This panel focuses on trends in research on Wikis. Wikis have become prevalent in our society and are used for multiple purposes, such as education, knowledge sharing, collaboration, and coordination. Similar to other popular social computing tools, they raise new research questions and have attracted the attention of researchers in information science. While some focus on the semantic web, the automatic processing of data accumulated by users, and tool improvements, others discuss social implications of Wikis. This panel presents five studies that address the social uses of Wikis that support information sharing. In their studies, the panelists use a variety of novel applications of research methods, such as action research, and online ethnography, site observation, survey, and interviews. The panelists will present their findings: Shachaf and Hara will discuss Wikipedians' norms and behaviors; Bonk will present collaborative writing on Wikibook; Mackey will discuss authorship and collaboration in PBwiki.com; Hemminger will share results from the early use of wikis for conference communications; and Stvilia will outline the community mechanism of information quality assurance in Wikipedia.


Sarah Bernhardt's audiences often described feeling thrilled and dominated by the star performer, and they relished the ways in which her agency seemed to exceed or even negate their own. This essay uses rarely cited archival materials to identify the performance techniques that induced such extreme responses. Those techniques included mobility, framing, tempo control, and hyperextension, and I group them under the rubric of "exteriority effects." By attending to exteriority effects and the affects they inspired, we can (1) challenge accounts of female performers as lacking agency or exercising it only to extend it to other women, (2) move beyond affect theory's focus on bad feelings, and (3) reorient accounts of nineteenth-century theatricality away from their focus on interiority and privacy.


This thesis critically examines site-specific art projects in Australian museums from the late 1960s onwards. Despite the fact that site-specific art practice is relatively widespread, there have been few in-depth or systematic studies published on this subject, particularly in terms of its historical and theoretical foundations. More importantly, there have been no in-depth studies explicitly on Australian site-specific art, and so my research aims to extend the existing knowledge on this art form while applying it to an Australian context.

Because the site-specific field is vast, I narrowed my research to focus on artworks located in museums, including art, natural history, cultural history museums, historic houses and sites, and botanic gardens. The inclusion of such a wide range of museums is in part due to the fact that the artistic projects in these institutions vary greatly. Additionally, the comparisons between art museums, and those in which art is a (usually) temporary visitor reveal certain aspects of Australian culture, values and colonial history, than discussing art museums alone. The title, 'the museum as art', refers to the role of the museum as site, subject and medium in the site-specific works of art under examination. It reinforces the significant relationship and dialogue with the museum in question- the museum is an integral part of the artwork.

The key aim of this thesis is to identify and critically analyse significant site-specific art projects undertaken in Australian museums by both local and international artists. I also critique existing theoretical writings about site-specific art, particularly the paradigms established by Miwon Kwon and James Meyer and devise my own working models as applicable to museum-based site-specific art. The aim is not to replace these paradigms, but to expand on existing models using local and more recent examples. Although this thesis focuses on Australian site specific art practice, and the way in which Australian museums construct knowledge and reflect national values, my models are equally relevant to international museums.

The chapters in this thesis are arranged thematically, centred around significant art examples which are in turn used to illustrate wider issues relating to site-specific art practice. In analysing a large number of art projects, I have observed a range of strategies used by artists working in museums. Firstly, an artwork may respond to the physical or spatial aspects of the museum. Artworks also frequently interact with a museum's collection or archives, or question the institution's representation of history or social constructions of nature. Others mimic museum classification strategies or highlight ingrained display methods that have become normalised, almost invisible, to the average visitor. More functionally, the work might be used by curators to enliven tired museum spaces or communicate aspects of history poetically, allowing for speculative histories or subjective responses - methods unavailable to regular historians. Lastly, an artwork may seek to preserve intangible heritage or highlight gaps in knowledge or history, particularly when it comes to the representation of Aboriginal Australians or women.

I argue that current site-specific art practice reflects a move away from the Modernist frame, illustrated by the growing popularity of non-art museum sites and converted ex-industrial 'raw' spaces, particularly since the mid-1990s. Theorists such as Kwon and Meyer tend to ignore the pre-Modernist philosophy towards art, where art frequently sat in dialogue with the site. However, contemporary site-specific art practice, although distinctly different to the pre-Modern site/art relationship, indicates an acknowledgment and celebration of the unavoidable influence of exhibition environments on works of art.

At the start of this research, I questioned the notion of an 'Australian art'; however, I can now demonstrate that site-specific art, more than any other art form, has the ability to address distinctly Australian concerns. It can reveal how a nation's museums not only reflect, but also develop and promote particular values and knowledge. The very marginality of art practice makes it an ideal method in which to critically examine cultural assumptions and norms, and despite the risk of site-form of institutionalised institutional critique, I have demonstrated how artworks can question institutional authority and highlight gaps in knowledge in a way that curators, historians and museum directors simply cannot. By recording a range of artistic interventions in Australia's public museums, and analysing them in relation to both existing site-specific theories as well as my new extended models, this thesis demonstrates not only the complexities of site-specific art practice, but also the role that art can play in interpreting, challenging and re-presenting existing knowledge as mediated by the museum.


This paper explores theoretically the implications of bank market structure and banking system risks concentration for the functioning of interbank markets. It employs a simple model where banks are exposed to both credit and liquidity risk, there is no asymmetric information, no market power, no friction in secondary markets and deposit contracts are fully contingent. We show that (a) the concentration of risks induced by changes in bank market structure makes interbank market breakdowns more likely; (b) welfare monotonically decreases in risk concentration; and (c) risk concentration and a high probability of interbank market breakdowns can be driven by risk control diseconomies of scale and scope and increases in financial firms' size. As banking systems become more concentrated, improvement of risk control technologies in financial institutions and in regulatory bodies appear as important as other policies considered in the literature to minimize the probability of interbank market breakdowns.


This paper investigates the impacts of population growth, market access, agricultural credit and technical assistance programs, land policies, livelihood strategies and other factors on changes in land management, natural resource conditions and human welfare indicators since 1991 in the northern Ethiopian highlands, based on a survey of 198 villages. We find that population growth has contributed significantly to land degradation, poverty and food insecurity in this region. In contrast, better market access and some credit and technical assistance programs were associated with improvement (or less decline) in land quality, wealth and food security; suggesting the possibility of "win-win-win" development outcomes with appropriate interventions. Land redistribution was associated with adoption of inorganic fertilizer, but also with declining use of fallow and declining soil fertility. We find also that different land management practices are adopted where different livelihood strategies are pursued, suggesting the importance of considering livelihood strategies in technical assistance programs. Development strategies should be tailored to the different comparative advantages of different locations; no "one-size-fits-all" strategy will work everywhere.


Industrial primary production of aluminium has been developed and improved over more than 100 years. The molten salt electrolysis process is still suffering from low energy efficiency and considerable emissions of greenhouse gases (CO2 and PFC). A new concept has been suggested where methane is supplied through the anode so that the CO2 emissions may be reduced significantly, the PFC emissions may be eliminated and the energy consumption may decrease significantly. Porous carbon anodes made from different graphite grades were studied in controlled laboratory experiments. The anode potential, the anode carbon consumption and the level of HF gas above the electrolyte were measured during electrolysis. In some cases it was found that the methane oxidation was effectively participating in the anode process.


Global instant payment and its underlying infrastructure evolution are commonly referred to as fragmentation, with the proliferation of local instant payment systems, or consolidation, with few global instant payment systems prevailing. Even though these evolution views and related management practices are valuable, they emphasize linear and conflict-oriented evolution perspectives that undermine the possibility of progressive fragmentation and consolidation. Conversely, this paper introduces three mechanisms, transactional, modular, and institutional, as well as three related qualities, service layers, service granularity, and service integration, that characterize the evolution of global instant payment infrastructure. Drawing upon four global payment case studies, the paper illustrates evolution patterns that emerge with the mutual and reinforcing influence between these evolution mechanisms and qualities. We find that the evolution of global instant payment infrastructure is taking place with the creation, and integration, of context-specific payment services, and the reduction of layers in payment services. This perspective revisits the fragmentation vis-a-vis consolidation arguments in favor of evolution patterns, which account for progressive fragmentation and consolidation of global instant payment infrastructure.


New Spanish migrants began to arrive in the Netherlands nearly ten years ago, following the economic crisis in 2008 and the steep rise in the Spanish unemployment rate. These Spanish migrants are highly skilled, mobile, highly educated, and speak English well. Most of them work in the high-tech and healthcare sectors. While they can get along communicating in English at first, they soon become aware of the importance of speaking Dutch, because it is required at work or because they want to improve their social interaction.

Learning Dutch is hard for adult Spaniards, and when asked what the most difficult aspect of learning Dutch is, most of them would probably answer: "la pronunciacion", 'the pronunciation'. The main aim of this investigation is to study the pronunciation problems of adult Spanish learners of Dutch, and their possible sources, as well as to find out how well native Dutch listeners perceive Spanish-accented Dutch pronunciation, in terms of intelligibility.

This investigation contributes to the development of specific learning tools for native speakers of Spanish who wish to improve their pronunciation accuracy in Dutch. The outcomes of this dissertation throw light on the specific pronunciation problems Spanish learners of Dutch have, as well as their sources. Such insights can help to propose pedagogical direction in phonological instruction in the Dutch L2 classroom, to develop dedicated CAPT (Computer Assisted Pronunciation Training) programs, and to create materials aimed at raising phonological awareness among Spanish learners.


The multi-disciplinary characteristics of transportation force
a new design of geographic information systems, within which
these characteristics are considered. In this context, geographic
information systems for transportation are the result of the
integration of transportation information systems and conventional
geographic information systems. An interesting research area
in geographic information systems for transportation is constraint
management in route planning algorithms from the pedestrian s
perspective. Constraint management becomes more complex when
route planning takes into account an integrated public transportation
network (i.e. a multimodal network). A study on the theoretical
contextualization and taxonomy of a pedestrian s behavioral
impedance has been developed in order to improve the constraint
management from the pedestrian s perspective. This study entails
strategies of travel reduction by private transport (e.g. travel
by car) through switching to or substitution by alternative
public transport (e.g. travel by walk, bus or rail). The
grounded theory method has been used to develop the proposed
taxonomy. Using the partial results of a questionnaire applied
to a reduced group of people from Barcelona as a starting
point, important data are being collected to define the mathematical
model of the behavioral impedance domain. The goal of this
paper is to provide some considerations about theoretical contextualization
on identification and management of constraints regarding the
behavioral impedance domain from the pedestrian s perspective
within the urban public transportation context. The research
project where this work is included is composed of six major
phases. The first phase represents a continuous bibliographic
review. The second phase was a study on sidewalks in the university
zone of Barcelona. In this phase, an experimental application
has been proposed and the management, map and route modules
have been implemented on the ArcInfo GIS package and C++. This
paper reports the partial work of the third phase, which is
composed of two parts. The first part was a theoretical study on
behavioral impedance for route planning techniques, in which
taxonomy was proposed. The results of the second part are partially
presented in this paper. The fourth (i.e. design and implementation),
fifth (i.e. calibration and validation) and sixth (i.e. generalization
of the results) phases are characterized by the application
of the prototype regarding the multimodal network model for
urban public transportation from the pedestrian s perspective.
The main contribution of this article is the behavioral impedance
taxonomy review from the pedestrian s perspective, which will allow
designing a mathematical model and be used to implement a constraint
management algorithm. Within this context, the proposed taxonomy
could be used to model cost functions more precisely.


Ben's story takes place in 1977 and is told in words. Rose's story in 1927 is told entirely in pictures. Ever since his mother died, Ben feels lost. At home with her father, Rose feels alone. When Ben finds a mysterious clue hidden in his mother's room, and when a tempting opportunity presents itself to Rose, both children risk everything to find what's missing. Rich, complex, affecting and beautiful, "Wonderstruck" is a staggering achievement from a uniquely gifted artist.


Advantages of cache cooperation on edge cache networks serving dynamic web content were studied. Design of cooperative edge cache grid---a large-scale cooperative edge cache network for delivering highly dynamic web content with varying server update frequencies was presented. A cache clouds-based architecture was proposed to promote low-cost cache cooperation in cooperative edge cache grid. An Internet landmarks-based scheme, called selective landmarks-based server-distance sensitive clustering scheme, for grouping edge caches into cooperative clouds was presented. Dynamic hashing technique for efficient, load-balanced, and reliable documents lookups and updates was presented. Utility-based scheme for cooperative document placement in cache clouds was proposed. The proposed architecture and techniques were evaluated through trace-based simulations using both real-world and synthetic traces. Results showed that the proposed techniques provide significant performance benefits.
A framework for automatically detecting cache-effective fragments in dynamic web pages was presented. Two types of fragments in web pages, namely, shared fragments and lifetime-personalization fragments were identified and formally defined. A hierarchical fragment-aware web page model called the augmented-fragment tree model was proposed. An efficient algorithm to detect maximal fragments that are shared among multiple documents was proposed. A practical algorithm for detecting fragments based on their lifetime and personalization characteristics was designed. The proposed framework and algorithms were evaluated through experiments on real web sites. The effect of adopting the detected fragments on web-caches and origin-servers is experimentally studied.


This paper is part of a research project which tries to determine the socio cultural impact of public policies and the modernization process in the health care of the aimara ethnic group in Chile, from a cultural perspective. Its purpose is to approach to the meaning attributed by the aimara women from Colchane to the public policies related to reproductive health and how it impacts their cosmic vision. Our hypothesis is that the aimara women do not appropriate these public policies on reproductive health as proper because they do not respond to their cultural meaning about the reproductive process.


Mary Cartwright, with J.E. Littlewood, F.R.S., first observed the phenomena that developed into Chaos Theory. Thus she had a significant effect on the modern world. She was the only woman so far to be a president of the London Mathematical Society, one of the first to be a Fellow of The Royal Society and the first woman to serve on its Council.


Abstract. Map generalization is not only affected by the factors such as map usage, scale, and feature distribution characteristics, but also affected by the level of understanding and skill of the mapper or computer. Under the same Constraint of indicator conditions, different mapper or computer use the same data but product different maps. Automatic map generalization is a kind of mapping technology with strong artificial intelligence, subjectivity and regionality. The necessary map comprehensive knowledge, experience of mapping and the correct comprehensive method of map are the key to the quality of the final map generalization product.This paper takes the automatic map generalization test of topographic data in a certain area as an example, starting from the quality requirements of 1:50 000 scale topographic data, discussing the selection, simplification, combination, smoothing, enhancement, displacement, exaggeration, aggregation of geographical features. It puts forward the models, contents, indicators and methods for quality assessment, and analyzes the typical quality problems after the generalization of features such as water system, habitation, road, landform, vegetation, soil and annotation. This paper also discusses the shortcomings and optimization measures of current automatic generalization in strategy, knowledge base and so on. The work of this paper can provide technical support for perfecting the theory and method of automatic map generalization, provide scheme reference for the real and reasonable assessment of topographic data automatic map generalization, and provide practical reference for multi-scale topographic map linkage update.


Robotic systems may frequently come across similar manipulation planning problems that result in similar motion plans. Instead of planning each problem from scratch, it is preferable to leverage previously computed motion plans, i.e., experiences, to ease the planning. Different approaches have been proposed to exploit prior information on novel task instances. These methods, however, rely on a vast repertoire of experiences and fail when none relates closely to the current problem. Thus, an open challenge is the ability to generalise prior experiences to task instances that do not necessarily resemble the prior. This work tackles the above challenge with the proposition that experiences are "decomposable" and "malleable," i.e., parts of an experience are suitable to relevantly explore the connectivity of the robot-task space even in non-experienced regions. Two new planners result from this insight: experience-driven random trees (ERT) and its bi-directional version ERTConnect. These planners adopt a tree sampling-based strategy that incrementally extracts and modulates parts of a single path experience to compose a valid motion plan. We demonstrate our method on task instances that significantly differ from the prior experiences, and compare with related state-of-the-art experience-based planners. While their repairing strategies fail to generalise priors of tens of experiences, our planner, with a single experience, significantly outperforms them in both success rate and planning time. Our planners are implemented and freely available in the Open Motion Planning Library.


Marine mammal conservation presents a number of challenges for scientists and other stakeholders, especially using natural resources in ways that avoid crisis management. Scientists play the special role of providing vital information to decision makers to help them understand long-term consequences of their actions and avoid crises before they develop. The contributors to this visionary work look beyond the current crises to present a compelling argument about how science, if conducted properly, can provide insights that minimize crisis management and implement more anticipatory action. Despite the significant reduction of marine mammal harvesting, stocks of some species remain greatly reduced or are in decline. This volume provides an overview of the current state of marine mammal populations and identifies the major obstacles facing marine mammal conservation, including fisheries, sonar and other noise pollution, disease, contaminants, algal booms, and habitat loss. The contributors chart a scientifically-supported plan to direct marine management toward a well-defined recovery protocol. This comprehensive resource will be indispensable for marine mammal biologists, oceanographers, conservation program managers, government regulators, policy makers, and anyone who is concerned about the future of these captivating species.


Western blotting is a widely used scientific method used for the analyses of specific target proteins in complex samples (13). Epidemiologic studies have shown a decrease in the death and suffering with early detection and treatment of cancer (15).  Since its emergence, cancer biomarkers have become a leading site of investigation in cancer research due to their profound ability of being able to detect cancer at all stages (20). Molecular imaging strategies are used to assess cancer biomarkers for their reliability.  Western blotting is used for both quantitative and qualitative analysis of proteins (17).  Qualitative analysis can identify the presence of specific proteins and make estimations of their abundance in a complex sample of proteins. Past research has shown a superiority of PrEST monoclonal mouse antibodies over normal antibodies in proteomic research (18). The following study uses western blotting techniques to investigate the use of PrEST monoclonal mouse antibodies as a potential cancer biomarker.  The focus protein of the study was Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR), a protein-coding gene, the EGFR is a member of the ErbB group of receptors associated with some physiological processes of cancer (3). The western blotting assay displayed a positive protein-protein interaction between EGFR and the cancer cells. Western blotting is an effective technique however it is not the only methods applied to determine specific protein-to protein interaction. Future research could expand testing to using other methods such as crosslinking on PrEST antibodies.


Background: Circumcision is the most common procedure in the neonatal period. PD was adopted for circumcision for a long time, and it underwent many modifications during the last decades. In this paper, we review retrospectively our practice in babies with isolated hooded prepuce that been circumcised with PD by using a new technique called (Traction and closure).

Materials and methods: Between April 2019 and April 2021, 676 cases of circumcision were performed in the pediatric surgery clinic, 398 cases by Winkelmann clamp, and 289 done with Plastibell device. Five cases of hooded prepuce were detected on routine physical examination without hypospadias or meatal anomaly. These cases are characterized by deficient ventral preputial skin comparing to the dorsal preputial skin. All babies were in the neonatal period (less than one month of age) except for one who was 32 days old. The mean age of babies was 15.4 days. Circumcision was accomplished with PD by a new technique (Traction and closure).

Results: Postoperatively no bleeding or urinary retention was noticed in all babies. Upon follow-up, all patients did not have slippage or retention of the ring where the ring fell smoothly over an expected time duration (7-11 days, mean: 9.25 days). Also, good favorable outcomes and parental satisfaction were both obtained in all cases.

Conclusion: PD with technique (traction and closure) is a safe and suitable method for circumcision in babies diagnosed with an isolated hooded prepuce


A large-scale dip-slope landslide, the Chiufenershan landslide, was triggered by the 921 Chi-Chi Earthquake on September 21, 1999. At the site, which covers some 200 hectares of incline, over thirty million cubic meters of rock masses were displaced, blocking streams to form two dammed lakes and causing more than 20 fatalities. Dip-slope topography, incompetent fault zone on slope base together with well-developed discontinuities in rock masses constitute the fundamental internal factors for sliding. The critical factor contributing to the landslide is the strong ground motion generated by the earthquake. The event is totally unexpected because there was no trace of daylight on the slope prior to slope failure. Based on detailed geological investigations followed by the collection of various on-site features, the classification and factors causing landslide were described and discussed.


A century after Henri Benard discovered cellular convective structures, thermal convection in fluid layers still remains a central subject in nonlinear physics. Within this framework, surface-tension-driven instabilities have increasingly been the subject of attention over the last few years, owing to the even greater variety of pattern and wave-forming phenomena observed in this situation. This book provides readers with a progressive and complete insight into this vast field, describing as it does a number of "first principle" analyses of realistic set-ups, including several physicochemical processes at interfaces. Nonetheless, much emphasis is placed on the generality of the results and methods used, by way of the detailed derivation and analysis of a number of generic nonlinear equations known to hold in many physical systems, even outside the realm of fluid mechanics. The first introductory chapter describes nonlinear dissipative structures at a general level, with several examples of hydrodynamic instabilities in systems with interfaces. Chapter 2 contains a summary of the derivation of thermo-hydrodynamic equations, including boundary conditions prevailing at interfaces, while the third chapter is devoted to linear stability analyzes and identification of basic instability modes. The following two chapters deal with weakly nonlinear theories, both monotonic and oscillatory. Chapter 6 presents experimental and theoretical results on solitonic and shock-like surface waves, while Chapter 7 explores examples of multiple bifurcations. Finally, Chapter 8 presents recent results on strongly nonlinear surface-tension-driven convection and chaotic interfacial dynamics.


How the brain integrates visual information across time into coherent percepts is an open question. Here, we investigated this integration using a feature fusion paradigm. In feature fusion two stimuli are presented in immediate succession. The stimuli are not perceived individually but as one fused stimulus. For example, a red and a green disc presented in rapid succession are seen as a yellow disc. It has been shown that feature fusion can be modulated by transcranial magnet stimulation (TMS) over occipital cortex for a surprisingly long duration of 400ms, suggesting that neural representations interact for this duration. If fusion were always to take place, fusion would lead to considerable smear. Hence, the question arises under which conditions stimuli fuse. Our current results suggest that stimulus transients prevent fusion because transients signal the presence of different objects. TMS cannot modulate this process. Suppressing the transients with a mask leads to the fusion of the stimuli which can be modulated by occipital TMS. Our results suggest that long lasting feature integration in occipital cortex occurs only when feature belong'' to one object, but not when the very same features presented at the very same spatio-temporal location "belonging'' to different objects."


The theme of the conference is the challenges to achieving the sustainabledevelopment goals and the possible solutions thereto. The Asian DevelopmentBank1 lists the 17 sustainable development goals and progress there under intheir report titled the Asia Pacific Sustainable Development Goals Outlook releasedrecently. The last of these goals, SDG 17 refers to finance, technology and trade.I will focus on the challenges in achieving this goal and possible solutions theretobased on my experience as a development banker for nearly two decades. Beforebecoming a banking and finance academic in Australia, I worked for nearly 20years in the Reserve Bank of India and its outfit the National Bank for Agricultureand Rural Development (NABARD). As an academic, the focus of my research ismicro finance and the use of financial technology. I will draw up on the studiesconducted by me.


We consider the canonical problem of influence maximization in social networks. Since the seminal work of Kempte, Kleinberg, and Tardos there have been two, largely disjoint efforts on this problem. The first studies the problem associated with learning the generative model that produces cascades, and the second focuses on the algorithmic challenge of identifying a set of influencers, assuming the generative model is known. Recent results on learning and optimization imply that in general, if the generative model is not known but rather learned from training data, no algorithm for influence maximization can yield a constant factor approximation guarantee using polynomially-many samples, drawn from any distribution. In this paper we describe a simple algorithm for maximizing influence from training data. The main idea behind the algorithm is to leverage the strong community structure of social networks and identify a set of individuals who are influentials but whose communities have little overlap. Although in general, the approximation guarantee of such an algorithm is unbounded, we show that this algorithm performs well experimentally. To analyze its performance, we prove this algorithm obtains a constant factor approximation guarantee on graphs generated through the stochastic block model, traditionally used to model networks with community structure.


Expectations of results from genome sequencing by end users are influenced by perceptions of uncertainty. This study aimed to assess uncertainties about sequencing by developing, evaluating, and implementing a novel scale. The Perceptions of Uncertainties in Genome Sequencing (PUGS) scale comprised ten items to assess uncertainties within three domains: clinical, affective, and evaluative. Participants (n=535) from the ClinSeq® NIH sequencing study completed a baseline survey that included the PUGS; responses (mean = 3.4/5, SD=0.58) suggested modest perceptions of certainty. A confirmatory factor analysis identified factor loadings that led to elimination of two items. A revised eight‐item PUGS scale was used to test correlations with perceived ambiguity (r = −0.303, p < 0.001), attitudinal ambivalence (r = −0.111, p = 0.011), and ambiguity aversion (r = −0.093, p = 0.033). Results support nomological validity. A correlation with the MICRA uncertainty subscale was found among 175 cohort participants who had received results (r = −0.335, p < 0.001). Convergent and discriminant validity were also satisfied in a second sample of 208 parents from the HudsonAlpha CSER Project who completed the PUGS (mean = 3.4/5, SD = 0.72), and configural invariance was supported across the two datasets. As such, the PUGS is a promising scale for evaluating perceived uncertainties in genome sequencing, which can inform interventions to help patients form realistic expectations of these uncertainties.


The fumarolic mineralogy of the Icelandic active volcanoes, the Tyrrhenian volcanic belt (Italy) and the Aegean active arc (Greece) is investigated, and literature data surveyed in order to define the characteristics of the European fumarolic systems. They show broad diversity of mineral associations, with Vesuvius and Vulcano being also among the world localities richest in mineral species. Volcanic systems, which show recession over a longer period, show fumarolic development from the hightemperature alkaline halide/sulphate, calcic sulphate or sulphidic parageneses, synchronous with or immediately following the eruptions, through mediumtemperature ammonium minerals, metal chlorides, or fluoride associations to the late low-temperature paragenesis dominated by sulphur, gypsum, alunogen, and other hydrous sulphates. The situation can be different in the systems that are not recessing but show fluctuations in activity, illustrated by the example of Vulcano where the high-temperature association appears intermittently. A full survey of the mineral groups and species is given in respect to their importance and appearance in fumarolic associations.


Cholesterol reducing abilities of six strains of Lactobacillus acidophilus including ATCC 4356, B, E, Farr, LA-1 and N-1 were investigated in vitro . All these strains were able to reduce cholesterol at various levels in the broth system used in this study. Among the strains tested, L. acidophilus ATCC 4356 demonstrated the best cholesterol reducing ability at 57 and 71% in the presence of oxgall and cholic acid, respectively, in the broth. Results from the acid tolerance and growth in oxgall studies demonstrated that these L. acidophilus strains would likely survive in the human gastrointestinal tract, where acid and oxgall are present in the stomach and small intestine. Coprecipitation, which was observed in the presence of cholic acid, of cholesterol with deconjugated bile at acidic pH contributed to the reduction of cholesterol in vitro . However, coprecipitation is not likely to take place in vivo since the pH in the small intestine is higher than neutral. Results from this study indicate that the in vivo hypocholesteremic ability is likely due to the assimilation of cholesterol by L. acidophilus cells or/and attachment of cholesterol to the surface of L. acidophilus cells.


Distributed time synchronization is an important part of a sensor network where sensing and actuation must be coordinated across multiple nodes. Several time synchronization protocol that maximize accuracy and energy conservation have been developed, including FTSP, TPSN, and RBS. All of these assume nearly instantaneous wireless communication between sensor nodes; each of them work well in today's RF-based sensor networks. We are just beginning to explore underwater sensor networks where communication is primarily via acoustic telemetry. With acoustic communication, where the propagation speed is nearly five orders of magnitude slower than RF, assumptions about rapid communication are incorrect and new approaches to time synchronization are required. We present Time Synchronization for High Latency (TSHL), designed as- suming such high latency propagation. We show through analysis and simulation that it achieves precise time synchronization with minimal energy cost. Although at very short distances existing protocols are adequate, TSHL shows twice the accuracy at 500m, demonstrating the need to model both clock skew and propagation latency.


This study analyzes the usefulness of an attitude-based target group approach in predicting the ecological impact of mobility behavior. Based on a survey of 1,991 inhabitants of three large German cities, constructs derived from an expanded version of the Theory of Planned Behavior were used to identify distinct attitude-based target groups. Five groups were identified, each representing a unique combination of attitudes, norms, and values. The groups differed significantly from each other with regard to travel-mode choice, distances traveled, and ecological impact. In comparison with segmentations based on sociodemographic and geographic factors, the predictive power of the attitude-based approach was higher, especially with regard to the use of private motorized modes of transportation. The opportunities and limits of reducing the ecological impact of mobility behavior on the basis of an attitude-based target group approach are discussed.


NLRP6 inflammasome, one of the important intracellular innate immune sensors, has been shown to regulate immune responses. However, its roles in the intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) are completely not clear. In the present study, we investigated the expression profile and biological roles of NLRP6 inflammasome in perihematomal brain tissues of mice subjected to ICH. In this study, we investigated the expression profile of NLRP6 inflammasome in the perihematomal brain tissues and explored the biological role of NLRP6 inflammasome upon acute brain injury in mice subjected to ICH. Increased expression of NLRP6 inflammasome was found in perihematomal brain tissues ranging from 6 h to 3 days, with a peak level at 1 day after ICH. Immunohistochemistry staining also showed that NLRP6 inflammasome was significantly increased in the perihematomal brain tissues at 1 day after ICH. Moreover, immunofluorescence staining showed that NLRP6 inflammasome was mainly colocalized in glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-positive astrocytes, while with little colocalized expression in NeuN-positive neurons and without expression in CD11b-positive microglia and CD31-positive endothelial cell in the perihematomal brain tissue of mice after ICH. Furthermore, NLRP6−/− ICH mice exhibited significantly higher brain water contents (BMCs), proinflammatory cytokines, NF-κB activity and neurological deficit scores when compared with the wild type (WT) ICH mice. In addition, we found that Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)−/− mice, as well as the TAK242 treated mice, had markedly lower expression of NLRP6 inflammasome expression in the perihematomal brain tissue at 1 day after ICH. Our data suggest that the upregulated NLRP6 inflammasome in perihematomal brain tissues attenuates ICH-induced brain injury.


The Usage Dimensions of Open workgroup came together and considered definitions and priorities around its topic. From priorities, themes were identified. One theme included the character of research outputs and the actual research workflow process. The second theme represented economic considerations. Stakeholders were identified, and solutions considered. Solutions included both short- and long-term actions. OSI2016 Workgroup Question What are the usage-related challenges currently faced by open efforts? For instance, open data is intriguing in principle, but in reality, making underlying data open can be problematic, conflicting with the need for research secrecy (whether driven by the desire to be first to publish, or the desire of funders to hold onto data to protect future discovery potential), the potential for misinterpretation by other researchers, and so on. Publishing clinical trial data in open formats is also intriguing but would run afoul of many current consent agreements, particularly older consents. Open access is similarly challenged in some instances by a conflict between which versions of papers is allowed to appear in open repositories. What is the value of archiving non-final versions? What is the range of issues here, what are the perspectives, and what might be some possible solutions?


Zero-shot learning (ZSL) is to build recognition models for previously unseen target classes which have no labeled data for training by transferring knowledge from some other related auxiliary source classes with abundant labeled samples to the target ones with class attributes as the bridge. The key is to learn a similarity based ranking function between samples and class labels using the labeled source classes so that the proper (unseen) class label for a test sample can be identified by the function. In order to learn the function, single-view ranking based loss is widely used which aims to rank the true label prior to the other labels for a training sample. However, we argue that the ranking can be performed from the other view, which aims to place the images belonging to a label before the images from the other classes. Motivated by it, we propose a novel DuAl-view RanKing (DARK) loss for zeroshot learning simultaneously ranking labels for an image by point-to-point metric and ranking images for a label by pointto-set metric, which is capable of better modeling the relationship between images and classes. In addition, we also notice that previous ZSL approaches mostly fail to well exploit the hardness of training samples, either using only very hard ones or using all samples indiscriminately. In this work, we also introduce a sample hardness assessment method to ZSL which assigns different weights to training samples based on their hardness, which leads to a more accurate and robust ZSL model. Experiments on benchmarks demonstrate that DARK outperforms the state-of-the-arts for (generalized) ZSL.


ECONOMISTS USUALLY TREAT THE KNOWLEDGE AND INFORMATION possessed by agents in a dichotomous and one dimensional way: either agents know something or they don't. That they may surmise rather than know, feel uncertain and be reluctant to resolve this uncertainty by using certainty equivalents and a coefficient of risk aversion is sometimes discussed, but more often swept under the rug. But perhaps that is where it belongs. In cases where such a procedure allows us to resolve the questions we wish to answers (and the questions that others wish us to answer) it should be treated as a useful simplifying rather than as a simplistic procedure. And even in some cases where a one-dimensional treatment of knowledge or information does not generate satisfactory answers, it may still be the appropriate treatment because concern with the multifaceted nature of information and knowledge may just complicate the analysis without substantially improving the quality of the answer. But in some other cases, such as situations of asymmetric information, greater attention to "depth" of information may have a high pay-off. The only way to find out is to try and see. Methodological discussions can provide a useful complement but not an adequate substitute for such an empirical approach.


Using a comparative genomics approach to reconstruct the fate of genomic regulatory blocks (GRBs) and identify exonic remnants that have survived the disappearance of their host genes after whole-genome duplication (WGD) in teleosts, we discover a set of 38 candidate cis-regulatory coding exons (RCEs) with predicted target genes. These elements demonstrate evolutionary separation of overlapping protein-coding and regulatory information after WGD in teleosts. We present evidence that the corresponding mammalian exons are still under both coding and non-coding selection pressure, are more conserved than other protein coding exons in the host gene and several control sets, and share key characteristics with highly conserved non-coding elements in the same regions. Their dual function is corroborated by existing experimental data. Additionally, we show examples of human exon remnants stemming from the vertebrate 2R WGD. Our findings suggest that long-range cis-regulatory inputs for developmental genes are not limited to non-coding regions, but can also overlap the coding sequence of unrelated genes. Thus, exonic regulatory elements in GRBs might be functionally equivalent to those in non-coding regions, calling for a re-evaluation of the sequence space in which to look for long-range regulatory elements and experimentally test their activity.


In Buffalo Forge Co. v. United Steelworkers, the Supreme Court ruled that federal courts may enjoin sympathy work stoppages after, but not before, an arbitrator determines that the strike or picket line respect violates a no-strike obligation in the governing collective bargaining agreement. Professor Smith finds the concerns that prompted the Court to restrict the availability of Boys Markets labor injunctions in this manner largely unfounded, given the possibility of enjoining the strike and ordering the controversy over the scope of the no-strike clause submitted to expedited arbitration. This alternative remedy would enhance respect for the collective bargaining agreement, satisfy the conditions for equitable intervention, and avoid the need for judicial construction of obscure National Labor Relations Board law concerning the protected status of sympathy strikes.


Blacks have a high prevalence of hypertension and adrenal cortical adenomas/hyperplasia. We evaluated the hypothesis that adrenal steroids are associated with hypertension and the metabolic syndrome in blacks. Ambulatory blood pressures, anthropometric measurements, and measurements of plasma renin activity (PRA), aldosterone, fasting lipids, glucose, and insulin were obtained in 397 subjects (46% hypertensive and 50% female) after discontinuing antihypertensive and lipid-lowering medications. Hypertension was defined as average ambulatory blood pressure >130/85 mm Hg. Late-night and early morning salivary cortisol, 24-hour urine-free cortisol, and cortisone excretion were measured in a consecutive subsample of 97 subjects (40% hypertensive and 52% female). Compared with normotensive subjects, hypertensive subjects had greater waist circumference and unfavorable lipid profiles, were more insulin resistant, and had lower PRA and higher plasma aldosterone and both late-night and early morning salivary cortisol concentrations. Twenty-four-hour urine-free cortisol and cortisone did not differ. Overall, ambulatory blood pressure was positively correlated with plasma aldosterone (r=0.22; P<0.0001) and late-night salivary cortisol (r=0.23; P=0.03) and inversely correlated with PRA (r=−0.21; P<0.001). Plasma aldosterone correlated significantly with waist circumference, total cholesterol, triglycerides, insulin, and the insulin-resistance index. Based on Adult Treatment Panel III criteria, 17% of all of the subjects were classified as having the metabolic syndrome. Plasma aldosterone levels, but not PRA, were elevated in subjects with the metabolic syndrome (P=0.0002). The association of aldosterone with blood pressure, waist circumference, and insulin resistance suggests that aldosterone may contribute to obesity-related hypertension in blacks. In addition, we speculate that relatively high aldosterone and low PRA in these hypertensive individuals may reflect a mild variant of primary aldosteronism.


In this paper, we provide a theoretical analysis of effects of applying different forecast diversification methods on the structure of the forecast error covariance matrices and decomposed forecast error components based on the bias-variance-Bayes error decomposition of James and Hastie. We express the "diversityrdquo of different forecasts in relation to different error components and propose a measure in order to quantify it. We illustrate and discuss typical inhomogeneities frequently occurring in the forecast error covariance matrices and show that previously proposed pooling based only on error variances cannot fully exploit the complementary information present in a set of diverse forecasts to be combined. If covariance values could be reliably calculated, they could be taken into account during the pooling process. We study the difficult case in which covariance information cannot be measured properly and propose a novel simplified representation of the covariance matrix, which is only based on knowledge about the forecast generation process. Finally, we propose a new pooling approach that avoids inhomogeneities in the forecast error covariance matrix by considering the information contained in the simplified covariance representation and compare it with the error-variance-based pooling approach introduced by Aiolfi and Timmermann. Applying our approach more than once leads to the generation of multistep and multilevel forecast combination structures, which have generated significantly improved forecasts in our previous extensive experimental work; the summary of which is also provided.


This year's corn crop is not big enough to meet the entire consumption base that has been built. Prices will have to be high enough to convince some end users to reduce consumption from current levels. Can the pork industry compete with other end users? The answer is complex and will depend on many factors including how small the U.S. corn crop is and production in the southern hemisphere this winter. Ultimately the question is how high corn prices have to be to get a sufficient number of end users to reduce consumption. The largest competitor for corn in the coming year will be the ethanol industry where USDA analysts currently estimate 5.1 billion bushels of corn use. To meet the mandated domestic Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) will require about 4.7 billion bushels with nearly 400 million additional bushels used to make ethanol that will be exported. The 5.1 billion bushels of mostly mandated usage is 39 percent of the 2011 crop. Mandated corn use was troublesome to the animal industries when corn was abundant. Now with short corn supplies, the concerns are even greater. Clearly use of 400 million bushels of a limited corn supply to produce ethanol to be exported to countries like Brazil is far beyond the intent of Congress in the 2007 energy legislation that established the current RFS. The short corn supply increases the odds that some end users, including the animal industries, will appeal to the EPA to consider exercising the emergency clause to reduce ethanol mandates for 2012. Without a reduction in mandates, the cutback in corn usage will primarily be thrust upon the non-fuel sectors represented primarily by the domestic animal sector and corn exports. There has been a general assumption that foreign customers would reduce consumption as prices rise, however in 2007/08 foreign customers increased purchases. Given the low value of the dollar and strong desire of many foreign


In this article we read Mike Nicol's The Ibis Tapestry (1998) as an intertextual novel that brings a postmodern inflection to its interrogation of the principles and practices of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Using the distant mirror of the life, work, and death of Christopher Marlowe, the novel unravels aspects of the ethical ideology and epistemological framing of the Commission in a way that, we argue, amounts to its secularization. This does not mean that Nicol presents a conservative subversion of attempts to accomplish postapartheid nation building. Rather, his novel is one of those literary works that deepens, extends, complicates, and intensifies the work of the TRC by casting doubt on its ecclesiastical framing and its foundational teleology. Further, this article is an attempt to redress the degree to which The Ibis Tapestry has been ignored in the study of South African literature. We argue that its unsettling dynamic needs to be considered if we are to do justice to the literary imprint of the Commission.


Fairbanks, Alaska has been home to air quality concerns for years. Heat sources like wood boilers emit black carbon, a pollutant akin to soot. In Fairbanks's harsh winters, black carbon is trapped close to the earth and creates health problems for residents. Black carbon has a more global effect as well, however, and climate scientists have recently begun to consider reducing black carbon emissions as a viable way to slow the pace of climate change. Fairbanks is uniquely situated to react to this call for action. Reducing black carbon emissions from wood burning in Fairbanks would not only contribute to the greater fight against climate change, but would alleviate significant local air quality and health concerns. This Comment summarizes the issue of black carbon in Fairbanks, and proposes several legal approaches to mitigate its negative environmental and health effects, including public nuisance claims, local regulations, and stricter compliance with federal environmental laws.


The characterization of animal models has indicated that the genetic, dietary and environmental factors and hormonal imbalance may influence the risk to develop prostate inflammatory lesions and prostate cancer (PC) confirming human epidemiologic data. It is now established that the prostate inflammatory response typically results in major changes in the local microenvironment of epithelial cells of the prostate gland, including an intense stromal remodeling, activation of fibroblasts, infiltration of immune cells such as mast cells, macrophages and B and T lymphocytes and collagen deposition. The immune cells recruited at prostate inflammatory lesions and myofibroblasts may contribute to the release of numerous pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines that in turn can promote the oxidative stress, genomic instability and proliferation of epithelial cells. The accumulation of additional genetic and/or epigenetic alterations in prostatic stem/progenitor cells may subsequently culminate to their malignant transformation and PC initiation and progression and more particularly with advancing age. The potential mechanistic relationships between the molecular events associated with the persistent inflammatory response and prostate carcinogenesis have important implications for optimizing the current therapies against different prostatic disorders and PCs.


Advances in Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), intelligent vehicles and cooperative systems are enabling traffic and transport solutions that are both safer and more environmentally acceptable. While it is well known that high dependability is a desirable feature it has a price, and the level of dependability needed varies from application to application. Typical examples are cooperative safety applications, in particular traffic situation aware vehicle driver warning and assisting systems, enabled by vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure wireless communication in combination with the use of geographical map information, Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) and vehicle-carried sensors. This kind of applications depend on the reception of satellite data (combined with on-board sensor data from, e.g. odometer and accelerometer) for positioning of the own vehicle and on periodic broadcasting of this information to all neighbors in range. Both the wireless communication with satellites and the one between vehicles can have severe difficulties, for example due to hills or high buildings directly hindering both kinds of radio transmission. There are techniques to make the solutions more robust, e.g. by information fusion for temporary or local communication outage compensation. However, further development is needed and since coverage problems can be made known in advance and related to geographical areas, such information can also be explored.


Umbilicoplacental embolization (UPE) in sheep has been used to investigate the effects of placental insufficiency on fetal development. However, its specific effects on the heart have been little studied. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of placental insufficiency, induced by UPE, on cardiomyocyte size, maturation and proliferation. Instrumented fetal sheep underwent UPE for either 10 or 20 days. Hearts were collected at 125 ± 1 days (10 day group) or 136 ± 1 days (20 day group) of gestation (term ∼145 days). Cell size, maturational state (as measured by the proportion of binucleated myocytes) and cell cycle activity (as measured by positive staining of cells for Ki‐67) were determined in dissociated cardiomyocytes. UPE fetuses were hypoxaemic, but mean arterial pressures were not different from controls. UPE fetuses were lighter than control fetuses (10 days: −21%, P < 0.05; 20 days: −27%, P < 0.01) and had smaller hearts, but heart weight was appropriate for body weight. Neither lengths nor widths were different between control and UPE cardiomyocytes at either age. Ten days of UPE did not significantly alter the proportion of binucleated myocytes or cell cycle activity in either ventricle. However, 20 days of UPE reduced cell cycle activity in both ventricles by ∼70% (P < 0.05); the proportion of binucleated myocytes was also lower in UPE fetuses at this age (left ventricle: 31.1 ± 12.0 versus 46.0 ± 6.6%, P < 0.05; right ventricle: 29.4 ± 12.3 versus 46.3 ± 5.3%, P < 0.05). It is concluded that in the absence of fetal arterial hypertension, placental insufficiency is associated with substantially depressed growth of the heart through suppressed proliferation and maturation of cardiomyocytes.


OBJECTIVES
To explore the cost-effectiveness of fluticasone propionate (FP) for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), we estimated costs and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) over 3 years, based on an economic appraisal of a previously reported clinical trial (Inhaled Steroids in Obstructive Lung Disease in Europe [ISOLDE]).

METHODS
Seven hundred forty-two patients enrolled in the ISOLDE trial who received either FP or placebo had data available on health-care costs and quality of life over the period of the study. The SF-36-based utility scores for quality of life were used to calculate QALYs. A combined imputation and bootstrapping procedure was employed to handle missing data and to estimate statistical uncertainty in the estimated cumulative costs and QALYs over the study period. The imputation approach was based on propensity scoring and nesting this approach within the bootstrap ensured that multiple imputations were performed such that statistical estimates included imputation uncertainty.

RESULTS
Complete data were available on mortality within the follow-up period of the study and a nonsignificant trend toward improved survival of 0.06 (95% confidence interval [CI]-0.01 to 0.15) life-years was observed. In an analysis based on a propensity scoring approach to missing data we estimated the incremental costs of FP versus placebo to be 1021 sterling pound(95% CI 619-1338 sterling pound) with an additional effect of 0.11 QALYs (CI 0.04-0.20). Cost-effectiveness estimates for the within-trial period of 17,700 sterling pound per life-year gained (6900 sterling pound to infinity) and 9500 sterling pound per QALY gained (CI 4300-26,500 sterling pound) were generated that include uncertainty due to the imputation process. An alternative imputation approach did not materially affect these estimates.

CONCLUSIONS
Previous analyses of the ISOLDE study showed significant improvement on disease-specific health status measures and a trend toward a survival advantage for treatment with FP. This analysis shows that joint considerations of quality of life and survival result in a substantial increase in QALYs favoring treatment with FP. Based on these data, the inhaled corticosteroid FP appears cost-effective for the treatment of COPD. Confirmation or refutation of this result may be achieved once the Towards a Revolution in COPD Health (TORCH) study reports, a large randomized controlled trial powered to detect mortality changes associated with the use of FP alone, or in combination with salmeterol, which is also collecting resource use and utility data suitable for estimating cost-effectiveness.


In this paper, we introduce simulation framework for examining the effect of street network configuration on the evolution of the relationship between movement and land use allocation over time. The causal chain introduced in Space Syntax literature suggests that the potential generated by spatial configuration of a street network influences how people move and that these movement flows attract specific types of land uses. These land uses generate in turn additional movement creating an endless cycle of mutual interactions. In Space Syntax, this interaction between movement flow and land use is assumed to work in a positive feedback loop, multiplying the initial potentials given by a street network configuration. The practical consequence of this hypothetical assumption for the Space Syntax method is that the outcome of the feedback loop can be predicted as multiplication of the initial state and therefore doesn't have to be simulated. In this paper, we introduce a computational method for testing the multiplier effect hypothesis and identify the cases in which it holds true and those ones in which more detailed investigation considering feedback loops might be necessary. We demonstrate how such investigation based on the simulation of the interactions between movement and land use in time can be operationalized and conduct series of studies exploring the spatio-temporal effects of street network configuration. We conclude that these exemplary studies show how the presented simulation model can be used to test the core assumption behind the Space Syntax method. We also offer preliminary insides about when and under which conditions it can be reliably applied and when system dynamic simulation might be necessary to predict not only the immediate, but also the long-term effects of street network configurations on centrality, movement and land use distribution.


The gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori is a Gram negative bacterium which may cause diseases such as peptic ulceration and gastric adenocarcinoma. It colonises a host by attaching to the gastric epithelial cells, an attachment mediated by outer membrane proteins on the bacterial surface, e.g, the blood group antigen binding adhesin, BabA. This adhesin recognises and binds to specific carbohydrates, Lewis blood group antigens, on the epithelial cell walls. This thesis presents the synthesis of three oligosaccharides of the Lewis family. A new and improved block synthesis of a Leb hexasaccharide and synthesis of HSA-conjugates thereof are described. Also presented are the syntheses of a Leb pentasaccharide and a B-Leb heptasaccharide via linear routes. The latter strategy is designed to enable the synthesis of other Lewis blood group antigens by only minor changes in protection patterns. Investigations have been made towards finding a route for the synthesis of glycoclusters using of unprotected carbohydrates. The biologically active dendrimers will be used in examinations of binding to galectin-3, an important animal lectin abundant in nature. The thesis also includes an efficient synthesis of an oxazolidinone protected thioethyl LacNAc disaccharide, and its ability as a donor has been examined.


Agrometeorological systems for regional crop yield forecasting have traditionally relied on weather data derived from weather stations for crop simulation and yield prediction. In recent years, numerical weather prediction (NWP) models have become an interesting source of weather data with the potential to replace observed weather data. This is a result of the steadily decreasing NWP grid sizes and the availability of long and consistent time-series through the so-called reanalysis projects. We evaluated the ERA-INTERIM reanalysis data set from the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasting for regional crop yield forecasting. Crop simulations were carried out using 2 identical model implementations: one using interpolated observed weather, the other using weather data derived from ERA-INTERIM. Output for both sources of weather variables was generated for the EU27 and neighbouring countries and 14 crops, aggregated to national level and validated using reported crop yields from the European Statistical Office. The results indicate that the system performs very similar in terms of crop yield forecasting skill for both sources of weather variables. In 38% of the crop–country combinations, the forecasting error can be reduced by more than 10% of the baseline forecast (the trend only) for both sources of weather variables. In almost 20% of the crop–country combinations, the forecasting error can be reduced by more than 25% of the baseline forecast. The results demonstrate that the ERA-INTERIM data set is highly suitable for regional crop yield forecasting over Europe and may be used for implementing regional crop forecasting over data-sparse regions. Finally, we conclude that there is a need to improve the crop calendar and/or calibration for some of the modelled crops.


Mirizzi syndrome is a rarely observed complication of gallstone disease, causing major biliary problems, if not diagnosed previously. It was described in 1948 by P. L. Mirizzi and presents unusual lodged gallstone in either the cystic duct or most frequently in Hartmann pouch of the gallbladder. Impaction, acute obstruction and wall ischemia are causative for inflammation and abscess formation. External common hepatic bile duct compression and obstruction result in clinical presentation of intermittent or constant jaundice. We report 57-year-old male with extensive mechanical icter, fever, nausea and vomiting, and upper abdominal pain in epigastria from five days. Abdominal US evaluation showed 17mm stone localized in infundibulum and shrunk of gallbladder. MRCT revealed impacted stone, chronic tissue inflammation, involved common hepatic duct with stricture. Mirizzi syndrome was diagnosed. Intraoperatively was found an impacted gallstone in the Hartmann pouch, extensive fibrosis of hepatoduodenal ligament and abscess cavity formation in the Callot's triangle with engagement of common hepatic bile duct wall. Antegrade cholecystectomy was made and T drain was placed. Second operation and Roux-Y limb anastomosis was performed after unsuccessful tentative for recanalization of distal CBD with clamping of T drain.


The internet and widespread use of Web 2.0 technologies such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, are changing and shaping the way celebrities communicate their fashions to their fans. This is because it facilitates a more direct connection with celebrities. Celebrities are used as a reference point for entertainment to fill a gap or numerous gaps in individuals' and consumers' lives (Rojek, 2001).

Why individuals feel the need to look for inspiration from celebrities and their styles to activate, validate, fulfil their expectations, create feelings and experiences is important for marketers to understand.
From an industry perspective there is real revenue in the sales of their celebrity copy ready to wear derivations and mass market clothing. The meanings and attachments of celebrities and their fashions can significantly shape identity development of consumers and many theorists believe these attachments foster the transition into adulthood, in much the same way that relationships with peers do. Preceding celebrity research has involved using the "celebrity as an endorser for another brand's product… rather than understanding the celebrity brand itself" (Moulard, Garrity, & Rice, 2015).

This investigation explores the current context of literature in celebrity fashion marketing and examines the celebrity and their effectiveness in endorsing and promoting fashions as a coercive force in shaping the identity of fashion consumers. There are three stakeholder groups involved in celebrity fashion and emulation which are termed symbionts by the researcher. Namely, the fashion celebrity, the fashion celebrity marketer and the fashion consumer. The interrelationship of these three stakeholders is investigated in the research and a 'Human Fashion Brand Model' is developed to define critical symbiotic relationships for celebrity emulation. Based on the examination of the 'Human Fashion Brand Model', the research presented the research aim and objectives. It provided an outline of how the 'Human Fashion Brand Model' evolved and was developed. The study presents valuable results and insights and a research methodology is used to assist in the model development which demonstrates the key findings gathered from literature reviews and the use of semi-structured interviews by the assimilating of theory into one model to theory build and demonstrate the varying complexities between the symbionts which describe best practice theories and constructs.

The need for a 'Human Fashion Brand Model' is pertinent because there is an enhanced growth in the use of social media by celebrities to communicate their fashions without a clear understanding and monitoring of their positioning, capability /maturity, the impact this has and the measuring of the impact. The research analyses existing models and how these impact on the fashion consumer-self, on the attachments that individuals place on celebrities as opinion leaders and their fashions. The 'Human Fashion Brand Model' is envisaged to be a guide for anyone interested in celebrity fashion marketing and can be further adaptable to any gender, age group, country, campaign location, target customer, religion or culture. The model's workability and efficiency in the field is validated and the final chapter summarises the entire research and provides recommendations for future research.


The main objectives of the Thesis are as follows: (i) to observe and investigate the response of an argillaceous soft rock, the COX clay to heating and cooling during the TED experiment; (ii) to analyse THM processes taking place in the rock around the heaters and to compare the modelling results with the field measurements for validation of the models; and (iii) to characterize THM properties of the COX clay by means of sensitivity analyses.
In order to attain these objectives various 3D simulations have been performed. A 3D simulation has allowed the incorporation of anisotropic material properties and anisotropic in situ stress state. Considering that the thermal conductivity of the material does not change, because in low permeability media the only significant heat transport mechanism is heat conduction, a series of purely thermal analyses have been performed to find the value of thermal conductivity that achieves the closest agreement with measured temperatures. The aim of these analyses is the interpretation of the temperature field obtained during the heating experiment and the obtainment of the thermal parameters to analyse the temperature change in the TED experiment.
Afterwards, a series of coupled THM analyses have been performed in order to reproduce the entire experiment and to study the influence of the main THM parameters of the COX clay. The pore pressure response to thermal loading increases with temperature increase due to the differential thermal expansion of the water and the solid; but when the temperature increase rate diminishes, the established pore pressure gradient is dissipated at a velocity depending on the permeability of the medium. A pore pressure analysis has been performed in order to evaluate the interplay between temperature and pore pressure, as well as to study the influence of the bedding plane on the pore pressure. A sensitivity analysis has also been carried out to assist in the interpretation of the test and to achieve an enhanced understanding of the phenomena involved.


Background: Decline in estimated Glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is associated with further progression of chronic kidney disease. Evidence suggests that Renin Angiotensin System blockers (RAS), which can be angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs) or Angiotensin converting enzymes Inhibitors (ACEIs), have reno- protective effect, but results are variable. Similarly, effects of Calcium channel blockers (CCBs) are shown to have a role in protecting renal function but differ across studies. Hence, the relative effect of ARBs or ACEIs as well as CCBs, and their administration as monotherapy, remain uncertain. Purpose: To summarize and determine the pooled effect of RAS versus CCBs on progression towards hypertensive CKD amongst diabetic as well as non-diabetic patients with CKD of any stage from I-IV. Data sources: All language studies in PubMed, the Cochrane Library Central, Clinical Registry of unpublishedTrials, WHO, Embase, Scopus, ProQuest, reference lists, and expert contacts up to September 2019. Study selection: This study included all the full text articles that studied diabetic and non-diabetic patients with eGFR ≥ 15 ml/min per 1.73m3 or Urinary albumin excretion levels (UAE) ≤ 300mg/d during RAS based treatment an intervention in direct comparison with CCBs treatment based approach as comparator at baseline and at the end of follow-up. However, pooling of all the included studies using meta-analysis was not feasible due to substantial study heterogeneity and the small number of included studies that are meta-analyzable. So, studies were selected for systematic review, and out of which, all the meta-analyzable studies were quantitatively analyzed on the basis of main outcomes such as (i) Relative risk for CKD progression and (ii) Mean differences in SBP and DBP for both the arms. Doi plot and funnel plot were used for detection of publication bias. Results: Review with seven included trials, and metaanalysis using IVhet model was done on three studies for primary CKD outcome and four studies for secondary BP outcomes. RAS blockers and CCBs did not show any statistically significant differences in terms of its effects on further progression CKD with RR of 0.90 [95% CI 0.69, 1.16]. Moreover, there was no statistically significant difference in BP from baseline to final end points between CCBs and RAS inhibitors with WMD of -2.09 mmHg [95% CI -5.96, 1.79] for mean SBP change and -0.71 mmHg [95% CI -2.16, 0.73] for mean DBP change. Conclusion: Evidence asserts no difference between RAS and CCB concerning the risk of progression for CKD and in terms of mean BP differences. However, the study have its own set of limitations due to which more well designed and well conducted RCTs with robust findings are required to confirm the inferences based on this review.


Planck is designed to image the anisotropies of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) over the whole sky, with unprecedented sensitivity (Δ T/T ~ 2 × 10 -6 ) and angular resolution (~5 arcmin). Planck will provide a major source of information relevant to several cosmological and astrophysical issues, such as testing theories of the early universe and the origin of cosmic structure. The ability to measure to high accuracy the angular power spectrum of the CMB fluctuations will allow the determination of fundamental cosmological parameters with an uncertainty of order a few percent. In addition to the main cosmological goals of the mission, the Planck sky survey will be used to study in detail the very sources of emission which "contaminate" the signal due to the CMB. This will result in a wealth of information on the properties of extragalactic sources, and on the dust and gas in our own galaxy. One specific notable result will be the measurement of the polarized emission from our own Galaxy. The ability of Planck to measure polarization across a wide frequency range (30–350 GHz), with high precision and accuracy, and over the whole sky, will provide unique insight into the properties of the interstellar medium. An overview is presented of the Planck mission, its scientific objectives, the key elements of its technical design, and its current status.


Continuous surface representations, such as B-spline and Non-Uniform Rational B-spline (NURBS) surfaces are the de facto standard for modeling 3D objects - thin shells and solid objects alike - in the field of Computer-Aided Design (CAD).
For performing physically based simulation, Finite Element Analysis (FEA) has been the industry standard for many years.
In order to analyze physical properties such as stability, aerodynamics, or heat dissipation, the continuous models are discretized into finite element (FE) meshes.

A tight integration of and a smooth transition between geometric design and physically based simulation are key factors for an efficient design and engineering workflow.
Converting a CAD model from its continuous boundary representation (B-Rep) into a discrete volumetric representation for simulation is a time-consuming process that introduces approximation errors and often requires manual interaction by the engineer.
Deriving design changes directly from the simulation results is especially difficult as the meshing process is irreversible.

Isogeometric Analysis (IGA) tries to overcome this meshing hurdle by using the same representation for describing the geometry and for performing the simulation.
Most commonly, IGA is performed on bivariate and trivariate spline representations (B-spline or NURBS surfaces and volumes).
While existing CAD B-Rep models can be used directly for simulating thin-shell objects, simulating solid objects requires a conversion from spline surfaces to spline volumes.
As spline volumes need a trivariate tensor-product topology, complex 3D objects must be represented via trimming or by connecting multiple spline volumes, limiting the continuity to C^0.

As an alternative to NURBS or B-splines, subdivision models allow for representing complex topologies with as a single entity, removing the need for trimming or tiling and potentially providing higher continuity.
While subdivision surfaces have shown promising results for designing and simulating shells, IGA on subdivision volumes remained mostly unexplored apart from the work of Burkhart et al.

In this dissertation, I investigate how volumetric subdivision representations are beneficial for a tighter integration of geometric modeling and physically based simulation.
Focusing on Catmull-Clark (CC) solids, I present novel techniques in the areas of efficient limit evaluation, volumetric modeling, numerical integration, and mesh quality analysis.
I present an efficient link to FEA, as well as my IGA approach on CC solids that improves upon Burkhart et al.'s proof of concept with constant-time limit evaluation, more accurate integration, and higher mesh quality.

Efficient limit evaluation is a key requirement when working with subdivision models in geometric design, visualization, simulation, and 3D printing.
In this dissertation, I present the first method for constant-time volumetric limit evaluation of CC solids.
It is faster than the subdivision-based approach by Burkhart et al. for every topological constellation and parameter point that would require more than two local subdivision steps.

Adapting the concepts of well-known surface modeling tools, I present a volumetric modeling environment for CC-solid control meshes.
Consistent volumetric modeling operations built from a set of novel volumetric Euler operators allow for creating and modifying topologically consistent volumetric meshes.
Furthermore, I show how to manipulate groups of control points via parameters, how to avoid intersections with inner control points while modeling the outer surface, and how to use CC solids in the context of multi-material additive manufacturing.

For coupling of volumetric subdivision models with established FE frameworks, I present an efficient and consistent tetrahedral mesh generation technique for CC solids.
The technique exploits the inherent volumetric structure of CC-solid models and is at least 26 times faster than the tetrahedral meshing algorithm provided by CGAL.
This allows to re-create or update the tetrahedral mesh almost instantly when changing the CC-solid model.
However, the mesh quality strongly depends on the quality of the control mesh.

In the context of structural analysis, I present my IGA approach on CC solids.
The IGA approach yields converging stimulation results for models with fewer elements and fewer degrees of freedom than FE simulations on tetrahedral meshes with linear and higher-order basis functions.
The solver also requires fewer iterations to solve the linear system due to the higher continuity throughout the simulation model provided by the subdivision basis functions.
Extending Burkhart et al.'s method, my hierarchical quadrature scheme for irregular CC-solid cells increases the accuracy of the integrals for computing surface areas and element stiffnesses.
Furthermore, I introduce a quality metric that quantifies the parametrization quality of the limit volume, revealing distortions, inversions, and singularities.
The metric shows that cells with multiple adjacent boundary faces induce singularities in the limit, even for geometrically well-shaped control meshes.
Finally, I present a set of topological operations for splitting such boundary cells - resolving the singularities.
These improvements further reduce the amount of elements required to obtain converging results as well as the time required for solving the linear system.


T-joint fillet welding is the most common welding in engineering applications. Transport vehicles, marine ships, mobile plant equipment are few examples where fillet welding are used extensively. Analysis of welded structures are still remains a challenge for the designer to produce desired output results. In welding process rapid heating and cooling introduced residual stress and geometrical deformations. Heat effected zone play pivotal role in determining the strength of a welded joint which changes the properties of parent material and reduce the strength after welding operation. There are many case which structures are continuously under cyclic loading when the fatigue life of the welded joints are a major design consideration.

The aim of this project is to analyse the normal stress and fatigue life of fillet welded joints using computer modelling and experiments. Finite element based tool ANSYS Workbench 15.0 was been used to analyse the normal stress and the fatigue life under cyclic loading. Computer model of the joint developed using three different types of material which was parent metal, heat affected zone metal and weld metal. Experimental tests were carried out at USQ laboratory on double side welded T-joints. Grade 250 Structural steel was used to prepare specimen and gas metal arc welding (GMAW) process applied to welding the joints.

The ultimate purpose of the project has been achieved with developing techniques of the finite element analysis of fillet welded joint. The experimental investigation validate the performance of the FEA analysis results were found 1.2% error on tensile test. The experiment yield stress was found 263.4 MPa and simulation yield stress at the same location appears 266.7 MPa. In order to calculate fatigue life of welded joint used iterative process to define stress at one million cycle. The analysis found 274 MPa stress and 7740 cycle fatigue life applying yield load. After reduced load at 12kN and found the fatigue life one million cycle where shows 88 MPa stress which is 35% of yield stress. So that designer can consider 35% of yield strength when design structure for fluctuating and repeated loading conditions.


Duplicate detection consists in determining differentrepresentations of real-world objects in a database. Recent research has considered the use of relatio nships among object representations to improve duplicate detection. In the general case where re lationships form a graph, research has mainly focused on duplicate detection quality/effecti v ness. Scalability has been neglected so far, even though it is crucial for large real-world duplic ate detection tasks. In this paper we scale up duplicate detection in graph data (D DG) to large amounts of data and pairwise comparisons, using the support of a relational database system. To this end, we first generalize the process of DDG. We then present how to sca le algorithms for DDG in space (amount of data processed with limited main memory) and in ti me. Finally, we explore how complex similarity computation can be performed efficientl y. Experiments on data an order of magnitude larger than data considered so far in DDG clearly s how that our methods scale to large amounts of data not residing in main memory.


In many Knowledge Discovery applications, finding outliers is more interesting than finding inliers in a dataset. The perception of outliers is rare cases in dataset in which is being described as abnormal data in the information table. Outliers detections are applied in many important applications like fraud detection systems to uncover the suspicious objects which may have important knowledge hidden in the system. A new outlier detection technique based on Rough Sets Theory (RST) is hereby proposed. RSetOF is a new measure for the outlier factor based on RST. By employing this factor, a new formulation for detecting outlier is established. The outlyingness of outliers objects in a dataset using this measurement is identified. To detect outliers, two measurements which are the top n ratio and the coverage ratio are presented. Finding top n outliers from all objects allow searching of outliers from top ranked records based on the least outlier factor value. The capability in detecting outliers at top n number of outliers will indicate how fast the detection is. The efficiency of this technique by obtaining the coverage ratio value is then tested. The maximum percentage of coverage obtained shows the maximum number of outliers detected belonging to rare cases. A comparison is hence carried out to examine the performance of the RSetAlg with a selective outlier detection method, the Frequent Pattern method referred to as FindFPOF. Ten benchmark datasets for assessing the outlier detection technique are used for this purpose. The experimental result shows that the proposed technique is competitive and proven to be better in speed of detection than the other technique. The fast and efficient detection of outliers has proven its potential as a new outliers detection technique based on RST.


As humanity hurtles towards the twenty first century, it is apparent that the world is becoming a smaller place. Moreover, the colonization of previous centuries has largely shown deference to a differing approach in international interaction. It would seem that consultancy offers nations the possibility of importing expertise in order to aid development without overtly incurring the domination of foreign powers. This thesis debates the veracity of such an assumption and proceeds to examine international consultancy as practised by a single professional group, namely midwives. The study is confined to consideration of those who provide a short term consultancy service. It debates whether international consultancy can rightly be considered an approach which offers the client an equal partnership or whether it remains contaminated by the spirit of western domination. The thesis explores current thinking on modernization and development and asserts that these issues are of considerable import, demanding an understanding by every midwife practising as an international consultant. This debate sets the scene for the main research question which, using a qualitative research approach, examines the characteristics of midwives who cross international boundaries in order to provide consultancy services, considering how such characteristics may impact on their effectiveness. Across the developing world, the needs within the maternity and child health services and the responsibilities of the midwife have been brought into sharper focus with the advent of the Safe Motherhood Initiative [WHO:1987]. Currently, a significant number of professionals from the industrialized West travel to Third World countries in response to requests to assist or advise on health and related issues. This thesis dissects differing perspectives of need which may occur between the Orient and the Occident and asks who responds to the expressed need for expertise, how they are selected, whether they are prepared and how they are received. Ultimately, a theory is born. This proffers that effectiveness in international consultancy is dependent on the fulfilment of certain "laws". The "laws" are derived from the discoveries made during data analysis relating to the main research question. They are also influenced by the consideration of numerous subsidiary research questions which arise during the study. The "laws" are nurtured in an extensive examination of literature scanning several professional disciplines and spanning several decades up to the present day.


Matroids were introduced in 1935 by Hassler Whitney to provide a way to abstractly capture the dependence properties common to graphs and matrices. One important class of matroids arises by taking as objects some finite collection of one-dimensional subspaces of a vector space. If, instead, one takes as objects some finite collection of subspaces of dimensions at most k in a vector space, one gets an example of a k-polymatroid. Connectivity is a pivotal topic of study in the endeavor to understand the structure of matroids and polymatroids. In this dissertation, we study the notion of connectivity from several angles. It is a well-known result of Tutte that, for every element x of a connected matroid M , at least one of the deletion and contraction of x from M is connected. Our first result shows that, in a connected k-polymatroid, only two such elements are guaranteed. We show that this bound is sharp and characterize those 2-polymatroids that achieve this minimum. It is well known that, for any integer n greater than one, there is a number r such that every 2-connected simple graph with at least r edges has a minor isomorphic to an n-edge cycle or K2,n. This result was extended to matroids by Lovász, Schrijver, and Seymour who proved that every sufficiently large connected matroid has an n-element circuit or an nelement cocircuit as a minor. As our second result, we generalize these theorems by providing an analogous result for connected 2-polymatroids. Significant progress on the corresponding problem for k-polymatroids is also described. Finally, we look at tangles, a tool that has been used extensively in recent results in matroid structure theory. We prove that a matroid with at least two elements is a tangle matroid if and only if it cannot be covered by three hyperplanes. Some consequences of this theorem are also noted. In particular, no binary matroid of rank at least two is a tangle matroid.


This paper presents a method for camera calibration based on the orthogonal vanishing point calibration using concentric circles grating and wedge grating. This method, which we believe is new, uses the high-precision characteristics of phase extraction to obtain the feature points, thus decreasing the calibration errors caused by the traditional marker extraction errors of gray pattern. According to the simulation experiment analysis results, the concentric circles grating was designed with seven periods and the wedge grating was designed with four periods. In the real measuring experiment, the grating target and the similar gray concentric circles target were used to calibrate the camera, respectively. Through comparing the reprojective errors of the two methods, the method proposed is proven to improve the calibration accuracy and robustness for the vanishing point calibration algorithm.


For a random process $X$ consider the random vector defined by the values of $X$ at times $0 < U_{n,1} < ... < U_{n,n} < 1$ and the minimal values of $X$ on each of the intervals between consecutive pairs of these times, where the $U_{n,i}$ are the order statistics of $n$ independent uniform $(0,1)$ variables, independent of $X$. The joint law of this random vector is explicitly described when $X$ is a Brownian motion. Corresponding results for Brownian bridge, excursion, and meander are deduced by appropriate conditioning. These descriptions yield numerous new identities involving the laws of these processes, and simplified proofs of various known results, including Aldous's characterization of the random tree constructed by sampling the excursion at $n$ independent uniform times, Vervaat's transformation of Brownian bridge into Brownian excursion, and Denisov's decomposition of the Brownian motion at the time of its minimum into two independent Brownian meanders. Other consequences of the sampling formulae are Brownian representions of various special functions, including Bessel polynomials, some hypergeometric polynomials, and the Hermite function. Various combinatorial identities involving random partitions and generalized Stirling numbers are also obtained.


A spacecraft flyby of an asteroid reveals a high-density body that is more like a planetesimal than a rubble pile. The Visible, InfraRed, and Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS) on Rosetta obtained hyperspectral images, spectral reflectance maps, and temperature maps of the asteroid 21 Lutetia. No absorption features, of either silicates or hydrated minerals, have been detected across the observed area in the spectral range from 0.4 to 3.5 micrometers. The surface temperature reaches a maximum value of 245 kelvin and correlates well with topographic features. The thermal inertia is in the range from 20 to 30 joules meter−2 kelvin−1 second−0.5, comparable to a lunarlike powdery regolith. Spectral signatures of surface alteration, resulting from space weathering, seem to be missing. Lutetia is likely a remnant of the primordial planetesimal population, unaltered by differentiation processes and composed of chondritic materials of enstatitic or carbonaceous origin, dominated by iron-poor minerals that have not suffered aqueous alteration.


We present OpenBox — a software-defined framework for network-wide development, deployment, and management of network functions (NFs). OpenBox effectively decouples the control plane of NFs from their data plane, similarly to SDN solutions that only address the network's forwarding plane. OpenBox consists of three logic components. First, user-defined OpenBox applications provide NF specifications through the OpenBox north-bound API. Second, a logically-centralized OpenBox controller is able to merge logic of multiple NFs, possibly from multiple tenants, and to use a network-wide view to efficiently deploy and scale NFs across the network data plane. Finally, OpenBox instances constitute OpenBox's data plane and are implemented either purely in software or contain specific hardware accelerators (e.g., a TCAM). In practice, different NFs carry out similar processing steps on the same packet, and our experiments indeed show a significant improvement of the network performance when using OpenBox. Moreover, OpenBox readily supports smart NF placement, NF scaling, and multi-tenancy through its controller.


Background: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disease, which is characterized by elevated levels of glucose in the blood. According to the International Diabetes Federation, around 366 million people are currently estimated to have diabetes. Aim: The aim of the study was to find out the association of oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) with diabetes among controlled diabetic patients of Modinagar city. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study with a sample of 163 respondents was conducted in a private hospital in Modinagar city, to assess the OHRQoL in a well-controlled diabetic patient. OHRQoL was estimated by the oral health impact profile-20 questionnaire. In addition, general health questionnaire (GHQ) – a 12-item questionnaire was included in this study to distinguish the impact of diabetes on general health of the patient. The analysis was performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 21.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Logistic regression was used to determine the association between OHRQoL and diabetes. Correlation between OHQoRL and GHQ was analyzed using Spearman's rho. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The study results showed that 93 patients (57.4%) had good and 69 patients (42.5%) had low OHRQoL. The study also found out a statistically significant association of OHRQoL with diabetes in case of age of the participants (2.375 [1.094–2.528], P = 0.029**), educational level (0.511 [0.268–0.974], P = 0.041**), and frequency of toothbrushing (0.446 [0.208–0.957], P = 0.038**), whereas its association with smoking status (0.527 [0.235–1.182]), duration of disease (0.757 [0.343–1.671]), and mouth dryness (0.692 [0.316–1.513]) was statistically nonsignificant. There was a highly significant correlation between the OHRQoL and general health of the participants (Spearman's rho [r (162) =0.996], whereP < 0.05). Conclusion: There is a good correlation between OHRQoL and general health among controlled diabetic patients. The association between diabetes and OHRQoL is confined only to some of the variables. The study findings emphasize the importance of oral health in maintaining the overall health of diabetic patients.