Abstract. Using a global atmospheric chemistry model, we have quantified for the first time, intercontinental transboundary contributions to crop ozone exposure and subsequent yield reductions in the Northern Hemisphere. We apply four metrics (AOT40, M7, M12, W126) to assess the impacts of 100% reductions in anthropogenic NOx emissions from North (N) America, South East (SE) Asia and Europe on global and regional exposure of 6 major agricultural crop types to surface ozone, and resultant crop production losses during the year 2000 growing season. Using these metrics, model calculations show that for wheat, rice, cotton and potato, 100 % reductions in SE Asian anthropogenic NOx emissions tend to produce the greatest global reduction in crop production losses (42.3–95.2%), and a 100 % reduction to N~American anthropogenic NOx emissions results in the greatest global impact on crop production losses for maize and soybean (59.2–85.9%). A 100% reduction in N~American anthropogenic NOx emissions produces the largest transboundary impact, resulting in European production loss reductions of between 14.2% and 63.2%. European NOx emissions tend to produce a smaller transboundary impact, due to inefficiency of transport from the European domain. The threshold nature of the AOT40 ozone-exposure metric results in strong dependence of non-local emissions impacts on the local ozone concentration distribution. Our calculations of absolute crop production change under emission reduction scenarios differ between the metrics used, however we find the relative importance of each region's transboundary impact remains robust between metrics. Our results demonstrate that local air quality and emission control strategies have the potential to partly alleviate ozone-induced crop yield loss in continents downstream, in addition to effectively mitigating local ozone-induced production losses.


In this paper, we examine firm innovation and its link to firm growth. Instead of using the conventional conceptualization and operationalization of innovation in terms of the R&D budget, we use a more elaborate 12-dimensional conceptualization, which takes into account also the non-technological aspects of innovation. The 12-dimensional operationaliza-tion further enables the examination of strategic innovation profiles of individual firms. We find that different kinds of innovation activity all have effects on firm growth, but in different ways. R&D activity is important in that it leads to introduction of new products, but innovation in other dimensions – value chain strategy, brand, and distribution channels – is also linked to new product introduction. Value chain innovation is also related to the development and introduction of new services: innovation aimed at development and improvement of the customer experience in particular has a significant role in the development and introduction of new services.


This article examines the role that game development tools have in the design and creation of video games. It does so through the lens of a series of patents by Nintendo that outlined the technological foundations for a truly (co)creative production platform for games. Game development tools shape and are shaped by the kinds of games they are used to produce as well as the underlying technologies of game consoles. The roles, sites, and means by which users are allowed to or encouraged to engage with (co)creative tools significantly impacts the kinds of interventions users may make. The article makes the argument that tools, like Mario Factory, form a technological foundation for (co)creation, participatory design, and convergence at a level that differs significantly from the current forms.


The E3 ubiquitin ligase PUB1 is a common negative regulator for both rhizobial and arbuscular mycorrhizal symbioses and interacts with a key receptor kinase. PUB1, an E3 ubiquitin ligase, which interacts with and is phosphorylated by the LYK3 symbiotic receptor kinase, negatively regulates rhizobial infection and nodulation during the nitrogen-fixing root nodule symbiosis in Medicago truncatula. In this study, we show that PUB1 also interacts with and is phosphorylated by DOES NOT MAKE INFECTIONS 2, the key symbiotic receptor kinase of the common symbiosis signaling pathway, required for both the rhizobial and the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) endosymbioses. We also show here that PUB1 expression is activated during successive stages of root colonization by Rhizophagus irregularis that is compatible with its interaction with DOES NOT MAKE INFECTIONS 2. Through characterization of a mutant, pub1-1, affected by the E3 ubiquitin ligase activity of PUB1, we have shown that the ubiquitination activity of PUB1 is required to negatively modulate successive stages of infection and development of rhizobial and AM symbioses. In conclusion, PUB1 represents, to our knowledge, a novel common component of symbiotic signaling integrating signal perception through interaction with and phosphorylation by two key symbiotic receptor kinases, and downstream signaling via its ubiquitination activity to fine-tune both rhizobial and AM root endosymbioses.


This edited volume, a collection of both theoretical essays and empirical studies, presents an Austrian economics perspective on the role of culture in economic action. The authors illustrate that culture cannot be separated from economic action, but that it is in fact part of all decision-making.


The valorization of spent hens via the food chain has some major limitations, which include low meat yield and tough meat. The latter issue can be overcome by producing convenience foods; the first may be alleviated by employing a genotype with higher meatiness. To quantitatively compare two common layer genotypes in production performance, meat yield and sausage quality, 2200 57 weeks old Institut de Sélection Animale (ISA) Warren and Dekalb White hens each were investigated during the last 60 days of egg laying. The hens were housed in an aviary system in 2×10 compartments (10 compartments/each genotype). Measurements included feed intake, laying performance, egg weight and feed conversion ratio as measured per compartment. BW was determined twice on 10 animals per compartment. Finally, two sub-groups of five hens per compartment were slaughtered, meat yield was recorded and bratwurst-type sausages were produced (n=20 per genotype). Fat proportion, cooking loss, connective tissue properties and Kramer shear energy were measured. After 1, 4, 7 and 10 months of frozen storage, oxidative stability (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS)) and microbiological status were determined as shelf-life related criteria. ANOVA was performed considering genotype as the main effect. The ISA Warren hens were inferior in laying performance (-11%) and feed conversion ratio (+10%) compared with Dekalb White, but had the same feed intake. The ISA Warren had higher BW and carcass weight than the Dekalb White. Carcass yield was higher by 5.9%. There were 80 g (23%) more meat available for sausage production from ISA Warren compared with Dekalb White. Sausages prepared from meat of ISA Warren hens contained less fat than those from Dekalb White, but showed the same cooking loss. Although the collagen proportion of the sausages produced from ISA Warren was lower than from Dekalb White, collagen solubility was lower and shear energy was higher. During the 10 months of frozen storage, TBARS increased continuously, but not to an extent that would prevent its use as food. The sausages from the ISA Warren genotype had marginally higher TBARS levels during storage. Total colony counts decreased with storage time, with slightly lower values found in the non-spiced sausage material from the ISA Warren hens. In conclusion, when intending to use spent hens as food, ISA Warren are clearly superior to Dekalb White in meat and sausage yield. When processing the meat to sausages, the higher shear energy is probably advantageous.


Context-Aware Recommendation Systems (CARS) are more effective when adapting their recommendations to a specific user preference. Since modal context (mood) has a direct impact on user preferences, we aim at having an accurate mood prediction to improve recommendation performance. Online social networks (OSNs) have grown rapidly over the last decade. These social platforms provide the opportunity to gather the distributed online activities for each user. Tracking and aggregating these data could result in useful insights for user modeling and understanding. In this paper, we built a personalized system that can predict the upcoming user mood even in days without text-type tweets. We, first, studied the correlation of three types of features (cyber, social and physical) with a user mood. Then, used these features to train a predictive system. The results suggest a statistically significant correlation between user mood and his cyber, social and physical activities distributed among different OSNs which leads to a low RMSE in our predictive system. Keyword Mood prediction,Recommendation system,OSNs analysis,Pearson correlation


Abstract : The natural environment is burdened with a broad range of toxic chemicals, and there is a need to develop a tool that can accelerate the pace at which we learn how chemicals impact disease. This work developed an artificial neural network (ANN) based model that constructed chemical-disease relationships for chemicals found in the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database. A new chemical classification system, based on the molecular weight, hydrogen donors, and hydrogen acceptors, was created to identify chemicals with a unique number that is directly related to these structural properties of the chemical. Diseases were grouped into 27 categories and the chemical-disease associations were made between the chemical and its associated disease category. The ANN model was successfully trained and tested to associated 75 chemical with the 27 disease categories. Simulations with training-validation-testing ratios of 70-15-15 percent produced coefficients of determination equal to 0.99, and the Levenberg-Marquardt backpropagation function provided the best network performance. To help validate the model, the ANN was also used to evaluate chemical-disease relationships for three uncurated chemicals. Results showed that ANNs have the potential to predict disease associations for uncurated chemicals and to guide research for curated chemicals that may require further toxicological testing.


PREFACE Advocacy before the Supreme Court of the United States is not for the faint-hearted. The issues are difficult, the cases momentous, the briefing a challenge, and the oral arguments a test of the first order. The Court's decision--whether a unanimous victory, a unanimous loss, or something in between--can feel like an anticlimax after the lawyer has lived through the push leading up to the oral argument, and then survived the argument itself. The challenges are especially daunting to the first-time or infrequent advocate, who can put heart and soul into a case but still not have a clear idea of how best to present it. Supreme Court advocacy, like most other professional endeavors, gets easier with experience. But the novice can acquire the necessary experience only derivatively, through consultations with lawyers who have appeared before the Court in other cases. That's where the resources described in this section come into play, for as Justice White used to tell his law clerks, "Two minds are better than one." (1) And it is the rare advocate who can think of everything necessary to win a case. (Indeed, I am still looking forward to meeting the lawyer who can win at the Supreme Court without consulting anyone else.) Talking through the case with a colleague, working collaboratively on the brief, and gauging an audience's reaction to different versions of the oral presentation can be invaluable. As the first article in this section suggests, the advent of Stanford's Supreme Court Litigation Clinic has been a boon to advocates whose cases pose important issues but do not involve amounts sufficient to warrant the retention of high-priced appellate counsel. The Clinic offers those advocates pro bono help with briefwriting, exposes the enrolled students to Supreme Court practice, and creates argument opportunities for the instructors. By any measure, this yields a win for all involved. The clients get the benefit of excellent advocacy, the students get a valuable learning experience, and the instructors (each a lawyer with Supreme Court experience) get frequent chances to burnish their skills. Substantively, the Clinic has been highly successful at identifying cert-worthy cases and putting together successful petitions. Thus, although the Clinic presents a resource for only one type of client--non-governmental persons and entities for whom pro bono representation is appropriate--lawyers representing clients of this sort may find its expertise irreplaceable. A good brief is an obvious prerequisite to a successful appearance in the Supreme Court. But the part of the advocacy experience that quite rightly inspires the most fear is the oral argument. The justices can and will ask the hardest questions, and they will expect succinct, direct, and well-crafted statements in reply--all in the first sentence of every response. The compression of time in a Supreme Court argument, along with the personalities on the present-day Court, add an element of urgency to the experience that lawyers are unlikely to encounter in any other appellate tribunal. (2) The moot courts offered at Georgetown's Supreme Court Institute are in consequence a resource of broader applicability than is the assistance offered by the Stanford Clinic. As the second article in this section demonstrates, anyone can benefit from its help, and the Institute will provide a moot court to any Supreme Court advocate who is the first lawyer associated with a particular case to request one. …


Over nearly thirty years Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy (EPC) has been publishing agenda-defining papers on a number of topics related to government and policy in the broad sense. We examine what has been published, assess the impact it has made, and identify who the main audiences have been. The analysis reveals that EPC has made significant improvements in the diversity of the geographical origin of its submissions and publications, and in terms of impact, but that there is still room for improvement in both respects. We find that the multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary nature of EPC is one of its main strengths but possibly also one of its weaknesses. We conclude that it should remain a research-driven journal which seeks to advance both multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary debates on a wide range of pressing contemporary policy issues arising from the governance of the economy, society, and the environment.


This paper presents an aggregation charging model for large numbers of electric vehicles (EVs). A genetic algorithm (GA) is employed to obtain the stochastic feature parameters of the aggregation model, and a charging strategy based on the aggregation model is developed to reduce the power fluctuation level caused by EV charging. In addition, an updatable optimization method is proposed to track the variation of the EV charging characteristics. The proposed charging strategy and optimization method are validated by the simulation results.


We consider the problem of learning fair decision systems from data in which a sensitive attribute might affect the decision along both fair and unfair pathways. We introduce a counterfactual approach to disregard effects along unfair pathways that does not incur in the same loss of individual-specific information as previous approaches. Our method corrects observations adversely affected by the sensitive attribute, and uses these to form a decision. We leverage recent developments in deep learning and approximate inference to develop a VAE-type method that is widely applicable to complex nonlinear models.


This paper evaluates potential economic impacts of incorporating Romania into EU's Common Agricultural Policy. A CGE model of Romania is employed to model likely changes in trade, production and welfare patterns with a focus on fifteen local agro-food activities. Three main findings emerge. First, the adoption of the CAP expands agro-food output and trade, promotes higher farm incomes, and increases economic welfare. Second, CAP application results in production specialisation effects, particularly for sugar and sugar beet, bovine meat products, ruminant live animals, dairies, and cereal grains. Third, the identified impacts are driven by changes in trade-related measures, particularly enhanced access to EU markets, and less by alterations in production-related domestic support. The paper concludes that EU accession and CAP adoption may bring potentially realisable growth in Romania's agro-food sector, though in practice this will depend on producers' ability to respond to the supply incentives being offered.


The European project ENGAGE investigated formal or informal demands and expectations for stakeholder engagement in radiological protection, and their translation into practices at national and local levels. Three contexts were examined in detail: nuclear emergency preparedness, response and recovery; exposure to indoor radon; and medical exposures to ionising radiation. Research showed that prescriptions and practices for stakeholder engagement would benefit from acknowledging the normative and substantive rationales for engagement. It suggests broadening participation both in terms of stakeholders – particularly from the perspective of integration of radiological protection into broader frameworks – and the forms of participation – for instance by recognising the importance of informal and citizen-led engagement. In addition, more systematic approaches for stakeholder engagement should be included in the elaboration and evaluation of national policies. Finally, results substantiate the need for developing radiological protection culture in a participatory, multi-disciplinary way. Recommendations for more robust stakeholder engagement in radiological protection are formulated based on the findings.


The main findings of a study on forest administration and related institutional arrangements (PFA) are highlighted. The relevance and changing roles of PFA in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries are covered in the context of new paradigm for sustainable forest management (SFM). The current weak capacities and low profiles of PFA in SSA countries are addressed and some recommendations are made on actions for positive changes. It is recommended that SSA countries should take appropriate steps to stabilize and strengthen their PFAs through improved governance and to actively participate in the emerging initiative on African forest law enforcement and governance (AFLEG). It is recommended that SSA countries should take immediate steps to mobilize additional resources for PFAs through forest income retention schemes, national forest funds/trusts and through collaboration with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and the private sector. It is also recommended that SSA countries should mobilize resources through continental and/or regional initiatives on capacity building for PFA.


Background: Recent advances in bronchoscopy utilizing endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) as well as lung cancer therapy may have driven physicians to perform diagnostic bronchoscopy (DB) for high-risk patients. Objectives: The aim of this study was to clarify the relationship between hospital volume (HV) and outcomes of DB. Methods: We collected data on inpatients with lung cancer who underwent DB from July 2010 to March 31, 2014. The annual HV of DB was classified as "very low" (≤50 cases/year), "low" (51–100 cases/year), "high" (101–300 cases/year), or "very high" (> 300 cases/year). The primary outcome was all-cause 7-day mortality after DB. Multivariable logistic regression fitted with a generalized estimation equation was performed to evaluate the association between HV and all-cause 7-day mortality after DB, adjusted for patient background factors. Results: We identified a total of 77,755 eligible patients in 954 hospitals. All-cause 7-day mortality was 0.5%. Compared with the low-volume group, 7-day mortality was significantly lower in the high-volume group (odds ratio [OR] = 0.69, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.52–0.92, p = 0.010), and a similar trend was shown in the very-high-volume group (OR = 0.67; 95% CI: 0.43–1.05, p = 0.080). Radial EBUS with the guide sheath method and EBUS-guided transbronchial needle aspiration showed a significantly lower 7-day mortality. Conclusions: All-cause 7-day mortality was inversely associated with HV. The risk of DB in patients with lung cancer should be recognized, and the exploitation of EBUS may help reduce mortality after DB.


Hydrogeological research usually includes some statistical studies devised to elucidate mean background state, characterise relationships among different hydrochemical parameters, and show the influence of human activities. These goals are achieved either by means of a statistical approach or by mixing models
between end-members. Compositional data analysis has proved to be effective with the first approach, but there is no commonly accepted solution to the end-member problem in a compositional framework.
We present here a possible solution based on factor analysis of compositions illustrated with a case study.
We find two factors on the compositional bi-plot fitting two non-centered orthogonal axes to the most representative variables. Each one of these axes defines a subcomposition, grouping those variables that
lay nearest to it. With each subcomposition a log-contrast is computed and rewritten as an equilibrium equation. These two factors can be interpreted as the isometric log-ratio coordinates (ilr) of three hidden
components, that can be plotted in a ternary diagram. These hidden components might be interpreted as end-members.
We have analysed 14 molarities in 31 sampling stations all along the Llobregat River and its tributaries, with a monthly measure during two years. We have obtained a bi-plot with a 57% of explained total
variance, from which we have extracted two factors: factor G, reflecting geological background enhanced by potash mining; and factor A, essentially controlled by urban and/or farming wastewater. Graphical
representation of these two factors allows us to identify three extreme samples, corresponding to pristine waters, potash mining influence and urban sewage influence. To confirm this, we have available analysis
of diffused and widespread point sources identified in the area: springs, potash mining lixiviates, sewage, and fertilisers. Each one of these sources shows a clear link with one of the extreme samples, except
fertilisers due to the heterogeneity of their composition.
This approach is a useful tool to distinguish end-members, and characterise them, an issue generally difficult to solve. It is worth note that the end-member composition cannot be fully estimated but only characterised through log-ratio relationships among components. Moreover, the influence of each endmember in a given sample must be evaluated in relative terms of the other samples. These limitations are
intrinsic to the relative nature of compositional data


The research documented in this thesis is based on a practice-led PhD study funded by the AHRC, supported also by LCR Hallcrest, manufacturers of thermochromic dyes. In addition to the written thesis, the research outcomes also include a range of fabric samples and prototype pieces that explore the design potential of thermochromic dye systems on textiles when used in combination with electronic heat-profiling circuitry. A particular ambition of the research was to highlight and exploit the complexity of a wide range of thermochromic dye systems within the area of textile design. The research was multidisciplinary in nature, bridging design, colour chemistry and power electronics. A number of electronic heating systems, some digitally-controlled, were designed and constructed as a means to activate and control the colour change effects on thermochromic fabrics. Both leuco and liquid crystal types of thermochromic systems were explored. However, a significant focus developed on liquid crystal dye systems which offered particular opportunities in their application to textiles, including the previously unexploited design potential of their ability to change through a spectrum of colours, facilitated further by access to some unique materials made available by the industrial collaboration. The research contributes to knowledge in several ways: • it demonstrates the additive colour mixing properties of liquid crystal dye systems when layered on textiles, which have not previously been exploited in textile design. • the electronic systems that have been developed within the research offer tools for visualising colour-change, controlling, and mixing colour on a textile surface. • the approach through textile design exploited combinations of thermochromic effects with pattern, for example using laser technology, to enhance further the colour changing surfaces. It demonstrates a diverse range of thermochromic effects. The research described in this thesis not only adds significantly to knowledge and practice-led exploitation of design using thermochromic dye systems on textiles but also presents a diverse range of opportunities for new design research directions. Dedicated in loving memory of Rubina and Frank Robertson.


Background: Alveolar ridge (AR) squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is poorly represented on prospective clinical trials. Adjuvant management is extrapolated from more common head and neck SCC, including those with a stronger influence from the human papillomavirus. The objective of this analysis is to determine the association between adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) and overall survival (OS) for resected ARSCC based on adverse pathologic features. Methods: Adult subjects in the National Cancer Database diagnosed with invasive nonmetastatic ARSCC between 2010–2014 were identified. Exclusion criteria included prior malignancy, no/unknown surgery, unknown receipt of RT, RT dose <50 Gy or >80 Gy, RT fractions >68, T1–2N0 disease without identifiable NCCN-defined risk factors (positive margin, lymphovascular invasion, pT3–4, N2–3, extranodal extension, or level IV/V nodal metastasis), and unknown/missing NCCN risk factor data. Log-rank test stratified by RT and Cox regression analyses with respect to OS were performed. Results: 1,450 subjects met inclusion criteria, of which 825 (57%) received RT. Median follow-up was 27 months. Adjuvant RT was associated with improved OS (72% vs 65% at 2 years, log-rank P=.004). Stratified by number of NCCN-defined risk factors, adjuvant RT was associated with improved OS for subjects with 2 (74% vs 58% at 2 years, log-rank P<.001) and ≥3 (54% vs 29% at 2 years, log-rank P<.001) risk factors. Adjuvant RT was significantly associated with improved OS on univariate (HR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.68–0.94; P=.008) and multivariate (HR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.60–0.87; P=.001) analyses, the latter adjusted for age, comorbidity score, and adverse pathologic features. Each NCCN-defined risk factor, high tumor grade, primary tumor ≥3 cm, and ≥5% nodal positivity (number of pathologic nodes positive among nodes resected) were significantly associated with worse OS on univariate and multivariate analyses. Conclusions: Adjuvant RT for resected ARSCC with adverse pathologic features is associated with significantly improved OS. Subjects with a primary tumor ≥3 cm, high tumor grade, and ≥5% nodal positivity in addition to the NCCN-defined risk factors should be considered for adjuvant RT.


Developing interventions to increase happiness is a major focus of the emerging field of positive psychology. Common beliefs about the need to reduce stress to obtain happiness suggest that stress management activities should be included in these interventions. However, the research on the relationship between positive and negative affect is equivocal. Theoretically, they are conceptualized as independent dimensions, but research has often found an inverse relationship between happiness and stress. In addition, the research generally attempts to assess stress objectively rather than in terms of the cognitive appraisal process. The current study examines the relationship between perceived stress and happiness among 100 college students to determine if the same inverse relationship exists. Linear correlations between happiness and perceived stress were significant indicating that there was an inverse relationship between these variables. The discussion focuses on several factors that might help to explain the observed relationship.


Gender stereotypes and gender-discriminant behaviors have been shown to have strong and undesirable organizational, managerial, and economic effects. We examine the relationship between sexism and accounting practices, and the effect of contextual feedback using laboratory experiments. Sexist stereotypes and contextual feedback may affect the likelihood of financial misstatements and audits when auditors and issuers are of known gender. To investigate these aspects of sexism at zero acquaintance and after contextual feedback, we presented males and females with incentivized belief elicitation tasks about anticipated interaction behaviors and then a series of strategic-communication game decisions in same, other, and unknown gender interactions. Feedback about belief accuracy, actual behaviors, and earnings was only given after completing a full set of belief elicitations and interactions. At zero acquaintance, both genders stereotyped the other gender's behavior propensities as relatively different than their own gender's. Both genders' stereotyped male and female targets similarly, and while both genders discriminated based on target gender, males' and females' behavior was similar. Consistent with a statistical discrimination account of sexism, stereotypes and game behaviors were adjusted after contextual feedback to more accurately reflect and predict others' behaviors. While biosocial and evolutionary perspectives may help explain why undesirable sexism is prevalent, our results suggest that by providing contextual information and incentives in reporting and auditing settings, we can motivate sexists to moderate their stereotypes and linked behaviors.


A particular class of tyrosine-kinases sharing no structural similarity with eukaryotic tyrosine-kinases has been evidenced in a large array of bacterial species. These bacterial tyrosine-kinases are able to autophosphorylate on a C-terminal tyrosine-rich motif. Their autophosphorylation has been shown to play a crucial role in the biosynthesis or export of capsular polysaccharide. The analysis of the first crystal structure of the staphylococcal tyrosine kinase CapB2 associated with the activating domain of the transmembrane modulator CapA1 had brought conclusive explanation for both the autophosphorylation and activation processes. In order to explain why CapA1 activates CapB2 more efficiently than its cognate transmembrane modulator CapA2, we solved the crystal structure of CapA2B2 and compared it with the previously published structure of CapA1B2. This structural analysis did not provide the expected clues about the activation discrepancy observed between the two modulators. Staphylococcus aureus also encodes for a CapB2 homologue named CapB1 displaying more than 70% sequence similarity and being surprisingly nearly unable to autophosphorylate. We solved the crystal structure of CapA1B1 and carefully compare it with the structure of CapA1B2. The active sites of both proteins are highly conserved and the biochemical characterization of mutant proteins engineered to test the importance of small structural discrepancies identified between the two structures did not explain the inactivity of CapB1. We thus tested if CapB1 could phosphorylate other protein substrates or hydrolyze ATP. However, no activity could be detected in our in vitro assays. Taken together, these data question about the biological role of the homologous protein pairs CapA1/CapB1 and CapA2/CapB2 and we discuss about several possible interpretations.


The asymmetry in the p angular distribution in the sequential decay Ω+→ΛK+→pπ+K+ has been measured to be ᾱΩᾱΛ=[+1.16±0.18(stat)±0. 17(syst)]×10-2 using 1.89×106 unpolarized Ω+ decays recorded by the HyperCP (E871) experiment at Fermilab. Using the known value of αΛ, and assuming that ᾱΛ=-αΛ, ᾱΩ=[-1.81±0.28(stat)±0.26(syst)]×10-2. A comparison between this measurement of ᾱΩᾱΛ and recent measurements of αΩαΛ made by HyperCP shows no evidence of a violation of CP symmetry. © 2006 The American Physical Society.


This paper studies the incentive issues associated with self-enforcing stochastic monitoring in a model of investment and production. The efficient contract features a debt-like payment with a threshold in terms of the reported output in which all of the reported output is taken up to the threshold if monitoring doesn't occur and all of the output is taken if monitoring does occur. An output report above the threshold leads to zero probability of monitoring and just the threshold amount being paid out. The efficiency gap between the self-enforcing contract and the commitment constraint is minimized when the monitors hold no part of the residual claim on the firm, which we associate with equity. Misreporting by the manager is an important component of the efficient contract.


Intravascular precipitates, comprised at least in part of iron, formed regularly in rabbits given one or more injections of a saccharated iron oxide preparation intravenously, and these lodged in numerous capillaries throughout the body, particularly those of the lungs and kidneys. Large numbers of the brownish precipitates remained in the capillaries of the renal glomeruli during the first few days following injection of the iron, but most of them disappeared after 5 to 7 days, with only moderate amounts of brown pigment remaining in the endothelial cells of the renal glomeruli. Signs of acute injury of the glomerular tufts—namely) pyknosis of some of the endothelial cells, margination of leukocytes within the glomerular capillaries, and slight proliferation of the epithelial cells—also developed some 5 to 7 days following injection of the iron, along with marked proteinuria, which proved transitory if no further injections were given. When the iron preparation was given repeatedly over prolonged intervals, however, the proteinuria persisted and became extreme, and hypoproteinemia developed, often with hypercholesterolemia and transitory edema as well. Histological studies of the kidneys of rabbits manifesting the nephrotic syndrome, as just described, disclosed that virtually all the renal glomeruli were greatly altered, mainly owing to proliferation of the epithelial cells, together with some fibrosis and atrophy. Some of the rabbits having marked proteinuria and other functional changes eventually developed azotemia following repeated injections of the iron, and several of them lost weight and died; the renal glomeruli of these animals showed changes like those just described, but the alterations were more extensive. Considered together, the findings provide evidence that the intravascular precipitates first occluded the glomerular capillaries for a period of several days following injection of the iron and then largely disappeared from them just prior to the development of morphologic signs of glomerular injury and proteinuria. Hence the possibility was considered that the intracapillary precipitates might have produced acute injury to the walls of the glomerular capllaries through the agency of anoxia. But it is plain that the findings of the present study do not disclose the essential nature of the anatomical change responsible for the proteinuria, or the means whereby this was produced. The findings as a whole were briefly considered in relation to the pathogenesis of the nephrotic syndrome as it occurs naturally in human beings.


NEGOTIATORS AT WORK: THREE ESSAYS ON EMPLOYEE NEGOTIATION SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND EXHIBITION BY Elizabeth Foster Clenney March 29, 2013 Committee Chairs: Todd J. Maurer and Edward W. Miles Major Academic Unit: Managerial Sciences The need to negotiate is pervasive, but the ability to do so effectively is not so commonplace and is an often assumed or taken-for-granted skill. Despite the fact that people negotiate something nearly every day, be it in their personal or professional lives, very few people undergo formal negotiation skill training. In fact, most people overestimate their negotiating abilities, primarily because they never receive feedback on their skills. Consequently, this overestimation of negotiating ability often leads people to unknowingly negotiate suboptimal agreements. In other words, they can do better. In an organizational setting, many employees have to negotiate as a normal and customary part of their job; however, unlike other essential skills, such as technical skills or general communication skills, negotiation skills are not as widely taught and are frequently assumed to be mastered. Furthermore, organizations will place great emphasis on the outcomes of employee negotiations rather than the skills that lead to those outcomes. Similarly, scholarly research on negotiation seems to mimic this focus, where there are many studies related to negotiation outcomes and even general tactics (e.g., making the first offer, setting target and resistance points, etc.) prescribed to obtain outcomes. However, there is a large gap in understanding how people acquire and why they exhibit particular negotiation skills. Furthermore, the relationship between specific negotiation skills and specific negotiated outcomes has been inferred or tested indirectly in previous research. Studies in this dissertation directly examine if acquiring a particular negotiation skill set does lead to particular negotiated outcomes. This dissertation aims to set forth an initial framework for employee negotiation skill development and test key relationships to support the idea that not everyone acquires the same set of negotiation skills or are effective in every negotiation situation. This overall argument will be presented via three essays, the first proposes a theoretical framework and the second and third empirically test relationships set forth in the theory paper.


Oncogenic activation of tyrosine kinase signaling pathway is recurrent in human leukemia. To gain insight into the oncogenic process leading to acute megakaryoblastic leukemia (AMKL), we performed sequence analyses of a subset of oncogenes known to be activated in human myeloid and myeloproliferative disorders. In a series of human AMKL samples from both Down syndrome and non-Down syndrome patients, mutations were identified within KIT, FLT3, JAK2, JAK3, and MPL genes, with a higher frequency in DS than in non-DS patients. The novel mutations were analyzed using BaF3 cells, showing that JAK3 mutations were activating mutations. Finally, we report a novel constitutively active MPL mutant, MPLT487A, observed in a non-Down syndrome childhood AMKL that induces a myeloproliferative disease in mouse bone marrow transplantation assay.


Background, Aims and Scope. The main challenge in the application of biotests for hazard assessment of sediments is a transparent interpretation, especially if combinations of biotests are applied and an integrated assessment of all results is wanted. For decision making, assigning results of biotesting into different classes that indicate increasing hazards can be a useful tool. In this paper we suggest an approach on how to set up a siteindependent classification system for sediment toxicity tests. Methods. About 250 sediment samples were collected from two rivers and evaluated. The bioassays applied are used in a standardized procedure for all samples over years. The test battery include toxicological endpoints like nematode growth and reproduction, algae growth, bacteria activity, and luminescence inhibition. Results and Discussion. The classification system described emphasizes the following steps: the assessment of test-specific response spans for each applied biotest and the subsequent interpretation of inhibition values in terms of toxicity, estimation of accuracy and uncertainty of different test systems, and the use of cluster- and k-means analyses in order to identify occurring pattern within a large biotest data base, followed by a ranking. The outcome of the procedure were 5 effect classes with an increasing potential of hazard. Conclusion. The effect classes represent the result of a logical procedure of deduction. The procedure is transparent giving an increased degree of certainty. The site independent ranking of 5 classes could be used for sediment monitoring and facilitate fast interpretation. Recommendation and Perspective. A large database comprising differently contaminated sediments is the precondition for setting up effect classes, because it is essential to know the range of effects and the variability of the test methods. The proposed procedure could then provide the basic rules for designing an expert system.


This article tracks the different views of gender equality reflected in United States v. Virginia, from trial through the various appeals, including the 1996 opinion of the United States Supreme Court, and through the actual integration of women into VMI. It highlights the fact that while many views of equality were represented in the case throughout its history, no party and no court addressed what is arguably the most objectionable feature of VMI, which was not that it excluded women, but that its "unique" pedagogical method was based on an explicitly demeaning and subordinating view of women.


The Marmara Region (NW Turkey) has experienced significant earthquakes (M > 7.0) to date. A destructive earthquake is also expected in the region. To determine the effect of the specific design spectrum, eleven provinces located in the region were chosen according to the Turkey Earthquake Building Code updated in 2019. Additionally, the differences between the previous and updated regulations of the country were investigated. Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) and Peak Ground Velocity (PGV) were obtained for each province by using earthquake ground motion levels with 2%, 10%, 50%, and 68% probability of exceedance in 50-year periods. The PGA values in the region range from 0.16 to 0.7 g for earthquakes with a return period of 475 years. For each province, a sample of a reinforced-concrete building having two different numbers of stories with the same ground and structural characteristics was chosen. Static adaptive pushover analyses were performed for the sample reinforced-concrete building using each province's design spectrum. The variations in the earthquake and structural parameters were investigated according to different geographical locations. It was determined that the site-specific design spectrum significantly influences target displacements for performance-based assessments of buildings due to seismicity characteristics of the studied geographic location.


Abstract The construction industry is facing the challenge of increasing demands of its sustainability performance. The construction and maintenance of the built environment has substantial impact on the sustainability of the environment. Meanwhile, public sector clients are increasingly asking for a sustainable approach in their specification and procurement decisions, sustainability is still seen as a novel concept within the construction industry in many parts of the world without a settled definition. The premise of this study is that the interaction between road projects realized by the private finance initiative and their delivery in the UK improve sustainability. The paper, based on the case study research, explains the sustainability implementation in two PFI road projects and demonstrates that the PFI mechanism facilitates sustainable implementation to a far greater extent than is achievable using traditional procurement methods.


Abstract The metamorphic basement units of the Upper Ouémé watershed in Benin have been investigated to identify the structural controls on aquifer properties, groundwater flow and water balance at large scale. Spatial analysis of borehole and hydrogeophysical data suggests that large-scale weathering profiles, aquifer transmissivity and storage properties are better correlated to a palaeo-weathering surface. Multi-model analysis, combined with assessment of nine transient numerical groundwater models against observations, suggests the best conceptualizations are those where hydraulic conductivity and specific yield are distributed within a weathered zone determined through interpolation of weathered zone thickness. When compared to previous studies, the general groundwater balance of simulated models suggests the groundwater system contributes, on average, 49.8 m3 s−1 to the river flow (mostly during the rainy season). The same volumetric flow would be lost to groundwater evapo-transpiration and deep/lateral drainage of the catchment. Borehole abstraction (about 7.5 m3 s−1) represents only 6% of the average groundwater recharge and 1% of the average rainfall. This suggests that despite relatively low borehole productivity, the basement aquifer system still has an important unused potential for rural to mid-scale water supply and that, at present, the main external drivers for groundwater resource sustainability are changes in climate and land use.


Campylobacters are zoonotic pathogens with extensive animal and environmental reservoirs in spite of their fastidious nature. Campylobacter jejuni is the main bacterial cause of human gastroenteritis worldwide. Epidemiological studies have identified chicken meat as the main vehicle for human infection in industrialised countries. In some countries in the developing world, however, there is little information about Campylobacter prevalence in poultry and poultry meat. The dynamics of Campylobacter colonisation of chickens remain poorly understood. It is agreed that in most cases Campylobacter is transmitted to chickens horizontally from the farm environment. Different sources have been recognised, but their actual contribution to Campylobacter epidemiology remains a matter of debate. Water has rarely been identified as a possible source of Campylobacter contamination of chickens, but represents an understudied source. Research suggests that natural microbial communities might promote the survival of Campylobacter in environmental reservoirs by enabling incorporation into biofilms or interaction with protozoa. The aim of this study was to improve our understanding of Campylobacter ecology and epidemiology at the chicken farm level. The main objectives were to unravel the microbial communities associated with the drinking water system of broiler farms and their dynamics through the rearing cycle; to investigate the aerobic survival of the pathogen in co-culture with Pseudomonas environmental isolates and Acanthamoeba polyphaga; and to study Campylobacter prevalence in chicken farms in Uganda.
A longitudinal study was conducted in a commercial broiler farm in the UK during a whole rearing cycle. The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding about the microbial communities that inhabit the drinking water system of the broiler farm, and their implication in Campylobacter ecology in the chicken farm. 16S and 18S rRNA profiling of bulk water and biofilm samples were carried out over a seven-week production cycle period. The same samples were screened for the presence of Campylobacter by culture-dependent methods and molecular techniques. Analysis of 16S and 18S rRNA profiles suggested that microbial communities in the water distribution system are niche specific. Biofilm and bulk water samples harboured distinct communities. Moreover, bulk water communities inside the broiler house were significantly different from those sampled from the source water (R=0.88, p<0.05). Inside the broiler house, microbial communities were found to vary across the rearing cycle. Similar changes in the dynamics of prokaryotic and eukaryotic communities were observed. Bacterial communities were dominated by the phylum Proteobacteria with a shift to Firmicutes towards the end of the cycle, mainly due to an increase in relative abundance of the genera Staphylococcus and Lactobacillus. Eukaryotic communities included a diversity of yeasts, fungi and protozoa.
Campylobacter spp. were not detected on the UK broiler farm by culture-dependent techniques. However, the emerging gastrointestinal pathogen Helicobacter pullorum was isolated by culture towards the end of the rearing cycle. Another emerging pathogen C. ureolyticus was detected by both 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and PCR in water samples and chicken faeces. This is the first report of C. ureolyticus in association with poultry. 16S rRNA reads belonging to the genus Campylobacter were also found in the sequencing data towards the end of the rearing cycle suggesting that the pathogen could be in a viable but non-culturable state in the water distribution system.
Little information is available on the epidemiology of campylobacteriosis in Africa. In Uganda Campylobacter infections have been reported in children, and gorillas have been identified as carriers but no information is available on Campylobacter prevalence in chickens. Studies in neighbouring countries, however, have shown high Campylobacter prevalence in poultry. A pilot study, visiting three small-scale farms around Fort Portal, was conducted to investigate the prevalence of Campylobacter in chickens in W. Uganda. Through a combination of culture-dependent and culture-independent techniques Campylobacter was detected in all three farms with high prevalence. Mixed presence of C. jejuni and C. coli in the same farm were observed, suggesting that chickens and chicken meat can be a source of human infection in Uganda.
Pseudomonas spp. and protozoa of the genus Acanthamoeba are ubiquitous organisms that commonly co-localise in water and in the farm environment with Campylobacter. In vitro assays were performed to investigate whether they could enhance C. jejuni survival under atmospheric conditions. Co-culture assays indicated that certain Pseudomonas ssp. and strains were able to enhance Campylobacter survival with an increase in viable cell recovery ranging from 0.8 LOG to 4.5 LOG depending on the strain after 24 hours of aerobic incubation, while others showed no interactive effect or even reduced Campylobacter survival. A. polyphaga was shown to internalize C. jejuni, protecting it from the oxygen in the atmosphere and thus enhancing its survival with an increase in viable cell recovery of 2 LOG.
These studies have further shown the importance of chicken farms in Campylobacter ecology. It has been demonstrated that microorganisms that are capable of enhancing Campylobacter survival in vitro are found in the water distribution system of the farm studied in UK. The characterisation of these communities for a whole rearing cycle has led to the detection of emerging human pathogens in broiler chicken production showing how doing exploratory work targeting whole microbial communities can inform epidemiology.


ABSTRACT Mapping croplands, including fallow areas, are an important measure to determine the quantity of food that is produced, where they are produced, and when they are produced (e.g. seasonality). Furthermore, croplands are known as water guzzlers by consuming anywhere between 70% and 90% of all human water use globally. Given these facts and the increase in global population to nearly 10 billion by the year 2050, the need for routine, rapid, and automated cropland mapping year-after-year and/or season-after-season is of great importance. The overarching goal of this study was to generate standard and routine cropland products, year-after-year, over very large areas through the use of two novel methods: (a) quantitative spectral matching techniques (QSMTs) applied at continental level and (b) rule-based Automated Cropland Classification Algorithm (ACCA) with the ability to hind-cast, now-cast, and future-cast. Australia was chosen for the study given its extensive croplands, rich history of agriculture, and yet nonexistent routine yearly generated cropland products using multi-temporal remote sensing. This research produced three distinct cropland products using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) 250-m normalized difference vegetation index 16-day composite time-series data for 16 years: 2000 through 2015. The products consisted of: (1) cropland extent/areas versus cropland fallow areas, (2) irrigated versus rainfed croplands, and (3) cropping intensities: single, double, and continuous cropping. An accurate reference cropland product (RCP) for the year 2014 (RCP2014) produced using QSMT was used as a knowledge base to train and develop the ACCA algorithm that was then applied to the MODIS time-series data for the years 2000–2015. A comparison between the ACCA-derived cropland products (ACPs) for the year 2014 (ACP2014) versus RCP2014 provided an overall agreement of 89.4% (kappa = 0.814) with six classes: (a) producer's accuracies varying between 72% and 90% and (b) user's accuracies varying between 79% and 90%. ACPs for the individual years 2000–2013 and 2015 (ACP2000–ACP2013, ACP2015) showed very strong similarities with several other studies. The extent and vigor of the Australian croplands versus cropland fallows were accurately captured by the ACCA algorithm for the years 2000–2015, thus highlighting the value of the study in food security analysis. The ACCA algorithm and the cropland products are released through http://croplands.org/app/map and http://geography.wr.usgs.gov/science/croplands/algorithms/australia_250m.html


OBJECTIVE
Report the efficacious use of stellate ganglion blocks (SGBs) in treating the anxiety symptoms of four patients diagnosed with combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and discuss possible mechanisms of action to explain these findings.

BACKGROUND
Successful treatment of PTSD with SGB has been demonstrated and reported previously at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. An identical protocol was used at Tripler Army Medical Center to treat four service members diagnosed with combat-related PTSD.

METHODS
All patients reported received an SGB on the right side at the level of C6. The patient's PTSD symptoms were evaluated using the Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL). This checklist was distributed one day before treatment and again the day following treatment. The patients were also given the PCL at subsequent follow-up visits to quantify sustained benefit.

RESULTS
SGB showed acute benefit for the symptoms of PTSD by markedly reduced PCL scores after the procedure. Benefits were also sustained during close outpatient follow-up.

CONCLUSION
Selective blockade of the right stellate ganglion at C6 is a minimally invasive procedure with an excellent safety profile that may provide sustained relief of PTSD symptoms. The procedure may also provide benefit for those who are resistant to psychotropic intervention.


High-molecular-weight (HMW) organic compounds are an important component of atmospheric particles , although their origins, possibly including in situ formation pathways, remain incompletely understood. This study investigates the formation of HMW organic perox-ides through reactions involving stabilized Criegee interme-diates (SCI's). The model system is methyl oleate (MO) mixed with dioctyl adipate (DOA) and myristic acid (MA) in submicron aerosol particles, and Criegee intermediates are formed by the ozonolysis of the double bond in methyl oleate. An aerosol flow tube coupled to a quadrupole aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) is employed to determine the relative importance of different HMW organic peroxides following the ozonolysis of different mixing mole fractions of MO in DOA and MA. Possible peroxide products include secondary ozonides (SOZ's), α-acyloxyalkyl hydroperox-ides and α-acyloxyalkyl alkyl peroxides (αAAHP-type compounds), diperoxides, and monoperoxide oligomers. Of these, the AMS data identify two SOZ's as major HMW products in the ozonolysis of pure methyl oleate as well as in an inert matrix of DOA to as low as 0.04 mole fraction MO. In comparison, in mixed particles of MO and MA, αAAHP-type compounds form in high yields for MO mole fractions of 0.5 or less, suggesting that SCI's efficiently attack the carboxylic acid group of myristic acid. The reactions of SCI's with carboxylic acid groups to form αAAHP-type compounds therefore compete with those of SCI's with alde-hydes to form SOZ's, provided that both types of function-alities are present at significant concentrations. The results therefore suggest that SCI's in atmospheric particles contribute to the transformation of carboxylic acids and other protic groups into HMW organic peroxides.


Abstract. BC mixing state, one of essential aerosol microphysical properties modulating its optical properties and radiative forcing, and climatic and environmental effect, has often been assumed in numerical models previously. In this study, by employing a nested version of GEOS-Chem-APM model with predicted BC mixing state, we carefully examined the effect of BC mixing state on aerosol optical properties, radiative forcing, and heating rate over East Asia (EA) and particularly in East-Central China (ECC). The modelling results show that the mass of both BC core and coating by secondary species (coated SS) are significantly high in ECC and India due to strong anthropogenic emissions but quite low in the other regions. The ratio of total mass (BC + coated SS) to the BC over ECC can be doubled compared to pure BC core mass, indicating quite large coating over the regions with high anthropogenic emissions. Absorptive aerosol optical depth (AAOD) enhances ~ 40 % over ECC once core-shell mixing, rather than external mixing, is taken into account, despite AOD only changes slightly, and the resulting absorption amplification (Aa) normally varies from 1.1 to 1.8 over ECC. Aerosol direct radiative forcing (DRF) under clear sky and all sky indicate that DRF at top of atmosphere (DRFTOA) become weaker but DRF at surface (DRFSRF) become stronger when core-shell mixing, instead of external mixing, is taken in to account in the simulation. The simulation with core-shell mixing presented that over ECC, the regional-averaged atmospheric absorption enhances 39 % while DRFTOA and DRFSRF are reported as −8.3 and −17.8 W m-2, compared to −9.4 and −16.2 W m-2 in the simulation with external mixing state. The heating rate in entire column enhances with core-shell mixing state due to absorption amplification, compared to external mixing state. The heating rate at surface over ECC increases about 43 %, i.e. increase from 0.7 K day-1 (external) to 0.9 K day-1 (core-shell) during the study period. The results in three cities (Beijing, Nanjing, Chengdu), representative of North China Plain (NCP), Yangtze River Delta (YRD), and Sichuan Basin (SCB), major anthropogenic aerosol emissions regions over EA, are also discussed in the study.


ABSTRACT Objective Acute administration of the partial serotonin (5-HT) agonist meta-chlorophenylpi-perazine (m-CPP), that is used also as a street drug, has been reported to induce a "high" and craving response in various impulsive and sub-stance addiction disorders. Introduction To clarify altered 5-HT metabolism in pathological gamblers and to explore the specific role of serotonergic system in non substance addictions, we assessed behavioral ("high" and "craving") and neuroendocrine (prolactin and cortisol) responses to an oral single dose of m-CPP and placebo in pathological gamblers and matched controls. Moreover, the relationship between neuroendocrine outcome and clinical severity has been assessed. Method Twenty-six pathological gamblers and 26 healthy control subjects enter a double-blind, placebo-controlled-crossed administration of orally dose m-CPP 0.5 mg/kg. Outcome measures included prolactin and cortisol levels, gambling severity, mood, craving and "high" scales. Results Pathological gamblers had significantly increased prolactin response compared to controls at 180 minutes and at 210 minutes post–administration. Greater pathological gamblers severity correlated with increased neuroendocrine responsiveness to m-CCP, suggesting greater 5-HT dysregulation. Pathological gambling patients had a significantly increased "high" sensation after m-CPP administration compared with control. Conclusion These results provide additional evidence for 5-HT disturbance in pathological gamblers and they support the hypotheses that the role of the 5-HT dysfunction related to the experience of "high" might represent the path-way that leads to dyscontrolled behavior in patho-logical gamblers. Furthermore, the "high" feeling induced by m-CPP in pathological subjects may represent a marker of vulnerability to both behav-ioral and substance addictions.


An axiomatic approach to electrodynamics reveals that Maxwell electrodynamics is just one instance of a variety of theories for which the name electrodynamics is justified. They all have in common that their fundamental input are Maxwell's equations $\textrm{d} F = 0$ (or $F = \textrm{d} A$) and $\textrm{d} H = J$ and a constitutive law $H = # F$ which relates the field strength two-form $F$ and the excitation two-form $H$. A local and linear constitutive law defines what is called local and linear pre-metric electrodynamics whose best known application are the effective description of electrodynamics inside media including, e.g., birefringence. We analyze the classical theory of the electromagnetic potential $A$ before we use methods familiar from mathematical quantum field theory in curved spacetimes to quantize it in a locally covariant way. Our analysis of the classical theory contains the derivation of retarded and advanced propagators, the analysis of the causal structure on the basis of the constitutive law (instead of a metric) and a discussion of the classical phase space. This classical analysis sets the stage for the construction of the quantum field algebra and quantum states. Here one sees, among other things, that a microlocal spectrum condition can be formulated in this more general setting.


This dissertation examines the discourses and practices of charity and poor relief in early modern England in order to characterize changing views of the relation between the individual and the basis of social order. The first part proposes a genealogy of idleness, drawing on Weber's analysis of Protestant worldly asceticism, which posits the rationalization of the conduct of life, and on Foucault's analysis of governmentality, which posits the converging governance of populations and individual conduct in the emerging early modern state. The second part considers charity as a set of transactional relations and examines changing views of the link between social boundaries and order. It then examines the increasing use of 'idleness' as a criterion distinguishing deserving and undeserving poor and traces the obverse of this process: a new emphasis on the formation of industrious habits as a means of fostering the prosperity and order of the nation. The third part argues first that puritan views of the use of time brought the invisible city into the world: a methodical conduct of life marked inclusion among the godly, linking individual agency to God's transcendent order. It then argues that this rationalization of activity through constant attention to time converged with attempts to reform and govern conduct in poor relief practices of the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The ethical and temporal antecedence of the heavenly city was replaced by the antecedence of the state, whose efforts to reform the character of the poor constituted a new governance of conduct. Emerging processes of governmentality were premised on this consonance of self-interested individual activity and the maintenance of social order.


Modern law often rests on the assumption that a uniform cost/benefit formula is the proper way to determine fault in ordinary contract disputes. This Article disputes that vision by defending the view that different standards of fault are appropriate in different contexts. The central distinction is one that holds parties in gratuitous transactions only to the standard of care that they bring to their own affairs, while insisting on the higher objective standard of ordinary care in commercial transactions. That bifurcation leads to efficient searches. Persons who hold themselves out in particular lines of business in effect warrant their ability to achieve uniform standards, while individuals who seek favors from their friends are incentivized to choose them carefully given the subjective standard of care. These results, moreover, derive from the Roman conceptions of care brought into the Anglo-American law through the 1703 decision in Coggs v. Bernard, and are shown to have surprising durability in dealing with agency, medical malpractice, occupier liability, guest statute and frustration cases. Often the efficient standard of fault is given only to those who do economics without really trying.


The presence of gender provisions in peace agreements affects women's participation in post-conflict societies as well as the chances that a post-conflict society will move towards gender equality. While there is an overall upward trend in the number of references to women's rights and gender equality in peace agreements, gender-sensitive agreements are not a given. Why and how are peace agreements with gender provisions adopted? We use statistical analysis to explain why some peace agreements adopt gender provisions while others have no such provisions. Based on an analysis of 98 peace agreements across 55 countries between 2000 and 2016, we find that peace agreements are significantly more likely to have gender provisions when women participate in elite peace processes. Our study also shows that the likelihood of achieving a peace agreement with gender provisions increases when women's representation in national parliaments increases and when women's civil society participation is significant.


A number of experimental evidences in cellular biology and pharmacology demonstrate that K+ channels are involved in the regulatory mechanisms of neoplastic cell proliferation and survival. Among the various types of K+ channels known so far, those that express an inwardly rectifying current (mainly the types named Kir, EAG and HERG) appear of peculiar importance in favoring cancer progression in vivo. In fact, besides helping to maintain a constantly depolarized value of the resting potential required for deregulated tumor growth, they can confer selective advantages to cancer cells in an hypoxic microenvironment, such as that of tumor masses. Inhibitors and modulators of K+ channels have been demonstrated to have the ability to impair cancer cell proliferation in vitro and to counteract cancer progression in vivo. A process of rigorous scientific verification at a pre-clinical level of the anticancer potential of K+ channels inhibitors and modulators have never been rationally performed thus far, but would appear opportune in the light of the data here discussed.


The remarkable improvements in the power conversion efficiency of solution-processable Organic Photovoltaics (OPV) have largely been driven by the development of novel narrow bandgap copolymer donors comprising an electron-donating (D) and an electron-withdrawing (A) group within the repeat unit. Given the large pool of potential D and A units and the laborious processes of chemical synthesis and device optimization, progress on new high efficiency materials can, and has been, slow with a few new efficient copolymers reported every year despite the large number of groups pursuing these materials. In this paper we present an integrated approach toward new narrow bandgap copolymers that uses theory to guide the selection of materials to be synthesized based on their predicted energy levels, and time-resolved microwave conductivity (TRMC) to select the best-performing copolymer–fullerene bulk heterojunction to be incorporated into complete OPV devices. We validate our methodology by using a diverse group of 12 copolymers, including new and literature materials, to demonstrate good correlation between (a) theoretically determined energy levels of polymers and experimentally determined ionization energies and electron affinities and (b) photoconductance, measured by TRMC, and OPV device performance. The materials used here also allow us to explore whether further copolymer design rules need to be incorporated into our methodology for materials selection. For example, we explore the effect of the enthalpy change (ΔH) during exciton dissociation on the efficiency of free charge carrier generation and device efficiency and find that ΔH of −0.4 eV is sufficient for efficient charge generation.


This book develops methodologies to model economic activities and their links to the environment and vice versa. It also attempts to develop an environmental policy that, in addition to controlling the amount of pollutants emitted, also generates a rapid rate of national economic growth and a more equal income distribution. The two case studies analyzed in this book are air pollutants originating in industrial and transportation sectors and pesticides used in the agricultural sector in Indonesia. This book is based on the dissertation that the author wrote while in Cornell University in the mid 1990s. Nevertheless, the topics discussed are still very relevant today in developing environmental policies, including those on climate change. The author hopes that its publication will inform other researchers and policy-makers of his analysis, so as to contribute positively to the development of environmental policy debates in developing countries.


Purpose: Prior studies suggest that recent oral contraceptive (OC) use is associated with a modest increased risk of breast cancer among young women. However, the majority of these reports have relied on self-reported use and have not characterized risks associated with newer OC formulations.

Methods: We conducted a nested case-control study among health plan enrollees at a large health maintenance organization, Group Health Cooperative, which serves the greater Seattle-Puget Sound region. Cases consisted of 1,102 women 20–49 years of age diagnosed with invasive breast cancer from 1990–2009. We randomly selected 21,952 controls matched on age, year, and enrollment length. Detailed information on recent OC use, including formulation, dose, and duration was ascertained from electronic pharmacy records. Multivariate-adjusted conditional logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) as estimates of relative risks and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

Results: Recent OC use (within 1 year of diagnosis) was associated with a 60% (95% CI = 1.3–1.9) increased breast cancer risk. The association was slightly stronger for estrogen receptor (ER) positive compared to ER-negative disease (ER-positive OR = 1.7, 95% CI = 1.3–2.1 and ER-negative OR = 1.2, 95% CI = 0.8–1.8), though this difference was not statistically significant. The ORs varied somewhat by OC formulation, with recent use of OCs containing the progestin ethynodiol diacetate (OR = 2.6, 95% CI = 1.4–4.7) or high dose estrogen (OR = 2.7, 95% CI = 1.2–6.4) associated with particularly elevated risk estimates compared to non-use of OCs in the prior year. In contrast, risk estimates for recent use of OCs with the progestin norgestimate or low dose estrogen suggested either a modest association or no association (OR = 1.2, 95% CI = 0.6–2.2 and OR = 1.0, 95% CI = 0.6–1.7, respectively).

Conclusions: These results suggest that recent use of contemporary OC formulations is associated with an elevated risk of breast cancer among women ages 20–49, with associations varying somewhat by OC formulation. Although breast cancer is rare among young women, the potential risk of breast cancer associated with certain formulations could impact OC recommendations by providers if these findings are confirmed.

This abstract is one of the 20 highest scoring abstracts of those submitted for presentation at the 36th Annual ASPO meeting held March 4–6, 2012, in Washington, DC.


The structure and strength of three-dimensional Lomer-Cottrell junctions are studied using four different models. These models represent increasing levels of sophistication, with each case including some new physical effect. The line tension approximation makes use only of the elastic self energy of the dislocation lines, The edge-screw dislocation dynamics model increases the sophistication by including the elastic interactions between all of the dislocation segments, At the next level of sophistication, the nodal dislocation dynamics method accounts for the dissociation of the core into partial dislocations. Finally, the quasicontinuum method takes into account the core effects at the atomic level, The results show that although the line tension model represents a huge simplification of the physics of dislocations, it is able to reproduce the equilibrium structure of any type of Lomer-Cottrell interaction, both in the absence and presence of an externally applied stress. The pseudo-analytical description can thus be used as a bench mark for the development of dislocation dynamics simulations.


We address the problem of continuous laughter detection over audio-facial input streams obtained from naturalistic dyadic conversations. We first present meticulous annotation of laughters, cross-talks and environmental noise in an audio-facial database with explicit 3D facial mocap data. Using this annotated database, we rigorously investigate the utility of facial information, head movement and audio features for laughter detection. We identify a set of discriminative features using mutual information-based criteria, and show how they can be used with classifiers based on support vector machines (SVMs) and time delay neural networks (TDNNs). Informed by the analysis of the individual modalities, we propose a multimodal fusion setup for laughter detection using different classifier-feature combinations. We also effectively incorporate bagging into our classification pipeline to address the class imbalance problem caused by the scarcity of positive laughter instances. Our results indicate that a combination of TDNNs and SVMs lead to superior detection performance, and bagging effectively addresses data imbalance. Our experiments show that our multimodal approach supported by bagging compares favorably to the state of the art in presence of detrimental factors such as cross-talk, environmental noise, and data imbalance.


We use the COBE/DIRBE (1.2, 2.2, 60, 100, 140, and 240 µm) maps and the COBE/FIRAS spectra (for the wavelength range 100−1000 µm) to constrain a model for the spatial distribution of the dust, the stars, and the gas in the Milky Way. By assuming exponential axisymmetric distributions for the dust and the stars and by performing the corresponding radiative transfer calculations we closely (given the simple geometry of the model) reproduce the FIR and NIR maps of the Milky Way. Similar distributions for the atomic and molecular hydrogen in the disk are used (with an inner cut-off radius for the atomic hydrogen) to fit the gas data. The star formation rate as a function of the Galactic radius is derived from the FIR emission and is well in agreement with existing estimates from various star formation tracers. The gas surface density is plotted against the star formation rate density and an "intrinsic" Galactic Schmidt law is derived with excellent agreement with the "external" Schmidt law found for spiral galaxies. The Milky Way is found to consume ∼1% and ∼10% of its gas in the outer and inner regions respectively (for a period of 0.1 Gyr) to make stars. The dust-induced B − V color excess observed in various directions and distances (up to ∼6.5 kpc) with well-studied Cepheid stars is compared with the model predictions showing a good agreement. The simple assumption of exponential distributions of stars and dust in the Galaxy is found to be quite instructive and adequate in modeling all the available data sets from 0.45 µ m( B-band) to 1000 µm.


Numerical simulations were carried out to evaluate the performance of insulating joints in railway tracks. Although insulating joints are considered weak spots on the track due to the imposed rail discontinuity, they are nevertheless essential to monitor and control train traffic. All simulations presented were conducted using the commercial FE code Abaqus. Results were extracted, processed and plotted with the help of the programming languages Python and Matlab. No dynamic effects were included in the simulations.
This study consists of three major parts: The first part was to compare hyper-elastic Neo-hookean and linear elastic material models for the insulating layer in the joint. The simulations showed that there was no significant difference in stresses or displacements between the two models.
Investigating the effects of increasing the stiffness of the insulating material was performed in the second part. The investigation showed that increased stiffness decreases the plastic deformation in the steel. However when increasing the stiffness the interfacial shear stress increases. This will promote failure of the glue that ties insulation and rail together.
The effect of having an inclined insulating joint was analyzed. Four different
inclination angles θ, were tested ranging from 0◦ (no inclination) to 60◦ . By increasing the angle the plastic deformation in the steel on both sides of the insulating layer increased under pure rolling conditions. Inclination did not seem to cause any significant changes in interfacial shear stresses.
Finally a comparison was made of the vertical displacement of the wheel cen-
ter between the quasi-static ABAQUS simulations and approximations derived from Newtonian physics. These approximations indicate that the time that it takes for the wheel to travel over the gap is not sufficient to allow for the wheel displacements predicted by the quasi-static simulations when traveling on a speed exceeding roughly 85 km/h.


This study aimed to identify the attitudes of secondary school students towards AR applications and to investigate the change in these attitudes according to different variables. The study also aspired to determine the relationship between attitudes towards AR and achievement. General survey model was used in the study. The study group was composed of 54 7th graders attending there separate classes of a state school. In order to determine student attitudes towards AP applications in educational environments, students were first provided with the experience for 4 weeks (16 lessons). Research findings show that students have positive attitudes towards AR applications. Gender, ownership of personal computers and mobile devices were not found to change attitudes towards AR applications. While daily internet use was not found to affect AR attitudes, it was found that attitudes differed significantly according to frequency of playing computer games. Research findings show a meaningful relationship between AR attitudes and achievement.


Networked telerobots carry sensors that send data, with stochastic transmission times, to a remote human operator, who must execute some real-time control task (e.g., navigation). In this paper we propose to regulate the sensory information being transmitted in order to guarantee soft real-time requirements and also optimize the quality of control, through a novel two-level hierarchical controller that both varies the amount of transmitted sensor data and dynamically reconfigures active sensors. Our controller has been implemented in a web-based teleoperator interface that is highly portable (it runs on desktop PCs, tablets, smartphones, etc.) and non-invasive, i.e., requires minimal modifications in the existing components of the system, thus being suitable for many applications. Here we present our regulation methods and the results of some experiments. They demonstrate the maximization of the transmitted data while guaranteeing the real-time requirements.


Abstract The seventeenth century was a period of political and religious turmoil in the Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania. The confessional conflicts produced martyrs whose cults consolidated the confessional boundaries of the Roman Catholic, the Orthodox, and the Greek Catholic Church. In my article, I compare three such saints: Josafat Kuntsevych (1580-1623, Greek Catholic), Afanasiy Filippovych (c. 1595–1648, Orthodox), and Andrzej Bobola (1591-1657, Roman Catholic), who were martyred in the hands of their Christian neighbours. For material, I use the hymnographical services composed for the saints. I argue that, in quest of genuine ecumenism, certain content in these services, such as exclusive concepts of the true faith and church unity, may actually induce rather than prevent hostility between the Churches.


An experimental study was conducted to simulate the generation of thermal stresses due to hydration heat and restraint by using a thermal stress measuring device (TSD). The net effects of time-dependent properties of hardening concrete can be well incorporated in TSD due to simultaneous development of temperature and corresponding stress in restrained specimen. Moreover, experiments were conducted to measure a precise value of early-age autogenous shrinkage (AS) and to evaluate the basic creep model with respect to AS. In cracking risk analysis, precise value of early-age AS must accurately predict the time of shrinkage-induced cracking. A significant difference exists between apparent (including AS) and real basic creep (excluding AS) for low water-cement ratio concrete and early-age normal strength concrete. To improve the crack sensitivity analysis, it is recommended to precisely measure early-age AS and modify the basic creep model to prevent from possible errors and computational problems.


Background: The aim of this study is to find the associations between malignant melanoma (MM) and other non-cutaneous malignancies and to see whether there are possible correlations between them. Methods: We analysed a sample of 1720 patients collected by our melanoma database, to identify patients with both MM and non-cutaneous primary cancer (NCC). The incidence rate (IR) included in our database was calculated as the ratio between the observed patients with NCC and those with MM. Results: A total of 74 patients, with both NCC and MM, were included in our analysis, corresponding to 4.30% of patients with MM present in our melanoma database. After breast cancer (24.3%; IR = 1:4), the most common malignancies were lymphomas (14.8%; IR = 1:4), renal cell carcinoma (13.5%; IR = 1:7), thyroid cancer (9.4%; IR = 1:11), and prostatic carcinoma (8.1%; IR = 1:12), followed by other cancers. Among patients with lymphomas, most patients (72.7%) had a non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Our study shows a high coexistence of multiple malignancies in patients with MM. Conclusion: Although we cannot definitively confirm a true association between non-skin cancers and MM, we believe that there are sufficient links for further investigation in order to identify new aetiological factors and therapeutic targets for these cancers.


The growing search for alternative energy sources is not only due to the present shortage of non-renewable energy sources, but also due to their negative environmental impacts. Therefore, a lot of attention is drawn to the use of biomass as a renewable energy source. However, using biomass in its natural state has not proven to be an efficient technique, giving rise to a wide range of processing treatments that enhance the properties of biomass as an energy source. Torrefaction is a thermal process that enhances the properties of biomass through its thermal decomposition at temperatures between 200 and 300 °C. The torrefaction process is defined by several parameters, which also have impacts on the final quality of the torrefied biomass. The final quality is measured by considering parameters, such as humidity, heating value (HV), and grindability. Studies have focused on maximizing the torrefied biomass' quality using the best possible combination for the different parameters. The main objective of this article is to present new information regarding the conventional torrefaction process, as well as study the innovative techniques that have been in development for the improvement of the torrefied biomass qualities. With this study, conclusions were made regarding the importance of torrefaction in the energy field, after considering the economic status of this renewable resource. The importance of the torrefaction parameters on the final properties of torrefied biomass was also highly considered, as well as the importance of the reactor scales for the definition of ideal protocols.


Supramolecular hydrogels based on host–guest interactions constitute a class of intriguing soft matter and have attracted great attention due to their unique properties, etc. In this paper, a new organic–inorganic hybrid based on covalently tethered adamantane onto an Anderson cluster was prepared and characterized by various techniques including single-crystal XRD and ESI-MS. Its inclusion complex with β-CD was systematically investigated by 1H NMR and ESI-MS. Radical copolymerization of the complex of Anderson–adamantane and 6-acrylamido-β-CD, and an acrylamide monomer led to the formation of supramolecular hydrogels, which were studied by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and rheological measurements. This work presents the successful fabrication of polyoxometalate (POM)-based hydrogels through host–guest interactions, which provides a new pathway for the development of POM-containing advanced functional soft materials.


Suicide is increasingly recognized as a public health issue. There are over 40,000 suicides a year in the U.S., making suicide the tenth-leading cause of death in the country. But societal attitudes on the subject remain decidedly mixed. Suicide is often closely linked to mental illness, a condition that continues to involve stigma and often triggers irrational fears and misunderstanding. For many, suicide remains an immoral act that flies in the face of strongly held religious principles. In some ways, tort law's treatment of suicide mirrors the conflicting societal views regarding suicide. Tort law has long been reluctant to permit recovery in a wrongful death action from a defendant who is alleged to have caused the suicide of the decedent. In many instances, courts apply a strict rule of causation in suicide cases that has actually been dubbed "the suicide rule" in one jurisdiction. While reluctance to assign liability to defendants whose actions are alleged to have resulted in suicide still remains the norm in negligence cases, there has been a slight trend among court decisions away from singling out suicide cases for special treatment and toward an analytical framework that more closely follows traditional tort law principles. This Article argues that this trend is to be encouraged and that it is time for courts to largely abandon the special rules that have developed in suicide cases that treat suicide as a superseding cause of a decedent's death.


Nowadays, because of the requirements of miniaturization and multifunction in the modern
communication systems, more and more electronic devices are integrated into a single platform.
By using this method, the communication quality can be improved significantly. However,
another serious problem of interference has been introduced. As a solution for resolving this
issue to enhance the performance of communication systems, radiation pattern reconfigurable
antennas have received much attention. The conventional methods for designing radiation pattern
reconfigurable antennas based on the phased antenna arrays incur large loss, and are complicated
and expensive to be applied in practice. For this issues, frequency selective surfaces (FSSs) work
as space filters to electromagnetic (EM) waves, which can be either transmitted or reflected in
the operating frequency band. Therefore, radiation pattern reconfigurable antennas are realized
by using frequency selective surface (FSS) in this thesis. This approach offers more antenna
functionality, less cost and a significant save in terms of size and space. Thus, research in this
field is very important and is one of the most popular fields nowadays.
In this dissertation, first and foremost, a novel dual-band beam-sweeping antenna based on two
independent cylindrical active frequency selective surfaces (AFSS) have been proposed. As the
AFSS unit cell characteristic is the primary influential parameter that affects the sweeping
radiation pattern functionality. Hence, two AFSS unit-cells with integrated pin-diodes have been
proposed at two different frequency bands, 2.45 GHz and 5.2 GHz. When a dual-band
omnidirectional monopole antenna is surrounded by two cylindrical AFSS screens, the proposed
design has shown that it can effectively realize beam-sweeping which covers all azimuth angles
at 2.45 GHz and 5.2 GHz simultaneously. The size of antenna system can be reduced greatly in
comparison with the case where the two cylindrical FSS screens work independently from each
other when they are loaded in the same antenna system.
Secondly, a beam-switching antenna with high gain and flexible control of beam numbers has
been proposed based on FSS. The proposed antenna is composed of an omnidirectional
monopole antenna as a radiating source surrounded by a hexagon FSS screen and six metallic
sheets. By changing the states of the pin-diodes in the hexagon FSS screen, the proposed antenna
can not only sweep the beam six directions with gain enhancement in the azimuth plane, but also
it can flexibly operates at multiple beam modes at 5.2 GHz. Then, a beam-tilting antenna with negative refractive index metamaterial (NRIM) loading has
also been designed. The proposed antenna is composed of a double-feed dielectric resonator
antenna (DRA) and 1×4 NRIM array, which is fixed over and in the middle of the DRA. This
beam-tilting antenna can steer the main beam by ±38o in the xoz-plane over 5 to 5.5 GHz band.
The reflection coefficient of the antenna is better than -10 dB in the band from 5 to 5.5 GHz.
In the final design, a three layers quasi-yagi antenna has been designed with multi- beam
directions in both elevation and azimuth plane at 5.2 GHz. There are four elements of quasi-Yagi
antenna and eight pin-diodes as switches inserted them in the middle layer. The top and bottom
layers include the parasitic elements each of which are inserted into pin-diodes. By controlling
the pin-diodes in the different layers, the antenna can realize beam switching in the azimuth
plane in four directions and beam tilting in the elevation plane.


How did Renaissance theatre create its powerful effects with so few resources? In The Shakespearean Stage Space, Mariko Ichikawa explores the original staging of plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries to build a new picture of the artistry of the Renaissance stage. Dealing with problematic scenes and stage directions, Ichikawa closely examines the playing conditions in early modern playhouses to reveal the ways in which the structure of the stage was used to ensure the audibility of offstage sounds, to control the visibility of characters, to convey fictional locales, to create specific moods and atmospheres and to maintain a frequently shifting balance between fictional and theatrical realities. She argues that basic theatrical terms were used in a much broader and more flexible way than we usually assume and demonstrates that, rather than imposing limitations, the bare stage of the Shakespearean theatre offered dramatists and actors a variety of imaginative possibilities.


This paper provides, to our knowledge for the first time, cross-country measures of enforcement of labor law across almost every country in the world. The distinction between de jure and de facto regulation is well understood in theory, but almost never implemented in crosscountry empirical work because of lack of data. As a result, influential papers like the one by Botero et. al. (2004) published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, which have shaped the policy debate by finding strong negative consequences of labor regulation on labor market outcomes, are based entirely on measures of de jure stringency of regulations. We show that this neglect of regulation enforcement matters. There is, on average, a negative correlation between the stringency of labor regulation and the intensity of its enforcement. The strong results of Botero et. al. (2004) on the consequences of labor regulation, and the hypotheses of La Porta et. al (2008) on the legal origin theory of regulation stringency, no longer hold for effective labor regulation. JEL classifications: J88; K42


We are in a period of intense technological change. The continued explosive growth in technology has two major effects on the scope and application of the Fourth Amendment. First, the diffusion of powerful new technologies like DNA synthesis and high-powered computing makes it far easier than ever before for ill-meaning groups or individuals to obtain powerful and destructive weapons. Regardless of who is perceived to desire such weapons, the very existence and potential use of such weapons poses a permanent and growing threat to national security. Second, with the development of new technologies, governments are finding it increasingly cheap and easy to conduct intrusive surveillance on their populations and to obtain data and information about individuals in quantities and in detail never before imagined. For both of these reasons, states are increasingly likely to adopt strategies of pervasive surveillance.Fourth Amendment doctrine has failed to respond adequately to these trends. First, Fourth Amendment law – mainly, the so-called "third party doctrine" – fails to adequately protect privacy in light of new technology. Second, the few limits that have been placed on government use of technology threaten the ability of the state to conduct the type of surveillance necessary to effectively combat the risks posed by terrorism. The solution suggested is to shift the focus of the Fourth Amendment from its longstanding concern with acquisition of information to its use. Current practices already suggest that people generally are less concerned about revealing private information to others under appropriate circumstances than they are in ensuring that these limited disclosures are not misused by their recipients. In a future world where dangerous technologies are cheap and easily obtained, the critical problem will be to safeguard the population through carefully targeted surveillance, while ensuring that such surveillance cannot be used for pretextual or politically oppressive purposes.


Elderly individuals have an increased susceptibility to microbial infections because of age‐related anatomical, physiological, and environmental factors. However, the mechanism of aging‐dependent susceptibility to infection is not fully understood. Here, we found that caveolae‐dependent endocytosis is elevated in senescent cells. Thus, we focused on the implications of caveolae‐dependent endocytosis using Salmonella typhimurium, which causes a variety of diseases in humans and animals by invading the eukaryotic host cell. Salmonella invasion increased in nonphagocytotic senescent host cells in which caveolin‐1 was also increased. When caveolae structures were disrupted by methyl‐β‐cyclodextrin or siRNA of caveolin‐1 in the senescent cells, Salmonellae invasion was reduced markedly compared to that in nonsenescent cells. In contrast, the over‐expression of caveolin‐1 led to increased Salmonellae invasion in nonsenescent cells. Moreover, in aged mice, caveolin‐1 was found to be highly expressed in Peyer's patch and spleen, which are targets for infection by Salmonellae. These results suggest that high levels of caveolae and caveolin‐1 in senescent host cells might be related to the increased susceptibility of elderly individuals to microbial infections.


INTRODUCTION
The clinical relevance of surgical lung biopsy in Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) is supported in the literature. Yet most reports reflect institutional or personal bias.

AIM
To evaluate the validity of radiologic diagnosis and clinical impact of lung biopsy to help clarify which patient benefit most from biopsy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
We performed a retrospective analysis of a prospectively managed database. All patients who had a surgical lung biopsy for ILD within a period of four year (2009 to 2013) were included. Data included patient demographics, peri-operative variables and outcomes. Preoperative Computed Tomography (CT) imaging was reviewed by a thoracic radiologist blinded to the original report and pathologic information.

RESULTS
A total of 47 patients were included. Lung tissue was obtained via a thoracoscopic approach in all but two that had mini-thoracotomy. Mean operating time was 51.1 minutes (18-123), median hospital stay was two days (1-18). Most (87.2%) of the patients were discharged within 72 hours. Thirty day mortality for elective surgery was 4.5% (2/44). Post-operative complications occurred in about one third of the patients. Complications in elective procedures included pneumothorax (10.4%), re-intubation (5.4%) and prolonged intubation (2.7%). Full concordance of radiographic diagnosis with the final diagnosis was significantly higher when reviewed by a cardiothoracic radiologist (60.5% vs. 21.3%). The preoperative clinical diagnosis was fully concordant with the final diagnosis in only 28.2% of cases. In 13.0% of patients the preoperative diagnosis was incorrect. Malignancy was the final diagnosis in two (4.3%) patients. In 51.1% of the patients, results of the biopsy did alter therapy.

CONCLUSION
Diagnosis of specific ILD by a cardiothoracic radiologist is more specific and accurate and will probably lead to more appropriate therapy. Elective thoracoscopic surgical lung biopsy is a safe procedure, leads to a more accurate diagnosis of ILD and impacts therapy.