The contradictory character of matter is the starting point of Friedrich Engels's dialectical principles. Matter can move itself, thus producing ever new possibilities of development and gradually leading to the formation of qualitatively higher forms of movement of matter. In this dialectical conception of development, the explanation of qualitative change is fundamental. Starting from the understanding that the inner contradiction is the source of development and its potential, the transition to a new quality is verifiable. Probabilistic laws are the expression of the unity of necessity and chance in the real possibility. Limiting conditions, like specific structures, informational coupling and whole-part relationships and selection processes, restrict the field of possibilities opened by physical laws. This restriction of possibilities on the lower level opens up new possibilities of development on the higher level, where the transition to a new quality is realised. Materialist and dialectical thinking is the important basis of a theory of biology that is neither physicalist nor vitalist, of a theory of computer science that is neither physicalist nor dualist. Mechanistic thinking – reductionism, the denial of the specific qualities of the different forms of movement of matter – leads to philosophies that reduce the human being to an animal or computer and is both dangerous and inhuman. Computer science needs to engage with the history and application of materialistic and dialectical thinking. It needs to grasp the dialectical unity of similarity and difference between automaton and human in the concrete process of digitalisation and automation. It must overcome the widespread, increasing interest in reducing the human being to an automaton, in order to maintain the unique quality of the human being. It must protect and enhance the special qualities and abilities of human beings. The danger of anti-dialectical thinking, of modern forms of reductionism and the possibility, indeed necessity, of creating a better society, free from profit, greed and war is discussed in this paper in the context of Engels's 200th birthday.


The nature of pedagogy and the collaboration between international parties in subject design ameliorates some of the more negative characteristics of globalized education. I argue that the nature of globalization is to be found in the small and ongoing practices that constitute collaboration between differing parties. In this way, what globalization means is in fact a constantly negotiated contingent and never settled. My argument is that reductive critiques of internationalization are far too simplistic. The example of EME 150 and the uptake through the Malaysian educational system of some of its components is an example not of 'imposition' or 'imperialism' but rather of a more negotiated and collaborative pedagogy that points to some of the benefits of cooperation, collaboration and by inference of globalization.


There are huge varieties of floras in the world. Lots of varieties of species are beneficial to the human's life. Plant recognition is a very important task to segregate the huge amount of floras which belong to various categories. Various researchers have applied different approaches to recognize the plant family. Deep learning is a subset of machine learning. This is one of the accepted technologies that automatically extracts features, processes them and yields the best results. Keras is a widely used deep learning framework which is employed in this work. Five different plant species are chosen as samples among the Indian species, namely OcimumTenuiflorum, Sansevieriatrifasciata, Chlorophytumcomosum, Azadirachtaindica, Aloe Vera. These samples are rich in oxygen. From these samples the features like shape, color, texture, corners are extracted. One hot encoding is also applied onto the target values to optimize the results of recognition. The extracted features are fed into the sequential keras model which recognizes the plant species. The accuracy of the training set is 100 percent and the testing set is 96.7percent. Confusion matrix is drawn to show the correctly classified and misclassified samples.


In Smullyan's classic book, First-Order Logic [21], the notion of a Boolean valuation is central in motivating his analytical tableau proof system. Smullyan shows that these valuations are unique if they exist, and then he sketches an existence proof. In addition he suggests a possible computational procedure for finding a Boolean valuation, but it is not related to to the existence proof. A computer scientist would like to see the obvious explicit recursive algorithm for evaluating propositional formulas and a demonstration that the algorithm has the properties of a Boolean valuation. Ideally, the algorithm would be derived from the existence proof. It turns out to be unexpectedly difficult to find a natural existence proof from which the algorithm can be extracted, and it turns out that the implicit computational content of Smullyan's argument is not found where one might expect it. We show that using the notion of a very dependent function type, it is possible to specify the Boolean valuation and prove its existence constructively so that the natural recursive algorithm is extracted and is known to have the mathematically required properties by virtue of its construction. We illustrate all of these points using the Nuprl proof development system [9].


Abstract This small, elegantly written book, offers three distinct perspectives on civilization as it emerged in the more familiar ancient Greek tradition from antecedents in the Ancient Near East. Bott6ro's "Religion and Reasoning in Mesopotamia" (Part 1:3-66) outline themes that arose as the cuneiform tradition evolved in the hands of Sumerian and Akkadian scribes, while Herrenschmidt's "Writing between Visible and Invisible Worlds in Iran, Israel, and Greece: (11:69-146) characterizes conceptual changes in the transi tion from the cuneiform script based on a mixture of phonetic (syllabic) and non-phonetic (determinatives, logograms) signs to the phonetic alphabet on which Greek was based. In "Writing and Civil Religion in Greece" (111:149-175), Jean-Pierre Vernant compares the Indo-European-speaking heritage of the Greeks and with traits that emerged as Greek culture made uniquely Greek contributions in contact with the non-- Indo-European cultures of the Ancient Near East. With a Foreword by Francois Zabbal, Teresa Lavender Fagan, translator. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000. 194 pages, Illustrated, Hardbound, $25.00, ISBN 0-226-06715-7 These essays are intended to dispel the notion that a "western" tradition sprang fully clothed from the head of Zeus not long before fifth century BC Athens. Fagan's translation makes this book easily accessible to the nonspecialist, and Zabbal's forward (vii-xii) situates it in time (beginning in the fourth millennium BC) and space (Mesopotamia peopled by Sumerians, Akkadians, a culturally changing Iran and Greece) raising questions about whether thinking can really be characterized as "(middle) eastern" or "western," as is often done. Bibliographical references are confined to brief footnotes (177-178) and a very selective "Bibliography" (179-181) with an index of names and concepts (183-192). * I. Bottero, the Assyriologist, emphasizes the cultural continuum that comes with the spread of written traditions, the first of which was the cuneiform conflation of Sumerian and (Semitic) Akkadian culture. Four succinct chapters (1: "The Birth of xCivilization" 3-18; 2: "The First Writing" 19-33; 3: "The Intelligence of the World", 34-50; and 4: "The Gods: A Reasonable Religion," 51-66) develop themes related to writing and reasoning as they arose from the everyday lives and institutions of Mesopotamian, Sumerian and Akkadian speakers. Fundamental is the coalescence of two distinct groups, Sumerians and the Semitic-speaking Akkadians. By the time Sumerians and Akkadians had independently arrived in the lower valley of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, the places from which they came were buried in prehistory. From their interaction between the two rivers (in "Meso-potamia" based on Greek meso- 'middle' and potamos 'river'), loan words from one language to the other reflect cultural borrowings. The writing and gardening Sumerians gave Akkadians their word for 'tablet' (Sumerian dub, Akkadian tuppu) and 'garden' (Sumerian nu.kiri, Akkadian mukaribbu) while the herding, warlike and highly religious Semites gave Sumerians their words for 'herdsman, shepherd' (Akkadian niquidu, Sumerian na.gada), combat (Akkadian tamharu, Sumerian dam.hara), and a pantheon with transcendent deities such as Akkadian Shamash (sun-god), Adad (storm-god) and Ishtar (goddess of war). Building on the initial creativity of the Sumerians and their role as teachers for the Semitic-speaking Amorites from the north and west, Bottero emphasizes the Akkadian genius that maintained the culture and allowed it to spread over three millennia. The clay tablets inscribed with cuneiform signs preserved texts as diverse as prayers, omens, letters, economic transactions, royal deeds, poetry and school boy's lessons, and their Akkadian and Sumerian originals were translated into languages as diverse as non-Indo-European Hurrian and Indo-European Hittite. Often copying and translating Sumerian epics such as the Gilgamesh epic, scribes across the Ancient Near East made it their own. …


We introduce a Bayesian approach for modeling Voigt profiles in absorption spectroscopy and its implementation in the python package, BayesVP, publicly available at this https URL The code fits the absorption line profiles within specified wavelength ranges and generates posterior distributions for the column density, Doppler parameter, and redshifts of the corresponding absorbers. The code uses publicly available efficient parallel sampling packages to sample posterior and thus can be run on parallel platforms. BayesVP supports simultaneous fitting for multiple absorption components in high-dimensional parameter space. We provide other useful utilities in the package, such as explicit specification of priors of model parameters, continuum model, Bayesian model comparison criteria, and posterior sampling convergence check.


Background: Although breastfeeding rates in Hawai`i are among the highest in the United States and meet the United States Healthy People 2010 objectives (a statement of national health objectives), these rates are not consistent in all segments of the population. Among the Native Hawaiian population, breastfeeding rates are 25–30% lower than the general population. This disparity (inequality) has not been well researched. A multiphased ethnographic study was undertaken to better understand the nature and factors influencing this disparity. The aim of this phase of the study was to describe the perceptions of Native Hawaiian women about the influences affecting the breastfeeding disparities found in their community. Method: Participants were recruited through a community health centre, purposeful sampling continued until saturation was reached. Interviews 76 © Pimatisiwin: A Journal of Aboriginal and Indigenous Community Health 7(1) 2009 were conducted with Native Hawaiian mothers (N=20) who had breastfed at least one child. The analysis was guided by the participants' voices; the data analysis remained grounded in the participants' view. Data were coded, categorized, and conceptually grouped into patterns. Results: The patterns were identifying resources, difficulty breastfeeding, and unmet expectations. Resources which functioned as supports or assets to the breastfeeding experience included knowledge, prior experience, motivation, support, equipment, and empathy. Breastfeeding was "hard," because of the physical problems with the woman's breast, discomfort, and time demands. Unmet expectations included a discrepancy in values, an assumption of participant knowledge, lifestyle adjustments, and the value of organizational support. Conclusions: Traditionally, women breastfed in a supportive environment that was not fully available to the study participants. Valuing traditional practices in the context of current influences may improve breastfeeding rates among Native Hawaiian women; therefore, the health of this community.


While traditional data-management systems focus on evaluating single, ad-hoc queries over static data sets in a centralized setting, several emerging applications require (possibly, continuous) answers to queries on dynamic data that is widely distributed and constantly updated. Furthermore, such query answers often need to discount data that is "stale", and operate solely on a sliding window of recent data arrivals (e.g., data updates occurring over the last 24 hours). Such distributed data streaming applications mandate novel algorithmic solutions that are both time- and space-efficient (to manage high-speed data streams), and also communication-efficient (to deal with physical data distribution). In this paper, we consider the problem of complex query answering over distributed, high-dimensional data streams in the sliding-window model. We introduce a novel sketching technique (termed ECM-sketch) that allows effective summarization of streaming data over both time-based and count-based sliding windows with probabilistic accuracy guarantees. Our sketch structure enables point as well as inner-product queries, and can be employed to address a broad range of problems, such as maintaining frequency statistics, finding heavy hitters, and computing quantiles in the sliding-window model. Focusing on distributed environments, we demonstrate how ECM-sketches of individual, local streams can be composed to generate a (low-error) ECM-sketch summary of the order-preserving aggregation of all streams; furthermore, we show how ECM-sketches can be exploited for continuous monitoring of sliding-window queries over distributed streams. Our extensive experimental study with two real-life data sets validates our theoretical claims and verifies the effectiveness of our techniques. To the best of our knowledge, ours is the first work to address efficient, guaranteed-error complex query answering over distributed data streams in the sliding-window model.


Measurements of net ecosystem CO 2 exchange (NEE) and energy balance were made using chamber-, tower-, and aircraft-based measurement techniques in Alaskan arctic tundra ecosystems during the 1994-1995 growing seasons (June-August). One of our objectives was to quantify the interrelationships between the NEE and the energy balance measurements made from different sampling techniques. Oualitative and quantitative intercomparisons revealed that on average the correspondence between the mass and energy fluxes measured by these sampling methods was good despite potential spatial and temporal mismatches in sampling scale. Quantitative comparisons using least squares linear regression analyses with the tower-based measurements of NEE as the independent variable indicate that the chamber- and aircraft-based NEE measurements were generally lower relative to the tower-based measurements (slope = 0.76-0.86). Similarly, tower-aircraft comparisons of latent (L e ) and sensible (H) heat exchange indicated that the aircraft-based measurements were lower than the tower-based measurements (slope = 0.72-0.80). Qualitative comparisons, however, indicate that the correspondence among the chamber-, tower-, and aircraft-measured fluxes varied both seasonally and interannually, suggesting the lack of a consistent bias between the sampling techniques. The results suggest that differences observed between the chamber, tower, and aircraft flux measurements were primarily due to the failure to account for the spatial distribution of surface types in the tower and aircraft sampling footprint, problems involved in the comparison of temporal and spatial averages, and temporal (e.g., seasonal and interannual) variance in rates of mass and energy flux for a given point. Other potential sources of variance include the underestimation of nocturnal NEE by the tower-based eddy covariance system, and the periodic occurrence of an elevated CO 2 plume in the atmosphere over the Prudhoe Bay oil field. Even with these potential sources of variation, the results reveal that the various methods give comparable estimates of NEE and energy flux within a range of temporal or spatial variability.


The plant communities occurring in the home ranges of two vervet monkey ( Chlorocebus aethiops ) troops (referred to as the Donga and Picnic troops) were investigated as part of a comprehensive research project on the spatial and temporal patterns in resource dispersion or distribution and range use. From two-way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN) multivariate classifications refined by Braun-Blanquet procedures, seven plant communities that can be placed into three major groups were identified in the home range of the Donga troop, and eight plant communities that can be placed into four major groups were identified in the home range of the Picnic troop. Classifications and descriptions of the major groups, including vegetation maps, are presented. Diagnostic as well as prominent species of tree, shrub, forb and grass strata are outlined. Ordinations and floristic analyses were undertaken for the two home ranges to highlight vegetative differences between the areas. The phenology of vervet resources and the available resource energy were determined as a basis for the comprehensive study. Conservation implications: This vegetation description and phenology provide valuable information on the utilisation of home ranges by vervets and demonstrate how various management applications can affect the home range dependence of troops.


Radio-Frequency fingerprinting is an interesting solution for indoor localization. It exploits existing telecommunication infrastructure, such as WiFi routers, along with a database of signal strengths at different locations, but requires manually collecting signal measurements along with precise position information. To automatically build signal maps, we use an autonomous, self-localizing, low-cost mobile robotic platform. Our robot relies on the Kinect depth camera that is limited by a narrow field of view and short range. Our two-stage localization architecture first performs real-time obstacle-avoidance-based navigation and visual-based odometry correction for bearing angles. It then uses RGB-D images for Simultaneous Localization and Mapping. We compare the applicability of 6-degrees-of-freedom RGB-D SLAM, and of particle filtering 2D SLAM algorithms and present novel ideas for loop closures. Finally, we demonstrate the use of the robot for WiFi localization in an office space.


In the current study, we examine how indicators of kindergarten school readiness forecast long-term achievement and health by the end of high school. BrightcoveDefaultPlayer10.1542/6193938073001PEDS-VA_2020-0978 Video Abstract OBJECTIVES: To estimate associations between kindergarten readiness and academic, psychological, and health risks by end of high school. METHODS: This study is based on 966 Canadian children. At age 5, trained examiners assessed child number knowledge and receptive vocabulary. Teachers reported kindergarten classroom engagement. At age 17, participants reported academic grades, school connectedness, anxiety sensitivity, substance abuse, physical activity involvement, and height and weight. High school dropout risk was also estimated for each participant on the basis of grades, school engagement, and grade retention. RESULTS: Kindergarten math skills contributed to better end-of high school grades (β = .17, P < .01) and lower dropout risk (β = −.20, P < .001), whereas receptive vocabulary predicted lower anxiety sensitivity (β = −.11, P < .01). Kindergarten classroom engagement predicted higher end of high school grades (β = .17, P < .001), lower dropout risk (β = −.20, P < .01), better school connectedness (β = .15, P < .01), lower risk of substance abuse (β = −.21, P < .001), and more physical activity involvement (β = .09, P < .05). Kindergarten classroom engagement was also associated with a 65% reduction (odds ratio = 0.35) in the odds of being overweight at age of 17. Analyses were adjusted for key child (sex, weight per gestational age, nonverbal IQ, and internalizing and externalizing behaviors) and family (parental involvement, maternal depression and immigrant status, family configuration, and socioeconomic status) characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: Early childhood readiness forecasts a protective edge by emerging adulthood. With these findings, we build links between education and health indicators, suggesting that children who start school prepared gain a lifestyle advantage. Promoting kindergarten readiness could reduce the health burden generated by high school dropout.


A proper test of the deterrent effect of the death penalty must consider capital homicides. However, the criterion variable in most investigations has been total homicides—most of which bear no legal or theoretical relationship to capital punishment. To address this fundamental data problem, this investigation used Federal Bureau of Investigation data for 1976–1987 to examine the relationship between capital punishment and felony murder, the most common type of capital homicide. We conducted time series analyses of monthly felony murder rates, the frequency of executions, and the amount and type of television coverage of executions over the period. The analyses revealed occasional departures (for vehicle theft and narcotics killings) from the null hypotheses. However, on balance, and in line with the vast majority of capital punishment studies, this investigation found no consistent evidence that executions and the television coverage they receive are associated significantly with rates for total, index, or different types of felony murder.


The number of diabetics in the UK is growing exponentially and is expected to rise to 2.67 million people by the year 2030. 1 However, the mortality rate associated with the macrovascular complications of diabetes is decreasing along with a general increase in life expectancy for this population. 2,3 This could lead to an increase in the time that people live with the morbidity associated with microvascular complications. Microvascular damage in the retina results in diabetic retinopathy and this article reviews the management of this condition in older people.


In the summer of 1923 Virginia Woolf's nephews, Quentin and Julian Bell, started a family newspaper, The Charleston Bulletin. Quentin decided to ask his aunt Virginia for a contribution: 'it seemed stupid to have a real author so close at hand and not have her contribute.' Woolf joined forces with Quentin, and from 1923 until 1927 they created fully-fledged booklets of stories and drawings that were announced as Supplements. Written or dictated by Woolf and illustrated by Quentin, these Supplements present a unique collaboration between the novelist during her most prolific years and the child-painter. In Virginia Woolf, Quentin Bell not only found a professional author and an experienced journalist, but, above all, a close companion and conspirator who shared his irreverence and mischievous sense of humour. The Supplements are transcribed in full here for the first time alongside around 40 of Bell's original illustrations. Designed to tease the adults, they portray Bloomsbury eccentricities along with the foibles and mishaps of the residents and visitors at Charleston. This is the first time the Supplements have been published since they were first written and will therefore be welcomed by fans of Woolf and her circle.


Today, a world without roads, cars, motorcycles and bicycles is almost unimaginable. The entire road infrastructure with its diversity of transport concepts now has a prominent − almost dominant – position in our society. The question is therefore not so much whether there will still be a road infrastructure in the future, but rather how will society view these mobility facilities in, say, thirty or forty years' time. Comparing the road infrastructure and means of transport of today with those of forty years ago, it becomes clear that in the next forty years' time everything will again look a lot different to how it looks today. Societies are constantly developing and, consequently so are people's requirements regarding the use, structure and design of the road infrastructure − not just roads in urban areas (urban roads), but also the motorways (interurban roads) between the major European cities. It is also quite conceivable that the future construction and design of infrastructure constructions such as bridges and tunnels will be subject to different requirements. In view of the lengthy time span of 10 to 15 years between planning infrastructure facilities and its actual completion, followed by an operational period of at least 25 years, more clarity of these future needs, demands and requirements becomes essential in order to make the right choices for today. Making the future more identifiable and tangible reveals the gaps of knowledge and indicates which new technologies will have to be developed to meet the future demands and requirements. Besides generic developments like shortage of clean environment, space and energy, spotting and extrapolating the social and economical trends and technical advances offer starting- points for forming a more realistic image of the future and the associated needs and demands related to road transport. The results of these exercises have been presented by NR2C in its document "New Road Construction Concepts: Vision 2040". Within the framework of this NR2C project, this vision is a realistic and most likely description of future society and shows what the world might look like in (in this case) thirty-five years and how society thinks about use, design construction and maintenance of infrastructure for the coming decades. This Vision 2040 has provided the basis of NR2C's aim to identify and specify the research activities, required in road engineering to guaranty to some extend convenient, comfortable and reliable ground transport in the next decades. The document "Facing the future – developments required" is a follow up of NR2C's Vision 2040 report and looks more deeply into the research activities required to produce real progress in facing the future demands of society, road authorities and other stakeholders. For a better understanding of this finishing touch and placing NR2C's recommendations in the right framework, relevant passages from the Vision 2040 document will return in this present document.


A political theorist educated at the universities of Louvain, Paris, and Essex, Chantal Mouffe is Professor of Political Theory at the University of Westminster. She has taught at many universities in Europe, North America and Latin America, and has held research positions at Harvard, Cornell, the University of California, the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris. Between 1989 and 1995 she was Directrice de Programme at the College International de Philosophie in Paris.


The issue of Slovenising classical Greek and Latin names has long beset the Slovene language and Slovene classical philology with its related disciplines. The tradition of Slovenising classical names goes back at least to the grammar book by Adam Bohoric, Arcticae horulae, that is, over 400 years back. The Slovenisation of classical names has been, and continues to be, an intriguing topic, for much remains unresolved in this field despite many efforts; moreover, there are many differences of opinion even within classical philology itself, let alone between classical philology and other disciplines. The issue thus remains a challenge to classical philologists and related experts, as well as to Slovene Studies scholars and others. It is influenced by several factors: the existing Slovenisation rules, tradition and usage, language instinct and sensibility, analogy, and the expectations of various users, including both individuals and whole disciplines. The paper, outlining some of the most influential works and authors who have shaped this issue over time, presents the major chapters in its history.


We aim at advancing open-vocabulary object detection, which detects objects described by arbitrary text inputs. The fundamental challenge is the availability of training data. It is costly to further scale up the number of classes contained in existing object detection datasets. To overcome this challenge, we propose ViLD, a training method via Vision and Language knowledge Distillation. Our method distills the knowledge from a pretrained open-vocabulary image classification model (teacher) into a two-stage detector (student). Specifically, we use the teacher model to encode category texts and image regions of object proposals. Then we train a student detector, whose region embeddings of detected boxes are aligned with the text and image embeddings inferred by the teacher. We benchmark on LVIS by holding out all rare categories as novel categories that are not seen during training. ViLD obtains 16.1 mask AP$_r$ with a ResNet-50 backbone, even outperforming the supervised counterpart by 3.8. When trained with a stronger teacher model ALIGN, ViLD achieves 26.3 AP$_r$. The model can directly transfer to other datasets without finetuning, achieving 72.2 AP$_{50}$ on PASCAL VOC, 36.6 AP on COCO and 11.8 AP on Objects365. On COCO, ViLD outperforms the previous state-of-the-art by 4.8 on novel AP and 11.4 on overall AP. Code and demo are open-sourced at https://github.com/tensorflow/tpu/tree/master/models/official/detection/projects/vild.


Mobile cloud computing (MCC) has drawn significant research attention recently due to the popularity and capability of portable devices. This paper presents an MCC offloading system based on internet offloading choices. This system guarantees the conservation of battery life and reduced execution time. The proposed effective context sensitive offloading approach using support value-based classification is processed in different steps. Initially, the context data of the input tasks is extracted through the energy consumption model, cost model, execution model, communication model and stored. Then, the support value-based classification approach classifies the tasks based on the context information. This classification creates the information about the tasks and finally, a decision is made at the right time to achieve better offloading. The result indicates the presented offloading framework can choose reasonable cloud assets depending on various contexts of the mobile devices and achieve significant performance enhancement.


Nobody thought that Labor would form government in Western Australia after the 2013 election.

And with the current seat count at 30 for Colin Barnett's Liberals, 18 for Labor and 6 for the Nationals, it is very clear they have not.

Most pundits believed that the Liberals would win the 30 seats they needed to govern without the support of the Nationals. But many observers also felt that Labor opposition leader Mark McGowan had shown enough during the campaign - and Colin Barnett sufficiently underperformed - to produce a closer result.

They Liberals ran a good, but not great, campaign. Colin Barnett has never been a particularly effective public performer. He's not quick enough on his feet in interviews and lacks the passion and rhetorical skill of a powerful orator. But he was even less impressive during this campaign than I'd expected. I understand why one of his minders phoned The West Australian and put the Premier on the line to deny rumours that he was ill or tired.

But Barnett wisely played to his strengths: an ability to put himself at the centre of a pro-development, big infrastructure government that would fight for WA against the wildly unpopular Gillard government. He was, at best, solid and his Liberal colleagues well muzzled - none going "off message."


With the release of Treasury papers from the 1970s under the 30-year rule we have a much more complete picture of the dispute in the 1970s between the Treasury and the Cambridge Economic Policy Group, especially given the role of three Cambridge economists -- Nicholas Kaldor, Wynne Godley and Francis Cripps – as ministerial advisers at the time. The records show the Treasury and the CEPG eventually meeting near the middle regarding the latter's proposition of stable private-sector NAFA (Net Acquisition of Private Sector Assets) and its implications for demand management and the balance of payments. By contrast, the initial differences on counter-inflation policy and, above all, on import controls versus free trade were wider at the end of the decade than at the start of it.


Abstract Aims: This article aimed to examine the cost-effectiveness of rivaroxaban in comparison to warfarin for stroke prevention in Japanese patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF), from a public healthcare payer's perspective. Materials and methods: Baseline event risks were obtained from the J-ROCKET AF trial and the treatment effect data were taken from a network meta-analysis. The other model inputs were extracted from the literature and official Japanese sources. The outcomes included the number of ischaemic strokes, myocardial infarctions, systemic embolisms and bleedings avoided, life-years, quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), incremental costs and incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). The scenario analysis considered treatment effect data from the same network meta-analysis. Results: In comparison with warfarin, rivaroxaban was estimated to avoid 0.284 ischaemic strokes per patient, to increase the number of QALYs by 0.535 per patient and to decrease the total costs by ¥118,892 (€1,011.11) per patient (1 JPY = 0.00850638 EUR; XE.com, 7 October 2019). Consequently, rivaroxaban treatment was found to be dominant compared to warfarin. In the scenario analysis, the ICER of rivaroxaban versus warfarin was ¥2,873,499 (€24,446.42) per QALY. Limitations: The various sources of data used resulted in the heterogeneity of the cost-effectiveness analysis results. Although, rivaroxaban was cost-effective in the majority of cases. Conclusion: Rivaroxaban is cost-effective against warfarin for stroke prevention in Japanese patients with NVAF, giving the payer WTP of 5,000,000 JPY.


In the sensor network, a connected dominating set is a set of connected sensors such that every sensor not in the set is adjacent to at least one sensor in the set. The connected dominating set with a small number of sensors is desirable because the set reduces network energy and communication costs. In this paper, we propose an autonomous distributed algorithm, which is based on calling behavior of frog, for constructing the connected dominating set. We implement the proposed algorithm in a simulation environment, and evaluate validity of the proposed algorithm.


In the late 1950's and early 1960's, the height of concrete buildings jumped from 20 to 60 stories. During the same period, architects introduced the use of exposed columns that are subject to thermal movements. Such changes made it necessary for the designer of high-rise buildings to consider column length changes due to elastic stresses and creep caused by gravity loads, drying shrinkage, and temperature variations of exposed columns. While column length changes within a single story may be minor, they are cumulative. When multiplied by a large number of stories, they become substantial. The total shortening affects such nonstructural elements as pipes and elevator rails attached to the concrete. Cladding details are also affected by overall changes in column lengths. Structural effects are caused by differential movements only and not by total movements; they are moments induced into the forcibly distorted slabs or beams and the accompanying moments in the columns. In the 1960's, the structural solutions for effects of shrinkage and creep required extensive longhand computations. A procedure for determining elastic or inelastic column length changes in tall structures has now been updated, computerized and make applicable to concrete, steel and composite structures. The updated procedure separately considers elastic and creep shortenings due to gravity loads and shrinkage shortening. While elastic and creep deformations depend upon loading history, member size and reinforcement, the shrinkage component is independent of loading and depends on member size and on reinforcement. Time and material properties are important variables in all computations of shortening.


Salinity is an important property of industrial and natural waters. It is defined as the measure of the mass of dissolved salts in a given mass of solution. High salinity has an impact on people and industries reliant on water. High levels of salt can reduce crop yields, limit the choice of crops that can be grown and, at higher concentrations over long periods, can kill trees and make the land unsuitable for agricultural purposes. Salinity increases the "hardness" of water, which can mean more soap and detergents have to be used or water softeners installed and maintained. This can also cause scaling in pipes and heaters. The experimental determination of the salt content by drying and weighing presents some difficulties due to the loss of some components. The only reliable way to determine the true or absolute salinity of natural water is to make a complete chemical analysis. However, the method is time consuming and cannot yield the precision necessity for accurate work. Thus to determine salinity, one normally used method involves the measurement of a physical property such as conductivity, density or refractive index. The paper reports the refractometric fiber optic sensor for detection of salinity of water. The mathematical model is developed for detection of the refractive index of liquid and simulated in MATLAB. The fiber optic sensor probe is developed to measure the refractive index of the solution containing different amount of salt dissolved in water i.e. different molar concentrations. Experiments are carried out using the developed probe for these solutions. Experimental results are showing good agreement with the simulated results.


The current president of Uruguay, Jose Mujica, is a former guerrilla who in the 60s was linked to direct-action groups that aspired to the revolution and to promote social justice. On different occasions the personality of Mujica has been related to the figure of Don Quixote and his most mythologized features. In a public lecture, the President appropriated the 'Discurso de la Edad de Oro' ( Quijote I, chap. XI), which appeals to a utopian world, separated from capitalism, and free from work, crime and private property. By tracing the social value of that speech and the history of its reception, this paper will contribute to understand the current political use of that passage of El Quijote .


Geographical Information Systems (GIS) have become widely used for applications ranging from web mapping services to environmental modelling, as they provide a rich set of functions to solve different types of spatial problems. In the meantime, implementing GIS functions in an accurate and efficient manner has received attention, throughout the development of GIS technologies. This thesis describes the development and implementation of a novel geo-processing approach, namely Combinative Geoprocessing (CG), which is used to address data processing problems in GIS. The main purpose of the CG approach is to improve the data quality and efficiency of processing complex geo-processing models. Inspired by the concept of Map Calculus (Haklay, 2004), in the CG approach GIS layers are stored as functions and new layers are created through a combination of existing functions. The functional programming environment (Scheme programming language) is used in this research to implement the function-based layers in the CG approach. Furthermore, a set of computation rules is introduced in the new approach to enhance the performance of the function-based layers, such as the CG computation priority, which provides a way to improve the overall computation time of geo-processing. Three case studies, which involve different sizes of spatial data and different types of functions are investigated in this research in order to develop and implement the CG approach. The first case study compares Map Algebra and our approach for manipulating two different raster layers. The second case study focuses on the investigation of a combinative function through the implementation of the IDW and Slope functions. The final case is a study of computational efficiency using a complex chain processing model. Through designing the conceptual model of the CG approach and implementing the CG approach in the number of case studies, it was shown that the new approach provides many advantages for improving the data quality of geo-processing. Furthermore, the overall computation time of geo-processing could be reduced by using the CG approach as it provides a way to use computer resources efficiently and avoid redundant computations. Last but not least, this thesis identifies a new research direction for GIS computations and GIS software development, such as how a robust geo-processing tool with higher performance (i.e. data quality and efficiency) could be created using the CG approach.


This paper introduces a new approach for computing the exact aspect graph of curved objects observed under orthographic projection. Curves corresponding to various visual events partition the Gaussian sphere into regions where the image structure is stable. A catalogue of these events for piecewise-smooth objects is available from singularity theory. For a solid bounded by rational parametric patches and their intersection curves, it is shown that each visual event is characterized by a system of n polynomials in n + 1 variables whose solutions can be found by numerical curve tracing methods. Combining these methods with ray tracing, it is possible to characterize the stable image structure within each region. Results from a preliminary implementation are presented.


The development of suburban areas indicate that the area to be "exurban area", that the development of the new urban population in large numbers came from the city and moved because it was attracted by the new residence or employment opportunities, but in socio-economic them still remain oriented to the city core. Another phenomenon of the development of the suburb that is the restructuring of the city's core as result of the shift of functions from manufacturing center to the center of financial activities and services, while manufacturing activity increasingly shifts to the edge of the area, especially with the development of insdustrial areas and other. As for the purpose ofof this research is to know the socio-economic impacts of development of Semarang's suburban housing, District Tembalang to the local community. A method of research used in this research is approach case study using by data qualitative and quantitative furnished with. The main data used is the quantitative data obtained from the questionnaire. A case study is a research that analys in one case and conducted in intensively, deep, specifics and comprehensive. This research is still with a limited number of respondendts and expected there is the research continued with more sample so the data more be valid. The socio-economic impacts of housing has already been seen in the public therefore particularly the government to immediately solve the problems of this mismatch so as not to be increased. Keywords: regional development, housing development, socio-economic effects


Analysis of diversity and evenness metrics using land cover data are becoming formalized in landscape ecology. Diversity and evenness metrics are dependent on the pixel size (scale) over which the data are collected. Aerial photography was interpreted for land cover and converted into four raster data sets with 4, 12, 28, and 80m pixel sizes, representing pixel sizes up to that available on Landsat-MSS. Analysis of covariance was used to determine the effect of changing pixel size on landscape metrics. The results indicate that landscape metrics should not be dramatically affected by the change in pixel size up to 80m, provided that identical land cover classifications could be generated by sensors with different spatial resolving powers (e.g. Landsat-TM and MSS).


Introduction & Objective: Human population-based studies have found an independent association of obesity or visceral adiposity with abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) presence or increasing abdominal aortic diameter. However, the molecular mechanisms that link obesity to AAA development remain largely unknown. The unbalanced production of adipokines by dysfunctional adipose tissue in obese individuals greatly contributes to the increased cardiovascular risk associated with obesity. In this study we assessed the role of adiponectin, an anti-inflammatory adipokine typically down-regulated in obese individuals, in a model of AAA using apolipoprotein E/adiponectin double-knockout (ApoE-/- Apn-/-) mice. Methods & Results: We used an experimental model where angiotensin II (Ang II) is infused to hyperlipidemic ApoE-deficient mice for 28 days via a subcutaneous osmotic mini-pump to induce the formation of supra-renal AAA. We found that Ang II infusion for 7 days leads to a significant decrease in the expression of adiponectin in white adipose tissue in this model. Ang II infusion in male ApoE-/- Apn-/- mice led to a higher incidence of AAA and an increase in the maximal supra-renal aortic diameter compared with that of ApoE-/- mice as determined by ultrasound imaging (incidence of AAA: 100% vs. 42%, maximal aortic diameter: 2.12 ± 0.07 mm vs. 1.67 ± 0.09 mm, respectively at 28 days). Adiponectin deficiency augmented the early accumulation of macrophages into the aortic wall in Ang II-infused mice. Gene expression of the pro-inflammatory factors (TNFa, IL-1b, IL-6 and CCL2/MCP-1) was significantly increased in the supra-renal aorta of ApoE-/- Apn-/- relative to ApoE-/- mice after Ang II infusion. MMP-2 and MMP-9 activation was also augmented in the aorta of ApoE-/- Apn-/- mice compared to ApoE-/- mice. Conclusions: These results suggest that adiponectin exerts anti-inflammatory actions in the aortic wall that may protect against Ang II-induced AAA formation and growth in hyperlipidemic ApoE-deficient mice. Since adiponectin expression is significantly decreased in obese individuals, these results provide a potential mechanistic connection between obesity and AAA development.


A unique index line of pigs created by long-term selection ovulates on average 6.7 more ova than its randomly selected control line. Expression profiling experiments were conducted to identify differentially expressed genes in ovarian tissues of the index and control lines during days 2–6 of the follicular phase of the estrous cycle. Fluorescently labeled cDNAs derived from ovary and follicle RNA were cohybridized on microarray slides (n = 90) containing 4608 follicle-derived probes printed in duplicate. Statistical analysis of the resulting ∼1.6 million data points with a mixed-model approach identified 88 and 74 unique probes, representing 71 and 59 unique genes, which are differentially expressed between lines in the ovary and ovarian follicles of different size classes, respectively. These findings indicate that long-term selection for components of litter size has caused significant changes in physiological control of the dynamics of follicular maturation. Genes involved with steroid synthesis, tissue remodeling, and apoptosis, in addition to several genes not previously associated with ovarian physiology or with unknown function, were found to be differentially expressed between lines. This study reveals many potential avenues of investigation for seeking new insights into ovarian physiology and the quantitative genetic control of reproduction.


The paper gives an overview of some main themes in the theory of tax evasion, starting from Allingham and Sandmo (1972). It reviews the comparative statics of the original model of individual behavior where the tax evasion decision is analogous to portfolio choice, and its extensions to incorporate socially conscious behavior, participation in the black labor market and tax evasion by firms. It also discusses the analysis of tax incidence and the problems involved in moving from individual to aggregate analysis. Finally, it reviews the issues that arise in formulating models of optimal taxation in the presence of tax evasion.


The Monetary Control Act of 1980 radically changed the role of the Federal Reserve in the interbank clearing market. Among other things, the Act required the Fed to give all depository institutions equal access to its payments services and to price those services competitively. In this article, Anatoli Kuprianov explains why Congress legislated this change. At least three developments in the 1970s, including the introduction of electronic payments systems, the deregulation of the thrift industry, and the decline in membership in the Federal Reserve System, forced consideration of the questions of access to and pricing of Fed services. Because of the complex issues involved, the debate could only be resolved through comprehensive legislation which addressed all of them simultaneously.


I AM running for President because I believe our prosperity must have a purpose. We must use these times of economic prosperity to improve America's schools. Education is the constant focus of my campaign. My generation was given the gift of the best education in American history. Yet we do not share that gift with everyone. Seven of 10 fourth-graders in our highest-poverty schools cannot read a simple children's book. This is a national tragedy, and we cannot rest until we have confronted it. As governor, education has been my passion and my priority. Texas is a big state that is getting bigger and more diverse. During my time in office, Texas added more than a quarter of a million students. This placed an enormous burden on Texas school districts to provide the education our children deserve and parents demand. But we met the challenge. We met it with a simple philosophy: education is a local responsibility, but a state priority. While giving school districts more flexibility and authority, we increased the amount of funding the state provides to the schools. As a result, school districts were able to meet the needs of rising numbers of students without raising local property taxes. In fact, a study issued by state budget experts found that the 50 largest school districts, representing 60% of the student population, reported an overall decrease in tax rates. But more important, we reformed our public schools with a basic set of principles - high standards and high expectations, local control, and strong accountability. The results say it all. Test scores are up for all students in all grades, especially Hispanic and African American youngsters. Since I have been governor, the number of students passing all parts of our state skills test - the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) - has increased by 51%. The number of both minority students and economically disadvantaged students passing all parts of the TAAS has increased by 89%. In fact, according to a RAND study released in July 2000, education reforms implemented in Texas have resulted in some of the highest achievement gains in the country: * math scores in Texas have improved at twice the rate of the national average; * Texas was second among all states in improved math scores; * Texas leads all states in a comparison of students from similar socioeconomic and family backgrounds; * Texas African American and non-Hispanic white fourth-graders ranked first on National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) math tests in 1996, and Texas Hispanic fourth-graders ranked fifth; * Texas is one of two states that has made the greatest overall academic gains in recent years; * Texas students of each racial and/or ethnic group scored higher than similar students in states with the same demographic characteristics; and * since 1992, African American fourth-graders in Texas have made the greatest gains in math, and Hispanic fourth-graders have made the second-greatest gains in the nation. I am proud of the results we have achieved in education in Texas. As President, I will achieve the same results, ensuring that no child is left behind. America's future and hope depend directly on the education of our children - on young men and women with the skills and character to succeed. So, throughout the campaign, I have focused on the problems and promise of our public schools. And I have proposed a commonsense plan to improve our schools through high standards, local control, and accountability and through giving parents, teachers, and schools the options and resources they need to give our children the education they deserve. In September of last year, I talked about disadvantaged children left behind by failed schools. The diminished hopes of our current system are sad and serious - the soft bigotry of low expectations. Schools that do not teach and will not change must have some final point of accountability - a moment of truth when their federal funds, intended to help the poorest children, are divided up and given to parents for tutoring or a charter school or some other hopeful option. …


The increase of the thrust/weight ratio of aircraft engines is extremely restricted by different 3-D flow loss mechanisms. One of them is the corner separation that can form at the junction between a blade suction side and a hub or shroud. In this paper, in order to further investigate the turbulent characteristics of corner separation, large-eddy simulation (LES) is conducted on a compressor cascade configuration using NACA65 blade profiles (chord based Reynolds number: 3.82 × 105), in comparison with the previous obtained experimental data. Using the shear-improved Smagorinsky model as subgrid-scale model, the LES gives a good description of the mean aerodynamics of the corner separation, especially for the blade surface static pressure coefficient and the total pressure losses. The turbulent dynamics is then analyzed in detail, in consideration of the turbulent structures, the one-point velocity spectra, and the turbulence anisotropy. Within the recirculation region, the energy appears to concentrate around the largest turbulent eddies, with fairly isotropic characteristics. Concerning the dynamics, an aperiodic shedding of hairpin vortices seems to induce an unsteadiness of the separation envelope.


The city of San Francisco is undertaking a large-scale controlled parking pricing experiment. San Francisco has adopted a performance goal of 60% to 80% occupancy for its metered parking. The goal represents an heuristic performance measure intended to reduce double parking and cruising for parking, and improve the driver experience; it follows a wave of academic and policy literature that calls for adjusting on-street parking prices to achieve similar occupancy targets. In this paper, we evaluate the relationship between occupancy rules and metrics of direct policy interest, such as the probability of finding a parking space, the amount of cruising, and show how cruising and arrival rates can be simulated or estimated from hourly occupancy data. Further, we evaluate the impacts of the first two years of the San Francisco program, and conclude that rate changes have helped achieve the City's occupancy goal and reduced cruising by 50%.


Using new sources, this article examines how in the years around 1550 Charles V and the imperial estates came close to creating a common currency for the Holy Roman Empire. The article analyses whose interests prevailed in the negotiations and how, despite the resistance of some important actors, the Imperial diet of 1551 was able to unanimously agree on the currency bill. It also analyses why the common currency still failed: This was the case because of the desire of many princes to ease the repayment of their debts by establishing a bimetallic currency, and even more importantly because of Charles V's attempt to weaken the Elector of Saxony by undervaluing the taler. In this, Charles exploited the diet's implicit ex-ante agreement with him to set the rates at which old money was allowed to continue in circulation. His manipulations provoked resistance, raised the costs of implementing the common currency, and caused its failure.


Enhanced strain-based fatigue methodology for high strength aluminum alloys Attilio Arcari The design of any mechanical components requires an understanding of the general statical, dynamical and environmental conditions where the components will be operating to give satisfactory results in terms of performance and endurance. The premature failure of any components is undesirable and potentially catastrophic, therefore predictions on performances and endurances of components to proceed with repair or substitution is vital to the stability of the structure where the component is inserted. Improvements to a strain based approach to fatigue were obtained in this study, studying the effects of mean stresses on fatigue life and investigating cyclic mean stress relaxation of two aluminum alloys, 7075-T6511 and 7249-T76511, used in structural aircraft applications. The two aluminum alloys were tested and their fatigue behavior characterized. The project, entirely funded by NAVAIR, Naval Air Systems Command, and jointly coordinated with TDA, Technical Data Analysis Inc., was aimed to obtain fatigue data for both aluminum alloys, with particular interest in 7249 alloy because of its enhanced corrosion resistance, and to give guidelines for improving the performances of FAMS, Fatigue Analysis of Metallic Structures, a life prediction software from the point of view of both mean stress effects and mean stress relaxation. The sensitivity of engineering materials to mean stresses is of high relevance in a strain based fatigue approach. The performance of the most common models used to calculate mean stress correction factors was studied for the two aluminum alloys 7075 and 7249 to give guidelines in the use of those for life predictions. Not only mean stresses have a high influence on fatigue life, but they are also subjected to transient cyclic behaviors. The following study considered both an empirical approach and a plasticity theory approach to simulate and include these transient effects in life calculations. Results will give valid directions to a successful modification of FAMS like any other life calculation software to include in the picture transient phenomena.


Lyme disease is present in South Carolina, though not as prevalent as in many other states in the country. The characteristics of South Carolina cases are similar to those of the nation as a whole. The tick vector of Lyme disease in the Southeast is not clearly established, but is thought to be Ixodes scapularis. Questions remain concerning the prevalence of infection in local ticks with Borrelia burgdorferi, and the risk to a person bitten by a tick in South Carolina.


A new floating wind turbine platform design called VolturnUS developed by the University of Maine uses innovations in materials, construction, and deployment technologies such as a concrete semisubmersible hull and a composite tower to reduce the costs of offshore wind. These novel characteristics require research and development prior to full-scale construction. This paper presents a unique offshore model testing effort aimed at derisking full-scale commercial projects by providing scaled global motion data, allowing for testing of materials representative of the full-scale system, and demonstrating full-scale construction and deployment methods. A 1:8-scale model of a 6 MW semisubmersible floating wind turbine was deployed offshore Castine, ME, in June 2013. The model includes a fully operational commercial 20 kW wind turbine and was the first gridconnected offshore wind turbine in the U.S. The testing effort includes careful selection of the offshore test site, the commercial wind turbine that produces the correct aerodynamic thrust given the wind conditions at the test site, scaling methods, model design, and construction. A suitable test site was identified that produced scaled design load cases (DLCs) prescribed by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) Guide for Building and Classing Floating Offshore Wind Turbines. A turbine with a small rotor diameter was selected because it produces the correct thrust load given the wind conditions at the test site. Some representative data from the test are provided in this paper. Model test data are compared directly to full-scale design predictions made using coupled aeroelastic/ hydrodynamic software. Scaled VolturnUS performance data during DLCs show excellent agreement with full-scale predictive models. Model test data are also compared directly without scaling against a numerical representation of the 1:8-scale physical model for the purposes of numerical code validation. The numerical model results compare favorably with data collected from the physical model. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4030381]


Finasteride and dutasteride are commonly used 5-alpha reductase inhibitors. While finasteride is a selective inhibitor of 5-alpha reductase Type II, dutasteride inhibits 5- alpha reductase Type I and II. The United States Food and Drug Administration approved the use of finasteride for benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) as well as androgenic alopecia (AGA) while dutasteride is approved only for BPH. Off-label use of dutasteride is not uncommon in AGA as well. Although the postfinasteride syndrome (PFS) is a well-established entity, its symptomatology is quite variable. Here, we describe a case of an atypical PFS in a patient treated with dutasteride and finasteride for AGA. The multisystem involvement and irreversible nature of this case warrant its reporting.


resent research involves the complete simulation of pultrusion manufacturing process of glass/polyester composites. For that purpose, the curing process is divided to two liquid and gel-solid phases. The physical characteristics of the resin consist of specific heat, viscosity and coefficient of heat transfer changes with variations of temperature and increasing the degree of curing process (α). In each of the two liquid and gel-solid phases, some of these parameters play an important role in the heat transfer and consequently in the simulation results. The released heat during the resin curing process is another important parameter. This parameter depends on the absolute temperature of the resin and accelerates the resin curing process. The most important parameter in simulation of the resin curing process is the degree of cure of the resin, which is used in calculation of the viscosity of the resin in this process and also helps in indicating the end of the curing process. The physical properties of fibers do not change during the curing process, while they affect the heat transfer of the resin and duration of the curing process. Therefore, instead of modeling the fibers and the resin, an equivalent material is introduced which demonstrates the behavior of fibers and the resin during the curing


ABSTRACT Models of support for students with disability and learning difficulties in mainstream classes in Australia rely extensively on teacher assistants (TAs). Current models, however, inadvertently perpetuate low expectations because providing TA support can be one of the most restrictive supports offered in a school [Giangreco, M. F. 2010a. "One-to-One Paraprofessionals for Students with Disabilities in Inclusive Classrooms: Is Conventional Wisdom Wrong?" Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities 48 (1): 1–13; Etscheidt, S. 2005. "Paraprofessional Services for Students with Disabilities: A Legal Analysis of Issues." Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities 30(2): 60–80]. In addition, the increasing instructional role of TAs in the classroom is concerning. Negative outcomes for students where TAs provide support have been noted [Giangreco, M. F., J. C. Suter, and M. B. Doyle. 2010. "Paraprofessionals in Inclusive Schools: A Review of Recent Research." Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation 20: 41–57; Webster, R., P. Blatchford, and A. Russell. 2010. "Should Teaching Assistants Have a Pedagogical Role? Lessons Following the DISS Project." Paper Presented at the BERA annual conference, September 1–4, University of Warwick, UK]. A qualitative case study was conducted in an Australia city over three years across four primary school sites to identify the issues and propose possible solutions. The study identified five different models of TA support and deployment. It was found support models used in mainstream schools were generally inequitable – if students did not have a disability or learning difficulty they received instruction primarily from a qualified teacher, but if students had a disability or learning difficulty, they received instruction from a TA who may have had no qualifications, no involvement in planning, limited supervision and unclear reporting; and no clear duty statement requirements. A more inclusive and more equitable model of TA support is discussed.


Optical asymmetry with regard to transmission has been numerically explored in one-dimensional (1D) plasmonic crystal slabs (PlCSs) with the help of a genetic algorithm (GA). Optically deep asymmetric PlCSs are not obtained in one-layer systems and can be achieved in unit cell structures composed of more than two layers. The optical asymmetry is classified into two types. One is ascribed to anisotropic diffraction efficiency, and the other comes from collective oscillations of particle plasmons in each metallic nanorod and can induce nearly perfect absorption over a broad band. In both asymmetry types, the degree of freedom in depth is crucial to manipulate the linear optical responses of PlCSs. On the basis of the GA search, a simple design for optically asymmetric 1D PlCS is extracted, which provides a standard for broadband plasmonic absorbers in both photon energy and incident angles.


Ordering phenomena in materials often have a crucial impact on materials properties. They are governed by the competition between entropy and energy. Accordingly simulating these aspects requires the construction of models that enable an computationally efficient exploration of the relevant configuration space. Alloy cluster expansions are a technique that is particular suitable for this task as they can be trained to reach high accuracy while being computationally suitable for rapid sampling via Monte Carlo techniques. In this thesis alloy cluster expansions have been applied in combination with Monte Carlo simulations to study the ordering behavior in various inorganic clathrates. Inorganic clathrates constitute a class of systems with a cage-like framework that can trap loosely bound atoms or even small molecules. These systems are small band gap semiconductors and have a very low lattice thermal conductivity, which gives rise to very good thermoelectric properties. Additionally the host atoms and cage framework can be occupied by a wide range of elements which provides extensive opportunities for property optimization. Inorganic clathrates are thus good examples for systems with a high degree of variability in composition, for which ordering phenomena play a crucial role. In paper I we studied the ordering behaviour of Ba8Ga16Ge30. Configurations representative for different annealing temperatures were extracted from Monte Carlo simulations and further analyzed to obtain the temperature dependency of the thermoelectric power factor. These data was subsequently used to construct a cluster expansion for the power factor itself, which enabled us to optimize the chemical ordering that maximizes this property. The approach developed in this work is generalizable and can be adapted to other materials. In paper II we studied the ordering behavior and related properties in the clathrate systems Ba8Al𝑥Si46−𝑥, Ba8Al𝑥Ge46−𝑥, Ba8Ga𝑥Ge46−𝑥, and Ba8Ga𝑥Si46−𝑥 as a function of composition and temperature. We achieved very good agreement with the available experimental data for the site occupancy factors (SOFs). This enabled us to reconcile experimental data from different sources and explain the nonmonotonic variations of the SOFs. In particular, we provided a rationale for the extreme SOF behavior with varying composition observed in Al based clathrates.


Rooted in a pedagogically successful problem-solving approach to linear algebra, the present work fills a gap in the literature that is sharply divided between elementary texts and books that are too advanced to appeal to a wide audience. It clearly develops the theoretical foundations of vector spaces, linear equations, matrix algebra, eigenvectors, and orthogonality, while simultaneously emphasizing applications and connections to fields such as biology, economics, computer graphics, electrical engineering, cryptography, and political science. Ideal as an introduction to linear algebra, the extensive exercises and well-chosen applications also make this text suitable for advanced courses at the junior or senior undergraduate level. Furthermore, it can serve as a colorful supplementary problem book, reference, or self-study manual for professional scientists and mathematicians. Complete with bibliography and index, "Essential Linear Algebra with Applications" is a natural bridge between pure and applied mathematics and the natural and social sciences, appropriate for any student or researcher who needs a strong footing in the theory, problem-solving, and model-building that are the subjects hallmark.


Sex differences in behavior and morphology are usually assumed to be stronger in polygynous species compared to monogamous species. A few brain structures have been identified as sexually dimorphic in polygynous rodent species, but it is less clear whether these differences persist in monogamous species. California mice are among the 5% or less of mammals that are considered to be monogamous and as such provide an ideal model to examine sexual dimorphism in neuroanatomy. In the present study we compared the volume of hypothalamic- and limbic-associated regions in female and male California mice for sexual dimorphism. We also used tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunohistochemistry to compare the number of dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) in female and male California mice. Additionally, tract tracing was used to accurately delineate the boundaries of the VTA. The total volume of the sexually dimorphic nucleus of the preoptic area (SDN-POA), the principal nucleus of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), and the posterodorsal medial amygdala (MEA) was larger in males compared to females. In the SDN-POA we found that the magnitude of sex differences in the California mouse were intermediate between the large differences observed in promiscuous meadow voles and rats and the absence of significant differences in monogamous prairie voles. However, the magnitude of sex differences in MEA and the BNST were comparable to polygynous species. No sex differences were observed in the volume of the whole brain, the VTA, the nucleus accumbens or the number of TH-ir neurons in the VTA. These data show that despite a monogamous social organization, sexual dimorphisms that have been reported in polygynous rodents extend to California mice. Our data suggest that sex differences in brain structures such as the SDN-POA persist across species with different social organizations and may be an evolutionarily conserved characteristic of mammalian brains.


The purpose of the present research is to identify the experience-related mechanisms which induce the establishment of children's flavor, food and drink acceptance and preferences. The development of children's preferences for flavors, foods and drinks is mediated by a variety of mechanisms, such as flavor transmission via amniotic fluid (AF) and neonatal feeding regimen (breastfeeding and formula milk-based feeding), mere repeated exposure, conditioned preferences for or aversions to gustatory stimuli based on subsequent postingestive consequences, parental strategies and food management of school meals. Operation of specific mechanisms is age-dependent, but they may have interacting effects. An essential feature of these mechanisms is exposure to flavors and foods, which requires prior selection of foods by adults and thereby guarantees cultural transmission of gastronomic habits. Promoting healthy patterns of food consumption by children, such as diets rich in vegetables, requires careful manipulation of these experience-related mechanisms. Flavor, food and drink preferences developed by young and older children appear to remain stable in later life stages, probably due to gustatory imprintings originated during prenatal gestation and childhood. However, the specific age ranges during which such gustatory imprinting may occur, remain, in most cases, unknown. In addition to this, there is a need for further research on specific aspects of the above-mentioned mechanisms to elucidate the development of food preferences in children. For example, the impact of breastfeeding history on later food and/or flavor preferences beyond infancy should be ascertained.


The development of normal faults in carbonates in upper-crustal conditions (< 1-3 km) is a very complex process, because of the interaction of mechanical and chemical processes. This paper investigates the effect of the architecture of normal faults on fluid flow at different depths. This study has been performed on a well-exposed normal fault complex, i.e. the Sarikaya fault complex, in the Burdur area, situated ~120 km north of Antalya (SW Turkey). The particular outcrop allowed studying fault zone architecture and fault-related precipitates at different structural levels over a vertical distance of ~250m. The earliest stage of normal fault zone development occurs with the upward propagation of a neoformed fault. Seismic deformation is responsible for the development of a low permeable stylobreccia at depth. During fault movement, permeability is greatly enhanced at the fault plane contact. This permeability enhancement causes a fluid-pressure differential responsible for co-seismic, focused fluid flow parallel with the fault plane. Calcites on the fault plane and in veins in the damage zone precipitated from rock buffered fluids (δ 13 C = -0.1 to +2.5‰ V-PDB, δ 18 O = -4.0 to -0.7‰). During repetitive increments of seismic slip, permeability is renewed at the fault plane contact and fluids are expelled. These increments of seismic slip lead to fault propagation. This fault propagation is accompanied by the formation of a fault precursor breccia ahead of the fault tip by intense localized fragmentation and brecciation of the adjacent shatter zone. This leads to a cohesive breccia where confining pressure is still high and an incohesive breccia near the surface. The cohesive damage zone acts as a combined conduit-barrier system and a more dispersed, co-seismic fluid flow is present near the fault plane contact. The near-surface, incohesive damage zone is characterised by a high permeability, which leads to a highly dispersed fluid flow. Meteoric water can easily infiltrate which leads to static fluid interaction with the normal fault. Later propagation of a fault plane through its fault-precursor breccia belt results in the deformation concentrated along the fault plane and the evolution of the fault-precursor into a fine gouge or attrition breccia. Once a slip plane reaches the free surface by propagating through its own (in)cohesive breccia belt, co-seismic deformation is restricted to a relatively narrow zone of attrition. In the case of the cohesive damage zone, fluid flow is enhanced adjacent to the slip plane. The fault related fluid is in equilibrium.


Insects exhibit incredibly robust closed loop flight dynamics in the face of uncertainties. A fundamental principle contributing to this unparalleled behavior is rapid processing and convergence of visual sensory information to flight motor commands via spatial wide-field integration, accomplished by retinal motion pattern sensitive interneurons (LPTCs) in the lobula plate portion of the visual ganglia. Within a control-theoretic framework, an inner product model for wide-field integration of retinal image flow is developed, representing the spatial decompositions performed by LPTCs in the insect visuomotor system. A rigorous characterization of the information available from this visuomotor convergence technique for motion within environments exhibiting non-homogeneous spatial distributions is performed, establishing the connection between retinal motion sensitivity shape and closed loop behavior. The proposed output feedback methodology is shown to be sufficient to give rise to experimentally observed insect navigational heuristics, including forward speed regulation, obstacle avoidance, hovering, and terrain following behaviors. Hence, extraction of global retinal motion cues through computationally efficient wide-field integration processing provides a novel and promising methodology for utilizing visual sensory information in autonomous robotic navigation and flight control applications.


Increasing use of the two-hour postprandial blood glucose test in screening for diabetes detection has resulted in an increased number of borderline oral glucose tolerance tests, and the dilemma of their proper interpretation. In spite of controlled pretest precautions, the two-hour-lag oral glucose tolerance test with fasting normoglycemia may lack specificity as an index of latent diabetes. The intravenous tolbutamide test as a supplemental test may offer greater specificity in the diagnosis of early diabetes, and a recent oral modification of this test offers added convenience and safety without sacrificing reliability. This is a report based upon the oral test performed on a group of 105 hospital patients selected because each had an elevated second-hour blood sugar level with fasting normoglycemia on a standard oral glucose tolerance test. An abnormal oral sodium tolbutamide test was elicited in fifty-two of this group of 105, and the abnormal tolbutamide test correlated significantly with a positive family history of diabetes, an obstetrical history suggestive of diabetes, or those patients with an elevated third-hour blood sugar level on oral glucose tolerance. In only six of the 105 patients studied were the results of the oral sodium tolbutamide tests classified as borderline between normal and abnormal by the criteria of Boshell and Vecchio. We conclude that the oral sodium tolbutamide test seems to be a valuable additional study in the appraisal of minimally abnormal oral glucose tolerance results at least in the presence of obesity, liver disease, hyperthyroidism, uremia, myocardial infarction, chronic pancreatitis, spontaneous hypoglycemia, and lymphomas and related neo-plasia representing the major disease categories in our study group.


During inflammation, Escherichia coli uses nitrate respiration to gain a growth advantage over other gut bacteria. The harmonious existence among the various microbial inhabitants of the gut is critical for good health. However, inflammation from injury or inflammatory bowel disease can disrupt this balance and lead to the outgrowth of particular bacteria. The outgrowth of members of the Enterobacteriaceae family, which includes Escherichia coli, is often observed. Because E. coli are facultative rather than obligate anaerobes, Winter et al. postulated that they may be able to use by-products of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, which are produced during inflammation, for anaerobic respiration, thereby edging out other fermenting bacteria. Indeed, in two mouse models of colitis and in a model of intestinal injury, various E. coli strains were able to use host-derived nitrate as an energy source and outcompete mutant strains unable to do this. S. E. Winter, M. G. Winter, M. N. Xavier, P. Thiennimitr, V. Poon, A. M. Keestra, R. C. Laughlin, G. Gomez, J. Wu, S. D. Lawhon, I. E. Popova, S. J. Parikh, L. G. Adams, R. M. Tsolis, V. J. Stewart, A. J. Bäumler, Host-derived nitrate boosts growth of E. coli in the inflamed gut. Science 339, 708–711 (2013). [Abstract] [Full Text]


In modern Western culture, gossip is seen as a malicious activity that should be avoided. In ancient oral-cultures, gossip as a cultural form did not have this negative connotation. Gossip was a necessary social game that enabled the flow of information. This information was used in the gossip network of communities to clarify, maintain and enforce group values, facilitate group formation and boundary maintenance and assess the morality of individuals. Gossip was a natural and spontaneous recurring form of social organisation. This understanding of gossip is used to interpret the two invitations and three excuses in the parable of the Feast (Lk 14:16a–23). The conclusion reached is that gossip, when understood as a social game, can be a useful tool to curb anachronistic and ethnocentristic readings of texts produced by cultures different from that of modern interpreters analysing these texts.


Australia's corporations law has always had a strong emphasis on majority rule or 'democracy of the "first past the point" sort, within companies.' The management of the company primarily resides in the board and they should be permitted to operate the company as they see fit (within the confines of their directors' duties). As a consequence, a minority shareholder may have little, if any, 'strategic influence or control over a company's operations.' They may be relatively powerless to influence the development, management and direction of the entity in which they have invested. Shareholders may differ in their views on management issues from those espoused and implemented by the board. Where disagreement occurs, the board and majority shareholders, in seeking to manage the business as they consider proper, may inadvertently or purposefully ostracise, oppress or exclude the views of minority shareholders.


Abstract Understanding the mechanisms by which craniofacial sutures respond to mechanical force is essential for improving orthodontic treatment strategies. However, the innate ability to regenerate bone from calvarial stem cells is still unknown. Therefore, we have initiated a study to isolate cells from the midpalatal suture of mice. The aim of our study is to evaluate mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) characteristics of cells isolated from the mid-palatal suture and their ability for osteogenic differentiation when subjected to cyclic tensile force in vitro. A total of 10, 6-week old male C57BL/6 mice were used to obtain midpalatal suture cells. Cultured cells were evaluated for MSC markers using flow cytometry and their potential for multi-lineage differentiation was evaluated using Alizarin Red S , Oil Red O, and Toluidine Blue staining. Cultured cells were subjected to cyclic tensile force with 15% elongation and a frequency of 0.5 Hz for 2 hours on the Flexcell-FX5000 tension system. Both stretched and control cells were cultured in osteogenic medium and the effect of tensile force on osteogenic differentiation was evaluated using Western Blot analysis and Alizarin Red S staining. Our results showed that mid-palatal suture cells formed colony-forming-units (CFU-F), expressed MSC-markers CD73, CD90, CD105, and Sca-1, and were negative for hematopoietic markers CD34 and CD45. In addition, these cells showed multi-lineage differentiation to osteogenic, chondrogenic, and adipogenic cell lines. Western blot analysis showed an upregulation in expression of osteoblastic markers, including ALP, OCN, and RUNX2 in the stretch group compared to control which was confirmed by a marked increase in extracellular matrix deposit in the stretched group using Alizarin Red S staining. In summary, our findings show that cells isolated from the mid-palatal suture of mice have MSC characteristics in vitro and that cyclic mechanical tensile strain can promote osteogenic differentiation through an upregulation of osteogenic markers and an increase in production of mineralized matrix. ABSTRACT Understanding the mechanisms by which craniofacial sutures respond to mechanical force is essential for improving orthodontic treatment strategies. However, the innate ability to regenerate bone from calvarial stem cells is still unknown. Therefore, we have initiated a study to isolate cells from the mid-palatal suture of mice. The aim of our study is to evaluate mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) characteristics of cells isolated from the mid-palatal suture and their ability for osteogenic differentiation when subjected to cyclic tensile force in vitro. A total of 10, 6-week old male C57BL/6 mice were used to obtain mid-palatal suture cells. Cultured cells were evaluated for MSC markers using flow cytometry and their potential for multi-lineage differentiation was evaluated using Alizarin Red S , Oil Red O, and Toluidine Blue staining. Cultured cells were subjected to cyclic tensile force with 15% elongation and a frequency of 0.5 Hz for 2 hours on the Flexcell-FX5000 tension system. Both stretched and control cells were cultured in osteogenic medium and the effect of tensile force on osteogenic differentiation was evaluated using Western Blot analysis and Alizarin Red S staining. Our results showed that mid-palatal suture cells formed colony-forming-units (CFU-F), expressed MSC-markers CD73, CD90, CD105, and Sca-1, and were negative for hematopoietic markers CD34 and CD45. In addition, these cells showed multi-lineage differentiation to osteogenic, chondrogenic, and adipogenic cell lines. Western blot analysis showed an upregulation in expression of osteoblastic markers, including ALP, OCN, and RUNX2 in the stretch group compared to control which was confirmed by a marked increase in extracellular matrix deposit in the stretched group using Alizarin Red S staining. In summary, our findings show that cells isolated from the mid-palatal suture of mice have MSC characteristics in vitro and that cyclic mechanical tensile strain can promote osteogenic differentiation through an upregulation of osteogenic markers and an increase in production of mineralized matrix.


Following on from Roy Bhaskar's first two books, A Realist Theory of Science and The Possibility of Naturalism, Scientific Realism and Human Emancipation, establishes the conception of social science as explanatory-and thence emancipatory-critique. Scientific Realism and Human Emancipation starts from an assessment of the impasse of contemporary accounts of science as stemming from an incomplete critique of positivism. It then proceeds to a systematic exposition of scientific realism in the form of transcendental realism, highlighting a conception of science as explanatory of a structured, differentiated and changing world. Turning to the social domain, the book argues for a view of the social order as conditioned by, and emergent from, nature. Advocating a critical naturalism, the author shows how the transformational model of social activity together with the conception of social science as explanatory critique which it entails, resolves the divisions and dualisms besetting orthodox social and normative theory: between society and the individual, structure and agency, meaning and behavior, mind and body, reason and cause, fact and value, and theory and practice. The book then goes on to discuss the emancipatory implications of social science and sketches the nature of the depth investigation characteristically entailed. In the highly innovative third part of the book Roy Bhaskar completes his critique of positivism by developing a theory of philosophical discourse and ideology, on the basis of the transcendental realism and critical naturalism already developed, showing how positivism functions as a restrictive ideology of and for science and other social practices.


As universities offer more flexible delivery options there are parallel concerns about increasing levels of engagement. Withdrawal and disconnection from study is most common during the first year of university as students experience social, cultural and financial adjustments and attempt to understand the nuances of academic learning. This article reports on the impact of a technology-enabled support system delivering timely, personalised and actionable feedback on online activity and support emails at critical periods in two courses. Learning analytics data was used to identify appropriate engagement metrics for personalising feedback to students with results indicating an improvement in course grades. While the learning analytics approach provides a technology-mediated means for scaling personalised feedback and communicating with large cohorts of learners, the qualitative results indicated that students felt they were noticed as individual learners, were more willing to contact educators for support, and more motivated to engage with the online course learning materials.


In an effort to boost hiring and job creation and to invest in a variety of domestic infrastructure programs, Congress passed and the president signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), commonly known as the economic stimulus package, in 2009. ARRA represented one of the largest peacetime fiscal stimulus packages in American history. But little is known about the ways in which organizations and workers responded to the incentives created by the bill.To address the lack of knowledge about ARRA funding, we surveyed hundreds of firms, non-profits, and local governments that received ARRA funding. We collected over 1,300 anonymous, voluntary responses from managers and employees that allow us to better understand what happened at the organizations that received contracts funded by ARRA spending. This bottom-up study of ARRA is the first of its kind. We hope that others, especially government agencies, will build upon this on-the-ground analysis.The survey asked a number of questions critical to analyzing the effectiveness of ARRA: Were new workers mostly hired from the unemployment lines or did they get "poached" or "raided" from other organizations? Did workers "game" the unemployment insurance system by waiting until benefits ran out before taking a job? Did Davis-Bacon prevailing wage laws force organizations to pay above market wages to new hires?The quantitative survey results here complement our interview-based results in a companion paper (Jones and Rothschild, 2011) and suggest a number of interesting results, some expected and others surprising:ARRA funds led to worker hiring and retention at stimulus-receiving organizations that responded to our voluntary survey . On average an organization that received stimulus funds equal to 10 percent of its annual revenue reported retaining or hiring workers equal to 5 percent to 6 percent of its workforce. ARRA funds did more than just sit in bank accounts or pad company profits. However, our data don't tell how many of these hires were for were part-time or temporary jobs. Our in-person interviews indicated companies frequently included part-time and temporary jobs in reported job totals.Hiring isn't the same as net job creation. In our survey, just 42.1 percent of the workers hired at ARRA-receiving organizations after January 31, 2009, were unemployed at the time they were hired. More were hired directly from other organizations (47.3 percent of post-ARRA workers), while a handful came from school (6.5%) or from outside the labor force (4.1%). Thus, there was an almost even split between "job creating" and "job switching." This suggests just how hard it is for Keynesian job creation to work in a modern, expertise-based economy: even in a weak economy, organizations hired the employed about as often as the unemployed.Only about half (47 percent) of responding ARRA-receiving organizations said it was easier to hire high-quality workers than before the financial crisis. The rest said hiring good people was either as hard as (41 percent) or harder than (12 percent) before the financial crisis of 2008 (Appendix B).There was no tendency for stimulus funds to go to organizations that found it easy to hire good people. Under Keynesian theory, government spending has its greatest effect when targeted toward sectors of the economy with slack; by this job-focused measure, stimulus funds were poorly targeted.However, there was a weak tendency among non-government organizations for stimulus funds to go to those organizations that said "things had been slow" before ARRA funds arrived. There was no such tendency among government organizations.Workers did not game the unemployment insurance (UI) system when deciding when to take a job. There was no unusual tendency to take jobs right around the time of UI benefit expiration.Among organizations required to pay prevailing wages, 38.2 percent thought that they could have hired workers at wages below the Davis-Bacon prevailing wage while another 17 percent were unsure. This meant higher costs for the federal government and fewer jobs created.


Owing to the increasing prevalence for DC home appliances and distributed energy resources, the concept of a DC home microgrid is attracting considerable attention. This paper is to investigate voltage standards for DC home microgrids. First, a DC home microgrid configuration is proposed. All home loads are divided into five groups for separate connection to a common DC bus. An alternative path is designed to supply the high-power load groups through the public AC grid with less power conversion stages, when local sources are deficient. Second, voltage levels and wire cross-sections for different load groups are discussed, according to line thermal limits, power losses, and voltage drops. The results show that, if 120 volts is chosen for the DC bus, higher voltage standard over 120 volts could not bring loss savings for load groups. It can also be concluded that, 24 V DC could be a standard only for extra-low power appliances in a small house or single room, because of big losses; instead, 48 V DC may be better suitable for lighting and low-power appliances, especially when most of them could be working on 48 V DC in future.


hardware, software does not degrade over time or frequency use. is for software. Also unlike hardware, software can be easily changed. This unique software much of its power, is also responsible for possible failures in software applications. When software is used within medical devices, software failures may result in bodily injury or death. As a result, regulations have been imposed on the makers of medical devices to ensure their safety, which includes the safety of the devices' The U.S. Food and Drug Administration establishment of systems and control processes to ensure quality devices. A principal part of the quality assurance effort is testing. This paper explores the unique role of software testing in the design, development, and release of software used for medical devices and applications. It also provides practical, industry-driven guidance on medical device software testing techniques and strategies.


Our indoor microbiome consists of a wide range of microbial taxa. Whilst many of these microbes are benign, some are beneficial, some harmful, yet our knowledge of the spatial heterogeneity of bacterial assemblages in our residential environment remains limited. To investigate the existence of a common core house dust bacterial microbiome we selected household vacuum dusts, collected through a citizen science approach, from homes across two bioclimatic regions (UK, Oceanic/Maritime and Greece, Mediterranean). Following the extraction of DNA from each dust sample, we targeted the bacterial 16S rRNA gene using Illumina NextSeq sequencing. PERMANOVA analysis of the microbial communities at family level grouped samples within their distinct bioclimatic region and SIMPER analysis at genus level identified the statistically significant taxa responsible for driving diversity between these groups. A "common to all" core house dust microbiome consisted of Acinetobacter, Massalia, Rubellimicrobium, Sphingomonas and Staphylococcus; genera typically associated with human occupancy and common environmental sources. Additionally, a "unique location specific" microbiome was identified, reflective of the bioclimatic region. The Greek dusts indicated a lower average diversity than the UK house dusts, with a high abundance of Rhizobiaceae in the Greek samples. Our study highlights citizen science as a powerful approach to access the indoor residential environment, at scale, and establishes the existence of a "core" house dust microbiome independent of bioclimatic region.


There have been surprisingly few reports on the iron content of whole blood in infants and in children. Although a few articles have appeared dealing with iron in capillary blood, we have been unable to find reports of any work on the iron content of venous blood in children. The following study is based on determinations of the iron content of the venous blood of 135 children. Forty-eight of these were relatively normal and 87 had various pathologic conditions. Van Vyve 1 in 1902 determined the amount of iron in the defibrinated cord blood of 116 new-born infants. In infants born at term the quantity varied around the mean figure of 45 mg. per hundred cubic centimeters. Tagliamuro 2 in 1907 found the iron content of the blood in 6 normal children aged from 7 months to 6 years to be between 33 and 48 mg. per hundred cubic centimeters.