In order to describe a solid which deforms smoothly in some region, but non smoothly in some other region, many multiscale methods have recently been proposed. They aim at coupling an atomistic model (discrete mechanics) with a macroscopic model (continuum mechanics). We provide here a theoretical ground for such a coupling in a one-dimensional setting. We briefly study the general case of a convex energy, and next concentrate on a specific example of a nonconvex energy, the Lennard-Jones case. In the latter situation, we prove that the discretization needs to account in an adequate way for the coexistence of a discrete model and a continuous one. Otherwise, spurious discretization effects may appear. We provide a numerical analysis of the approach.


Material extrusion (ME) is a layer-by-layer additive manufacturing process that is now used in personal and commercial production where prototyping and customization are required. However, parts produced from ME frequently exhibit poor mechanical performance relative to those from traditional means; moreover, fundamental knowledge of the factors leading to development of inter-layer strength in this highly non-isothermal process is limited. In this work, we seek to understand the development of inter-layer weld strength from the perspective of polymer interdiffusion under conditions of rapidly changing mobility. Our framework centers around three interrelated components: in situ thermal measurements (via infrared imaging), temperature dependent molecular processes (via rheology), and mechanical testing (via mode III fracture). We develop the concept of an equivalent isothermal weld time and test its relationship to fracture energy. For the printing conditions studied the equivalent isothermal weld time for Tref = 230 °C ranged from 0.1 ms to 100 ms. The results of these analysis provide a basis for optimizing inter-layer strength, the limitations of the ME process, and guide development of new materials.


Neutrino decay modifies neutrino propagation in a unique way; not only is there flavor changing as there is in neutrino oscillations, there is also energy transport from initial to final neutrinos. The most sensitive direct probe of neutrino decay is currently IceCube which can measure the energy and flavor of neutrinos traveling over extragalactic distances. For the first time, we calculate the flavor transition probability for the cases of visible and invisible neutrino decay, including the effects of the expansion of the Universe, and consider the implications for IceCube. As an example, we demonstrate how neutrino decay addresses a tension in the IceCube data.


Background: The main objective of our study was investigation of fetal stem cells (FSCs) effects on principal processes of human organism aging. Material and Methods: The main group (MG) was composed of 164 female patients and 165 male patients. Cardiovascular type of aging was remarkable for 66 patients, endocrine- 65, neuro-psychic- 70, metabolic- 50 and mixed type- was presented in 78 patients. For statistical analysis we studied the group of patients with mixed type of aging. All patients in the MG underwent treatment using FSCs. Preparations containing FSCs were individually selected for each patient depending on a definite type of aging; suspensions were administered via the parenteral route. Results: Patients experienced a syndrome of early post-infusion improvement which was presented as enhanced physical and emotional activity; better mood, improved sleep and appetite. Antiaging therapy using FSCs can promote a favorable effect on the lipids and carbohydrates metabolism; laboratory parameters of male health and overall physical state in patients; psycho-functional and emotional health were improved too. We recorded healthier skin in our patients; its dryness and scaliness (roughness) reduced; skin suppleness and elasticity increased and the patients also reported less number of wrinkles. Based on calculations we revealed that over 18 months after FSCs transplantation the aging rate among the patients became lower by 35.33%, whereas over 30 months it was reduced by 56.68%. Conclusion: Treatment using FSCs allows correlating internal factors of pre-term fading which result in lower external signs of aging among the patients; that, in bulk, contributes to overall revitalizing and rejuvenation along with inhibiting the rate of aging by way of promoting better life quality and life expectancy among the patients.


Drawing on the theoretical foundations laid out in earlier volumes of this series, this book describes an approach to organizational change and development that is informed by a complexity perspective. It clarifies the experience of being in the midst of change. Unlike many books that presume clarity of foresight or hindsight, the author focuses on the essential uncertainty of participating in evolving events as they happen and considers the creative possibilities of such participation. Most methodologies for organizational change are firmly rooted in systems thinking, as are many approaches to process consultation and facilitation. This book questions the suggestion that we can choose and design new futures for our organizations in the way we often hope. Avoiding the widely favoured use of two by two matrices, idealized schemas and simplified typologies that characterize much of the management literature on change, this book encourages the reader to live in the immediate paradoxes and complexities of organizational life, where we must act with intention into the unknowable. The author uses detailed reflective narrative to evoke and elaborate on the experience of participating in the conversational processes of human organizing. It asserts that possibilities are perpetually sustained and changed by the conversational life of organizations. This book will be valuable to consultants, managers and leaders, indeed all those who are dissatisfied with idealized models of change and are searching for ways to develop an effective change practice.


Falls are a common and often devastating problem among elder people, causing a tremendous amount of morbidity, mortality. So mechanisms to detect and avoid falls are necessary to improve common living of aged people. By developing preventing mechanisms it serves as an important factor to reduce injuries, hospitalization morbidity and mortality among older people. They are several algorithms established in fall detection (FD) and fall prevention (FP) process using feature extraction and classification algorithms. In this paper a fall detection technique is developed based on the data sets of electromyography (EMG) and electrocardiogram (ECG). The objective of this paper is to detect falls by processing with several feature extraction and classification technique for normal as well as sick people. It also focuses on the improvement of the accuracy in detecting falls. The feature extraction algorithm chosen is capable of sensing, processing and communicating the fall event under real life conditions. A hybrid classification algorithm is also proposed to achieve accuracy in detection by tracking objects and having the ability to handle the causes. The combination of numerical data is used in order to detect fall with high accuracy and reliability. The advantages of this proposed method is less computation complexity and improves efficiency of fall detection compared to existing machine learning algorithms.


This article complicates existing portrayals of the China developmental "'model" from two angles. First, it problematises the historical basis of what many in the advanced "First World", particularly in America, used to see as their superior model of governance. In the final analysis, the current enthusiasm in these countries about the "China model" may have nothing to do with China per se but more to do with the decline of self-celebrated Western models that are themselves ideal-typical abstractions. Second, upon re-examining its historical record, it posits the alternative "China model" as similarly problematic. Triumphant portrayals of Chinese exceptionalism by China-based scholars have been predicated on a troubled Mao-era legacy, the implications of which remain unclear for understanding the increasingly fragmented and globally involved Chinese economy. Building on this double complication, the article concludes with a call for more historically grounded and geographically variegated examinations of Chinese political-economic evolution.


In the current national policy for special education from Brazilian Ministry of Educational (MEC) the so-called Multifunctional Resource Classes (SRMs) have been the main locus for the Specialized Educational Services (AEE) offer in the inclusive education perspective. According to official data, from 2005 to 2010, it were available 24,301 SRMs. From this amount 17,679 were for the municipal schools, 6,532 for the state schools, and the others for the federal educational system. This action included 83% of the brazilian cities and it was implemented in 43% of the public schools with enrollment of students belonging to the target audience of the Special Education in the regular system. However, because the complex and dynamic reality involving the educational systems, it is not always that the legal provisions can be implemented in practice. From this, we can ask: how are the systems organizing to comply with the legal provision about the implementation of the SRMs in terms of the operation of these classes, the professionals and the students evaluation? How are the professionals involved implementing and evaluating the SRMs services? This is an important empirical question if one consider that the policy of SRMs implementation is recent and requires the development of researches that can improve the possibilities of pedagogical actions with the students that demand specific interventions, mainly because we adopt the education as public and subjective right. Therefore, the aim of this study is to describe and analyze jointly with educational professionals the SRMs services from a medium-sized city in the São Paulo state, to understand how these professionals are being organized to achieve the legal provisions about the AEE implementation. To answer this question, this is a qualitative and collaborative research, which is, in a first step, a documentary study to feature the policy for special education and, in a second step, based in a cycle of 10 filmed meetings with teachers using the focal groups method; The study was accomplished in the public municipal system of education from the city of Rio Claro in the State of São Paulo covering 23 SRMs teachers and/or teachers of regular classes which had students served by SRMs. Furthermore, management professionals also participate of this study. The contents of the transcribed speeches were analyzed in a jointly work with the participants and resulted in three mainly axes of analysis. The data revealed that the city is trying to attend satisfactorily the current school inclusion policy. Nevertheless, to apply the normative indicated by MEC, many difficulties were encountered. Namely: the organization of the pedagogical work of the SRMs; the requirements for the formation of the specialized teacher and of the regular education; and about the evaluation (for identifying the student, for planning the lecturing and for measuring the learning progress of the student). The results obtained allow for asking if the multifunctional resource classes, as they have worked nowadays, offer adequate support to the schooling of the students with special educational needs in the regular schools.


In large-scale certificate management on multi-tenant web servers, preloading a large number of certificates for managing a large number of hosts under the single server process results in increasing the required memory usage due to the respective page table entry manipulation, which may be poor resource efficiency and reduced capacity. To solve this issue, we propose a method to dynamically load the certificates bound to the hostnames found during the SSL/TLS handshake sequences without preloading, provided the Server Name Indication (SNI) extension is available. We implement the function of choosing the respective certificates with the ngx_mruby module which extend Web server functions using mruby with small memory footprint while maintaining the execution speed. We also evaluated the proposed method on a Web hosting service of authors' place of an employer.


Firm-level stock returns differ enormously in reaction to COVID-19 news. We characterize these reactions using the Risk Factors discussions in pre-pandemic 10-K filings and two text-analytic approaches: expert-curated dictionaries and supervised machine learning (ML). Bad COVID-19 news lowers returns for firms with high exposures to travel, traditional retail, aircraft production and energy supply -- directly and via downstream demand linkages -- and raises them for firms with high exposures to healthcare policy, e-commerce, web services, drug trials and materials that feed into supply chains for semiconductors, cloud computing and telecommunications. Monetary and fiscal policy responses to the pandemic strongly impact firm-level returns as well, but differently than pandemic news. Despite methodological differences, dictionary and ML approaches yield remarkably congruent return predictions. Importantly though, ML operates on a vastly larger feature space, yielding richer characterizations of risk exposures and outperforming the dictionary approach in goodness-of-fit. By integrating elements of both approaches, we uncover new risk factors and sharpen our explanations for firm-level returns. To illustrate the broader utility of our methods, we also apply them to explain firm-level returns in reaction to the March 2020 Super Tuesday election results.


Background and Purpose— Controversy persists as to whether oral contraceptive (OC) use and reproductive history play a role in the etiology of stroke, particularly ischemic stroke. Our aim was to investigate this question in a cohort of middle-aged Swedish women. Methods— The Women's Lifestyle and Health Cohort Study included 49 259 Swedish women, aged 30 to 49 years at baseline (1991 to 1992). Participants completed an extensive questionnaire and were traced through linkages to national registries until the end of 2004. Results— Among the 45 699 women included in these analyses, there were 285 cases of incident stroke during follow-up (193 ischemic stroke, 72 hemorrhagic stroke, and 20 of unknown origin). Neither ischemic nor hemorrhagic stroke risk was related to OC use, duration, or type of OC use, even among women who were smokers or hypertensive. Though not statistically significant, risk of hemorrhagic stroke was elevated in women who started using OCs after the age of 30 (Hazard Ratio [HR] 2.3, 95% CI=0.8 to 6.8) and women recommended by a doctor to stop using OC for medical reasons (2.1, 0.9 to 5.0) compared with never users. Compared with nulliparous women, parous women had a statistically significant lower risk of hemorrhagic stroke (0.5, 0.2 to 0.8), but similar association was not found for ischemic stroke (0.9, 0.5 to 1.4). Conclusions— There was no significant association of OC use with ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke, and the parity was associated with reduced risk of hemorrhagic stroke but not with ischemic stroke.


The performance of 2-D CdZnTe monolithic detector arrays designed for high flux X-ray imaging applications was studied. For the first time we have obtained 5 times 106 counts/s/mm2 count-rate for a CdZnTe pixelated detector array. This count-rate is more than twice the highest count-rate ever achieved using a CdZnTe detector array. Such excellent performance was demonstrated for more than 600 individual CdZnTe detector arrays. The 2-D CdZnTe monolithic arrays were 16 x 16 pixel devices with 0.4 mm times 0.4 mm area pixels on a 0.5 mm pitch and were fabricated using 8.7 mm times 8.7 mm times 3.0 mm CdZnTe single crystals grown by the high-pressure, electro-dynamic gradient freeze technique. The CdZnTe detector arrays were bonded to a ceramic substrate with the Z-bondtrade technique. This enabled performance testing of the individual detector arrays before bonding to the read-out ASIC chip. The detector arrays were characterized in a custom designed test system. The measurement and data acquisition system consisted of a 16 times 16 pin probe head and 256-channel read-out electronics controlled by a host PC. We utilized our 8-channel fast bipolar ASIC chip and computer controlled 120 kVp X-ray source. In order to measure the true throughput of the CdZnTe devices a counts correction method was developed and implemented that compensates for the counting system non-linearity caused by pile-up and amplifier shaping time effects. Survey of detector array performance as a function of CdZnTe charge transport properties showed that the maximum achievable count-rate of these detectors strongly depends on the hole charge transport properties of the crystals.


Background: Peripheral precocious puberty of ovarian origin is a very rare condition compared to central form. It may be associated with an isolated ovarian cyst (OC). The causes of OC in otherwise healthy prepubertal girls is currently unknown. Methods: Exome sequencing was performed on a cohort of 18 unrelated girls presenting with prenatal and/or prepubertal OC at pelvic ultrasonography. The presenting symptom was prenatal OC in 5, breast development in 7 (with vaginal bleeding in 3) and isolated vaginal bleeding in 6. All had OC ≥ 10 mm. The girls had no other anomalies. Four patients had a familial history of ovarian anomalies and/or infertility. Results: In 9 girls (50%), candidate or known pathogenic variants were identified in genes associated with syndromic and non-syndromic forms of hypogonadotropic hypogonadism including PNPLA6, SEMA3A, TACR3, PROK2, KDM6A, KMT2D, OFD1, GNRH1, GNRHR, GLI3, INSR, CHD7, CDON, RNF216, PROKR2, GLI3, LEPR. Basal plasma concentrations of gonadotropins were undetectable and did not increase after gonadotropin-releasing hormone test in 3 of them whilst 5 had prepubertal values. The plasma estradiol concentrations were prepubertal in 6 girls, high (576 pmol/L) in one and not evaluated in 2 of them. Conclusions: In the first study reporting exome sequencing in prepubertal OC, half of the patients with OC carry either previously reported pathogenic variants or potentially pathogenic variants in genes known to be associated with isolated or syndromic forms of congenital hypogonadotropic hypogonadism. Functional studies and studies of other cohorts are recommended to establish the causality of these variants.


The Barriers and Quality of Care Issues for Individuals Diagnosed with 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome by Barbara Bavette Miller M.S., Oklahoma State University, 2006 B.S., Oklahoma Wesleyan University, 2004 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Health Services Walden University August 2017 Abstract Individuals diagnosed with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q) have many barriers and quality of life issues associated with the condition. Without an obvious anomaly, affected individuals may live years without a proper diagnosis. The purpose of this qualitative case study research was to explore perceptions of caregivers of individuals with 22q. Uncertainty in illness theory was used as it describes the inability to find answers with unpredictable medical issues. The central research question focused on at how challenges associated with a 22q diagnosis are addressed. Interviews were conducted with 10 caregivers. Guided by the uncertainty in illness theory, data analysis was conducted by coding through NVivo to find themes. Themes identified included, but were not limited to: (a) age and symptoms at diagnosis; (b) usage of the internet for answers; (c) future transition uncertainties; and (d) lack of provider knowledge. Five out of 10 participants had a child with a known heart condition at birth, which led to a 22q diagnosis. Five out ten individuals with 22q were diagnosed at a later age following a manifestation of other serious conditions. A greater index of suspicion could have led to a more timely diagnosis of 22q. All individuals expressed the desire for a more prompt and thoroughIndividuals diagnosed with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q) have many barriers and quality of life issues associated with the condition. Without an obvious anomaly, affected individuals may live years without a proper diagnosis. The purpose of this qualitative case study research was to explore perceptions of caregivers of individuals with 22q. Uncertainty in illness theory was used as it describes the inability to find answers with unpredictable medical issues. The central research question focused on at how challenges associated with a 22q diagnosis are addressed. Interviews were conducted with 10 caregivers. Guided by the uncertainty in illness theory, data analysis was conducted by coding through NVivo to find themes. Themes identified included, but were not limited to: (a) age and symptoms at diagnosis; (b) usage of the internet for answers; (c) future transition uncertainties; and (d) lack of provider knowledge. Five out of 10 participants had a child with a known heart condition at birth, which led to a 22q diagnosis. Five out ten individuals with 22q were diagnosed at a later age following a manifestation of other serious conditions. A greater index of suspicion could have led to a more timely diagnosis of 22q. All individuals expressed the desire for a more prompt and thorough diagnosis. The positive implications for social change include influencing physicians and policy makers through education and implemented policies that can lead to more timely diagnoses and treatment for better health outcomes. This social change can influence the target population through scholarly publications in medical journals. It may also be influenced through policy proposals influencing early detection screenings at birth. The addition of caregiver advocates may also bring about change within the 22q community. The Barriers and Quality of Care Issues for Individuals Diagnosed with 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome by Barbara Bavette Miller M.S., Oklahoma State University, 2006 B.S., Oklahoma Wesleyan University, 2004 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Health Services


Objective: Stroke is a leading cause of adult death and disability worldwide. Around 80% of all stroke cases are classed as ischemic stroke, which affects both gray and white matter brain regions. During ischemia, reactive oxygen species are generated and initiate multiple damaging processes such as lipid peroxidation, mitochondrial dysfunction, blood–brain barrier damage and brain edema. Melatonin is a potent antioxidant which can act as a direct oxygen species scavenger. Melatonin can also act at receptors (melatonin receptor 1 and 2), which are expressed in the nervous system cells including astrocytes.
Methods: Using live cell imaging of transgenic mice, the viability of astrocytes in the corpus callosum of adult brain sections was monitored during a standard 60 minutes period of modeled ischemia (oxygen-glucose deprivation) and 30 minutes of reperfusion in 8 groups; Control, artificial cerebrospinal fluid + Melatonin, oxygen-glucose deprivation, oxygen-glucose deprivation + Melatonin, oxygen-glucose deprivation + Melatonin + Luzindole (a nonselective melatonin receptor antagonist), oxygen-glucose deprivation + Luzindole, oxygen-glucose deprivation + Melatonin + propionamidotetralin (a selective melatonin receptor 2 antagonist), and oxygen-glucose deprivation + propionamidotetralin.
Results: Addition of melatonin significantly reduced the level of astrocyte death during oxygen-glucose deprivation from 71.94% ± 1.45 to 37.84% ± 1.9; p < 0.0001. This protective effect was blocked by luzindole or propionamidotetralin. Following known scoring categories for glial injury, ultrastructural morphology confirmed the protective effect of melatonin against acute ischemic injury in the white matter glial cells.
Conclusion: Melatonin is a promising neuroprotective agent during white matter ischemia.


This report examines the current funding and financing arrangements for regional and remote roads in Australia and considers the implications of road funding reforms. The project was undertaken in three stages: 1. Stage 1 developed a snap shot of current and historic road related revenue, expenditure and funding in Australia; Stage 2 assessed the limitations of current funding arrangements for remote and regional roads, highlighted by a number of case studies; 3. Stage 3 analysed a number of alternative remote and regional road funding options. The project considered the practice of economic evaluations as applied to remote and regional roads, and the implications of possible heavy vehicle charging reform for regional and remote road funding. Two broad categories of alternative funding options were considered: 1. improving the targeting of road charging to the ultimate beneficiaries of remote and regional roads; and introducing dedicated funding for remote and regional roads. 2. Policy options that could be introduced as part of a direct user charging reform, to address likely revenue insufficiency problems for remote and regional roads.


On the northern Cascadia accretionary margin off Vancouver Island, Canada, there are numerous sedimentary slide features near the base of the slope, and significant amounts of gas hydrate found beneath the ridge suggest a possible connection. A 2-km-wide collapse structure with a 300-m-high headwall has been studied by multibeam bathymetry and a single-channel seismic reflection grid. Migrated seismic reflection lines on the frontal ridge image multiple 15–75-m-high seafloor scarps perpendicular to the margin that are the seafloor expressions of normal faults that cut deeply into the sediment section. Two of the largest faults are aligned with the sidewalls of the slide, indicating that the lateral extent of the collapse is fault controlled. The presence of marine gas hydrate beneath the ridge is based on a widespread hydrate bottom-simulating reflector (BSR), high velocities determined by ocean bottom seismograph data, and sediment core samples and downhole logs collected by the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program at Site U1326. The depth of the BSR at 255 (±15) m coincides closely with the estimated depth of the glide plane beneath the slide. This suggests that the base of the slope failure is related to the contrast between strong hydrate-cemented sediments above the BSR and underlying weak sediments containing free gas. Strong earthquake shaking on this convergent margin likely provides the trigger for the slide.


Since the late 1800's, the familial occurrence of peripheral lymphedema has been well-documented in Milroy and Meige syndromes. However, the presence of lymphedema in many other hereditary dysmorphic syndromes has not been fully appreciated. In order to establish more standardized and detailed clinical phenotypic criteria as the basis for rational classification and for greater precision in screening and genetic linkage studies, we conducted a comprehensive literature search and review of OMIM-identified and non-identified hereditary syndromes in which lymphedema was reported as a feature. Modes of inheritance, associated clinical features and images, and specific organ involvement were inventoried and suggested pathophysiologic mechanisms noted. The findings support the recommendation that when peripheral lymphedema of undetermined etiology is found, further careful, comprehensive clinical, including detailed dysmorphic, evaluation along with lymphatic imaging with subsequent syndromic classification is warranted. This information can provide clues to underlying pathogenesis and form the basis for genetic counseling and prognostication as well as offer guidance to the clinical investigator translating research at the molecular level into new approaches for evaluation and therapy.


This paper examines the determinants and consequences of delay in the union certification process using data from certification applications and unfair labor practice complaints (ULPs) from British Columbia (1986–98) and Ontario (1993–98). During the period studied, there were several changes in delay-related laws, including laws regulating the presence and stringency of election time limits and the availability of expedited ULP hearings. Key findings are that ULPs against the employer reduced the likelihood of compliance with time limit laws except where expedited ULP hearings also existed; employer-filed objections to the application reduced the likelihood of compliance; and election delay reduced the likelihood of certification success both in policy regimes without time limits and in those where stipulated time limits were frequently breached. Overall, the results suggest that enforced time limits on elections coupled with expedited ULP hearings may substantially mitigate the adverse effects of election delay on certification success.


Cardiovascular and metabolic responses to intravenous infusions of adrenaline (ADR), which raised arterial plasma ADR in a stepwise fashion from 0.3 to 1.3, 2.3 and 6.0 nmol/l, were studied in 11 healthy volunteers. ADR evoked marked and concentration-dependent increases in stroke volume and cardiac output (thermodilution), as well as decreases in the vascular resistances of the systemic circulation, calf and adipose tissue. These changes were significant from 1.3 nmol/l ADR. Less marked effects were found on blood pressure and heart rate. Significant arterial ADR concentration-effect relationships were found for cyclic AMP, glycerol, glucose, lactate and noradrenaline, but not for insulin. Cyclic AMP and glycerol were significantly elevated at 1.3, glucose at 2.3, but lactate not below 6.0 nmol/l ADR. Increases in adipose tissue blood flow and arterial glycerol levels were correlated (P less than 0.001), suggesting a metabolic component in the blood flow response of adipose tissue. Invasive haemodynamic measurements revealed that ADR at arterial concentrations within the lower physiological range had considerable effects on cardiac output and vascular resistances, despite moderate changes in the conventional non-invasive haemodynamic variables blood pressure and heart rate. ADR elicited clear-cut responses at arterial plasma concentrations attained during various kinds of mild to moderate stress.


This paper presents a first analysis of the distribution of head and eyebrow movements as a function of (a) phonological prominence levels (focal, non-focal) and (b) word accent (Accent 1, Accent 2) in Swedish news broadcasts. Our corpus consists of 31 brief news readings, comprising speech from four speakers and 986 words in total. A head movement was annotated for 229 (23.2%) of the words, while eyebrow movements occurred much more sparsely (67 cases or 6.8%). Results of χ2-tests revealed a dependency of the distribution of movements on the one hand and focal accents on the other, while no systematic effect of the word accent type was found. However, there was an effect of the word accent type on the annotation of 'double' head movements. These occurred very sparsely, and predominantly in connection with focally accented compounds (Accent 2), which are characterized by two lexical stresses. Overall, our results suggests that head beats might have a closer association with phonological prosodic structure, while eyebrow movements might be more restricted to higher-level prominence and information-structure coding. Hence, head and eyebrow movements can represent two quite different modalities of prominence cuing, both from a formal and functional point of view, rather than just being cumulative prominence markers.


Five experiments investigated the hypothesis that perspective taking—actively contemplating others' psychological experiences—attenuates automatic expressions of racial bias. Across the first 3 experiments, participants who adopted the perspective of a Black target in an initial context subsequently exhibited more positive automatic interracial evaluations, with changes in automatic evaluations mediating the effect of perspective taking on more deliberate interracial evaluations. Furthermore, unlike other bias-reduction strategies, the interracial positivity resulting from perspective taking was accompanied by increased salience of racial inequalities (Experiment 3). Perspective taking also produced stronger approach-oriented action tendencies toward Blacks (but not Whites; Experiment 4). A final experiment revealed that face-to-face interactions with perspective takers were rated more positively by Black interaction partners than were interactions with nonperspective takers—a relationship that was mediated by perspective takers' increased approach-oriented nonverbal behaviors (as rated by objective, third-party observers). These findings indicate that perspective taking can combat automatic expressions of racial biases without simultaneously decreasing sensitivity to ongoing racial disparities.


The data provided by a sensor node is often useful only in the context of the location of the data source. Thus, sensor networks rely on localization schemes to provide location information to sensor nodes. The premise of this thesis is that location-aware protocols, which are based on the assumption that sensor nodes can estimate their location, improve the efficiency of data gathering and resource utilization of wireless sensor networks. Location-awareness improves the energy-efficiency of the protocols needed for routing, transport, data dissemination and self-organization of sensor networks. In this thesis, we show how location information can be leveraged in novel ways in sensor network protocols to achieve energy efficiency. The contributions of this thesis are in four important areas related to network protocol design for wireless sensor networks: (1) self-organization; (2) data dissemination or node reprogramming; (3) service differentiation; and (4) data collection. Work on self-organization (SCARE) and data dissemination (LAF) was carried out from 2002 to 2004 and the work on service differentiation (SensiQoS) and data collection (HTDC) was carried out from 2004 to 2009.
This thesis first presents a new approach for self-configuration of ad hoc sensor networks. The self-configuration of a large number of sensor nodes requires a distributed solution. We propose a scalable self-configuration and adaptive reconfiguration (SCARE) algorithm that exploits the redundancy in sensor networks to extend the lifetime of the network. SCARE distributes the set of nodes in the sensor network into subsets of coordinator nodes and non-coordinator nodes. While coordinator nodes stay awake, provide coverage, and perform multi-hop routing in the network, non-coordinator nodes go to sleep. When nodes fail, SCARE adaptively re-configures the network by selecting appropriate non-coordinator nodes to become coordinators and take over the role of failed coordinators. This scheme only needs local topology information and uses simple data structures in its implementation. SCARE organizes nodes into coordinator and non-coordinator nodes. A recent work, termed Ripples [106] has improved upon the self-organization and reconfiguration mechanism proposed in SCARE. It uses a lightweight clustering algorithm to elect cluster heads instead of coordinator nodes based on location information as proposed by SCARE. Ripples selects fewer cluster-head nodes compared to the number of coordinator nodes elected by SCARE by varying the cluster radius and consequently realizes more energy savings while providing comparable sensing coverage.
This thesis next presents an energy-efficient protocol for data dissemination in sensor networks. Sensor networks also enable distributed collection and processing of sensed data. These networks are usually connected to the outside world with base stations or access points through which a user can retrieve the sensed data for further inference and action. Dissemination of information is a challenging problem in sensor networks because of resource constraints. Conventional methods use classical flooding for disseminating data in a sensor network. However, classical flooding suffers from disadvantages such as the broadcast storm problem. We have proposed an energy-efficient scheme that uses the concept of virtual grids to partition (self-configure) the set of nodes into groups of gateway nodes and internal nodes. While gateway nodes forward the packets across virtual grids, internal nodes forward the packets within a virtual grid. The proposed location-aided flooding protocol (LAF) reduces the number of redundant transmissions and receptions by storing a small amount of state information in a packet and inferring the information about nodes that already have the packet from the modified packet header. More recent work [55] has extended the virtual grid concept proposed by LAF to non-uniform sensor network deployments. In [55], non-uniform virtual grids are used to improve upon the energy savings provided by LAF and achieve higher energy savings for non-uniform sensor network topologies.
This thesis also addressees the challenging problem of timely data delivery in sensor networks. We propose SensiQos, which leverages the inherent properties of the data generated by events in a sensor network such as spatial and temporal correlation, and realizes energy savings through application-specific in-network aggregation of the data. This data delivery scheme is based on distributed packet scheduling, where nodes make localized decisions on when to schedule a packet for transmission to save energy and to which neighbor they should forward the packet to meet its end-to-end real-time deadline.
Finally, this thesis presents an energy-efficient data collection protocol for sensor networks. It is based on a combination of geographic hash table and mobile sinks that leverage mobile sinks to achieve energy-efficiency in event-driven sensor networks. Next, an analysis of the energy savings realized by the proposed protocol is presented. Simulation results demonstrate significant gains in energy savings for data collection with change in various parameter values. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)


Digital camera sensors are inherently sensitive to the near-infrared (NIR) part of the light spectrum. In this paper, we propose a general design for color filter arrays that allow the joint capture of visible/NIR images using a single sensor. We pose the CFA design as a novel spatial domain optimization problem, and provide an efficient iterative procedure that finds (locally) optimal solutions. Numerical experiments confirm the effectiveness of the proposed CFA design, which can simultaneously capture high quality visible and NIR image pairs.


A simple but useful experimental method for observation of the effects of organic modifiers in the stationary phase in reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) is reported. An octadecylsilica (ODS)-packed column, used before and after treatment with low molecular weight alcohols (methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol, and 1-butanol), was employed for analysis of two groups of water-soluble model analytes by RPLC with water as the mobile phase. The first group was a mixture of 14 species of nucleosides and their bases and was used to represent hydrogen-bonding analytes, whilst the second group was a mixture of seven alkylsulfonates used to represent hydrophobic analytes. For both groups of analytes, alcohol-modified ODS stationary phases gave higher resolution and a shorter retention time than untreated ODS. These differences in chromatographic performance showed that the alcohol was adsorbed onto the stationary phase and influenced the elution of the target analytes. The adsorbed alcohol is postulated to decrease the overall hydrophobicity of the stationary phase and also to introduce a hydrogen-bonding interaction with suitable analytes. The resultant changes in retention and separation selectivity exhibited by the alcohol-modified stationary phases are dependent on the relative magnitudes of these effects. This behaviour is illustrated using the two groups of target analytes.


Abstract This article elaborates a heuristic approach to understanding the geography of warscape from a theoretically informed perspective. It argues that agency in protracted civil war emerges at the ambiguous interface of different, competing systems of power and authority. In order to account for the multiple trajectories of threat and opportunity that warscapes offer to different social actors and at different times and places, the article proposes the concept of 'governable order', which is derived from a critical review of the literature on 'social navigation' and 'governable space(s)'. The usefulness of combining these three concepts is illustrated by two empirical vignettes. They demonstrate the dynamics of governable spaces in distinct phases of the Sierra Leone and Sri Lanka civil wars. The two cases highlight the temporal and territorial fluidity of governable spaces, which both constrain and enable warscape inhabitants' agency.


Limbless robots have the potential ability to perform various highly efficient movements in different environments, taking advantage of the features of limbless locomotion, such as a low center of gravity, a large contact area and a distributed mass. This thesis deals with the locomotion control of limbless robots, concentrating specifically on the study of a hierarchical control architecture as steps toward developing limbless robots capable of 3D locomotion, fast reflex responses and sophisticated responses to environmental stimuli.

First, an overview of limbless robots is presented. Various limbless robots found in the literature are investigated. The survey not only introduces some potential applications for limbless robots, but also establishes a classification of limbless locomotion according to the limbless robots\\\' configurations and auxiliary equipment. Moreover, different approaches to autonomously generate motion patterns for limbless robots are discussed. One type of control approaches based on Central Pattern Generators (CPGs) is emphasized, since it is ideally suited to being applied to a hierarchical control architecture.

Then, a bio-inspired CPG model is proposed. The key problem for developing such a hierarchical control architecture is how to design a CPG based controller that can not only generate various gaits, but also provide a solution for realizing reflex mechanisms as well as integrating sensory feedback. To this end, a CPG model inspired by the neuronal circuit diagram in the spinal cord of swimming lampreys is designed. A set of interneurons described with sigmoid functions and leaky integrators is incorporated into the design of the neural oscillator for rhythmic signal generation. Furthermore, according to the connection between neural oscillators, a chained type and a cyclic type of CPG circuits are developed. The chained type CPG circuit is used for generating traveling waves between oscillators, while the cyclic type CPG circuit is used for producing synchronization and maintenance activities. Through numerical simulations, the control parameters over relevant characteristics of the two types of CPG circuits are studied in detail.

Next, the proposed CPG model is further designed for limbless gait implementation. Considering the configuration of limbless robots with pitch modules and yaw modules connected alternatively, two CPG circuits are applied to the pitch grouped modules and the yaw grouped modules, respectively. Both the necessary conditions for cooperation between the two CPG circuits and the control parameters for fast limbless locomotion are investigated. Four types of limbless gaits, i.e. side winding, rolling, turning and flapping are realized. Results of simulations and experiments show the effectiveness of the proposed CPG circuits in generating limbless locomotion.

After that, in order to realize fast sensory reflex responses, the concept of both sensory neurons and reflex arcs are utilized. Since the proposed CPG model is derived from neural circuit in the spinal cord of lampreys and the existence of sensory neurons in lampreys has been proven, it is simple and natural to add sensory neurons into the proposed CPG model at the neuronal level. Based on the design of the sensory neurons, a reflex mechanism taking advantage of reflex arcs forms short pathways to bridge external stimuli and the CPG model. Thus fast responses can be made when the external stimuli are afferent to the CPG model. A ball hitting experiment and a corridor passing experiment confirm the feasibility of the reflex mechanism.

Finally, the development of sophisticated responses to environmental stimuli is presented. A framework that combines the CPG model with a learning method is proposed for achieving adaptive limbless locomotion. The key issue of the framework is to find a mapping that converts external stimuli to proper sensory input, so as to modify the output of the CPG model and thus enable the limbless robot to adapt to environments. Two types of learning methods, i.e. a genetic algorithm (GA) based method and a reinforcement learning (RL) based method are applied to the framework, respectively. Through a slope climbing experiment, it is verified that both of them can achieve adaptive limbless locomotion. Furthermore, the performance of adaptive limbless locomotion under the two methods is compared and analyzed, which provides future work with the possible solutions for promoting the performance of adaptive limbless locomotion.

From the results of simulations and experiments, the hierarchical control architecture is confirmed to be a solid platform for improving the locomotive behaviors of limbless robots.


In this paper the extent to which migration of the elderly is linked to changing family living situations is explored. The work described is part of a larger project concerned with the relationship between migration, kinship, and household change. Discussions of the living arrangements of older people have often referred to moves made to join adult children or other relatives. In this paper we use the Household Sample of Anonymised Records to investigate moves of this type. The Sample of Anonymised Records allows the identification of individuals who have joined already existing households within the previous year. We make use of information on people over 65 years in Great Britain who have changed address in the previous year but are now part of a household some of whose members have not moved. This paper is confined to the limited range of information available from the 1991 census but it does allow us to estimate the number of older people making moves of this type, and to identify their age, sex, and marital status, and their relationship to the household they have joined. It is also possible to say something about the households which these people are joining, in terms of tenure and house type, and to describe the distribution of distances moved. Although the data do not allow direct inferences about whether these moves are related to the needs of the old people for care, the census question on limiting long-term illness provides data relevant to this issue.


Studies show that the proper design of clearance intervals has significant implications for intersection safety. For example, in 2001, approximately 218,000 red-light-running crashes occurred at signalized intersections in the United States. These crashes resulted in nearly 181,000 injuries and 880 fatalities and an economic loss of $14 billion. Driver behavior while the driver is approaching high-speed signalized intersections at the onset of a yellow indication varies as a function of many parameters. Some of these parameters are related to the driver's attributes, e.g., age, gender, perception-reaction time, and acceptable deceleration levels. Other parameters that relate to the intersection geometry include the approach speed, distance, and time to the intersection at the onset of the yellow indication. This study developed a novel approach for computing the clearance interval duration that explicitly accounts for the reliability of the design (probability that drivers are not caught in a dilemma zone). Lookup tables based on the limited data available from this study are provided to illustrate how the framework could be used in the design of yellow timings. The approach was developed using data gathered along Virginia's Smart Road test facility for dry and clear weather conditions for two approach speeds: 72.4 km/h (45 mph) and 88.5 km/h (55 mph). Each dataset includes a complete tracking of the vehicle every deci-second within 150 m (500 ft) before and after the intersection. A total of 3,454 stop-run records were gathered. These include 1,727 records (687 running records and 1,040 stopping records) for an approach speed of 45 mph and 1,727 records (625 running records and 1,102 stopping records) for an approach speed of 55 mph. Using these data, models that characterize driver perception-reaction times and deceleration levels were developed. The application of the proposed approach demonstrates that the current design procedures are consistent with a reliability level of 98%.


The current therapies against cancer showed limited success. Nanotechnology is a promising strategy for cancer tracking, diagnosis, and therapy. The hybrid nanotechnology assembled several materials in a multimodal system to develop multifunctional approaches to cancer treatment. The quantum dot and polymer are some of these hybrid nanoparticle platforms. The quantum dot hybrid system possesses photonic and magnetic properties, allowing photothermal therapy and live multimodal imaging of cancer. These quantum dots were used to convey medicines to cancer cells. Hybrid polymer nanoparticles were utilized for the systemic delivery of small interfering RNA to malignant tumors and metastasis. They allowed non-invasive imaging to track in real-time the biodistribution of small interfering RNA in the whole body. They offer an opportunity to treat cancers by specifically silencing target genes. This review highlights the major nanotechnology approaches to effectively treat cancer and metastasis.


"Assessment of right ventricular myocardial function by Doppler Myocardial Imaging in healthy and RAO affected horses"
In this study right ventricular longitudinal, circumferential and radial myocardial function were evaluated by different scan plans (short-axis view, long-axis view, right ventricular outflow tract) and by different Doppler myocardial imaging techniques (Tissue and pulsed wave Doppler, speckle tracking) for the first time.
Furthermore the impact of one of the most common equine airways diseases, RAO, on right ventricular myocardial function was shown non-invasively.
Right ventricular myocardial velocities, strain and strain rate, displacement as well as time intervals and electro-mechanical coupling periods were measured.
In a prestudy in 6 healthy and 6 RAO horses colour tissue Doppler, pulsed wave Doppler and speckle tracking method were applied to evaluate radial, circumferential and longitudinal right ventricular myocardial function for the first time. Angle-independent speckle tracking was applied to zoomed right ventricle from long-axis four-chamber view. Healthy as well as RAO horses showed a velocity gradient of the right ventricular free wall from its base to its apex. In order to evaluate circumferential myocardial movement, tissue Doppler (ROI next to the pulmonary valve) and speckle tracking were applied to the right ventricular outflow tract myocardium. Colour tissue Doppler was applied simultaneously to the right, left and interventricular wall at the short axis view to evaluate whether radial movement of all ventricular walls is synchrone. To determine longitudinal myocardial function colour tissue Doppler and pulsed wave Doppler were applied to lowered basal right ventricular free wall of long-axis four-chamber view (tricuspid annulus). This scan plan and applied tissue Doppler techniques were of lowest intra-individual variability whereas other techniques and scan plans, especially speckle tracking method were of very high intra-individual variability (> 25 %). Furthermore, this scan plan and evaluated longitudinal myocardial function revealed the most significant differences between healthy and RAO affected horses.
Therefore tricuspid annular motion was evaluated by colour tissue and pulsed wave Doppler in the whole study population (20 healthy, 6 mildly, 19 moderately and 16 severely affected RAO horses). This scan plan and applied techniques were able to detect altered right ventricular myocardial function due to different grades of RAO. Both tissue Doppler techniques revealed right ventricular diastolic dysfunction (lowered early diastolic filling velocity, elevated late diastolic filling velocity / atrial contraction) and colour tissue Doppler derived compensatory elevated strain. These tissue Doppler indices were able to discriminate between RAO horses with secondary right heart alterations and healthy subjects, regardless the correlation of tissue Doppler indices to age and breathing frequency.
This study showed that Doppler myocardial imaging is a useful tool to evaluate equine right ventricular myocardial function objectively. The impact of RAO on diastolic right ventricular myocardial function and contractility could be proven. These examinations point out the necessity of early RAO treatment and provide a non-invasive insight in equine right heart function for the first time.


It is well established that proteins have great physiological importance, thus possess‐ ing great potential for therapeutic use. There is increased interest in protein/peptide pharmaceuticals delivery due to recent improvements in analytical methods, ad‐ vancements in molecular biology and genetic engineering, and a better understanding of regulatory roles of proteins and peptides. There are however major challenges that need to be overcome for systemic delivery of these biological molecules. The major hurdles that contribute to low biological activity are low stability, immunogenicity, and toxicity. A combination of strategies can be used to overcome these challenges and improve the bioavailability of protein drugs. Alternative delivery routes (e.g., na‐ sal and pulmonary) and the development of new methods for overcoming delivery challenges (e.g., nanomedicine, and PEGylation), along with the development of inno‐ vative formulation strategies (e.g., spray-freeze drying, supercritical fluid methods, fluidized-bed spray coating, lyophilization, jet milling and spray drying), have result‐ ed in improved pharmacokinetics of protein drugs and in some cases increased pa‐ tient compliance.


Some fungi associate with fruit and dead or dying plant tissues as pathogen on a wide range of agricultural plants. This work comprised the isolation, identification and pathogenic assay from citrus fruit plantations (Citrus nobilis), Tegal Wangi, Jember, Jawa Timur, Indonesia with 34 mold isolates obtained. Color of 7-day-old colonies cultures on PDA was dominated by white while the reverse was whitish to pale yellow. Based on the pathogenicity test, four representative mold isolates were identified as pathogenic fungi using the sequence of internal transcribed regions Spacer (ITS) in the region of ribosomal DNA selected. Molds were identified as UNJCC (D5) D5K3A (Fusarium equiseti with 98% homology bootstrap value 100%), UNJCC (D6) D6. K3.B (F. equiseti with 99% homology bootstrap value of 100%), and UNJCC (D7) D7.K2.B (F. equiseti with 99% homology bootstrap value 66%) and UNJCC (D8) D3.K2.B (F. equiseti with 99% homology bootstrap value of 55%). F. equiseti is a main source of trichothecenes, zearalenone and other mycotoxins which can cause serious disease in humans and animals. Present information regarding the Fusarium equiseti damage to citrus leaves can be used help identify the occurrence of pathogenic fungi in citrus fruit plantations.


Taxi demand prediction is an important building block to enabling intelligent transportation systems in a smart city. An accurate prediction model can help the city pre-allocate resources to meet travel demand and to reduce empty taxis on streets which waste energy and worsen the traffic congestion. With the increasing popularity of taxi requesting services such as Uber and Didi Chuxing (in China), we are able to collect large-scale taxi demand data continuously. How to utilize such big data to improve the demand prediction is an interesting and critical real-world problem. Traditional demand prediction methods mostly rely on time series forecasting techniques, which fail to model the complex non-linear spatial and temporal relations. Recent advances in deep learning have shown superior performance on traditionally challenging tasks such as image classification by learning the complex features and correlations from large-scale data. This breakthrough has inspired researchers to explore deep learning techniques on traffic prediction problems. However, existing methods on traffic prediction have only considered spatial relation (e.g., using CNN) or temporal relation (e.g., using LSTM) independently. We propose a Deep Multi-View Spatial-Temporal Network (DMVST-Net) framework to model both spatial and temporal relations. Specifically, our proposed model consists of three views: temporal view (modeling correlations between future demand values with near time points via LSTM), spatial view (modeling local spatial correlation via local CNN), and semantic view (modeling correlations among regions sharing similar temporal patterns). Experiments on large-scale real taxi demand data demonstrate effectiveness of our approach over state-of-the-art methods.


This work investigates different non-invasive biomarkers for behaviour traits in beef and dairy cow. After a general introduction on behaviour tests, animal stress and biomarkers, the work is divided into three parts: In the first part, infrared thermography (IRT) is discussed as a method for the diagnosis of animal welfare, pain, disease, inflammation and stress in a literature review in chapter III. The second part (chapter IV) describes an experiment to compare the maternal ability in German Simmental (beef) and German Black Pied cattle. The objectives of the study were 1) to test if dairy cows have a less distinctive motherliness than beef cows and 2) to prove if oxytocin is a potential biomarker for the maternal behaviour. The third part in chapter V describes the experiment in which the docility of the breeds Charolais and German Simmental (beef) was tested with the help of two handling tests. The goal of the experiment was to proof if the hormone level of testosterone has an influence on the docility of the cattle.
Infrared thermal imaging has gained popularity in various disciplines of animal science. However, the usefulness of IRT differs for diverse diseases, infections and other purposes. Stress caused by pain, especially at disbudding, cattle branding, tail docking or surgical castration can be detected by IRT. The measurement of psychological stress, e.g. at horse jumping events or during the slaughtering of pigs, can be performed well by IRT. While a good suitability was attested for detection of virus infections, the usability of IRT for detection of diseases of the locomotor system and udder infections is often limited to a supplementary tool. Different reliabilities of IRT can be found in literature for the detection of diverse diseases, as the sensitivity and specificity are strongly dependent on the temperature cut-off value, the time of measurement (clinical or post-clinical stage) as well as the evaluation routine, assuming that all or only the maximum temperatures are included in the evaluation. In farm animal research, plenty of animal and environmental related factors show an influence on the measurements obtained by IRT, limiting the informative value of the technique. Thus, IRT cannot be considered as a panacea and should also not be used as the sole technique, but it can provide a good, non-invasive assistance for many areas of animal research and practical issues, like the detection of stress and diseases.
The second part focused on the experiment on maternal behaviour, in which 20 cow-calf dyads each of Simmental (S) and German Black Pied Cattle (BP) was examined on the 2nd and again on the 3rd day of the calf's life during situations with and without human handling of the calf. For one hour the frequency of interactions between cow and calf were quantified. During handling the calf, the cow's willingness to defend her calf and the overall maternal behaviour was scored. For the detection of stress, saliva samples for cortisol and oxytocin analysis, heart rate and thermal images of the eye were taken. The oxytocin concentration in saliva was used to test the hormone as a biomarker for maternal ability. The mixed model analysis revealed that the BP cattle had significantly higher oxytocin and cortisol levels, but lower heart rates than S cattle. The heart frequency and the defensive behaviour showed that during handling the calf, S cattle are more agitated and more difficult to handle than BP cattle. Although the beef cattle (S) showed more defensive behaviour, a lower number of interactions were presented to their calf compared to BP. Therefore, beef cows do not seem to be per se more maternal compared to dairy cows. As only the correlation of oxytocin to the interactions to the calf existed, it cannot be clearly stated that a higher oxytocin level in cows is correlated with greater total maternal ability.
The objective of the experiment in the third part was to ascertain if a higher testosterone level in beef cows is associated with more aggressive behaviour and lower docility during behaviour tests. Therefore, 21 German Simmental (S) and 20 Charolais heifers (C) were subjected with one repetition to a chute test as well as a separation- and restraint test. Beside the collection of behavioural parameters, the heart rate, thermal images of the eye and saliva samples for cortisol and testosterone analysis were collected during the tests. For all physiological and most of the behavioural parameters, significant breed differences were detected. Different behavioural parameters of the chute test and the separation- and restraint test indicated that breed C is easier to handle and has the better docility compared with the breed S. The physiological parameters for stress as well as behavioural parameters specified the S heifers to be more agitated and harder to handle. Due to the fact that the C heifers had considerably higher testosterone levels compared with S heifers, a higher level of the hormone testosterone can be interpreted as adjuvant for a better temperament. Contrary to our hypothesis, heifers with a higher testosterone level seem to be more calm, relaxed and easier to handle, probably due to less fearfulness.


ABSTRACT The solitary long terminal repeats (LTRs) of ERV-9 endogenous retrovirus contain the U3, R, and U5 regions but no internal viral genes. They are middle repetitive DNAs present at 2,000 to 4,000 copies in primate genomes. Sequence analyses of the 5" boundary area of the erythroid β-globin locus control region (β-LCR) and the intron of the embryonic axin gene show that a solitary ERV-9 LTR has been stably integrated in the respective loci for at least 15 million years in the higher primates from orangutan to human. Functional studies utilizing the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene as the reporter in transfection experiments show that the U3 region of the LTRs possesses strong enhancer activity in embryonic cells of widely different tissue origins and in adult cells of blood lineages. In both the genomic LTRs of embryonic placental cells and erythroid K562 cells and transfected LTRs of recombinant GFP plasmids in K562 cells, the U3 enhancer activates synthesis of RNAs that are initiated from a specific site 25 bases downstream of the AATAAA (TATA) motif in the U3 promoter. A second AATAAA motif in the R region does not serve as the TATA box or as the polyadenylation signal. The LTR-initiated RNAs extend through the R and U5 regions into the downstream genomic DNA. The results suggest that the ERV-9 LTR-initiated transcription process may modulate transcription of the associated gene loci in embryonic and hematopoietic cells.


We present a detailed study of the bulk electronic structure of high-quality VSe 2 single crystals using optical spectroscopy. Upon entering the charge density wave phase below the critical temperature of 112 K, the optical conductivity of VSe 2 undergoes a significant rearrangement. A Drude response present above the critical temperature is suppressed while a new interband transition appears around 0.07 eV. From our analysis, we estimate that part of the spectral weight of the Drude response is transferred to a collective mode of the CDW phase. The remaining normal-state charge dynamics appears to become strongly damped by interactions with the lattice as evidenced by a mass enhancement factor m ∗ / m ≈ 3. In addition to the changes taking place in the electronic structure, we observe the emergence of infrared active phonons below the critical temperature associated with the 4 a × 4 a lattice reconstruction.


This paper argues for an epenthesis analysis of pluralization in Spanish in which the plural form is in an output-to-output (OO) relation to the singular. That plural formation involves an output-to-output correspondence relation can be justified because Spanish plural suffixes attach to the morphological word, after all derivational and inflectional morphemes, including terminal elements. The proposed analysis overcomes the difficulties faced by previous accounts and provides a direct explanation of the pluralization facts, based on the distinction between input and output faithfulness proposed by optimality-theoretic Correspondence Theory (Benua 1995, McCarthy 1995). More specifically, epenthesis of [e] in the plural reflects the emergence of the unmarked (McCarthy and Prince 1994) with respect to the constraint against coda consonants (*CODA). *CODA is usually violated in the singular because of the domination of DEP-IO (input-to-output faithfulness) over *CODA (markedness); in the plural, however, since the relevant faithfulness constraint (DEP-OO) is dominated by markedness (*CODA), *CODA effects become visible, demanding open syllables


To unveil the strategic interaction between the government and the labour union in a unionised economy, a policy-game model is estimated by cointegrated Vector Autoregressive system using Italian quarterly data (1960-2009) on government budget surplus (fiscal efforts), hours not worked (strikes), unemployment and real wages. The long-run cointegration relationships are interpreted as the players' reaction functions and the long-run equilibrium as the equilibrium of the game. The identification of the long-run cointegration relationships allows indeed to determine if efforts and strikes are strategic complements or strategic substitutes. Finally, speed of long-run adjustment provides insights about the effectiveness of government and labour union strategies.


The onset of the COVID-19 shock in March 2020 brought large changes to the balance sheets of the U.S. branches of foreign banking organizations (FBOs). Most of these branches saw sizable usage of committed credit lines by U.S.-based clients, resulting in increased funding needs. In this post, we show that branches of FBOs from countries whose central banks used standing swap lines with the Federal Reserve ("standing swap central banks"—SSCBs) met their increased funding needs by accessing dollars that flowed into the United States through their foreign parent banks. This volume of dollar inflows accounted for at least half of the late March aggregate take-up at SSCB dollar operations.


Spring Loaded Inverted Pendulum (SLIP) model has a long history in describing running behavior in animals and humans as well as has been used as a design basis for robots capable of dynamic locomotion. Anchoring the SLIP for lossy physical systems resulted in newer models which are extended versions of original SLIP with viscous damping in the leg. However, such lossy models require an additional mechanism for pumping energy to the system to control the locomotion and to reach a limit-cycle. Some studies solved this problem by adding an actively controllable torque actuation at the hip joint and this actuation has been successively used in many robotic platforms, such as the popular RHex robot. However, hip torque actuation produces forces on the COM dominantly at forward direction with respect to ground, making height control challenging especially at slow speeds. The situation becomes more severe when the horizontal speed of the robot reaches zero, i.e. steady hoping without moving in horizontal direction, and the system reaches to singularity in which vertical degrees of freedom is completely lost. To this end, we propose an extension of the lossy SLIP model with a slider-crank mechanism, SLIP-SCM, that can generate a stable limit-cycle when the body is constrained to vertical direction. We propose an approximate analytical solution to the nonlinear system dynamics of SLIP-SCM model to characterize its behavior during the locomotion. Finally, we perform a fixed-point stability analysis on SLIP-SCM model using our approximate analytical solution and show that proposed model exhibits stable behavior in our range of interest.


We investigate the plasma dynamics during coalescence of two parallel current loops in solar flares by using a resistive three-dimensional MHD simulation code, paying particular attention finding the most effective electromagnetic fields for the production of high-energy protons. Next we investigate the orbit of many protons in the electromagnetic fields obtained from the MHD simulations. We investigate two cases of the coalescence process: (1) co-helicity reconnection where only the poloidal magnetic field produced from the axial currents dissipates and (2) counter-helicity reconnection where both poloidal and axial magnetic fields dissipate. We found a bump-on-tail distribution in the same direction as the original loop current for both the cases of co-helicity and counter-helicity. It is shown that the maximum proton energy exceeds the energy (2.223 MeV) of the observed prompt nuclear de-excitation lines of gamma-ray, and that proton energy spectrum is neither a pure power-law type nor a pure exponential type. We may conclude that anisotropic proton acceleration along the loop can be realized both for co-helicity and counter-helicity reconnection during the coalescence of two parallel loops.


For decades the rise of women to leadership positions in the workplace has been a conspicuous matter on a global spectrum. Women are challenging the prospects that were once emplaced upon them and continue to break the forefronts of opportunity that face them. This thesis brings life to Eleanor Roosevelt's quote "A woman is like a tea bag: you never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water" by exploring the glass cliff phenomenon. Stating that women have a higher chance of rising into leadership positions during a time of poor company performance, the research conducted for this paper aims to look further into the background of the principles creating this subtle form of discrimination. To discover the root cause of the glass cliff phenomenon, this thesis aims to understand when, how and why these positions are conceived furthering on how to approach the changes coveted by modern society regarding female leadership. This composition takes into account an amalgamation of existing research and the individual empirical research conducted, explaining the causation behind the glass cliff through understanding the biases, stereotypes and societal dynamics that enable glass cliff positions in the workplace.
Keywords: Glass cliff; women in leadership; discrimination; equality; management.


Changes in the global climate are having profound impacts on business operations, governance, and organizational management around the world. Boards of directors are searching for ways to account for these changes as they help guide their organizations, and investors are increasingly concerned about how these changes might impact their portfolios. This global survey, conducted by a team of researchers at the Ira M. Millstein Center for Global Markets and Corporate Ownership at Columbia Law School and experts at LeaderXXchange, seeks to understand how — if at all — institutional investors and board directors incorporate climate-related issues in their investment decision making and their oversight responsibilities, respectively. It is among the first global survey of its kind targeting both investors and directors to probe their responses on climate risk management using two tracks aggregated in a single survey. The survey collected data on a broad range of topics, including demographic information of respondents and their views on issues such as materiality of climate change, training on climate change issues, disclosure of climate risks, climate risk management, board oversight and engagement and proxy voting on climate-related issues. We find a strong majority of respondents across groups rank climate issues high up on their list of important considerations. That said, climate issues appear to attract stronger attention among investors (as opposed to directors), women, younger respondents, and European respondents.


A famous theorem of Szemer\'edi asserts that all subsets of the integers with positive upper density will contain arbitrarily long arithmetic progressions. There are many different proofs of this deep theorem, but they are all based on a fundamental dichotomy between structure and randomness, which in turn leads (roughly speaking) to a decomposition of any object into a structured (low-complexity) component and a random (discorrelated) component. Important examples of these types of decompositions include the Furstenberg structure theorem and the Szemer\'edi regularity lemma. One recent application of this dichotomy is the result of Green and Tao establishing that the prime numbers contain arbitrarily long arithmetic progressions (despite having density zero in the integers). The power of this dichotomy is evidenced by the fact that the Green-Tao theorem requires surprisingly little technology from analytic number theory, relying instead almost exclusively on manifestations of this dichotomy such as Szemer\'edi's theorem. In this paper we survey various manifestations of this dichotomy in combinatorics, harmonic analysis, ergodic theory, and number theory. As we hope to emphasize here, the underlying themes in these arguments are remarkably similar even though the contexts are radically different.


Deep kernel learning combines the non-parametric flexibility of kernel methods with the inductive biases of deep learning architectures. We propose a novel deep kernel learning model and stochastic variational inference procedure which generalizes deep kernel learning approaches to enable classification, multi-task learning, additive covariance structures, and stochastic gradient training. Specifically, we apply additive base kernels to subsets of output features from deep neural architectures, and jointly learn the parameters of the base kernels and deep network through a Gaussian process marginal likelihood objective. Within this framework, we derive an efficient form of stochastic variational inference which leverages local kernel interpolation, inducing points, and structure exploiting algebra. We show improved performance over stand alone deep networks, SVMs, and state of the art scalable Gaussian processes on several classification benchmarks, including an airline delay dataset containing 6 million training points, CIFAR, and ImageNet.


On the basis of the literature of open systems and team diversity, we present a new dynamic team diversity theory that explains the effect of change in team diversity on team functioning and performance in the context of dynamic team composition. Building upon the conceptualization of teams as open systems, we describe the enlargement and decline of team variety, separation, and disparity through member addition, subtraction, and substitution. Then, focusing on diversity enlargement, we theorize the contemporaneous and lasting effects of team diversity change on team performance change and on team processes and states leading to them. Dynamic team diversity theory expands the focus of team diversity research from teams' being more diverse than others to teams' becoming more diverse than before. It aims to advance team diversity research to be better aligned with the organizational reality of dynamic team composition. We also discuss methodological considerations in subsequent empirical testing of the theory and highlight how the theory and future research may help to guide organizational practice in recomposing work teams.


The purpose of this research report is to summarize the features of several types of "new generation" grain marketing contracts. Over the last several years, new types of grain marketing contracts have been developed by the grain industry in an attempt to improve the results of the marketing process for farmers. These products use automated pricing rules, discretionary marketing on the part of a professional advisor, options strategies, or some combination of all three; their goal is to achieve a price for the farmer near or above the "average" price offered by the market over a given time. Reports in the farm media suggest interest in new generation contracts has increased rapidly in recent years. This publication describes some of the contracts currently available and, where possible, provides examples of how each would perform in different market conditions.


: Bertrand Russell famously imagined the existence of a celestial teapot to highlight that the burden of proof of a hypothesis lay with its proposer and it was not the responsibility of others to refute it. Those who propose that fish feel pain must bear the burden of proof for their hypothesis. There are several common arguments adopted by those defending the position that fish feel pain. For instance, proponents envisage that pain is so important for human survival that they can't imagine fish could exist without it. Out of this argument from incredulity emerges the idea that pain must have evolved early in animal evolution ergo fish feel pain. Fish pain proponents often accept that fish might feel pain because it seems highly probable that fish do. Similarly it is reasoned that if fish seem to display multiple human-like characteristics (such as complex behaviours, learning and tool use), then they must be intelligent and hence make it more likely than not that they feel pain. It has been argued that those who accept the null hypothesis that fish do not feel pain are merely cherry picking the literature to refute fish pain. These claims are levied without understanding that the strength of inferences is heavily influenced by the robustness of the data and the nature of the results. The fallback position that fish pain proponents adopt when they accept that the fish forebrain does not generate pain is to suggest that fish pain arises from somewhere else in the brain using different circuitry. In the case of the present commentaries the brainstem is recognised as the seat of pain in fish. Although it is not the responsibility of the non-proposer of this "celestial teapot" to refute it, I provide evidence that makes continued adoption of this stance untenable.


When patients cannot make their own treatment decisions, surrogates typically step in to do it for them. Surrogate decision-making is far from ideal, of course, as the surrogate may not know what the patient prefers or what best promotes her interests. One way to improve it would be to arm surrogates with information about what patients in similar circumstances tend to prefer, allowing them to make empirically grounded predictions about what their patient would want.


In this paper, the compaction of lactose powder, a typical pharmaceutical excipient, is modelled using finite element methods (FEM) in which the powder is represented by an elastic-plastic continuum medium following Drucker-Prager Cap yield criteria. In a recent numerical and experimental study by the present authors [1], it was found that cone-shaped capping failure occurs during compaction of flat-faced round tablets, and that cone capping is associated with intensive shear band formation during the decompression stage. It is hence instructive to explore possible approaches that might alleviate the propensity for capping. Two approaches to alleviate capping were therefore investigated through finite element analysis: (i) altering the surfaces of the punches, i.e. to make convex tablets using the same material properties, and (ii) altering the material properties, i.e. changing the elasticity of the materials. It was found that capping still takes place even if the surface curvatures of the punches are altered. These predictions have been confirmed by physical experiments using a compaction simulator. The experiments have also demonstrated convincingly that the capping occurs during decompression. The second approach has been investigated in such a way that only the Young's modulus of the powder is changed to values twice and one-half that of lactose. Numerical results reveal that intensive shear bands are still developed during decompression even when the material properties are changed in this way. This implies that similar capping patterns are still possible for those materials. It is anticipated that the reason that some pharmaceutical excipients, such as microcrystalline cellulose (Avicel PH-102), do not cap is because of the high bonding strength of such materials (which can be generally characterised by tensile strength) [2].


BACKGROUND
In October 2010, nearly 10 months after a devastating earthquake, Haiti was stricken by epidemic cholera. Within days after detection, the Ministry of Public Health and Population established a National Cholera Surveillance System (NCSS).

METHODS
The NCSS used a modified World Health Organization case definition for cholera that included acute watery diarrhea, with or without vomiting, in persons of all ages residing in an area in which at least one case of Vibrio cholerae O1 infection had been confirmed by culture.

RESULTS
Within 29 days after the first report, cases of V. cholerae O1 (serotype Ogawa, biotype El Tor) were confirmed in all 10 administrative departments (similar to states or provinces) in Haiti. Through October 20, 2012, the public health ministry reported 604,634 cases of infection, 329,697 hospitalizations, and 7436 deaths from cholera and isolated V. cholerae O1 from 1675 of 2703 stool specimens tested (62.0%). The cumulative attack rate was 5.1% at the end of the first year and 6.1% at the end of the second year. The cumulative case fatality rate consistently trended downward, reaching 1.2% at the close of year 2, with departmental cumulative rates ranging from 0.6% to 4.6% (median, 1.4%). Within 3 months after the start of the epidemic, the rolling 14-day case fatality rate was 1.0% and remained at or below this level with few, brief exceptions. Overall, the cholera epidemic in Haiti accounted for 57% of all cholera cases and 53% of all cholera deaths reported to the World Health Organization in 2010 and 58% of all cholera cases and 37% of all cholera deaths in 2011.

CONCLUSIONS
A review of NCSS data shows that during the first 2 years of the cholera epidemic in Haiti, the cumulative attack rate was 6.1%, with cases reported in all 10 departments. Within 3 months after the first case was reported, there was a downward trend in mortality, with a 14-day case fatality rate of 1.0% or less in most areas.


The Visualization and Analytics Center for Enabling Technologies (VACET) focuses on leveraging scientific visualization and analytics software technology as an enabling technology for increasing scientific productivity and insight. Advances in computational technology have resulted in an 'information big bang,' which in turn has created a significant data understanding challenge. This challenge is widely acknowledged to be one of the primary bottlenecks in contemporary science. The vision of VACET is to adapt, extend, create when necessary, and deploy visual data analysis solutions that are responsive to the needs of DOE's computational and experimental scientists. Our center is engineered to be directly responsive to those needs and to deliver solutions for use in DOE's large open computing facilities. The research and development directly target data understanding problems provided by our scientific application stakeholders. VACET draws from a diverse set of visualization technology ranging from production quality applications and application frameworks to state-of-the-art algorithms for visualization, analysis, analytics, data manipulation, and data management.


Between 2010 and 2015 the Liberal Party of Australia and the Queensland Liberal National Party accepted over two million dollars in political donations from mining companies seeking approval for six highly controversial mining projects in Queensland. While these companies sought approval and legislative changes primarily from the then Liberal National Party Queensland Government, most of the money donated by these companies went to the Liberal Party of Australia. The Queensland Liberal National Party accepted $308,000 dollars from companies associated with these projects, while the Liberal Party of Australia accepted $1.75 million. Although we know that over $3 million dollars was transferred from the Liberal Party of Australia to the Queensland Liberal National Party over this period, a lack of disclosure and transparency makes it impossible to discern the origin of these donations. At least one of the companies examined in this report made a substantial donation to the highly controversial Free Enterprise Foundation, the opaque Federal Liberal Party fundraising body that came under the scrutiny of the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) for allegedly concealing the origin of illegal political donations to the New South Wales Liberal Party. These mining projects all gained extraordinary access to government ministers and extraordinary outcomes. These outcomes included legislative changes to remove environmental protections, federal and state government approval of projects despite serious environmental concerns, and even retrospective approval of illegal mining activities.


Fog collection shows great promise as a solution to the water scarcity problem in some arid regions. In addition, it can be applied to saving water required for important industrial system processes, such as recapturing water in cooling towers of thermal power plants. Although a number of studies have been conducted to investigate the principles of fog collection, most of the studies have sought methods to facilitate the transport of the captured liquid on multiple wire systems. However, it is important to study the fundamental correlation between the fog collection rate and the process of fog droplet capture, which has been largely underexplored, in order to understand the full span of the fog collection process and improve its collection efficiency. In this study, we aim to examine the correlation between the measured collection rate and the deposition step of fog collection on a wire, using spontaneous wetting of vertical, superhydrophilic wires that minimize the liquid loss during transport to precisely measure the volume of collected water. Experiments were conducted using the wires with various diameters under different wind speed conditions. The results show that the measured fog collection rate per unit area is linearly proportional to an empirically obtained deposition efficiency of aerosols, a function of the Stokes number. In addition to the controlled liquid transport by the modification of surface wettability, this study provides physical insights for the optimal design of fog collectors from an aerodynamics-centered perspective, benefitting the fight against the global water crisis.Fog collection shows great promise as a solution to the water scarcity problem in some arid regions. In addition, it can be applied to saving water required for important industrial system processes, such as recapturing water in cooling towers of thermal power plants. Although a number of studies have been conducted to investigate the principles of fog collection, most of the studies have sought methods to facilitate the transport of the captured liquid on multiple wire systems. However, it is important to study the fundamental correlation between the fog collection rate and the process of fog droplet capture, which has been largely underexplored, in order to understand the full span of the fog collection process and improve its collection efficiency. In this study, we aim to examine the correlation between the measured collection rate and the deposition step of fog collection on a wire, using spontaneous wetting of vertical, superhydrophilic wires that minimize the liquid loss during transport to precise...


The generation and sample applications of a set of multispectral remotely sensed products for investigations of Lake Baikal's ice cover variability are described. During the period from mid-January to the end of April, the lake is completely covered with ice, and by analyzing satellite information it is possible to investigate in detail the distribution and dynamics of the main types of snow and ice cover. Different ice cover classes and unfrozen water distributions are estimated from calibrated and navigated NOAA AVHRR 1.1-km imagery of Lake Baikal for January 1994 through May 1999. The processing strategy and characteristics of the products are reviewed. The utility of this type of multiparameter dataset for modelling applications and process studies is discussed. ERS SAR and Resurs images are used for detailed representation of different ice classes distributions.


The rise of anthropogenic global warming has sparked new interest in developing strategies to mitigate carbon dioxide emissions. Conventional carbon capture processes are not economically viable at scale due to their enormous energy cost. Membrane-based separation is a promising alternative, but its separation performance has traditionally been limited by a well-known trade-off between permeability and selectivity. Here, we report a hybrid polymer/inorganic membrane with dual transport pathways, which allows us to overcome this traditional limitation. The inorganic phase consists of a metal–organic framework (MOF), which is an ideal inorganic dispersant to construct dual transport pathways as the crystalline porous structure of MOFs is more amenable to molecular diffusion than polymers. Previous hybrid membrane research has failed to achieve sufficiently high loadings to establish a percolative network necessary for dual transport, often due to mechanical failure of the membrane at high loading. Using polysulfone and UiO-66-NH2 MOF as a model system, we achieve high MOF loadings (50 wt%) and observe the evolution from single mode to dual transport regimes. The newly formed percolative pathway through the MOF, which has not previously been observed, acts as a molecular highway for gases. As the MOF loading increases to 30 wt%, CO2 permeability increases linearly from 5.6 barrers in polysulfone homopolymer to 18 barrers. Crucially, between 30 and 40 wt%, a percolative MOF network arises and the CO2 permeability dramatically rises from 18 to 46 barrers; an eight-fold increase over pure polysulfone, while maintaining selectivity over methane and nitrogen near the pure polymer at 24 and 26, respectively. A similar phenomenon is observed in the measurement of the diffusion coefficient and is consistent with the formation of dual transport pathways. The findings in this study enable new approaches towards designing hybrid membranes with dual transport pathways. This is an important step towards a competitive membrane-based carbon capture process.


The climate is changing, both globally and in the UK. To adapt effectively, engineers and planners need as much information as possible on how the climate will evolve. The UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP) provided this in 2002 with UKCIP02 and the latest data UKCP09, which provides data to a resolution of 5 km square grids over the UK. Data sets from these were used in this study along with the historical measured data for three locations — Bracknell (London), Manchester and Edinburgh — to analyse critically the likely changes that may occur in the key climate variables, that is temperature, sunshine duration and solar irradiation. These parameters have an important bearing on the design and function of buildings and building services. Sunshine duration is the main variable that is used to obtain solar radiation in the UKCP09 5 km grid data. For the grids containing Bracknell, Manchester and Edinburgh, most of the UKCP09 data sets for the years 2050 and 2080 showed abnormally elongated sunshine duration, that is from sunrise to sunset, for clear days. In contrast, the latest historic measured data sets indicate only a third of the above sunshine duration. Note that the latter data are used in cooling load design calculations and for the generation of sol-air temperatures.1 Of particular note was the anomalous occurrence in UKCP09 of late evening sunshine duration. For Bracknell and Edinburgh, the sunshine duration at hour ending 20 and beyond showed substantial amount of predicted sunshine. As a result of this work, corrective action has been proposed for UKCP09 data. Furthermore, a very significant increase was also noted in solar irradiation for UKCP09. For the historic measured data for Bracknell, the clear day noon irradiation is 818 Wh/m 2. For the UKCP09 grid containing Bracknell the 2080 High Emission scenario data gives an average value of 1002 Wh/m2, an increase of 23%. The same trend occurs for Edinburgh, (a present value of 789 Wh/m 2 and the predicted value of 948 Wh/m2, an increase of 20%). Note that compounded with presently found increase of 4—5°C increase for the above locations, the substantial increase in irradiation will have a much more pronounced increase in the cooling load of buildings. An evaluation of the change in the character of solar radiation was also undertaken. This was done by noting the change in the diffuse fraction of global irradiation. For Bracknell and Edinburgh historic data and UKCP09 data 2080 High Emission data set show a drastic decrease, respectively from 0.37 to 0.13 and from 0.33 to 0.14. Diffuse fraction may be used as an indicator of the prevailing sky clarity. If the predictions come true a drastic decrease in the diffuse fraction of this magnitude signifies a radical shift in the character of solar climate for the future. The current solar climate of Bracknell is known for its above average turbidity, the latter stemming from the following factors: inland location, high-density housing, proximity to Heathrow airport and M25 London orbital motorway. Whether such an extreme shift in the sky clarity will occur within a matter of 60—70 years is open to discussion. Practical applications: To adapt effectively against the challenge posed by climate change engineers need to know the extent to which the basic climate variables such as temperature and solar radiation will change. This work has used basic data from the UKCP09 project to analyse the extent of the above change with respect to the basic and other derived data. It was shown that for Scottish and English locations a temperature rise of up to 4—5°C may occur between the present age and the year 2080 for High Emission scenario. It was also shown that the corresponding irradiation strength may increase around 22%. Furthermore, it was also found that if these predictions come true then a drastic decrease in the diffuse fraction of irradiation will produce a radical shift in the character of solar climate. The resulting higher proportion of beam irradiation will have to be handled with care in design of overhangs and other shading contraptions to prevent an excessive increase in cooling load of buildings.


Abstract Research on new products made of naturally occurring substances that possess regenerative and recuperative characteristics of benefit to humanity occurs continuously. In light of this, birch sap is receiving more and more attention. The aim of this work was an assessment of concentration changes of selected elements in birch sap depending on the day of collection. Herein, we utilized a ContrAA 700 high-resolution atomic absorption spectrometer with continuous light source (HR-CS-AAS) and we applied electro-thermal and flame techniques. Our results indicate that the concentration of the marked elements is variable and is connected with the date of collection. For most of elements, a downward trend can be observed. Only the amount of iron increased with time


The purpose of this study is to examine how a game with western background would be localized for the Japanese game market. Although research on the field of localization in general is a bit scarce, one thing that most of the current research has in common is the focus on how Japanese games are localized for the western game market. The research for the opposite side is close to none, which is part of my motivation for choosing this particular subject for my study. In this study, I have examined Gearbox Software's Borderlands 2. This study will examine how the localization of the game has been carried out with emphasis on how well information – whether it is explicit or implied – is transferred between the original American version and the Japanese localized version of the game. This will be done by comparing dialogue lines side by side between the two versions of the game. The result will be compared with the results presented in previous research on games localized from the Japanese game market to see what similarities might be found.