In this paper we present a method for fast screen-space ray tracing. Single-layer screen-space ray marching is an established tool in high-performance applications, such as games, where plausible and appealing results are more important than strictly correct ones. However, even in such tightly controlled environments, missing scene information can cause visible artifacts. This can be tackled by keeping multiple layers of screen-space information, but might not be afforable on severely limited time-budgets. Traversal speed of single-layer ray marching is commonly improved by multi-resolution schemes, from sub-sampling to stepping through mip-maps to achieve faster frame rates. We show that by combining these approaches, keeping multiple layers and tracing on multiple resolutions, images of higher quality can be computed rapidly. Figure 1 shows this for two scenes with multi-bounce reflections that would show strong artifacts when using only a single layer.


We analyze frequency-shifting mechanisms in photonic crystal fibers (PCFs). In contrast to the generally used approach of launching pulses in the negative group velocity dispersion (GVD) region of PCFs, we suggest employing a fiber with a higher zero dispersion wavelength that is pumped in the positive GVD region. Results of a numerical optimization reveal that the amplitude stability of the frequency-shifted pulses can be improved by more than 1 order of magnitude and the timing jitter arising from input fluctuations by 2 orders of magnitude by a proper choice of the fiber dispersion. The presented approach and optimization will improve the performance of timing- and amplitude-sensitive applications, such as nonlinear microscopy and spectroscopy or optical synchronization for optical parametric chirped pulse amplification significantly.


The preparation of various 2,2-dimethyl-2H-chromenes was achieved in two steps via an ytterbium triflate-catalysed reaction between salicylaldehydes, trimethylorthoformate and 2-methylpropene. From salicylaldehyde, two reaction products were characterised: 4-methoxy-2,2-dimethylchroman and 2-(1,3-dimethoxy-3-methylbutyl)phenol. The former compound probably results from a Lewis acid-catalysed [2+4] cycloaddition between the intermediate quinonemethide and 2-methylpropene whereas the latter may occur via a reaction related to a carbonyl-ene reaction between the quinonemethide and 2-methylpropene. Both compounds were subjected to a catalytic acidic treatment leading to 2,2-dimethyl-2H-chromene. Starting from various salicylaldehydes, the scope of this method was investigated.


Changes in higher order chromatin organisation have been linked to transcriptional regulation; however, little is known about how such organisation alters during embryonic development or how it is regulated by extrinsic signals. Here we analyse changes in chromatin organisation as neural differentiation progresses, exploiting the clear spatial separation of the temporal events of differentiation along the elongating body axis of the mouse embryo. Combining fluorescence in situ hybridisation with super-resolution structured illumination microscopy, we show that chromatin around key differentiation gene loci Pax6 and Irx3 undergoes both decompaction and displacement towards the nuclear centre coincident with transcriptional onset. Conversely, down-regulation of Fgf8 as neural differentiation commences correlates with a more peripheral nuclear position of this locus. During normal neural differentiation, fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signalling is repressed by retinoic acid, and this vitamin A derivative is further required for transcription of neural genes. We show here that exposure to retinoic acid or inhibition of FGF signalling promotes precocious decompaction and central nuclear positioning of differentiation gene loci. Using the Raldh2 mutant as a model for retinoid deficiency, we further find that such changes in higher order chromatin organisation are dependent on retinoid signalling. In this retinoid deficient condition, FGF signalling persists ectopically in the elongating body, and importantly, we find that inhibiting FGF receptor (FGFR) signalling in Raldh2−/− embryos does not rescue differentiation gene transcription, but does elicit both chromatin decompaction and nuclear position change. These findings demonstrate that regulation of higher order chromatin organisation during differentiation in the embryo can be uncoupled from the machinery that promotes transcription and, for the first time, identify FGF as an extrinsic signal that can direct chromatin compaction and nuclear organisation of gene loci.


Identifying functional non-coding variants can enhance genome interpretation and inform novel genetic risk factors. We used whole genomes and peripheral white blood cell transcriptomes from 624 Sardinian individuals to identify non-coding variants that contribute to population, family, and individual differences in transcript abundance. We identified 21,183 independent expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) and 6,768 independent splicing quantitative trait loci (sQTLs) influencing 73 and 41% of all tested genes. When we compared Sardinian eQTLs to those previously identified in Europe, we identified differentiated eQTLs at genes involved in malarial resistance and multiple sclerosis, reflecting the long-term epidemiological history of the island's population. Taking advantage of pedigree data for the population sample, we identify segregating patterns of outlier gene expression and allelic imbalance in 61 Sardinian trios. We identified 809 expression outliers (median z-score of 2.97) averaging 13.3 genes with outlier expression per individual. We then connected these outlier expression events to rare non-coding variants. Our results provide new insight into the effects of non-coding variants and their relationship to population history, traits and individual genetic risk.


The present study, which included four focus groups of women (n = 21) in four New England prisons, aimed to understand how power impacted women's relationships, exposure to violence, and health. Women described power in three ways: (a) power as control over their sexuality and their sexual partners, (b) power emerging from emotional strength, and (c) power referring to a process of empowerment. Women's perceptions and experiences of power were informed by their trauma histories and influenced their sexual behavior and health. Our findings provide a framework for considering incarcerated women's experiences of power in trauma-informed interventions for this marginalized population.


The concept malignant bonding describes a relationship of a perverse couple whose relationships continues to bond at the expense of sadistic and sexual acts perpetrated together against vulnerable and dependent persons, such as their own children or other immature individuals who fall under their control and dominancy. Technology has afforded most sophisticated means to do so; from only recording the voices of those innocent children as in the 60s to the making of home videos and downloading different images from the internet are now easily available. It is difficult to disentangle the possible meaning of this perverse recording—is it another kind of remembering? Or is it a form of malignant bonding between past and present experience? Not only there are notorious cases from the media such as Myra Hindley and Ian Brady, called The Moor murderers in the 60s in the UK and later on the West Family.

These are examples of both extra family and interfamily malignant bonding but I have also been able to corroborate these in my own clinical findings, which I have termed the concept of "the malignant bonding". This couple these two different persons, have felt, as from the moment of their first meeting, in almost automatic pilot mode, very close and united together not knowing exactly why. However, this great sense of wonder starts fading away when the union is to be in some way "contrived" or coercive from within. Now, the taboo elements is no longer present and the sense of excitement is gone. What happens next? The purusing of the transgressing has become the compelling element and as such the using and exploiting, including sexual abuse of children may start. There is an irrepressible need to continue succumbing to these transgressive actions because, just like in pornography, it makes them feel alive. They feel really dead inside themselves and their own way to make sure they are still alive is by exerting this enormous sense of power and control over their children.

This power has an added element of libidinizing the interaction between the couple. This can be initiated and even stimulated not only by the man but also by the woman in the couple. We are longer talking of who is the victim of perpetrator within the couple. They have both become partners with equal participation in the designing and the execution of their actions against their own severe very early traumatic experiences.


Previous results from remains of tusks, teeth and bones collected from Wrangel Island (Vartanyan et al. 1995) had given results in the range 3730 bp to 20,000 bp and the authors had concluded that "mammoths inhabited Wrangel Island for as long as 6000 yr after the estimated extinction on the Siberian continent". There still remained the question of the earliest date for such remains. Further, the authors had noted such samples may present some difficulty in dating and therefore duplicate samples had been measured in a second laboratory with satisfactory results. The replicate dating of important or controversial samples in more than one laboratory is well-established (e.g., Turin Shroud) and in this paper, we present results for 5 mammoth samples dated by 6 laboratories. Such interlaboratory comparisons provide an independent means of verification of laboratory comparability, and give added confidence in the results, particularly when applied to more controversial samples. A further objective of the work has been to evaluate the material for inclusion in any large-scale interlaboratory comparison, such comparisons having in the past formed part of laboratory quality assurance protocols. The design and organization of a laboratory intercomparison requires homogeneous samples in sufficient quantity to satisfy participants, and so in principle, a single mammoth tusk would meet these criteria. Samples such as the mammoth tusk have been used in previous intercomparisons: e.g., in the last large-scale international intercomparison (Gulliksen and Scott 1995), whalebone was one of the materials distributed. One of the key advantages of such material is that a single sample (a mammoth tusk) can be resampled for analysis by multiple labs and thus does not require bulk homogenization. Therefore, as part of a preselection process for a future intercomparison, five samples from separate mammoth tusks were collected from Wrangel Island in 1995 in sufficient quantity to allow multiple dating. The aim was to identify five separate samples of young age, sample up to 1 kg from each tusk and mark the location so that after preliminary dating, samples could be retrieved as required in the future. Six laboratories received samples for dating. The paper will discuss the results from the laboratories, present consensus values, and make recommendations concerning use of these samples in a future laboratory intercomparison.


The present in vivo study was conducted to evaluate whether hydrophilic (HL) or hydrophobic (HP) carbon nanotubes (CNTs) impregnated with subventricular zone neural progenitor cells (SVZ NPCs) could repair damaged neural tissue following stroke. For this purpose, stroke damaged rats were transplanted with HL CNT-SVZ NPCs, HP CNT-SVZ NPCs, or SVZ NPCs alone for 1, 3, 5, and 8 weeks. Results showed that the HP CNT-SVZ NPC transplants improved rat behavior and reduced infarct cyst volume and infarct cyst area compared with the experimental control and the HL CNT-SVZ NPC and SVZ NPCs alone groups. The transplantation groups showed an increase in the expression of nestin (cell stemness marker) and proliferation which was evident with the increased number of doublecortin and bromodeoxyuridine double-stained immunopositive cells around the lesion site. But, these effects were more prominent in the HP CNT-SVZ NPC group compared with the other transplantation groups. The HP CNT-SVZ NPC and HL CNT-SVZ NPC transplants increased the number of microtubule-associated protein 2 (marker for neurons) and decreased the number of glial fibrillary acidic protein (marker for astroglial cells) positive cells within the injury epicenter. The majority of the transplanted HP CNT-SVZ NPCs collectively broadened around the ischemic injured region and the SVZ NPCs differentiated into mature neurons, attained the synapse morphology (TUJ1, synaptophysin), and decreased microglial activation (CD11b/c [OX-42]). For these reasons, this study provided the first evidence that CNTs can improve stem cell differentiation to heal stroke damage and, thus, deserve further attention.


We estimate the profitability of developing heifers on one stockpiled cool- season grass and two stockpiled warm- season grasses during the winter months by comparing distributions of net present value (NPV) over an 11- year useful life. Furthermore, distributions of payback period and the break- even price for each calf over the heifer's production life were generated for each forage species. These results are compared across forages as well as to a simulated drylot system for heifer development. Data comes from a grazing experiment in Tennessee, where heifers grazed big bluestem and Indian grass combination (BBIG), switchgrass (SW), or endophyte- infected tall fescue (TF) pastures. Total cost of producing the first calf from a heifer using the three forage- based systems was $1,079/ head to $1,149/head, with TF being the most expensive forage- based heifer development system, and the total cost to produce a calf from heifers developed in a drylot system ranged from $574 to $644/head higher than the forage- based systems. The NPV of heifers developed on forage ranged from $264 to $468/head, while heifers developed in a drylot system had an NPV of –$876/head. Payback period was estimated in years of age, and heifers in forage- based systems became profitable at 3–4 years of age, whereas heifers developed in a drylot were 9–10 years of age before they covered their investment cost. The results indicate that SW was the lowest risk and the most profitable forage species relative to TF. These findings suggest that low- input forage- based systems may be more profitable than drylot heifer development systems in the southeastern United States.


Virtual Reality (VR) is now a well-established technology which offers realistic and immersive virtual worlds to the user usually by means of Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs). Actually, these devices can also be backed by a cloud server which can host the game server or even directly render the virtual world, as in the well-known cloud gaming paradigm. However, due to the drastically low latencies that technology requires, it is more convenient, when possible, to use servers that are as close to the users as possible. As a consequence, implementing the game or the render server in the Fog Computing layer is a concrete possibility. A research investigation has been carried out by using the Meta Quest 2 device, which are the QoE trade-offs, in terms of graphic quality and network performance, both in the case in which the HMD performs the 3d rendering locally by using a sample game written with Unreal Engine and in the case in which the 3d rendering is done in the Fog by means of the nVidia CloudXR framework and Oculus Air Link. The results of the proposed experiments reveal that the remote rendering offers a stable frame rate against a higher quality image. Instead, local rendering sets the best possible graphics quality against the optimal frame rate. Additionally, the utilization of remote rendering to perform video compression in the case of decreasing the available bandwidth to adjust graphics quality and FPS has also been analyzed. The same does not hold for Motion-to-Photon latency, which increases with distance, reducing the general QoE.


Portopulmonary hypertension is one of the main pulmonary conditions affecting patients with liver disease and/or portal hypertension. Other conditions include hepatopulmonary syndrome and hepatic hydrothorax. Portopulmonary hypertension is caused by pulmonary vasoconstriction and increased pulmonary vascular resistance. It develops as a result of portal hypertension with or without liver disease and is associated with a higher morbidity and mortality. However, portopulmonary hypertension is usually asymptomatic; the most common symptoms are dyspnea, fatigue, and peripheral edema. All liver transplant candidates should be screened for potential portopulmonary hypertension because its coexistence can affect survival rates after transplant. All patients with cirrhosis who present with dyspnea should also be screened. Transthoracic echocardiography is a noninvasive, useful method for screening, but right heart-sided catheterization remains the criterion standard for diagnosis. Portopulmonary hypertension carries a poor prognosis without liver transplant, and its severe form is considered to be a contraindication for liver transplant. Treating patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension-specific therapies before liver transplant for moderate and severe portopulmonary hypertension appears to be beneficial.


We examine theoretically the degenerate four-wave mixing (DFWM) signal intensities and line shapes obtained with the forward phase-matched geometry in which all beams propagate in the same direction and compare the results to those of the phase-conjugate geometry with counterpropagating pump beams. To examine the forward phase-matched geometry, we modify a theoretical approach used previously to calculate phase-conjugate DFWM signal intensities. This theoretical approach, which involves numerical integration of the time-dependent density-matrix equations, is validated for the forward phase-matched geometry by comparison of our calculated line shapes to both a perturbative solution and to experimental data. This methodology is then used to compare the signal intensities and line shapes obtained with the forward phase-matched geometry and the phase-conjugate geometry in the perturbative (low laser power) and saturated (high laser power) regimes. In the perturbative regime the forward phase-matched signal exhibits less sensitivity to the Doppler linewidth. At pump laser intensities approximately equal to the saturation intensity the signal for the forward phase-matched geometry is stronger than that for the phase-conjugate geometry for primarily Doppler-broadened resonances, assuming the same probe volume for both geometries. These advantages warrant further investigations employing the forward phase-matched configuration for DFWM measurements of gas-phase species.


Background: soldiers are required to carry heavy occupational loads on military operations that place their health at risk. Methods: an online survey was sent to soldiers serving in specific Australian Army Corps known to experience high occupational exposure to load carriage. Results: of the 380 respondents, 64% provided operational load carriage data on single or multiple operational deployments, totalling 411 reports. Mean absolute loads carried across the decade 2001-2010, equated to 47.7 kg. Arms corps carried significantly heavier loads than grouped "other corps" and Signals corps. Female soldiers reported carrying significantly (p =.45) lighter absolute loads (M = 26.4 kg) than male soldiers (M = 39.0 kg) with no significant differences found when the loads were expressed relative to body mass (Female M = 43%: Male M = 47%, p =.55). Conclusion: Australian Army soldiers carry absolute loads that are increasing in load mass but may differ between corps and genders due to the tasks performed.


This paper describes a method of compiling specification properties into automata or test oracles which allow testing of any proposed implementation. It also shows how to interpret the automata's status during testing. The method addresses verification of reactive systems, including distributed object oriented applications. TL (Temporal Logic) has been chosen as specification language. The basic future temporal operators and logical operators are supported. The automaton generated from a specification property (also called behavioural constraint) does not depend on the semantics of input events, such that the TL compiler can be used as a module in any verification system. The verification tool could be using a system description language to express proposed implementations or run-time execution traces of the actual implementation.


Horizontal shareholdings exist when a common set of investors own significant shares in corporations that are horizontal competitors in a product market. Economic models show that substantial horizontal shareholdings are likely to anticompetitively raise prices when the owned businesses compete in a concentrated market. Recent empirical work not only confirms this prediction, but also reveals that such horizontal shareholdings are omnipresent in our economy. I show that such horizontal shareholdings can help explain fundamental economic puzzles, including why corporate executives are rewarded for industry performance rather than individual corporate performance alone, why corporations have not used recent high profits to expand output and employment, and why economic inequality has risen in recent decades. I also show that stock acquisitions that create anticompetitive horizontal shareholdings are illegal under current antitrust law, and I recommend antitrust enforcement actions to undo them and their adverse economic effects.


ABSTRACT The Sarbanes-Oxley (Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection) Act of 2002 is the most far reaching legislation to reform American business practices in recent time. This legislation changes the business landscape in the U.S. by creating a new oversight body, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, to oversee the corporate governance, accounting and auditing practices of all publicly held companies in the U.S. and to implement regulatory requirements for better corporate governance, accounting, and auditing practices. Many of these new regulatory changes affect not only U.S. corporations and the U.S. accounting and auditing professions, but also have a far reaching impact on all of the non-U.S. corporations that seek capital in the U.S. security markets as well as those non-U. S. accounting/ auditing firms that service these foreign entities. While the intention of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is to protect U.S. investors in general and the legitimacy of an U.S. oversight body to regulate publicly held companies in the U.S. is not being challenged, some of the specific requirements within the Act pose challenges for non-U.S. companies that are also subject to their home country's regulatory requirements that may be substantially different or in conflict with the requirements of this new act. Strong opposition also has been expressed by non-U.S. accounting firms that are fearful that implementation of this new Act may place them in a disadvantageous position compared to their U.S. counterparts and change the international market for auditing services. This study reviews the specific requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act that are applicable to non-U.S. accounting firms and provides insight on how these requirements affect the global accounting and audit market. INTRODUCTION On July 30, 2002, President Bush signed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 into law. This Act not only is applicable to all companies listed in the U.S., both domestic and foreign, Section 106 of the Act also subjects any non-U.S. accounting firms who "prepare or furnish" an audit report involving U.S. registrants or any foreign accounting firms whose audit opinion is relied upon by a registered U.S. accounting firm to be subject to the authority of the Act. This new Act not only imposes registration requirements with an U.S. oversight body on foreign accounting/auditing firms, it also redefines many aspects of accounting and auditing practices for foreign accounting firms that may or may not be practically feasible or legally possible in their home countries. The main areas of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act that affect the accounting profession in general include (1) defining new roles for the corporate audit committee and its relationship with corporate external auditor in that auditors will report to and be overseen by a company's audit committee, not management, and the requirement of audit committees to pre-approve of all services (both audit and non-audit services) provided by its auditor, and (2) auditor independence requirements including audit partner rotation and employment restriction, specification of consulting services that are "unlawful" if provided to a publicly held company by its auditor, as well as (3) the requirement that every audit report attest to the assessment made by management of the company's internal control structures, including a specific notation about any significant defects or material noncompliance found. There are also specific provisions within the Act regarding preservation of audit or review working papers and the requirement of management assessment of internal controls. As the U.S. accounting profession focuses on adapting to this new era of change, foreign accounting firms have expressed grave concerns that the new U.S. legislation may create an "unlevel playing field" that favors U.S. accounting firms over non-U.S. accounting firms because the non-U. …


The purpose of this study is to evaluate the Forest Status Quality (FSQ) indicator, which has been recently formulated in literature, using a new multiscale approach. The FSQ indicator combines the floristic composition (derived, in the present manuscript, from 81 phytosociological tables composed of 484 phytosociological relevés, distributed in 278 localities and 10 provinces of the Region Lombardy) and the stratification of the considered forest types in a unique value, also considering the size of the forest patches.We apply the new theoretical framework to a real case study (Lombardy, in the northern part of Italy) with the aim of: (i) assessing the forest conservation value at different territorial levels: Municipality, Province, and Phytogeographical belt, and (ii) exploring the management implications of our results. At the first level of multiscale analysis, we have very detailed information, with a very good differentiation among municipalities, as proved by the statistical analysis of the resulting data. At the intermediate multiscale level, we have too generic information with a very little difference among provinces. At regional phytogeographical level, the highest resolution of the multiscale analysis, we have information expressing a global forest quality for a wide territory, but with still a good differentiation among phytogeographical belts. The proposed indicator allows also to define the forest types obtaining the best evaluation and thus considered of high conservation concern (we call them the Top forests). The resulted Top forests are the 27% of the total number of assessed forest types. In mountain areas, generally, forests are well preserved and the major efforts in the management of protected areas should be directed to the conservation of other ecosystems (grasslands and/or shrublands), while in the plain and low hilly areas, a particular attention should be dedicated to the restoration of woods. Furthermore, we propose detailed policies of habitat restoration and requalification for each one of the five classes of forest quality: in particular, for class 1 and 2, forest restoration is mandatory, for class 3 and 4 the attention is focused on the conservation of existing forests, while for class 5 restoration of other habitats is highly suggested. A further application of the FSQ could be considered in the monitoring of forest habitats (according to the Habitat Directive), particularly in the SCIs of the Natura 2000 network.


Despite the fact that nonincome dimensions of well-being such as nutrition and health are now placed on the global development agenda, substantial gaps remain in our knowledge about patterns and trends in nutrition inequalities in many developing countries. The main objective of this paper is to document a useful starting point for understanding the determinants of inequalities in nutritional status and provide some understanding of the proximate causes of inequalities in nutritional status as well as the factors responsible for inequalities in health and nutritional status of children and women in the policy debate. Using Nigeria as a case study and using data from the Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey, this paper measures and decomposes the patterns and trends of inequalities in child and maternal nutritional status in Nigeria. In particular, the paper decomposes observed nutritional inequalities into inequalities between and within demographic and socioeconomic groups to ascertain the relative contributions of the between-groups and within-group components of inequalities. To identify the most vulnerable groups in Nigeria, the paper also explores the prevalence of child and maternal malnutrition in Nigeria. The paper finds that within-group inequalities are the sources of most inequalities in the nutritional status of children and women in Nigeria. Inequalities between demographic and socioeconomic groups are less important. Child and maternal malnutrition are concentrated among the least educated households, the rural population, the north (in particular its Hausa ethnic group), and those who drink water from public wells. Malnutrition in Nigeria is a vicious cycle in that child malnutrition can be partly traced back to low birth weight (and therefore to maternal malnutrition). To interrupt this vicious cycle, the Nigerian government should take targeted and concerted actions that focus attention on addressing within-group inequalities. Intervention in the areas of primary healthcare, home-based caring practices, access to basic services (such as safe drinking water and good sanitation), education of women, and direct nutritional interventions for malnourished children seem the most appropriate.


In many channel measurement applications, one needs to estimate some characteristics of the channels based on a limited set of measurements. This is mainly due to the highly time varying characteristics of the channel. In this contribution, it will be shown how free probability can be used for channel capacity estimation in MIMO systems. Free probability has already been shown to be an invaluable tool for describing the asymptotic behaviour of many systems when the dimensions of the system get large (i.e. the number of antennas). In particular, introducing the notion of free deconvolution, we provide hereafter an asymptotically (in the number of antennas) unbiased capacity estimator (w.r.t. the number of observations) for MIMO channels impaired with noise. Another unbiased estimator (for any number of observations) is also constructed by slightly modifying the free probability based estimator. The framework is then extended to MIMO channels with phase off-set and frequency drift for which no estimator has been provided so far.


The Zero Force Evolutionary Law predicts an increase in complexity at all levels of biological hierarchy unless there are constraints or selective forces opposing that increase. I present the first test of this universal tendency by evaluating the complexity of Drosophila melanogaster mutants, which represent organisms that arise in a context where selective forces are greatly reduced. Complexity gains and losses were measured with respect to part types, shape and color over two independent focal levels. My results show, significantly, that D. melanogaster mutants are more complex than the wild type. I also find that among mutants, those that are weakly constrained are more complex with respect to part types, shape and color. These findings are the first step in testing whether the Zero Force Evolutionary Law is true, and provide the impetus for a larger research program devoted to understanding increases in complexity as the default expectation.


Over the last few decades, heart disease is the most common cause of global death. So early detection of heart disease and continuous monitoring can reduce the mortality rate. The exponential growth of data from different sources such as wearable sensor devices used in Internet of Things health monitoring, streaming system and others have been generating an enormous amount of data on a continuous basis. The combination of streaming big data analytics and machine learning is a breakthrough technology that can have a significant impact in healthcare field especially early detection of heart disease. This technology can be more powerful and less expensive. To overcome this issue, this paper propose a real-time heart disease prediction system based on apache Spark which stand as a strong large scale distributed computing platform that can be used successfully for streaming data event against machine learning through in-memory computations. The system consists of two main sub parts, namely streaming processing and data storage and visualization. The first uses Spark MLlib with Spark streaming and applies classification model on data events to predict heart disease. The seconds uses Apache Cassandra for storing the large volume of generated data.


A dual-purpose metamaterial structure that can concurrently suppress vibrations and scavenge energy is presented. The metamaterial assembly presented in this work uses a permanent magnet-coil system in addition to an elastic cantilever beam to perform its dual functions. A prototype is manufactured and a COMSOL model is developed. Two bandgaps are observed at 205–257 Hz and 587–639 Hz. COMSOL simulations show excellent agreement with measured data. Within these bandgaps the structure blocks vibrations from traveling through and, simultaneously, converts vibrations into electric power. The first bandgap has a vibration attenuation level larger than the attenuation level observed in the second bandgap. Mode shapes reveal that the local resonators experience larger deformations in the first bandgap than in the second bandgap and the vibrational energy is mostly contained within the first bandgap where the resonant frequency occurs, i.e., 224 Hz. The ability of the metamaterial assembly to scavenge these vibrations while simultaneously suppressing them is demonstrated. At an optimum load resistance of 15 Ω, within the first bandgap, approximately 2.5 μW was generated, while 0.6 nW was measured within the second bandgap. At optimum load resistance, measurements show maximum electric power reaching 5.2 μW within the first bandgap.


ABSTRACT The deep-water molluscs collected during the expedition MD55 off SE Brazil have been gradually studied in some previous papers. The present one is focused on samples belonging to caenogastropod taxa Xenophoridae Troschel, 1852, Cypraeoidea Rafinesque, 1815, mitriforms and Terebridae Mörch, 1852. Regarding the Xenophoridae, Onustus aquitanus n. sp. is a new species, collected off the littoral of Espírito Santo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 430–637 m depth (continental slope). The main characters of the species include the small size (c. 20 mm), the proportionally wide shell, the white colour, the short peripheral flange, the oblique riblets weakly developed and a brown multispiral protoconch. This appears to be the smallest living species of the family, resembling in this aspect fossil species. In respect to the Cypraeoidea, the following results were obtained: family Cypraeidae Rafinesque, 1815: Erosaria acicularis (Gmelin, 1791) and Luria cinerea (Gmelin, 1791) had the deepest record, respectively 607–620 m and 295–940 m, although the samples were all dead, eroded shells. Family Lamellariidae d'Orbigny, 1841 : a total of three lots were collected, provisionally identified as Lamellaria spp. as the samples consist of only vestigial shells; possibly each lot represents a different species. Family Pediculariidae Gray, 1853: a sample of Pedicularia tibia Simone, 2005 was found, expanding the range c. 1000 km southwards, from Ceará to Espírito Santo. Family Ovulidae Fleming, 1822: Pseudosimnia lacrima n. sp., collected off Espírito Santo, 607–620 m depth, is described here and is mainly characterised by its strong biconic outline, small size (c. 7 mm), and a thick peripheral callus. Family Triviidae Troschel, 1863: CLeotrivia antillarum (Schilder, 1922) is recorded for the first time as deep as 620 m, and its distribution expanded from Rio Grande do Norte to Espírito Santo; Dolichupis akangus n. sp. with rounded outline and c. 15 transverse ribs; D. pingius n. sp. with the outer lip expanded posteriorly and c. 10 ribs. In respect to the mitriform neogastropods, the following species are emphasised: family Costellariidae MacDonald, 1860: Vexillum sp., 607–620 m depth; Turricostellaria amphissa n. sp., 295 m depth; T. jukyry n. sp.; T. apyrahi n. sp., both 790–1575 m depth; T. ovir n. sp., 1200 m depth; Nodicostellaria crassa (Simone, 1995), 240–600 m depth, with extension northwards of the range up to Espírito Santo; Austromitra decresca n. sp., 60–105 m depth. Family Mitridae Swainson, 1829: Subcancilla joapyra n. sp., 295 m depth; S. cf. straminea (Adams, 1853), 607–620 m depth. Family Volutomitridae Gray, 1854: Microvoluta corona n. sp., 1500–1575 m depth. Family Mitromorphidae Casey, 1904: Mitromorpha sama n. sp., 607–940 m depth; M. mirim n. sp., 60– 105 m depth. Regarding the conoidean Terebridae, this paper is a complement of a previous study. It deals with a new species — Terebra assu Simone n. sp., from the Abrolhos Bank, 295 m depth, characterised by its narrow outline, yellowish colour, weak sculpture on the last whorls, and a proportionally broad, paucispiral protoconch. A second finding of Terebra alagoensis Lima, Tenório & Barros, 2007 expands the geographic range from Alagoas to north Espírito Santo. A discussion on the systematics of the "complex Terebra doellojuradoi" in South American coast is also provided, highlighting the improbability of synonymy between T. leptapsis Simone, 1999 and T. doellojuradoi Carcelles, 1953. Differences in size, sculpture, spire angulation, aperture, and mainly in protoconch, indicate specific separations. The presently studied terebrids belong to the "complex Terebra doellojuradoi", which encompasses closely related, deep-water, small species, possessing a relatively high degree of endemicity.


For many Americans, the word "constitution" means just one thing: the national Constitution. According to a survey carried out in the late 1990s, almost half do not know that individual states also have constitutions. Scholars have also paid little attention to state constitutions, favouring the apparently more dynamic and significant federal scene. G. Alan Tarr seeks to change that in this book. An authority on state legal issues, he combines history, law and political science to present an account of the distinct and important role of state constitutions in American life. Tarr shows that state constitutional politics are dominated by three crucial issues with salience at the national level: the distribution of power among groups and regions within states, the scope of state and local governmental authority, and the relation of the state to economic activity. He explains how state constitutions differ from the national Constitution in treating not only matters of high principle but also such mundane subjects as ski trails and motor vehicle revenues. He also explores why state constitutions, unlike their federal counterpart, have been so frequently amended and replaced. Tarr concludes that the United States not only has a system of dual constitutionalism, but also has dual constitutional cultures.


Many countries invest considerable resources into promoting employment and the creation of jobs. At the same time, policies and institutions still pay relatively little attention to the quality of jobs although job quality has been found to be a major driver of employee wellbeing and may be an important factor for work productivity. Eventually, job quality might also influence labour supply choices and lead to higher employment. Providing robust evidence for the relationship between job quality and worker productivity could make a strong case for labour market policies directed at the improvement of job quality. This paper reviews existing evidence on the relationship between the quality of the work environment and individual at-work productivity, defined as reduced productivity while at work, and assesses the effect of health on this relationship.After screening 2 319 studies from various fields and disciplines, including economics and medicine, 48 studies are reviewed. Strong evidence is found for a negative relationship between job stress or job strain and individual at-work productivity and for a positive relationship between job rewards and productivity. Moderate evidence is found for a negative relationship between work-family conflict and at‑work productivity and for a positive relationship between fairness at work and social support from co-workers and productivity. Health influences the relationship between the quality of the work environment and productivity. Specifically, the relationship is stronger for people in good health.Job quality needs a more prominent place in labour market policy. More attention needs to be paid to workers' perceptions of the quality of their work environment and how policies and practices at both the level of the worker and the work environment may influence this. Furthermore, as health‑related factors significantly influence the relationship between job quality and productivity, multidisciplinary approaches are needed to support at‑work productivity.


The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of vanadium and/or insulin on the proinflammatory
biomarkers in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) rat model. Sixty male Sprague Dawley
rats were divided into six groups (n = 10). Control group, control vanadium group, T2DM group,
insulin-treated diabetic group, vanadium-treated diabetic group, and concomitant insulin and
vanadium-treated diabetic group. At the end of the experiment, serum glucose, insulin, lipid profile,
tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), high sensitivity C reactive protein (hs-
CRP), intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and
adiponectin were measured. Administration of insulin and/or vanadium significantly decreased in the
plasma levels of glucose, lipid profile, TNF-α, IL-6, hs-CRP, ICAM-1, and VCAM-1 with significant
increase in adiponectin in comparison to the diabetic group. Concomitant administration of insulin
and vanadium significantly improved the above measured parameters compared to either insulin or
vanadium treatment. Based on our results we can conclude that administration of both vanadium
and insulin reduced the low-grade systemic inflammation in T2DM, through reduction of both proinflammatory
cytokines and adhesion molecules and increase adiponectin.


The aim of the study was to investigate Swedish school nurses' perceptions of schoolchildren's health. The study is based on two national surveys in which school nurses responded to questions about schoolchildren's health in 2015 (n = 181) and 2005 (n = 129). A statistical comparison showed that physical and mental health of schoolchildren in high-risk areas was perceived as worse than that of children in low-risk areas. There were no differences regarding the number of spontaneous visits or consulting reasons related to gender in high- and low-risk areas. A national framework for data collection and reporting of schoolchildren's health may be important for school nurses to demonstrate the need for increased support in, for example, high-risk areas. By paying attention to factors that can affect schoolchildren's health, school nurses can also direct health promotion to areas where it is needed. Increased cooperation among school health professionals may also prevent illness and improve health.


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Multiprotocol Label Switching(MPLS) is switching network and provides significant benefits to the network by fast forwarding Internet Protocol (IP) packets. MPLS is scalable network and which provides end-to-end quality of service (QoS), also it enables efficient utilization of existing networks. MPLS is implemented in Mobile Ad-hoc Network (MANET) environment, then there is need to control over this network because the nodes in the network can be move at any point of time in MANET environment. If link failure occur in the network, then there is need to tolerate this failed link packet. For to tolerate this failed link use MPLS Fast Re-route (FRR) mechanism. The MPLS FRR mechanism based two types local and global. The local FRR mechanism which tolerate single link instead of path of network which is in global. The MPLS FRR mechanism is based on preplanned established link in the network. If link failures occur then packet of failed link is switch-over to the backup path that is created initially. In the proposed system, existing link or local based restoration with fast re-routing (FRR) mechanism for MPLS network is used and then analyses the problem such as packet loss, packet reordering, delay and overhead in the network after link failure. This FRR mechanism provides fast traffic recovery when a link failure occurs, MPLS-FRR uses link based local restoration mechanism for each failure. The main focus of the proposed work is to select optimal backup link with FRR mechanism and bellman ford algorithm during link failure. The FRR mechanism with bellman ford algorithm can reduce packet loss ratio and delay in the network and this can be simulated through network simulator version 3(ns3).


News readership is shifting to the Internet because of accessibility, inexpensive technology, and free content. The prevalence of news on the Web provides opportunities for people to come across news in an incidental way as a byproduct of their online activities.

This paper presents findings related to incidental exposure to online news from a study on information behavior of news readers. Erdelez's (2004) Information Encountering model guided the mixed method study, which consisted of two phases. The first phase involved the analysis of a web survey with 148 participants recruited through the website of a local newspaper. Respondents who demonstrated an awareness of their incidental exposure to online news were selected for the second phase. In the second, qualitative phase, the researcher interviewed 20 respondents using critical incident, explication interview, and think-aloud techniques. This paper presents findings from the second phase focusing on four main areas: the respondents' perception of incidental exposure to online news, the frequency of these experiences, the characteristics of the environment where they take place, and the respondents' feelings associated with this behavior. The study indicates that incidental exposure to online news is becoming a major way for some respondents to get informed about news events. Respondents' perceptions of incidental exposure to online news are grouped into three contexts: news reading, non-news reading, and Internet in general. The majority of respondents stated that they have positive feelings about incidental exposure to online news.


This report highlights why governments should reinvest underperforming public agricultural subsidies in land restoration. Evidence from Africa, Asia and Latin America shows that subsidies for low-carbon agricultural techniques like agroforestry and silvopasture can improve food security and rural incomes, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and protecting vulnerable ecosystems. By investing in the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030), governments can grow rural prosperity and empower millions of smallholder farmers.


Climatological measurements, including carbon dioxide flux density, were made from May to September 1994 and from May to November 1996 at a young jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) forest near Thompson, Manitoba, Canada, as part of the Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS). The study periods were warmer and drier than the 24 year climate normals, and in general, 1996 was warmer but wetter than 1994. Volumetric soil moisture above a depth of 8 cm in 1994 was often less than 5%. Albedos for solar radiation and photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) were 0.13 and 0.05, respectively, in both years. The Bowen ratio for days of year 144–262 was 1.7 in 1994 and 1.5 in 1996, with maximum daily Bowen ratios from 4 to 6. The range in CO2 flux densities was the same in both years, with maximum uptake values of −0.55 mg m−2 s−1 in midsummer. Average diurnal patterns of CO2 exchange for 1994 were similar to those for 1996, characterized by maximum uptake in the morning and a gradual decrease through the afternoon. Rectangular hyperbolic response curves showing CO2 uptake in relation to incident PPFD show that changes between the morning and the afternoon, and because of environmental controls, were as great or greater than changes between designated 3 and 4 week measurement periods. Over a period of 119 days the young jack pine forest accumulated approximately −200 g C m−2 in 1994 and −267 g C m−2 in 1996. Reproduction of CO2 exchange trends will be important for modeling efforts involving northern ecosystems.


Abstract Significant uncertainty surrounds the processes involved in the formation of basalt-hosted corundum, particularly the role that the mantle plays in corundum generation. Some previous studies have suggested that trace-element ratios (namely, Cr/Ga and Ga/Mg) are useful for distinguishing two types of corundum: 'magmatic' and 'metamorphic', designations that include mantle and crustal processes. However, recent studies, including this one, have discovered transitional groups between these end-members that are difficult to classify.We used laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) to measure trace-element concentrations in sapphire and ruby crystals from eight alluvial deposits that span a significant length of the eastern Australian gemstone belt. Additionally, we collected LA-ICP-MS U-Pb and traceelement data from zircon megacrysts atWeldborough, Tasmania, which is also within the gemstone belt. Our sapphire and ruby results reveal a continuum in trace-element compositions, an observation that raises questions regarding previous classifications that ascribe corundum from basalt-hosted gemfields to either 'magmatic' or 'metamorphic' sources. The spatial association of basalt-related gemfields in eastern Australia with a long-lived convergent margin suggests a link between corundum formation and Al-enrichment of the mantle wedge during periods of subduction.


Working in close collaboration with international fashion designers, I innovate, design and produce limited runs of specialist textiles that cannot be sourced from conventional mills or engineered for the mass market, but which will influence the rest of the market in terms of trends and aesthetics.

My work is unique in the industry in that I do not sell swatches but always work to commission and in close consultation with designers. I have a close working relationship of ten years with some of my clients.

For this collection the designer wanted me to conceive and produce a unique vintage feel. To achieve this I subsequently developed an entirely new way of printing my design. I reversed the usual screen-printing processes of building up pattern by printing one colour after another, instead I printed the fabric black, then added a linear pattern, and then stripped out the colour by discharging (bleaching) the fabric to leave a residual pattern which was then hand stained with colour, steamed, washed and dried.

Working in close collaboration with the designer I printed my design as an all-over pattern on satin and chiffon in such a way that the designer could both use these fabrics for a variety of garment silhouettes and also as appliques, e.g. cutting them out and stitching them onto jeans and bags as decorative detailing.

This process is too expensive to adapt to high street fashion but the look was copied as mass market companies adapted the technique from a three-stage one to a single-stage one.

My textiles were commissioned by Phoebe Philo for the Chloe catwalk show and Chloe advertising campaign worldwide, featured as adverts and editorials in British, Italian and French Vogue and most other international fashion publications and can also be viewed online at vogue.co.uk, style.com and catwalking.com


This paper examines the prospective role of zoning rights and eminent domain in the FCC's challenge of reallocating underutilized television broadcast spectrum for use in significantly higher value mobile broadband applications. The government must reallocate the spectrum in an economically and legally efficient manner, balancing the interests of the politically powerful broadcasters and those of society as a whole. Recently, the government has decided to explore ways to incentivize the broadcasters to voluntarily return their spectrum licenses. From a strictly legal perspective, the broadcasters have a relatively weak claim to property rights. However, the government, has indicated it seeks an incentivized voluntary return of spectrum by the broadcasters. The government's plan to take the broadcasters' spectrum voluntarily, rather than involuntarily, suggests that the government intends to effectively treat the broadcasters as though they have certain property rights to their spectrum licenses – specifically the right to control possession. Given the government's de facto recognition of elements of property rights of the broadcasters, the twin theories of zoning and eminent domain can inform a mutually acceptable solution between the government and the broadcasters. These traditional property rights theories suggest that a payment to the broadcasters, some continued retransmission guarantees and cable or satellite subscription subsidies to affected viewers, totaling of $0.10 to $0.19 per Mhz/POP would likely to be fair to all parties. In addition, the threat of "down zoning" the television broadcasters' rights incentivizes the broadcasters to accept an equitable offer put forth by the government. The government would be able to auction the spectrum for $1.02 to $1.22 per Mhz/POP a net profit of approximately $28.5 to $38.3 billion.


We live in the plastic age (the "plasticene"), producing over 300 million tonnes (mt) of plastic every year globally, 5-15 mt of which flow into already polluted oceans. Plastic remains a key material in the global economy, but low rates of collection, reuse and recycling, emissions of microplastic from product wear and tear, and often insufficient disposal measures are leading to far-reaching environmental, health, social and economic impacts. The costs of inaction are unacceptably high. Globally there is a growing recognition of the need to address marine litter and rethink our approach to plastics and plastic packaging within the economy. Measures that enable a transition to a circular economy can avoid waste and reduce marine litter, and contribute to keeping plastics and their value in the economy.


Alcohols are selectively oxidized to aldehydes using active manganese dioxide (MnO2) nanoparticles under solvent-free condition using microwave irradiation. The complete conversion of the alcohols to their corresponding aldehydes was achieved successfully within only 15 seconds of irradiation in microwave oven. The products of oxidation were characterized by TLC, IR, and Tollens' test, which showed the characteristic results of the desired aldehydes. This method is found to be fast, green, and a very easy procedure that could be applied for the oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes without further oxidation to carboxylic acids.


Despite the growing importance of EU regulatory agencies in European decision-making, academic literature is missing a systematic explanation of how regulatory agencies actually contend with their core tasks of providing scientific advice to EU institutions. The article contributes to the theoretical explanation of when and under what conditions different uses of scientific expertise prevail. In particular, it focuses on theoretical explanations leading to strategic substantiating use of expertise followed by an empirical analysis of single case research. Substantiating expertise use refers to those practices in which an organisation seeks to promote and justify its predetermined preferences, which are based on certain values, political or economic interests. Empirical findings are discussed in the light of the theoretical expectations derived by streamlining and combining the main arguments of classical organisational and institutional theories and recent academic research. Process-tracing techniques are applied to investigate the process by which an EU regulation restricting the use of neonicotinoid pesticides (European Commission, 2013) was developed. The empirical analysis combines a variety of data sources including official documents, press releases, scientific outputs, and semi-structured interviews with the academic and industry experts involved in the process. The study finds that the interaction between high external pressure and high internal capacity leads to the strategic substantiating use of expertise, in which scientific evidence is used to promote the inclinations of actors upon which the agency depends most.


Cancer of the vulva accounts 3-5% of gynaecologic malignancies. In 90% it is a squamous cell carcinoma. The most common location is labia majora. Surgical treatment of vulvar cancer is often followed by complications in wound healing process. The aim of this work is to present advantages of negative-pressure drainage used in postoperative therapy of the wound. A patient diagnosed with a cancer of the vulva underwent radical vulvectomy with bilateral lymphadenectomy. Postoperatively, complex wound failure was observed and the patient was treated with vacuum-assisted closure therapy (VAC). After 10 days, the use of VAC resulted in amelioration of the wound state. Vacuum-assisted closure aims to reduce total time of wound healing, hospitalization and nursing work. Additionally, it enables to ameliorate patient's general state. It is a safe and successful method used worldwide and it should be considered to be introduced in gynaecologic patients after.


. We investigate the parameter spaces of hybrid inflation model with special at-tention paid to the dynamics of waterfall field and curvature perturbations induced from its quantum fluctuations. Depending on the inflaton field value at the time of phase transition and the sharpness of the phase transition inflation can have multiple extended stages. We find that for models with mild phase transition the induced curvature perturbation from the waterfall field is too large to satisfy the COBE normalization. We investigate the model parameter space where the curvature perturbations from the waterfall quantum fluctuations vary between the results of standard hybrid inflation and the results obtained here.


Loss of biodiversity has been in the forefront of conservation issues worldwide since the last century. Biodiversity conservation through restoring degraded habitats or creating new habitats is advocated in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. Newly created grasslands on restored landfill sites are semi-natural habitats that could support a number of species. However, it is unknown whether these re-created habitats represent a significant resource in terms of biodiversity conservation though poor quality soil was being used for restoration. A multi-taxon approach was applied to examine the biodiversity potential of these novel habitats. Plants (vascular plants and bryophytes), invertebrates (carabid beetles and land snails), and vertebrates (birds) were studied on nine restored landfill sites and paired reference sites in the East Midlands region of the UK during 2007 and 2008.

Plant species data were collected by random quadrats along two 100m transects from each site; carabid beetles were censused by pitfall traps; land snails were investigated by hand searches along the transects; and bird species were assessed using point counts. Effects of restoration were investigated by examining species richness, diversity or abundance of studied taxa and also how habitat quality and landscape factors determined species composition on restored landfill sites.

A total of 170 plant species (162 vascular plants and 8 bryophytes), 37 carabid beetle, 17 land snail and 12 bird species were found in the studied sites. Species richness and diversity or abundance of studied taxa on restored landfill sites were found to be equal to or above that of reference sites. Compositional differences were found between taxa on restored landfill sites and their corresponding reference sites. Though vegetation composition including NVC plant communities on restored landfill sites was rather homogeneous compared to reference sites, restored landfill sites were found to support a number of nationally decreasing native plant species and of common species of other taxa and also a number of Red List bird species such as Skylark (Alauda arvensis), Grey partridge (Perdix perdix), Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus), Tree sparrow (Passer montanus) and Starling (Sturnus vulgaris).

Habitat quality and landscape variables were found to be significant predictors for different species. Underlying soils were found to be an important factor in determining the heterogeneity of the plant communities within the study area which in turn dictates suitability of habitat for other taxonomic groups. A lack of congruency between taxa supports the incorporation of a multi-taxa approach into restoration plans. Management in terms of cutting or mowing of these landfill sites were found to have varying influences on different taxa. Moreover, restored landfill sites had less disturbance than reference sites as there was restricted access to dog walkers and for recreational purposes. This may be one of the main factors that could enhance the richness and abundance of a number of taxa, especially bird species. Management of these landfill sites should be targeted on species-specific goals as these sites can play a significant role in Local Biodiversity Action Plans. Overall, this study indicates that restored landfill sites have potential biodiversity conservation value in a complex modified human landscape.


This article has been selected for a special issue of the online journal Artifact.

As we move deeper and into a service economy, differentiation of service offerings occurring through the customer experience is becoming central to the success of service providers. The emerging discipline of service design must find new ways to orchestrate settings for customers that will result in favourable and memorable service experiences allowing for differentiation to take place.
Services are defined through their intangibility where customer's efforts are deemed inseparable from creating favourable experiences. The temporal nature of services mean that time is an important dimension. These factors can be a challenge for the service designer.
Around the sacred, rituals and myths are created to concretize and compr hend its intangible nature. These socially driven constructions give structure to time and seasons, narratives to fundamentals truths and meaning, whilst alleviating anxiety though life changes and allowing for euphoric experiences.
This paper draws from the theory relating to sacred, mainly from the social sciences, but also through a 'bricolage' approach, which aggregates relevant and useful concepts from the humanities. It argues that service design can benefit from the operationalization of theory relating to the sacred as a way to create favourable experiences and value for service customers.


Since its discovery more than 50 years ago, the human Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) on chromosome 6p21.3 has been at the forefront of human genetic research. Here, we review from a historical perspective the major advances in our understanding of the nature and consequences of genetic variation which have involved the MHC, as well as highlighting likely future directions. As a consequence of its particular genomic structure, its remarkable polymorphism and its early implication in numerous diseases, the MHC has been considered as a model region for genomics, being the first substantial region to be sequenced and establishing fundamental concepts of linkage disequilibrium, haplotypic structure and meiotic recombination. Recently, the MHC became the first genomic region to be entirely re-sequenced for common haplotypes, while studies mapping gene expression phenotypes across the genome have strongly implicated variation in the MHC. This review shows how the MHC continues to provide new insights and remains in the vanguard of contemporary research in human genomics.


We propose to combine image registration and volumetric reconstruction from a monocular video of a Hele-Shaw (hs) cell being drained. An hs cell is a tank whose thickness is small (e.g. 1 mm) compared to the other dimensions (e.g. 400 × 800 mm2). A pattern is tagged in the liquid at a molecular level by photobleaching [1]. The evolution of the pattern is filmed with a camera whose principal axis is orthogonal to the wall of the cell. Classical methods cannot be used directly to track the pattern because what is observed is the integration of the marked molecules over the entire thickness of the cell and because the velocity of the fluid is not uniform across the thickness of the cell. The proposed approach extends classical direct image registration (dir) [2] by incorporating a volumetric image formation model and simple constraints based on the geometry of the experimental setup. It allows us to accurately measure the motion and the velocity profiles for the entire volume which is something usually hard to achieve. The results we obtain are consistent with the theoretical hydrodynamic behaviour for this flow which is known as the planar Poiseuille flow (ppf). The interest of this work is twofold. In computer vision, it is a new algorithm for monocular volumetric reconstruction. In fluid mechanics, it allows us to experimentally measure the ppf in a narrow confined environment and it is a method based on two new elements: photobleaching and dir. Computer vision algorithms are mainly dedicated to opaque objects. A review of algorithms for transparent objects is given in [3]. A work sharing similarities with our is [4] where the authors proposes a variant of optical flow estimation from images that uses a volumetric model of a liquid in a microchannel. However, contrarily to our approach, [4] uses the ppf as a strong assumption.


Abstract. During the Asian summer monsoon, the circulation in the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere (UTLS) is dominated by the Asian monsoon anticyclone (AMA). Pollutants convectively uplifted to the upper troposphere are trapped within this anticyclonic circulation that extends from the Pacific Ocean to the Eastern Mediterranean basin. Among the uplifted pollutants are ozone (O3) and its precursors, such as carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Many studies based on global modeling and satellite data have documented the source regions and transport pathways of primary pollutants (CO, HCN) into the AMA. Here, we aim to quantify the O3 budget by taking into consideration anthropogenic and natural sources. We first use CO and O3 data from the MetOp-A/IASI sensor to document their tropospheric distributions over Asia, taking advantage of the useful information they provide on the vertical dimension. These satellite data are used together with MOZAIC tropospheric profiles recorded in India to validate the distributions simulated by the global GEOS-Chem chemistry transport model. Over the Asian region, UTLS monthly CO and O3 distributions from IASI and GEOS-Chem display the same large-scale features. UTLS CO columns from GEOS-Chem are in agreement with IASI, with a low bias of 11 ± 9 % and a correlation coefficient of 0.70. For O3, the model underestimates IASI UTLS columns over Asia by 14 ± 26 % but the correlation between both is high (0.94). GEOS-Chem is further used to quantify the CO and O3 budget through sensitivity simulations. For CO, these simulations confirm that South Asian anthropogenic emissions have a more important impact on enhanced concentrations within the AMA (∼  25 ppbv) than East Asian emissions (∼  10 ppbv). The correlation between enhanced emissions over the Indo-Gangetic Plain and monsoon deep convection is responsible for this larger impact. Consistently, South Asian anthropogenic NOx emissions also play a larger role in producing O3 within the AMA (∼  8 ppbv) than East Asian emissions (∼  5 ppbv), but Asian lightning-produced NOx is responsible for the largest O3 production (10–14 ppbv). Stratosphere-to-troposphere exchanges are also important in transporting O3 in the upper part of the AMA.


Recent evidence has revealed unique patterns of behavioral development after prenatal insult similar to those outlined in studies of adult metabolic dysfunction after prenatal malnutrition. The hallmark features of this Developmental Pathway include a prenatal insult to the nervous system (environmental or genetic) followed by a period of Silent Vulnerability, where no or few functional deficits are observed, and finally emergence of later dysfunction. Possible mechanisms leading to later dysfunction from prenatal insult may include secondary or cascade effects due to the timing of prenatal insults relative to later developing structures in the brain. Methods best employed to study the mechanisms of these pathways are microgenetic and longitudinal designs that include behavioral assessment during the prenatal period of development, and animal models such as the guinea pig.


Sustainability of aquaculture is achieved when aquaculture farming systems are capable of preserving the natural resource base and involves an institutional change to the environment by the attainment and continued satisfaction for present and future generations. Sustainable farming practices produce sufficient aquaculture output to satisfy the seafood demand while not burdening the environment more. The potentiality and efficiency of different sustainable aqua farming practices in reducing anthropogenic impacts to the environment by aquaculture are assessed in this paper. Polyculture is mostly adopted by small-scale rural farmers as it requires low entry barrier and help in income diversification. The input of inorganic fertilizer in polyculturing should be also minimized, replacing with efficient nitrogen use for better sustainability means. While green technologies like Recirculating aquaculture system (RASs), designed integrated aquaculture-wetland ecosystem (AWE) and Bioflocs involves more complicated interactions between the water treatment, the feed, and the fish. Hence, results with more variables in results and higher cost of adoption. However, the implications are much wider, not limited no nutrient uptake, salinity and pH, but the removal of total dissolved solids. While GIS analysis could serve as a guide for the site-selection in minimizing environmental impacts and preventing aquaculture failure. Different approaches should be adopted to fulfill different needs depending on the species being cultured and adjacent environmental context.


It has been demonstrated repeatedly that durational characteristics of consonantal (C) and vocalic (V) intervals are robust acoustic correlates of rhythm class (stress-timed, syllable-timed, mora-timed). Here, we investigate how objective rhythm measures develop during the acquisition of a second language. In a longitudinal study, nine native speakers of Spanish were recorded reading a text in English before and after a year of English language training at university level. A control group of nine native English speakers read the same text. Automatic forced alignment of speech segment boundaries using hidden Markov models allowed the calculation of C and V interval durations. Standard rhythm metrics (%V, deltaC, deltaV, PVI) were calculated for all recordings. First results show that durational C interval characteristics between native English and Spanish English (pre- and post-training) do not differ. However, V interval characteristics (deltaV, nPVI, %V) are lowest for English natives, higher for the Spanish post training group and highest for the Spanish pretraining group. The results suggest that (a) deficits of speech rhythm competence in a second language are mostly revealed on a vocalic level and (b) an increase in competence in a second language is reflected well by measurable speech rhythm.


Atrial Fibrillation Ablation with Therapeutic Anticoagulation. Pulmonary vein antrum isolation (PVAI) has emerged as an effective treatment for drug‐refractory atrial fibrillation (AF). However, thromboembolic events are important complications of this approach. Management of anticoagulation is essential to prevent thromboembolic complications and avoid bleeding complications. The purpose of this review is to outline the general principles followed at our AF centers to address the important issue of pre‐, peri‐, and postprocedural anticoagulation strategies during PVAI of AF. We initiate warfarin therapy prior to the ablation procedure and continue it through the procedure. Prior work has demonstrated that continuation of therapeutic warfarin during the radiofrequency catheter ablation reduces the risk of periprocedural stroke/transient ischemic attack without increasing the risk of hemorrhagic events. In fact, a strategy that interrupts warfarin anticoagulation may increase the risk of stroke, even with bridging with enoxaparin. Data from our work have shown that minor bleeding was more frequent in the patients bridged with heparin or enoxaparin. There was no significant difference in incidence of major bleeding complications among the patients with a therapeutic level of international normalized ratio (INR) compared with patients for whom bridging therapy was used. Furthermore, the strategy of ablation during a therapeutic INR could be more economical compared with bridging therapy with enoxaparin. Continuation of therapeutic warfarin during ablation of AF may be the best strategy, especially in patients with nonparoxysmal AF, patients with higher thromboembolic risk scores, and patients who require extensive ablation during PVAI of AF. (J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol, Vol. 22, pp. 236‐239, February 2011)


textabstractThe pursuit of an African Renaissance has become an important aspect of regional cooperation between South Africa and its neighbours. Transfrontier conservation areas, or 'Peace Parks' as they are popularly called, have been identified as key instruments to promote the African Renaissance dream, and are increasingly advocated and justified on this basis. By fostering joint conservation (and tourism) development in Southern Africa's marginalised border regions, Peace Parks are claimed to further international peace, regional cooperation and poverty reduction, and thus serve basic ideals of the African Renaissance. This article critically explores this assumption. Using the joint South African-Mozambican-Zimbabwean Great Limpopo Park as a case study, it argues that in reality the creation of Peace Parks hardly stimulates and possibly even undermines the realisation of the African Renaissance ideals of regional cooperation, emancipation, cultural reaffirmation, sustainable economic development and democratisation. So far, their achievement has been severely hindered by domination of national interests, insufficient community consultation, and sensitive border issues such as the illegal flows of goods and migrants between South Africa and neighbouring countries. Furthermore, exacerbation of inter-state differences induced by power imbalances in the region, and harmonisation of land use and legal systems across boundaries, are increasingly becoming sources of conflict and controversy. Some of these problems are so severe, we conclude, that they might eventually even undermine support for African Renaissance as a whole. Utmost care is thus required to optimally use the chances that Peace Parks do offer in furthering an African Renaissance.


This paper shows an implementation of a scroll booster compressor mounted at the suction line of a single-stage air-water heat pump. The compressor selected to be used as booster is a beltdriven scroll compressor initially dedicated to automotive refrigeration. For the tests reported here, it is driven by an electrical motor and has been modified to obtain a lower built-in volume ratio. The computations for those modifications have been made with our own software called GeoScroll. Tests of the heat pump at A-11/W65 show a large improvement of the heat output, which is doubled (raising from 7.39 kW, in the normal single-stage configuration, up to 15.7 kW) while the COP decreases by less than 10% (from 2.08 to 1.89). This performance degradation is not due to bad performances of the booster compressor, that are at the level expected, but to a decrease of the evaporation pressure (1 bar, which is equivalent to 11 K), as the evaporator has not been designed for such heating powers. Even with working conditions outside its design range, the heat pump behavior with the booster has been proved to be very stable (the experiments were performed over few weeks). Furthermore, no oil accumulation has been noticed in the booster compressor, which is favorable to an integration of the device into existing heat pumps, currently in service. Indeed, it can be easily included into existing single-stage heat pumps with few adaptations. The concept is attractive in comparison to backup with heating devices, used in case of low temperatures, with a far better exergy efficiency and with contribution to the reduction of the electric demand peak.


Colloid stability is of high importance in a multitude of fields ranging from food science to biotechnology. There is strong interest in studying the stability of small particles (of a size of a few nanometres) with complex surface structures, that make them resemble the complexity of proteins and other natural biomolecules, in the presence of oppositely charged nanoparticles. While for nanoparticles with homogeneously charged surfaces an abrupt precipitation has been observed at the neutrality of charges, data are missing about the stability of nanoparticles when they have more complex surface structures, like the presence of hydrophobic patches. To study the role of these hydrophobic patches in the stability of nanoparticles a series of negatively charged nanoparticles has been synthesized with different ratios of hydrophobic content and with control on the structural distribution of the hydrophobic moiety, and then titrated with positively charged nanoparticles. For nanoparticles with patchy nanodomains, the influence of hydrophobic content was observed together with the influence of the size of the nanoparticles. By contrast, for nanoparticles with a uniform distribution of hydrophobic ligands, size changes and hydrophobic content did not play any role in co-precipitation behaviour. A comparison of these two sets of nanoparticles suggests that nanodomains present at the surfaces of nanoparticles are playing an important role in stability against co-precipitation.


The C in linguistics proved to Rebecca Mercado that college was going to be different. "It was the first time I had ever received a grade lower than a B, and it was upsetting," admits Mercado, a biochemistry and cell biology major at the University of California, San Diego. The first in her family to attend a four-year college, Mercado was a strong student dating all the way back to her days in middle school at San Diego's KIPP Adelante Preparatory Academy. Perhaps as a result, she was "a little more cocky than I should have been" when arriving on campus for freshman year. Like many freshmen, Mercado experienced the distraction of being on her own for the first time, which took a toll on her grades. Holding down a job while taking more classes than she could handle didn't help. "It all came crashing down on top of me," Mercado says. Freshman year was "a big dose of reality," she says. Here's another one: statistically speaking, Mercado might have been voted "Least Likely to Succeed" at birth. Low-income black and Hispanic students are by far the least likely U.S. students to graduate from high school and attend a four-year college. Those who are accepted to college are least likely to stick around and earn a degree. For each one who earns a bachelor's degree, 11 fall short somewhere along the line, giving students like Mercado a mere 8 percent chance of graduating from college. Mercado persists. Reenergized after a summer internship with the KIPP Foundation in Chicago, she is back on campus for the fall semester of 2012. She credits the habits of mind and encouragement she received in middle school, and the contacts she maintains five years later with KIPP teachers and administrators, for propelling her forward. "This year I'm coming in with a clear head. I'm more focused on my classes and what I want to accomplish. I'm going to do better," she says. Her delivery communicates not hope or aspiration but conviction. "Nothing is going to keep me from graduating," she insists, adding for emphasis, "nothing." Mercado's story--both her struggle and her determination--will be repeated over the next several years on college campuses across the U.S. At one level, she's just one more kid trying to pass biology, graduate, and make something of herself. But as the product of a KIPP school, Mercado is at the vanguard of a rapidly growing class of students whose success or failure could make or break the reputation of a closely watched group of charter schools and the sometimes-controversial, muscular brand of education they have pioneered. In 2015, more than 10,000 students from KIPP and other major charter-school highfliers will be on college campuses across the United States. The Coming KIPP Bubble You can't play the ingenue forever. For much of its brief history, there has been something of a halo over the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP). Founded in Houston in 1994 by Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin, a pair of Teach For America corps members, KIPP now has more than 100 schools in 20 states and Washington, D.C. It is the largest and best known of a class of charter-management organizations (CMOs) that includes Achievement First, YES Prep, Uncommon Schools, Mastery, Aspire, and others. This group shares a set of familiar characteristics: more and longer school days, with a college preparatory curriculum for all students; strict behavioral and disciplinary codes; and a strong focus on building a common, high-intensity school culture. Classrooms and halls are awash in motivational quotations and college banners, typically from the alma maters of the inevitably young, hard-charging teachers who staff the schools. The signature feature is high behavioral and academic expectations for all students, the vast majority of whom are low-income, urban black and Hispanic kids. It's this last feature that led KIPP and the others to be branded "No Excuses" schools, a label not universally embraced within the category. …


The objectives of this cross-sectional study was to determine the seropositivity status of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) in pig and ascertain the farm level risk factors in Nepal. Serum samples were collected from 181 pigs in 91 farms of Rupandehi and Kapilbastu districts and tested for antibodies by IgG ELISA. Survey of farmers in each farm was carried out to determine the farm level risk factors. A total of 20 out of 181 (11%) serum samples tested positive for JEV antibodies. There was no statistically significant difference in seropositivity with age (p>0.05), sex (p>0.05) and breed (p>0.05) of pigs. Farm level infection was significantly associated with closeness to rice fields (p<0.05), closeness to standing water sources (p<0.05), wild bird exposure (p<0.05) and mosquito bite to pigs (p<0.05). These factors need to be addressed while formulating prevention, control and management strategies of JEV in pig and hence in human. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ijasbt.v2i3.10639 Int J Appl Sci Biotechnol, Vol. 2(3): 311-314


MCAD/MCSD/MCSE Training Guide (70-229): SQL Server 2000 Database Design and Implementation is the perfect study guide to help you pass the 70-229 exam, which is an elective for the MCSD, MCAD, MCDBA, and MCSE programs. If you are preparing for this exam, you'll find our Training Guide to be the most effective self-study tool in the market! This book is your one-stop shop because of its teaching methodology, the accompanying PrepLogic testing software, and superior Web site support at www.examcram.com. The book follows the exam objectives and features numerous exercises to give you hands-on opportunities, exam tips that give you advice for test day, and warnings that alert you to possible mistakes. The Fast Facts section condenses the most important information for last-minute review, and the practice exam is representative of the actual exam.Each book in the Training Guide series is published under the direction of Series Editor Ed Tittel, the leading authority on IT certification. This book has been subjected to rigorous technical review by a team of industry experts, ensuring content is superior in both coverage and technical accuracy, and has earned the distinction of Cramsessioni¾? Approved Study Material.The CD features PrepLogici¾? Practice Tests, Preview Edition. This product includes one complete PrepLogic Practice Test with approximately the same number of questions found on the actual vendor exam. Each question contains full, detailed explanations of the correct and incorrect answers. The engine offers two study modes, Practice Test and Flash Review, full exam customization, and a detailed score report.


The onset of the Great Recession has brought income inequality to the forefront of political debate in many democracies, although rising inequality can be traced back to the early 1980s. To account for this heightened concern, I develop a model of attitude formation on inequality that highlights the role of macroeconomic evaluations in influencing how citizens view income inequality. Specifically, I argue that economic evaluations are correlated with tolerance for income inequality at the individual-level. Consequently, as opinions on the macroeconomy decline, public opposition to income inequality increases. I contend that this relationship between economic evaluations and inequality attitudes is linked with citizens' beliefs about economic agency, and whether large income differences are attributable to circumstances that are beyond individuals' control. Leveraging cross-national and panel survey analyses, as well as comparative case studies, my findings underscore three areas in which conventional models of political economy fall short in describing inequality dynamics. Contrary to these models, I find that a) the rich and poor react similarly to inequality as their economic evaluations deteriorate; b) economic evaluations matter most as heuristics for those with ambivalent opinions on the income gap; and c) attitudes on inequality demonstrate meaningful variation over the short-run. My analysis underscores the existence of a "redistribution paradox," whereby the periods that produce the greatest intolerance amongst citizens for income inequality are also the periods during which the economic resources needed to close the income gap are most scarce.


The literature suggests that established firms need to balance their exploration and exploitation activities in order to achieve superior performance. Yet, previous empirical research has modeled this balance as the interaction of orthogonal activities. In this study, we show that there is a trade‐off between exploration and exploitation and that the optimal balance between exploration and exploitation depends upon environmental conditions. Using a novel methodology to measure the relative exploration versus exploitation orientation, we find an inverted U‐shaped relationship between the relative share of explorative orientation and financial performance. This relationship is positively moderated by the R&D intensity of the industry in which the firm operates. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The German Federal waterways network consists of about 7,350 km of inland waterways and about 23,000 km of sea waterways. It is part of the trans-European network (TEN) of transportation routes on water. Waterways are an efficient, safe, and environmentally-friendly means of transport for national and international navigation. Sea ports are connected to international trade by sea-side access routes to the North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts. The continuing increase in traffic volume in sea and hinterland due to the globalised economy as well as rising inland traffic mainly related to EU enlargement in Eastern Europe require an efficient network of European inland waterways. Thus a major objective is to cope with the rising volume of total transport as far as possible by means of environment-friendly vessels and to optimise intermodality with railways and roads. For instance, the current transport cost for a bottle of wine by ship from Chile to Hamburg is about the same as by rail or lorry from Franconia to Hamburg. The safety and ease necessary for transport on water are enabled by permanent observation of the state and economical maintenance of all objects in and along the waterways. In 2003, inland vessels provided a goods vehicle distance travelled of about 64.2 billion tkm (tonne-kilometre) in Germany !? i.e. 17.8% of the total goods vehicle distance travelled (rail: 19.9%, lorry: 62.3%).


Digital image-based finite element meshing is an alternative approach to time-consuming conventional meshing techniques for generating realistic three-dimensional (3D) models of complex structures. Although not limited to biological applications, digital image-based modeling has been used to generate structure-specific (i.e., non-generic) models of whole bones and trabecular bone microstructures. However, questions remain regarding the solution accuracy provided by the digital meshing approach, particularly at model or material boundaries. The purpose of this study was to compare the accuracy of digital and conventional smooth boundary models based on theoretical solutions for a two-dimensional (2D) compression plate and a 3D circular cantilever beam. For both the plate and beam analyses, the predicted solution at digital model boundaries was characterized by local oscillations, which produced potentially high errors within individual boundary elements. Significantly, however, the digital model boundary solution oscillated approximately about the theoretical solution. A marked improvement in solution accuracy was therefore achieved by considering average results within a region composed of several elements. Absolute errors for Von Mises stress averaged over the beam cross section, for example, converged to less than 4 percent, and the predicted free-end displacement of the cantilever beam was within 1 percent of the theoretical solution. Analyses at several beam orientations and mesh resolutions suggested a minimum discretization of three to four digital finite elements through the beam cross section to avoid high numerical stiffening errors under bending.


Using population-level data from the Mexican Family Life Survey (MxFLS), we examine the impact on child health of a large-scale conditional cash transfer program, Oportunidades. This innovative antipoverty program puts additional resources in the hands of women and their families and encourages parents to invest in human capital of their children. Program income accounts for about 25% of total resources in beneficiary households. The causal impact of the program on child health is isolated by exploiting insights from the biology of child growth in combination with the timing of the roll-out of Oportunidades and the panel dimension of MxFLS. Height for age among children exposed during the first 3 years of life is contrasted with similar children who were not exposed.


Abstract. Descriptions of soil hydraulic properties, such as the soil moisture retention curve, θ(h), and saturated hydraulic conductivities, Ks, are a prerequisite for hydrological models. Since the measurement of Ks is expensive, it is frequently derived from statistical pedotransfer functions (PTFs). Because it is usually more difficult to describe Ks than θ(h) from pedotransfer functions, Pollacco et al. (2013) developed a physical unimodal model to compute Ks solely from hydraulic parameters derived from the Kosugi θ(h). This unimodal Ks model, which is based on a unimodal Kosugi soil pore-size distribution, was developed by combining the approach of Hagen–Poiseuille with Darcy's law and by introducing three tortuosity parameters. We report here on (1) the suitability of the Pollacco unimodal Ks model to predict Ks for a range of New Zealand soils from the New Zealand soil database (S-map) and (2) further adaptations to this model to adapt it to dual-porosity structured soils by computing the soil water flux through a continuous function of an improved bimodal pore-size distribution. The improved bimodal Ks model was tested with a New Zealand data set derived from historical measurements of Ks and θ(h) for a range of soils derived from sandstone and siltstone. The Ks data were collected using a small core size of 10 cm diameter, causing large uncertainty in replicate measurements. Predictions of Ks were further improved by distinguishing topsoils from subsoil. Nevertheless, as expected, stratifying the data with soil texture only slightly improved the predictions of the physical Ks models because the Ks model is based on pore-size distribution and the calibrated parameters were obtained within the physically feasible range. The improvements made to the unimodal Ks model by using the new bimodal Ks model are modest when compared to the unimodal model, which is explained by the poor accuracy of measured total porosity. Nevertheless, the new bimodal model provides an acceptable fit to the observed data. The study highlights the importance of improving Ks measurements with larger cores.


The article investigated the history of the emergence and development of cryptocurrency, its main features, technology of use and types are considered. The bitcoin exchange rate against the US dollar has been studied in dynamics over the past 5 years and at a specific date (February 9, 2020). A rating of cryptocurrencies by price in USD and volume of capitalization according to the data at the beginning of 2020 was constructed. The main advantages and disadvantages of using cryptocurrency are highlighted. A study of the global cryptocurrency market and the features of its development in Ukraine with a separation into the primary and secondary market was carried out. It was revealed that Ukraine is among the five countries in the number of users of various Bitcoin wallets and cryptocurrency services have been available for payment since October 2015. The legislation of Ukraine in the field of cryptocurrency market regulation is considered. It is revealed that legislative acts in this sphere are at the stage of formation. Problems of development of the cryptocurrency market in Ukraine have been identified, among them the lack of a certain legal status of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which is the main factor limiting their active distribution and development of the relevant infrastructure.Order to ensure reliable state control over the "gray" market, which actually operates in Ukraine, the necessary measures are proposed aimed at its legalization and regulation, in particular: amendments to the current legislation in the field of banking and money circulation, namely: Laws of Ukraine "On National Bank of Ukraine "," On Banks and Banking "," On Payment Systems and Transfer of Funds in Ukraine ", etc.