Purpose: A fast, accurate pencil beam dose calculation method for IMPT can be used to produce higher quality treatment by enabling many different treatment plans to be tested and compared rapidly. It is important that the dose calculation correctly include the effects of the finite SAD, and changes in beam emittance associated with changes in energy and treatment port. Methods: We exploit the combined capabilities of both CUDA and OpenGL to propagate a set of Gaussian pencil beams decomposed into weighted superposition of elementary Gaussian beamlets. In alternating phases the beamlets are advanced using CUDA to compute the beam propagation and OpenGL to compute the energy deposition into voxels. Using tabulated integrated Bragg curves and beam divergences obtained from measured machine‐specific data, CUDA is used to compute energy lost by the beamlets due to the stopping power of the tissue obtained by conversion from CT, increases in beamlet size using the differential Highland formula to model scattering, and changes in the beamlet shapes due to finite SAD and beam emittance. The OpenGL geometry processor uses the beamlet centroid position, size, eccentricity and orientation to generate oriented rectangular geometry that is projected onto dose volume slices. The OpenGL fragment processor uses a scaled Error Function texture map to deposit beamlet energy into voxels. Both protons and carbon ions are easily handled as is the contribution of large angle scattered ions. Results: Using 25 beamlets per pencil beam, the dose can be computed a square grid of 24×24×36 beam spots in a 90× 90× 250 mm3 voxel volume (1.0 mm voxel size) in 4.1 seconds using nVidia GTX580 graphics card with high accuracy. Conclusion: We have developed a novel algorithm that exploits the strengths of both CUDA and OpenGL to enable fast, accurate dose calculation from ions in heterogeneous, high resolution CT volumes.


Neutrophils secrete elastase, which not only recruits other immune cells but also inhibits insulin signaling in adipose and liver. Infiltration of adipose tissue by immune cells and inflammation of this tissue contribute to metabolic disorders associated with obesity. Neutrophils are one of the first cells recruited to sites of inflammation. Neutrophil elastase is secreted and has been reported to be taken up by cells, which results in the degradation of an insulin receptor substrate (IRS) adaptor protein important for insulin signaling. Neutrophil elastase can also stimulate Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) to promote proinflammatory signaling, which recruits other immune cells. Talukdar et al. examined the effect of neutrophil recruitment and neutrophil elastase on insulin signaling and glucose handling in obese mice fed a high-fat diet (DIO mice). The number of adipose tissue neutrophils and the mRNA abundance and activity of neutrophil elastase were increased in DIO mice compared with mice fed a normal diet. Treatment of DIO mice with a pharmacological inhibitor of neutrophil elastase improved glucose tolerance without affecting their weight. When fed the high-fat diet, neutrophil elastase knockout (NEKO) mice exhibited improved insulin sensitivity and markedly reduced numbers of adipose tissue neutrophils compared with wild-type mice. In vivo tests of liver function showed increased hepatocyte responsiveness to insulin and decreased lipogenesis in NEKO mice. Western blotting of liver and white adipose tissue confirmed that insulin stimulation of downstream components was increased in NEKO mice. The liver and adipose tissue of NEKO mice had increased abundance of Irs1, and administration of neutrophil elastase to wild-type mice reduced the abundance of Irs1 in the liver and insulin-induced and basal phosphorylation of Akt (a kinase in the insulin pathway). On the basis of studies with recombinant neutrophil elastase and intraperitoneal macrophages from wild-type and Tlr4-deficient mice, neutrophil elastase triggered the Tlr4-dependent induction of a proinflammatory response. Consistent with the ability of neutrophil elastase to induce the expression of proinflammatory genes, transcripts for such proinflammatory markers were less abundant in NEKO mouse liver. These data suggest that neutrophil infiltration of fat and liver and the release of neutrophil elastase in these tissues contribute to insulin resistance and compromised organ function as a result of reduced Irs1 and induction of inflammation. S. Talukdar, D. Y. Oh, G. Bandyopadhyay, D. Li, J. Xu, J. McNelis, M. Lu, P. Li, Q. Yan, Y. Zhu, J. Ofrecio, M. Lin, M. B. Brenner, J. M. Olefsky, Neutrophils mediate insulin resistance in mice fed a high-fat diet through secreted elastase. Nat. Med. 18, 1407–1412 (2012). [PubMed]


This paper examines whether or not small businesses (fewer than 100 employees) can successfully pursue total quality management (TQM) beyond ISO 9000. A review of the literature on quality in small businesses shows that the benefits of ISO 9000 can far outweigh the costs of achieving registrations (even for small businesses) but also emphasizes that ISO 9000 should be viewed as a step towards TQM and not the end of the quality journey. Although many small businesses are benefiting from ISO 9000, an increasing number of small ISO businesses are not progressing towards TQM. To explore the actual impact of quality on small business, a number of small ISO 9000 businesses were surveyed. The main conclusions and recommendations arising from the thesis are that small businesses can benefit from implementing TQM. However, small TQM practitioners need to learn to be more externally focused, i.e. customer focused, to measure the financial impact of TQM on bottom line performance and to use direct methods to measure...


The problem of numerical instability of the classical Kalman filter (KF) still remains one of the most important topics in engineering literature. For improving its robustness with respect to roundoff errors, the singular value decomposition (SVD) methodology has been proposed for implementing the underlying classical KF Riccati recursion. In this study, SVD-based filtering is derived for an alternative KF mechanisation that is based on the so-called Chandrasekhar recursion and yields a family of fast KF implementations. The new methodology involves hyperbolic SVD (HSVD) factorisation rather than usual SVD utilised in the Riccati-based filtering. The results of numerical study indicate that the HSVD-based filtering strategy outperforms the conventional Chandrasekhar-based KF while solving ill-conditioned state estimation problem. Together with the existed Cholesky-based algorithms, they are the preferred implementations when solving applications with high reliability requirements within the class of fast Chandrasekhar-based KF implementations.


Bacteria that contaminate milk include thermoduric bacteria that can survive pasteurisation and subsequently grow in the pasteurised milk or contaminate product. Elimination of thermodurics at milking is not feasible. Therefore, knowledge of their source and strategies for their reduction are important. The major sources of thermodurics in milk are contamination of the teat skin from soil and bedding, and subsequent contamination from deposits that can build up on milking equipment surfaces. Hygiene at milking can reduce the number of bacteria contaminating milk. Teat preparation at milking and a recommended plant cleaning procedure are critical to the prevention of the contamination of milk with thermoduric bacteria.


Increasing availability of information has furthered the need for recommender systems across a variety of domains. These systems are designed to tailor each user's information space to suit their particular information needs. Collaborative filtering is a successful and popular technique for producing recommendations based on similarities in users' tastes and opinions. Our work focusses on these similarities and the fact that current techniques for defining which users contribute to recommendation are in need of improvement. In this paper we propose the use of trustworthiness as an improvement to this situation. In particular, we define and empirically test a technique for eliciting trust values for each producer of a recommendation based on that user's history of contributions to recommendations. We present three computational models for leveraging under/overestimate errors in users' past contributions to recommendations to generate a range each side of a fixed point on the recommendation scale to be presented to the target user. We show how this trust-based technique can be easily incorporated into a standard collaborative filtering algorithm and define a fair comparison in which our technique outperforms a benchmark algorithm in predictive accuracy.


AS peace and stability slowly but steadily return to the Middle East, the first set of fundamentals for resuming regional growth--a stable trading environment and a secure investment climate--will gradually fall into place. The remaining elements are domestic reform and adequate external financing. The former has received considerable attention in the literature, both generally and in the specific context of the Middle East. The latter has not, but there is need for a radical rethinking of the role of external finance in the future development of the region. This article examines the levels and types of financial flows to and from the Middle East in order to assess their past contribution to investment and growth, and explores the need for a new approach to external finance. The focus is on the group of countries (or entities) in the Middle East that can expect to benefit economically from current efforts to bring peace to the region: Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank, and Gaza (which we group together and for convenience call "the Mashriq"), and Israel. These countries also have similar characteristics with respect to international finance: they are net debtors to the rest of the world, they receive large amounts of official assistance, and/or they rely on large unrequited transfers and worker remittances to equilibrate their balance of payments. During the period 1970-90, net inflows of capital averaged 16 percent of Gross National Product (GNP) in the Mashriq and 14 percent in Israel.(1) These are very high flows by international standards. Indeed, for several countries, capital flows were a more important source of foreign exchange in the late 1970s than exports of goods and services. As such, they had a proportionately large effect on the evolution of these economies, especially on the expansion of the public sector, and have marked deeply their current state of operation. By 1990, capital flows--while still large in some countries by international standards--had shrunk to about 8 percent of GNP in the region. Since 1991, official capital flows have risen to offset the effects of the 1991 Gulf War, but this rise is likely to be short lived. An exclusive focus on flows, however, misses vital information on stocks--the outstanding stock of debt, on the one hand, and the accumulation of capital abroad, on the other. For the region as a whole, these stocks are estimated respectively at about 80 and 120 percent of regional GNP in 1991. These are large ratios by international standards. In Latin America, for example, the ratio of debt and capital abroad to GNP stood at half and one-third of these levels, respectively.(2) These past legacies offer both an exciting prospect and a difficult challenge. The prospect lies in the possibility of fueling a private sector-led strategy of economic development by attracting capital back to the region. The challenge lies in the debt overhang. Besides the burden that the debt imposes on current resources, the weight of public debt is deterring private investors--both domestic and foreign--and delaying the return of past capital outflows. In assessing future prospects, therefore, it is important to consider any need for exceptional measures of debt relief as countries move to more market-oriented paths of development. Indeed, as in Latin America, debt relief has become a crucial component of ongoing reform programs. Most debts in the Middle East, however, are bilateral. This means that the Brady Initiative does not hold much promise.(3) The model lies instead with the conditional debt reduction granted by the Patis Club to Egypt in 1990-91, which set a new precedent for linking reduction to reform.(4) An alternative approach--an increase in grants sufficient to offset the outflows related to debt payments-can achieve the same aim and has been pursued in Israel. EXTERNAL FINANCE, INVESTMENT, AND GROWTH Net financial inflows into the region have been large on average but variable over time. …


Thispaperconsidersextractivesummarisationinacomparative setting: given two or more document groups (e.g., separated by publication time), the goal is to select a small number of documents that are representative of each group, and also maximally distinguishable from other groups. We formulate a set of new objective functions for this problem that connect recent literature on document summarisation, interpretable machine learning, and data subset selection. In particular, by casting the problem as a binary classification amongst different groups, we derive objectives based on the notion of maximum mean discrepancy, as well as a simple yet effective gradient-based optimisation strategy. Our new formulation allows scalable evaluations of comparative summarisation as a classification task, both automatically and via crowd-sourcing. To this end, we evaluate comparative summarisation methods on a newly curated collection of controversial news topics over 13months.Weobserve thatgradient-based optimisationoutperforms discrete and baseline approaches in 15 out of 24 different automatic evaluation settings. In crowd-sourced evaluations, summaries from gradient optimisation elicit 7% more accurate classification from human workers than discrete optimisation. Our result contrasts with recent literature on submodular data subset selection that favours discrete optimisation. We posit that our formulation of comparative summarisation will prove useful in a diverse range of use cases such as comparing content sources, authors, related topics, or distinct view points.


An intensive investigation of particulate sulfur fluxes to a deciduous forest was conducted at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, during May 1983, as part of a multilaboratory program to study the dry deposition of airborne trace gases and aerosols to vegetated surfaces. At this time, the leaf area was approximately 50% of the maximum and was rapidly increasing. Eddy correlation methods were used to measure fluxes of submicron particulate sulfur (presumably sulfate), of submicron particles in three different size ranges, and of ozone above the forest canopy. The measured deposition velocities (vd) of particulate sulfur peaked at about 1 cm s−1 in daytime, but dropped to near zero at night, with a long-term average of about 0.6 cm s−1. When scaled with friction velocity, these values of vd are consistent with similar measurements taken previously over different surfaces. Measurements and analyses indicate that the flux divergence of particulate sulfur should have caused an error no greater than ±0.05 cm s−1 in vd estimates. For very small particles (less than 0.1 μm diameter), measured values of vd were similar to those for particulate sulfate, but deposition velocities for particles in the accumulation size range decreased as particle size increased, and upward components of fluxes were found in daytime convective conditions. During this study, measurements were also made of sulfur deposition to polycarbonate petri dishes placed in the forest canopy, and to the bucket of a standard wet-dry collector in a forest clearing. These surrogate surface studies produced much smaller values of vd for sulfate than those derived from eddy correlation, when no scaling as a function of leaf area relative to ground area was applied.


Bone morphogenetic proteins (Bmps) are signaling molecules that have been implicated in a variety of inductive processes. We report here that zebrafish Bmp7 is disrupted in snailhouse (snh) mutants. The allele snh(st1) is a translocation deleting the bmp7 gene, while snh(ty68) displays a Val->Gly exhange in a conserved motif of the Bmp7 prodomain. The snh(ty68) mutation is temperature-sensitive, leading to severalfold reduced activity of mutant Bmp7 at 28 degrees C and non-detectable activity at 33 degrees C. This prodomain lesion affects secretion and/or stability of secreted mature Bmp7 after processing has occurred. Both snh(st1) and snh(ty68) mutant zebrafish embryos are strongly dorsalized, indicating that bmp7 is required for the specification of ventral cell fates during early dorsoventral patterning. At higher temperature, the phenotype of snh(ty68) mutant embryos is identical to that caused by the amorphic bmp2b mutation swirl swr(ta72) and similar to that caused by the smad5 mutation somitabun sbn(dtc24). mRNA injection studies and double mutant analyses indicate that Bmp2b and Bmp7 closely cooperate and that Bmp2b/Bmp7 signaling is transduced by Smad5 and antagonized by Chordino.


This article provides a typology of null subjects (e.g. pro, PRO) and their control in Finnish. It argues that there are two syntactic environments licensing controlled null pronouns in this language. One environment, licensing an element closely resembling or identical with pro, is characterized by morphosyntactic activity, while the other exhibits the exact opposite profile and licenses PRO. Control properties of the two types of null subjects differ from each other and are shown to depend on three notions: c-command, locality and discourse. An analysis is provided that explains why null subjects are generated in the presence (e.g. pro) and absence (e.g. PRO) of morphosyntax, and why these elements exhibit the control properties that they do. According to this analysis, both pro and PRO are real pronominal elements, bare phi-sets, which contain uninterpretable features that trigger control relations at LF. Morphosyntax (Agree) is seen as a mechanism that renders arguments visible at PF and LF, while discourse-interpreted elements are exempted from this restriction.


The dissertation consists of four essays that address several issues related to the performance of Canadian equity and fixed-income mutual funds. In the first essay, a general asset pricing framework is used to derive a conditional asset pricing kernel that accounts efficiently for time variation in expected returns and risk, and is suitable to perform (un)conditional evaluations of passive and dynamic investment strategies. The abnormal unconditional performance of Canadian equity mutual funds over the period 1989-1999 becomes negative with conditioning. The performance statistics are weakly sensitive to changes in the level of relative risk aversion of the uninformed investor. The reversal in the size-based performance results with limited information conditioning is alleviated somewhat with an expansion of the conditioning set. Estimates of survivorship bias due to the elimination of funds with shorter lives, which range from 36 to 58 basis points per year, are stable across performance models but differ across groupings by fund objective. In the second essay, we examine the sensitivity of various measures of portfolio performance using various return-based linear benchmark models in both their unconditional and conditional versions for a sample of Canadian equity mutual funds. In a departure from the current literature, performance inferences are based on tests that incorporate the contemporaneous cross-correlations across fund returns. In the third essay, we use higher-order moment and nonlinear asset pricing kernel models to estimate the risk-adjusted performance of a sample of Canadian equity mutual funds. (Un)conditional frameworks are developed that are suitable to perform evaluations of fixed weight and dynamic strategies. The results show that the weak unconditional performance becomes positive and significant with nonlinear and conditional kernel-based benchmarks. In the fourth essay, we presents new evidence on the performance of Canadian fixed-income funds using various linear single- and multi-factor benchmark models based on a sample of Canadian fixed-income mutual funds over the period, 1985-2000. Frameworks are developed that are suitable to perform evaluations of fixed-weight and dynamic strategies. The results show evidence of negative performance, which improves with partial conditioning. The performance measures are weakly sensitive to the return generating process. Tests that do not incorporate the contemporaneous cross-correlations in the returns among individual funds consistently alter and reverse the conditioning information-based performance inferences and the large fund effect. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)


Gonads are radiosensitive organs and the biological damage produced by radiation is closely related to the amount of energy absorbed. The aim of the study was to compare the surface radiation dose received by the gonads during the radiographic examination of L.S Spine in Computed radiography and direct digital radiography and to evaluate dose differences according to gender. The study was performed for 21 subjects covering both CR and DR units where the dose was measured by using a mult-o-meter. The study showed that the mean surface radiation dose was found to be ~63 % less in DR for lumbar spine AP and ~70 % less for lumbar spine lateral. There was also a statistically significant differences based on gender in an AP radiograph.


Air pollution mitigation is a necessity in Serbia, due to its high levels of
 criteria pollutants in ambient environment. Successful implementation of
 mitigation measures requires access to sufficient information from national
 research, and well running and efficient local participatory processes. To
 support air pollution mitigation in the West Balkan region, the WeBIOPATR
 project started a series of bi-annual conferences in 2007. They bring
 together an inter-disciplinary research community and local and national
 administrations from Serbia and its neighborhood, to present research results
 from Serbia and countries all over the world, and to share knowledge and best
 practices of mitigation. The conferences promote research that may support
 integrated assessment of particulate matter, and further refinement of the
 "Pressures-State-Impact" (PSI) part of the
 "Drivers-Pressures-State-Impact-Response" (DPSIR) framework. Integrated
 approach needs to be underpinned by solid disciplinary research covering e.g.
 air quality monitoring technologies, atmospheric and further ambient
 composition, atmospheric modeling, biological effects and human health.
 WeBIOPATR conferences report on recently performed studies of particulate
 matter in Serbia and abroad. Through the breadth of subjects and audience,
 they bring together a wide inter-disciplinary and cross-sectoral expertise in
 support of translation of research to practice. They also allow to present
 examples of successful mitigation achieved with the help of strong local
 participatory environmental governance, demonstrating the increasing
 recognition of the need to involve both public and private actors. This paper
 gives the main features of a full chain approach and elements of integrated
 approach to particulate matter research, summarizes the proceedings of the
 3rd WeBIOPATR conference, and in addition, reviews the results of particulate
 matter monitoring and source identification studies in Serbia since the
 monitoring start ten years ago.


Background/Context For decades, teacher educators and professional developers have been using video recordings of actual classroom practice to help teachers reflect on their teaching (e.g., van Es & Sherin, 2002, 2008) and to help preservice teachers come into contact with practice (Lampert & Ball, 1998). However, the use of video records of actual practice involves important facilitation challenges (Lefevre, 2004). Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study Challenges of using video records of actual practice with teachers, as well as a research program focused on the rationality of mathematics teaching (Herbst & Chazan, 2003), suggest a move toward sketchier representations of classroom interaction; this article focuses on two-dimensional video-based animations of fictional classroom interactions as another kind of video image for representing classrooms. Research Design This research project carries out breaching experiments (Mehan & Wood, 1975) related to models of the responsibilities of teachers and students when carrying out particular mathematical work in the context of mathematics classrooms. This project explores hypotheses derived from these models about who has the responsibility to do what, in what order, and how these responsibilities play out in time when a classroom is engaged with this mathematics. The hypotheses are tested by having study groups of teachers respond to clips from animated lessons in which there are breaches of the responsibilities as suggested by the models. These encounters between teachers and the scenarios present teachers with classroom interactions that maintain many of the characteristics of ordinary action, but breach others; practitioners then speak about the teaching represented and researchers examine their reactions. The project uses discourse analytic techniques to identify the arguments (in the sense of Toulmin, 1958) being made by teachers about how the animated stories should go. The warrants provided in these arguments give insight into the rationality of teaching practice. This article presents a conceptual argument and illustrates the argument with excerpts, from the project's data corpus, of teachers' discussions about teaching scenarios depicted in animated videos. Conclusions/Recommendations Based on an analysis of data from the ThEMaT project's data corpus of teacher study group interactions, this article finds that the study group teachers identify with the work that the teacher in the animation does, project their own beliefs and circumstances onto the characters in the animation, and use their classroom experience to suggest back stories for characters that explain away (or repair) tensions between actions in the animations and the teachers' sense of how mathematics classrooms should operate. We view these findings about the nature of teachers' interactions with the animations as evidence that fictional animations are a valuable addition to our field's capacities to represent practice, one that can support conversations about tactical and strategic dimensions of the work of teaching.


Perturbation of the homeostasis between proteases and their inhibitors has been associated with lesion-induced or degenerative neuronal changes. Protease nexin-1 (PN-1), a secreted serine protease inhibitor, is constitutively expressed in distinct neuronal cell populations of the adult CNS. In an earlier study we showed that transgenic mice with ectopic or increased expression of PN-1 in postnatal neurons have altered synaptic transmission. Here these mice are used to examine the impact of an extracellular proteolytic imbalance on long-term neuronal function. These mice develop disturbances in motor behavior from 12 weeks on, with some of the histopathological changes described in early stages of human motor neuron disease, and neurogenic muscle atrophy in old age. In addition, sensorimotor integration, measured by epicranial multichannel recording of sensory evoked potentials, is impaired. Our results suggest that axonal dysfunction rather than cell death underlies these phenotypes. In particular, long projecting neurons, namely cortical layer V pyramidal and spinal motor neurons, show an age-dependent vulnerability to PN-1 overexpression. These mice can serve to study early stages ofin vivo neuronal dysfunction not yet associated with cell loss.


Object-based factorizations provide a useful level of abstraction for interacting with the world. Building explicit object representations, however, often requires supervisory signals that are difficult to obtain in practice. We present a paradigm for learning object-centric representations for physical scene understanding without direct supervision of object properties. Our model, object-oriented prediction and planning (O2P2), jointly learns a perception function to map from image observations to object representations, a pairwise physics interaction function to predict the time evolution of a collection of objects, and a rendering function to map objects back to pixels. For evaluation, we consider not only the accuracy of the physical predictions of the model, but also its utility for downstream tasks that require an actionable representation of intuitive physics. After training our model on an image prediction task, we can use its learned representations to build block towers more complicated than those observed during training.


The overhead throw is a fundamental technical-tactical ability for overhead sports. The purposes of this review are to assess the effect of resistance training (RT) in enhancing throwing velocity in athletes and to investigate the relationships between age or gender in this effect. Control group trials were identified through looking up electronic databases with a search span of 10th December 2020. Only studies which have control groups within research design, subjects randomly assigned to groups, healthy athletes with experience in the sport, an intervention consisting of a supervised RT program of a minimum duration of 4 weeks, and assessment of sport-specific throwing velocity were taken into account for this meta-analysis. A total of 16 studies with 424 subjects were deemed eligible per the inclusion criteria. The overall pooled analysis demonstrated that a large effect was observed for throwing velocity outcomes (ES 1.10; 95% CI 0.64–1.57; p < 0.00001). Differences were due to gender, with male (ES 1.12; 95% CI 0.55–1.78; p < 0.0001) and female athletes (ES 1.22; 95% CI 0.25–2.20; p < 0.00001). And due to age, with teenager athletes (ES 0.49; 95% CI -0.18–1.17; p = 0.04) and adult athletes (ES 1.34; 95% CI 0.64–1.92; p < 0.00001). Throwing velocity enhancement after RT was greater for women than for men, and for adults more than underage subjects. RT should last at least four weeks, with 2–3 sessions each week, and with any available implement.


Pseudopotential calculations within density-functional theory for a few selected solids (Si, GaAs, and Al) are used to assess the validity of two generalized-gradient approximations (GGA's), the one proposed by Becke and Perdew (BP) and the more recent one proposed by Perdew and Wang (PW) in comparison with the currently used local-density approximation (LDA). The GGA's give total energies of atoms and cohesive energies of solids that are closer to experiment than the LDA results. Lattice constants are reproduced with the same accuracy as in LDA, while bulk moduli and zone-center phonon frequencies are underestimated with respect to both the LDA and the experimental values. Comparison to all-electron results shows that in both GGA schemes the validity of the pseudopotential approach is as good as in LDA. The predictions of the two GGA's are similar, the PW functional yielding results marginally, but systematically, closer to experiment. The calculated values of the transition pressure in Si between the diamond and the beta-tin structure are 72 kbar (LDA), 164 kbar (BP), and 135 kbar (PW), to be compared with the two available experimental values of 103 and 125 kbar.


In this paper, based on the work pioneered by Aumasson and Meier, Dinur et al., and Guo et al., we construct some new delicate structures from the roundreduced versions of Keccakhash function family. The new constructed structures are called cross-linear structures, because linear polynomials appear across in different equations of these structures. And we apply cross-linear structures to do preimage attacks on some instances of the round-reduced Keccak. There are three main contributions in this paper. First, we construct a kind of cross-linear structures by setting the statuses carefully. With these cross-linear structures, guessing the value of one linear polynomial could lead to three linear equations (including the guessed one). Second, for some special cases, e.g. the 3-round Keccakchallenge instance Keccak[r=240, c=160, nr=3], a more special kind of cross-linear structures is constructed, and these structures can be used to obtain seven linear equations (including the guessed) if the values of two linear polynomials are guessed. Third, as applications of the cross-linear structures, we practically found a preimage for the 3-round KeccakChallenge instance Keccak[r=240, c=160, nr=3]. Besides, by constructing similar cross-linear structures, the complexity of the preimage attack on 3-round Keccak-256/SHA3-256/SHAKE256 can be lowered to 2150/2151/2153 operations, while the previous best known result on Keccak-256 is 2192.


We theoretically study the interactions between plasmonic and photonic modes within a structure that is composed of two thin corrugated metallic plates, embedded in air. We show that the interactions depend on the symmetry of the interacting modes. This observation is explained by the phase difference between the Fourier components of the two gratings. The phase can be controlled by laterally shifting one grating with respect to the other. Therefore, this relative shift provides an efficient "knob" that allows one to control the interaction between the various modes, resulting in an efficient modulation of light transmission and reflection in the proposed structure. Based on this concept we show that the investigated structure can be used as a tunable plasmonic filter.


Specialist Mental Health Services for Older People (SMHSOP) - NSW Service Plan - 2005-2015 , This plan is intended to guide the development of Specialist Mental Health Services for Older People (SMHSOP) in Area Health Services across NSW over the next 10 years. Pressure on these specialist services will grow as the population ages and the number of older people with complex mental health problems increase. The Plan outlines the relevent policy, planning and demographic context, key mental health issues for older people, the broader service system of which SMHSOP are a part, and strategic priorities in older people's mental health. It defines the scope and functions of SMHSOP and outlines a SMHSOP service delivery model and implementation plan for the development of the model across NSW, together with a reporting, monitoring and evaluation framework.


Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose a simulation-based robust biofuel facility location model for solving an integrated bio-energy logistics network (IBLN) problem, where biomass yield is often uncertain or difficult to determine. Design/methodology/approach: The IBLN considered in this paper consists of four different facilities: farm or harvest site (HS), collection facility (CF), biorefinery (BR), and blending station (BS). Authors propose a mixed integer quadratic modeling approach to simultaneously determine the optimal CF and BR locations and corresponding biomass and bio-energy transportation plans. The authors randomly generate biomass yield of each HS and find the optimal locations of CFs and BRs for each generated biomass yield, and select the robust locations of CFs and BRs to show the effects of biomass yield uncertainty on the optimality of CF and BR locations. Case studies using data from the State of South Carolina in the United State are conducted to demonstrate the developed model's capability to better handle the impact of uncertainty of biomass yield. Findings: The results illustrate that the robust location model for BRs and CFs works very well in terms of the total logistics costs. The proposed model would help decision-makers find the most robust locations for biorefineries and collection facilities, which usually require huge investments, and would assist potential investors in identifying the least cost or important facilities to invest in the biomass and bio-energy industry. Originality/value: An optimal biofuel facility location model is formulated for the case of deterministic biomass yield. To improve the robustness of the model for cases with probabilistic biomass yield, the model is evaluated by a simulation approach using case studies. The proposed model and robustness concept would be a very useful tool that helps potential biofuel investors minimize their investment risk.


Background: Endoscopic treatment (ET) methods for achalasia such as balloon dilatation and botulinum toxin injection has good success for short and medium term management of achalasia. However some patients either need repeat attempts or referred to surgery. In this study we analyzed and compared the perioperative and disease specific quality of life outcomes of achalasia patients who either underwent surgery as a first line treatment and the ones who underwent ET method prior to surgery. Materials and Methods: The patients who underwent standard of care diagnostic workup and surgery for achalasia by the same surgical team between 2007 and 2014 were recorded in a prospective database. The patients who underwent surgery as a first line treatment (Group 1, n = 55) and the patients who underwent prior ET (Group 2, n = 33) were identified. Demographic data, peroperative complications, length of hospital stay, preand postoperative Eckardt scores were recorded and analyzed. Results: A total of 88 patients out of 105 were available for follow up with average follow up time of 61.9 ± 35.8 months. The mean age was 43.3 ± 15.6. Mean hospital stay was 2.3 ± 0.8 days and there was no mortality. Average duration of the effectivity of ET before myotomy was 5.7 ± 7.7 months. Peroperative complications not significantly accumulated in either group. Both groups showed comparable drop in Eckardt scores. Conclusions: Heller myotomy and Dor fundoplication is a safe and durable option for treatment of achalasia for both treatment naive patients and patients with previous repeated ET modalities.


An enhanced media access control (MAC) layer protocol that uses the signaling method benefits of the physical layer in order to provide different levels of quality to different users in optical code-division multiple-access (OCDMA) packet networks is presented. In the proposed network architecture the users are categorized into two classes of service, one having a higher quality level and the other having a lower quality level. Users of each class transmit at the same power level and different from the other classes' users. Also, the MAC of each user estimates the amount of interference on the channel and adjusts the packet transmission's time to improve network performance. Through simulation it is shown that the combination of appropriate power assignment to users and proper MAC algorithm parameters can provide various quality of service (QoS) metric levels on metrics such as normalized throughput and packet error rate. This is achieved by dividing the available resources of the OCDMA network between the users of each class. To make the QoS provider method more practical in data communication networks, we have studied the fairness issue by defining two parameters related to the normalized throughput of each class.


R 58 735, a benzthiazole derivative, is a potent antihypoxic agent with anticonvulsant properties. As an antihypoxic drug, it was more potent than any other reference substance in hypobaric hypoxia in mice and in histotoxic dysoxia and nitrogen hypoxia in rats. In the nitrogen hypoxia test, R 58 735 was equipotent in males and females, and the p.o.\i.v. ratio varied from 2.8 to 2.6. The antihypoxic activity of orally administered R 58 735 latested more than 8, but less than 24 hr. The anticonvulsant profile of R 58 735 resembled that of flunarizine, i.e., blockade of the tonic convulsions induced by pentylenetetrazol, allylglycine, or bicuculline, but not of clonic convulsions, except those seen in audiogenic seizureprone mice. In the allylglycine or bicuculline tests, it was more potent than any other reference anticonvulsant. In the bicuculline test, there were no sex‐related differences in activity, and the p.o.\s.c. activity ratio was 2.01 in males and 1.74 in females. Following oral administration, the duration of anticonvulsant activity in the bicuculline test was more than 8, but less than 24 hr. In guinea pigs, R 58 735 completely antagonized hypoxia‐induced amnesia at a dose of 2.5 mg\kg s.c. Furthermore, it enhanced acquisition of a two‐way avoidance task over a broad dose range (0.63–20 mg\kg) in rats.


This paper develops a new method for estimating a demand function and the welfare consequences of price changes. The method is applied to gasoline demand in the U.S. and is applicable to other goods. The method uses shape restrictions derived from economic theory to improve the precision of a nonparametric estimate of the demand function. Using data from the U.S. National Household Travel Survey, we show that the restrictions are consistent with the data on gasoline demand and remove the anomalous behavior of a standard nonparametric estimator. Our approach provides new insights about the price responsiveness of gasoline demand and the way responses vary across the income distribution. We find that price responses vary nonmonotonically with income. In particular, we find that low- and high-income consumers are less responsive to changes in gasoline prices than are middle-income consumers. We find similar results using comparable data from Canada.


Excited states in the light nuclei 9B and 13C were studied using the (3He,t) charge-exchange reaction on 9Be and 13C targets. The measurements were performed at the research center for nuclear physics (RCNP) in Osaka, Japan, using the magnetic spectrometer Grand Raiden and the dispersive WS course. The 3He beam with an energy of 420 MeV was accelerated by the RCNP Ring Cyclotron. The Grand Raiden spectrometer and the WS course allow to study the (3He,t) charge-exchange reaction with an energy resolution of around 30 keV, which is one order of magnitude better than measurements with the (p,n) charge-exchange reaction. The high resolution allows to better separate individual states and to determine weak excitation strenghts because of low background in the spectra. A total of 19 states in 13N were studied, and a total of 20 states were observed in 9B. Of these, 9 states in 13C and 10 states in 9B were identified as being excited by a Gamow-Teller transition. Charge-exchange reactions are related to beta-decay, and at zero momentum transfer a simple proportionality exists between the cross-section of the charge-exchange experiment and the Fermi (F) or Gamow-Teller (GT) beta-decay strength. While the Fermi strength B(F) is concentrated in the transition to the isobaric analog state, the Gamow-Teller strength B(GT) is scattered among the excited states. The main aim of the present study is to determine the B(GT) strengths in the nuclei 9B and 13N. The only charge-exchange study of 9B was made 30 years ago with the (p,n) reaction and a resolution of around 300-400 keV. Many states, especially at high excitation energy, could not be resolved by that study. The present work was able to separate many weakly excited states with small decay width at high excitation energies (12-19 MeV) in 9B and determine the B(GT) strength distribution by using recent high-precision beta-decay data. The results point to a strong difference in spatial structure between the low-lying levels of 9B and the levels with high excitation energy. This result is also corroborated by beta-decay measurements and theoretical calculations. Furthermore, the information on excitation energies and decay widths in both nuclei could significantly be improved. The nucleus 13N has last been studied in 2001 using the (p,n) reaction. A (3He,t) experiment was also performed at the RCNP Osaka a few years ago (2004), however with a lower resolution of around 300 keV. In the present work, the (3He,t) reaction with high resolution (30 keV) was used to determine the B(GT) strength distribution in 13N. The target enrichment and high resolution of the spectrum allowed to isolate the T=3/2 state at 15.1 MeV from the 12N ground state and thus provide a high-precision analysis of the GT strength distribution in 13N.


T his paper presents the results of a literature review undertaken to shape an emerging social research program on the service and support needs of Australia's ageing Greek migrants. In late 2009 a narrative review was conducted of pub - lished and "grey" literature to determine the scope of articles, with an emphasis on services and supports which help older people remain independent in the com - munity. The search returned an extensive amount of international literature on ageing populations, but only a very small number of publications on the service use and needs of Australia's older Greek population. Barriers to service use included low proficiency in English, lack of Greek-speaking service providers, low awareness of services available, and various cultural issues. The review also iden tified a lack of research carried out in the Greek language by researchers with a Greek background, which suggests that the views of older Greek migrants may be missing from much social research. We conclude that a sustained and cul - turally appropriate research effort conducted in the first language is needed and is essen tial if community-based services are to become more appropriate and acces sible for the older members of Australia's Greek communities.


This chapter presents three studies from a research program investigating how French-English bilingual children's morphosyntactic acquisition is influenced by child-level input factors such as bilingual versus monolingual learning, and variation in home input among bilinguals, as well as language-level input factors such as the token/type frequency and distributional consistency of morphosyntactic constructions. Two existing studies from this program found sensitivity to these input factors in 4-year-olds' acquisition of past tense morphology in both French and English (Paradis, Nicoladis, Crago, & Genesee 2011) and in 6-year-olds' acquisition of bound and free verb morphology in English (Paradis 2010). A new study reported in this chapter examined the French morphosyntax of bilingual 6-year-olds as compared to 11-year-old bilingual children and 6-year-old monolingual French-speaking children. Children were given both elicitation and grammaticality judgement tasks probing their abilities with French direct object clitics and a control structure, definite articles. Similar to the previous studies, differences between monolinguals and bilinguals, and among bilinguals, varied according to home input factors and morphosyntactic construction; however, most differences were neutralized in the older bilingual group. The final section discusses results from all three studies that point to the combined influence of multiple sources of input variation on bilingual morphosyntactic acquisition.


We present a new heuristic point-to-point shortest path algorithm based on contraction hierarchies (CH). Given an epsilon >= 0, we can prove that the length of the path computed by our algorithm is at most (1 + ε) times the length of the optimal (shortest) path. Exact CH is based on node contraction: removing nodes from a network and adding shortcuts to preserve shortest path distances. Our heuristic CH tries to avoid adding shortcuts even when a replacement path is (1+epsilon) times longer. However, we cannot avoid all such shortcuts, as we need to ensure that errors do not stack. Combinations with goal-directed techniques bring further speed-ups.


Abstract:Background: The prevalence of postnatal depression (PND) is12-15%. Recent studies are equivocal about the earlier inference that PND is higher among caesarian than normal delivery. Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the frequency of PND among the Indian women and the association between the mode of delivery and PND. Material and method: Fifty subjects each; having delivered normally and by caesarian sec-tion was chosen. All the women were within 3 months post delivery and could understand Kannada language. Those who consented were asked to complete the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Those found to have scores sug-gestive of depression on EPDS were assessed for depression according to ICD-10. The data was analyzed using paired t test and chi square test. Result and conclusion: Among Post caesarean subjects, depression was diagnosed in 20% (n=10) as compared to 16% (n=8) in subjects that delivered normally. However there was no significant difference in the frequency of depression among the two groups. Due to the small sample size the results cannot be generalized.


Conventional accounts of justice suppose the presence of a stable political society, stable identities, and a Westphalian cartography of clear lines of authority--usually a state--where justice can be realised. They also assume a stable social bond. But what if, in an age of globalisation, the territorial boundaries of politics unbundle and a stable social bond deteriorates? How then are we to think about justice? Can there be justice in a world where that bond is constantly being disrupted or transformed by globalisation? Thus the paper argues that we need to think about the relationship between globalisation, governance and justice. It does so in three stages: (i) It explains how, under conditions of globalisation, assumptions made about the social bond are changing. (ii) It demonsrates how strains on the social bond within states give rise to a search for newer forms of global political theory and organisation and the emergence of new global (non state) actors which contest with states over the policy agendas emanating from globalisation. (iii) Despite the new forms of activity identified at (ii) the paper concludes that the prospects for a satisfactory synthesis of a liberal economic theory of globalisation, a normative political theory of the global public domain and a new social bond are remote.


Rural land use in New Zealand is an important driver of economic activity and has clear implications for the environment, including for biodiversity, climate change emissions and water quality. The spatial distribution and aggregate shares of rural land use is always changing, but change occurs slowly. To better understand the drivers of rural land use change, this paper addresses three questions using the popular multinomial logit modelling approach. First, do recent commodity prices have any predictive power on land use conversions? Second, is recently sold land more likely to change use? Third, does land which is marginal between uses have identifiable characteristics? The data used consists of the New Zealand Landcover Database version 3 (LCDB3), with observations in 1997, 2002 and 2008; 6 year average profitability data for dairy, sheep and beef and forestry; QVNZ land sales data; and I control for land quality and Maori tenure. In answering the first and third questions, I evaluate the predictive power of a spatially explicit land use share multinomial logit model, estimated from 2002 cross-sectional variation. To supplement the land use share multinomial logit for questions one and three, and to address question two, I use a land use transition multinomial logit, estimating the likelihood of transition from a single starting land use between 1997 and 2002, similar to Lubowski et al. (2008). Finally, I compare the two modelling approaches.


This paper studies the impact of stock market development on cross country relative prices (the real exchange rate). A nonlinear relationship is uncovered in the cross section: prices and the stock market increase together in the beginning; then prices fall as the stock market continues to develop. In fact, among rich countries the relationship between prices and the stock market is negative. This result obtains after controlling for per capita income and for endogeneity issues by using legal origins. A small open economy model is presented to explain the connection between stock market development and relative prices: better investment opportunities increase consumption levels and the price of nontradable goods (income effect); but if stock market assets are less labor intensive than previous entrepreneurial technologies, prices can fall as the stock market grows because more labor is available for producing nontradables (substitution effect). This paper illustrates the connection of the stock market with goods and labor markets; it also has potential implications for the political economy of financial development. In a sideline contribution, it provides prices for entrepreneurial assets.


Inspired by "Google™ Sets", we consider the problem of retrieving items from a concept or cluster, given a query consisting of a few items from that cluster. We formulate this as a Bayesian inference problem and describe a very simple algorithm for solving it. Our algorithm uses a model-based concept of a cluster and ranks items using a score which evaluates the marginal probability that each item belongs to a cluster containing the query items. For exponential family models with conjugate priors this marginal probability is a simple function of sufficient statistics. We focus on sparse binary data and show that our score can be evaluated exactly using a single sparse matrix multiplication, making it possible to apply our algorithm to very large datasets. We evaluate our algorithm on three datasets: retrieving movies from EachMovie, finding completions of author sets from the NIPS dataset, and finding completions of sets of words appearing in the Grolier encyclopedia. We compare to Google™ Sets and show that Bayesian Sets gives very reasonable set completions.


Two discredited papers have subjected a leading Japanese research center to an extraordinary form of collective punishment. On 27 August, chemist Ryoji Noyori, president of RIKEN, Japan9s biggest research institution, announced that its Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe will be stripped of half of its 500-plus staff, renamed, and put under new management. The hammer blow to the 14-year-old center is coming under heavy fire. Some outsiders see it as an overreaction to the research fiasco, in which the center9s Haruko Obokata and colleagues announced what would have been a revolutionary new way to produce stem cells. They say RIKEN is needlessly sacrificing a research powerhouse that has produced groundbreaking results.


We use monthly data from the 23 largest US trading partners for the years 1985–2005 to examine the long-run relationship between imports and exports. Results indicate that a long-run equilibrium relationship is identifiable in most of the countries we analyse. However, the country with which the US has the largest trade deficits do not exhibit any long-run relationship, indicating that any self-correcting mechanism on the trade account is either nonexistent or slow in these cases. Further, the presence of a long-run relationship is most apparent in the countries with which the US has a trade surplus. Taken together, these results provide evidence that continued growth in the US trade deficit is likely.


We design, characterize, and couple Boolean phase oscillators that include state-dependent feedback delay. The state-dependent delay allows us to realize an adjustable coupling strength, even though only Boolean signals are exchanged. Specifically, increasing the coupling strength via the range of state-dependent delay leads to larger locking ranges in uni- and bidirectional coupling of oscillators in both experiment and numerical simulation with a piecewise switching model. In the unidirectional coupling scheme, we unveil asymmetric triangular-shaped locking regions (Arnold tongues) that appear at multiples of the natural frequency of the oscillators. This extends observations of a single locking region reported in previous studies. In the bidirectional coupling scheme, we map out a symmetric locking region in the parameter space of frequency detuning and coupling strength. Because of the large scalability of our setup, our observations constitute a first step towards realizing large-scale networks of coupled oscillators to address fundamental questions on the dynamical properties of networks in a new experimental setting.


We derive mass formulae for the ground state, J P = 0 − and 1 − , and first excited even-parity, J P = 0 + and 1 + , charmed mesons including one loop chiral corrections and O(1/mc) counterterms in heavy hadron chiral perturbation theory. We show that including these counterterms is critical for fitting the current data. We find that certain parameter relations in the parity doubling model are not renormalized at one loop, providing a natural explanation for the observed equality of the hyperfine splittings of ground state and excited doublets.


Carbapenems are the choice of treatment in infections caused by multidrug resistant Enterobacteriaceae. In recent years carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae isolates due to carbapenemases have been increasingly reported worldwide. Multicenter studies on carbapenemases are scarce in Turkey. The aim of this study was to determine the distribution of carbapenemases from different parts of Turkey as a part of the European Survey of Carbapenemase Producing Enterobacteriaceae (EuSCAPE) project. Beginning in November 2013, carbapenem-resistant isolates resistant to at least one of the agents, namely imipenem, meropenem, and ertapenem were sent to the coordinating center. Minimum inhibitory concentrations for these carbapenems were determined by microdilution tests following EUCAST guidelines. Production of carbapenemase was confirmed by combination disk synergy tests. Types of carbapenemases were investigated using specific primers for VIM, IMP; NDM, KPC and OXA-48 genes by multiplex polymerase chain reaction. In a six month period, 155 suspected carbapenemase-positive isolates were sent to the coordinating center of which 21 (13.5%) were E.coli and 134 (86.5%) were K.pneumoniae. Nineteen (90.5%) strains among E.coli and 124 (92.5%) strains among K.pneumoniae were shown to harbour at least one carbapenemase gene by molecular tests, with a total of 92.3% (143/155). Carbapenemases were determined as a single enzyme in 136 strains (OXA-48: 84.6%; NDM: 6.3%; VIM: 2.8%; IMP: 1.4%) and as a combination in seven isolates (OXA-48 + NDM: 2.1%; OXA-48 + VIM: 2.1%; VIM + NDM: 0.7%). KPC was not detected in any of the isolates. According to the microdilution test results, resistance to imipenem, meropenem and ertapenem in OXA-48 isolates were 59.5%, 52.9% and 100%, respectively. The combination disk synergy test was 100% compatible with the molecular test results. As most of the OXA-48 producing isolates were susceptible to meropenem but all were resistant to ertapenem, ertapenem seems to be the most sensitive agent in screening carbapenemases in areas where OXA-48 is prevalent and phenotypic combination tests can be useful in centers where molecular tests are not available.


Reliable mechanical properties of trabecuale are needed at the tissue-level for prediction of mechanical behavior of the overall trabecular structure using Finite element analysis (FEA). The aim of this study was to develop a set-up to test trabeculae in tension in a close to physiological environment, and to determine reliable tissue-level properties. Ten bovine trabeculae were tested until failure. Tissue-stress can only be indirectly determined, since it is based on a defined cross-sectional area. Different geometrical assumptions for the cross-section were compared. The mean tissue Youngs modulus, based on the assumption of an elliptical cross-sectional area, was 9.9 ± 3.4GPa, the mean tissue ultimate tissue strain 9.8 ± 3.9%. Back-calculation of the tissue Youngs modulus by means of FEA illustrated a significant reduction to 8.2 ± 2.4GPa (p < 0.001). However, with simple geometric assumptions, it is possible to estimate a reasonable upper and lower boundary for the tissue Young's modulus. Full-field strain measurements were done to detect localization of strain. It was shown that local strain peaks occur already early after yielding, with a local strain at fracture of 19.7 ± 6.6%. These findings clearly show that individual trabeculae can withstand much higher tissue strains as previously reported.


An implanted device using blue-light–triggered expression of the glucagon-like peptide 1 attenuates diabetes in mice. Melanopsin is a photopigment that triggers an intracellular calcium increase in response to blue light. Ye et al. (see the Perspective by Chow and Boyden) took advantage of calcium regulation of the transcription factor NFAT (nuclear factor of activated T cells) to design a synthetic signaling cascade that achieved light-inducible expression of transgenes under control of the NFAT promoter. Cells designed to display light-induced expression of glucagon-like peptide 1, a hormone involved in glucose homeostasis, were implanted into mice. Blue-light illumination of the implants attenuated glycemic excursions in type II diabetic mice. This approach of using light induction to provide tight regulation has potential applications in therapeutics and protein-expression technology. H. Ye, M. Daoud-El Baba, R.-W. Peng, M. Fussenegger, A synthetic optogenetic transcription device enhances blood-glucose homeostasis in mice. Science 332, 1565–1568 (2011).[Abstract] [Full Text] B. Y. Chow, E. S. Boyden, Synthetic physiology. Science 332, 1508–1509 (2011). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Are religion and science really at war with one another? Not according to David F. Noble, who argues that the flourishing of both religion and technology today is nothing new but rather the continuation of a 1,000-year-old Western tradition.The Religion of Technology demonstrates that modern man's enchantment with things technological was inspired by and grounded in religious expectations and the quest for transcendence and salvation. The two early impulses behind the urge to advance in science, he claims, are the conviction that apocalypse is imminent, and the belief that increasing human knowledge helps recover what was lost in Eden. Noble traces the history of these ideas by examining the imaginings of monks, explorers, magi, scientists, Freemasons, and engineers, from Sir Isaac Newton to Joseph Priestley to Wernher von Braun. Noble suggests that the relationship between religion and technology has perhaps outlived its usefulness. Whereas it once aimed to promote human well-being, it has ultimately become a threat to our survival. Thus, with The Religion of Technology, Noble aims to redirect our efforts toward more worldly and humane ends.


Accepting the premise of ?510(b) that rescission claims of junior claimants should not have the seniority of debt, Prof. Georgakopoulos examines its operation and finds four implementation errors. The subordination to the "same priority as common stock" is excessive and provides insufficient deterrence from securities fraud. The subordination of claims arising from (re)sales to the corporation is excessive because any overreaching transactions it prevents would be easy to identify, while it mistreats honest transactions. But the greatest errors of ?510(b) are the subordination of claims from the purchase of subsidiaries' stock, which allows similar transactions to have vastly different results, and the subordination of claims from the purchase of other securities. Both eliminate deterrence against defraud-ing securities purchasers while the (parent) corpora-tion is insolvent. Since such an error cannot have been intended, ?510(b) should be interpreted to apply only to claims arising during solvency.


Abstract This paper provides evidence of racial variation in traffic enforcement responses to local government budget stress using data from policing agencies in the state of Missouri from 2001 through 2012. Like previous studies, we find that local budget stress is associated with higher citation rates; we also find an increase in traffic-stop arrest rates. However, we find that these effects are concentrated among White (rather than Black or Latino) drivers. The results are robust to the inclusion of a range of covariates and a variety of model specifications, including a regression discontinuity examining bare budget shortfalls. Considering potential mechanisms, we find that targeting of White drivers is higher where the White-to-Black income ratio is higher, consistent with the targeting of drivers who are better able to pay fines. Further, the relative effect on White drivers is higher in areas with statistical over-policing of Black drivers: when Black drivers are already getting too many fines, police cite White drivers from whom they are presumably more likely to be able to raise the needed extra revenue. These results highlight the relationship between policing-as-taxation and racial inequality in policing outcomes.


In this article reactions in the South African media to the emergence of Barack Obama as contender in the 2008 US presidential election, then as official Democratic Party presidential candidate and then as US President-elect are analysed. The context of US-SA relations is sketched first to highlight the type of issues of US-SA relations that would be important for South Africans. Then the opinions of politicians, economists, editors, academics and letter-writers representing the public, which were published in South African newspapers in 2008 and 2009 at the crucial moments in the US presidential election campaign, are analysed in terms of perceptions about Obama's role in international affairs, US relations with Africa and bilateral USA-RSA relations. The evaluation of these South African opinions is done with a view to testing some conclusions reached in the literature on the process of globalisation and local responses to it. Our argument is that the analysis of South African responses to Obama published in the newspapers confirms that globalisation and glocalisation are simultaneous processes in the contemporary world. On the one hand a set of liberal moral values have emerged in the post-Cold War world which unites the majority of moderate citizens of countries across the globe in their evaluation of important events. On the other hand these generic values only assume real significance for people when their implications for the local situation become clear.


A national screening programme could significantly reduce mortality from epithelial ovarian
cancer (EOC). The biological events that occur in the early stages of development
of EOCs remain poorly understood, thus hindering the discovery of biomarkers of early
disease. This thesis describes the development of a three-dimensional heterotypic genetic
model of neoplastic transformation of normal ovarian surface epithelial (NOSE) cells.
hTERT, C-MYC, KRAS and BRAF are genes that are commonly mutated or overexpressed
in EOCs. Ectopic expression of hTERT increased in vitro lifespan of NOSE
cells without inducing neoplastic transformation. Subsequent overexpression of CMYC
+/- KRASG12V /BRAFV 600E in immortalised NOSE (IOSE) cells induced a significant increase
in anchorage-independent growth and invasive ability. In in vitro assays and gene
expression microarrays, phenotypic and molecular heterogeneity was associated with differential
oncogene expression. Physiological and biological features of NOSE cells grown
in 3D more closely resembled characteristics of NOSE cells in vivo than when grown by
classical two-dimensional (2D) approaches. 3D models of oncogene-expressing clones revealed
characteristics of malignant cells in vivo that could not be detected in 2D monolayer
cultures.
Gene expression microarrrays profiles of ~25,000 genes were generated to identify novel
genes that are altered synergistically with the oncogenes that were introduced. A panel of
genes has been identified that provides novel candidates for detecting ovarian carcinomas
at the earliest, most treatable, stages of disease.
Finally, a role for ageing fibroblasts in the initiation of EOC development was explored.
In 2D and 3D in vitro co-culture assays, pre-senescent and senescent ovarian fibroblasts
differentially affected proliferation, anchorage-independent growth, migration and invasion
of IOSECMYC cell lines but not of IOSE cells. These data provide in vitro evidence that
the ageing microenvironment can promote transformation of ovarian epithelial cells, and
that this is conditional upon mutation in the OSE.


The Occupy movement has been one of the most noticeable global citizen-led movements in the last decade. While the media attention and citizen participation have seemingly thinned now, three years since its inception, there is continued interest within academia and governments to study these movements to better understand the motivations, reach and consequences. Occupy by design investigates the failures in the current institutionalised methods that have driven citizens towards contentious politics, and asks the question, what role can design play to rethink democracy and citizenship for the common good? The aim is to map the philosophies, structures and platforms for direct democracy those have emerged through such movements, and to identify opportunities for curating new cultures in citizenship and governance; and, in the process, seek to redefine the role of design in addressing complex social and political phenomenon.

Based on key insights from the research, I propose an alternative to the current "really existing capitalist democracy" or RECD (Chomsky, 2013), called the "now emergent wholesome democracy" or NEWD. It is based on six key principles, SCARRS – Small is beautiful, Coexistence, Acceleration, Resilience, Reciprocity, and Speculation. In order to establish this new system, a new form of design is proposed – contentious design, which is defined as the creative use of disruptive techniques for the purpose of deconstructing and (re)designing 'things' for the common good. The potential application and value of these concepts are further defined in the context of a renewed energy and mobility proposal for Scotland in 2020.


We are interested in the computation of the transport map of an Optimal Transport problem. Most of the computational approaches of Optimal Transport use the Kantorovich relaxation of the problem to learn a probabilistic coupling $\mgamma$ but do not address the problem of learning the underlying transport map $\funcT$ linked to the original Monge problem. Consequently, it lowers the potential usage of such methods in contexts where out-of-samples computations are mandatory. In this paper we propose a new way to jointly learn the coupling and an approximation of the transport map. We use a jointly convex formulation which can be efficiently optimized. Additionally, jointly learning the coupling and the transport map allows to smooth the result of the Optimal Transport and generalize it to out-of-samples examples. Empirically, we show the interest and the relevance of our method in two tasks: domain adaptation and image editing.


Much work in robotics aimed at real-world applications falls in the large segment between teleoperated and fully autonomous systems. Such systems are characterized by the close coupling between the human operator and the robot, in principle, allowing the agents to share their particular sensing, adaptation, and decision-making capabilities. Replicable experiments can advance the state of the art of such systems but pose practical and epistemological challenges. For example, the trajectory of the system is governed by the adaptation both in the human and the robot agent. What do we need besides (or instead of) data sets for such a system? The degree of similarity between comparable experiments and the exact meaning of replication need to be clarified. Here, we explore replication of a distributed and adaptive shared control for an assistive robot manipulator. We attempt a methodological approach for reporting two virtual human experiments on the system: modeling the complete human-robot binomial, deriving closedloop performance metrics from the models, and openly publishing the results and experiment implementations.


Possessing an odontoid process and unique superior articular facets, the axis vertebra morphometry significantly differs from morphometry of other cervical vertebrae. The fractures of axis, especially its dens, are very common and surgeries highly risky. Knowledge of the axis dimensions is essential not only for preclinical studies, diagnosis of spinal cord diseases, planning of the surgeries but also for correct selection and insertion of surgical instruments or vertebral implants design. Many quantitative studies of the second cervical vertebra have been performed, yet still lacking the area parameters determination and precision of three-dimension in vivo measurement. Vertebral dimensions are reported to vary among populations, although there are very little studies examining Caucasian specimen.
This study aims to provide three-dimensional in vivo morphometric analysis of the axis vertebra as well as comparison to the previous studies. The clinically relevant vertebral dimensions were measured on the threedimensional model reconstruction of CT scans providing high accuracy. Five human second cervical vertebrae were investigated (Caucasian males) and linear, area and angular dimensions were measured.
The data on vertebral body dimensions were best fitting Doherty and Naderi measurement. The vertebra body anterior height was established to be 26.2 mm and the posterior height 21.4 mm. The dens parameters were similar to those presented by Doherty. Doherty also reported large variation in the dens sagittal angle which was observed in the present study as well. The dens height was determined to be 17.8 mm which is significantly greater compared to the previous studies. The smallest height among specimens was reported to be 17.0 mm. The smallest anteroposterior or transverse diameter of the dens measured was the upper depth, 9.4 mm. The smallest and biggest areas of dens were measured to be 79.0 mm2 and 121.6 mm2. The superior articular facet area with mean value 211.2 mm2 was observed to be significantly bigger than the inferior area, 141.2 mm2. The mean sagittal angle of the inferior facet area was assessed to be 42.1° and the mean frontal angle of the superior articular facet 69.3°. The parameters of articular facets measured by Xu correspond to the present study. Due to the vertebral body enlargement in the inferior part of vertebra, the spinal canal superior depth,18.0 mm, was observed to be bigger than its inferior depth, 16.2 mm. In case of the spinal canal depth, Sengul measured values considerably greater than other studies. However, Singla, Gosavi and Xu presented the parameters very similar to the present study. Spinal canal width was measured to be 24.4 mm supporting the measurement done by Sengul which is 24.7 mm.
The measured vertebral dimensions can be used either for development of instrumentation, preclinical planning of surgeries, implant design or as the reference values for evaluation and diagnosis of various clinical conditions.


This process demystifies the process of programme production and enables women to have a voice, and to set their own agenda. Radio is recognized as the most appropriate communications technology in Africa, since it is cheap and easy to operate, and reaches the majority of the population, especially women, who can listen to programmes while performing their domestic and other duties.

The project provides training for women, to encourage and develop their leadership skills so that they become more self-reliant. It also promotes interactions among communities so that they can exchange information and share experiences. The DTR project links rural people with policy makers and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that can offer solutions and resources, respectively. Using participatory methods, the project encourages members to engage in dialogue and debate on critical issues that affect them and their communities. It also empowers them to become more assertive in the search for solutions to the problems they face. By sharing their experiences and ideas, the DTR clubs are strengthened, thus facilitating integrated development, which in turn benefits the communities as a whole. Although the project is targeted at women, during the programmes aired so far the women have talked about issues that affect all community members.

The project encourages and helps communities to mobilize their resources to launch income-generating activities. The DTR provides a platform via which they can to obtain information on how to start up and run sustainable projects, and expert advice on problems encountered by individual community groups. The DTR training programmes encourage women to become agents of change, and equip them with skills to help alleviate poverty, as well as to address issues such as the marginalization of and discrimination against women.

The DTR is a project of the Federation of African Media Women (FAMW). The FAMW encourages NGOs to use this unique platform to broadcast advocacy programmes on themes such as voter education, the effects of war on women and children, land rights, women´s rights, HIV/AIDS, women´s health, etc. Following the success of the DTR project, the FAMW has prompted many other African countries to adopt the approach. The project has now been replicated in Angola, Ghana, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Zambia.

About the author:
Jennifer Sibanda (firstname.lastname@example.com) is Director of the Federation of African Media Women (FAMW) in the Southern African Develeopment Community (SADC) based in Harare, Zimbabwe.


Radar interferometry (InSAR), field measurements and creepmeters reveal surface slip on multiple faults in the Imperial Valley triggered by the main shock of the 4 April 2010 El Mayor‐Cucapah Mw 7.2 earthquake. Co‐seismic offsets occurred on the San Andreas, Superstition Hills, Imperial, Elmore Ranch, Wienert, Coyote Creek, Elsinore, Yuha, and several minor faults near the town of Ocotillo at the northern end of the mainshock rupture. We documented right‐lateral slip (<40 mm) on northwest‐striking faults and left‐lateral slip (<40 mm) on southwest‐striking faults. Slip occurred on 15‐km‐ and 20‐km‐long segments of the San Andreas Fault in the Mecca Hills (≤50 mm) and Durmid Hill (≤10 mm) respectively, and on 25 km of the Superstition Hills Fault (≤37 mm). Field measurements of slip on the Superstition Hills Fault agree with InSAR and creepmeter measurements to within a few millimeters. Dislocation models of the InSAR data from the Superstition Hills Fault confirm that creep in this sequence, as in previous slip events, is confined to shallow depths (<3 km).


The paper deals with long range outdoor sound propagation predictions under range dependant complex environment using the parabolic equation approach (PE). New developments allowing to work beyond the classical limits of the PE method are presented: the reflection and multiple-reflections due to vertical obstacles using a complementary Kirchhoff approach, the integration of complex noise barriers effects by the help of a hybrid GFPE-BEM method (Green's Function Parabolic Equation - Boundary Element Method), the reference rotation principle applied to embankment-like geometries. Numerical examples of road traffic configurations illustrating such realistic combined effects are presented and compared to reference calculations as well as scale model measurements results.


A-D-A small molecules have drawn more and more attention in solution-processed organic solar cells due to the advantages of a diversity of structures, easy control of energy levels, etc. Recently, a power conversion efficiency of nearly 10% has been achieved through careful material design and device optimization. This feature article reviews recent representative progress in the design and application of A-D-A small molecules in organic photovoltaic cells.


Plant macrofossils can be used as proxy palaeoclimatic indicators, since both the taxa present at a site and the form ofleaves depend on the climate, and macrofossils are rarely transported far. In the simple case of the Sirius Group Nothofagus leaves and wood in Antarctica, the fossils provide data on climate that suggest temperatures at the time of deposition were in the order of> 10°C warmer than at present. While the age of the fossils is still debated, the climatic signal is not. However, in more subtle cases, where the climatic differences are smaller and the fossil evidence is more complex, it is critical to interpret the evidence cauriously. Macrofossils from Pleistocene localities in Tasmania provide a clear signal on temperature and rainfall that is sometimes at odds with pollen-based reconstructions, bur the former is inherently likely to be more accurate.


Area studies suffer from various epistemic borderlines which have been drawn and grown during decades of constructing a 'world order' that is ultimately defined by political power relations. The question of what constitutes am 'area' or a 'region' is a timely and contested one. Moreover, epistemic borderlines have been constructed by a hegemonic way of identifying academic disciplines. The separation between area studies and disciplines, too, is a decision based on global epistemic power relations. The following paragraphs address the constructivist dimension of area studies and disciplines. The main argument is that area studies and disciplines are in no way bound to geographical settings but derive from a politically-informed defining and 'scaling' of localities, ethnicities, languages, religions, and cultures.


Sera from four patients with systemic lupus erythematosus containing antibodies that yield nuclear rim staining of HEp-2 cells by indirect immunofluorescence were identified and characterized. Each serum contained autoantibodies reacting strongly with lamin B on western blots. One of the four sera displayed weaker reactivity with lamins A and C, while the other three displayed only minimal reactivity with lamins A and C. Titers of antilamin antibodies ranged from 1:1,250 to 1:36,250. Two of the sera also reacted at a dilution of 1:20 with cytoplasmic filaments of PTK-2 cells, suggesting that a small fraction of the autoantibodies in these sera may bind to alpha-helical domains of the lamins that are homologous to those of intermediate filaments. The majority of the antilamin antibodies in these patients' sera are specific for portions of the lamin B molecule that are not homologous to lamins A and C, however. The findings suggest that autoantibodies to the nuclear lamina may, in some instances, be responsible for a rim pattern in the fluorescent antinuclear antibody assay. In addition, autoantibodies to the nuclear lamina in sera of certain patients with systemic lupus erythematosus may be useful for defining the molecular structure and biological functions of lamin B, as well as for studying mechanisms of autoimmunity.


As demand for germline genetic testing for cancer patients increases, novel methods of genetic counseling are required. One such method is the mainstream consent pathway, whereby a member of the oncology team (rather than a genetic specialist) is responsible for counseling, consenting, and arranging genetic testing for cancer patients. We systematically reviewed the literature for evidence evaluating mainstream pathways for patients with breast, ovarian, colorectal, and prostate cancer. Medline, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library were searched for studies that met inclusion and exclusion criteria. Article references were checked for additional studies. Trial databases were searched for ongoing studies. Of the 13 papers that met inclusion criteria, 11 individual study groups were identified (two study groups had two publications each). Ten of the 11 studies evaluated the acceptability, feasibility, and impact of BRCA testing for patients and/or clinicians in different clinical settings in breast and ovarian cancer, while the final study explored the attitudes of colorectal specialists toward genetic testing for colorectal cancer. None involved prostate cancer. Overall, mainstream pathways were acceptable and feasible. Medical oncologist‐ and nurse‐driven pathways were particularly successful, with both patients and clinicians satisfied with this process. Although the content of pretest counseling was less consistent compared with counseling via the traditional model, patients were largely satisfied with the education they received. Further research is required to evaluate the mainstream pathway for men with prostate cancer.


Twenty-one patients (19 men and two women) with disabling exercise-related leg pain attended a physiotherapy department on one afternoon each week for an exercise training programme lasting one month. The clinical diagnosis of intermittent claudication and localisation of the atherosclerotic occlusions were confirmed in all but one case by pulse volume recordings and segmental Doppler systolic pressure measurements. Two patients whose symptoms worsened underwent arterial reconstruction. Post-training assessment at six months showed that the remaining 18 patients walked 80% further and performed 75% more step-ups. They also felt much healthier, having unduly restricted their activities before because they had feared the onset of ischaemic leg pain. These results suggest that supervised exercise training is a simple and effective method of treating patients with intermittent claudication.


OBJECTIVE The authors hypothesized that when the anatomical variant of an anconeus epitrochlearis is present, the risk of developing cubital tunnel syndrome would be reduced by replacing the normal roof of the cubital tunnel (Osborne's ligament) with a more forgiving muscular structure, the anconeus epitrochlearis. The authors further hypothesized that when the presence of an anconeus epitrochlearis contributes to ulnar neuropathy, it would be secondary to muscular hypertrophy, thereby making it more likely to occur in the dominant arm. Therefore, the goal of the present study was to evaluate these hypotheses. METHODS This retrospective cohort study was performed by reviewing the records of all adult patients who underwent operative intervention for cubital tunnel syndrome between 2005 and 2014 as the experimental group and all asymptomatic patients in the medical literature who were part of a series reporting the prevalence of an anconeus epitrochlearis as the control group. The primary outcome of interest was the presence of an anconeus epitrochlearis in asymptomatic individuals versus patients with cubital tunnel syndrome. RESULTS During the study period, 168 patients underwent decompression of the ulnar nerve for cubital tunnel syndrome, and an anconeus epitrochlearis was found at surgery in 9 (5.4%) patients. The control group consisted of 634 asymptomatic patients from the medical literature, and an anconeus epitrochlearis was present in 98 (15.5%) of these patients. An anconeus epitrochlearis was present significantly less frequently in the symptomatic patients than in asymptomatic individuals (p < 0.001). Among patients undergoing surgical decompression, an anconeus epitrochlearis was associated with symptoms in the dominant arm (p = 0.037). CONCLUSIONS The authors found that an anconeus epitrochlearis was present significantly less often in patients with cubital tunnel syndrome than in asymptomatic controls. The mechanism of protection may be that this muscle decreases the rigidity of the entrance into the cubital tunnel. When an anconeus epitrochlearis does contribute to cubital tunnel syndrome, it is significantly more likely to occur in the dominant arm, possibly due to repetitive use and hypertrophy of the anconeus epitrochlearis. The presence of an anconeus epitrochlearis may be protective against the development of cubital tunnel syndrome, although this is a preliminary finding.


In this paper we investigate the effect of labour income uncertainty on the probability of homeownership in Germany and Spain. This study is motivated by two facts. Firstly, theoretical models tend to provide ambiguous results in this issue. Secondly, there is limited previous empirical evidence and the existing focuses exclusively on the US housing market. We claim that more international evidence is necessary in order to disentangle this puzzle. We develop a simple theoretical formula that highlights the pivotal role of risk attitudes in the housing tenure decisions that also allow us to introduce the concept of "skewness affection" as a relevant phenomenon. To carry out this test we propose an income uncertainty measure based on panel data labour income equations. We observe that households facing increasing income uncertainty display preference for renting while those located in a positively skewed income distribution show a greater propensity for homeownership. Income uncertainty analysis in housing decisions has important implications for the design of public housing policies and also for the design of private mortgage insurance products.


The built environment is responsible for a large proportion of the global use of energy, natural resources, and emissions. Architects and other urban design professionals are key actors in the building process whose behavior and decisions will influence these impacts. Because environmental attitudes are linked to pro-environmental behavior, this study aims to measure environmental worldview among urban design professionals involved in the architectural competition 'A New City Center for Kiruna'. The mean score registered for the New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) scale was 3.68 (standard deviation 0.51) and there were no significant differences with regard to age (mean 41.3 years) or gender (64.7% males). The ecological worldview of the participants was similar to most other samples from diverse countries, but a lower score was reported in comparison to environmentalists. The score ranged from 2.53 to 4.67 which shows heterogeneity at an individual level. Thus, future efforts to improve environmental attitudes among urban design professionals are needed.


Cybersquatting or cyberpiracy was an unexpected and accidental consequence of the domain name system of the Internet. When the first computers began connecting to each other in the 1960s, a form of identification was needed to access the various systems. Initially the networks were composed of only a few computer systems, which were associated primarily with the US Department of Defense. However, as the number of connections grew, it became clear that a more effective system was needed to regulate and maintain the domain name paths through the network (http://www.domainavenue.com).


Proximity to a Mott insulating phase is likely to be an important physical ingredient of a theory that aims to describe high-temperature superconductivity in the cuprates. Quantum cluster methods are well suited to describe the Mott phase. Hence, as a step toward a quantitative theory of the competition between antiferromagnetism and $d$-wave superconductivity in the cuprates, we use cellular dynamical mean-field theory to compute zero-temperature properties of the two-dimensional square lattice Hubbard model. The $d$-wave order parameter is found to scale like the superexchange coupling $J$ for on-site interaction $U$ comparable to or larger than the bandwidth. The order parameter also assumes a dome shape as a function of doping, while, by contrast, the gap in the single-particle density of states decreases monotonically with increasing doping. In the presence of a finite second neighbor hopping ${t}^{\ensuremath{'}}$, the zero-temperature phase diagram displays the electron-hole asymmetric competition between antiferromagnetism and superconductivity that is observed experimentally in the cuprates. Adding realistic third neighbor hopping ${t}^{\ensuremath{''}}$ improves the overall agreement with the experimental phase diagram. Since band parameters can vary depending on the specific cuprate considered, the sensitivity of the theoretical phase diagram to band parameters challenges the commonly held assumption that the doping vs ${T}_{c}∕{T}_{c}^{\mathit{max}}$ phase diagram of the cuprates is universal. The calculated angle-resolved photoemission spectrum displays the observed electron-hole asymmetry. The tendency to homogeneous coexistence of the superconducting and antiferromagnetic order parameters is stronger than observed in most experiments but consistent with many theoretical results and with experiments in some layered high-temperature superconductors. Clearly, our calculations reproduce important features of $d$-wave superconductivity in the cuprates that would otherwise be considered anomalous from the point of view of the standard Bardeen\char21{}Cooper\char21{}Schrieffer approach. At strong coupling, $d$-wave superconductivity and antiferromagnetism naturally appear as two equally important competing instabilities of the normal phase of the same underlying Hamiltonian.


Current estimates of the numbers of people who will be forced from their homes as a result of climate change by the middle of the century range from 50 to 200 million. Therefore, even the most optimistic projections envisage a crisis of migration that will dwarf any we have seen so far. And yet attempts to develop legal mechanisms to deal with this impending crisis have reached an impasse that shows little sign of being overcome. This is in spite of the rapidly growing academic study and policy development in the area of climate change generally. Climate Refugees: Beyond the Legal Impasse? will address a fundamental gap in academic literature and policy making; namely the legal 'no-man's land' in which the issue of climate refugees currently resides. Past proposals for the regulation of climate-induced migration are evaluated, inter alia by their original authors, and the volume also looksat the current attempts to regulate climate-induced migration, including by officials from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Platform on Displacement Disaster (DPP). Bringing together experts from a variety of academic fields, as well as officials from leading international organisations, this book will be of great interest to students and researchers of Environmental Law, Refugee Law, Human Rights Law, Environmental Studies and International Relations.


Introduction: Defects in the lower lips after the excision of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) are usually repaired using several surgical techniques. However, the functional reconstruction of full-thickness defects in the lower lip remains a challenge. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to describe surgical strategies for the reconstruction of full-thickness defects of the lower lip after surgical excision of the SCC and evaluate the functional results. Methods: This was a retrospective study of all patients with full-thickness defects in the lower lip after excisions of SCC that were greater than one third of the lip that were repaired using the Bernard-Webster flap between 2011 and 2014. The functional results (sphincteric, motor and sensory function) were evaluated according to previously used criteria. Results: Six lip defects were reconstructed without complications using Bernard-Webster flaps. During the postoperative period, the patients reported liquid incontinence (16.67%), intermittent salivary incontinence (16.67%), and difficulty fully opening the mouth (33.33%). The tests revealed sensory deficits in the labiomental areas (100%) and lower lip (33.33%). There was full recovery of all functional changes an average of 3 months after surgery. The observed late functional results were considered satisfactory. Conclusions: The Bernard-Webster flap was an excellent alternative to repairing the defects that affect more than one third of the lower lip since it allowed the use of similar local tissues, a single surgery could be performed, and the result was functionally efficient.


This thesis deals with generalized inverses, multivariate polynomial interpolation and approximation of scattered data. Moreover, it covers the lifting scheme, which basically links the aforementioned topics. For instance, determining filters for the lifting scheme is connected to multivariate polynomial interpolation. More precisely, sets of interpolation sites are required that can be interpolated by a unique polynomial of a certain degree. In this thesis a new class of such sets is introduced and elements from this class are used to construct new and computationally more efficient filters for the lifting scheme.
Furthermore, a method to approximate multidimensional scattered data is introduced which is based on the lifting scheme. A major task in this method is to solve an ordinary linear least squares problem which possesses a special structure. Exploiting this structure yields better approximations and therefore this particular least squares problem is analyzed in detail. This leads to a characterization of special generalized inverses with partially prescribed image spaces.