Background Sudden cardiac death (SCD) accounts for up to half of cardiac mortality. The risk of SCD is heritable but the underlying genetic variants are largely unknown. We investigated whether common genetic variants predisposing to arrhythmia or related electrocardiographic phenotypes, including QT-interval prolongation, are associated with increased risk of SCD. Methodology/Principal Findings We studied the association between 28 candidate SNPs and SCD in a meta-analysis of four population cohorts (FINRISK 1992, 1997, 2002 and Health 2000, n = 27,629) and two forensic autopsy series (The Helsinki Sudden Death Study and The Tampere Autopsy Study, n = 694). We also studied the association between established cardiovascular risk factors and SCD. Causes of death were reviewed using registry-based health and autopsy data. Cox regression and logistic regression models were adjusted for age, sex, and geographic region. The total number of SCDs was 716. Two novel SNPs were associated with SCD: SCN5A rs41312391 (relative risk [RR] 1.27 per minor T allele, 95% CI 1.11–1.45, P = 3.4×10−4) and rs2200733 in 4q25 (RR 1.28 per minor T allele, 95% CI 1.11–1.48, P = 7.9×10−4). We also replicated the associations for 9p21 (rs2383207, RR 1.13 per G allele, 95% CI 1.01–1.26, P = 0.036), as well as for male sex, systolic blood pressure, diabetes, cigarette smoking, low physical activity, coronary heart disease, and digoxin use (P<0.05). Conclusions/Significance Two novel genetic variants, one in the cardiac sodium channel gene SCN5A and another at 4q25 previously associated with atrial fibrillation, are associated with SCD.


In a world where the vast majority of criminal cases are resolved through some means other than the popularly depicted criminal trial, it is fundamental to a comprehensive understanding of comparative criminal procedure to study and appreciate the different mechanisms for criminal case resolution in different nations. This Article developed through a series of conversations (and ultimately a panel discussion) between six international criminal justice professionals — practicing attorneys, scholars, and judges — regarding the nature and effects of plea bargaining (and its comparative substitutes) in their respective countries. Providing a comparative look at different mechanisms for criminal case resolution, this Article examines the applicable practices and procedures in the common law nations of Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, and the United States.


Deep ResNet architectures have achieved state of the art performance on many tasks. While they solve the problem of gradient vanishing, they might suffer from gradient exploding as the depth becomes large (Yang et al. 2017). Moreover, recent results have shown that ResNet might lose expressivity as the depth goes to infinity (Yang et al. 2017, Hayou et al. 2019). To resolve these issues, we introduce a new class of ResNet architectures, called Stable ResNet, that have the property of stabilizing the gradient while ensuring expressivity in the infinite depth limit.


This article focuses on the relationship between suicide as an act inspired by the devil and suicide as an act of insanity in the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Spanish Netherlands. It has become widely accepted that from the end of the seventeenth century on suicide became decriminalized, secularized, and medicalized, i.e., the devil disappeared from explanations for suicide and was replaced by madness, and so harsh penalties vanished. This article seeks to contribute to the complication of these notions. If one turns away from the eighteenth century as the age of change and instead focuses on the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, a broad view of coexisting and overlapping discourses about self-killings existed at an early date. By exploring the languages of demonic temptation and that of madness as judicial and discursive strategies, it is argued that both discourses competed with one another in the legal deciphering of suicide and thereby subverted any linear notion of secularization.


Both Plato and the Cambridge Platonists hold the view that moral knowledge depends primarily on cognitive resources which are innate to the mind. There is, nevertheless, a need for our minds to be prompted through experience in order for knowledge to occur. The following study is an attempt to reconstruct and compare the accounts in Plato and the Cambridge Platonists of the empirical conditions that are required for knowledge. For Plato, these conditions are a result of a decline in political and psychological constitutions, through which the intellect is increasingly developed. Dialectical analysis of received customs, laws, opinions, and language may then reveal the moral ideas upon which the polity was initially based and which remain implicit in common sense throughout the historical decline. Philosophical knowledge consists of a recollection of the ancient wisdom which was revealed to the original lawgiver by the gods. In the Cambridge Platonists, philosophical knowledge likewise consists of a recollection of revealed knowledge that stood at the foundation of a form of life, namely, Judaism. The revival of ancient Greek and Jewish philosophical theories in modern times heralds the end of history, in which the complete system of knowledge is both attainable and necessary for salvation. From the perspective of humanity as a whole, knowledge is initially granted through revelation, then generally forgotten, and finally recollected in a highly intellectual age of deteriorating morality and stability. The esoteric traditions of knowledge, coupled with recent developments in science and philosophy, act as the prompts for knowledge, given an intuitive basis that has been formed through the spread of Christianity. This intuitive basis serves as the concrete way in which the natural


Cryptosporidium parvum leaped to the attention of the United States following the 1993 outbreak in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which sickened 400,000 people. Other outbreaks in the United States have been associated with drinking and recreational water, consumption of contaminated foods, contact with animals, and childcare attendance. Despite its public health importance, the number of people who become infected each year is not known. In 1997, active surveillance for C. parvum was added to the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet), a collaborative effort among the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, selected state health departments, the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration. During the first 2 years of surveillance, 1,023 laboratory-confirmed cases of cryptosporidiosis were detected in FoodNet (Connecticut, Minnesota, Oregon, and selected counties in California, Georgia, Maryland, and New York). The annual rate per 100,000 persons was 2.3. Sixteen percent of case-patients were hospitalized. A seasonal increase in case detection was noted in late summer among persons less than 15 years of age. These data represent the first active multistate ascertainment of laboratory-confirmed cryptosporidiosis cases and provide useful information on the burden of disease in the United States.


The exact mechanisms responsible for the development and perpetuation of MOF are just beginning to be unraveled. Nurses must have an understanding of the progression of MOF and the physiologic and psychologic responses of the patient. Although caring for patients with MOF is not an easy task, the critical care nurse is in a pivotal role to make a difference in the outcome of these patients.


This paper looks briefly at the recent inflation experiences of ten Latin American countries: Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, and Bolivia. The authors construct a core inflation index (excluding food and energy), and look at three-month changes in both headline and core inflation. The paper focuses on the increase in inflation from April 2007 to July 2008, driven by a surge in food and energy prices worldwide. These prices have since dropped considerably. The authors conclude that macroeconomic policy that does not take into account the temporary nature of these price shocks may result in an unnecessary slowing of growth, with reduced output and employment.


Laser desorption ionization of compounds that absorb 337 nm (e.g., vitamin B12 and selected porphyrins) are examined by using Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FTICR) mass spectrometry. The experiments are performed by mixing the sample with a host compound that promotes desorption and/or ionization. The relative abundance of photofragment ions can be controlled by simple adjustments of parameters such as the laser power and matrix-to-analyte ratio. In addition, it is shown that gas-phase photoionization/photodissociation of laser-desorbed species by a second laser pulse provides structural information for both negative and positive ions.


Public health accreditation is the measurement of health department performance against a set of standards that are nationally recognized. The Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) is a non-profit, voluntary accreditation organization founded in 2007 with the goal to advance public health practice by providing a national framework of accreditation standards for local, state, territorial, and tribal health departments. Public health accreditation has been a methodical, planned transformation of public health. There are huge benefits to accreditation individually and collectively as a system. One of them is reaching the standard of excellence that we now have established in this national voluntary accreditation process. Accreditation gives us a road map that maybe we have not had before for all public health to follow. There is no better time for public health to align with public health accreditation, and there is no better time to prove the health department's credibility to the public through the accreditation process. The time is now to transfer public health in the way we do our work at the state, local, tribal, and territorial level and to look at the opportunities that public health accreditation brings to the research world, and those opportunities are rich and endless.


This article investigates the association between, participation in, and exposure to voluntary organisations and marital fertility during the European fertility transition from 1880 to 1949. This is achieved using individual-level longitudinal demographic data from northern Sweden linked with individual-level information on voluntary organisation membership and contextual level information on organisation activity. How living near an organisation influenced fertility is measured using mixed effect Cox regressions. The association to participation for both men and women is tested by matching members to a control group through propensity score matching before estimating differences in risks of another birth using Cox regressions. The results show that being exposed to an organisation was related to lower fertility. Joining a union or a temperance organisation showed even stronger negative associations, but only for male members, while female members showed no significant difference in fertility. The results suggest that reproductive decisions were not simple responses by the individual couple to structural changes but were also shaped within the social networks of which they were a part.


Abstract. The Swiss Joint Information Platform for Natural Hazards (GIN) has been realized from 2008 to 2010 as part of the Swiss federal government's OWARNA project, which aimed at optimizing warning and alerting procedures against natural hazard. The first online-version of the platform went productive in 2011 with the primary goal of providing measured and forecast natural hazard data in form of processed cartographic, graphic and other multimedia products to professional users – before, during and after natural hazard events. In Switzerland water-, weather-, snow- and earthquake-related hazards are the most relevant ones.In 2013, an online survey showed that the platform does not fully meet user expectations, particularly as to user experience and usability of its cartographic, web-based user interface. Revaluation and redesign of the overall platform were necessary in order to improve map legibility, caused by the complexity of data, large data amounts, and high spatial density of online, real-time measurement data locations. A new web design and user interaction concept have been developed in 2014 and eventually put online in June 2017. User acceptance testing by means of surveys and direct user feedback sessions were key factors in this perennial redesign process. The GIN platform now features important novel technical and graphical elements: The starting page is based on a dashboard containing virtual dossiers (Fig. 1), with which users configure their desired information, data, and map bundles individually, or use predefined adaptable views on various existing data sets. In addition, there is a new overall spatial search function to query data parameters. A responsive approach further improves the usability of the platform. The focus of these new features is on multi-views involving maps, diagrams, tables, text products, as well as selected geographical areas on maps, and fast data queries (Fig. 2). Current user feedback suggests that the new GIN platform design is well received, and that it is moving closer to its very goal: online monitoring and management of natural hazard events by enhanced usability, more targeted and higher personalization.Several Swiss Cantons (i.e., the political entities in Switzerland below the federation) actively participated, and still participate, in the conceptual GIN platform development process through advisory board meetings and consultations. On the operational level, Cantons actively provide and contribute further natural hazard information and measurement data from their own natural hazard monitoring networks. These additional Cantonal regional-scale data sets help to fill spatial data gaps, where no Federal data is available. GIN thusly integrates natural hazard data from Federal and Cantonal levels (and partly even private level), which adds value to all stakeholders on various political levels involved in natural hazard management (Federal, Cantonal, Regional, Communal crisis committees). Stakeholders not only use GIN's ample database and cartographic product portfolio to accomplish their early warning and crisis management tasks, but also benefit from seamless, secure and reliable IT-services, provided by the Swiss Federal Government. With the new GIN platform, Switzerland has a powerful, integrative, and comprehensive tool for monitoring and responding to natural hazard events.


According to the welfare magnet hypothesis, migrants with a high likelihood of claiming benefits cluster in the most generous welfare systems. After the introduction of the freedom of movement for Eastern European workers, EU-15 countries can thus be expected to reduce public benefits in order to avoid becoming welfare magnets. However, OECD data on benefits do not support the prediction of a race to the bottom in protection levels. Using data from the EU-LFS 2004 to 2011, I analyze the determinants of migration flows and find that, in contrast to theory, welfare state variables do not significantly affect migration flows when controlling for temporary political restrictions of the freedom of movement (2+3+2 rule). This explains why the pressure to modify national welfare spending is small. Furthermore, evidence is found that the restrictions completely offset the incentive effects of work-related pull factors and thereby hamper an efficient allocation of labor across national borders.


Rule 3 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure appears to be a model of simplicity and clarity. It describes the process for commencement of a civil action, and in defining "commencement" appears to provide guidance on how to begin an action which complies with a statute of limitations. As a result of the decision in Walker v. Armco Steel Corp., that appearance is misleading regarding state statutes of limitations applicable in federal court actions brought on the basis of diversity of citizenship jurisdiction. There, the Court made reference only to state statutes of limitations, and expressly avoided deciding the role of Rule 3 with respect to federal statutes of limitations. It is difficult, however, to perceive any basis in the language of Rule 3 or in the reasoning of the Court for concluding that the role of the Rule would change according to the nature of the authority enacting the statute of limitations. Because Rule 3 provides litigants with inaccurate information pertaining to a crucial step in the process of adjudication, it should be amended. When the deceptive appearance of simplicity fostered by Rule 3 is peeled away, one discovers a clutter of troublesome constitutional, statutory, and federalism problems that cannot be easily swept aside. Nothing beyond inertia justifies continuing the trap inherent in the present existence of Rule 3. This Rule should be changed so that it, like the other Rules, may be construed to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action on the merits.


In this paper, a generalized double-shell framework for the optimal design of systems managed optimally according to different criteria is developed. Optimal design is traditionally carried out by means of minimum capital and management cost formulations and does not typically consider optimized operation. In this paper, the optimized multiobjective management is explicitly considered into the design formulation. The quality of each design solution is indeed defined by the evaluation of operational costs and capital costs. Besides, the assessment of the operational costs term is deduced by means of the solution of a multiobjective optimization problem. Each design solution is evaluated using the outcomes of a multiobjective optimization run: a Pareto hyper-surface in the n-dimensional space of the operational objectives. In the literature, commonly the evaluation of each design solution is carried out based on an approximate evaluation of the operational costs, not considering the real multiobjective optimized management. In this paper, such assessment is carried out using a suitable convergence indicator typically used for multiobjective optimization algorithms. The application is devoted to the problem of optimal sizing of distributed energy resources in medium voltage or low voltage microgrids. For this problem, the identification of the multiple operational impacts comes along with the solution of the optimal unit commitment of distributed generators. After the introductory section, the problem formulation is presented and an interesting application of the considered approach to the design of distributed energy sources in a microgrid is shown.


With the ever-increasing use of web APIs in modern- day applications, it is becoming more important to test the system as a whole. In the last decade, tools and approaches have been proposed to automate the creation of system-level test cases for these APIs using evolutionary algorithms (EAs). One of the limiting factors of EAs is that the genetic operators (crossover and mutation) are fully randomized, potentially breaking promising patterns in the sequences of API requests discovered during the search. Breaking these patterns has a negative impact on the effectiveness of the test case generation process. To address this limitation, this paper proposes a new approach that uses Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering (AHC) to infer a linkage tree model, which captures, replicates, and preserves these patterns in new test cases. We evaluate our approach, called LT-MOSA, by performing an empirical study on 7 real-world benchmark applications w.r.t. branch coverage and real-fault detection capability. We also compare LT-MOSA with the two existing state-of-the-art white-box techniques (MIO, MOSA) for REST API testing. Our results show that LT-MOSA achieves a statistically significant increase in test target coverage (i.e., lines and branches) compared to MIO and MOSA in 4 and 5 out of 7 applications, respectively. Furthermore, LT-MOSA discovers 27 and 18 unique real-faults that are left undetected by MIO and MOSA, respectively.


We investigate the effects of the 2013 debt-ceiling crisis on the Treasury bill market and possible spillovers to the commercial paper market and money market funds. We also compare this experience with the prior debt-ceiling crisis in 2011. We find that the 2013 debt-ceiling crisis reduced the demand for Treasury bills that were scheduled to mature right after the debt-ceiling deadline, but not for longer-term Treasury bills. Accordingly, we see that a hump formed at the shorter end of the term structure of Treasury bill yields around the debt-ceiling deadline, with the term structure returning to more normal levels immediately after resolution of the crisis, although with the suggestion of a new yield hump forming around the next perceived debt-ceiling crisis in early 2014. Spillovers from the disruption to the Treasury bill market appeared in the commercial paper market, affecting both commercial paper yields and the maturity composition of issuance. Spillover effects on Treasury and prime money market funds took the form of large, but temporary, outflows by investors, changes in the maturity structure of fund holdings, and changes in the portfolio composition of prime money market fund holdings, which likely were put in place in anticipation of such outflows.


The present paper deals with the feasibility of the neodymium recovery from spent Nd–Fe–B magnets using molten salt electrodeposition method. The salt bath consisted of a mixture of LiCl–KCl–NaCl corresponding to the eutectic composition. The experimental set-up with its salient features is presented. AlCl3 was used as flux and graphite rods dipped in the salt bath served as electrodes. The voltage for the electrolysis was chosen on the basis of the decomposition potential of NdCl3. The reaction sequence can be described as Iron-free neodymium deposition could be carried out successfully. In view of the proximity of the electrode potentials, the co-deposition of the aluminium and neodymium was observed to occur at the cathode, as revealed by SEM/EDS and XRD analyses of the electrodeposit.


This project characterized the performance of Connected Vehicle Systems (CVS) on motorcycles based on two key components: global positioning and wireless communication systems. Considering that Global Positioning System (GPS) and 5.9 GHz Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC) may be affected by motorcycle rider occlusion, antenna mounting configurations were investigated. In order to assess the performance of these systems, the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute's (VTTI) Data Acquisition System (DAS) was utilized to record key GPS and DSRC variables from the vehicle's CVS Vehicle Awareness Device (VAD). In this project, a total of four vehicles were used where one motorcycle had a forward mounted antenna, another motorcycle had a rear mounted antenna, and two automobiles had center-mounted antennas. These instrumented vehicles were then subject to several static and dynamic test scenarios on closed test track and public roadways to characterize performance against each other. Further, these test scenarios took into account motorcycle rider occlusion, relative ranges, and diverse topographical roadway environments. From the results, both rider occlusion and approach ranges were shown to have an impact on communications performance. In situations where the antenna on the motorcycle had direct line of sight with another vehicle's antenna, a noticeable increase in performance can be seen in comparison to situations where the line of sight is occluded. Further, the forward-mounted antenna configuration provided a wider span of communication ranges in open-sky. In comparison, the rear-mounted antenna configuration experienced a narrower communication range. In terms of position performance, environments where objects occluded the sky, such as deep urban and mountain regions, relatively degraded performance when compared to open sky environments were observed.


Abstract This research aims to develop and test a practical and precise multi-criteria classification of aircraft spare part inventory management, using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), in order to maintain aircraft operational availability and to reduce unnecessary downtime. In this study, a multi-criteria model is developed within a large-scale aircraft maintenance and repair firm in Indonesia. Spare parts data were extracted from the inventory system and analysed to triangulate the model outcome, demonstrate its validity and compare the results against the mathematical results generated by the system's algorithm. The findings suggest that AHP can lead to a transparent, rapid and systematic classification model, this is highly accurate and precise with an outcome comparable to traditional methods. The conclusion proposes that the AHP classification model is more effective and transparent than the currently available mathematical methods. This research contributes to the development of the multi-criteria inventory classification literature in the context of the aviation industry.


While the merits of vouchers have been the subject of intense public debate in recent years, there has been very little available evidence upon which to gauge their efficacy. The first publicly funded voucher plan involving private schools wasn't established until 1990 in Milwaukee; before then, the only data on school choice came from a small, poorly designed program in California. Voucher programs grew dramatically in the latter half of the 1990s. In 2000, about 60,000 students participated in seventy-one programs, most privately funded. This growth is now providing researchers with the ability to measure the impact of vouchers for the first time in multiple cities. The Education Gap is the first book to gather a significant body of data on vouchers in multiple locations, and it reveals startling new evidence that voucher programs benefit African-American students more than participants from other ethnic groups. To explain this phenomenon, the authors point out that residential selection is the most common form of school choice available in American public education today. Since this process is likely to leave African Americans in the worst public schools, new forms of choice directed toward low-income families are most likely to benefit black students. The authors examine the effects of school vouchers on test scores, parental satisfaction, parent-school communications, and political tolerance among students and parents participating in four pilot programs in New York City; Dayton, Ohio; Washington, D.C.; the Edgewood school district in San Antonio; and a program that offered vouchers to 40,000 low-income families nationwide. Though the programs operated in a wide variety of settings, the findings were surprisingly consistent. After two years, African-American students who used vouchers to switch from public to private schools scored substantially better on math and reading tests. By contrast, no significant positive effects on the test scores of other ethnic groups were detected. While parents in all ethnic groups were generally more supportive of private education, African-American parents expressed particularly high enthusiasm for the private schools their children attended. The authors also report information on the kinds of students and families who take advantage of a voucher opportunity, allowing them to seewhether only the i??degreebest and brightesti??i?? public school students were able to take advantage of school voucher programs. The results documented in The Education Gap shed new light on the effects of school vouchers on students in poor, urban environments. This information will be important to policymakers, scholars, and citizens are they continue to search for ways to improve education in urban areas.


This study aims to examine why and how individuals' self-reported engagement in creative work is separately and jointly influenced by dispositional, situational, and national-cultural factors worldwide. Using data abstracted from the World Value Survey, we proposed a multi-level model testing how the relationship between individuals' creative value orientation and their self-reported creative work engagement is contingent on perceived job autonomy and how such interaction is further moderated by the dimension of national socialization for Self-Directedness in developing its human capital. Data provided by a total of 35,120 employees from 50 nations were included in our hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analyses. As hypothesized, the relationship between an employee's creative value orientation and creative job engagement is moderated by job autonomy, such that the relationship is stronger when the job held is more autonomous rather than less. However, the relationship of this Person × Situation interaction to creative work engagement was not as extensive as expected—It is stronger in nations emphasizing Self-Directedness in socializing its children. Our findings thus offer conceptual guidelines and practical insights to national and firm leaders aspiring to effect actions for creativity using both personal and situational factors in a given national-cultural context.


The phase diagram of iridium is investigated using the Z methodology in conjunction with the VASP ab initio molecular dynamics package. The Z methodology is a novel technique for phase diagram studies which combines the direct Z method for the computation of melting curves and the inverse Z method for the calculation of solid-solid phase boundaries. We compare our results to the available experimental data on iridium. We offer explanation for the 14-layer hexagonal structure observed in experiments by Cerenius and Dubrovinsky.


We examine the effect of job displacement on regional mobility using linked employer-employee panel data for the 1995-2014 period. We also study whether displaced movers obtain earnings and employment gains compared to displaced stayers. The results show that job displacement increases the migration probability by ~70%. However, social capital in a region and housing characteristics decrease the propensity to move, indicating that people do not make the migration decisions solely based on short-term economic incentives. Migration has an immediate negative relationship with earnings, but the link diminishes as time passes and eventually turns positive for men. The link between migration and employment is nevertheless positive and persistent for both genders.


The large edible ascidian Pyura chilensis Molina, 1782 is a sessile suspension feeder that occurs in intertidal and subtidal habitats along the Chilean and Peruvian coasts. In these habi- tats the species, although solitary, is commonly found in highly aggregated assemblages and is sel- dom isolated. The results of a study to determine whether the observed field aggregations could be explained by larval behaviour, microhabitat with quiescent hydrodynamics, or both, are reported. Our laboratory experiments showed that P. chilensis larvae have a short pre-settlement period when maintained in the presence of artificial substratum conditioned with adult conspecific extract. More- over, P. chilensis larvae tended to settle in shaded areas. In the control treatment without con- specifics, or in illuminated areas, low numbers of P. chilensis settlers were found. In a 5-armed radial maze, under still water and low seawater flow regimens, larvae of P. chilensis tended to swim toward and settle in chambers that contained water in which conspecific adults had been placed. In the field, we tested the hypothesis that larval settlement in P. chilensis differs depending on microhabitat traits such as water flow, mechanical disturbance and light intensity. We conducted quadrat sampling on low rocky platforms in contrasting microhabitats, such as around holdfasts of the kelp Lessonia nigrescens, kelp whiplash zones and between holdfasts. The majority of P. chilensis settlers were found on top of conspecific adults inhabiting shaded microhabitats and around kelp holdfasts. These results suggest that protected habitats and chemical cue-mediated larval response to waterborne conspecifics during the settlement period contribute to the formation of intertidal and shallow subti- dal aggregations of P. chilensis. Given that the edible ascidian P. chilensis supports an important small-scale fishery and hosts an important associated community of macro- and micro-invertebrates, we suggest that our results should be considered when determining fisheries regulatory and management practices for this species.


TOR (target of rapamycin) and its mammalian ortholog mTOR have been discovered in an effort to understand the mechanisms of action of the immunosuppressant drug rapamycin extracted from a bacterium of the Easter Island (Rapa Nui) soil. mTOR is a serine/threonine kinase found in two functionally distinct complexes, mTORC1 and mTORC2, which are differentially regulated by a great number of nutrients such as glucose and amino acids, energy (oxygen and ATP/AMP content), growth factors, hormones, and neurotransmitters. mTOR controls many basic cellular functions such as protein synthesis, energy metabolism, cell size, lipid metabolism, autophagy, mitochondria, and lysosome biogenesis. In addition, mTOR-controlled signaling pathways regulate many integrated physiological functions of the nervous system including neuronal development, synaptic plasticity, memory storage, and cognition. Thus it is not surprising that deregulation of mTOR signaling is associated with many neurological and psychiatric disorders. Preclinical and preliminary clinical studies indicate that inhibition of mTORC1 can be beneficial for some pathological conditions such as epilepsy, cognitive impairment, and brain tumors, whereas stimulation of mTORC1 (direct or indirect) can be beneficial for other pathologies such as depression or axonal growth and regeneration.


The information provided is the sole responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the members of IRIDIA. The authors take full responsibility for any copyright breaches that may result from publication of this paper in the IRIDIA – Technical Report Series. IRIDIA is not responsible for any use that might be made of data appearing in this publication.


Sally-Ann Ashton, Cleopatra and Egypt. Oxford: Blackwell, 2008. As the author acknowledges in the introduction to this book, her strengths and weaknesses stem from her professional training in art history and archaeology. Accordingly, her strengths are in the recreation of the arts and artifacts of Egypt during the lifetime of Cleopatra. The weaknesses arise from the lack of an extensive examination of the social, economic and political background of Egypt during the period. Nonetheless, within the self-described limitations of this study, the work sheds light on its subject, but it is on Cleopatra rather than Egypt. This is reflected in the larger font of "Cleopatra" as opposed to "Egypt" in the title. The "Cleopatra" section is quite enlightening in terms of the life of Cleopatra for the layman who is not an Egyptologist. Along with Marie Antoinette, Mary Stuart, Elizabeth I, and Catherine the Great, Cleopatra has been a subject of endless fascination for over two millennia. She has been immortalized in plays by Shaw and Shakespeare among others and in countless dramatic productions on stage, television, and film - most famously by Claudette Colbert in 1934, Vivien Leigh in 1946 and Elizabeth Taylor in 1963. The outline of her life is well-known. As a young queen, she struggled for control of the crown against her younger brother. Upon the arrival of Julius Caesar, she gained power through a professional and personal alliance with him which produced a son. After the assassination of Caesar, she seduced Mark Antony and became his paramour and perhaps his wife. Upon the defeat of their joint forces by Octavian/Augustus at Actium, she committed suicide rather than being displayed as a war trophy in Rome. As is usually the case, the disparity between myth and reality is quite extensive, with the latter being much more complex. Her dynasty, the Ptolemies, was Macedonian in origin, and had seized power after the death of Alexander the Great. This dynasty had ruled for close to three centuries. It was similar to earlier dynasties in Egypt which had promoted brother-sister marriage, as did the Incas in the Americas, and uncle/niece marriage, as was the case in some European dynasties. Cleopatra herself was the product of a brother-sister marriage. It was not a particularly loving marriage (from the modern point of view) as both husband and wife conspired against each other. After the death of her mother, her father Ptolemy XII put her eldest sister to death for conspiring against him. One year before his death, he named Cleopatra (the fifth child) as his coruler at 17. …


This paper undertakes an empirical inquiry concerning the determinants of long-term interest rates on US Treasury securities. It applies the bounds testing procedure to cointegration and error correction models within the autoregressive distributive lag (ARDL) framework, using monthly data and estimating a wide range of Keynesian models of long-term interest rates. While previous studies have mainly relied on quarterly data, the use of monthly data substantially expands the number of observations. This in turn enables the calibration of a wide range of models to test various hypotheses. The short-term interest rate is the key determinant of the longterm interest rate, while the rate of core inflation and the pace of economic activity also influence the long-term interest rate. A rise in the ratio of the federal fiscal balance (government net lending/borrowing as a share of nominal GDP) lowers yields on long-term US Treasury securities. The short- and long-run effects of short-term interest rates, the rate of inflation, the pace of economic activity, and the fiscal balance ratio on long-term interest rates on US Treasury securities are estimated. The findings reinforce Keynes's prescient insights on the determinants of government bond yields.


Non-governmental human rights organisations play an increasingly important role in the modern world. One of the most famous of them is the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) established in the United States in 1983. This article considers the activity of the NED in the post-Soviet countries during the first decade after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The author aims to identify the main directions, methods, and patterns of the work of the Endowment. The research is based on annual financial reports of the NED, which provide information on the money received by the fund from US government agencies, and other contributors, and the directions in which the funds are spent. These reports also comment on the development of the democratic process in the states where the NED carries out its projects. The comparison of the amounts allocated to certain countries demonstrates how the priorities of the NED changed, and what problems were given more attention. In the 1990s, the NED paid special attention to the countries of the former Soviet Union, regarding them as promising, but also posing risks to the development of the democratic process in the world. The financing of various democratic and human rights groups in these countries gradually increased: in 2000, the amount allocated to them was almost twice as high as in 1991, with Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus being the most important post-Soviet countries for the NED. It financed several dozens of organisations in them, and the range of its activities in these countries was the most extensive. It is noteworthy that in Russia, the NED actively supported various historical projects aimed at revising Soviet history. After the euphoria of the early 1990s, the NED analytics admitted that the development of the democratic process in many countries of the former USSR faced economic and political difficulties. They stated that in some countries (Belarus, and from 2000, Russia), authoritarian tendencies began to increase, with cases of human rights violations becoming more frequent. As a result, the activity of the NED in the post-Soviet space did not bear fruit everywhere, but increased the hostility of the official authorities towards foreign non-governmental organisations.


Modeling of vadose zone hydrology is required to address a variety of applied problems in general and risk assessments associated with contaminants in particular. Risk assessments increasingly must focus on multisite, multipathway analyses as opposed to single‐site, single pathway analyses. Such assessments can be particularly challenging when contaminants are widely dispersed in complex topography. Here we highlight how a set of contaminated sites situated within complex topography can be effectively prioritized relative to vulnerability of contaminant transport from surface and subsurface flows. We used a distributed hydrologic model, SPLASH, to assess the lateral flows of surface and subsurface water following the simulation of a 100‐year precipitation event, which could correspond to an intense thunderstorm. Our case study was conducted in the North Ancho watershed of Los Alamos National Laboratory, in northern New Mexico, USA, an area with widely dispersed contaminants and diverse topography. Simulated surface flows generally exceeded subsurface flows by more than four orders of magnitude, indicating the relative importance of potential redistribution of contaminants by surface flows for this type of precipitation event. For the 18 potential contaminant release sites investigated, the maximum surface flow varied by more than an order of magnitude across the sites. Half of the sites had surface flows <25% of the maximum surface flow for a site, allowing for prioritization of those sites with the greatest vulnerability. Our results highlight how risks of contaminant transport can be effectively assessed in complex topography using distributed hydrologic modeling.


45Ca distribution and transport were studied in chemically skinned strips of caudal artery from Kyoto Wistar rats. Sarcolemmal membranes were made hyperpermeable by exposure for 60 min to solutions containing 0.1 mg/ml of saponin. Skinned helical strips responded with graded contractions to changes in ethylene glycol bis-(beta-aminoethyl ether)-N,N'-tetraacetic acid buffered free Ca solutions (10(-7) to 10(-5) M) and were sensitive to the Mg-ATP concentration. Tissues loaded in the presence of 10(-7) M Ca contracted in response to 10 mM caffeine. These experiments indicate the strips are skinned and possess a functional regulatory and contractile system and an intact Ca sequestering system. 45Ca distributes in three compartments in skinned caudal artery strips. The Ca contents of two components are linear functions of the Ca-ethylene glycol bis-(beta-aminoethyl ether)-N,N'-tetraacetic acid concentration and desaturate at rapid rates. They correspond to the extracellular and cytoplasmic spaces. A significantly smaller component releases Ca at comparatively slower rates. 45Ca uptake by the slow component consists of an ATP-dependent and an ATP-independent fraction. The 45Ca content of the ATP-dependent fraction is a function of the free Ca concentration and is independent of the Ca-ethylene glycol bis-(beta-aminoethyl ether)-N,N'-tetraacetic acid concentration. Its content was enhanced by oxalate and was abolished by Triton X-100 skinning solutions. The ATP-independent component was not affected by Triton X-100 skinning and may represent Ca binding to cytoplasmic molecules and structures. The sequestered Ca was released with caffeine or Ca but not by epinephrine. The observations indicate that the sarcoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria of vascular smooth muscle strips skinned with saponin retain their functional integrity after saponin skinning.


Implementation of legal reform in Ukraine, the content of which can be defined as a gradual movement towards a democratic and rule of law state, makes the problem of counteraction to crime especially relevant. Nowadays it is the object of broad regulatory measures, in particular, international and legal regulation of cooperation between states in combatting crime.

The multifaceted nature of modern international relations in one way or another causes expansion of the spheres of cooperation between states in counteracting crime, which requires universal and regional international cooperation. It is quite clear that universal international cooperation cannot cover all aspects of the cooperation of states. Regional international cooperation helps to get more effective cooperation between states located in the same geographic region.

Cooperation of the states at the regional level in combatting crime is mainly carried out in the framework established by regional international organizations of both general and special competence. The regional level of international cooperation allows the states to react promptly to any manifestations in the criminal sphere that pose a threat of the international nature. In this case, the mechanism of such a cooperation and elements of control, as a rule, have a great degree of specificity and details.

Regional international organizations in Europe have a great deal of experience in intergovernmental cooperation in the field of combatting crime, which is explained by the historically established process of economic and political integration. The problem of counteracting crime is given considerable attention within the Council of Europe, which is the most representative European intergovernmental organization established on May 5, 1949, aimed at achieving greater unity between its members in order to preserve and realize the ideals and principles that are their common good, as well as to promote their economic and social progress. The Council of Europe is a purely European organization, with 47 Member States.


Visual tracking of an object can provide a powerful source of feedback information during complex robotic manipulation operations, especially those in which there may be uncertainty about which new object pose may result from a planned manipulative action. At the same time, robotic manipulation can provide a challenging environment for visual tracking, with occlusions of the object by other objects or by the robot itself, and sudden changes in object pose that may be accompanied by motion blur. Recursive filtering techniques use motion models for predictor-corrector tracking, but the simple models typically used often fail to adequately predict the complex motions of manipulated objects. We show how statistical machine learning techniques can be used to train sophisticated motion predictors, which incorporate additional information by being conditioned on the planned manipulative action being executed. We then show how these learned predictors can be used to propagate the particles of a particle filter from one predictor-corrector step to the next, enabling a visual tracking algorithm to maintain plausible hypotheses about the location of an object, even during severe occlusion and other difficult conditions. We demonstrate the approach in the context of robotic push manipulation, where a 5-axis robot arm equipped with a rigid finger applies a series of pushes to an object, while it is tracked by a vision algorithm using a single camera.


Oftentimes minorities are perceived through an external racial lens by peers and personnel in educational institutions. Furthermore, the literature often homogenizes minorities into broad racial groups such as Black, Asian, and Hispanic. This study has been designed to explore if there is a discrepancy between internal, subjective perceptions and external, institutional perceptions regarding the identity of micro-minorities (i.e., minorities who are part of very small groups or of no group at all).This qualitative critical study was conducted on the campus of a four-year university in North Carolina. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with six international students from a variety of cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Some of the participants reported not being able to identify with groups they were homogenized within by the institution based on race. Instead, they considered themselves part of very small and specific groups or of no group at all. Additional findings revealed that the way these participants perceived their identity diverged significantly from institutional perceptions: Most participants considered culture and not race as central to their identity. Furthermore, the data suggested that being part of a small minority group or no group at all results in a very different experience than being part of a larger group. I chose critical race theory as the theoretical framework for this exploratory study, which also contained a self-reflective component designed to supplement, compare, and contrast the experiences of the participants with my own.


Pancreatic islet transplantation (PIT) represents a potential therapy to circumvent the need for exogenous insulin in type 1 diabetes. However, PIT remains limited by lack of donor islets and the need for long-term multidrug immunosuppression to prevent alloimmune islet rejection. Our goal was to evaluate a local immunoregulatory strategy that sustains islet allograft survival and restores glucose homeostasis in the absence of systemic immunosuppression. Nanogram quantities of murine CTLA4/Fc fusion protein were controllably delivered within human acellular dermal matrix scaffolds using an inkjet-based biopatterning technology and cotransplanted with allogeneic islets under the renal capsule to create an immunoregulatory microenvironment around the islet allograft. We achieved long-term engraftment of small loads of allogeneic islet cells with 40% of MHC-mismatched mouse recipients maintaining sustained normoglycemia following pancreatic β-cell ablation by streptozotocin. Biopatterned CTLA4/Fc local therapy was associated with expansion of Foxp3+ regulatory T cells and shifts in cytokine production and gene expression from proinflammatory to regulatory profiles, thus substantially benefiting islet allografts survival and function. This study is a new paradigm for targeted therapies in PIT that demonstrates the favorable effects of immune alterations in the transplant milieu and suggests a unique strategy for minimizing systemic immunosuppression and promoting islet allograft survival.


Video-based communication is increasingly common online. This article looks at the hand signs that are used in lip-syncing videos on the app musical.ly and argues that they constitute a codified, non-verbal language of pictograms that is equivalent to emoji in text-based communication. Seeing the lip-syncing videos as performances allows us to situate the hand signs as the latest development in a long history of formalized gestures for theatrical performance. By recognizing this emergent gestural language as a performative element of online communication, we can reinterpret emoji and other forms of visual supplement to writing as part of a larger emerging system of communication where visual signs are becoming integrated into verbal language, not only in written language but also in video-based communication.


Considerable data suggest that two hemodialysis treatments per week are not much inferior to three treatments per week, and a change made in the face of the pandemic would likely be relatively short term. Thrice-weekly treatment was adopted as standard by the University of Washington program in the 1960s because patients developed neuropathy while receiving long nocturnal treatment dialysis twice weekly.1 It remains standard in the United States, and the 2015 Update of the Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative Clinical Practice Guideline left in place the 2006 recommendation that twice-weekly treatment be restricted to patients having a residual urea clearance of.2 ml/min.2 There has been, however, no controlled comparison of twice-weekly and thriceweekly treatment, and many patients now survive on twice-weekly treatment where resources are limited.3 United States Renal Data System (USRDS) data from the 1990s did not show higher mortality with twice-weekly treatment even among patients on prevalent hemodialysis who had been maintained on dialysis for an average of.3 years.4 More recent data from a large United States provider did show higher mortality among incident patients with residual urea clearance ,3 ml/min.5 Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study (DOPPS) data from China, however, revealed neither higher mortality nor lesser quality of life with twice-weekly treatment, even in patients who had a urine output of ,200 ml/d and had been on dialysis for an average of .3 years.6 Of note, in the USRDS and DOPPS studies, the per treatment Kt/Vurea was not much higher in patients dialyzed twice weekly than thrice weekly, and therefore, the total weekly dose was markedly lower in those dialyzed twice weekly. Results of all of these observational results are subject to confounding, with twice-weekly treatment in some cases likely prescribed for patients with significant residual function and good dietary compliance and in other cases prescribed for patients with poor health and limited intake. Collectively, however, these data suggest that twice-weekly treatment is less dangerous than commonly supposed. A shift of patients to less frequent hemodialysis schedules will not relieve all of the pressures that dialysis units face during this pandemic, but it should be considered as one option and would likely provide adequate control of uremia, at least over a matter of weeks.


The religious identity of both worshippers and congregations is not static, due to a changing context. Do congregational members believe, belong and engage in the same way as they did previously, or is it possible to track certain changes? Two Congregational Life Surveys were conducted in 2006 and 2010 among the membership of Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) congregations. The two surveys suggest that attenders prefer a private expression of their religion in which the Bible plays an important role. They have a strong bond with the congregation, but the preferred role of the congregation is to provide in the spiritual needs of the attenders. The engagement with the community is not so important for the attenders; in fact, the majority of them are not involved in the community. They value what the congregation does in the community, but personal involvement does not receive much attention. The biggest challenge for the reformation of a religious identity for both the membership and congregations of the DRC is to be more contextual and engaged in their social environment and culture. The two surveys suggest a movement in the opposite direction.


Febrile patients in malaria-endemic areas need rapid and accurate diagnosis to ensure prompt access to antimalarial treatment to avoid severe disease. As most fevers in malaria-endemic areas of South Africa are not caused by malaria, and symptom-based diagnosis is highly nonspecific, rapid demonstration of the presence or absence of malaria parasites reduces delays in appropriate management of non-malarial fever, saves resources by reducing use of antimalarial drugs, and helps to determine true malaria prevalence. The introduction of malaria antigen-detecting rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) has extended the possibility of such accurate, rapid diagnosis to the whole population for the first time. CME Vol. 26 (6) 2008: pp. 297-298


This work deals with the performance analysis of a particular type of AMI: the RF-mesh based smart meter network. The system implements a MAC access with a time-slotted ALOHA with the Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) to reduce co-channel interference by other users. We developed the PeRF-mesh analytic tool to study the performance of such systems, taking into account the combined effects of ALOHA access and of FHSS on the performance. The tool allows the evaluation of currently deployed systems and can also help in the design phase of new ones.


This paper proposes a technique for determining how various photophysical mechanisms influence the broadening and displacement of spectral bands, based on the study of the phosphorescence kinetics over their contour. Using the technique thus developed, the causes are determined for the short-wavelength temperature displacement of the phosphorescence spectra of acenaphthene in frozen n-paraffin solutions at high concentrations. © 2004 Optical Society of America


In this thesis I researched as a student, teacher, educational mentor, researcher and evaluator investigating the effects and functions of feelings in learning. Feelings were defined as physical and mental sensations. Four data strands contributed to a new learning theory developed over eight years. Using collaborative methods I asked the guiding question; "What is the relationship between feelings, thinking and learning?" including an appropriate subsidiary question in each strand. My first aim was to find causes for disaffected student behaviour. While home-tutoring I asked the question; "Emotional blocks: what do they tell us about the learning process?" The resulting narratives revealed complex ecological factors of which I was previously unaware (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Inquiry Strand 1: Tutoring 12 school refusers). These were analysed thematically. In the second strand I asked; "How do feelings affect my learning and teaching?" resolving learning problems and developing professional insight. (Inquiry Strand 2: The author's learning process).
The third strand compared other teachers' experiences asking; "How do feelings affect other teachers' learning and teaching?" (Inquiry Strand 3: Mentoring 8 teachers as learners). The fourth strand explored the theory's potential to inform professional practice (Inquiry Strand 4: Evaluating a primary school arts festival: observations of feeling based learning in action). Strands 2, 3 and 4 were also thematically analysed and included a framework of positive 'emotionally linked' learning behaviours as additional themes. The latter were derived from Claxton's Effective Learning Profile (2002). In this Resilience is associated with absorption, managing distractions, noticing, perseverance; Resourcefulness with questioning, making links, imagining, reasoning; Reflectiveness with planning, revising, distilling, meta-learning and Reciprocity with interdependence, collaboration, empathy, listening and imitation. My fifth aim of sharing findings with others was undertaken throughout the research. My theory developed through reading, self reflection, writing and working with those who participated as colleagues and students (Wenger 2002). The findings make a contribution to knowledge, which evidences the claim that in education feelings may usefully be considered as legitimate thoughts.


The mammalian organ of Corti has one of the most highly ordered patterns of cells in any vertebrate sensory epithelium. A single row of inner hair cells and three or four rows of outer hair cells extend along its length. The factors that regulate the formation of this strict pattern are unknown. In order to determine whether retinoic acid plays a role during the development of the organ of Corti, exogenous retinoic acid was added to embryonic mouse cochleae in vitro. Exogenous retinoic acid significantly increased the number of cells that developed as hair cells and resulted in large regions of supernumerary hair cells and supporting cells containing two rows of inner hair cells and up to 11 rows of outer hair cells. The effects of retinoic acid were dependent on concentration and on the timing of its addition. Western blot analysis indicated that cellular retinoic acid binding protein (CRABP) was present in the sensory epithelium of the embryonic cochlea. The amount of CRABP apparently increased between embryonic day 14 and postnatal day 1, but CRABP was not detectable in sensory epithelia from adults. A retinoic acid reporter cell line was used to demonstrate that retinoic acid was also present in the developing organ of Corti between embryonic day 14 and postnatal day 1, and was also present in adult cochleae at least in the vicinity of the modiolus. These results suggest that retinoic acid is involved in the normal development of the organ of Corti and that the effect of retinoic acid may be to induce a population of prosensory cells to become competent to differentiate as hair cells and supporting cells.


In this article, Vicki Jacobs argues that as the nation strives to improve the literacy achievement of U.S. adolescents, educators must reframe the current "crisis" as a critical point on a continuum of historical efforts to address the particular challenges of postprimary-grade reading. Specifically, Jacobs examines the definition of adolescent literacy in the context of reading stages, which explain the contiguous and continuous relationship between primary-grade and later reading. She also discusses how historical relationships between skill and process instruction and between reading specialists and content-area faculty have contributed to the issues we face at this particular point on the continuum. Jacobs concludes by highlighting the opportunities ahead for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners who are positioned to respond to the adolescent literacy crisis and improve adolescent literacy achievement.


The nature and degree of fatigue in muscles that control finger position during repeated sustained efforts in rock climbing have not been described. The purpose of this study was to identify changes in maximum hang time and forearm electromyogram (EMG) during repeated maximum duration hangs from a simulated rock feature. A second objective was to determine the effect of different recovery times between hangs upon changes in finger force. Five experienced rock climbers performed 2 test sessions on different days in a randomized order. Each session involved 8 repetitions of a maximum duration hang with either 1 min (R1) or 3 min (R3) resting recovery between hangs. Finger force (FF) was measured for the right hand via a piezoelectric force sensor fitted with a plate to accept the distal digits of four fingers. Peak EMG (EMGPK) and EMG Area (EMGAREA) were recorded from the anterior forearm for each hang and standardized as percent of maximum FF EMG prior to statistical analysis. Hang duration progressively decreased over repetitions but tended to plateau around repetition 5 for both R1 and R3 conditions. A significant difference was found for both recovery conditions and repetitions (p<.05) as well as a significant interaction of the two factors (p<.05) for hang duration. There were no significant differences for EMGPK among repetitions or between recovery conditions (p>.05). EMGAREA decreased initially with repeated hangs during both R1 and R3 but this trend tended to plateau at repetition 3 for the R3 condition. A significant difference was found in EMGAREA for both recovery conditions and trials (p<.05) as well as a significant interaction of the two factors (p<.05). Mean FF decreased between pre- and post-hangs for both R1 and R3 however the difference was not significant. It was concluded that the overall decline in hang time is less with 3 min recovery vs 1 min recovery between hangs. Peak EMG does not appear to change despite this evidence of fatigue. A 3 min recovery interval between hang repetitions decreases the magnitude of fatigue experienced and enables a greater EMGAREA per hang.


Abstract Date palm is the most important fruit tree in Qatar. Recently developed techniques, based on DNA markers, offer new tools for genetic analysis. The objectives of the present study are to analyze the genetic diversity among 15 different cultivars of date palm at the experimental farm of Qatar University using ISSR and SSR markers, and find out the genetic similarity and/or diversity among the well known date palm cultivars in the state of Qatar. DNAs were extracted from the young fresh leaves. A total of 34 primers of simple sequence repeat (SSR) and inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) were tested for their ability to generate banding patterns in 15 date palm genotypes. However, 10 SSR and 18 ISSR primers successfully produced clear bands in all of the studied genotypes. Similarity coefficient matrix was computed to cluster the data and to draw precise relationships among the fifteen studied Qatari date palm genotypes. All date palm genotypes are inter-related in spite of their agronomic divergence. Genetic similarities and dendrogram could re-group the Qatari date palm cultivars in a way that one cultivar (Abu Main) was excluded from the group due to its dissimilarity with the other cultivars. Two cultivars (Barhee and Sultana) were much closer and could be considered as coming from one origin. The polymorphic patterns obtained suggested that the ISSR and SSR procedures constitute alternative approaches that are suitable to examine the date palm's genetic diversity at the DNA level.


Abstract This paper concerns paleontological phylogenies that have a "budding" configuration, wherein "ancestral" species persist through branching events to coexist with their "descendants." Two principal tests are proposed for detecting patterns within such trees. The first test, called the "ancestor-descendant extinction test," compares the number of cases in which, after a split, the ancestral species became extinct before its descendant with the number of cases in which the descendant became extinct before its ancestor. The second test, called the "ancestor-descendant speciation test," compares the number of cases in which, after a split, the ancestral species gave rise to a further species with the number of cases in which the descendant species gave rise to a further species. The null hypothesis in each case is that the frequencies are equal, as predicted by a random Markovian branching model of evolution. Five stratophenetic species-level phylogenies of three taxonomic groups, planktonic foraminifera, nannofossils, and graptoloids, are examined using these tests, including one (Paleogene planktonic foraminifera) that is presented for the first time. In all cases, the phylogenetic trees are found to be strongly nonrandom. The general pattern, although by no means expressed perfectly in every case, corresponds to a Simpsonian "step-series," in which ancestor taxa are simultaneously more likely to become extinct and less likely to speciate than their coexisting descendants. It is shown that this pattern cannot simply be the result of simple age-dependent factors such as an increasing extinction risk in older taxa. Instead, the very fact that a species has given rise to another appears to increase its future extinction risk and decrease its likelihood of further speciation. Many possible biases may affect the shape of paleontological phylogenies, which are as yet poorly understood and unquantified. One potentially important effect follows from the taxonomic subdivision of gradual chronoclines into artificial morphospecies, such as might conceivably induce a step-series pattern in the phylogeny. Even if this is the partial or entire reason for the observed patterns, it would appear to imply directional evolution in phyletic gradualism. Other possible artifacts are discussed, but they are regarded as probably too weak to produce the observed patterns. If the pattern is not artificial, the fact that three of the best known fossil groups exhibit substantial asymmetries in speciation and extinction argues against the currently popular "nonprogressive" view of evolution. Instead, the evolutionary step-series pattern is consistent with the classical Darwinian concept of the general competitive superiority of newly evolved species over their ancestors and supports the idea of evolutionary progress.


This Journal brings together papers from students from the class of 2009 as they complete their final year of the MFA graduate program in Digital+Media at the Rhode Island School of Design. A wide range of topics is covered, reflecting the inter-disciplinarity and breadth of student work in the department. The contributions are grouped along the key themes Form and Material, Digital Aesthetics, Cultural Connections, Site and Performance. They aim to communicate the specificity of the digital to a broader art and media audience, to provide a vivid documentation of the work and the process, and to situate the work in the wider art and media context, including contemporary and historic developments. This Journal is edited by Frauke Behrendt and Teri Rueb and more information about it is available at the Digital+Media website http://dm.risd.edu.


Objectives Research on shift work and cardiovascular health is challenging because of the long follow-up time that is needed to cover late outcomes such as myocardial morbidity (e.g., myocardial infarction), or mortality. The aim of this cross-sectional analysis was to investigate associations and dose-response relationships between (1) current and (2) cumulative exposure to night shift work and adverse effects on the surrogate parameters of atherosclerosis. Methods Participants of a population-based cohort study (the Gutenberg Health Study, N = 15.010) aged 35–64 years were examined at baseline (2007 to 2012). Investigations included measurements of arterial stiffness, vascular function (reactive hyperemia [RH] index), and intima media thickness (IMT). Also, a complete job history (including up to 15 periods), occupational exposures, a variety of lifestyle and dispositional variables were enquired. Results Night shift work was performed by 1,071 out of 8,065 currently employed individuals. The strongest association after adjustment for age, sex, job complexity level, being a manager, overtime work, and noise appeared for more than 660 night shifts within the last 10 years and a significantly increased arterial stiffness of 0.33 m/s. This reflects a 4 % flow velocity increase for individuals with more than 660 night shifts compared to non-night workers. Regarding the entire professional life, night shift workers showed a significantly decreased vascular function by −0.054 RH index points by using the same adjustment. IMT values did not differ statistically from non-night workers. Lifestyle and dispositional factors showed an influence on all used subclinical atherosclerosis parameters. Conclusions The cross-sectional results demonstrate an association between night work and detrimental changes to the atherosclerotic process. The association is more pronounced with more years in night shift, and is partly explained by lifestyle and dispositional factors. Longitudinal analyses are necessary to confirm the results.


This Article explores the practical consequences of an important shift that has recently taken place in patent theory. Although it was long agreed that the purpose of granting patents is to reward invention, today many scholars instead attempt to justify the patent system based on its role in facilitating information exchange and enabling technical coordination among firms. This change in justification is controversial, and its viability remains a fiercely contested question. But despite intense attention at the level of theory, little has been said about the consequences of this debate for patent policy itself. This Article addresses that void, developing a set of mid-level principles from coordination theory and showing how these principles affect a wide range of policy questions.This analysis has a number of implications. For example, it has long been thought that the coordination function requires granting broader patent rights and doing so at an earlier point in time than the traditional rewards function. Based on this assumption, many scholars have concluded that a coordination-focused system would inevitably be more expensive than a rewards-focused one. But upon closer examination, the coordination function could potentially flourish with just the opposite policies—narrower patents granted later in time—and so might actually be cheaper to implement. This illustrates the importance of bringing coordination theory down to details. In many ways, current patent law reflects the long-assumed constraints of rewards theory; a move towards coordination goals opens a number of degrees of policymaking freedom that have not been previously recognized. Moreover, coordination theory can sometimes inform patent policymaking in cases where the conventional rewards theory proves ambiguous, and so merits further exploration regardless of whether coordination is ultimately accepted as a principal justification for the patent system.


About the book: Gender and Language Research Methodologies draws together for the first time the main current methodological approaches to the study of language and gender. These include sociolinguistics and ethnography, corpus linguistics, conversation analysis, discursive psychology, critical discourse analysis, feminist post-structuralist discourse analysis and queer theory. Each 'approach' is introduced by one of its key proponents in the field (including Ruth Wodak on CDA, Celia Kitzinger on conversation analysis and Judith Baxter on feminist post-structuralist discourse analysis), and this is followed by chapters illustrating uses of the approach. Readers (including postgraduate researchers) are thus able to consider which approach may be relevant to a given research project. They are also encouraged to consider the important question of the combination of approaches: which approaches are (and are not) compatible. In sum, this book explicitly addresses and constructively problematises what in many monographs and edited collections is left implicit and unquestioned.


Successful STEM learning depends on the interaction of affect, cognition, and application of ideas. Simply put students who are unwilling to persist in STEM based endeavors do not suddenly develop into scientists, mathematicians, engineers or computer scientists, nor do they seek out STEM related courses or STEM based careers. The purpose of this study is to investigate content, cognitive, and affective outcomes related to STEM integrated curriculum within the K-5 arena. Educational and psychological literature tends to focus one aspect of the other when examining the role of affect and cognition on student outcomes. Current trends in educational measurement and psychometrics have begun to address the artificial disconnect that exists between affect, cognition, and content outcomes within the science education literature. The methods used to develop the results within this study are a mixture of quantitative methods to develop a model of learning occurring in a STEM school. Using ANOVA, structural equation modeling, and model analysis, an understanding of the problems presented becomes clear. Analysis of model fit statistics suggests adequate model fit (χ2(21) = 30.91, p = 0.075, CFI = 0.94, TLI = 0.93, RMSEA = 0.04, SRMR = 0.05). The standardized structural coefficients for the path from group to each of the constructs is statistically significant (p < 0.05) thus indicating that the two groups differ on the constructs of self-efficacy, science interest, spatial visualization, and mental rotation. An estimate of effect size of the mean group difference across the statistically significant constructs reveals self-efficacy (d = 1.27, large), science interest (d = 1.97, large), spatial visualization (d = 1.30, large), and mental rotation (d = 1.42, large). There is considerable evidence that the inclusion, STEM integrated learning at the earlier elementary level becomes critically important for the students as they progress in school. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 52: 410–437, 2015


Within the last decade, there has been an increased emphasis on making engineering education accessible to K-12 students and focus more on making students engineering enabled. Research in this area is in its early stages and further work is needed to advance our understanding of what it means to productively engage with the engineering design process and how we can support students in achieving that. In this research, I explored the use of Improvable Models—models that can be iteratively redesigned and optimized by students—as priming artifacts for supporting productive engagement with the engineering design process. I used two types of Improvable Models – Suboptimal System model and Optimal Component model. Suboptimal System model presents a complete solution but is suboptimal at the system level. Optimal Component model presents an incomplete solution but is optimal at the component level. The following questions guided this research study - (a) How do students use Improvable Models? How does the use of Improvable Models as priming artifacts influence students' design of engineering solutions? (b) What type of scaffolds and instructions support students' appropriation of the Improvable Models? Findings indicate that students used the Improvable Models for engaging with five disciplinary practices – (a) attending to either the input or the outcome parameters, (b) making explicit or implicit connection between an input and a single outcome parameter, (c) reasoning with multiple interconnected input and outcome parameters and making tradeoff decisions, (d) weighing outcome parameters and making tradeoffs, and (e) forming design heuristics informed by implicit or explicit rationale. The visual representation of counterexample scaffolded the formation of design heuristics. Improvable Models helped decompose a complex problem into parts and make the problem accessible. Teams using the Optimal Component seed model displayed three types of design fixation – (a) delayed fixation, (b) immediate fixation, and (c) implicit fixation. Three kinds of verbal and written prompts—procedural, reflection, and disciplinary prompts—along with resources like a software simulator scaffolded engagement with the disciplinary practices by problematizing the quality of a system, problematizing design decisions, giving students authority, maintaining accountability, and providing resources.


The role of foreign direct investment and intellectual property rights in economic development is discussed widely in the literature. However, an integrating framework is missing to assess the role of FDI and IPR for agricultural development. This paper establishes a framework to assess the role of FDI and IPR for seed sector development in developing countries. The impact assessment is carried out with a System Dynamics model that shows local capacity development to develop new seed varieties in the scenario of a multinational company penetrating the market and spillovers occurring. Simulation runs reveal the impact of IPR on the quantity technology transferred by multinational companies and on spillovers. The development path of the local industry depends crucially on the capacity of the local seed sector when the multinational company enters. A pattern for seed sector development is derived.


LEVERS FOR INTERVENTION IN ORGANIZATIONAL DECISION-MAKING:
Local Government Red Tape and Fudging-'Bureau-CATS'
 Unmasked by TRANSPARENCY

 Carl Slawski (Emeritus Professor of Sociology, CSULB)
 555 S. Ventu Park Rd., Thousand Oaks, CA 91320 – USA

 A juicy case study of dead-end whistle-blowing inquiries over a steep and narrow if not precarious hillside home construction site in Open Space zoning in southern California is described and examined in light of a systemic theory for reprogramming "Bureau-CATS." Coping with this breed, from land grading to fire road standard enforcers, from Planning to Building to Fire road Inspectors, is described in terms of Dramaturgical (Goffmanesque "discrepant role") and Labeling Theory (Sykes & Matza's "neutralization techniques," 1957) as well as "splintered" formal organization-theory (revised from Slawski's 4-box flow diagrams on BUREAU-cratitis (Shanghai, 2002), and now on "how to navigate through its maze"), finally ending in a new and widely applicable GST type of feedback and feed-forward model of how to reprogram the system of permissions and superficial inspections, fraught as it is with vicious cycles (a la Alvin Gouldner on rules), plus the red-tape ball fudged by both the contractor, and the choir of county 'B-CATS,' all to the detriment of the formerly open environment, the danger of foundation or wall failure (perhaps because of a nearby earthquake fault), undermining the narrow, winding pot-holed fire road, or a possible landslide of the house down the hill into the creek-bed below. Who cares? Who gets paid off, at least by in-bred 'idiosyncracy credits' through the virtual "old-boy network" established between inspectors and SPEC house builders? Neighbors' property rights and peace of mind be damned! How does this kind of ecologically corrupt, vicious cycle (of greedy developers over norms of sustainability across generations) get started? Why doesn't someone do something about it? Has anyone tried TRANSPARENCY? Read on and see for yourself.

Key Words: 'BUREAU-cratitis'/ vicious cycles / ecological corruption / land development / greed.
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A high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency has been found in Saudi Arabia, which can be directly attributed to inadequate exposure of sunlight largely due to religious practices and lifestyle. The poor dietary intake of vitamin D further adds to this problem. Various researchers have proved vitamin D deficiency to be linked with increased incidences of cancer, diabetes, and autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases. Recently, scientists have found an association of vitamin D deficiency with reduced testosterone levels. This can be attributed to increasing incidences of male infertility in Saudi Arabia. The rising incidences of infertility in Saudi males can be attributed to their decreasing vitamin D levels. Taking adequate measures to overcome the vitamin D deficiency can improve their sexual vigor.


Monoclonal antibodies (MAb) anti-HIV core and envelope proteins and in situ hybridization, using cDNA HIV probe, were employed to determine which lymph node cells in LAS patients express viral antigens and viral nucleic acids. The results have been correlated with the histologic phases of LAS and with the germinal center lysis detected using DRC-1 MAb directed against follicular dendritic reticulum cells (FDRC). Viral antigens occasionally were detected on high endothelial cells of paracortical venules and frequently on germinal center FDR accessory cells; this last finding correlates well with the extent of FDRC lysis and of CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocyte infiltration in germinal centers. HIV replication, detected by in situ hybridization, was observed in mononucleated cells present in T and B areas and, in one case, in flat endothelium.


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Economists equate economic self-sufficiency (autarky) with low income and stress the economic role of social capital as a form of self-insurance in poor rural areas of developing nations. In contrast, anthropologists speak of the "original affluence" of foragers and see social capital as serving economic and social roles. Economists do not work with highly autarkic peoples such as part- or full-time foragers, and cultural anthropologists have not provided formal, comprehensive estimates of income or of the monetary value of social capital in highly autarkic societies. Drawing on data from 611 adults of 244 households in 13 villages of a highly autarkic society of swidden farmers, hunters, and gatherers in the Bolivian Amazon, the Tsimane', we present measures of personal income and of the monetary value of social capital. Daily personal income reaches US $2.35-3.52, which is above the international poverty line of US $1-2, on a par with the income in the rest of Bolivia, and three times higher than the income in the rest of rural Bolivia. The Tsimane' do not have low income, at least not when compared with their rural neighbors. Social capital in the form of gifts and labor services received from the rest of the village accounted for a small share of daily personal income (<5%) and did not get activated to any great degree when people suffered a mishap. In sum, the study uncovers a more nuanced picture of well-being in a relatively autarkic society. People in such a society enjoy relative affluence, invest in social capital for social more than for economic reasons, but cope with adversity largely on their own.


The structure of a simple liquid may be characterized in terms of ground state clusters of small numbers of atoms of that same liquid. Here we use this sensitive structural probe to consider the effect of a liquid–vapour interface upon the liquid structure. At higher temperatures (above around half the critical temperature) we find that the predominant effect of the interface is to reduce the local density, which significantly suppresses the local cluster populations. At lower temperatures, however, pronounced interfacial layering is found. This appears to be connected with significant orientational ordering of clusters based on three- and five-membered rings, with the rings aligning perpendicular and parallel to the interface respectively. At all temperatures, we find that the population of fivefold symmetric structures is suppressed, rather than enhanced, close to the interface.


Which object properties matter most in human perception may well vary according to sensory modality, an important consideration for the design of multimodal interfaces. In this study, we present a similarity-based method for comparing the perceptual importance of object properties across modalities and show how it can also be used to perceptually validate computational measures of object properties. Similarity measures for a set of three-dimensional (3D) objects varying in shape and texture were gathered from humans in two modalities (vision and touch) and derived from a set of standard 2D and 3D computational measures (image and mesh subtraction, object perimeter, curvature, Gabor jet filter responses, and the Visual Difference Predictor (VDP)). Multidimensional scaling (MDS) was then performed on the similarity data to recover configurations of the stimuli in 2D perceptual/computational spaces. These two dimensions corresponded to the two dimensions of variation in the stimulus set: shape and texture. In the human visual space, shape strongly dominated texture. In the human haptic space, shape and texture were weighted roughly equally. Weights varied considerably across subjects in the haptic experiment, indicating that different strategies were used. Maps derived from shape-dominated computational measures provided good fits to the human visual map. No single computational measure provided a satisfactory fit to the map derived from mean human haptic data, though good fits were found for individual subjects; a combination of measures with individually-adjusted weights may be required to model the human haptic similarity judgments. Our method provides a high-level approach to perceptual validation, which can be applied in both unimodal and multimodal interface design.


In the past decade, China was able to carry out economic reform without political reform, while the Soviet Union attempted the opposite strategy. How did China succeed at economic market reform without changing communist rule? Susan Shirk shows that Chinese communist political institutions are more flexible and less centralized than their Soviet counterparts were. Shirk pioneers a rational choice institutional approach to analyze policy-making in a non-democratic authoritarian country and to explain the history of Chinese market reforms from 1979 to the present. Drawing on extensive interviews with high-level Chinese officials, she pieces together detailed histories of economic reform policy decisions and shows how the political logic of Chinese communist institutions shaped those decisions. Combining theoretical ambition with the flavor of on-the-ground policy-making in Beijing, this book is a major contribution to the study of reform in China and other communist countries.


The great theories of the twentieth century, such as quantum physics, cybernetics, systems theory, synergetics, molecular biology, bioelectronics didn't leave psychology unaffected. Quantum physics is not only at the root of most of the achievements of electronics, solid-state physics, laser science, nuclear physics, biochemistry and molecular biology, but also forms the foundation of psychology. This way of interpreting the mental phenomena shows that man is not only a purely biological construct, but that bioelectronic, biochemical and informational processes also play a role. They are responsible for the development of the mental processes of man. Man's biological system uses for communication not only the biochemical means, but also electromagnetic and acoustic waves, spin fields and bioplasma. An important role in the history of research into the link between the plasma and the life processes has been played by the works of Sedlak, Iniuszyn and Zona. Bioplasma is a state of mutually interacting interconnected fields and positively and negatively charged particles in an organic semiconductor. Bioplasma is seated in the protein semiconductors, or piezoelectric organic compounds. To have charged particles and excited states in both plasma and in the body, it is necessary to provide energy in various forms. This process is done by the chemical release of energy through the metabolic processes, and through the provision of energy from the outside, through the human senses. Bioplasma is a tangible medium of life and is the ground of


Objective: Research productivity is an important activity among academics. This study was done to document the research productivity of the academics of a physiotherapy department in South Africa.
Method: An archival research design was used to document the research productivity for the physiotherapy department between the period of 2002 and 2009. Data was analysed by two independent reviewers and consensus was reached on the information to be included in the study.
Results: Among the nine academics there were 67 publications, 20 articles in progress, 7 under review and 63 conferences attended. While the overall research productivity of the department seems to be good, the bulk of the productivity rests in the hands of the senior academics.
Conclusion: There is thus a need to facilitate the acquisition of research skills in academic staff, particularly in upgrading staff to PhD level and improving publication output.


one part of the Australian colonial legacy in Papua new Guinea (PnG hereafter) is the Australian government's attempt to forge partnerships with foreign companies in different economic sectors in order to lay the economic foundations for rural development in the newly independent nation. American and Australian capital was invited to develop the mining industry, European capital to develop the oil palm industry, and Japanese capital to develop the forest industry. nowadays, the Australian government seems to have forgotten its late colonial enthusiasm for this form of state capitalism, and its aid to PnG is largely framed by the neoliberal policy prescriptions which the World Bank was able to impose on the PnG government through a sequence of structural adjustment programs beginning in 1990. However, members of PnG's national political elite have persistently sought refuge from this economic orthodoxy through their engagement with Asian governments and companies. in this paper i examine the way in which changing political and economic conditions have affected the actual pattern of Asian investment in PnG's forestry and agriculture sectors, and the way in which different stakeholders have responded to this changing pattern of investment. despite the prevalence of a policy narrative which holds Asian investors responsible for the corruption of PnG's political institutions when mineral resource booms liberate national politicians from the constraints of Western economic orthodoxy, i show that Asian investment in these two sectors has taken several different forms, and there is no simple sense in which PnG's national economy and political system are subject to a concerted takeover by Asian business interests.


The author tries to prove that the notion of synthetic art can be discussed with the help of the semiotic notion of Complex system and multi-code messages. A synthesis does not involve total systems, but only constituents of these systems - some of the subsystems; combination of the subsystems constitutes a new whole. Two co-ordinate and parallel lines overlap and participate in this process: the destruction of the primary systems involved in the synthesis, and the construction of the new systems.

The ordering of the selected subsystems into a new signifying whole may occur in two ways. The first one assumes the simple physical absence of the subsystems not belonging to the new whole. The other way is due mainly to the fact that the particular subsystems of a given work are neither "turned down" nor "off" by the material specific procedures resulting in a palpable effect. Such subsystems are still physically present, but they do not participate in the act of communication. The author - supporting her analyses by examples from music and film - tries to find the laws governing the relations of subsystems: the law of permeability of structure, the law of the alternation of a function and two kinds of special relation: relation of domination and of neutrality.


This paper describes how supplier relationship management facilitates innovation exploitation and exploration in brewing and bus manufacturing. In the two industries examined, strong ties are associated with exploitation whilst mixed features of strong and weak ties benefit exploration. This is in contrast to the findings of Gilsing and Nooteboom (2005) and suggests that tie strength associated with exploitation and exploration differs according to the industrial context in which firms operate. The findings also suggest different streams of capabilities are required to manage supplier relationships. In exploitation strong ties facilitate capabilities to identify new opportunities, to form a collective to pool resources and to work across organisational boundaries. In exploration weak ties are conducive to the search for new ideas but impede firms' capability to realise potential innovations. Relationship management becomes challenging when innovations are radical, with high complexity in communication and...