This research aimed to evaluate combination of pineapple peel juice and commercial diet and self made diet on performance, and antioxidant activity of quails. This research conducted using a complete randomized design factorial (2x2). Factor A used a different water drinking between Vita Stress (J0) and pineapple peel juice (J1). Factor B used different ration between commercial diet (RK) and self made diet (RS). This research used 320 quails which kept for 5 weeks and had given 4 treatments. The results showed that pineapple peel juice application which combined with commercial diet and self made diet had no significant effect to performance and carcass percentage. Pineapple peel application had a significant effect to increase diet consumption of quails (P<0.05). The self made diet had significant effect to increase drink consumption (P<0.05). Interaction between pineapple peel juice application which combined with commercial diet or self made diet application had significant effect in reducing MDA in liver and meat of quails (P<0.05). Pineapple peel juice supplementation didn't interfere performance and had a potential as antioxidant in quail. Keywords : carcass percentage, MDA, performance, pineapple peel juice, quails.


In this paper we investigate important categories lying strictly between the Kleisli category and the Eilenberg-Moore category, for a Kock-Zoberlein monad on an order-enriched category. Firstly, we give a characterisation of free algebras in the spirit of domain theory. Secondly, we study the existence of weighted (co)limits, both on the abstract level and for specific categories of domain theory like the category of algebraic lattices. Finally, we apply these results to give a description of the idempotent split completion of the Kleisli category of the filter monad on the category of topological spaces.


For a developed market economies, the corona crisis is a new type of crisis, but this crisis has parallels to economies at other times, and to crises at other places. We discuss some mechanisms from the traditional macro literature, and from the literature on macroeconomics for developing countries, which contains economic mechanisms that overnight have also become more relevant to developed market economies. Phenomena such as bottlenecks, rationing, forced savings, production constrained by access to inputs, liquidity constraints, sector heterogeneity, and costs running despite production being shut down, are all permanent phenomena in developing countries. During the corona crisis, however, they have also emerged as key mechanisms in developed market economies. We discuss some of these well developed, but partially forgotten mechanisms, by extending simple textbook descriptions, and we provide some examples of how the effects of fiscal and monetary policy are modified in a time of crisis.


The rise in blogs (short for "Web-logs") has spawned a new world of considerations for lawyers and clients. At their foundation, blogs are Web sites that serve as online diaries and sounding boards. Blogs typically consist of posts, pictures, images, links, and other entries that run the gambit of subjects from politics to sports to literature to personal materials. The exponential rise in blogging stems from improvements in technology, the increasing sophistication of Internet users, and the low cost of creating and maintaining blogs. In the last several years, blogs have mushroomed in number and have achieved a measure of legitimacy and legal protection. At the same time, blogging is also creating its own unique brand of legal issues. Of specific concern to lawyers are the ethical issues surrounding a lawyer's use of blogs, particularly as blog-based discovery becomes more and more common. This article will provide an overview of a lawyer's obligations under the Model Rules of Professional Conduct and the corresponding Washington Rules of Professional Conduct with respect to blog-based discovery.


Recent years have witnessed a shift in nation-wide economic modeling techniques. Parallel to the use of traditional linear models has been the development of more sophisticated nonlinear models, under the name of applied (computable) general equilibrium models. Some of these models have been especially designed to capture the interrelationships of economic, demographic, and spatial processes. This paper investigates the possibilities and expected benefits of incorporating nonlinear multisectoral models of the computable general equilibrium type into the planning methodology of socialist countries.

Linear multisectoral models have become more or less integrated into the complex process of planning in most of the socialist countries. Despite their fundamental conceptual differences the optimal planning models and the computable general equilibrium models exhibit close technical similarities, which make the transfer of modeling techniques feasible. For illustration a tentative nonlinear model is developed for Hungary which combines the concepts and techniques of the above two modeling approaches. The model differs considerably from its Western counterparts and can be viewed as a natural extension of the planning models used in Hungary. The model takes explicitly into account the interaction of real and value variables, emphasizes the foreign trade flows and incorporates demographic and spatial aspects as well.


Objective: To identify reliable predictors of outcome in comatose patients after cardiac arrest using a single routine EEG and standardized interpretation according to the terminology proposed by the American Clinical Neurophysiology Society. Methods: In this cohort study, 4 EEG specialists, blinded to outcome, evaluated prospectively recorded EEGs in the Target Temperature Management trial (TTM trial) that randomized patients to 33°C vs 36°C. Routine EEG was performed in patients still comatose after rewarming. EEGs were classified into highly malignant (suppression, suppression with periodic discharges, burst-suppression), malignant (periodic or rhythmic patterns, pathological or nonreactive background), and benign EEG (absence of malignant features). Poor outcome was defined as best Cerebral Performance Category score 3 – 5 until 180 days. Results: Eight TTM sites randomized 202 patients. EEGs were recorded in 103 patients at a median 77 hours after cardiac arrest; 37% had a highly malignant EEG and all had a poor outcome (specificity 100%, sensitivity 50%). Any malignant EEG feature had a low specificity to predict poor prognosis (48%) but if 2 malignant EEG features were present specificity increased to 96% ( p , 0.001). Specificity and sensitivity were not significantly affected by targeted temperature or sedation. A benign EEG was found in 1% of the patients with a poor outcome. Conclusions: Highly malignant EEG after rewarming reliably predicted poor outcome in half of patients without false predictions. An isolated finding of a single malignant feature did not predict poor outcome whereas a benign EEG was highly predictive of a good outcome. Neurology


Abstract Students, their families, employers and the government want the assurance that students will get "good quality" education. The question is: what does "good quality education" mean? This paper seeks to provide the answer as well as some concrete criteria and proposals to improve the objectives and quality of the education systems. We argue in this study that the quality of higher education and student satisfaction is a cumulative construct, summing various facets and variables of the educational institution, such as technical, functional, infrastructure, interaction and atmosphere variables. In this research we describe a study involving a new instrument, i.e. the 5Qs model and a new method which assures the reasonable level of relevance, validity and reliability, while being explicitly change-oriented. The main goal of the empirical part of this study is not to evaluate the performance of the staff or to analyze the student assessment or satisfaction, rather to test the new 5Qs model. The use of the 5Q dimensions provides both a structure for designing a higher education quality measurement instrument and a framework for prioritizing results and findings.

http://www.hkbsa.org/hkbc_journal/Nang Yan Business Journal/1-10-Mosad.pdf


Can we design efficient algorithms for finding fast algorithms? This question is captured by various circuit minimization problems, and algorithms for the corresponding tasks have significant practical applications. Following the work of Cook and Levin in the early 1970s, a central question is whether minimizing the circuit size of an explicitly given function is NP-complete. While this is known to hold in restricted models such as DNFs, making progress with respect to more expressive classes of circuits has been elusive. In this work, we establish the first NP-hardness result for circuit minimization of total functions in the setting of general (unrestricted) Boolean circuits. More precisely, we show that computing the minimum circuit size of a given multi-output Boolean function f: (0, 1}n → (0, 1}m is NP-hard under many-one polynomial-time randomized reductions. Our argument builds on a simpler NP-hardness proof for the circuit minimization problem for (single-output) Boolean functions under an extended set of generators. Complementing these results, we investigate the computational hardness of minimizing communication. We establish that several variants of this problem are NP-hard under deterministic reductions. In particular, unless P = NP, no polynomial-time computable function can approximate the deterministic two-party communication complexity of a partial Boolean function up to a polynomial. This has consequences for the class of structural results that one might hope to show about the communication complexity of partial functions.


I examine the roles of literacy and literature among the Shakers from the opening of "Mother" Ann Lee's testimony in 1780 through the early twentieth century to propose that the sect persistently resisted and revised "the world's" literacies. I assert that multiple kinds of reading and writing acts reinforce the beliefs of individuals and the church as a whole, and I argue that the increase in literary acts which appear to contribute to individualism and fragmentation of the institution actually allows Believers to revise their theology so that they see their sect as continuing to grow rather than declining. In Chapter I, "Varieties of Literary Experiences," I chronologically survey shifts in the sect's literary endeavors. In Chapter II, "Letters, Spirits and Bodies," I define the Shakers' "spiritual literacies" by exploring relationships between bodily behaviors such as celibacy, theology of an embodied spirit, and literary acts, beginning with examples of Lee recorded in the biographical 1816 Testimonies. Chapters III-VII are case studies of doctrinal treatises, histories, biographies, autobiographies and elegies. In "Handbooks to Spiritual Literacies," I analyze Richard McNemar's Kentucky Revival and John Dunlavy's Manifesto to argue that Lee emerges as an "absent presence" which shapes the writers' faith-strengthening polemical works. In Chapter IV I argue that editors' construction of the 1816 Testimonies and Believers' interpretations of Lee imagery within it depend upon their knowledge of popular texts such as John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress and Susanna Rowson's Charlotte Temple. Lee imagery and racial concerns inform the literacies of African-American Rebecca Jackson and her editor Alonzo Hollister, whose autobiographical writings are the focus of Chapter V. In Chapter VI I argue that the Canterbury, New Hampshire, Obituary Journal and elegies within it reflect an increasing sense of individualism and loss as they preserve Shaker literacies. Finally, I demonstrate how Anna White and Leila Taylor, in Shakerism; Its Meaning and Message (1904), revise the stories of Lee's literacy and Shaker educational practices to sketch the sect as progressive. Yet like many prior Believers, they underscore the presence of a spirit which breathes life into their literacies and literature.


Fundamentals of 5G Mobile Networks provides an overview of the key features of the 5th Generation (5G) mobile networks, discussing the motivation for 5G and the main challenges in developing this new technology. This book provides an insight into the key areas of research that will define this new system technology paving the path towards future research and development. The book is multidisciplinary in nature, and aims to cover a whole host of intertwined subjects that will predominantly influence the 5G landscape, including the future Internet, cloud computing, small cells and self-organizing networks (SONs), cooperative communications, dynamic spectrum management and cognitive radio, Broadcast-Broadband convergence , 5G security challenge, and green RF. This book aims to be the first of its kind towards painting a holistic perspective on 5G Mobile, allowing 5G stakeholders to capture key technology trends on different layering domains and to identify potential inter-disciplinary design aspects that need to be solved in order to deliver a 5G Mobile system that operates seamlessly.


One way to make U.S. corporations more sustainable is to broaden the group of stakeholders whose interests are considered in making decisions. This Essay evaluates a number of possible strategies for creating a role for employees in corporate governance. The strategies include: Using areas other than business association law to enhance the legal rights of individual employees; Encouraging officer or director power, hoping that officers and directors will side with employees and other interests more than shareholders; Encouraging shareholder power, hoping that employees agree with shareholders on the need to keep managers accountable; Supporting unions as a source of countervailing power; Promoting means for directly giving employees a collective voice within corporations, e.g. through employee representation on the board, employee councils, nonbinding employee votes on particular matters, employee surveys, or similar means; Promoting noncorporate legal forms of business association in which employees can play a greater role; or Promoting changes in corporate culture and norms that empower employees.This Essay suggests criteria for evaluating these strategies. One must balance the probability of success of a strategy with the net benefits it would achieve if successful. The benefits and costs of each strategy must include effects on the internal efficiency of corporations, on employee well-being, on the environment, and on the broader community. One must also balance short-term and long-term effects of the differing strategies. This Essay applies these criteria to the seven listed strategies, and suggests a mix of strategies that appears most attractive at this point. No strategy has much chance of improving sustainability in the short run. But, in the long run, the last three strategies above — experimenting within states and corporations with various ways of giving employees voice within corporations and other legal forms — look most promising (or more accurately, least unpromising).


Multilayer x-ray mirrors of molybdenum and silicon operating at normal incidence at energies just below the Si L(II,III) absorption edges are a key component in the development of soft-x-ray projection lithography. In this application high reflectivity is essential. Aging tests on such reflectors, with Mo as the last layer deposited, show that the structures decline in reflectivity with time when stored in air. Chemical analysis of a well-aged surface by photoelectron spectroscopy techniques reveals that the uppermost Mo layer eventually becomes completely oxidized to MoO(3) and MoO(2) and contaminated with carbonaceous materials. The oxidation can be prevented by storing the mirrors in an oxygen-free atmosphere or by depositing the silicon as the top layer. The reflectivity of tarnished mirrors can be restored by removing the oxides by argon-ion etching or wet chemical methods.


A multi-domain (12-domain) vertical alignment liquid crystal display (MVA-LCD) device is proposed and its electro-optic characteristics evaluated through a 3-D simulator. The MVA-LCD exhibits advantages in wide viewing angle, high transmittance, fast response time, and small color shift when a pair of wide view crossed circular polarizers is employed. Potential applications of this MVA-LCD for high quality LCD TVs and computer monitors are emphasized


Objectives: Surgical treatment of complex cervical dystonia and of cervical dyskinesias associated with cervical myelopathy is challenging. In this prospective study, the long term effect of chronic pallidal stimulation in cervical dystonia and on combining the technique with spinal surgery in patients with severe cervical dyskinesias and secondary cervical myelopathy is described. Methods: Eight patients with a history of chronic dystonia who did not achieve adequate benefit from medical treatment or botulinum toxin injection participated in the study. Five patients had complex cervical dystonia with tonic postures and phasic movements. Three patients had rapidly progressive cervical myelopathy secondary to severe cervical dyskinesias and dystonia in the context of a generalised movement disorder. Quadripolar electrodes were implanted in the posteroventral lateral globus pallidus internus with stereotactic CT and microelectrode guidance. In the three patients with secondary cervical myelopathy, spinal surgery was performed within a few weeks and included multilevel laminectomies and a four level cervical corporectomy with spinal stabilisation. Results: Improvement of the movement disorder was noted early after pallidal surgery, but the full benefit could be appreciated only with a delay of several months during chronic stimulation. Three months after surgery, patients with cervical dystonia had improved by 38% in the severity score, by 54% in the disability score, and by 38% in the pain score of a modified version of the Toronto western spasmodic torticollis rating scale. At a mean follow up of 20 months, the severity score had improved by 63%, the disability score by 69%, and the pain score by 50% compared with preoperatively. There was also sustained amelioration of cervical dyskinesias in the three patients who underwent spinal surgery. Lead fractures occurred in two patients. The mean amplitude needed for chronic deep brain stimulation was 3.8 V at a mean pulse width of 210 μs, which is higher than that used for pallidal stimulation in Parkinson's disease. Conclusions: Chronic pallidal stimualtion is effective for complex cervical dystonia and it is a useful adjunct in patients with cervical dyskinesias and secondary cervical myelopathy who undergo spinal surgery.


The concept of social investment has attracted interest from policy makers, financial markets and not-for-profit organisations. It is an emergent notion that is multifaceted and includes different market forms, policy responses and institutional configurations. There is relatively little empirical evidence on the design, implementation and impacts of the various initiatives that have been perceived as falling within the field of social investment. This article begins to address this gap. It draws on the national evaluation of Futurebuilders in England, which was undertaken between 2005 and 2010. At the time, Futurebuilders was one of the largest examples of a public policy initiative to support social investment; based on a policy model of government seeking to promote the use of loan funding to third sector organisations as part of a wider agenda of expanding the sector's role in the delivery of public services. The article explores the effects of the programme on the third sector, on public service delivery and on service users. In conclusion, the article challenges some of the assumptions of this policy model, as well as the potential for 'impact investing' to become a framework for welfare provision.


We discuss iterative methods for computing criticality in nuclear reactors. In general this requires the solution of a generalized eigenvalue problem for an unsymmetric integro-differential operator in six independent variables, modeling transport, scattering, and fission, where the dependent variable is the neutron angular flux. In engineering practice this problem is often solved iteratively, using some variant of the inverse power method. Because of the high dimension, matrix representations for the operators are often not available and the inner solves needed for the eigenvalue iteration are implemented by matrix-free inner iterations. This leads to technically complicated inexact iterative methods, for which there appears to be no published rigorous convergence theory. For the monoenergetic homogeneous model case with isotropic scattering and vacuum boundary conditions, we show that, before discretization, the general nonsymmetric eigenproblem for the angular flux is equivalent to a certain related eigenproblem for the scalar flux, involving a symmetric positive definite weakly singular integral operator (in space only). This correspondence to a symmetric problem (in a space of reduced dimension) permits us to give a convergence theory for inexact inverse iteration and related methods. In particular this theory provides rather precise criteria on how accurate the inner solves need to be in order for the whole iterative method to converge. We also give examples of discretizations which have a corresponding symmetric finite-dimensional reduced form. The theory is illustrated with numerical examples for several test problems of physical relevance, using GMRES as the inner solver.


"Joseph Rykwert is a gloriously erudite, ingeniously speculative historian and critic of architecture --- of, that is, the forms (in the most concrete sense) of civilization, of social embodiment itself. His "The Dancing Column" is a sovereign account of its intricate subject and an enthralling mental journey." -- Susan Sontag "Can a highly erudite book enquire what the sex of columns might be? It can, if the author is Joseph Rykwert. Can one imagine anything more rigid, more desperately immutable and dumb than a column? And yet Rykwert not only makes it dance, as he promised in the title; he also makes it speak. We thought we knew all there was to know about the ancient theory of the architectural orders, but Rykwert obliges us to return to the origins of Western civilization and listen to what architecture is telling us - speaking of many other things beside itself." -- Umberto Eco Joseph Rykwert is one of the major architectural historians of this century, whose full humanistic understanding of architecture and its historical significance is unrivaled. The Dancing Column is certain to be his most controversial and challenging work to date. A decade in preparation, it is a deeply erudite, clearly written, and wide-ranging deconstruction of the system of column and beam known as the "orders of architecture, " tracing the powerful and persistent analogy between columns and/or buildings and the human body. The body-column metaphor is as old as architectural thought, informing the works of Vitruvius, Alberti, and many later writers; but The Dancing Column is the first comprehensive treatment to do this huge subject full justice. Itprovides a new critical examination of the way the classical orders, which have dominated Western architecture for nearly three millennia, were first formulated. Rykwert opens with a review of their consequence for the leading architects of the twen tieth century, and then traces ideas related to them in accounts of sacred antiquity and in scientific doctrines of humor and character. The body-column metaphor is traced in archaeological material from Egypt, Asia Minor, and the Levant, as well as from Greece, drawing on recent accounts by hi storians of Greek religion and society as well as the latest discoveries of archaeologists. Perhaps most important, Rykwert reexamines its significance for the formation of any theoretical view of architecture. Chapters cover an astonishing breadth of material, including the notions of a set number and a proportional as well as an ornamental rule of the orders; the theological-philosophical "interpretatio Christiana" of antiquity on which the domination of the orders relied; the astrological and geometrical canon of the human figure; gender and column; the body as a constantly refashioned cultural product; the Greek temple building and the nature of cult; and the endurance of ornamental forms and the function of symbols.


The expression of 10 genes implicated in regulation of the inflammatory processes in the lung was studied after exposure of alveolar macrophages (AMs) to silica in vitro or in vivo. Exposure of AMs to silica in vitro up-regulated the messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of three genes [interleukin-6 (IL-6), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), and macrophage inflammatory protein-2 (MIP-2)] without a concomitant increase in the protein levels. AMs isolated after intratracheal instillation of silica up-regulated mRNA levels of four additional genes [granulocyte/macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), IL-1β, IL-10, and inducible nitric oxide synthase]. IL-6, MCP-1, and MIP-2 protein levels were elevated in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Fibroblasts under basal culture conditions express much higher levels of IL-6 and GM-CSF compared with AMs. Coculture of AMs and alveolar type II cells, or coculture of AMs and lung fibroblasts, in contact cultures or Transwell chambers, revealed no synergistic effect. Therefore, such interaction does not explain the effects seen in vivo. Identification of the intercellular communication in vivo is still unresolved. However, fibroblasts appear to be an important source of inflammatory mediators in the lung.


Middleware was introduced to facilitate the development of sophisticated applications based on a uniform methodology and industry standards. However, early research and practice suggested that no one-size-fits-all approach was suitable for all application domains and scenarios. This gave rise to industry initiatives to standardize domain-specific middleware services and profiles, as well as research efforts on configurable, reflective, and adaptive middleware. The industry's approach led to easy deployment, although with a level of flexibility limited by the extent of existing profiles. The approach of the research community, on the other hand, enabled high flexibility, allowing any middleware configuration to be defined. Nevertheless, creating sound configurations using this approach is a challenging task, limiting the target audience to expert engineers. As a consequence, both initiatives do not scale with the current proliferation of specialized application domains. In this paper, we target this problem with an approach that leverages model-driven engineering for the construction of domain-specific middleware platforms. A set of high-level, yet expressive, building blocks is defined in the form of a metamodel, which is used to create models that specify the desired middleware configuration. We argue that this approach enables the rapid development of middleware platforms to match the proliferation of application domains, at the same time as it does not require per-application middleware construction or even highly skilled middleware engineers. We present the current state of our research and discuss research directions to fully realize the approach.


Abstract  This study characterized oesophageal shortening during secondary peristalsis and transient lower oesophageal sphincter relaxation (TLOSR) in an attempt to determine its contribution to the opening mechanism. Eight healthy subjects (four males, 26 ± 1 years) had metal clips affixed at 0, +3, and +8 cm relative to the squamocolumnar junction (SCJ), defining two distal oesophageal segments. Axial clip movement was assessed with concurrent videofluoroscopy and manometry during primary peristalsis, secondary peristalsis and TLOSR. Clip‐defined oesophageal segment length change was measured at 0.5‐s intervals. The magnitude of the most distal segment shortening was least with TLOSR, greatest with primary peristalsis and intermediate with secondary peristalsis. Conversely, maximal overall oesophageal shortening during TLOSR, evidenced by SCJ movement, was similar to that during primary peristalsis. In 3/12 TLOSRs, the moment of LOS opening and gas reflux was optimally imaged; SCJ excursion was 0.3 ± 0.1 cm prior to LOS opening and 1.4 ± 0.7 cm immediately after gas reflux. The segmental pattern of oesophageal shortening was distinct during primary peristalsis, secondary peristalsis and TLOSR. During TLOSR, significant elevation of the SCJ occurred only after LOS opening, suggesting that this was a consequence of oesophageal distension induced by gas reflux rather than a component of the opening mechanism.


In this study we develop an empirical method to estimate the volume threshold for predicting coseismic landslide dam formation using landscape parameters obtained from digital elevation models (DEMs). We hypothesize that the potential runout and volume of landslides, together with river features, determine the likelihood of the formation of a landslide dam. To develop this method, a database was created by randomly selecting 140 damming and 200 non‐damming landslides from 501 landslide dams and > 60 000 landslides induced by the Mw 7.9 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China. We used this database to parameterize empirical runout models by stepwise multivariate regression. We find that factors controlling landslide runout are landslide initiation volume, landslide type, internal relief (H) and the H/L ratio (between H and landslide horizontal distance to river, L). In order to obtain a first volume threshold for a landslide to reach a river, the runout regression equations were converted into inverse volume equations by taking the runout to be the distance to river. A second volume threshold above which a landslide is predicted to block a river was determined by the correlation between river width and landslide volume of the known damming landslides. The larger of these two thresholds was taken as the final damming threshold. This method was applied to several landslide types over a fine geographic grid of assumed initiation points in a selected catchment. The overall prediction accuracy was 97.4% and 86.0% for non‐damming and damming landslides, respectively. The model was further tested by predicting the damming landslides over the whole region, with promising results. We conclude that our method is robust and reliable for the Wenchuan event. In combination with pre‐event landslide susceptibility and frequency–size assessments, it can be used to predict likely damming locations of future coseismic landslides, thereby helping to plan emergency response. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Three air-fall tephra layers have been identified in a 20,000-year sedimentary record retrieved from the bottom of the Lago di Pergusa lake in central Sicily. Investigations on glass particle morphology, mineral content, and grain-discrete major element composition of the glass fraction of each tephra have been carried out for identification of source volcano and correlation to corresponding proximal deposits. AMS 1 4 C dating on lacustrine sediment samples provides the chronological framework. The youngest tephra layer (3.1 ka) is benmoreitic-mugearitic in composition and is attributed to the explosive activity of Etna. The second tephra layer (about 20 ka) consists of pumice pyroclasts of uniform high-K rhyolitic composition and correlates with the Monte Guardia pyroclastic deposits of Lipari (Aeolian Islands). The oldest tephra layer (about 20 ka) shows a potassic trachy-latitic composition and may originate from either Vulcano (Aeolian Islands) or the Campanian volcanic area. This study develops the first tephra record in the island of Sicily that integrates the stratigraphy of distal tephra layers in the central Mediterranean. The finding of tephra layers at Lago di Pergusa provides new information on Late Quaternary explosive activity of the Mediterranean volcanoes.


The negative effects of sleep deprivation on alertness and cognitive performance suggest decreases in brain activity and function, primarily in the thalamus, a subcortical structure involved in alertness and attention, and in the prefrontal cortex, a region subserving alertness, attention, and higher‐order cognitive processes. To test this hypothesis, 17 normal subjects were scanned for quantifiable brain activity changes during 85 h of sleep deprivation using positron emission tomography (PET) and 18Fluorine‐2‐deoxyglucose (18FDG), a marker for regional cerebral metabolic rate for glucose (CMRglu) and neuronal synaptic activity. Subjects were scanned prior to and at 24‐h intervals during the sleep deprivation period, for a total of four scans per subject. During each 30 min 18FDG uptake, subjects performed a sleep deprivation‐sensitive Serial Addition/Subtraction task. Polysomnographic monitoring confirmed that subjects were awake. Twenty‐four hours of sleep deprivation, reported here, resulted in a significant decrease in global CMRglu, and significant decreases in absolute regional CMRglu in several cortical and subcortical structures. No areas of the brain evidenced a significant increase in absolute regional CMRglu. Significant decreases in relative regional CMRglu, reflecting regional brain reductions greater than the global decrease, occurred predominantly in the thalamus and prefrontal and posterior parietal cortices. Alertness and cognitive performance declined in association with these brain deactivations. This study provides evidence that short‐term sleep deprivation produces global decreases in brain activity, with larger reductions in activity in the distributed cortico‐thalamic network mediating attention and higher‐order cognitive processes, and is complementary to studies demonstrating deactivation of these cortical regions during NREM and REM sleep.


Previous literature on mentoring, specifically that of cross-cultural mentoring, has provided some insight into the intricacy of race in mentoring. However, much of this literature has focused on the mentoring relationship of a White individual mentoring a person of color. This qualitative inquiry critically explores the experiences of six Black female faculty who have mentored White female students in higher education graduate programs, focusing specifically on how they enter into these cross-cultural mentoring relationships. Using Black feminist thought, our findings suggest that while individual Black faculty may have unique experiences entering into mentoring relationships with White female students, a Black feminist standpoint does exist. These faculty members entered into the relationships cautiously and with thought, responding emotionally to the idea of mentoring White students, and screening the students, before formalizing the relationship via a student-centered approach. The findings from this study serve as a starting point in which to better understand faculty of color's experiences mentoring White students as well as provide implications for both faculty and students who may enter into such a relationship.


Internationalization continues to remain a central focus within the U.S. university environment. The motives of internationalization are under question as neoliberal policies continue to limit sustained, long-term state funding for universities and undermine the academic mission of universities. Universities are leveraging internationalization practices, like study abroad programming, in response to the pressures of neoliberalism. In this study, qualitative case study methods were used to critically examine study abroad programming between the United States (US) and Cuba before, during, and after the Obama Administration's announcement changing diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba on December 17, 2014. The perspectives of 12 of the main actors in the field, including educational administrators and faculty from U.S. universities, Cuban universities, and study abroad program providers, were captured to provide a more comprehensive view of study abroad implementation in Cuba.  The findings illustrate the influences of the neoliberal university environment in which study abroad programming is situated. These findings point to the prioritization of a market-based approach to study abroad programming, which amplifies inequities and power dynamics within north-south study abroad programs.


BACKGROUND: Limited knowledge exists on vascular risk factors, body height and weight in patients with spontaneous cervical artery dissection (sCAD). PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this case-control study, major vascular risk factors, body weight, body height and body mass index (BMI) of 239 patients obtained from a prospective hospital-based sCAD registry were compared with 516 ageand sex-matched healthy controls undergoing systematic health examinations in the Clinical and Preventive Investigations Center, Paris. Gender-specific analyses were performed. RESULTS: The mean body height was higher in sCAD patients than in controls (171.3 cm (SD 8.6) vs 167.7 cm (8.9); p<0.0001) and sCAD patients had a significantly lower mean body weight (67.5 (12.2) kg vs 69.3 (14.6) kg; p<0.001) and mean BMI (22.9 (3.3) kg/m2 vs 24.5 (4.2) kg/m2; p<0.0001) than controls. The overall frequency of hypertension, diabetes, current smoking, past smoking and hypercholesterolaemia did not differ significantly between sCAD patients and controls. The mean total plasma cholesterol level was identical in both groups (5.5 mmol/l, SD 1.1). Gender specific subgroup analyses showed similar results for men and women. CONCLUSION: Patients with sCAD had a higher body height and a lower body weight and BMI than controls, while major vascular risk factors were similar in sCAD patients and controls.


This study examines Millennials' adoption of omnichannel retailing and the underlying mechanism. Four studies were conducted to examine the moderating roles of product category and regulatory focus on Millennial's purchase intentions in omnichannel retailing. Study 1 and 2 findings show that Millennials adopt omnichannel retailing over pure brick-and-mortar and pure online retailing and that perceived convenience, enjoyment, and value determine the adoption of omnichannel retailing for shopping. Study 3 shows that product category influences Millennial's preference for omnichannel retailing. Finally, Study 4 offers support for the moderating role of Millennials' regulatory focus in determining their retail format choice for shopping.


Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess whether certain patient and hospital characteristics would have significant effects on the length of stay for patients admitted to non-federal hospitals with Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) and Myocardial Infarction (MI) using a comparative data analysis. Methods: This was a retrospective data analysis of inpatient Diabetes and Myocardial Infarction discharges (ages 20-84 years old) from the 2006 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS). Descriptive, bivariate, and dummy coded linear regression analyses were used to identify the association of patient and hospital characteristics with the inpatient T2D and MI length of stay. Data analysis and management were performed using SPSS version 17.0. Sample selection was based on the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes. Inclusions were inpatients diagnosed with both T2D and MI, admitted in non-federal hospitals, and age 20 years to 84 years old. Results: The descriptive results showed that males (1,862 or 67%) were admitted more than females (912 or 33%). The bivariate analysis showed a significant result between gender and patient insurance, X2 (1, N = 1480) = 1.598, p < .001. The adjusted dummy coded linear regression with MI severity and patient comorbidities on length of stay was significant for Gender (B = .931, p < .000), Age (B = .039, p < .000), and Hispanics (B = .832, p < .017) when compared to Whites. Another significant predictor of patient length of stay was Medicaid (B = 2.266, p < .000). Adjusted statistical analysis with only MI severity was significant for atrial fibrillation (B = 1.740, p < .003) and cardiogenic shock (B = 2.482, p < .000) when compared to cardiac arrest.Conclusions and Recommendations: There were inequalities seen in this study related to age, gender, ethnicity, and insurance possession of diabetic myocardial infarction inpatients. Most importantly is that as patient advocates, healthcare professionals need to screen their patients for complications of heart disease when they present with diabetes on admission. More data driven results are needed to evaluate the inequality that exists in hospitalized patients with both type 2 diabetes and myocardial infarction to improve the quality of healthcare.


Ground-based observations at millimeter (mm) and submillimeter (submm) wavelengths were collected at the atmospheric radiation measurement program site at Barrow, AK, during the Arctic winter by a new 25-channel radiometer. A weighting function analysis is presented to demonstrate the enhanced sensitivity of mm- and submm-wave (50-400 GHz) radiometers to low vapor and liquid water contents with respect to conventional instruments such as the ones operating at centimeter (cm) wavelengths (20-30 GHz). In addition, based on measurements, we carried out a quantitative analysis of mm- and submm-wavelength sensitivity, yielding improvement factors from 1.5 to 69 for precipitable water vapor (PWV) and 3 to 4 for liquid water path (LWP) when compared to 20-30 GHz radiometers. Furthermore, using a simulated data set, we evaluate the effect of hydrometeor scattering: given the conditions occurring during the experiment, the scattering contribution is within the instrumental noise for most, but not all, of the considered channels. With the same data set, we demonstrate that in the dry conditions of the Arctic, a simple linear regression yields satisfactory results when applied on selected mm- and submm-wave channels. For a dual-channel combination, the expected accuracy is ~0.23 (0.007) mm for PWV (LWP), when using mm- and submm-wavelengths, whereas it is 0.37 (0.012) mm using cm-wave channels. When the retrieval is applied to real observations, the accuracy is found in agreement with theoretical expectations.


Polymer-based composite material possesses superior properties such as high strength-to-weight ratio, stiffness-to-weight ratio and good corrosive resistance and therefore, is attractive for high performance applications such as in aerospace, defense and sport goods industries. Drilling is one of the indispensable methods for building products with composite panels. Surface quality and dimensional accuracy play an important role in the performance of a machined component. In machining processes, however, the quality of the component is greatly influenced by the cutting conditions, tool geometry, tool material, machining process, chip formation, work piece material, tool wear and vibration during cutting. Drilling tests were conducted on glass fiber reinforced plastic composite [GFRP] laminates using an instrumented CNC milling center. A series of experiments are conducted using TRIAC VMC CNC machining center to correlate the cutting parameters and material parameters on the cutting thrust, torque and surface roughness. The measured results were collected and analyzed with the help of the commercial software packages MINITAB14 and Taly Profile. The surface roughness of the drilled holes was measured using Rank Taylor Hobson Surtronic 3+ instrument. The method could be useful in predicting thrust, torque and surface roughness parameters as a function of process variables. The main objective is to optimize the process parameters to achieve low cutting thrust, torque and good surface roughness. From the analysis it is evident that among all the significant parameters, speed and drill size have significant influence cutting thrust and drill size and specimen thickness on the torque and surface roughness. It was also found that feed rate does not have significant influence on the characteristic output of the drilling process.


Neural network studies have previously focused on monolithic structures. The brain has a bicameral nature, however, and so it is natural to expect that bicameral structures will perform better. This dissertation offers an approach to the development of such bicameral structures. The companion neural structure takes advantage of the global and subset characteristics of the stored memories. Specifically we propose the use of an asynchronous controller C that implies the following update of a probe vector x by the connection matrix T: $x\sp\prime$ = sgn (C(x, TX)). For a VLSI-implemented neural network the controller block can be easily placed in the feedback loop.
In a network running asynchronously, the updating of the probe generally offers a choice among several components. If the right components are not updated the network may converge to an incorrect stable point. The proposed asynchronous controller together with the basic neural net forms a bicameral network that can be programmed in various ways to exploit global and local characteristics of stored memory. Several methods to do this are proposed. In one of the methods the update choices are based on bit frequencies. In another method handles are appended to the memories to improve retrieval. The new methods have been analyzed and their performance studies it is shown that there is a marked improvement in performance. This is illustrated by means of simulations.
The use of an asynchronous controller allows the implementation of conditional rules that occur frequently in AI applications. It is shown that a neural network that uses conditional rules can solve problems in natural language understanding.
The introduction of the asynchronous controller may be viewed as a first step in the development of truly bicameral structures that may be seen as the next generation of neural computers.


On January 1, 2005 a new accounting standard became the valid standard for all listed companies within the EU and among them the property companies. This means that the real estate business now appraise their property holdings at fair value, using the IAS 40 – Investment Property standard. The new IAS/IFRS standards opens up for a more subjective judgment, and appraisal at fair value is used to a greater extent. An important problem which should be acknowledged when appraising properties at fair value is the uncertainty that the appraisal is associated with. A description whether the property companies use the sales comparison approach or the income approach when appraising their property holdings have been given. And by reading annual reports and sending questionnaires to the listed property companies on the Swedish market a study has been made about how properties are appraised. Another aim was to find out if the standard has led to an increased comparability and a true and fair view. In the frame of reference, information taken from annual reports and other literature has been presented, in order to form statements further on. The types of references used are accounting concepts, standards and models of appraisal. A number of definitions as well as the meaning of having an appraisal made internally and externally have been discussed. The frame of reference is then followed by the empirical studies, where information derived from the annual reports has been combined with information provided by the respondents to our questionnaires. The respondents are not only represented by 13 companies but also by two auditors and Bo Nordlund, who is doing research within this field. The result of the study is first of all that the cash flow model is the one used by all companies, whereas the sales comparison approach is used only to estimate certain components in the cash flow model. Secondly, property appraisal will always be surrounded by a high degree of subjectivity and uncertainty. This is why we question the expression 'fair value', will it ever be possible to reach a fair value when appraising?


Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of golimumab 50 and 100 mg monotherapy in Japanese patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) despite treatment with disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Methods A total of 316 patients were randomised to receive subcutaneous injections every 4 weeks of placebo (group 1), golimumab 50 mg (group 2) or golimumab 100 mg (group 3); group 1 crossed over to golimumab 50 mg at week 16. The primary end point was the proportion of patients achieving ≥20% improvement in the American College of Rheumatology criteria (ACR20) at week 14. ACR50 and ACR70 response rates were also measured. Adverse events (AEs) were monitored throughout the study. Results Demographics were similar across groups; the mean age was 52 years and 81.8% of patients (252/308) were female. Week 14 ACR20 response rates were significantly greater in groups 2 (51/101 (50.5%)) and 3 (60/102 (58.8%)) than in group 1 (20/105 (19.0%); p<0.0001 for both), as were ACR50 and ACR70 response rates. After placebo crossover at week 16, week 24 ACR response rates were similar in groups 1 and 2. Through week 16, 63.8% of patients in group 1, 62.4% in group 2 and 60.8% in group 3 had AEs and 1.9%, 1.0% and 2.0% had serious AEs. After week 16, one malignancy was reported (breast cancer, group 3). Infections were the most common AEs. No deaths or cases of tuberculosis were reported through week 24. Conclusions Golimumab monotherapy (50 and 100 mg) was effective in reducing the signs and symptoms of RA in Japanese patients with active disease despite DMARD treatment.


A story-stem paradigm was used to assess interpretation bias in preschool children. Data were available for 131 children. Interpretation bias, behavioral inhibition (BI), and anxiety were assessed when children were aged between 3 years 2 months and 4 years 5 months. Anxiety was subsequently assessed 12 months, 2 years, and 5 years later. A significant difference in interpretation bias was found between participants who met criteria for an anxiety diagnosis at baseline, with clinically anxious participants more likely to complete the ambiguous story-stems in a threat-related way. Threat interpretations significantly predicted anxiety symptoms at 12-month follow-up, after controlling for baseline symptoms, but did not predict anxiety symptoms or diagnoses at either 2-year or 5-year follow-up. There was little evidence for a relationship between BI and interpretation bias. Overall, the pattern of results was not consistent with the hypothesis that interpretation bias plays a role in the development of anxiety. Instead, some evidence for a role in the maintenance of anxiety over relatively short periods of time was found. The use of a story-stem methodology to assess interpretation bias in young children is discussed along with the theoretical and clinical implications of the findings.


This Essay, written for a symposium hosted by the Wisconsin Law Review on judicial nominations, analyzes the failures of some of the tactics used on judicial nominations during the eight years of the Obama Administration. This Essay argues that the roots of these failures to do more on judicial nominations during the Obama Administration reside in a common tactical error made by political leaders in the Democratic Party: excessive cooperation with political forces that do not manifest the same behavioral patterns of cooperation. In addition to the tactical argument, this Essay has a taxonomical goal. Judicial nominations are a unique field of political activity, in which a series of more aggressive political strategies have emerged yet have not previously been identified and described. I label these three tactical tools as naming, numbing, and numbers. Naming means an Administration selecting nominees that identify their jurisprudential perspective with a particular frame — such as originalism — and promoting these nominees by also using that name. Numbing means the open consideration and/or selection of unusually provocative judicial nominees that generate political extremeness aversion. The political system is distracted from other nominees by the controversial political or actual nominee, and other nominees are framed as less controversial because their views are distorted by comparison to the controversial potential or actual nominees. Numbers refers to the simultaneous nomination of a large number of judges to the federal bench. The volume of nominees precludes the opposition from being able to direct resources towards a critical mass of nominees, and also generates political pressure to confirm a critical mass so as to avoid being labeled as obstructing the Senate. For both the tactical and the taxonomical, the goal is to take a step back from the day-to-day politics of judicial nominations to make some larger, more theoretical observations about the eight years of judicial nominations by the Obama Administration that will shed some light on potential tactics during later presidencies.


Several retroviruses encode trans-acting factors which activate gene expression directed by long terminal repeat (LTR) sequences and play a role in the positive feedback regulation of virus replication. We have examined two Mason-Pfizer monkey virus (MPMV) strains for their ability to produce and respond to such factors. Plasmids with the LTR of either MPMV or type D retrovirus/New England (D/NE) were fused to the bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) gene. Introduction of these plasmids into several different human cell lines gave rise to significant CAT activity, demonstrating the strong transcriptional promoter activity of these LTRs. However, little or no increase in CAT activity was found upon transfection of these plasmids into MPMV- or D/NE-infected cell lines as compared with uninfected cell lines. Furthermore, CAT activity was not enhanced in uninfected cells by cotransfecting either a functional MPMV DNA clone, a plasmid expressing the human T-lymphotropic retrovirus trans-activator genes, tat-1 or tat-3. These data show that the property of trans-activation of LTR-mediated gene expression is a function in the replication of only certain retroviruses.


We consider the problem of shape optimization of systems governed by the stationary incompressible Navier-Stokes equations under flow and geometric constraints. Our motivation stems from the problem of optimal design of artificial heart components. An continuation-SQP algorithm is developed to efficiently couple Newton-based optimization and flow solution. The main feature of the algorithm is to decompose the optimization problem into a sequence of subproblems characterized by increasing Reynolds numbers, and then apply continuation schemes on the design field, Hessian matrix, Lagrange multipliers, and flowfield. As an application we consider the optimum design of the shape of a two dimensional tube—a simplification of a blood flow cannula that is a component of an artificial heart. Representative numerical results show a factor of four improvement in efficiency over a standard SQP algorithm.


This article reports on a study that followed up on an initial interdisciplinary project and focused specifically on the experiences of researchers involved in practice-based interdisciplinary research. We share an approach to research evaluation that focuses on the experiences of those conducting the research rather than the outputs. The study allowed those involved in the initial successful project to reflect post hoc on their experiences. We show that neglecting fundamental conceptions about how the research is conceptualized can lead to challenges with the research itself. In addition to alternative understandings of research and concepts, practical and logistical issues, whilst seeming trivial, feed into communication issues such as misunderstanding of terms and language. We argue that tensions and confusions around the very nature of the research—what was being researched, and what was valued as research, epistemological differences between the disciplinary perspectives—need to be explored and interrogated in order to maximize the benefits of interdisciplinary research. We conclude with considerations of the relationship between interdisciplinary research in a team and identity work of team members, and the implications this may have for research design, an area of research evaluation that certainly needs further exploration.


In the 1980s and 1990s, privatisation has been widely adopted across the developing world and has reversed the previous trend towards the expansion of state enterprise. This thesis examines the establishment, operation and privatisation of the state enterprise sector in Zambia between 1968 and 1998. Following the economic reforms announced at Mulungushi (1968) and Matero Hall (1969), state
enterprise came to dominate the economy. In 1990 a policy of limited privatisation was introduced which was subsequently extended to cover the entire state enterprise sector. By the end of 1998, this had resulted in the privatisation of the majority of state enterprises.

The thesis examines the changing role of state enterprise from a political perspective, with the state analysed as the agent of policy choice and implementation. It examines the reasons for the growth in state enterprise, evaluates its performance and identifies the factors which prompted the adoption of privatisation and influenced its implementation. It argues that the growth of state enterprise was primarily a response to the inadequacies of the existing private sector in meeting the state's developmental objectives. However, the strategy pursued by the state enterprise sector proved to be commercially and financially unsustainable. To these problems were added pressure from creditors and donors for Zambia to adopt policies of market liberalisation. This resulted in the adoption of a strategy of comprehensive privatisation.

The thesis examines how the choice of the method of privatisation of individual enterprises reflected the
objectives of the government in undertaking the programme and the constraints under which it was implemented. The Zambian Government sought to promote competitive industrial structures, indigenous ownership and the viability of the enterprises involved in the process. It has, however, been constrained in this by a number of factors, including the existing legal rights of minority shareholders, the weak
commercial and financial position of many state enterprises and the macro-economic environment in which the programme has been undertaken.


TSVETKOV, Ts., Ts. TAKEVA and A. SOLAK, 2006. To the problem of experimental hibernation I. About the role of endogenous hibernation trigger. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 1-5 Experimented 24 white mice (Mus Musculus), divided into 2 groups of twelve. The fist 12 animals have been injected intraperitoneal (i.p.) with blood plasma (in different doses) from ground squirrels by the time of deep hibernation. By the animals rapid decrease in body temperature has been noticed. Interesting to be outlined, by a lower temperature the hypothermic period has started earlier. In the second group of mice injected i.p. blood plasma from summer-active ground squirrels in identical doses. The experimented mice have established no change in the body temperature. Thus stated, the possible factor causing hibernation can be found in the plasma by the time of deep winter sleep and indicates biological activity by the nonhibernating species as well.


Food trends are evolving in many ways and one of the biggest upcoming trends is the free-from diet, which represents products free from allergen ingredients such as gluten, lactose, etc. The trend has reached individuals with food intolerances as well as people with a health conscious mind who believe this being a healthier way of living. In general, the amount of individuals who are starting to be aware of the free-from term and concept is constantly increasing. The purpose of this master thesis is to evaluate the current adaptation of allergen free products among Swedish bakeries and patisseries from a marketing perspective. The identified problem in the field is the lack of information concerning how bakeries and patisseries are marketing the allergen free products. The literature review presents different food trends and definitions based on current literature as a conceptual basis for the analysis. In order to answer the research question, a quantitative method in form of a survey was used. There were 38 companies who participated in the survey and the results show that the majority does not market the allergen free products in a different way compared to regular products and that competition within this market is experienced to be rather low. In the analysis, the results are divided into companies with and without allergen free products. This Master"s Thesis concludes that bakeries and patisseries in Sweden have successfully introduced allergen free products to the market, but they need to set a deeper focus on the free-from marketing of such products in order to survive future competition. Moreover, marketing implications are formulated for the Swedish bakery Swebake AB, which is the cooperation company for this thesis. In the last part of this thesis, fields of further research are named.


Boolean SAT solving can be used to find a minimum-size logic network for a given small Boolean function. This paper extends the SAT formulation to find a minimum-size network under delay constraints. Delay constraints are given in terms of input arrival times and the maximum depth. After integration into a depth-optimizing mapping algorithm, the proposed SAT formulation can be used to perform logic rewriting to reduce the logic depth of a network. It is shown that to be effective the logic rewriting algorithm requires (i) a fast SAT formulation and (ii) heuristics to quickly determine whether the given delay constraints are feasible for a given function. The proposed algorithm is more versatile than previous algorithms, which is confirmed by the experimental results.


As part of its 2015-2016 annual work plan, the Office of Evaluation and Oversight (OVE) prepared the Bank's country program evaluation (CPE) with Argentina for the 2009-2015 period. This CPE is OVE's third independent evaluation of the IDB's country program with Argentina. The first (document RE-299) covered the 1990-2002 period and focused on analyzing Bank support prior to and during the 2001-2002 crisis. The second OVE evaluation (document RE-361) covered support during the Argentine economy's strong recovery in the post-crisis period (2003-2008). The 2009-2015 CPE evaluates the Bank's program with the country over the period subsequent to the 2009 international crisis, which was guided by the 2012-2015 strategy (document GN-2687) and updates to the 2004-2008 strategy (document GN-2328) over the 2009-2011 period. This CPE seeks to analyze the Bank's relationship with the country, taking an independent view and assessing, in particular, the program's relevance and effectiveness, including both financial and nonfinancial products offered by the Bank during the period under analysis. This evaluation is intended as an input for the new country strategy document that the Bank is preparing.


Old industrial regions such as Donbass region in Ukraine, require intensive restructurization to facilitate them full participation in the economic life of the country on equal rights as other regions of Ukraine as well as to ensure proper life conditions to the inhabitants of these regions, in which huge part of the country's population concentrate. Now this problem is solving mostly by means of technical closing of unprofitable enterprises. Especially it concerns the coal mine industry. This is a right way assuming that exists a real program of restructuring which includes not only the main steps of it but also the evaluation of all the process along with estimation of social transition cost. But because of absence of a sober policy in this process and poor information dissemination the government gets into a much more complicated problem - the growth of social unprotection, unsettleness and pauperization of a huge layer of the active able-bodied population. Such social cost of ungrounded restructurization is difficult to be accepted in modern state. In order to facilitate process of adaptation of population to new conditions the International Renaissance Foundation with Polish partners have jointly launched a project aimed at the development and dissemination of a strategy and methods of economic and social problems solving which connected to the process of restructurization of old industrial regions in countries in transition. The main topics of the project: - Regional community member's awareness. - General education, training the present and future managerial cadre, re-qualification and socio-professional reconversion. - Role of information in the process of restructurization. - Transformation the old and setting up new enterprises. - Creation and improvement of the instruments and the institutions of regional restructurization. - Conducting a forum of public dialogue. There are steps that have been already done on the way of project implementation: - Quantitative investigations - sociological analysis of four sites in Donetsk region mostly populated with coal miner's families. - Qualitative investigations on the above mentioned topics. - Three workshops conducted in Donetsk region (sities of Donetsk, Mekeevka and Stakhanov). - One workshop conducted in Gliwice (Poland). All the workshops were dedicated to investigation of the approaches to the creation of a decision making strategy which would help to solve problems of industrial restructurization, rebuilding of country's economy, and economic and social consequences of this processes. Along with the project implementation there have been established the Agency for Regional Development in Donetsk as an institution that is aimed to help the economic reforms promotion and practical implementation of the steps on structural rebuilding in the Donetsk region. In addition, two centers for Social Adaptation of Coal Miners were set in the sites of closed coal mines in Donetsk with the help of the International Renaissance Foundation. The future development of this project assumes to widen the circle of its participants including representatives from Nord-Rhein Westphalen (Germany) and Nord-Pas-de-Calais (France). The overall objective of the new phase of it is to use the combined experience of the project partners in order to develop and implement strategies which effectively address the economic problems caused by the decline in the coal mine industry. Key words: restructurization, social adaptation, decision making strategy.


Learning systems suffer from a lack of an explicit and adaptable didactic design. A way to overcome such deficiencies is (semi-) formally representing the didactic design. A modeling approach, storyboarding, is outlined here. Storyboarding is setting the stage to apply knowledge engineering technologies to verify, validate the didactics behind a learning process. As a vision, didactics can be refined according to revealed weaknesses and proven excellence. Furthermore, successful didactic patterns can be inductively inferred by analyzing the particular knowledge processing and its alleged contribution to learning success.


Genetic evidence is provided for parthenogenesis in a large-bodied shark, the blacktip Carcharhinus limbatus, from the speciose and commercially important family Carcharhinidae, the first verified case of asexual development in this lineage and only the second for any chondrichthyan. The parthenogenetic embryo exhibited elevated homozygosity relative to its mother, indicating that automictic parthenogenesis is the most likely mechanism. Although this finding shows that parthenogenesis is more common and widespread in sharks than previously realized and supports the early existence of parthenogenetic abilities in vertebrates, the adaptive significance of automixis in these ancient fishes remains unclear.


Ischemic preconditioning is a phenomenon in which low-level stressful stimuli upregulate endogenous defensive programs, resulting in subsequent resistance to otherwise lethal injuries. We previously observed that signal transduction systems typically associated with neurodegeneration such as caspase activation are requisite events for the expression of tolerance and induction of HSP70. In this work, we sought to determine the extent and duration of oxidative and energetic dysfunction as well as the role of effector kinases on metabolic function in preconditioned cells. Using an in vitro neuronal culture model, we observed a robust increase in Raf and p66Shc activation within 1 h of preconditioning. Total ATP content decreased by 25% 3 h after preconditioning but returned to baseline by 24 h. Use of a free radical spin trap or p66shc inhibitor increased ATP content whereas a Raf inhibitor had no effect. Phosphorylated p66shc rapidly relocalized to the mitochondria and in the absence of activated p66shc, autophagic processing increased. The constitutively expressed chaperone HSC70 relocalized to autophagosomes. Preconditioned cells experience significant total oxidative stress measured by F2-isoprostanes and neuronal stress evaluated by F4-neuroprostane measurement. Neuroprostane levels were enhanced in the presence of Shc inhibitors. Finally, we found that inhibiting either p66shc or Raf blocked neuroprotection afforded by preconditioning as well as upregulation of HSP70, suggesting both kinases are critical for preconditioning but function in fundamentally different ways. This is the first work to demonstrate the essential role of p66shc in mediating requisite mitochondrial and energetic compensation after preconditioning and suggests a mechanism by which protein and organelle damage mediated by ROS can increase HSP70.


Ever since the 2016 U.S. elections, disquiet about the role of Russian propaganda in the U.S. media system has grown into outrage and fear. How has one authoritarian state been able to wreck so much havoc in the U.S. media system? The answer lies in a relatively small area of political communication scholarship: the study of national media models. Scholars ranging from Fred Siebert to Paulo Mancini have eloquently articulated how closely media systems reflect their national political systems and cultures. While this debate has remained mostly academic, it now holds the key to understanding (and trying to control) the vulnerabilities to disinformation in the U.S. media ecosystem. This paper pushes back against the idea that media literacy of the audience is the critical problem in combatting 'fake news' created as disinformation by other countries. The U.S. media audience has not fundamentally changed in the past two decades. What has changed in the way in which media is supplied to the American public, notably the decline of traditional news, the fragmentation of the information space online, the rise of news distributed within trusted circles via social media platforms, and the flooding of the U.S. news supply with both foreign and domestic disinformation. In thinking about the role of Russian propaganda as one central challenge to the U.S. media system, it is clear the affordances of the Russian media system strongly favor the ability of Russia to exploit the U.S. media sphere. Under the Russian media system, journalists are considered mouthpieces for political interests and mold information to support those in power, unfettered by the U.S. ideal of media in service to the public or a greater truth. The U.S. media cannot completely ignore these messages, but must expend precious resources refuting or attempting to find some sort of impossible 'balance' between disinformation and actual news. Nor can the mainstream U.S. media counter with its own disinformation, as this violates American media ethics. This paper will discuss evidence from the 2016 U.S. elections to showcase the role Russian disinformation has played in undermining the U.S. media system and how it has dovetailed with other challenges to the supply of information to U.S. citizens. The paper also will suggest possible solutions to the issue of Russian disinformation, with an emphasis on how social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter should acknowledge their essential role in preserving the free media system and significantly increase their efforts to help the American audience to identify disinformation.


We demonstrate a diode end-pumped Yb, Er, Ho:Gd(1.17)Y(1.83)Sc(2)Ga(3)O(12) (GYSGG) laser operated at 2.79 μm in continuous-wave mode. Spectral analysis shows that Yb(3+) and Ho(3+) act as sensitizer and deactivator ions, respectively. Pumping with a 967 nm laser diode produces the maximum output power of 411 mW, corresponding to optical-optical conversion and slope efficiencies of 11.6% and 13.1%, respectively. The minimum laser threshold is only 81 mW because of Ho(3+) doping. The laser properties are only slightly influenced by 100 mrad gamma irradiation. The Yb, Er, Ho:GYSGG crystal possesses excellent radiation resistance and is a potential laser gain medium in radiant environments.


Spatiotemporal optical coherence (STOC) imaging is a new technique for suppressing coherent cross talk noise in Fourier-domain full-field optical coherence tomography (FD-FF-OCT). In STOC imaging, the time-varying inhomogeneous phase masks modulate the incident light to alter the interferometric signal. Resulting interference images are then processed as in standard FD-FF-OCT and averaged incoherently or coherently to produce cross-talk-free volumetric optical coherence tomography (OCT) images of the sample. Here, we show that coherent averaging is suitable when phase modulation is performed for both interferometer arms simultaneously. We explain the advantages of coherent over incoherent averaging. Specifically, we show that modulated signal, after coherent averaging, preserves lateral phase stability, enabling computational phase correction to compensate for geometrical aberrations. Ultimately, we employ it to correct for aberrations present in the image of the photoreceptor layer of the human retina that reveals otherwise invisible photoreceptor mosaics.


"What is Justice?"

With that short, but extremely complex question on our minds, four researchers from the Jigme Singye Wangchuck School of Law ("JSW Law") spent a combined eleven months visiting each of Bhutan's twenty Dzongkhags. The Law School began to lay the foundations for this field research in 2016. Plans to conduct research of this nature grew from ongoing policy discussions about whether the 12th Five Year Plan ("FYP") should specifically designate a "Justice Sector" for planning, fundraising, and monitoring purposes. In the interim, of course, there now exists such an integrated Justice Sector, and planning for that sector is now coordinated by the Royal Courts of Justice. As part of that planning process, Bhutan's official planning body, the Gross National Happiness Commission (GNHC) formally gave JSW Law the mandate to carry out this study.

The purpose of the study is three-fold: First, it is intended as a crucial initial step towards the development of a quantitative index to measure the effectiveness of Bhutan's efforts to strengthen its Justice Sector, building on international but also, more importantly, local understandings of "justice." Second, it is intended to inform JSW Law's curriculum, ensuring that Bhutan's next generation of lawyers are familiar with customary Bhutanese understanding of justice. Finally, it is intended to field test a methodology that can be used also in other countries hoping to answer similar questions with regard to their own justice systems.


Abstract : The Dam Inspection Act, Public Law 92-367 authorized the Secretary of the Army, through the Corps of Engineers, to initiate a program of inspection of dams throughout the United States. The purpose is to determine if the dam constitutes a hazard to human life or property.


Firms are central to trade policy-making. Some analysts even suggest that they dictate policy on the basis of their material interests. Cornelia Woll counters these assumptions, arguing that firms do not always know what they want. To be sure, firms lobby hard to attain a desired policy once they have defined their goals. Yet material factors are insufficient to account for these preferences. The ways in which firms are embedded in political settings are much more decisive. Woll demonstrates her case by analyzing the surprising evolution of support from large firms for liberalization in telecommunications and international air transport in the United States and Europe. Within less than a decade, former monopolies with important home markets abandoned their earlier calls for subsidies and protectionism and joined competitive multinationals in the demand for global markets. By comparing the complex evolution of firm preferences across sectors and countries, Woll shows that firms may influence policy outcomes, but policies and politics in turn influence business demands. This is particularly true in the European Union, where the constraints of multilevel decision-making encourage firms to pay lip service to liberalization if they want to maintain good working relations with supranational officials. In the United States, firms adjust their sectoral demands to fit the government's agenda. In both contexts, the interaction between government and firm representatives affects not only the strategy but also the content of business lobbying on global trade.


Because of the increasing evidence of potential benefits of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) on human health, there is a need to investigate its status in commercial dairies and develop feeding strategies to enhance the content and supply of CLA in milk and milk products. A two-year experiment was conducted to study the status of milk fat c-9, t-11 CLA on four selected commercial dairy farms in Utah (two) and Idaho (two), USA. Farms A and C grazed cows on pasture and supplemented with 7.0 kg/cow per day of their respective grain mixes during summer, while conserved forage and grain mix was fed during winter. Farm B fed a total mixed diet all year, with 10% of diet dry matter as fresh cut pasture during summer. Farm D had 1/3 of its cows grazed on pasture and supplemented with a total mixed diet during summer, while the rest were fed a total mixed diet. All cows in Farm D were fed a total mixed diet during winter. Farms A, B, C, and D had on average 80, 400, 150, and 500 milking cows, respectively, with Holstein or its crosses as the major breed. On a year-round basis, Farms A and C produced milk with 60% or more milk fat c-9, t-11 CLA and transvaccenic acid (TVA) contents than Farm B. Similarly, Farm D produced 30% or more c-9, t-11 CLA and TVA in milk than Farm B. Milk fat content of CLA and TVA was 150-200% more during summer compared with winter. Individual cows varied from 0.16 to 2.22% in milk fat c-9, t-11 CLA contents and 89% of the cows had c-9, t-11 CLA contents between 0.3 and 1.0% of milk fat. Individual cow variation was larger on Farms A and C compared with Farm D, with least variation on Farm B. Variation was larger in summer than in winter. The bulk tank milk c-9, t-11 CLA content varied from 0.27 to 1.35% of milk fat. Cows on Farms A and C produced similar or higher amounts of milk fat c-9, t-11 CLA on a daily basis even though their milk yield was lowest among the dairies. Concentration and supplies of c-9, t-11 CLA and TVA were highest from June through September and lowest from February through April, which should be the months for targeting improvement in the content and supply of milk fat c-9, t-11 CLA and TVA.


The paper presents the state of entrepreneurship among the residents of the municipality of Krasne in 2014 and shown the factors promoting development of entrepreneurship in the area of the municipality. In 2014 on the Krasne commune worked 105 entities, of which 13 were farmers. Indicator of entrepreneurship in the municipalities studied was 27.06. In the group of factors that contribute to the development of entrepreneurship as the most important was the personality of the business owner. These studies provide an insight into the need for an active role of local government in creating "climate" for business development. Still a small percentage of residents of the municipality Krasne (2.7%) operates, and an even smaller group are farmers (0.3%).


A suite of observatories will be needed to detect the visible electromagnetic counterpart of gravitational waves. Gravity is responsible for the long-range order of the universe. Using Einstein's general relativity, we now think of gravity as the geometrical curvature of the four-dimensional fabric of space-time (1). Extreme cosmological events such as the merging of neutron stars or black holes induce ripples in the fabric of space-time (see the figure). However, these ripples, or gravitational waves, are extremely weak, and their detection has remained elusive. To measure the small signal, an interferometric detector is required that can detect strain to one part in 1021 (that is, a billionth of a nanometer for a kilometer-length interferometer). Such extreme gravity events are also rare, occurring only once every 10,000 years per galaxy (2). An advanced version of such a detector is designed to find gravitational waves on a regular basis (roughly tens of events annually) beginning in 2017 (3). This heroic experiment alone will be somewhat unsatisfying—gravitational wave interferometers will only be able to hear the wave and detect when something happens (literally "hear" as the operational frequency of tens to thousands of Hertz overlaps with the human auditory range). The interferometers will be blind to exactly where the merger occurs. To locate the source of the gravitational waves, collaboration between the physics and the astronomy communities together with extensive simulations are under way (4).


In many organisations, business process (BP) descriptions are available in the form of written procedures, or operational manuals. These documents are expressed in informal natural language, which is inherently open to different interpretations. Hence, the content of these documents might be incorrectly interpreted by those who have to put the process into practice. It is therefore important to identify language defects in written BP descriptions, to ensure that BPs are properly carried out. Among the potential defects, one of the most relevant for BPs is the absence of clear actors in action-related sentences. Indeed, an unclear actor might lead to a missing responsibility, and, in turn, to activities

that are never performed.

This paper aims at identifying unclear actors in BP descriptions expressed in natural language. To this end, we define an algorithm named ABIDE, which leverages rule-based natural language processing (NLP) techniques.

We evaluate the algorithm on a manually annotated data-set of 20 real-world BP descriptions (1,029 sentences). ABIDE achieves a recall of 87\%, and a precision of 56\%. We consider these results promising. Improvements of the algorithm are also discussed in the paper.


The physical foundations and domain of applicability of the Kayenta constitutive model are presented along with descriptions of the source code and user instructions. Kayenta, which is an outgrowth of the Sandia GeoModel, includes features and fitting functions appropriate to a broad class of materials including rocks, rock-like engineered materials (such as concretes and ceramics), and metals. Fundamentally, Kayenta is a computational framework for generalized plasticity models. As such, it includes a yield surface, but the term 'yield' is generalized to include any form of inelastic material response including microcrack growth and pore collapse. Kayenta supports optional anisotropic elasticity associated with ubiquitous joint sets. Kayenta supports optional deformation-induced anisotropy through kinematic hardening (in which the initially isotropic yield surface is permitted to translate in deviatoric stress space to model Bauschinger effects). The governing equations are otherwise isotropic. Because Kayenta is a unification and generalization of simpler models, it can be run using as few as 2 parameters (for linear elasticity) to as many as 40 material and control parameters in the exceptionally rare case when all features are used. For high-strain-rate applications, Kayenta supports rate dependence through an overstress model. Isotropic damage is modeled through loss of stiffness and strength.


Fundamental insights in the field of cosmochemistry have come from the study of the abundances and isotopic compositions of trapped noble gases. A case in point is the discovery of presolar grains in primitive meteorites: isotope abundance anomalies in noble gases were known long before the discovery of presolar grains such as nanodiamonds, silicon carbide and graphite, and it was the search for the carrier phases of these anomalies that ultimately led to the identification and isolation of these types of grains (e.g., Anders and Zinner 1993; Ott 1993).

Starting with the work of John Reynolds and his colleagues at Berkeley, much of the work on trapped noble gases has centered on xenon, so much that an own term "xenology" was coined to describe this field of noble gas cosmochemistry (Reynolds 1963). The first of the so-called "gas-rich meteorites" were discovered by Russian workers in 1956 (Gerling and Levskii 1956), the same year that Reynolds published details of his innovative static noble gas mass spectrometer (Reynolds 1956). Soon thereafter it was discovered that the elemental abundance patterns observed in meteorites basically fell into one of two patterns: (a) the gas-rich meteorites with a "solar" pattern—high abundances of the lightest gases He and Ne compared to the heavy ones, the origin being implanted solar wind; and (b) the "planetary" pattern with strong elemental fractionation, i.e., strong enrichment of the heavy noble gases relative to the light ones, when compared to the solar abundance pattern (Signer and Suess 1963; Fig. 1⇓). "Planetary" gases are most abundant in the most primitive carbonaceous chondrites (Marti 1967; Mazor et al. 1970). In this chapter I will deal exclusively with the type of noble gases in meteorites included in the "planetary component" as originally defined. Solar wind noble gases as well …


In this paper, I argue that the thought and behavior involved in drug dependence is associated with a certain pre-theoretic conception of the self that finds philosophical expression as a grossly simplified form of materialism. Addicts tend not to take mentality seriously: They do not understand themselves as minded beings capable of self-awareness and development through intentional action. Recognizing the practical implications of accepting this philosophically unconvincing view, I argue, encourages a modification of self-conception that is instrumental to the process of recovery from addiction. Using a combination of philosophical analysis and close reading of a trio of narratives that describe drug dependence and recovery, I pursue the possibility that rehabilitation may involve the clarification and alteration of self-conception in such a way that emphasizes autonomous agency and certain values that have not yet been embraced by twelve-step programs, namely, integration, apprehension, moderation, and self-discipline. The rich and substantial history of analytic–philosophical thought about the self is of immense practical value to people impacted by drug dependence and/or engaged in recovery from it; philosophy offers us a set of investigative tools, terms, and concepts that may help to map the different cognitive routes to successful self-rehabilitation. A philosophical consideration of the use of self-related words and ideas within the context of narratives of addiction and recovery may bear directly and significantly on the improvement of the lives of those persons who struggle to overcome drug dependence.


In this paper we consider the Evolutionary Spatial Prisoner's Dilemma (ESPD) in which players are modelled by the vertices of a cycle representing a spatial or organisational structure amongst the players. During each round of the ESPD every pair of adjacent players in the cycle play a classical prisoner's dilemma against each other, and they update their strategies from one round to the next based on the perceived success achieved by the strategies of neighbouring players during the previous round. In this way players are able to adapt and learn from each other's strategies as the game progresses without being able to rationalise good strategies. We characterise all steady states of the game as well as the structures of those initial states that lead to the emergence of persistent substates of cooperation over time. We finally determine analytically (i.e. without using simulation) the probability that the game's states will evolve from a randomly generated initial state towards a steady state which accommodates some form of persistent cooperation. More specifically, we show that there exists a range of game parameter values for which the likelihood of the emergence of persistent cooperation increases to almost certainty as the length of the cycle increases.


Aim Neglect has far reaching consequences on a child's emotional, psychological and social development. Our systematic review aims to identify the evidence base for observable features of the parent child interaction amongst neglected or emotionally abused children. Methods Using 80 key words & phrases we searched 18 databases and seven websites for the period 1950–2012, supplemented by handsearching journals and references. Of 10,206 abstracts identified, 922 full texts were scanned, and 188 articles reviewed by two independent reviewers (from a panel of paediatricians, child & educational psychologists, psychiatrists, teachers and social workers), using standardised critical appraisal methods. Included: age < 13 years, observed features in the parent-child interaction (both in the parent and/or the child during the interaction), neglect or emotional abuse confirmed by explicit criteria. Excluded: longterm outcome data, mixed forms of maltreatment where neglect could not be separated. Results 18 studies met the inclusion criteria and reported direct observation of the parent child interaction, 16 case control, 2 longitudinal cohort studies. Distinguishing features observed in the parent-child interaction included: hostility from parent (8 studies), showing less verbal interactions, more punishment, criticism & verbal aggression, less positive verbalisation. Unavailability and lack of attunement (12 studies): parents less responsive, less support to children completing tasks, interaction developmentally inappropriate, more likely to end/less likely to initiate interaction, less eye contact, less emotional discussion. Neglected children display more negativity in the parent-child interaction (2 studies) showing less verbal and non verbal affection and more physical aggression towards parents. Parental risk factors such as poor social competence, substance abuse, mental health problems of mothers and domestic violence in families were also confirmed. Conclusions Most paediatric consults offer the opportunity to observe the parent-child interaction, thus all practitioners could identify worrying features which merit further evaluation. The parent who is developmentally inappropriate with their child; a child displaying physical aggression towards their parent or concerning parent–child interaction requires recording and consideration of safeguarding implications.


A new geoscientific application of portable XRF (pXRF) analysers is the acquisition of high-spatial resolution down-hole geochemical profiles obtained in-situ on exploration drill-cores. One advantage of such profiles over traditional laboratory geochemistry, apart from the non-destructive aspect of pXRF, is that they are obtained quickly, in the field. So they can help exploration companies take important decisions such as "has a target stratigraphic horizon been reached, or should we drill deeper?" For example, in the Matagami mining camp, pXRF data permits the rapid distinction of two visually similar and variably altered rhyolites in the Persévérance area, based on a plot of Ti/Zr vs Al/Zr. The corrected pXRF data plot within the same fields as the traditional geochemical analyses for these rhyolites. Another advantage of pXRF profiles for exploration companies, geological surveys or academic researchers is the ability to locate lithological contacts better, and in general improve down-hole lithological discrimination, especially for fine-grained and/or hydrothermally altered lithologies. For example, in the Caber volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit area, there are abundant intrusions which makes it difficult to follow the volcanic stratigraphy between drill-holes and sections. In the drill-hole studied, the pXRF data, plotted as down-hole profiles of elements/oxides and ratios, allow several previously unidentified altered dykes to be distinguished from altered rhyolites.


SUMMARY Mobile robot systems are being used more often in tasks that protect human operators from dangerous environments, but these benefits can be easily lost if the robots spend much of their time being repaired. This implies that any increment in their reliability will also improve their benefits. One way to achieve this is by adding redundant elements to the robot, but this adds complexity and cost to the design. On the other hand, cooperative mobile robots formed by members with the same basic structure provide a natural redundancy of elements, which may be used for reliability improvement. This work presents an architecture that takes advantage of the analytical and sensor redundancy present in groups of cooperative mobile robots in order to increase the reliability of the whole system. First, the design of the architecture is portrayed and the faults to be detected are described. The different layers of the system are then explained and analyzed using several simulations to test their capabilities and limitations. Finally, the experimental results on a group of small mobile robots are shown, validating the results delivered by simulations. These results show that the proposed architecture is able to detect and isolate correctly most of the faults tested.


Third Person Perspective (3PP) viewpoints have the potential to expand how one perceives and acts in a virtual environment. They offer increased awareness of the posture and of the surrounding of the virtual body as compared to First Person Perspective (1PP). But from another standpoint, 3PP can be considered as less effective for inducing a strong sense of embodiment into a virtual body. Following an experimental paradigm based on full body motion capture and immersive interaction, this study investigates the effect of perspective and of visuomotor synchrony on the sense of embodiment. It provides evidence supporting a high sense of embodiment in both 1PP and 3PP during engaging motor tasks, as well as guidelines for choosing the optimal perspective depending on location of targets.


This survey will serve several groups of readers. It will help farmers in planning the kind of management that will protect their soils and provide good yields; assist engineers in selecting sites for roads, buildings, ponds, and other structures; serve as a reference for students and teachers; and add to the knowledge of soil scientists.


We develop the 3-dimensional general relativistic radiative transfer code: CARTOON (Calculation code of Authentic Radiative Transfer based On phOton Number conservation in curved space–time) which is improved from the 2-dimensional code: ARTIST developed by Takahashi & Umemura (2017). In CARTOON, the frequency-integrated general relativistic radiative transfer equation is solved in a photon number-conserving manner, and the isotropic and coherent scattering in the zero angular momentum observers (ZAMO) frame and the fluid rest frame is incorporated. By calculating the average energy of photons, energy conservation of the radiation is also guaranteed. With the test calculations in 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional space, we have demonstrated that the wavefront propagation in black hole space–time can be correctly solved in CARTOON conserving photon numbers. The position of the wavefront coincides with the analytical solution and the number of photons remains constant until the wavefront reaches the event horizon. We also solve the radiative transfer equation on the geodesic reaching the observer's screen. The time variation of the intensity map on the observer's screen can be simultaneously and consistently calculated with the time variation of the radiation field around the black hole. In addition, the black hole shadow can be reproduced in moderately optically thin situations.