Abstract. We describe a new functionality within the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model with coupled Chemistry (WRF-Chem) that allows simulating emission, transport, dispersion, transformation and sedimentation of pollutants released during volcanic activities. Emissions from both an explosive eruption case and a relatively calm degassing situation are considered using the most recent volcanic emission databases. A preprocessor tool provides emission fields and additional information needed to establish the initial three-dimensional cloud umbrella/vertical distribution within the transport model grid, as well as the timing and duration of an eruption. From this source condition, the transport, dispersion and sedimentation of the ash cloud can be realistically simulated by WRF-Chem using its own dynamics and physical parameterization as well as data assimilation. Examples of model applications include a comparison of tephra fall deposits from the 1989 eruption of Mount Redoubt (Alaska) and the dispersion of ash from the 2010 Eyjafjallajokull eruption in Iceland. Both model applications show good coincidence between WRF-Chem and observations.


Abstract. In optical remote sensing, spatial resolution of images is crucial for numerous applications. Space-borne systems are most likely to be affected by a lack of spatial resolution, due to their natural disadvantage of a large distance between the sensor and the sensed object. Thus, methods for single-image super resolution are desirable to exceed the limits of the sensor. Apart from assisting visual inspection of datasets, post-processing operations—e.g., segmentation or feature extraction—can benefit from detailed and distinguishable structures. In this paper, we show that recently introduced state-of-the-art approaches for single-image super resolution of conventional photographs, making use of deep learning techniques, such as convolutional neural networks (CNN), can successfully be applied to remote sensing data. With a huge amount of training data available, end-to-end learning is reasonably easy to apply and can achieve results unattainable using conventional handcrafted algorithms. We trained our CNN on a specifically designed, domain-specific dataset, in order to take into account the special characteristics of multispectral remote sensing data. This dataset consists of publicly available SENTINEL-2 images featuring 13 spectral bands, a ground resolution of up to 10m, and a high radiometric resolution and thus satisfying our requirements in terms of quality and quantity. In experiments, we obtained results superior compared to competing approaches trained on generic image sets, which failed to reasonably scale satellite images with a high radiometric resolution, as well as conventional interpolation methods.


People like to consume multimedia content on mobile devices. Mobile networks can deliver mobile TV
services but they require large infrastructural investments and their operators need to make trade-offs to
design worthwhile experiences. The approximation of how users experience networked services has
shifted from the inadequate packet level Quality of Service (QoS) to the user perceived Quality of
Experience (QoE) that includes content, user context and their expectations. However, QoE is lacking
concrete operationalizations for the visual experience of content on small, sub-TV resolution screens
displaying transcoded TV content at low bitrates.
The contribution of my thesis includes both substantive and methodological results on which factors
contribute to the QoE in mobile multimedia services and how. I utilised a mix of methods in both lab and
field settings to assess the visual experience of multimedia content on mobile devices. This included
qualitative elicitation techniques such as 14 focus groups and 75 hours of debrief interviews in six
experimental studies. 343 participants watched 140 hours of realistic TV content and provided feedback
through quantitative measures such as acceptability, preferences and eye-tracking.
My substantive findings on the effects of size, resolution, text quality and shot types can improve
multimedia models. My substantive findings show that people want to watch mobile TV at a relative size
(at least 4cm of screen height) similar to living room TV setups. In order to achieve these sizes at 35cm
viewing distance users require at least QCIF resolution and are willing to scale it to a much lower angular
resolution (12ppd) then what video quality research has found to be the best visual quality (35ppd). My
methodological findings suggest that future multimedia QoE research should use a mixed methods
approach including qualitative feedback and viewing ratios akin to living room setups to meet QoE's
ambitious scope.


DOCUMENT: Mary Crosby Chappelle; Buffalo, New York; A Biographical InterviewMrs. Mary Crosby Chappelle was born in 1905, and has been a resident of Buffalo, NY for more than 65 years. Mrs. Chappelle come to Buffalo during the Great Depression, and for almost 25 years she worked closely with the editor of one of Buffalo's early African-American newspapers, the Empire Star, edited by Andrew J. Smitherman. As a reporter, women's page editor, and ad solicitor for the paper, Mrs. Chappelle was a keen observer of life in Buffalo's black community. She was one of the early African-American teachers in the Buffalo Public Schools. Mrs. Chappelle was also a popular speaker in the African-American community. In this biographical interview, Mrs. Chappelle talks about her early life and about African-American life in Buffalo in the early and mid 20th century.This taped interview of Mrs. Chappelle was conducted on February 16, 1977, by Sharon Holley and Lennox Yearwood. Both Mrs. Holley and Dr. Yearwood were members of the Afro-American Historical Association of the Niagara Frontier. The interview was transcribed by Monroe Fordham. Handwritten notes for a few of Mrs. Chappelle's speeches are microfilmed under the title, "Mary Crosby Chappelle: Some Handwritten Speech Notes." The materials are part of the Buffalo Afro-American Microfilmed Collection at the North Jefferson Branch Library and Center For Local Afro-American History and Research, and at Butler Library, Buffalo State College.Mary Crosby Chappelle InterviewInterviewer: Give your full name, tell us when and where you were born and something about your background and early life.Mrs. Chappelle: My name is Mary Lee Crosby Chappelle. I was born March 12, 1905 in Milton, Florida. My parents were Tillman Crosby and Mariah Henderson Crosby. They had seven children, six boys and one girl. They called me "MaeLee", and the boys called me "Sister." I was the only girl and my mother gave me everything to read. She used to give me the Saturday Evening Post, Harper's Bazaar, Grit Magazine, and the Chicago Defender. These things have been out of publication for a long, long time. I liked paper dons and everything a child likes, you name it. My mother took me everywhere she went. My mother washed clothes, she used to rough-dry them for .75 per bundle.Interviewer: Was that your mother's main occupation?Mrs. Chappelle: Yes. My grandmother was a cook. As a cook she would stay on the place where she worked and come home periodically, maybe every two weeks or something like that. My mother didn't work outside the home because she had to stay home with the children. My mother also reared my cousin Raymond. Raymond was my uncle's only child, my mother raised him because my Aunt Nancy died. At Christmas time Mama used to paper the house with pages from the Saturday Evening Post. I would read from the pages that she posted. I learned to spell and read from those pages. I would read everything. Mother also helped the boys to read, but they also did other things. We used to play mama and papa an day long. As youngsters we had a beautiful life, it was very simple but we thought it was wonderful. We never went out of the house after nightfall. My mother taught me everything. I learned how to tat, to knit, to crochet. My grandmother bought a Singer sewing machine. We paid .50 per week to pay for it, the total cost was $15 - $20. I learned how to sew on that machine. My mother could also sew. She made dresses without a pattern. My mother used to iron pillow slips and linen napkins for a hotel.Interviewer: Can you give us a little background about your father?Mrs. Chappelle: My father's name was Tillman Crosby. I don't remember him. My oldest brother Bob remembered him. I was told that my father worked as a contractor. My father was away most of the time, my mother kept the home base. My uncle did the same thing. I don't know much about the Crosbys -- sadly. …


Presents a new method to synthesize timed asynchronous circuits directly from the specification without generating a state graph. The synthesis procedure begins with a graph specification with timing constraints. A timing analysis extracts the timed concurrency and timed causality relations directly from the specification. Then, a hazard-free implementation of the specification is synthesized by analyzing precedence graphs which are constructed by using the timed concurrency and timed causality relations. The major result of this work is that the method does not suffer from the state explosion problem, in practice achieves significant reductions in synthesis time for the specifications which have a large state space, and generates synthesized circuits that have nearly the same area as compared to previous timed circuit methods. In particular, this paper shows that a timed circuit-not containing circuit hazards under given timing constraints-can be found by using the relations between signal transitions of the specification. Moreover, the relations can be efficiently found using a heuristic timing analysis algorithm. By allowing significantly larger designs to be synthesized, this work is a step toward the development of high-level synthesis tools for system level asynchronous circuits.


Awareness of driver workload (DW) plays a paramount role in enhancing driving safety and convenience for intelligent vehicles. The DW prediction systems proposed so far learn either from individual driver's data (termed personalized system) or existing drivers' data indiscriminately (termed average system). As a result, they either do not work or lead to a limited performance for new drivers without labeled data. To this end, we develop clustering-aided approaches exploiting group characteristics of the existing drivers' data. Two clustering aided predictors are proposed. The first is clustering-aided regression (CAR) model, where the regression model for the cluster with the highest likelihood is adopted. The second is clustering-aided multiple model regression model, where the concept of multiple models is further augmented to CAR. A recent dataset from real-world driving experiments is adopted to validate the algorithms. Comparative results against the conventional average system demonstrate that by incorporating clustering information, both the proposed approaches significantly improve workload prediction performance.


Nowadays energy issues are no longer negligible. Primary sources, used every day for our livelihood, will not last forever and we'll have to face this problem. Even renewable energies, always considered as part of the solution, are not stable enough to substitute or significantly integrate our traditional system. Smart grid researchers try to face these challenges through the proposal of a new concept of intelligent grid equipped with sensors and devices able to constantly monitor demand and supply of the electrical grid. This architecture will be able to direct energy only where and when it is needed, avoiding waste and improving power quality at the same time. After a short recap about grid proprieties and challenges, we propose a study of the model of our regional power grid in Sardinia, using concept and parameters typical of complex network analysis. We comment all the design choices adopted during the model construction, pointing out the importance of using appropriate weights to define connections between substations, in order to represent the behavior of the grid properly. We show, through an example, how the betweenness can change employing different cost settings and lay the foundation for a future work.


Sufism has not only survived into the twenty-first century but has experienced a significant resurgence throughout the Muslim world. "Sufism and the 'Modern' in Islam" offers refreshing new perspectives on this phenomenon, demonstrating surprising connections between Sufism and Muslim reformist currents, and the vital presence of Sufi ideas and practices in all spheres of life. Contrary to earlier theories of the modernization of Muslim societies, Sufi influence on the political, economic and intellectual life of contemporary Muslim societies has been considerable. Although less noticed than the resurgence of radical Islam, Sufi orders and related movements involve considerably larger numbers of followers, even among the modern urban middle classes. This innovative study brings together new comparative and interdisciplinary research to show how Sufis have responded to modernization and globalization and how various currents of Islamic reform and Sufism have interacted.

Offering fascinating new insights into the pervasive Sufi influence on modern Islamic religiosity and contemporary political and economic life, this book raises important questions about Islam in the age of urbanism and mass communications.


This thesis is divided into three subject areas. The first section examines Cicero's employment of the terms "amicitia" and "inimicitia". It takes the form of a prosopographical study of all those named. The Republic came before all ties of "amicitia" and "inimicitia". Cicero saw his cause as one and the same as that of the Republic. The second section is divided into four sub-sections. The first deals with Cicero's references to the Consulship. Consuls must possess certain essential qualities and abide by a code of practice. The second sub-section contains an analysis of Cicero's references to the Tribunate. The Tribunates of Clodius, Milo and Sestius are assessed in detail Cloduis' legislation may be defended. Cicero's attitude towards "vis" is ambivalent. Cicero's references to violence are fax more Sequent in the Senatorial speech. The third sub-section looks at Cicero's treatment of public meetings and assemblies. Cicero's descriptions of the meetings held in 58 B.C. are compared with those of 57 B.C. They are contrasted with Cicero's ideal Cicero is keen to draw attention to the consensus that recalled him. Finally, all Cicero's allusions to the Senate are analysed. Cicero exaggerates the extent to which the Senate lost its authority in 58 B.C. Cicero boasts of the consensus in favour of his recall Cicero extols the comitia centuriata. The final section analyses Cicero's references to place. This section is divided into three themes. The first theme is "the city lost, the city restored". Cicero employs the connotations of specific places in the city to enhance this central theme. The second theme examines Cicero's comparison between city and country. The country receives great praise. The last theme looks at allusions to the Empire. This reveals the Roman curiosity in foreign lands and prejudice against foreign people.


A novel polarization monitoring scheme for polarization division multiplexed (PDM) systems is proposed. By using a tag light transmitted in different but close wavelength to the data signal as the feedback control, the scheme can demultiplex automatically two orthogonal polarizations in PDM systems. The effectiveness of the scheme is demonstrated experimentally in a 2?10-Gb/s on-off-keying (OOK) PDM transmission system.


In this paper we present a stochastic model for predicting the propagation of train delays based on Bayesian networks. This method can eciently represent and compute the complex stochastic inference between random variables. Moreover, it allows updating the probability distributions and reducing the uncertainty of future train delays in real time under the assumption that more information continuously becomes available from the monitoring system. The dynamics of a train delay over time and space is presented as a stochastic process that describes the evolution of the time-dependent random variable. This approach is further extended by modelling the interdependence between trains that share the same infrastructure of have a scheduled passenger transfer. The model is applied on a set of historical trac realisation data from the part of a busy corridor in Sweden.We present the initial results and analyse the accuracy of predictions as well as the evolution of probability distributions of event delays over time. The presented method is important for making better predictions for train trac, that are not only based on static, oine collected data, but are able to positively include the dynamic characteristics of the continuously changing delays.


The KidsRoom is a perceptually-based, interactive, narrative playspace for children. Images, music, narration, light, and sound effects are used to transform a normal child's bedroom into a fantasy land where children are guided through a reactive adventure story. The fully automated system was designed with the following goals: (1) to keep the focus of user action and interaction in the physical and not virtual space; (2) to permit multiple, collaborating people to simultaneously engage in an interactive experience combining both real and virtual objects; (3) to use computer-vision algorithms to identify activity in the space without requiring the participants to wear any special clothing or devices; (4) to use narrative to constrain the perceptual recognition, and to use perceptual recognition to allow participants to drive the narrative; and (5) to create a truly immersive and interactive room environment. We believe the KidsRoom is the first multi-person, fully-automated, interactive, narrative environment ever constructed using non-encumbering sensors. This paper describes the KidsRoom, the technology that makes it work, and the issues that were raised during the system's development.1 A demonstration of the project, which complements the material presented here and includes videos, images, and sounds from each part of the story is available at .


PSYCHOPATHOLOGY AND CREATIVITY AMONG CREATIVE AND NONCREATIVE PROFESSIONS By Victor W. Kwan The mad genius debate has been a topic that has been discussed in both popular culture and academic discourse. The current study sought to replicate previous findings that linked psychopathology to creativity. A total of 165 biographies of eminent professionals (artists, scientists, athletes) were rated on 19 mental disorders using a three point scale of not present (0), probable (1), and present (2) for potential symptoms. Athletes served as an eminent but not creative comparison group in order to discern whether fame, independent of creativity, was associated with psychopathology. Comparison of proportion analyses were conducted to identify differences of proportion between these three groups for each psychopathology. Tests for one proportion were calculated to compare each group's rates of psychopathology to the rates found in the U.S. population. These analyses were run twice, where subjects were dichotomized into present and not present categories; first, "present" included "probable" (inclusive) and second where it included only "present" (exclusive). Artists showed greater frequency rates of psychopathology than scientists and athletes in the more inclusive criteria for inclusion, whereas both artists and athletes showed greater frequency rates than scientists in the stricter criteria. Apart from anxiety disorder, athletes did not differ from the U.S. population in rates of psychopathology whereas artists differed from the population in terms of alcoholism, anxiety disorder, drug abuse, and depression. These data generally corroborate previous research on the link between creativity and psychopathology.


Abstract: Objective: This study examines parental report of household food availability, parent dietary intake and associations with adolescent intakes of fruits, vegetables and dairy foods. Design: Cross-sectional study. Adolescents completed the Project EAT survey and the Youth Adolescent Food Frequency Questionnaire at school. Parents of adolescents were interviewed by telephone about the home food environment, eating habits and weight-related behaviours. General linear modelling was used to compare dietary intakes of adolescents across different levels of household food availability and parental intakes. Subjects/setting: The study sample included 902 adolescents and their parent or guardian. Results: Many parents were not consuming the minimum number of daily recommended fruit (44.5%), vegetable (69.9%) or dairy (46.9%) servings. While most parents reported that fruits and vegetables were available at home (90.3%) and vegetables were usually served at dinner (87.0%), fewer parents reported milk was served at meals (66.6%). Soft drinks were usually available at home (56.8%). Among girls, household availability was positively associated with fruit and vegetable intake (ttrend = 2.70, P < 0.01) and soft drink availability was inversely associated with dairy intake (ttrend = 2.08, P = 0.04). Among boys, serving milk at meals was positively associated with dairy intake (ttrend = 3.65, P < 0.01). Parental intakes were positively associated with dairy intake for boys (ttrend = 2.04, P = 0.04), and with dairy (ttrend = 2.43, P = 0.01), vegetable (ttrend = 3.72, P < 0.01) and fruit (ttrend = 3.17, P < 0.01) intakes for girls. Conclusions/applications: Interventions designed to help adolescents improve consumption of fruits, vegetables and dairy foods may be enhanced by including a parental component aimed at increasing household availability and parents' intake of healthful food choices.


A chemical screen of approximately 2000 small molecules in zebrafish embryos identified a compound that generated pericardial edema, suggesting aberrant renal development. Treatment with this compound, 4-(phenylthio)butanoic acid (PTBA), increased the size of the pronephric kidney in zebrafish. Earlier in development, PTBA expanded the expression of renal progenitor cell markers, including lhx1a, pax2a, and pax8. Blocking DNA synthesis with hydroxyurea and aphidicolin before PTBA treatment decreased its efficacy, suggesting that PTBA-mediated renal progenitor expansion is proliferation dependent. Structure-activity analysis revealed that PTBA was an analog of the known histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACis) 4-phenylbutanoic acid (PBA) and trichostatin A (TSA). Like PTBA, PBA and TSA both demonstrated the ability to expand lhx1a expression in treated embryos. PTBA was subsequently confirmed to function as an HDACi both in vitro and in vivo. HDACis are hypothesized to stimulate retinoic acid (RA) signaling by decreasing the concentration of RA necessary to activate RA receptors (RARs) on target genes. Indeed, treatment with PTBA affected the expression of the RA-responsive genes, cyp26a1 and cmlc2, in a manner consistent with increased RA signaling. Furthermore, blocking the RA pathway with a dominant-negative RAR alpha construct decreased PTBA efficiency. Therefore, PTBA appears to stimulate renal progenitor cell proliferation by activating the RA-signaling pathway. HDACis have been shown to improve renal recovery following acute kidney injury. Since PTBA increases renal progenitor cell proliferation, it may exert similar effects on the multipotent cells involved in regeneration. In an effort to improve PTBA efficacy for pharmacological applications, analogs were generated by modifying the key structural elements of the general HDACi pharmacophore. These were tested along with a panel of known HDACis for their ability to increase lhx1a expression in treated embryos. Several compounds were characterized that function at nanomolar concentrations and do not cause toxicity in kidney cell culture. These second generation PTBA analogs are excellent candidates for development as potential renal therapeutics.


OBJECTIVE. Our objective with this study was to identify the nature and the role of spirituality from the parents' perspective at the end of life in the PICU and to discern clinical implications. METHODS. A qualitative study based on parental responses to open-ended questions on anonymous, self-administered questionnaires was conducted at 3 PICUs in Boston, Massachusetts. Fifty-six parents whose children had died in PICUs after the withdrawal of life-sustaining therapies participated. RESULTS. Overall, spiritual/religious themes were included in the responses of 73% (41 of 56) of parents to questions about what had been most helpful to them and what advice they would offer to others at the end of life. Four explicitly spiritual/religious themes emerged: prayer, faith, access to and care from clergy, and belief in the transcendent quality of the parent-child relationship that endures beyond death. Parents also identified several implicitly spiritual/religious themes, including insight and wisdom; reliance on values; and virtues such as hope, trust, and love. CONCLUSIONS. Many parents drew on and relied on their spirituality to guide them in end-of-life decision-making, to make meaning of the loss, and to sustain them emotionally. Despite the dominance of technology and medical discourse in the ICU, many parents experienced their child's end of life as a spiritual journey. Staff members, hospital chaplains, and community clergy are encouraged to be explicit in their hospitality to parents' spirituality and religious faith, to foster a culture of acceptance and integration of spiritual perspectives, and to work collaboratively to deliver spiritual care.


A survey of deep-water sediments in 11 lakes in northern Scotland showed that only under certain conditions does a complete and conformable series of deposits accumulate. In lochs exposed to strong winds there may be no permanent settling of organic sediments in water depths of up to 50 m. Three lake cores (representative of three regions of northern Scotland), which proved to be complete and conformable profiles, were analysed in detail for pollen and certain chemical elements; one was also analysed for diatoms. A series of 14 C dates was obtained for two of these profiles. Changes in pollen content were found to be very consistently related to changes in sediment composition. Pollen zones were defined in terms of characteristic taxa, and variance in sediment composition was expressed as the first component of a Principal Components Analysis; changes in this first component invariably coincided with pollen zone boundaries based on changes in pollen spectra. This close relationship is explained as the consequence of the derivation of these lake sediments from soils on the catchments. Two important features of soil history emerged from this study: first, the general impoverishment of soils, water and biota due to leaching during the early millennia of the 15 000 years covered by these profiles, and secondly the changes in pollen spectra which accompanied chemical evidence for the development of peat on certain of the western catchments since ca . 3000 B.C. Complete analysis of a core from Loch Sionascaig in Wester Ross (pollen, chemical and diatom) has provided a history of the soils and the aquatic and terrestrial vegetation of the Inverpolly National Nature Reserve. Pollen analysis of cores from two small lochs supplemented the evidence from Loch Sionascaig as to late-glacial and early post-glacial vegetation history in the far north-west Highlands. Chemical and biological evidence for the history of blanket peat formation on the Sionascaig catchment which was provided by the lake sediments has been supplemented by examination and pollen analysis of four profiles from blanket peat, in all of which the presence of timber within the peat confirms the evidence of the pollen diagrams that pine-birch forest was present in this region during the period between ca . 2400 and 1500 B.C. Complete late-glacial profiles were found in three lochs in Region 1, the far north-west Highlands, and in Loch Tarff above the Great Glen. Our results confirm and extend those from Loch Droma (Kirk & Godwin 1963), proving that those sites in northern Scotland were free of ice throughout the Late-Weichselian period. The sequence of pollen zones — A ( Rumexzone), B (woody plants zone) and C ( Artemisia zone) — resembles that which has been found at many sites in Highland West Britain, including the closely dated site at Blelham Bog in the Lake District (Pennington & Bonny 1970). In Region 2, the mountainous part of Wester Ross near Beinn Eighe, lake profiles indicate the input of thick and barren laminated sediments, impenetrable to the corers used, during the final cold phase of the Late-Weichselian (Younger Dryas time). During the preceding Late-Weichselian interstadial, which on the evidence from Loch Droma had begun by ca . 10 870 B.C., pollen spectra indicate that the vegetation of northern Scotland must have been Empetrum heath, with juniper present at some sites but not at others, and no trees present. Pre-interstadial pollen spectra ( Rumex zone ) resemble plant assemblages found on immature soils. Chemical analyses indicate continuous and uninterrupted processes of soil maturation through pre-interstadial into interstadial time — accumulation of humus, leaching, and chemical weathering with formation of clay minerals. Pre-interstadial and interstadial diatom assemblages at Loch Sionascaig include many alkaliphilous species and some now characteristic of eutrophic habitats; the present acid poverty of this lake and its catchment must be the result of removal of soil bases by late- and post-glacial leaching. At all sites where it is present, pollen zone C ( Artemisia ) corresponds with sediment of very low organic content, and simultaneous changes in pollen and chemical composition at the boundaries of this zone are interpreted as the results of pronounced and synchronous environmental (climatic) changes at the beginning and end of Younger Dryas time. Above the Artemisia zone, pollen spectra, diatoms and chemical analysis all indicate rejuvenation of soils by the effects of the post-interstadial cold period; the biological evidence points to a repetition, at the opening of the post-glacial period, of pre-interstadial to interstadial plant successions, but in a much shorter time. 14 C dating at two sites shows that the spread of birch forest in northern Scotland was delayed for up to 1000 years after its establishment in northern England. On the evidence of ESR spectra of the humic acid in the Loch Sionascaig sediment, soils in northern Scotland had become acid before the arrival of forest. Post-glacial pollen diagrams are divided into a series of Regional Pollen Zones for northern Scotland; in north-west Scotland the boundaries of these zones have been dated by 14 C at two sites and the pollen zones correlated with chronozones. Early post-glacial Empetrum and juniper zones are followed by a birchhazel zone; from ca . 6000 B.C. onwards the birch-hazel pollen assemblage is replaced progressively by pine—birch. Surviving birch and birch—hazel woods round Loch Sionascaig are interpreted as the relics, on dry flush slopes, of a forest type which was widespread there before 6000 B.C. Chemical evidence suggests that between ca . 6000 and 4400 B.C. pine and pine—birch woods were growing on comparatively dry mineral soils, but from ca . 4400 B.C. the appearance of alder pollen is accompanied by evidence for solutional transport of iron and manganese from increasingly waterlogged soils. By 3000 B.C. formation of blanket peat must have begun on the Sionascaig catchment. For about another 1000 years pines and birches continued to grow on a peaty substratum. In Region 1 the pine forest ended suddenly at about 2000 B.C. ; alternative hypotheses to account for this are examined. In Region 2 the Loch Clair profile shows the continuity of pine—birch forest with the existing Coulin Forest on that catchment. Steeper slopes than in Region 1 must have prevented the general formation of blanket peat, and the poor siliceous soils did not attract prehistoric settlement, so there was no forest clearance, though traces of human influence appear in the pollen spectra from ca . 3400 B.C. In Region 3 the sediments of Loch Tarff show a sequence of post-glacial pollen zones which can be related both to the northern Scotland series outlined here and to the Godwin series of zones which has been widely applied in more southern parts of Britain. This is interpreted as the result of the position of Loch Tarff on the margin of an area of natural mixed-oak forest in the Great Glen; its pollen diagram records the expansion of this forest type in the mid-post-glacial period on which the Godwin zonation is based.


A photodiode made on high-resistivity silicon (greater than 100 Ω-cm) is characterized by a relatively wide junction-depletion layer. As a consequence, for most of the spectral response region the optical generation of charge carriers occurs within the depletion layer and the separation and collection of charge is primarily controlled by electric field rather than by diffusion. Short collection times thus obtained are estimated to be in the range from 10 to 100 nsec and have been shown to be 200 nsec or less. By choice of sufficiently high resistivity and moderate reverse biases the device capacitance can be kept smaller than circuit stray capacitances.Low values of saturation current have been obtained resulting in high diode sensitivities. Best measured noise-equivalent-power values of 2×10−13 W at 0.9 μ are about a factor 2 short of theoretical values.


The corrosion behavior of brass in the presence of inhibitor namely 5-methyl benzotriazole (MBTA) has been investigated in 3% NaCl medium. The inhibition efficiency of MBTA was evaluated from chemical and electrochemical techniques. Experimental studies showed that MBTA reduces markedly the corrosion of brass in 3% NaCl solution and this reduction in corrosion rates enhances with increasing concentration of MBTA. Weight loss study revealed that the formulation consisting of 150 ppm of MBTA showed 71% inhibition efficiency. Polarization studies also revealed that the inhibitor act as mixed type for brass in chloride solution. The characterization of corrosion product on brass in presence of MBTA was analysed by FTIR.


The High Level Architecture (HLA)—Object Model Template (OMT) specification defines the format and syntax (but not content) of HLA object models. Simulations are abstractions of the real world, and no one simulation can solve all of the functional needs for the modeling and simulation community. It is anticipated that advances in technology will allow for new and different modeling and simulation (M&S) implementations within the framework of the HLA. The standards contained in this architecture are interrelated and need to be considered as a product set, as a change in one is likely to have an impact on the others. As such, the HLA is an integrated approach that has been developed to provide a common architecture for simulation.


A number of significant intratypological differences emerge due to the processes that drive the lexicalization of motion events in Serbo-Croatian,namely morphological blocking and combinatory potential Filipovic 2007a). These two morphosyntactic processes restrict the use of manner verbs and delimit both verb-prefix combinations and the combinability of prefixed manner verbs with path prepositions in motion expressions. As a result, the use of manner verbs is much more restricted in Serbo-Croatian than in English. In addition, the syntactic structure and the content of motion descriptions in Serbo-Croatian differ from the English pattern. The typology is best understood as a continuum, with the satellite-/verb-framed dichotomy being only one of the relevant typological dimensions in this context whose interaction is highlighted in this chapter.


This paper discusses the application of automatic speaker verification systems in forensic casework. A framework for reporting the system outcome is proposed. Specific system requirements to properly cope with forensic idiosyncrasies are analyzed through a series of simulations. Results suggest that the design of a forensic speaker verification system not necessarily match the settings of current state-of-the-art systems.


The Fleischmann Rudolf Research Institute in Kompolt is not only famous for plant breeding but the institute also surveys the effects of different nutrient supply methods since 1918. In 2017, we joined this research supported by EFOP 3.6.1 project. Our aim was to investigate photochemical processes – which is one of the most determinant in case of yield – of crops by in vivo field measurements. We measured the chlorophyll content of leaves using Minolta SPAD 502. We used miniPAM fluorometer to determine actual photochemical efficiency and non-photochemical quenching of PSII during natural light conditions and also to evaluate the pigment (chlorophylls and carotenoids) and water content of leaves we applied field spectrophotometer (ASD FieldSpecPro 3). We utilized these methods by various treatments (1. treatment with soil bacteria + head and base fertilizer; 2. treated by only head fertilizer; 3. treated by only base-fertilizer) in field experiment of autumn wheat (4.1–2.43–1.19 ha) in June, 2017. The difference between treatments was clearly detectable. In the case of the first treatment, physiological processes were more intense and the ripening occurred earlier. The obtained yield was the highest in the case of the area treated by soil bacterial. Based on the results, the first treatment can be recommended in practice.


Many celebrities and experts from various fields may have been referred by not only their personal names but also by their aliases on web. Aliases are very important in information retrieval to retrieve complete information about a personal name from the web, as some of the web pages of the person may also be referred by his aliases. The aliases for a personal name are extracted by previously proposed alias extraction method. In information retrieval, the web search engine automatically expands the search query on a person name by tagging his aliases for complete information retrieval thereby improving recall in relation detection task and achieving a significant mean reciprocal rank (MRR) of search engine. For the further substantial improvement on recall and MRR from the previously proposed methods, our proposed method will order the aliases based on their associations with the name using the definition of anchor texts-based co-occurrences between name and aliases in order to help the search engine tag the aliases according to the order of associations. The association orders will automatically be discovered by creating an anchor texts-based co-occurrence graph between name and aliases. Ranking support vector machine (SVM) will be used to create connections between name and aliases in the graph by performing ranking on anchor texts-based co-occurrence measures. The hop distances between nodes in the graph will lead to have the associations between name and aliases. The hop distances will be found by mining the graph. The proposed method will outperform previously proposed methods, achieving substantial growth on recall and MRR.


Background and aim Trials of treatments for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis require endpoint assessment with liver biopsies. Previous large-scale trials have calculated their sample size expecting high retention but on average did not achieve this. We aimed to quantify the proportion of participants with a valid follow-up biopsy. Methods We conducted a systematic review of MEDLINE and Embase until May 2020 and included randomized clinical trials of any intervention in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis with at least 1-year follow-up. We were guided by Cochrane methods to run a meta-analysis with generalized linear mixed models with random effects. Results Forty-one trials (n = 6,695) were included. The proportion of participants with a valid follow-up biopsy was 82% (95%CI: 78%-86%, I2 = 92%). There was no evidence of a difference by location, trial length, or by allocated treatment group. Reasons for missing follow-up biopsies were, in ranked order, related to participants (95 per 1,000 participants (95%CI: 69–129, I2 = 92%), medical factors, protocol, trial conduct, and other/unclear. Biopsy-related serious adverse events occurred in 16 per 1,000 participants (95% CI: 8–33, I2 = 54%). No biopsy-related deaths were reported. Conclusions The proportion of participants with a valid follow-up biopsy in therapeutic trials in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis is on average 82%, with around 1 in 10 participants declining a follow-up biopsy. These findings can inform adequately-powered trials.


Using an ocean general circulation model, we find that the vertical profile of the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) transport is important in regulating the stratification and surface heat fluxes of the Indian Ocean. With the same total ITF transport, a thermocline‐intensified ITF, relative to a surface‐intensified ITF, not only cools the surface layer of the Indian Ocean while warming the Indian Ocean below the thermocline, but also induces negative temperature anomalies at the sea surface throughout the Indian basin. As a consequence of this surface effect the net heat gain of the Indian Ocean is increased. The results suggest that it is necessary to properly represent the vertical profile of ITF transport within ocean and climate numerical models.


Heart failure (HF) is a growing epidemic worldwide with a particularly large presence in the United States. Nutritional assessment and supplementation is an area that can be studied to potentially improve the outcomes of these chronically ill patients. There have been many studies reporting the effect of various nutrients on HF patients, often with mixed results. Amino acids such as taurine, which is involved in calcium exchange, has been reported to improve heart function. Coenzyme Q10, a key component in the electron transport chain, is vital for energy production. l-carnitine, an amino acid derivative, is responsible for transport of fatty acids into the mitochondria along with modulating glucose metabolism. Thiamine and the other B vitamins, which serve as vital cofactors, can often be deficient in HF patients. Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation has been demonstrated to benefit HF patients potentially through anti-arrhythmic and anti-inflammatory mechanisms. Vitamin D supplementation can potentially benefit HF patients by way of modulating the renin-angiotensin system, smooth muscle proliferation, inflammation, and calcium homeostasis. Although supplementation of all of the above nutrients has the potential to benefit patients with HF, more studies are needed to solidify these recommendations.


A new technique for measuring E region plasma density profiles in the equatorial electrojet using a bistatic coherent scatter radar is described. The technique utilizes the Faraday rotation of the obliquely and coherently scattered signal. Plasma density versus altitude is inferred from the rate of Faraday rotation as a function of range and elevation angle. A narrow beam width is required to minimize returns from unwanted azimuths, but this can be achieved in a bistatic experiment using relatively small antenna arrays with widely spaced elements. We give a sample time sequence of daytime electron density profiles that were measured with the new technique at altitudes between 95 and 110 km. Scatter from pure two-stream waves makes it possible to measure both the bottomside and topside density profiles during the day. The importance of this new technique becomes evident when one realizes that only a few rocket flights have provided density profiles through these altitudes at the magnetic equator; the region has been inaccessible to any remote sensing technique until now.


The southern calamary, Sepioteuthis australis, is a commercially and recreationally important inshore cephalopod endemic to southern Australia and New Zealand. Typical of other cephalopods, S. australis has a short life span, form nearshore spawning aggregations and undergo direct development. Such life history traits may restrict connectivity between spawning grounds creating highly structured and genetically differentiated populations that are susceptible to population crashes. Here we use seven polymorphic microsatellite markers to assess connectivity and population structure of S. australis across a large part of its geographic range in Australia. Little genetic differentiation was found between sampling locations. Overall, FST was low (0.005, 95% CI=<0.001–0.011) and we detected no significant genetic differentiation between any of the locations sampled. There was no strong relationship between genetic and geographical distance, and our neighbour joining analysis did not show clustering of clades based on geographical locations. Similarly, network analysis showed strong connectivity amongst most locations, in particular, Tasmania appears to be well connected with several other locations and may act as an important source population. High levels of gene flow and connectivity between S. australis sampling sites across Australia are important for this short-lived species, ensuring resilience against spatial and temporal mortality fluctuations.


Background: Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) was successfully performed to treat aortic regurgitation (AR) in a patient with a failed aortic valve replacement complicated by aortic root pseudoaneurysm. Case Presentation: A 92-year-old male presented with acute decompensated congestive heart failure secondary to AR of a previously implanted stentless aortic bioprosthesis, complicated by a 2.5 x 1.7 cm pseudoaneurysm of the aortic root. Conclusions: Complex aortic root and valve disease can be safely and effectively addressed through the use of TAVR in high-risk patients. The presence of a pseudoaneurysm should not preclude successful TAVR.


This study adds to the relatively limited and mostly outdated work release literature by evaluating the effectiveness of a Minnesota prison work release program. A retrospective quasi-experimental design was used to assess the impact of work release on recidivism, employment, and cost avoidance among 3,570 offenders released from Minnesota prisons between 2007 and 2010. Propensity score matching was used to minimize observable selection bias. Work release significantly increased the hazard of returning to prison for a technical violation, although it significantly reduced, albeit modestly, the risk of reoffending with a new crime. It did not have an impact on hourly wage, but it significantly increased the odds that participants found a job, the total hours they worked, and the total wages they earned. Work release produced an estimated cost avoidance benefit of $1.25 million overall, which amounts to nearly $700 per participant.


In an eLearning context, Adaptive Hypermedia Systems have been developed to improve learning success by increasing learner satisfaction, learning speed, and educational effectiveness. However, creating adaptive eLearning content and structures is still a time consuming and complicated task, in particular if individual lecturers are the intended authors. The way of thinking that is needed to create adaptive structures as well as the workflows is one that lecturers are unaccustomed to. The aim of this research project is to develop a concept that helps authors create adaptive eLearning content and structures, which focuses on its applicability for lecturers as intended authors. The research is targeted at the sequencing of content, which is one of the main aspects of adaptive eLearning. To achieve this aim the problem has been viewed from the author's side. First, in terms of complexity of thoughts and threads, explanations about content structures have been found in storytelling theory. It also provides insights into how authors work, how story worlds are created, story lines intertwined, and how they are all merged together into one content. This helps us understand how non technical authors create content that is understandable and interesting for recipients. Second, the linear structure of learning content has been investigated to extract all the information that can be used for sequencing purposes. This investigation led to an approach that combines existing models to ease the authoring process for adaptive learning content by relating linear content from different authors and therefore defining interdependencies that delinearise the content structure. The technical feasibility of the authoring methods for adaptive learning content has been proven by the implementation of the essential parts in a research prototype and by authoring content from real life lectures with the prototype's editor. The content and its adaptive structure obtained by using the concept of this research have been tested with the prototype's player and monitor. Additionally, authoring aspects of the concept have been shown along with practical examples and workflows. Lastly, the interviewees who took part in expert interviews have agreed that the concept significantly reduces authoring complexity and potentially increases the amount of lecturers that are able to create adaptive content. The concept represents the common and traditional authoring process for linear content to a large extent. Compared to existing approaches the additional work needed is limited, and authors do not need to delve into adaptive structures or other authors' content structures and didactic approaches.


In this paper we use the methodology introduced by Dhurandhar and Dobra (2009) for analyzing the error of classifiers and the model selection measures, to analyze decision tree algorithms. The methodology consists of obtaining parametric expressions for the moments of the generalization error (GE) for the classification model of interest, followed by plotting these expressions for interpretability. The major challenge in applying the methodology to decision trees, the main theme of this work, is customizing the generic expressions for the moments of GE to this particular classification algorithm. The specific contributions we make in this paper are: (a) we primarily characterize a subclass of decision trees namely, Random decision trees, (b) we discuss how the analysis extends to other decision tree algorithms and (c) in order to extend the analysis to certain model selection measures, we generalize the relationships between the moments of GE and moments of the model selection measures given in (Dhurandhar and Dobra, 2009) to randomized classification algorithms. An empirical comparison of the proposed method with Monte Carlo and distribution free bounds obtained using Breiman's formula, depicts the advantages of the method in terms of running time and accuracy. It thus showcases the use of the deployed methodology as an exploratory tool to study learning algorithms.


Most modern graphics-based computer games entertain the player in part by presenting him or her with a simulated space, an imaginary twoor threedimensional region whose visual appearance is mapped onto the twodimensional surface of the video screen. The player observes this space and sometimes virtually explores or moves through it in the course of playing the game. As an imaginary space, it is necessarily constructed by human beings, and therefore may be thought of as the product of architectural design processes. In this paper I discuss the psychosensory limitations of perceiving ludic space compared with real-world architectural space, and the primary and secondary functions of ludic space. The primary function is to support the gameplay by providing a context for challenges, and I discuss how this occurs; secondarily, the space informs and entertains in its own right by a variety of means: Familiarity, Allusion, Novelty, Atmosphere, and others, which I illustrate by example.


The development of interactive computer graphics to support applied geochemistry over the last 40 years at the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) is briefly discussed. The loss of an interactive computing environment, IDEAS, in 1995 based on a DEC VAX computer largely negated nine years of work, though the experience gained was invaluable. The availability of the commercial S-PLUS package in a Windows PC environment led to the redevelopment of most of the functionality of IDEAS in the S language for statistical analysis and graphics. In 2006 a request from a sister federal government department for the S-PLUS software led to the decision to translate the S functions into R, an Open-Source implementation of the S language, and therefore free to the user. Since that time all development has been in R, resulting in the 2007 release to the public of a package of tools, 'rgr', to assist applied geochemists in interpreting their data. Subsequently, 'rgr' has been updated and extended. The move to Open Source R and the release of the 'rgr' package on the Comprehensive R Archival Network (CRAN) has made these tools, and their documentation, available for Windows, Unix and Mac computing environments. The paper outlines the features of 'rgr' and illustrates key graphic and tabular displays. Its functionality is reviewed in the context of earlier GSC interactive graphics packages. Supplementary Material: this is available at http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18713


The deep sequencing of an mRNA population, RNA‐seq, is a very successful application of next‐generation sequencing technologies (NGSTs). RNA‐seq takes advantage of two key NGST features: (1) samples can be mixtures of different DNA pieces, and (2) sequencing provides both qualitative and quantitative information about each DNA piece analyzed. We recently used RNA‐seq to study the transcriptome of Aspergillus fumigatus, a deadly human fungal pathogen. Analysis of the RNA‐seq data indicates that there are likely tens of unannotated and hundreds of novel genes in the A. fumigatus transcriptome, mostly encoding for small proteins. Inspection of transcriptome‐wide variation between two isolates reveals thousands of single nucleotide polymorphisms. Finally, comparison of the transcriptome profiles of one isolate in two different growth conditions identified thousands of differentially expressed genes. These results demonstrate the utility and potential of RNA‐seq for functional genomics studies in A. fumigatus and other fungal human pathogens.


The active role of customers and their experience to create the value in service system have been recognized in the literature. So far, the focus of value co-creation only for business-business (B2B) or business-customers (B2C), meanwhile the attention to the customer-to-customer (C2C) is not so much. Recently, the attention to C2C interaction is increasingly viewed by marketer and researcher. However, the existing research of C2C is on the conceptual and empirical model, therefore it may not describe C2C interaction dynamically. In this research, we show and develop a model of customers' interaction by using agent-based simulation to capture the dynamic of interaction. The research aim is to explore how effective and efficient C2C by engaging customers' experience in value co-creation. Furthermore, we investigate the needs of mutual learning by using agent based simulation. The previous research is focus on two types of C2C interaction, i.e., face-to-face and social media interaction. In the present research, we show more general the needs of human interaction by engaging customers' experience which compare between 'customer-to-customer (C2C) interaction' and 'no interaction' (i.e., customers interact with the provider directly without interaction with other customers). By conducting agent based simulation, we investigate how C2C interaction is effective which measured by learning performance and how efficient which measured by learning efficiency. On the other hand, we conduct sensitivity analysis to investigate the needs of mutual learning between customers and provider in value co-creation. In our simulation result, it shows customer-to-customer (C2C) interaction gives significant influence than 'no interaction'. Moreover, we have already shown the needs mutual learning between customers and provider from the simulation results.


Coronin is a WD repeat-containing actin-binding protein, which was originally identified in the cellular slime mold Dictyostelium. Coronin-null Dictyostelium cells show defects in cytokinesis, cell motility and phagocytosis. Although the existence of coronin in higher eukaryotes has been reported, its function in vertebrate cells has not been elucidated. We cloned a Xenopus homolog of coronin (Xcoronin) and examined its actin-binding properties, subcellular localization and possible functions. Xcoronin consists of 480 amino acids and is 63% identical to human coronin (p57). Bacterially expressed recombinant Xcoronin co-sedimented with F-actin in vitro. The WD repeat domain (residues 64-299) alone did not have any affinity for F-actin. Anti-Xcoronin antibodies reacted specifically with a single 57 kDa protein present in an extract of the Xenopus A6 cell line. Indirect immunofluorescent staining of A6 cells revealed that Xcoronin is present in the cytoplasm and concentrated in the cell periphery in membrane ruffles. During spreading after replating or wound healing after scratching a confluent monolayer, Xcoronin became concentrated in the leading edges of lamellipodia. A GFP-fusion protein of Xcoronin showed a subcellular distribution essentially identical to endogenous Xcoronin. The localization of Xcoronin to the cell periphery was resistant to treatment with 0.1% Triton X-100. The deletion of 63 N-terminal amino acids or of 65 C-terminal amino acids abolished the localization of Xcoronin to the cell periphery. Xcoronin expressed in 3T3 fibroblasts was concentrated to the leading edges of lamellipodia induced by active Rac. Remarkably, expression of a truncated form of Xcoronin (64-299), but not of full-length Xcoronin, significantly decreased the rate of cell spreading after replating and markedly inhibited lamellipodium extension induced by active Rac. These results suggest that Xcoronin plays an important role in lamellipodium extension and cell spreading.


This paper examines the dialogue and transformation of public space that occurred after Banksy's Slave Labour was removed without notice from a wall in North London, transported to Miami and listed for auction. Despite the high-profile media coverage of the 'theft' of Banksy's piece, the explosion of new works provoked by its extraction was for the most part simply erased as they appeared. We argue that the excision of Slave Labour provided a 'gap in the sensible' (Ranciere 2004) and the conditions of possibility for the emergence of a lively local intertextual visual dialogue, which transformed this otherwise apparently unremarkable London side street into an arena for aesthetic protest and critical social commentary.


Cloud computing is latest technology widely serving client oriented applications. It has the capability of sharing selective encrypted data via public cloud storage with multiple users which may ease security over accidental data leaks in the cloud. Efficient key management is important in encryption schemes. For sharing multiple documents with different groups in cloud, separate encryption keys are needed. Security is required by owner to distribute large number of keys for encryption and searching, and by users to store received keys. Users have to submit equal number of trapdoors to the cloud for search operation. In such case features of security, storage and complexity are required at its best performance. Key-Aggregate Searchable Encryption (KASE) scheme addresses to the problem of storage management and security in group data sharing on cloud. Through this scheme only single key is distributed by owner to user for sharing multiple documents, and user also required to submit single trapdoor to receive shared documents. KASE scheme is efficient and secure as resulted by security analysis tests.


This paper presents the results of recent research into the user expectations for a Management_Information_System (MIS) for the project/portfolio-managed delivery of a large and diverse range of projects. In 1998, the Works Bureau of the Government of Hong Kong undertook objective measurement of the extent that an MIS, called the PW_MS, contributed to the successful project and portfolio management of its large and diverse portfolio of more than two thousand public works projects. This rolling-programme of projects includes up to 72 types of public infrastructure. The delivery process depends on a highly differentiated organisation in which each of the public works departments has different staffing levels, workloads, locations, and each undertake different types of work. The objective of the assessment was to determine:
· the extent that the PW_MS was successfully used for the management of individual projects;
· the extent that the PW_MS was successfully used to help manage the portfolios-of-projects overall;
· the extent that other means of data collection and reporting that are otherwise used for both of these functions; and,
· to identify the requirements for an improved MIS.
This paper presents the results of this postal survey of a population of five hundred and eighty-four authorised users of the PW_MS. It is a complex WAN system, with 168 terminals in the client and public works offices for operational access to the MIS. It has routines for the planning, reporting and monitoring of the cost, time and scope aspects of each project in the PWP. It establishes a fixed plan for each project and provides an audit trail of progress towards completion. The data in the system is combined to provide summary reports of portfolios of projects. A random selection from the User-population was used to form a population-sample for the postal questionnaire survey. The sample frame was constrained to ensure a 95% confidence limit that the response was statistically indicative of the population; and that it included sufficient numbers of the primary classes of users to also ensure a 95% confidence limit that the response was indicative of these strata of the population. This methodology is described in the paper. A sixty-five percent response was achieved. The results show that the User satisfaction with the PW_MS is not high. The results state a range of User dissatisfactions but they do not call for a fundamental change in approach: they validate the exploitation of proven, readily available, information technology for the management of portfolio-of-projects. Portfolio-management and project management is enabled by these techniques although the survey results indicate that more can be done to improve the man-machine interface. The results identify key-areas for such improvement. These findings are presented in the paper.


The Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) is an attempt by the South African government to redress the imbalances of apartheid. It has many facets. One of these involves the provision and distribution of infrastructure to citizens who hitherto have been neglected. This calls for significant construction effort particularly for housing, water, roads and other social construction. This will require efficient production, and allocation of resources to ensure that there is adequate supply of materials to meet the likely increase in demand. This paper examines the expected demand for construction materials, assesses the supply capacity of South African suppliers of construction materials, and develops an econometric model which can be used to evaluate the impact that growth of the internal construction activity will have on construction industry suppliers. JEL 011


Our paper applies data envelopment analysis (DEA) and stochastic non-parametric envelopment of data (StoNED) to measure cost efficiency of electricity distribution companies. The data cover 123 Norwegian electricity distribution companies during 2004-2010, and the performance of these companies is compared across the two models with and without environmental variables, i.e., variables that account for local conditions that affect the companies' costs. The results indicate that the cost efficiency estimates with the StoNED approach are much higher than with the DEA method when we do not consider environmental variables. It shows that the choice of estimation methods is important with respect to the estimated impact of environmental variables on the performance. In addition, the inclusion of the environmental variables has considerable effect on the classification of companies with respect to local returns to scale.


The landmark human rights cases that have been litigated to judgment or settled in the United States' federal court system during the past twenty years have borne witness to the existence and inhumanity of the massive genocides that marred the twentieth century. These cases, notably the Marcos Human Rights Litigation, the Swiss Banks and German Holocaust cases, and the pending Talisman energy litigation, have created permanent records, and in many cases substantial compensation, for wrongs that might otherwise go unremembered, unconfronted, and unredressed. The United States courts have provided an important, perhaps unique, forum for both formal recognition and monetary compensation. These human rights cases have made contributions to our common law that exceed the justice they have provided to the victims of the respective atrocities that gave rise to them. Human rights litigation has contributed important principles and procedures to other, more mundane, forms of mass commercial and mass tort litigation. The Marcos litigation demonstrated that sampling methodologies could be utilized, in a constitutional manner, to facilitate the adjudication of many mass injury cases. The multiphase class action trial structure that was upheld by the Ninth Circuit in the Marcos case has served as a trial structure model in other class actions. The sampling procedure pioneered in Marcos, from which aggregate damages may be extrapolated, served as a model for sampling successfully utilized, among other contexts, in California employment class actions. The Holocaust and Nazi-Era suits that were brought against German and Swiss banks, businesses, and governments have demonstrated the dangerous fallacy of granting formal or practical immunity to those in power, whether this power is derived politically or financially. Human rights litigation has spoken truth to power. In so doing, it has armed victims of more routine wrongs-such as exposure to environmental toxics, dangerous drugs, and deceptive financial practices-with the procedural power of an aggregated voice that our courts have now been challenged to acknowledge and deploy. I. INTRODUCTION On July 26, 2000, final approval was granted to a landmark $1.25 billion settlement of the claims of an international class of Holocaust victims against Swiss Banks that engaged in massive looting and misappropriation of assets entrusted to them by hundreds of thousands of Jews and other groups1 imprisoned, murdered, and dislocated by the Nazi regime.2 The Swiss Banks complaints linked the actions of Swiss financial institutions to the Nazi regime and its program of genocide.3 The Swiss Banks litigation was brought and settled under federal class action rules4 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The class action was brought on behalf of five plaintiff classes,5 whose members resided in over fifty countries and spoke over thirty languages.6 Most of the court-appointed class counsel either served without fee in the five-year prosecution and settlement of the litigation or donated their court-awarded fees to international human rights endeavors.7 On December 5, 2000, a second court, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, approved an international diplomatic/legal agreement creating a foundation titled "Remembrance, Responsibility and the Future," (the "Foundation"), funded with DM $10 Billion (approximately $5 billion U.S.D.). The funding for the Foundation was contributed in equal shares by the German government and German industry, to compensate those who worked as slave or forced laborers for the Nazi regime in German factories, were subjected to medical experimentation, were held in Kinderheims (children's homes)8 or whose property or assets were misappropriated.9 Again, this litigation was brought, and its claims were settled, on behalf of an international class of Holocaust victims, survivors, and their families. …


ATI 310S is a 25Cr-20Ni austenitic stainless steel that is typically used for elevated temperature applications. Owing to its higher chromium and nickel contents the alloy provides comparable corrosion resistance, superior resistance to oxidation, and the retention of a larger fraction of room temperature strength than the common austenitic stainless steels such as Type 304. This datasheet provides information on composition, physical properties, elasticity, and tensile properties. It also includes information on corrosion resistance as well as forming, heat treating, machining, and joining. Filing Code: SS-1328. Producer or source: ATI.


With the first Five Year Plan of 1928 Stalin initiated a period of massive industrialisation of remote zones of Russia. This lead to the creation of several Monotowns, newly built industrial settlements based on one economical source or industry. The project takes as a study case the town of Togliatti, the largest built in Soviet Union and still functioning. Constructed in the 60s as an industrial complex for FIAT car manufacturing. The plan of the city, designed by the Soviet architect Boris Rubanenko, was inspired by Ivan Leonidov's project for Magnitogorsk, and was based on a grid of squares of one kilometer per side, each of which contained the fundamental facilities for living such as housing, commercial spaces, hospitals, schools and green areas. The fixed urban layout, together with the very regular organisation of infrastructure was planned in order to facilitate and accelerate citizen's movements from one place to the other, minimising what was considered an unproductive time expenditure. The city, with its very readable and concrete set of established routines, represents the fieldwork to study the creation of everyday life rituals and to understand their materialisation in architectural space. In particular, these established rituals have been unfolded in the research in order to uncover the eventual problematics that are representative of the critical condition of the city. The current economic stagnation in Russia and the slowing down of the production, has lead the mono towns to a state of inactivity, generating lack of jobs and a general feeling of discontent in the population, proving the need of finding alternative productive sources. Concurrently relating to the contemporary debate on the productive means of the capitalist system, the project deals with the current transformation of the concept of production, that is gradually shifting from production of goods to production of knowledge. In this scenario, the line separating life and work is blurred, and the city unfolds in an endlessly interlinked maze of spaces that don't host any specific function and yet are able to host any. The project investigates how architecture becomes an instrument of control, bending to the needs of the market and imposing hierarchical systems over everyday life. At the same time, the project experiments with alternative solutions that question the common way we perceive architecture, working places and educational institutions, highlighting the need of a transformation in the design processes and goals, considering architecture not as a problem solving practice or a profit maker tool but rather as a tool to investigate new ways of working and living. More in detail, the project wants to question the possibility of liberating production from pre-imposed economical constraints, therefore challenging the necessity of accumulation and classification and most of all private property, considering knowledge as a common good instead. The criticality of this reflection acts specifically in relation to the economic system and the contemporary lack of attention that is currently experienced in the everyday life, simultaneously putting forward the necessity to improve social interaction and awareness, the processes of thinking and reflection, aiming to the creation of a consciousness that starting from the individual would eventually spread and influence the entire social body. The intervention unfolds design concepts against classification, categorisation, compartmentalisation but also against material and immaterial accumulation. The scale of the project seeks to represent this vision and therefore surpasses the limits of what can or cannot be built to put forward an idea, an alternative that doesn't want to be a solution but a starting point for a further reflection. In the same way, every aspect of the design is conceived to be able to be appropriated, re-interpreted and re-proposed in a different scale and condition therefore allowing the project to be not only a site specific intervention but a trigger for new ideas, questioning the way we design contemporary architecture.


This article traces the place and development of diplomatic asylum in international law in close connection with the more specific questions raised by the case of Julian Assange, who was granted asylum in the Ecuador embassy in London on 16 August 2012. After discussing the historical rise and decline of diplomatic asylum, the article reviews the current status of diplomatic asylum in international law and its implications for the triangular legal relationship between the United Kingdom, Ecuador, and Mr Assange. The article submits that, although there would not seem to be a title in general international law or human rights law for Ecuador to grant asylum to Assange, there is no obvious legal route for the United Kingdom to terminate the asylum. The fate of Assange resembles that of a long series of historical precedents where diplomatic asylum resulted in protracted stays. Although this may seem an unsatisfactory result from the perspective of international law, the uneasy balance between territorial sovereignty and diplomatic inviolability also engenders incentives to avoid disputes or to resolve them through diplomatic channels.


Rapid prototyping machines are extremely popular, but in terms of robustness, speed and precision are inherently limited. At a cursory glance, they appear to be designed following the principles of their predecessors. This paper takes a morphological approach to analyze the design of these machines, by breaking them into individual elements to compare their performance and consider the potential for new designs. A novel 'periodic table' of potential designs is proposed. This analysis confirms that a lot of design space isn't being used, indicating a degree of 'fixation' in current products.


Magical thinking describes beliefs and reasoning processes that defy generally accepted principles of logic and causality. Researchers have identified a link between strength of identification with a favorite sports team and superstition, an expression of magical thinking. Research on fans of fictional narratives has suggested magical thinking more broadly may play a role in being a fan. The authors posed the question, what is the link between sports fanship and two specific types of magical thinking: magical ideation and sympathetic magic? In a survey of 214 adults, relationships between strength of sports fanship and magical ideation, sympathetic magic in a sports context, and sympathetic magic generally were explored. Belief in sympathetic magic with regard to sports figures was found to be prominent among sports fans. In addition, a positive relationship was observed between strength of sports fanship and strength of belief in both sympathetic magic generally and magical ideation. Implications are discussed in terms of recruitment of and marketing to potential and existing fans.


This paper studies how firms' offshoring decisions shape a country's domestic production net- works. We develop a model in which heterogeneous firms source inputs from multiple industries located in different domestic regions and foreign countries. Input sourcing entails communication with suppliers, which is endogenously increasing in the differentiation of inputs. The model predicts that firms are less likely to source differentiated inputs, especially from distant domestic and foreign suppliers, due to costly communication. Triggered by foreign countries' export supply shocks, firms start offshoring inputs from foreign suppliers, which displace the less productive domestic suppliers in the same industry (the direct displacement effect). The resulting decline in marginal costs induces firms to start sourcing from the more productive and distant domestic suppliers within industries (the within-industry restructuring effect), but possibly also from nearby suppliers that produce inputs that are more differentiated than those supplied by existing suppliers (the industry composition effect). The net effect of offshoring on a firm's domestic production networks depends on the relative strength of the three effects, which we verify using data for 4.5 million buyer-seller links in Japan. Based on a firm-level instrument, we find that after offshoring, firms are less likely to drop suppliers on average, but more so for the larger ones. They tend to add nearby suppliers producing differentiated inputs. These results suggest that firms.offshoring may increase the spatial concentration of domestic production networks.


Our ageing society is confronted with a dramatic increase in patients suffering from tauopathies such as Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia and others. Typical neuropathological lesions including tangles composed of hyperphosphorylated tau protein as well as severe neuronal cell death characterize these disorders. No mechanism-based cures are available at present. Genetically modified animals are invaluable models to understand the molecular disease mechanisms and to screen for modifying compounds. We recently introduced tau-transgenic zebrafish as a novel model for tauopathies. Our model allows recapitulating key pathological features of tauopathies within an extremely short time. Moreover, life imaging of tau-dependent neuronal cell death was performed for the very first time. This demonstrated tau-dependent neuronal cell loss independent of tangle formation. Finally, we exemplified that the zebrafish frontotemporal dementia model can be used to screen for drugs that prevent abnormal tau phosphorylation and neuronal cell death.


Foreign direct investment has been important in China's economic development since the early 1980s. In recent years, the volume of inward FDI into China, according to some estimates, has been second only to that into the USA. The Chinese government has emphasised the need for FDI to be coupled with the transfer of more advanced technologies to China. For foreign companies, technology transfer raises the risk of losing their technology based competitive advantage to potential competitor firms. This risk may be exacerbated by insufficient legal protection of intellectual property rights in China. After briefly reviewing the development of Chinese official policy on technology transfer, this paper considers the strategy adopted by EU companies regarding the transfer of technology; in particular in advanced technology sectors. The research on which the paper is based included an analysis of information gathered from 20 leading EU companies with investments in China and operating in high-technology sectors. Information was gathered from senior company managers based in both China and Europe during the second half of 1998. The main findings include a measure of reluctance on the part of EU companies to transfer their core technologies to China and to base R&D capability there. At the same time, the companies appear aware that this policy may be unsustainable in the longer-term in the face of Chinese official policy and a desire to expand their operations in China. While they attempt to protect their existing technological knowledge, most of them accept that there will be technology "leakage" and therefore the most effective strategy is to maintain their technological lead through R&D.


The pervasive problem of restoring fish runs to their natal streams is characterized in many regions of Washington by improperly placed culverts. The replacement of these fish migration barriers requires knowledge of design flows: floods for structural safety and migration season high and low flows. High flows block fish passage with velocities that exceed their swimming capabilities. During low flows, the migration barrier is caused by a lack of enough water depth to support the bodies of the fish. The estimation of these fish passage and safety flows in ungaged streams is impeded in eastern Washington due to: the wide range of climatic conditions (5 to 110 in. per year of precipitation); diverse geology and soils; a lack of stream-gaging stations with long-term records; changes in land use; and the seasonal impacts of irrigation diversions and well pumpage on the remnant instream flows. Past efforts to estimate these flows have not been successful. Therefore, the Washington State University (WSU) project was undertaken to model the high migration season flow in all of eastern Washington. In addition, WSU established 20 stream-gaging stations on salmon streams along the east side of the Cascade Mountains plus the Blue Mountains. This complementary project was developed to estimate other design flows in the Water Resource Inventory Areas (WRIA) 29, 30, 32, 35, 38, 40, 45, 48 and 49, in which the WSU gage sites are located. United States Geological Survey (USGS) gage records in those WRIAs (and in WRIAs 39, 46 and 47) were used to develop models that estimate the following statistical flows: 100-year, 25-year and 2-year daily and peak floods; the average annual flow and its variability; ranges of mean monthly flows (maximum, average and low); the 7-day average, 2-year, 10-year, 20-year low flow; and the 30- and 60-day average low flows. The model results are, for the most part, very good. The standard error of estimate ranges are: for floods, 2-37%; average annual flow, 10-37%; maximum annual flow, 6-14%; minimum annual flow, 13-23%; and low flows, 3-22%. Monthly average flows reflected the strong influences of seasonal variability and irrigation withdrawals: 3-242%, due to winter frozen low flows (3%) in the Entiat-Wenatchee Region, and August low flows (242%) in the Blue Mountains due to irrigation. All flow estimation equations were based on USGS stream-gaging data from continuous gages located in the WRIAs.


A pre-sampling isotope dilution-direct injection-liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (DI-LC/MS/MS) analytical method for the analysis of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) in water is presented. This pre-sampling isotope dilution method incorporates stable isotope internal standards (ISs) and surrogate recovery standards (SRSs) added to sample bottles prior to sample collection. Pre-sampling isotope dilution corrects for PFC adsorption losses and enables a simple quantitative DI-LC/MS/MS water method with a 28 day sample holding time. Method analytes include perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCAs) (C4–C12), perfluorinated sulfonic acids (PFSAs) (C4, C6, and C8), perfluorooctane sulfonamide (PFOSA), and four SRSs ([2,3,4-13C3]PFBA, [1,2,3,4-13C4]PFOA, [1,2,3,4-13C4]PFOS, and [1,2-13C2]PFUnA). At 28 day sample holding times, mean recoveries of laboratory reagent water samples (Milli-Q™ water containing hardness at 165 mg equivalent CaCO3 L−1) fortified with the PFC method analytes at 0.2–40 ng mL−1 (0.1–1 ng mL−1 SRSs) are 94.9–115% with relative standard deviations of 0.97–7.9%. At 28 day sample holding times in fortified laboratory reagent water samples, single laboratory lowest concentration minimum reporting levels of 0.010–0.020 ng mL−1 (0.075 ng mL−1 PFBA) are demonstrated for method analytes and SRSs. Method applications to synthetic chlorinated drinking water samples and three environmental sample matrices are presented that demonstrate method ruggedness. Mean recoveries of synthetic chlorinated drinking water samples fortified with the PFC method analytes at 0.1–10 ng mL−1 and SRSs at 0.1–1 ng mL−1 are 97.8–113% with relative standard deviations of 2.0–18%. Mean recoveries and relative standard deviations in environmental groundwater samples, production facility non-contact cooling water effluent samples, and production facility wastewater treatment effluent samples fortified with the PFC method analytes at 0.25–2.5 ng mL−1, 0.25–10 ng mL−1, 0.25–50 ng mL−1 respectively and SRSs at 0.1 ng mL−1 are 100 ± 7.7% (RSD ± 12%, PFBA ± 23%), 100 ± 5.5% (RSD ± 11%), 100 ± 5.2% (RSD ± 11%) respectively. Excellent method correlation was obtained with USEPA Method 537 in a comparative analysis of synthetic chlorinated drinking water samples aged 7 days and fortified with C6–C12 PFCAs and C4, C6, and C8 PFSAs, and three SRSs [13C4]PFOA, [13C2]PFUnA, and [13C4]PFOS at 0.1 ng mL−1. The average absolute difference between the EPA Method 537 and DI-LC/MS/MS measurements for the method analytes and SRSs was 8%.


We report spin wave excitations in a nanopatterned antidot lattice fabricated from a 30-nm thick Ni80Fe20 film. The 250-nm-wide circular holes are arranged in a rhombic unit cell with a lattice constant of 400 nm. By Brillouin light scattering, we find that quantized spin wave modes transform to propagating ones and vice versa by changing the in-plane orientation of the applied magnetic field H by 30∘. Spin waves of either negative or positive group velocity are found. In the latter case, they propagate in narrow channels exhibiting a width of below 100 nm. We use the plane wave method to calculate the spin wave dispersions for the two relevant orientations of H. The theory allows us to explain the wave-vector-dependent characteristics of the prominent modes. Allowed minibands are formed for selected modes only for specific orientations of H and wave vector. The results are important for applications such as spin wave filters and interconnected waveguides in the emerging field of magnonics where the control of spin wave propagation on the nanoscale is key.


The following physics lab activities are new versions of old experiments for measuring the speed of sound--what makes them new is their use of electronic interfacing, which can be exciting for students. Experiment 1: The "echo tube" When I was setting up my new physics lab a few years ago, I purchased a set of 1.2 m long aluminum tracks for dynamics experiments. These tracks came packaged in long cardboard tubes, and it occurred to me that they would make neat "echo tubes." An echo tube can be used for echo detection and is comprised of a long cardboard tube, clothespin, sound sensor, and the associated computer-interfacing equipment. I designed a simple lab for measuring the speed of sound in the classroom using these echo tubes. Students measure the time delay between a snap of the fingers or "clack" of a clothespin and the arrival of its echo after reflecting off the floor. To measure this delay, a computer is programmed to begin the timing sequence at the sound of the snap and to end after one second. Knowing the tube's length (total distance) and finding the time delay (total time) allows for a calculation of the speed of sound in air using the formula below: Speed of sound = Total distance (down and back) Total time (down and back) With the help of a temperature sensor, it is possible to check the experimental results adjusted for temperature. The trickiest part of this activity for students is getting the computer to start at the "clack" sound of their clothespin. Classroom noises, as well as competing lab stations, can cause the computer to trigger prematurely. As students experiment in closely spaced teams of two, they must work cooperatively and take turns "clacking" so as to trigger only their own computer. Students need practice to identify the echo return point--which is used to calculate total time--on the computer display, but after a few trial runs, they quickly learn how to find it on the screen. If teachers want to get really fancy, they can also use a motion sensor to measure the distance from the sound sensor to the floor (the length of the tube); however, a meterstick works just fine. Figure 1 shows actual student data gathered for this activity, in which each lab group performed four trials. An interesting extension of this lab would be to heat the air inside the echo tube with a hair dryer and then have students repeat the experiment for a new temperature. By plotting class data for measured speeds of sound versus the various temperatures, a linear plot should indicate that the speed of sound increases with temperature. The slope of the line should give the correction factor, 0.6 m/s/[degrees]C. Figure 2 shows the plotted student data graph. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Experiment 2: Closed pipe resonance A common high school experiment for measuring the speed of sound involves closed pipe resonance, which occurs when a pressure (sound) wave travels down the inside of the pipe, reflects off the closed end, travels back up the pipe, and constructively interferes with another incoming wave. When this happens, an increase in energy or loudness occurs. This increased loudness is quite noticeable, even to the unaided ear, and occurs in multiples of one-quarter wavelengths. Typically, a closed pipe resonance experiment involves a large cylinder of water and a piece of plastic pipe. A tuning fork is sounded over one end of the plastic pipe, and by raising or lowering the pipe and the fork while the pipe is immersed in the cylinder of water, a resonance can be heard at multiples of one-quarter wavelengths. However, this version of the classic experiment does not require water and the associated mess. Instead of reflecting sound off the surface of water, this new method uses an empty sewing thread spool mounted on a stick, which can be slid inside the tube and acts as the reflecting surface. Several science equipment supply companies sell nonwater versions, but I decided to make my own. …


Because of its unique material properties, Ti6Al4V is used for components in the aerospace industry which are subject to high mechanical and thermal loads. Due to that, this material is considered as difficult to cut from a machining point of view. In order to improve productivity in machining Ti6Al4V the use of an effective cooling and lubrication strategy is necessary. This challenge can be managed with the innovative hybrid technology (CMQL) combining liquid carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) being under investigation in this article. At first, investigations on the liquid CO 2 release behaviour and the application of oil by the CMQL were conducted. Secondly, CNC milling experiments were carried out using carbide end mills. The CMQL technique was compared to MQL and flood cooling in respect to tool wear, cutting moment and surface integrity. For the milling operations the cooling parameters of the CMQL as well as the cutting parameters were modified, in order to reduce tool wear or increase productivity. The analysis revealed that the development of an appropriate CO 2 free jet and a continuous application of oil by the CMQL is achievable without changing the state of aggregation of CO 2 from liquid to supercritical. The analysis of the milling experiments indicated that CMQL is more advantageous compared to flood cooling and MQL for higher cutting parameters.


Oxygen-based therapies expose lung to elevated levels of ROS and induce lung cell damage and inflammation. Injured cells are replaced through increased proliferation and differentiation of epithelial cells and fibroblasts. Failure to modulate these processes leads to excessive cell proliferation, collagen deposition, fibrosis, and chronic lung disease. Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) is activated in response to DNA damage and participates in DNA repair, genomic integrity, and cell death. In this study, we evaluated the role of PARP-1 in lung repair during recovery after acute hyperoxia exposure. We exposed PARP-1 -/- and wild-type mice for 64 h to 100% hyperoxia and let them recover in air for 5-21 days. PARP-1-deficient mice exhibited significantly higher lung cell hyperplasia and proliferation than PARP-1 +/+ animals after 5 and 10 days of recovery. This was accompanied by an increased inflammatory response in PARP-1 -/- compared with wild-type animals, characterized by neutrophil infiltration and increased IL-6 levels in bronchoalveolar lavages. These lesions were reversible, since the extent of the hyperplastic regions was reduced after 21 days of recovery and did not result in fibrosis. In vitro, lung primary fibroblasts derived from PARP-1 -/- mice showed a higher proliferative response than PARP-1 +/+ cells during air recovery after hyperoxia-induced growth arrest. Altogether, these results reveal an essential role of PARP-1 in the control of cell repair and tissue remodeling after hyperoxia-induced lung injury.


Background Supervised injectable heroin (SIH) treatment has emerged over the past 15 years as an intensive treatment for entrenched heroin users who have not responded to standard treatments such as oral methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) or residential rehabilitation. Aims To synthesise published findings for treatment with SIH for refractory heroin-dependence through systematic review and meta-analysis, and to examine the political and scientific response to these findings. Method Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of SIH treatment were identified through database searching, and random effects pooled efficacy was estimated for SIH treatment. Methodological quality was assessed according to criteria set out by the Cochrane Collaboration. Results Six RCTs met the inclusion criteria for analysis. Across the trials, SIH treatment improved treatment outcome, i.e. greater reduction in the use of illicit 'street' heroin in patients receiving SIH treatment compared with control groups (most often receiving MMT). Conclusions SIH is found to be an effective way of treating heroin dependence refractory to standard treatment. SIH may be less safe than MMT and therefore requires more clinical attention to manage greater safety issues. This intensive intervention is for a patient population previously considered unresponsive to treatment. Inclusion of this low-volume, high-intensity treatment can now improve the impact of comprehensive healthcare provision.


Ca(2+) entry through transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (TRPV4) results in swelling, blebbing, and detachment of the epithelium and capillary endothelium in the intact lung. Subsequently, increased permeability of the septal barrier and alveolar flooding ensue. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that TRPV4 activation provides a Ca(2+) source necessary for proteolytic disruption of cell-cell or cell-matrix adhesion by matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) 2 and 9, thus increasing septal barrier permeability. In our study, C57BL/6 or TRPV4(-/-) mouse lungs were perfused with varying doses of the TRPV4 agonist GSK-1016790A (Sigma) and then prepared for Western blot. Lung injury, assessed by increases in lung wet-to-dry weight ratios and total protein levels in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, was increased in a dose-dependent fashion in TRPV4(+/+) but not TRPV4(-/-) lungs. In concert with lung injury, we detected increased active MMP2 and MMP9 isoforms, suggesting that TRPV4 can provide the Ca(2+) source necessary for increased MMP2/9 activation. Furthermore, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMP) 2 levels in the TRPV4-injured lungs were decreased, suggesting that TRPV4 activation increases the availability of these active MMPs. We then determined whether MMP2 and MMP9 mediate TRPV4-induced lung injury. Pharmacological blockade (SB-3CT, 1 μM; Sigma) of MMP2 and MMP9 resulted in protection against TRPV4-induced lung injury. We conclude that TRPV4 activation and the subsequent Ca(2+) transient initiates a rapid cascade of events leading to release and activation of the gelatinase MMPs, which then contribute to lung injury.