-m long culvert and open stream channel sections. Crayfish moved into dark, covered sections volitionally. However, limited upstream movement occurred at sudden transitions of bed height or smooth-concrete box culvert sections with fast flow, suggesting partial barrier effects. In the 20-m long experimental in-stream culvert, also dark, but with natural stream bed, 70% of radio-tagged crayfish released downstream entered the culvert, as did 60% of those released upstream. Overall 35% passed through, with similar numbers in each direction. We conclude that dark culverts up to several hundred metres do not inhibit dispersal of white-clawed crayfish, provided stream slope, bed type and water velocity are amenable for movement and refuge. Care is required to ensure that culverts are bioengineered to ensure that average water velocity is sufficiently low and local hydraulic variation high, the bed and/or sidewalls contain refuge structures, and there are no cross-channel steps in bed level. Smooth-bedded box culverts are unlikely to be suitable for white-clawed crayfish.


Purpose : The purpose of this study was to investigate the existence of familiarity bias amongst individual investors in the South African stock market. Problem investigated : According to Warren Buffet, one needs to maintain emotional detachment if one wants to be a successful investor. However, recent research indicates that the perceptions of companies' products and brands may influence individuals' investment decisions in the stock market. This phenomenon implies that the investment decisions of individual investors are not purely based on firm fundamentals as suggested by traditional finance theories, but might be driven partly by the positive or negative attitude they have towards certain companies' products and brands. The existence of familiarity bias amongst individual investors was investigated to determine if individuals prefer to invest in companies they are familiar with as opposed to unfamiliar companies. Methodology : A quantitative approach was followed. An online survey was used to show images of familiar and unfamiliar company brands to respondents, whereafter respondents were asked to indicate whether they will invest in the shares of the identified companies. The statistical analysis entailed descriptive statistics as well as one-way analyses of variance to test the stated hypotheses. Main findings : The results of this exploratory study indicate that investors do exhibit familiarity bias when choosing between different companies to invest in. Value of the research : The inclination of individual investors to invest in familiar corporate brands can have implications for the marketing industry, financial markets, the performance of companies as well as the investment performance of individual investors in the sense that it would seem that company brands could have an influence on investment decisions.


We present an automatic method for the synthesis of certificates for components in embedded real-time systems. A certificate is a small homomorphic abstraction that can transparently replace the component during model checking: if the verification with the certificate succeeds, then the component is guaranteed to be correct; if the verification with the certificate fails, then the component itself must be erroneous. We give a direct construction, based on a forward and backward reachability analysis of the timed system, and an iterative refinement process, which produces a series of successively smaller certificates. In our experiments, model checking the certificate is several orders of magnitude faster than model checking the original system.


The widespread appearance of frogs with deformed bodies has generated much press coverage over the past decade. Frogs with extra limbs or digits, missing limbs or digits, or misaligned appendages raise an alarming question: "Are deformed humans next?" Taking a fresh look at this disturbing environmental problem, this reference provides a balanced overview of the science behind the malformed frog phenomenon. Bringing together data from ecology, parasitology, and other disciplines, Michael Lannoo considers the possible causes of these deformities, tells which frogs have been affected, and addresses questions about what these malformations might mean to human populations. Featuring high-quality radiographic images, "Malformed Frogs" suggests that our focus should be on finding practical solutions, a key component of which will be controlling chemical, nutrient, and pesticide runoff into wetlands.


The conventional classification schemes -- notably multinomial logistic regression -- used in conjunction with convolutional networks (convnets) are classical in statistics, designed without consideration for the usual coupling with convnets, stochastic gradient descent, and backpropagation. In the specific application to supervised learning for convnets, a simple scale-invariant classification stage turns out to be more robust than multinomial logistic regression, appears to result in slightly lower errors on several standard test sets, has similar computational costs, and features precise control over the actual rate of learning. "Scale-invariant" means that multiplying the input values by any nonzero scalar leaves the output unchanged.


Paper completed for Emerging Technologies, 9410 Seminar in Information Science and Learning Technology, Fall 2015, School of Information Science & Technologies, University of Missouri.


The task of matching data from two heterogeneous domains naturally arises in various areas such as web search, collaborative filtering, and drug design. In web search, existing work has designed relevance models to match queries and documents by exploiting either user clicks or content of queries and documents. To the best of our knowledge, however, there has been little work on principled approaches to leveraging both clicks and content to learn a matching model for search. In this paper, we propose a framework for learning to match heterogeneous objects. The framework learns two linear mappings for two objects respectively, and matches them via the dot product of their images after mapping. Moreover, when different regularizations are enforced, the framework renders a rich family of matching models. With orthonormal constraints on mapping functions, the framework subsumes Partial Least Squares (PLS) as a special case. Alternatively, with a l1+l2 regularization, we obtain a new model called Regularized Mapping to Latent Structures (RMLS). RMLS enjoys many advantages over PLS, including lower time complexity and easy parallelization. To further understand the matching framework, we conduct generalization analysis and apply the result to both PLS and RMLS. We apply the framework to web search and implement both PLS and RMLS using a click-through bipartite with metadata representing features of queries and documents. We test the efficacy and scalability of RMLS and PLS on large scale web search problems. The results show that both PLS and RMLS can significantly outperform baseline methods, while RMLS substantially speeds up the learning process.


Binding of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) to its receptor (uPAR/CD87) regulates cellular adhesion, migration, and tumor cell invasion. However, it is unclear how glycosyl phosphatidylinositol-anchored uPAR, which lacks a transmembrane structure, mediates signal transduction. It has been proposed that uPAR forms cis-interactions with integrins as an associated protein and thereby transduces proliferative or migratory signals to cells upon binding of uPA. We provide evidence that soluble uPAR (suPAR) specifically binds to integrins α4β1, α6β1, α9β1, and αvβ3 on Chinese hamster ovary cells in a cation-dependent manner. Anti-integrin and anti-uPAR antibodies effectively block binding of suPAR to these integrins. Binding of suPAR to α4β1 and αvβ3 is blocked by known soluble ligands and by the integrin mutations that inhibit ligand binding. These results suggest that uPAR is an integrin ligand rather than, or in addition to, an integrin-associated protein. In addition, we demonstrate that glycosyl phosphatidylinositol-anchored uPAR on the cell surface specifically binds to integrins on the apposing cells, suggesting that uPAR-integrin interaction may mediate cell-cell interaction (trans-interaction). These previously unrecognized uPAR-integrin interactions may allow uPAR to transduce signals through the engaged integrin without a hypothetical transmembrane adapter and may provide a potential therapeutic target for control of inflammation and cancer.


Virtual reality is an important topic for the engineers of tomorrow. This is especially the case when it comes to modeling, visualization and interaction with complex information structures and concepts. The paper presents the results of a synergy between a practical course in virtual reality and energy efficiency in public buildings research. The practical course focuses on acquiring knowledge of virtual reality hardware, software and applications by simulating an interdisciplinary industrial project. The project consist of two tasks. The first task is to build a system for capturing the users' behaviour and energy use in public buildings and the second task is to create a virtual reality system for interactive visualization of the collected data. With this goal in mind, an office room with sensors, automation devices and energy consumers was created. A virtual reality low cost system was then used to represent the virtual office and to augment it with real-time information.


In this far-reaching examination of environmental problems and politics in northern Thailand, Tim Forsyth and Andrew Walker analyze deforestation, water supply, soil erosion, use of agrochemicals, and biodiversity in order to challenge popularly held notions of environmental crisis. They argue that such crises have been used to support political objectives of state expansion and control in the uplands. They have also been used to justify the alternative directions advocated by an array of NGOs. In official and alternative discourses of economic development, the peoples living in Thailand's hill country are typically cast as either guardians or destroyers of forest resources, often depending on their ethnicity. Political and historical factors have created a simplistic, misleading, and often scientifically inaccurate environmental narrative: Hmong farmers, for example, are thought to exhibit environmentally destructive practices, whereas the Karen are seen as linked to and protective of their ancestral home. Forsyth and Walker reveal a much more complex relationship of hill farmers to the land, to other ethnic groups, and to the state. They conclude that current explanations fail to address the real causes of environmental problems and unnecessarily restrict the livelihoods of local people. The authors' critical assessment of simplistic environmental narratives, as well as their suggestions for finding solutions, will be valuable in international policy discussions about environmental issues in rapidly developing countries. Moreover, their redefinition of northern Thailand's environmental problems, and their analysis of how political influences have reinforced inappropriate policies, demonstrate new ways of analyzing how environmental science and knowledge are important arenas for political control.


Ben Blewitt is desperate for a dog. He's picked out the biggest and best dogs from the books in the library - and he just knows he's going to get one for his birthday. Ben is excited when the big day arrives, but he receives a picture of a dog instead of a real one! But the imagination can be a powerful thing, and when Ben puts his to work, his adventures really begin!


Most of the approaches for indoor RGBD semantic labeling focus on using pixels or super pixels to train a classifier. In this paper, we implement a higher level segmentation using a hierarchy of super pixels to obtain a better segmentation for training our classifier. By focusing on meaningful segments that conform more directly to objects, regardless of size, we train a random forest of decision trees as a classifier using simple features such as the 3D size, LAB color histogram, width, height, and shape as specified by a histogram of surface normal's. We test our method on the NYU V2 depth dataset, a challenging dataset of cluttered indoor environments. Our experiments using the NYU V2 depth dataset show that our method achieves state of the art results on both a general semantic labeling introduced by the dataset (floor, structure, furniture, and objects) and a more object specific semantic labeling. We show that training a classifier on a segmentation from a hierarchy of super pixels yields better results than training directly on super pixels, patches, or pixels as in previous work.


Ion implantation of insulator surfaces offers opportunities to alter many surface properties, both from modifications of the pre-existing structures, to addition of new material and formation of thermodynamically metastable compounds. Optical applications have included production of waveguides, waveguide lasers, SHG waveguides, related devices and surface luminescence. Similarly, metallic implants have found considerable use in the generation of nanoparticles which are used in non-linear optics, or where the metallic nanoparticles are size and material selected to control the wavelength dependence of the reflectivity. In all these cases the initial results of the implantation generates variations in property which change with depth. The complex pattern of change is invariably accompanied by unwanted side effects. For example, for luminescence and laser signals derived from rare earth implants there is unwanted host lattice damage. This lattice damage cannot easily be thermally removed without unwanted clustering of the rare earth ions. Conversely, in metallic nanoparticle usage the clustering is desirable, but the implants form a depth dependent particle size distribution whereas a narrow sie distribution is preferred. Once again simple thermal treatments alone cannot establish the ideal conditions. A major value of laser pulsed annealing is that one can achieve controlled temperature excursions for a sufficiently short time duration that long term diffusion effects can be avoided. Wavelength selectivity can further allow treatment to initially couple energy either to the host or specific types of site. Examples variously include both the removal of damage and/or nanoparticles, and controlled particle growth or precipitation of new crystalline phases. These case studies show that pulse laser anneals can make major modifications in a wide range of properties. Some new experiments are proposed.


The selective use of carry-save arithmetic, where appropriate, can accelerate a variety of arithmetic-dominated circuits. Carrysave arithmetic occurs naturally in a variety of DSP applications, and further opportunities to exploit it can be exposed through systematic data flow transformations that can be applied by a hardware compiler. Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), however, are not particularly well suited to carry-save arithmetic. To address this concern, we introduce the "field programmable counter array" (FPCA), an accelerator for carry-save arithmetic intended for integration into an FPGA as an alternative to DSP blocks. In addition to multiplication and multiply accumulation, the FPCA can accelerate more general carry-save operations, such as multi-input addition (e.g., add integers) and multipliers that have been fused with other adders. Our experiments show that the FPCA accelerates a widervariety of applications than DSP blocks and improves performance, area utilization, and energy consumption compared with soft FPGA logic.


Bacterial protein toxins are genetically encoded proteinaceous macromolecules that upon exposure causes perturbation of cellular metabolism in a susceptible host. A bacterial toxin can work at a distance from the site of infection, and has direct and quantifiable actions. Bacterial protein toxins can target and interfere with almost any aspect of cellular metabolism. They are among the most potent, per unit weight, of all toxic substances, and are effective even in minute concentrations. The ability to harness those very attributes can turn bacterial protein toxins into invaluable tools. Bacterial protein toxins have been instrumental in exploring host cell biology, and we owe many of our insights into cellular physiology to their use. The application range of a native bacterial toxin as a tool however will eventually be limited by its biology. By combining new possibilities of protein engineering with technological advances, and thus enhancing the tool itself, bacterial protein toxins can be increasingly precisely tailored to address specific questions. The bacterial protein toxin cytolethal distending toxin (CDT) is the only known bacterial protein toxin that acts as a DNase in the nucleus. Chapter 2 and Appendix 1 describe the discovery of host proteins that are essential for bringing the enzymatically active CDT subunit CDTB to its target location. With a newly developed haploid genetic screen, we identify for the first time cellular host factors that are essential for intracellular CDT trafficking, and reveal that CDTs from different bacterial species exploit different subsets of the human proteome to achieve intoxication. Chaper 3 comprises the development of CDT as a tool via sortase-mediated trans-peptidation, to further explore CDT biology and the accompanying host cell biology. TMEM181, not only an essential factor for E. coli CDT intoxication, but a highly conserved yet previously completely uncharacterized cellular protein, is explored in some detail. In addition, we identify GRB2 as a novel CDT interactor, not uncovered in the haploid genetic screens possibly because of its essential nature for eukaryotic cell survival. In Chapter 4, bacterial protein toxin engineering using sortase is expanded to aerolysin, a model for pore-forming toxins. This is the first description of chemo-enzymatic engineering of aerolysin. This enzymatic means to install labels at precise predefined locations and the generation of single and double-labeled aerolysin monomers enables investigation of the fate of individual N and C-terminal domains, while preserving the functionality of the toxin. Chapter 5 describes the generation of mouse monoclonal antibodies against the fluorophore Alexa Fluor 647 (AF647) by microengraving screening. As an accessory tool, it complements the bacterial protein toxin toolkit as it transforms the single purpose AF647 into a multi-functional handle that can be used not only in fluorescence detection applications, but also in biochemical approaches such as immunoprecipitation and immunoblotting. Bacterial protein toxins are very precise modifiers of specific host factors, they are exact instruments to dissect basic host cell physiology. Recent advances in molecular engineering allow us now to tweak, calibrate and target those tools better. In a virtuous cycle, this drives knowledge accumulation of both toxin and host cell biology. Moreover, we are now able to tailor bacterial toxins to a variety of biomedical and molecular applications as diverse as immunotoxins, vaccines and next generation sequencing. We can expect many more exciting and surprising insights and biomedical applications to emerge from the field of bacterial protein toxin research.


While the official gender pay gap figure is 9.1% for full-time workers, the pay gap between men and women aged 22-39 is negligible. The gap widens later in life, often as a result of women taking time out of the workplace to raise children, and returning to work in a part-time capacity, reducing future earning potential. Calculations that put the pay gap above 9.1% are achieved by moving away from like-for-like comparisons between men and women in the work place. The Equal Pay Day campaign calculates a figure five percentage points higher, or 55% higher, than the official figures by using the mean rather than the median of the ONS data, thereby including outlier salaries.


Giant axonal neuropathy (GAN) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease caused by autosomal recessive mutations in the GAN gene resulting in a loss of a ubiquitously expressed protein, gigaxonin. Gene replacement therapy is a promising strategy for treatment of the disease; however, the effectiveness and safety of gigaxonin reintroduction have not been tested in human GAN nerve cells. Here we report the derivation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from three GAN patients with different GAN mutations. Motor neurons differentiated from GAN iPSCs exhibit accumulation of neurofilament (NF-L) and peripherin (PRPH) protein and formation of PRPH aggregates, the key pathological phenotypes observed in patients. Introduction of gigaxonin either using a lentiviral vector or as a stable transgene resulted in normalization of NEFL and PRPH levels in GAN neurons and disappearance of PRPH aggregates. Importantly, overexpression of gigaxonin had no adverse effect on survival of GAN neurons, supporting the feasibility of gene replacement therapy. Our findings demonstrate that GAN iPSCs provide a novel model for studying human GAN neuropathologies and for the development and testing of new therapies in relevant cell types.


Introduction: Permanent hearing loss and tinnitus as side-effects from treatment with the anticancer drug cisplatin is a clinical problem. Ototoxicity may be reduced by co-administration of an otoprotective agent, but the results in humans have so far been modest. Aim: The present preclinical in vivo study aimed to explore the protective efficacy of hydrogen (H2) inhalation on ototoxicity induced by intravenous cisplatin. Materials and Methods: Albino guinea pigs were divided into four groups. The Cispt (n = 11) and Cispt+H2 (n = 11) groups were given intravenous cisplatin (8 mg/kg b.w., injection rate 0.2 ml/min). Immediately after, the Cispt+H2 group also received gaseous H2 (2% in air, 60 min). The H2 group (n = 5) received only H2 and the Control group (n = 7) received neither cisplatin nor H2. Ototoxicity was assessed by measuring frequency specific ABR thresholds before and 96 h after treatment, loss of inner (IHCs) and outer (OHCs) hair cells, and by performing densitometry-based immunohistochemistry analysis of cochlear synaptophysin, organic transporter 2 (OCT2), and copper transporter 1 (CTR1) at 12 and 7 mm from the round window. By utilizing metabolomics analysis of perilymph the change of metabolites in the perilymph was assessed. Results: Cisplatin induced electrophysiological threshold shifts, hair cell loss, and reduced synaptophysin immunoreactivity in the synapse area around the IHCs and OHCs. H2 inhalation mitigated all these effects. Cisplatin also reduced the OCT2 intensity in the inner and outer pillar cells and in the stria vascularis as well as the CTR1 intensity in the synapse area around the IHCs, the Deiters' cells, and the stria vascularis. H2 prevented the majority of these effects. Conclusion: H2 inhalation can reduce cisplatin-induced ototoxicity on functional, cellular, and subcellular levels. It is proposed that synaptopathy may serve as a marker for cisplatin ototoxicity. The effect of H2 on the antineoplastic activity of cisplatin needs to be further explored.


Humans can visually see things and can differentiate objects easily but for computers, it is not that easy. Computer Vision is an interdisciplinary field that allows computers to comprehend, from digital videos and images, and differentiate objects. With the Introduction to CNNs/DNNs, computer vision is tremendously used in applications like ADAS, robotics and autonomous systems, etc. This thesis aims to propose an architecture, RMNv2, that is well suited for computer vision applications such as ADAS, etc.RMNv2 is inspired by its original architecture Mobilenet V2. It is a modified version of Mobilenet V2. It includes changes like disabling downsample layers, Heterogeneous kernel-based convolutions, mish activation, and auto augmentation. The proposed model is trained from scratch in the CIFAR10 dataset and produced an accuracy of 92.4% with a total number of parameters of 1.06M. The results indicate that the proposed model has a model size of 4.3MB which is like a 52.2% decrease from its original implementation. Due to its less size and competitive accuracy the proposed model can be easily deployed in resource-constrained devices like mobile and embedded devices for applications like ADAS etc. Further, the proposed model is also implemented in real-time embedded devices like NXP Bluebox 2.0 and NXP i.MX RT1060 for image classification tasks.


Previous investigations have examined the backscatter from empty and internally loaded shells with no damping treatment, demonstrating the primary importance of helical shear waves. The helical waves contribute to large backscatter for aspect angles within 30 deg of normal for the empty shell. The region increases to 45 deg of normal for the internally loaded shells. A constrained layer was applied to the cylindrical section of an internally loaded shell to damp the helical waves while decoupling them from the internal structures. The intended effect was to lower the backscatter levels and reduce the angular width of strong backscatter to within 30 deg of normal. This preliminary investigation demonstrates the achievement of each of these goals. In addition, the importance of direct acoustic backscatter from the attachment locations of the internal rings was highlighted. The bistatic measurements were conducted over a frequency range of 2.5


We consider a wide-band ad-hoc network with coherent radios in a slow-fading environment, and we analyze the performance of different physical layer (PHY) and medium access (MAC) schemes in such a network. Most of the existing analysis assume that PHY is based on a nearest neighborhood decoding, which is not optimal in this case. Instead, we focus on MLE detector. We show that, since some of the interference is mitigated by the MLE detector, the network design paradigm changes significantly: a non- coordinated PHY and MAC, in addition to a low complexity, exhibit better performance than more complex coordinated, currently used PHY and MAC schemes. Our results suggest that most of the complexity should be invested in a receiver design instead of intricate MAC or signaling protocols. We also present a novel algorithm, using Monte- Carlo method, to calculate bounds on the rates that can be achieved with MLE detector.


Path-metaheuristics have been used successfully in combinatorial optimization. However, in continuous optimization problems, the lack of neighborhood definitions makes them difficult to design and implement. This paper proposes a neighborhood operator based on first order linear approximation of the gradient. In order to adapt the linear approximation to multi-objective optimization, we use the multi-objective decomposition approach so the operator can be used for single and multi-objective continuous optimization problems. The proposed approach is validated using a Threshold Accepting algorithm based on decomposition and a set of benchmark problems for multi-objective optimization. Results show a significant improvement over Pareto lineal sets.


We report and compare radiocarbon observations made on 2 meridional oceanographic sections along 150°W in the South Pacific in 1991 and 2005. The distributions reflect the progressive penetration of nuclear weapons-produced 14C into the oceanic thermocline. The changes over the 14 yr between occupations are demonstrably large relative to any possible drift in our analytical standardization. The computed difference field based on the gridded data in the upper 1600 m of the section exhibits a significant decrease over time (approaching 40 to 50‰ in Δ14C) in the upper 200–300 m, consistent with the decadal post-bomb decline in atmospheric 14C levels. A strong positive anomaly (increase with time), centered on the low salinity core of the Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW), approaches 50–60‰ in Δ14C, a clear signature of the downstream evolution of the 14C transient in this water mass. We use this observation to estimate the transit time of AAIW from its "source region" in the southeast South Pacific and to compute the effective reservoir age of this water mass. The 2 sections show small but significant changes in the abyssal 14C distributions. Between 1991 and 2005, Δ14C has increased by 9‰ below 2000 m north of 55°S. This change is accompanied overall by a modest increase in salinity and dissolved oxygen, as well as a slight decrease in dissolved silica. Such changes are indicative of greater ventilation. Calculation of "phosphate star" also indicates that this may be due to a shift from the Southern Ocean toward North Atlantic Deep Water as the ventilation source of the abyssal South Pacific.


Purpose

This paper aims to explore traditional FM research and potential trends.

Design/methodology/approach

This was an exploratory review of literature.

Findings

The main thrust of the argument in this paper is that FM research develops a more communicable and proven understanding of how to apply a wide spectrum of externally developed methods in unique FM settings as well as developing new methods. Second, a more robust FM knowledge base can inform designers, engineers and architects given that FMs are experts of design in use.

Research limitations/implications

This research focused on the UK, Europe, America and Australia. It does not represent a comprehensive/systematic review of the research activities occurring in FM globally.

Practical implications

Research traditionally focuses on hard FM; in contrast, FM outcomes are heavily dependent on the way end users interact with and use organisational services and equipment. This suggests that there is a gap between practice and research, and that intuitive and in-depth FM knowledge about end users has yet to be captured and formalised through research.

Social implications

Development of FM research requires uptake of contemporary research trends towards partnered research, working across disciplines.

Originality/value

Achieving a more robust FM knowledge base would help capture the wealth of knowledge that FMs have about buildings in use; this could then be used by FMs and also by designers to improve their products and services in disciplines like engineering and architecture.


Accurate classification of categorical outcomes is essential in a wide range of applications. Due to computational issues with minimizing the empirical 0/1 loss, Fisher consistent losses have been proposed as viable proxies. However, even with smooth losses, direct minimization remains a daunting task. To approximate such a minimizer, various boosting algorithms have been suggested. For example, with exponential loss, the AdaBoost algorithm (Freund and Schapire, 1995) is widely used for two-class problems and has been extended to the multi-class setting (Zhu et al., 2009). Alternative loss functions, such as the logistic and the hinge losses, and their corresponding boosting algorithms have also been proposed (Zou et al., 2008; Wang, 2012). In this paper we demonstrate that a broad class of losses, including non-convex functions, achieve Fisher consistency, and in addition can be used for explicit estimation of the conditional class probabilities. Furthermore, we provide a generic boosting algorithm that is not loss-specific. Extensive simulation results suggest that the proposed boosting algorithms could outperform existing methods with properly chosen losses and bags of weak learners.


No one has enough time to write; take that as a given, but nearly everyone can find 10-20 minutes a day to jot down a few notes – things noticed, a fact read in the newspaper or book, or heard on the radio. These notes will come in handy when a larger block of time for writing presents itself, for they are often the kindling for a first draft. Writing a little bit each day is akin to leaving the faucets dripping on a cold January night; while the ideas are flowing the creative pipes won't freeze.


In this article, written as part of a symposium on "Contracts in the Real World," Professor Knapp draws on his 40-plus years of experience teaching the Contracts course, to suggest some of the various ways in which the reports of decided cases can be employed in the teaching of that subject, beyond the basic task of communicating doctrine to students entering law study. He cites and discusses dozens of cases, ranging over more than a century and a half of American and English jurisprudence. Although most of the cases he analyzes can be found in present or past editions of the Knapp, Crystal & Prince casebook, Problems in Contract Law, a majority will probably be familiar to any teacher of the subject.


Continuous quantification of aerial emissions from animal feeding operations over an extended time period is
labor and resource intensive. Strategically reducing measurement time to achieve comparable emission results is thus highly
desirable. This article delineates the effects of measurement intervals on estimation of annual mean and maximum daily
ammonia emission rate (ER) of high-rise (HR) and manure-belt (MB) layer houses. The full dataset consisted of 318 daily
ER values of four HR houses from weekly 48 h continuous measurement and 112 daily ER values of two MB houses from
bi-weekly 48 h continuous measurements over one-year period. Each full dataset was sampled to yield subsets of daily ER
at different intervals, i.e., one week (HR houses only), two weeks, one month, two months, or three months. The corresponding
estimates of annual ammonia ER from the subsets were computed and compared with that of the full dataset. The results
indicate that the annual mean daily ER values derived from the subsets progressively deviated from that of the full dataset
by 3% to 37% for the HR houses and by 6% to 41% for the MB houses. The augmented measurement intervals (i.e., greater
than bi-weekly for the HR houses and greater than monthly for the MB houses) led to considerable underestimation of the
daily maximum ER values, and thus are not recommended when daily maximum emission values are to be assessed.


We examine the theory and behavior in practice of Bayesian and bootstrap methods for generating error bands on impulse responses in dynamic linear models. The Bayesian intervals have a firmer theoretical foundation in small samples, are easier to compute, and are about as good in small samples by classical criteria as are the best bootstrap intervals. Bootstrap intervals based directly on the simulated small-sample distribution of an estimator, without bias correction, perform very badly. We show that a method that has been used to extend to the overidentified case standard algorithms for Bayesian intervals in reduced form models is incorrect, and we show how to obtain correct Bayesian intervals for this case.


The time course of this increase in muscle n-3 PUFA composition and anabolic protein expression is currently unknown. In Chapter 2 of this thesis ten healthy male participants consumed 5gd of n-3 PUFA-enriched fish oil for 4 weeks. Muscle biopsies samples were collected in the fasted, rested state 2 weeks prior, immediately before (Week 0), at Week 1, Week 2 and Week 4 after initiation of fish oil supplementation for assessment of changes in lipid composition and expression of anabolic signalling proteins over time. Muscle lipid profile, (% total n-3 PUFA/total fatty acids) increased from W0 to W2 (3.8 ± 0.2 to 5.1 ± 0.3 %) and continued to rise at W4 (6.7 ± 0.4 %). Total protein content of FAK increased from W0 to W4 (3.9 ± 1.5 fold) whereas total mTOR was increased from W0 at W1 (2.4 ± 0.6 fold) with no further significant increases at W2 and W4. For the first time this study demonstrates that oral fish oil consumption results in an increase of n-3 PUFA levels in human skeletal muscle that is associated with increases in the expression of anabolic signalling proteins. Our understanding of the anabolic signalling process that underpins muscle protein synthesis has been advanced by the application of the WB technique. However, the semi-quantitative nature and poor dynamic range associated with the WB technique may lead to incongruence regarding the molecular response of skeletal muscle to anabolic stimulation. Chapter 3 of this thesis developed and applied a quantitative in vitro [γ-P] ATP kinase assay (KA) alongside a traditional WB methodology to assess p70S6K1 signalling responses in human skeletal muscle to RE and protein feeding. Following validation in tissue culture with rapamycin and optimization of the assay in human skeletal muscle, this methodology was tested in a physiologically relevant context. In this regard, six males performed unilateral resistance exercise (RE) followed by the consumption of 20 g of protein. Skeletal muscle biopsies were Chris McGlory: Ph.D. Thesis ii obtained at pre-RE, at 1 h and 3 h post-RE. In response to RE and protein consumption, p70S6K1 activity was significantly increased from pre-RE at 1 h and 3 h post-RE (8.84 ± 0.78 to 17.18 ± 2.62 and 15.62 ± 3.12 μU/mg). However, phosphorylated p70S6K1 was not significantly elevated. To assess if a combined stimulus of RE and feeding can influence AMPK activity we directly measured AMPK activity. AMPK activity was suppressed from pre-RE at 3 h post-RE (24.15 ± 1.6 to 15.64 ± 1.07 mU/mg), whereas phosphorylated ACC was unchanged. These data therefore highlight the utility of the KA to study skeletal muscle plasticity. Previous studies have shown that ingestion of n-3 PUFA potentiates the phosphorylation of mTORC1 and associated kinases in response to nutrition. However, no study has identified whether n-3 PUFA supplementation potentiates anabolic kinase activity when RE is performed prior to nutrient provision. In Chapter 4 of this thesis, twenty healthy males consumed 5gd of either fish oil (FO) or coconut oil (CO) capsules for 8 weeks. Muscle biopsy samples were collected in the fasted, rested state before and after 8 weeks of supplementation for assessment of changes in lipid composition. Following 8 weeks of supplementation muscle samples also were obtained at rest (Rest), post RE in both the exercise leg (Post-RE) and the rested leg (Pre-FED) and also at 3 h post RE and protein feeding from both the exercise leg (3 h post-REF) and rested leg (3 h post-FED). There was a 2-fold increase in muscle (5.53 ± 0.3 to 11.16 ± 0.45 % of total fatty acids) n-3 PUFA composition after supplementation in the FO group but no change in the CO group. Following supplementation there was an increase in p70S6K1 activity at 3 h post-REF from Rest in the CO group (5.6 ± 1.4 to 12.2 ± 2.1 μU/mg) but no change in the FO group. In the CO group, AMPKα2  was  significantly  increased  at  Post-RE from Rest (3.7 ± 0.7 to 9.9 ± 2.0 mU/mg). These data show that 8 weeks of n-3 PUFA enriched fish oil supplementation suppresses the activity of p70S6K1 in response to RE and protein feeding. Chris McGlory: Ph.D. Thesis iii


The present study was undertaken to evaluate the behavior of the rat 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)1B receptor stably expressed in a Y-1 cell line, using both radioligand binding ([125I]iodocyanopindolol) and functional assays (inhibition of forskolin-stimulated cAMP release). The measured EC50 values for agonists were lower than expected from the measured Ki values (e.g., 5-HT, EC50 = 0.49 +/- 0.043, nine experiments; Ki = 5.3 +/- 0.82, four experiments). Furthermore, beta-adrenergic antagonists such as propranolol and pindolol, which have been reported to be partial agonists or antagonists at the 5-HT1B receptors in other systems, were found to be full agonists. To investigate the relationship between receptor occupancy and inhibition of cAMP release (and hence the degree of receptor reserve), we used the irreversible receptor antagonist N-ethoxycarbonyl-2-ethoxy-1,2-dihydroquinoline (EEDQ). EEDQ treatment shifted the dose-response curve for 5-HT to the right by 6-7-fold, accompanied by a reduction (30-50%) in maximal response. Analysis of the data by the method of Furchgott revealed a very steep hyperbolic relationship between receptor occupancy and response for 5-HT, with 92 +/- 1.4% (three experiments) receptor reserve at the 50% maximal response level. In contrast to its effect on 5-HT, EEDQ treatment did not significantly shift the dose-response curves for pindolol; rather, only the maximal responses were reduced and a linear relationship was found between receptor occupancy and response for this compound. According to classical receptor theory these data indicate that pindolol is a partial agonist, relative to 5-HT, but because of the high density of 5-HT1B receptors in this system the difference between the intrinsic activities of the two drugs is masked. Therefore, one has to be cautious when interpreting functional data in transfected systems that often display large receptor reserve.


This article examines the financing options in the oil and gas sector of Nigeria and acknowledges the important role of oil and gas to the Nigerian economy in terms of generating the bulk of government revenue, which is estimated to be over 70 per cent of the total revenue. It also identifies the regulatory framework for the oil and gas sector and captures the various forms of financing and securities taken by major financiers like local and foreign banks, as well as international financial institutions. This article is necessitated by the various challenges besetting oil and gas financing in Nigeria, such as the technicalities and the substantial capital outlay required for such financing, the sabotage of oil and gas equipment and installations, which may jeopardise the collateral securities taken by financiers, the relatively low knowledge of the concept of reserves-based lending, which accepts 'oil in the ground' as collateral, lack of equity contributions, high cost of security documentation, the rigorous process of achieving a change in control arising from investment in the sector and the reluctance of foreign banks to fund oil and gas projects in Nigeria due to the attendant high risk. This article highlights the role of lawyers in oil and gas financing in Nigeria and concludes that there has been an increase in oil and gas financing in Nigeria over the years and proffers solutions aimed at meeting the financial needs of the sector.


Sudden oak death (SOD) is caused by the introduced oomycete pathogen Phytophthora ramorum S. Werres, A. W. A. M. de Cock & W. A. Man in't Veld. This fungus-like organism has four clonal lineages: NA1, NA2, EU1, and EU2 (Grunwald et al. 2016; Prospero et al. 2007). Until recently, the NA1 lineage was the only clonal lineage of P. ramorum reported in wildland forests in the western United States. In contrast, EU1, NA1, and NA2 have all been found in U.S. nurseries (Grunwald et al. 2012). In the winter of 2015, a symptomatic Notholithocarpus densiflorus Manos, Cannon & S.H.Oh (tanoak) was identified during a SOD helicopter survey in Curry County, OR. P. ramorum was isolated from symptomatic bark tissue. Subsequently, the isolate was determined to be of the EU1 lineage based on 14 microsatellite loci (Grunwald et al. 2016). Continued monitoring of the area in 2016 and 2017 has identified symptomatic Abies grandis (Douglas ex D. Don) Lindl. (grand fir; n = 3) and Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco (Douglas fir; n = 2) saplings growing near infected tanoak trees in the mixed conifer forest of Curry County, OR. Symptoms with shoot blight for these species were similar to those described in the literature, including wilting and dieback of new shoots, brown discoloration of needles, and needle loss on young shoots. Isolations were made by plating surface-sterilized tip dieback tissue from A. grandis and P. menziesii on a Phytophthora-selective medium. Based on the presence of chlamydospores, characteristic hyphae, and sporangial morphology, the isolates were identified as P. ramorum. DNA was extracted from hyphae, and a portion of the cellulose binding elicitor lectin (CBEL) gene was amplified and sequenced using the CBEL5U and CBEL6L primers (Gagnon et al. 2014). The sequences of the unknown lineage were aligned to sequences of CBEL for NA1, NA2, EU1, and EU2 using the Staden package in GAP version 4.11.2. The lineage of the isolates from A. grandis and P. menziesii (GenBank accession nos. MF918374 and MF918375, respectively) had 100% identity to the EU1 reference sequences (GenBank nos. EU688952 and EF117945). To satisfy Koch's postulates, three branches of A. grandis and P. menziessii were inoculated with the original EU1 isolates of P. ramorum from those hosts. Ten days after inoculation, the same pathogen was reisolated from symptomatic stem tissue of both tree species. The EU1 lineage is considered more aggressive than the NA1 lineage and is of opposite mating type to NA1, thus potentially resulting in establishment of sexual populations.


The present study describes degradation behavior of cefixime trihydrate (CEF-3H2O) which was investigated under different stress conditions of sun light, UV light at 254 nm and some pharmaceutical excipients using HPLC. Stability - indicating methods RP-HPLC were modified that could separate the drug from its degradation products formed under these stress conditions. Degradation was found to occur under sun light and UV light, two major decomposed products were successfully resolved on a C18 column (waters spherisorb 25 cm × 4.6 mm,5μm),utilizing mobile phase of tetra butyl ammonium hydroxide solution (0.03M aqueous) pH adjusted to 6.5 with diluted orthophospharic acid (10 % aqueous) and acetonitrile in a ratio of 3:1 respectively. Mobile phase was delivered at the flow rate of 1.0 ml/min. Ultra violet detection was carried out at 254 nm. Separation was completed within 4.62, 11.05 minutes respectively. The method was validated with respect to linearity, precision, accuracy, selectivity, specificity and ruggedness. The method was specific to drug and also selective to degradation products.TLC technique was used to separate two decomposed products which were appeared at (Rf) 0.65, 0.78 respectively for UV decomposed and 0.39, 0.65 respectively for sun decomposed. Some pharmaceutical excipinents were found to decrease the reaction rate of sun, UV, and thermal decomposition of cefixime trihydrate in aqueous media. Other pharmaceutical excipinents were found to increase the reaction rate of cefixime trihydrate sun, UV, and thermal decomposition.


N-octyl methane sulfonamide (OMSA) has been demonstrated to be a very efficient reagent for selective extraction of Hg(II) ions, from aqueous solutions. The extraction bases on rapid reaction of OMSA with Hg(II) ions yielding mono and disulfonamido mercury compounds in ordinary conditions. Solubility of OMSA and its mercury compounds in 2-ethyl hexanol provide a clear-cut phase separation in the extraction. The solution of OMSA in 2-ethyl hexanol (0.4 mol L−1) is able to extract 82.2% of mercuric-acetate (0.4 mol L−1) in non-buffered conditions. Although the process depends on the nature of accompanying anions, the distribution coefficient is reasonably high (kd≥1.27) even in the presence of chloride ions. The extraction is strictly selective and the presence of Cd(II), Zn(II), Pb(II) do not bring any interference. The extraction system works in moderate concentrations. Extracted mercury in the organic phase can be recovered by back-extraction with concentrated HCl or H2SO4 solutions. After acid treatment, the organic solution of OMSA becomes regenerated without losing its activity due to reasonable hydrolytic stability of the sulfonamide linkage and it can be recycled for further extractions.


AbstractConducting reactions in droplets in microfluidic chips offers several highly attractive characteristics, among others, increased yield and selectivity of chemical syntheses. The use of droplet microfluidic systems in synthetic chemistry is, however, hampered by the intrinsically small throughput of micrometric channels. Here, we verify experimentally the potential to increase throughput via an increase of the scale of the channels.We use the results of these experiments characterizing the processes of (1) generation of droplets, (2) mixing in droplets, (3) inter-phase extraction, and (4) the yield of synthesis of pyrrole, to postulate a number of guidelines for scaling up the throughput of microfluidic droplet systems. In particular, we suggest the rules for maximizing the throughput via an increase of the size of the channels and via parallelization to optimize the throughput of synthesis against the cost of fabrication of the chips and against the kinetic requirements of specific reactions.


OF THE DISSERTATION IMMUNOPHYLOGENETIC ASPECTS OF A GORGONIAN CORAL by Larry J, Dishaw Florida International University, 2002 Miami, Florida Professor Charles H. Bigger, Major Professor One goal of comparative immunology is to derive inferences about evolutionary pathways in the development of immune-defense systems. Almost 700 million years ago, a major divergence occurred in the phylogeny of animals, spitting all descendants into either the protostome or deuterostome (includes vertebrates) lineages. Genes have evolved independently along these lineages for that amount of time. Cnidarians originated before that divergence event, and can hold clues as to which immune response genes are homologous to both lineages. This work uses the gorgonian coral, Swiftia exserf a, for two major reasons: 1) because of their phylogenetic position, corals are an important animal model in studies concerning the phylogeny of immune-response genes, and 2) nothing is known about the genes controlling immunocompetence in corals. The work described here has important implications in both innate and adaptive immunity. The vertebrate complement system is a major component of innate immunity. C3 is a critical component of the three pathways of complement. Because of its opsonic properties, a C3-like protein is expected to have evolved early. However, currently available data suggests that complement-like components are unique to the deuterostome lineage. This work describes the cloning and characterization of a C3like gene from S. exserta. The deduced polypeptide sequence reveals conservation of multiple, functionally critical, sites while sharing physiochemical and structural properties with the complement components C3/C4/C5. Antigen processing, via intracellular enzymatic proteasomes, is a major requirement of vertebrate adaptive immunity. These organelles have a catalytic core, through which pass intracellular proteins for degradation into peptides presentable to the immune system. LMP 7 is one component of the paralogous "immunoproteasome". LMP 7 is a paralog of the ubiquitous LMP X, but is restricted to vertebrates. While LMP 7 is absent in the coral, this work describes a coral LMP X gene. Phylogenetic analyses, along with hydropathy profiling of a critical portion of the invertebrate and vertebrate paralogous genes, suggests that some invertebrates have two diverging LMP X genes. In some cases, one LMP X protein shares characteristics with vertebrate LMP 7. This work presents new evidence for how the LMP X and 7 genes evolved. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE


One of the drivers of housing demand is the rate of new household formation, which has been well below trend in recent years, leading to persistent weakness in the housing market. This paper studies the determinants of household formation in the United States, including demographic and behavioral changes, and how they evolve over the long and short runs. There are three main findings: First, because older adults tend to live in smaller households, the aging of the U.S. population over the past 30 years has reduced the average household size, or equivalently, pushed up the headship rate and household formation. Second, after stripping out the effects of the aging population, the residual behavioral component of the headship rate has declined over time, thanks largely to rising housing costs. This shift has reduced household formation, all else equal. Finally, the short-run dynamics of headship and household formation reflect the effects of the business cycle. In particu lar, I find that poor labor market outcomes have played an important role in depressing the headship rate in recent years. Consequently, household formation could increase substantially as the labor market recovers and the headship rate returns to trend.


In recent years it became clear that in the Condensed Matter physics, the study of the interactions and the topology allows one to find and to describe many new phases of matter. Even more interest was drawn by the systems, where the topology is nontrivial and the interactions are not negligible, such as fractional quantum Hall effect. Therefore, in this thesis we study two examples of the interacting systems that have non-trivial topological properties. First, we consider the Weyl metals a class of material that were suggested theoretically few years ago and observed on experiments first time in 2015. We study the behavior of the theoretical model of Weyl metal in the presence of an external magnetic field. Using the random field approximation, we show that the applied field gives the correction to the density response, that is topological in nature and is closely related to the phenomenon of chiral anomaly. This contribution manifests in a nonanalytic nonclassical corrections to the electronic compressibility and the plasmon frequency, proportional to the magnitude of the magnetic field. Such a nonanalytic correction to the electronic compressibility clearly distinguishes Weyl metals from ordinary ferromagnetic metals and hence can be used to identify the Weyl metals. Next, we study the connection between the bosonic quantum Hall systems and the lattice models. We present a mapping of a two-dimensional system of interacting bosons in a strong perpendicular magnetic field to an equivalent system of interacting bosons on the square lattice in the absence of the field. This mapping utilizes a magnetic Bloch and the corresponding magnetic Wannier single particle bases in the lowest Landau level. We demonstrate that, by construction, the ground states of the resulting model of interacting bosons on the square lattice are gapped fractionalized liquids or gapless Bose metal states with broken time reversal symmetry at specific rational filling fractions.


In recent years there has been much effort to make desktop computers more accessible to people with motor impairments. However, computing today increasingly takes place off the desktop on small handheld devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) and mobile phones. But little attention has been paid to making these devices accessible, particularly to those who have motor impairments such as tremor or spasm. To address this, we have developed a new text entry method for PDAs and mobile phones called EdgeWrite , which provides physical stability to people entering text on a Palm PDA. Our studies show that EdgeWrite is significantly more accurate than the built-in method Graffiti for people both with and without motor impairments. We have also adapted the EdgeWrite design to common input devices for desktop computer access, thus lowering the cost for adequate computer access in the workplace.


An important area of health care is the implementation of equal rights of citizens to preserve health throughout Russia. In order to analyze the dynamics of the development of the main forces and means of the medical industry in the territory of the macroregions of our country, we used the following methods: analytical, logical, statistical and direct ranking. The results of the study were established, the dynamics of primary morbidity of the population, the security of citizens medical staff capacity outpatient organizations and hospital beds Fund, and the differences of these indicators in the federal districts.


This chapter examines translation between languages within the legal academy, evaluating the push for rational choice as a kind of lingua franca for law professors as opposed to the traditional "vernacular" provided by legal doctrinal language. The paper suggests that for much of the American legal academy in the last generation, the language of law-and-economics and rational choice bears the same relationship to the language of legal doctrine (including what is left of law French) as French did to Russian for most Russian aristocrats. In other words, whether or not there is a lingua franca in the legal academy, there is a vernacular, which is the language of doctrine. While rational choice has gained widespread acceptance as a language among some law professors, insights from other disciplines have been more selectively incorporated, in the process often losing the distinct trace of their original disciplinary settings.


This thesis describes research with the ultimate goal o f finding ways to use artificial intelligence (AI) to encourage and facilitate melody composition by musical novices. The work described in this thesis forms the groundwork for the development of intelligent learning environments for novice composers in this domain. There were two stages to the research. The first stage was the formalisation and testing of an
existing analytical theory o f melody. This theory offers an explanation of how musical listeners break-up a melody into "chunks", and hear some notes as more important than others. The theory enables analysis of melodies in a hierarchical fashion. The formalisation process involved the implementation of a parser to create hierarchical analyses, and comparison of published analyses based on the theory with those created by the parser from the same melodies. From these results a critical evaluation of the analytical theory, and the parser, is
presented. The second stage o f the research involved extending the parser with constraint-based generation techniques. One result is an AI tool (called MOTIVE), which can generate melodies given an analysis (from the parser, or constructed by the user) and a set of constraints to be applied at each hierarchical level. The features of the tool are presented, and a general architecture for an intelligent learning environment is proposed, within which MOTIVE would reside, which shows how the formalised analytical theory from the first part of the work could be used educationally by novice composers of melody.


This book presents a description of Sandawe, a Khoisan language spoken by approximately 60 000 speakers in Dodoma Region, Tanzania. The study presents an analysis of the phonology, morphology, and syntax of the language, as well as a sample of four texts. The data for this dissertation were gathered by the author during fieldwork in the area where the language is spoken.

The language has a rich phonology, with sets of lateral fricatives and affricates, ejectives, and fifteen clicks. The nominal domain is characterized by the absence of
regular number marking. The verbal domain, on the other hand, shows various ways of number marking, which can express participant plurality and pluractionality.
The study further provides a comprehensive description of the morphology and semantics of verbal derivation, such as iterative, factitive, causative and middle stems, and verbal case markers that introduce an additional pronominal object. Sandawe has various types of clitics, notably subject/modality markers and mediative clitics, which have a variable position in the clause. A grammar of Sandawe is of relevance to specialists in Khoisan studies as well as to general linguists and typologists interested in number marking, verbal derivation,
and clitics.


Alkylphenols have xenoestrogenic activity, which mimic the action of physiological estrogens and these mimicking activities are mainly mediated by nongenomic pathway. Nongenomic pathway plays a pivotal role in breast, endometrial and ovarian cancers' growth and development. In this study, various alkylphenol derivatives were prepared and screened for their anti-uterotrophic and uterotrophic activity. Among these compounds, 2-hydroxy-5-nonanoylbenzamide (compound 1b) showed 93.99% inhibitory activity in the anti-uterotrophic test performed, and was found inactive in the uterotrophic activity test. Moreover, all test compounds were examined for the effect on uterine histopathological changes, and plasma 17β-estradiol (E2) level. Compound 1b was also tested for in vitro anti-cancer activity against ER+, human breast cancer cell line MCF-7, and it reduced cell viability to 74.01% at 50 nM concentration.


Mask-aligner lithography is a technology used to transfer patterns with critical dimensions in the micrometer range from below 1 micron for contact printing to a dozen of microns in proximity printing. This technology is widely used in the fabrication of MEMS, micro-optical components, and similar fields. Traditionally, the light sources used for mask-aligners are high-pressure mercury arc lamps, which emit in the UV rang of the spectrum with peaks at 365 nm, 405 nm and 435 nm, respectively the g-, h- and i- lines. These lamps suffer from several disadvantages (inefficient, bulky, dangerous), which makes alternatives interesting. In recent years, high power UV LEDs at the same wavelengths appeared on the market, opening the door to new illumination systems for mask-aligners. We have developed a modular 250 W LED-based illumination system, which can advantageously replace a 1 kW mercury arc lamp illumination. LEDs, arranged in a 7×7 grid array, are placed in the entrance apertures of individual reflectors, which collimate the individual irradiation to an output angle of 10°. A subsequent fly's eye integrator homogenizes the illumination in the mask plane. It is followed by a Fourier lens, superimposing the individual channels in the mask plane, and a field lens to ensure telecentric illumination. This multisource approach allows the shaping of the source by switching individual illumination channels, determining the illumination angles and the spatial coherence in the mask plane. This concept can be used, for example, to do source-mask optimization. Compared to mercury arc lamp illumination, our system is simultaneously more efficient, compact, versatile, economic and sustainable. In our contribution, we present the design of the system as well as lithographic test prints done with different illumination patterns.


The study examines the changing fashions in choosing Christian names for infants in Pornóapáti, a village partly inhabited by people of German ancestry, from 1780, the date of the earliest village registers, to 1980. In the investigated period, 1740 males and 1600 females bore 95 and 113 Christian names, respectively. 137 males and 182 females got second Christian names in the period. Second Christian names, like third ones, were mainly given to female babies. Changes in the frequency of names demonstrate that although at the beginning of the period masculine Christian names display wider diversity, at the end of the period feminine names are the more varied ones. Regarding the motivation of naming one can observe that feminine names are less and less influenced by previous traditional name giving practices, whilst males get their father's name more and more frequently in the period.


The older population is growing faster than the population as a whole. Paid work is the main mechanism for physical activity in humans. We, therefore, wanted to ascertain whether work practices (such as employment status and the types of tasks workers perform) follow the biological decline in physical activity that occurs with aging in humans and many other species. We recorded work practices in 3352 adults in the Ivory Coast to establish how work burdens are distributed across different age groups in a community that is minimally fettered by legal constraints. We found a decrease in the amount of work performed with increasing age, and we found that elderly persons performed more skilled, less exothermic tasks than younger workers. These data mirror global workforce distribution trends expressed by age. If the trend continues, a major portion of the population will be unlikely to contribute to the labor force in the near future, producing potentially adverse economic consequences in some populations. Although the problem might be averted or at least minimized by implementing different employment policies, biological factors could overlay and supervene any economic planning.


Aims: To determine where residence students from a South African tertiary institution get methylphenidate for both appropriate and non-medical use, where they think they could get it and how easy they think it is to acquire.

 Design: A quantitative cross-sectional study that made use of a structured questionnaire.

 Setting: A South African tertiary institution.

 Participants: Residence students from ten randomly selected residences (N=328; response rate=13.7%).

 Measurements: Self-reports of experience and perceptions relating to sources of methylphenidate.

 Findings: The mean age of the participants was 20.1 years and 56.4% of the sample was female. Although all the appropriate users have obtained methylphenidate legally at least once, they have also obtained it illegally from their friends (30.8%) and family (7.7%). The most common source for non-medical users was their friends (77.3%). Non-medical users also acquired methylphenidate using fabricated prescriptions (10.7%) and by buying it from pharmacies without a prescription (14.3%). Users and non-users had similar perceptions of where they thought they could get methylphenidate, except that users were more likely to think they can get it from friends (67.1% vs. 46.7%).

 Conclusions: The current study presents novel evidence for methylphenidate diversion by university students in South Africa. Considering the abuse potential of methylphenidate, the diversion should be further explored and programmes developed to improve the legal control of methylphenidate.


In general contingent claims on assets which may default during the duration of the contract cannot be priced and hedged consistently. This is due to the fact that the possibility of a default event brings in an uncertain factor and there are therefore too few assets to construct a hedge against all sources of uncertainty. In this papaer we show that consistent pricing and hedging is still possible if we assume that 1) we can estimate the size of the loss in value (as a percentage) upon default and 2) default is the only non-systemic risk factor involved. Moreover we show that the resulting formulas for prices and hedges do not depend on the intensity of the default process but on a new riskfree intensity which is an explicit function of other parameters in the model in contrast to most models. We derive a simple tree method to implement the methodology that is proposed and show how other pricing methods for claims on defaultable assets are linked to our method.


There is no standardized treatment for grade 3 neuroendocrine tumors (G3 NETs). We aimed to describe the treatments received in patients with advanced G3 NETs and compare their efficacy. Patients with advanced digestive G3 NETs treated between 2010 and 2018 in seven expert centers were retrospectively studied. Pathological samples were centrally reviewed, and radiological data were locally reviewed. We analyzed RECIST-defined objective response (OR), tumor growth rate (TGR) and progression-free survival (PFS) obtained with first- (L1) or second-line (L2) treatments. We included 74 patients with advanced G3 NETs, mostly from duodenal or pancreatic origin (71.6%), with median Ki-67 of 30%. The 126 treatments (L1=74; L2=52) included alkylating-based (n=32), etoposide-platinum (n=22) or adenocarcinoma-like chemotherapy (n=20), somatostatin analogs (n=21), targeted therapies (n=22) and liver-directed therapies (n=7). Alkylating-based chemotherapy achieved the highest OR rate (37.9%) compared to other treatments (multivariable OR 4.22, 95% CI [1.5-12.2]; p=0.008). Adenocarcinoma-like and alkylating-based chemotherapies showed the highest reductions in 3-month TGR (p<0.001 and p=0.008, respectively). The longest median PFS were obtained with adenocarcinoma-like chemotherapy (16.5 months [9.0-24.0]) and targeted therapies (12.0 months [8.2-15.8]), while the shortest PFS were observed with somatostatin analogues (6.2 months [3.8-8.5]) and etoposide-platinum chemotherapy (7.2 months [5.2-9.1]). Etoposide-platinum CT achieved shorter PFS than adenocarcinoma-like (multivariable HR 3.69 [1.61-8.44], p=0.002) and alkylating-based chemotherapies (multivariable HR 1.95 [1.01-3.78], p=0.049). Overall, adenocarcinoma-like and alkylating-based chemotherapies may be the most effective treatments for patients with advanced G3 NETs regarding OR and PFS. Etoposide-platinum chemotherapy has poor efficacy in this setting.


Case citation: Regina v Seema Misra, T20090070 Case commentary and Index to the transcript by Stephen Mason England & Wales; theft; electronic evidence; Post Office Horizon System; 'reliability' of computers From the EDITORIAL by Stephen Mason: In this issue of the journal, the transcript of the trial of Seema Misra is published in full. I thank His Honour Judge Stewart for granting permission to buy a copy of the transcript and to the publication of the transcript. Judge Stewart requested me to obtain the permission of Seema Mira to the publication of the transcript – an action I certainly would have taken in any event. I also thank Seema Misra for her agreement to publish the transcript. Seema Misra agreed to the publication, knowing it would be available to anyone with access to the internet or a legal electronic database. I am given to understand by Alan Bates, the chair of Justice For Subpostmasters Alliance , that Seema Misra's case is now before the Criminal Cases Review Commission, and Seema Misra understood that making the transcript available publically in this way would, in her opinion, help her case. We are pleased to be able to present the full case transcript for Regina v Seema Misra, T20090070 in the Documents Supplement to this issue of the journal. The page layout and pagination of the original transcript for each day have been retained for ease of reference to the text searchable PDFs. The links in this Index will take you through to the transcript of proceedings in the Documents Supplement for that particular court day.


The nanoparticles ZnO had been prepared on the surface of ZnS:Cu by homogeneous precipitate method. The urea was used as precipitator in the process of hydrolysis reaction. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and infrared (IR) spectra indicated that ZnO was formed. We also observed fluorescence spectra, there was some difference between the raw material and coated materials in fluorescence intensity.


Background The development of childhood motor competence demonstrates a high degree of inter-individual variation. Some children's competence levels increase whilst others' competence levels remain unchanged or even decrease over time. However, few studies have examined this developmental change in motor competence across childhood and little is known on influencing factors. Aim Using latent growth curve modeling (LGCM), the present longitudinal study aimed to investigate children's change in motor competence across a 2-year timespan and to examine the potential influence of baseline weight status and physical fitness on their trajectory of change in motor competence. Methods 558 children (52.5% boys) aged between 6 and 9 years participated in this study. Baseline measurements included weight status, motor competence (i.e., Körperkoördinationstest für Kinder; KTK) and physical fitness (i.e., sit and reach, standing long jump and the 20 m shuttle run test). Motor competence assessment took place three times across a 2-year timespan. LGCM was conducted to examine change in motor competence over time. Results The analyses showed a positive linear change in motor competence across 2 years (β = 28.48, p < 0.001) with significant variability in children's individual trajectories (p < 0.001). Girls made less progress than boys (β = –2.12, p = 0.01). Children who were older at baseline demonstrated less change in motor competence (β = –0.33, p < 0.001). Weight status at baseline was negatively associated with change in motor competence over time (β = –1.418, p = 0.002). None of the physical fitness components, measured at baseline, were significantly associated with change in motor competence over time. Conclusion and Implications This longitudinal study reveals that weight status significantly influences children's motor competence trajectories whilst physical fitness demonstrated no significant influence on motor competence trajectories. Future studies should further explore children's differential trajectories over time and potential factors influencing that change.