Electronic devices like notebooks, smart phones, GPS units, LED TVs and other
daily life applications are produced with increased functionality and complexity
from year to year. Today's electronic devices must be equipped with new smart
electronic circuitry designs to add more functionality within a single device, while
not making them larger in size. As the electronic circuits are made of various
components, active semiconducting chips and passive components, like resistors,
capacitors and inductors, more and more components are needed per single unit.
While the number of components increases all components are subject to
miniaturization to increase the volume efficiency. As capacitors are one of the more
important passive components and every device consists of more than one hundred
capacitors, a lot of effort is put on developing smaller sized capacitors.
Capacitors can be made from a wide variety of dielectrics and the components
can have various shapes. The majority are surface mount capacitors and especially
multilayer ceramic capacitors are one of the more popular types. These multilayer
ceramic capacitors are mainly used in today's electronic devices and these types of
capacitors are discussed in this thesis.
As the name multilayer ceramic capacitor already suggests the components are
made up of a body, in which alternating layers of dielectrics and conducting metal
electrodes are embedded. In Chapter 2 the manufacturing of multilayer ceramic
capacitors is explained in more detail. In the 1980s and 1990s the majority of
multilayer capacitors were made with expensive noble metals like palladium or
platinum. Due to the price increase of these noble metals at the end of the 20th
century, the passive component industry started to develop new dielectric materials
suitable for co-firing with less expensive noble metals like pure silver or silverpalladium
alloys. Another way to decrease metal costs is to implement base metals
like nickel and copper as electrode material. Therefore new types of dielectric
materials had to be developed in order to be co-fired with nickel or copper in a
reducing atmosphere to prevent the metals from oxidizing.
Multilayer ceramic capacitors can be made of a wide variety of materials and
depending on the electrical characteristics they are employed in different
applications. This thesis describes dielectrics, personally developed for use in
commercial multilayer capacitors, which show high stability towards temperature,
frequency and voltage in Chapter 3. These dielectrics have low or moderate
permittivity values and they are primarily used for filtering, smoothing and
temperature control applications. Chapter 3 also describes multilayer capacitors
having relatively high permittivities. These are based on barium-neodymiumtitanates
and zinc-magnesium-titanates. These materials are suitable for co-firing
with pure silver or silver-palladium alloys. It is described how to modify the
dielectric composition in order to co-fire with high silver content electrodes and
which strategy has to be followed in order to get reliable multilayer capacitors.
Furthermore, it is described how high-permittivity temperature stable capacitors
having copper electrodes can be produced. These types of dielectrics have very low
equivalent series resistance characteristics. Such capacitors can be used in high
frequency applications especially. Various multilayer capacitors with electrodes of
silver-palladium alloys, copper and nickel electrodes were made. The equivalent
series resistance characteristics were determined to compare these capacitors with
respect to their performance at high frequencies. Multilayer capacitors with the
lowest equivalent series resistances are obtained when metals having the lowest
possible bulk resistivity, like copper or silver, are selected.
The second part, Chapter 4, describes multilayer capacitors that are used for
decoupling and bypassing purposes in electronic circuitry. These capacitors consist
of dielectrics which are based on modified ferroelectric barium titanates. Typically
they have very high permittivity values. They are less stable towards temperature
changes, but they are important for their high capacitive volume efficiency. The
multilayer ceramic capacitors are already produced with low cost metals, in
particular nickel electrodes. Development is mainly focused on increasing the
capacitive volume efficiency by decreasing the dielectric layer thickness and by
maximizing the number of electrodes layers. Various strategies are described to
make high capacitance multilayer capacitors.
The dielectrics layers of these high capacitance multilayer capacitors were
already decreased down to 1 μm thickness in recent years. The grain size of the
ceramics is typically 200–250 nm and efforts are made to decrease the grain size
further, while maintaining reliable capacitor characteristics. The influence of the
applied electrical field on the dielectric layers is explained in this chapter, and a
strategy is presented how to develop new high permittivity dielectrics effectively.
The influence of raw materials properties, particle size distribution of raw materials,
and formulation on electrical properties and microstructures of the ceramics is
described, while a conventional production method is used. With an alternative
method it is possible to make ceramics having high permittivity values as well. In
that process raw materials are used, which have high concentrations of yttrium oxide
and copper oxide in the barium titanate lattice. These doped barium titanate powders
are then mixed with pure barium titanate powders, together with extra dopant
elements, to produce a new type of dielectrics.


In this paper convergence in per capita incomes (personal and disposable) in US states over 1929-2005 is revisited using the notion of relative stochastic convergence and stationarity tests for panel data. According to the results, although the dispersion of per capita income be-came stationary by the early 1960s a large proportion of states have not converged to the na-tional average. The presence of diverging states indicates that a long-run (steady-state) distri-bution in relative incomes has not yet been attained, something which contrasts sharply with the findings of earlier empirical studies on the topic.


The crystal structure of a group I intron domain reveals an unexpected motif that mediates both intra- and intermolecular interactions. At three separate locations in the 160-nucleotide domain, adjacent adenosines in the sequence lie side-by-side and form a pseudo-base pair within a helix. This adenosine platform opens the minor groove for base stacking or base pairing with nucleotides from a noncontiguous RNA strand. The platform motif has a distinctive chemical modification signature that may enable its detection in other structured RNAs. The ability of this motif to facilitate higher order folding provides oneexplanation for the abundance of adenosine residues in internal loops of many RNAs.


Transcription of DNA is essential for cell maintenance and survival; inappropriate localization of proteins that are involved in transcription would be catastrophic. In Alzheimer's disease brains, and in vitro studies, we have found qualitative and quantitative deficits in transport into the nucleus of DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) and RNA polymerase II (RNA pol II), accompanied by their abnormal sequestration in the cytoplasm. RAN (RAs-related Nuclear protein) knockdown, by siRNA and oligomeric Aβ42 treatment in neurons, replicate human data which indicate that transport disruption in AD may be mechanistically linked to reduced expression of RAN, a pivotal molecule in nucleocytoplasmic transport. In vitro studies also indicate a significant role for oligomeric Aβ42 in the observed phenomena. We propose a model in which reduced transcription regulators in the nucleus and their increased presence in the cytoplasm may lead to many of the cellular manifestations of Alzheimer's disease.


While much of the emphasis of the literature on energy poverty is on the prevalence of the phenomenon in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, little has been written about energy poverty in the Arab world. Traditionally having being seen as one of the world's most energy rich regions, the Arab world has in recent years often been overlooked as a region which suffers severely from energy poverty itself. In 2002, about 65 million people in the Arab world had no access to electricity, and an additional 60 million were severely undersupplied in both urban and rural areas. In terms of cooking and heating, almost one-fifth of the Arab population rely on non-commercial fuels like wood, dung, and agricultural residues particularly in Comoros, Djibouti, Sudan, Yemen, and Somalia but also in Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, and Syria. This study by Laura El-Katiri and Bassam Fattouh fills a gap in the existing literature by looking at the case of prevailing energy poverty in Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the Arab world. The Yemeni case is particularly interesting because of the country's status as a net energy exporter. Large segments of the Yemeni population both in rural and urban areas rely heavily on traditional fuels such as firewood and dung while electrification rates in Yemen is relatively low where only 54% of Yemeni households have access to electricity. Decades of underinvestment and lack of necessary infrastructure, and Yemen's prevailing poverty problem have all contributed to this status, as has the country's fractured political system.


The relation between science, technology, and economic development is unquestionable. However, in the poorest countries of the world, this relation is tenuous at best, mainly due to the fact that science and technology typically require a large amount of investment in terms of both capital and higher education. In this article, we document the ingenuity and innovative approaches of our colleagues in developing countries who conduct biomedical research and laboratory diagnosis with limited resources. Not only is what they have achieved laudable, but there is much that the rest of the world can and should learn from these examples.

The lack of resources in academic and state laboratories in the developing world produces a creative pressure that forces scientists to invent and reuse as much as possible. The innovations range from substitute equipment, recycling of otherwise disposable materials, and adaptation of cell lines to new temperatures or growth media to simplification of protocols and production of home made kits and reagents.1–6 For example, plastic pipette tips, consumed in large quantities and usually disposed of after one use, can be reused for certain procedures after disinfection and extensive washing. To make the process more efficient and less expensive, an ingenious Bolivian researcher, Nataniel Mamani, created a tip washer from a plastic jar and inner tubing. The tips fit perfectly into the tubing, allowing water to pass through and effectively wash out the bleach and soap used to clean them (fig 1).7 This simple contraption can save a laboratory hundreds of dollars a month.

Fig 1
Mamani's pipette tip washer: economic and effective

#### Summary points

Researchers in the developed world can learn much from the ingenuity and passion of colleagues in developing countries

Working in resource poor settings fosters creativity and a mindset for conservation and better management of resources

Understanding …


Intestinal glucose stimulates secretion of the incretin hormone glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1). The mechanisms underlying this pathway have not been fully investigated in humans. In this study, we showed that a 30-min intraduodenal glucose infusion activated half of all duodenal L cells in humans. This infusion was sufficient to increase plasma GLP-1 levels. With an ex vivo model using human gut tissue specimens, we showed a dose-responsive GLP-1 secretion in the ileum at ≥200 mmol/L glucose. In ex vivo tissue from the duodenum and ileum, but not the colon, 300 mmol/L glucose potently stimulated GLP-1 release. In the ileum, this response was independent of osmotic influences and required delivery of glucose via GLUT2 and mitochondrial metabolism. The requirement of voltage-gated Na+ and Ca2+ channel activation indicates that membrane depolarization occurs. KATP channels do not drive this, as tolbutamide did not trigger release. The sodium–glucose cotransporter 1 (SGLT1) substrate α-MG induced secretion, and the response was blocked by the SGLT1 inhibitor phlorizin or by replacement of extracellular Na+ with N-methyl-d-glucamine. This is the first report of the mechanisms underlying glucose-induced GLP-1 secretion from human small intestine. Our findings demonstrate a dominant role of SGLT1 in controlling glucose-stimulated GLP-1 release in human ileal L cells.


As you would be aware, COVID-19 has rapidly spread to a number of countries around the world. In our letter, we have reviewed chest imaging from a 36-year male with severe COVID-19. We found that his lung lesions started to gradually diminish after about a month. Besides, we found that invasive mechanical positive pressure ventilation had both positive and negative effects. Lung-protective ventilation strategies should be adopted and full attention given to iatrogenic injuries in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with COVID-19. This case report may have a significant impact on the clinical management of patients with COVID-19.


Background At the southern tip of the Hudson Bay lie the marshy tidal flats of the James Bay. A shallow body of salt and fresh water, the Bay forms the largest river drainage system in northern North America. A refuge for migratory birds and habitat for a wide variety offish and mammals, the region is home to native Cree communities whose lives traditionally centered on hunting caribou and fishing. Canadian aboriginal policy in principle supports Cree rights to the resources on their territory. In 1912, when the northern part of this territory became part of Quebec, national statutes required that the province recognize, and then obtain surrender of these rights. But because the provincial government saw no economic or political benefit to holding the land, they did not follow through on their part of the agreement. In the 1940s new hydropower technologies made it profitable to harness the energy of rivers in Cree territory. Though its indigenous peoples never surrendered the territory, development continued because the government claimed that water, as a "common property resource, "provides for the needs of all Canadians, and that this claim overrides First Nations claims to the lands (Waldram 8-9). In 1971, Hydro-Quebec and both the provincial and national governments used a similar argument when Hydro-Quebec began diverting the energy of the rivers flowing into the James Bay. The diversion of the LaGrande and Eastmain Rivers produced widespread, comprehensive damage to the James Bay ecosystem and displaced Cree communities who suffered from marked increases in rates of alcoholism, family violence, and suicide (James Bay Road--Hydro-Quebec Project). The protests and legal struggle mobilized against the dams gained support from numerous environmental groups, and it attracted widespread media attention. When, in 1975, the Cree, the government, and Hydro-Quebec signed the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, it was hailed as the first modern land claims settlement in Canadian history. In practice, however, the project and the protest against it continued to expand for more than 25 years (James Bay Road--Hydro-Quebec Project). Similar ambiguity characterized La Paix des Braves (New Relationship Agreement) signed by Quebec's Prime Minister Bernard Landry and Cree Grand Chief Ted Moses in 2002. Although this agreement requires the government and power company to negotiate with the Cree as an independent nation, the debate continues as to whether the agreement is yet another form of cooptation and assimilation, and Cree communities continue to pay the heavy cultural costs (See, for example, Boucher). (1) "To the builders of the dams," says the narrator in Linda Hogan's novel Solar Storms (1995), "we were dark outsiders whose lives had no relevance to them" (283). These words speak to the influence of the James Bay controversy on Hogan's novel. Yet even though Hogan's characters, events, and the fictional geography of the novel bear striking resemblances to James Bay, a disclaimer on the copyright page states: "This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental." At one level the statement protects the author from potential lawsuits and buffers the sharp edges of subject matter charged with political controversy and emotional pain for readers who see themselves mirrored in her words. At another level, however, Hogan's disclaimer speaks to a dilemma for all readers and writers of literature in the postmodern era, where basic systems of belief throughout the globe conflict openly with each other, and where the validity of belief itself has been questioned by scholars, writers, and ordinary people alike. How then is it possible for the reader to connect the world of an imaginative text to the world of lived experience in a meaningful way? …


Motivated by a growing literature in the social sciences suggesting that the transition to fatherhood has a profound effect on men's values, we study how the wages of employees change after a male chief executive officer (CEO) has children, using comprehensive panel data on the employees, CEOs, and families of CEOs in all but the smallest Danish firms between 1996 and 2006. We find that (a) a male CEO generally pays his employees less generously after fathering a child, (b) the birth of a daughter has a less negative influence on wages than does the birth of a son and has a positive influence if the daughter is the CEO's first, and (c) the wages of female employees are less adversely affected than are those of male employees and positively affected by the CEO's first child of either gender. We also find that male CEOs pay themselves more after fathering a child, especially after fathering a son. These results are consistent with a desire by the CEO to husband more resources for his family after fathering a child and the psychological priming of the CEO's generosity after the birth of his first daughter and specifically toward women after the birth of his first child of either gender.


The incidence of high grade B cell lymphoma in western countries has increased over the last decades. Improvement of conventional chemotherapy regimens has significantly contributed to prolonged 5-year survival rates which currently reach around 60%. However, relapse after conventional chemotherapy is an important challenge, especially in high grade B cell lymphomas. The potential benefit of immunological approaches for the elimination of such lymphomas still remains unclear. In this study, we attempted to address whether the forced expression of foreign antigens in a tumor of B cell origin leads to immune recognition and elimination of the tumor and to assess the potential role of IFN-gamma (IFN-g) in tumor rejection. To this end, we used a transgenic mouse lymphoma model, where the human proto-oncogene c-myc (a foreign antigen for the mouse host) is under the control of regulatory elements of the immunoglobulin lambda locus, thereby recapitulating the important features of a t(8;22) translocation as found in human Burkitt's lymphoma. From these spontaneously developing tumors, lymphoma cell lines were established that either express (line 291) or are deficient (line 9) in Stat1- a key signaling molecule in the response to interferons. We found that the expression of foreign antigens such as chicken ovalbumin (OVA) and green fluorescent protein (GFP) in Stat1-competent 291 cells led to immune responses that delayed tumor progression and improved survival of wild-type animals. Consistent with this, loss of foreign antigen inevitably led to accelerated tumor progression upon transfer into immunocompetent wild-type mice. Transfer of immunogenic 291-OVA-GFP lymphoma cells led to increased tumor progression without loss of foreign antigen upon transfer into IFN-γ-/- and Stat1-/- mice indicating that no selection of antigen loss-variants occurred in these mice. The rejection of 291-OVA-GFP cells in wild-type mice was at least in part mediated by CD8+ T cells as measured by enrichment of the OVA antigen-derived MHC class I-restricted SIINFEKL epitope-specific cells in wild-type recipients.. Interestingly, Stat1-deficient lymphoma cells (9-GFP and 9-OVA-GFP) were rejected by immunocompetent UBQ-GFP transgenic wild-type C57BL/6 mice irrespectively of the presence of a foreign antigen, indicating the existence of immunosurveillance against these Stat1-deficient lymphomas. To evaluate the key players behind lymphoma rejection, we transferred 9-GFP cells into IFN-γ-/- and Stat1-/- recipients. This led to enhanced tumor growth indicating that endogenous IFN-γ production and Stat1 signaling are critical for tumor rejection. To gain an insight into the mechanistic aspects of innate immunosurveillance against the Stat1-competent and Stat1-deficient lymphomas, NK cell functionality was evaluated. We found that NK cells could efficiently lyse both Stat1-competent and Stat1-deficient lymphoma cell lines in vitro. Treatment with IFN-γ increased the susceptibility of Stat1-deficient lymphoma cells to NK cell killing, but decreased that of Stat1-competent cells, presumably by upregulating MHC class I expression. The results of this work show that host IFN-γ and Stat1 signaling are important for tumor clearance, and that paradoxically, the absence of Stat1 within the lymphoma is required for rejection.


The absolute stability problem of neutral Lurie indirect control systems with unbounded coefficients is investigated in this paper. By choosing a suitable Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional, several absolute stability criteria for neutral Lurie systems with single nonlinearity are obtained. Furthermore, the derived results are extended to multiple nonlinearities. The criteria proposed in this paper are particularly useful for neutral Lurie indirect control systems with unbounded coefficients. Our results are also applicable to such systems with bounded or constant coefficients. Numerical simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.


Recent advances in DNA technology have shined a spotlight on thousands of innocent people wrongfully convicted for crimes they did not commit-many of whom had been induced to confess. The scientific study of false confessions, which helps to explain this phenomenon, has proved highly paradoxical. On the one hand, it is rooted in reliable core principles of psychology (e.g., research on reinforcement and decision-making, obedience to authority, and confirmation biases). On the other hand, false confessions are highly counterintuitive if not inconceivable to most people (e.g., as seen in actual trial outcomes as well as studies of jury decision making). This article describes both the psychology underlying false confessions and the psychology that predicts the counterintuitive nature of this same phenomenon. It then notes that precisely because they are so counterintuitive, false confessions are often "invisible," resulting in a form of inattentional blindness, and are slow to change in the face of contradiction, illustrating belief perseverance. This article concludes by suggesting ways in which psychologists can help to prevent future miscarriages of justice by advocating for reforms to policy and practice and helping to raise public awareness. (PsycINFO Database Record


We developed a user-friendly software to generate synthetic confocal microscopy images from a ground truth specified as a 3D bitmap with pixels of arbitrary size. The software can analyze a real confocal stack to derivate noise parameters and will use them directly to generate new images with similar noise characteristics. Such synthetic images can then be used to assert the quality and robustness of an image analysis pipeline, as well as be used to train machine-learning image analysis procedures. We illustrate the approach with closed curves corresponding to the microtubule ring present in blood platelets. Availability and implementation ConfocalGN is written in MATLAB but does not require any toolbox. The source code is distributed under the GPL 3.0 licence on https://github.com/SergeDmi/ConfocalGN.


In East Asia, climate change as a policy concern has been a late developer. The last decade, however, has seen the mainstreaming of environmental issues in core policy circles, but in the form of market-friendly, pro-industrial development framings. This paper problematizes such environmental framings by looking at the politics of state-led ecological modernization and the institutional reforms that have emerged out of it. It argues that State-led ecological modernization necessarily leads to environmental framings that are too narrowly defined by state and industrial interests - hence the focus on carbon emissions, energy security and the impact on Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The State-driven assumption that society can modernize itself out of its environmental crisis through greater advancements in technological development also ignores the fact that this process often leads to the creation of other environmental and social problems, which in turn undermines the fundamental goals of stability and sustainability. Civil society needs to be given greater space in the policy and framing processes in order to have a more balanced policy approach to environmental reform in a more equitable way.


Abstract Introduction. The present study investigates the characteristics of the environmental factors that influence the structure of sport amongst young people; alongside this, the study also attempts to describe the influential role of parents in the development of sporting talent; finally, the study emphasizes the significance of parents' educational beliefs concerning the acquisition of life-long social skills through participation in sport in demanding competitive environments. Material and methods. 8 semi-structured interviews and 3 unstructured interviews were conducted among young people participating in a semi-professional club at national competitive level. A field diary was also collected. Results. Qualitative analysis revealed that: a) structural and organizational aspects, as well as the overall climate of the club, shape the behavior of young people in relation to social goals; b) parents play an important role as socializers in competitive environments; c) parents display a solid awareness of their own influence on the attitudes and behavior of young people. Conclusions. The findings highlight the important role of parents in sport participation in highly competitive environments. The study also shows contextual factors as predictors of the degree of youngsters' social and personal variables in performance levels. Implications for parental involvement in youth sport as well as future research directions are further discussed.


A survey of RR Lyrae stars has been conducted in selected regions of the Galactic halo, using the 48 inch Schmidt telescope at Palomar. 29 RR Lyrae stars were found in three fields (each is 42 square degrees) centered at 1 = 180°, b = 24°; 1 = 180°, b = 30° and 1 = 110°, b = -30°. The faint limit for finding RR Lyraes is 19m.5 in B, and the faintest RR Lyrae stars that were found are at Galactocentric distances of over 40 kpc. The majority of the stars are 20 to 30 kpc from the Galactic center, and typically around 18m in B. Apart from a very few globular clusters, these stars are the most distant known probes of the outer halo. Photoelectric photometry done with the 60 inch telescope at Palomar has been used to obtain accurate light curves and ephemerides for all the survey RR Lyraes stars. Spectrophotometry at minimum light has been used to estimate reddening and interstellar extinction. Distances to the individual RR Lyrae stars have been derived using the information thus obtained. The space densities of RR Lyrae stars has been traced out to a Galactocentric distance R of 33 kpc. The data are combined with that obtained by others in the Galactic bulge and in the relatively nearby halo, which gives an overall picture of the run of space densities over a very wide range of R. Spectra of many of these objects have been taken with the double spectrograph on the 200 inch telescope at Palomar. Chemical abundances and radial velocities have been derived from them. Center of mass velocities have typically been obtained to an accuracy of 35 km s-1. There is no discernible abundance gradient in the halo from 10 to 40 kpc, but there is a very wide range of abundances. Two RR Lyrae stars have been found which have metallicities that are unprecedentedly high ([Fe/H] ~ -0.5]) for this region of the halo. If the results are confirmed, this will imply that there is a sizeable population of moderately metal rich stars in the outer halo. From the radial velocities, the systemic and random motions of the system of RR Lyrae stars in the distant halo have been studied. The velocity dispersion along the axis that points to the Galactic center is found to be 105 ± 17 km s-1. The mass of the Galaxy within 25 kpc has been estimated at 3.9 (+3.4 or -2.2) x 1011M☉, assuming isotropic orbits and spherical potential at 25 kpc. This confirms that the Galactic mass continues to increase out to 25 kpc.


I n September, the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee released proposals requiring many employers without retirement plans to establish and automatically enroll employees in IRAs with the default contributions going to Roth IRAs or in simple 401(k) plans. The proposals would also require a person whose employee benefit plans, Roth IRAs, and traditional IRAs have an aggregate balance in excess of $10 million to withdraw at least 50% of the excess balance. Broadening those proposals to require Roth IRAs to comply with the same required minimum distribution (RMD) rules that now govern employee benefit plans and traditional IRAs, would better implement the common-sense policy of using tax incentives to encourage adequate retirement savings by focusing on retirement savings. Roth IRAs are subject to the same RMD rules, as traditional IRAs and tax-advantaged pension and profit-sharing plans, including their Roth designated accounts, after the death of the IRA participant and the participant's spouse. They should also be subject to the same RMD rules during the life of the IRA participant and the IRA participant's spouse, if any. Subjecting Roth IRA participants to the excess benefit distribution and to the RMD rules would better limit retirement tax incentives to retirement savings. Those with Mega-IRAs, such as Mr. Thiel's multi-billion Roth IRA, could continue to receive tax incentives for reasonable-sized retirement accounts, but the tax incentives on any excess balances would be dramatically reduced. Similarly, participants with Roth or IRA accounts of any size would be required to withdraw significant funds during the expected life of the participant and the participant's spouse, if any. Such harmonization would permit Congress to make more funds available to encourage adequate retirement savings, such as providing larger savings credits to low-income tax payers who make contributions to tax-favored retirement plans than the Ways and Means proposal offers.


The belly button is one of the habitats closest to us, and yet it remains relatively unexplored. We analyzed bacteria and arachaea from the belly buttons of humans from two different populations sampled within a nation-wide citizen science project. We examined bacterial and archaeal phylotypes present and their diversity using multiplex pyrosequencing of 16S rDNA libraries. We then tested the oligarchy hypothesis borrowed from tropical macroecology, namely that the frequency of phylotypes in one sample of humans predicts its frequency in another independent sample. We also tested the predictions that frequent phylotypes (the oligarchs) tend to be common when present, and tend to be more phylogenetically clustered than rare phylotypes. Once rarefied to four hundred reads per sample, bacterial communities from belly buttons proved to be at least as diverse as communities known from other skin studies (on average 67 bacterial phylotypes per belly button). However, the belly button communities were strongly dominated by a few taxa: only 6 phylotypes occurred on >80% humans. While these frequent bacterial phylotypes (the archaea were all rare) are a tiny part of the total diversity of bacteria in human navels (<0.3% of phylotypes), they constitute a major portion of individual reads (∼1/3), and are predictable among independent samples of humans, in terms of both the occurrence and evolutionary relatedness (more closely related than randomly drawn equal sets of phylotypes). Thus, the hypothesis that "oligarchs" dominate diverse assemblages appears to be supported by human-associated bacteria. Although it remains difficult to predict which species of bacteria might be found on a particular human, predicting which species are most frequent (or rare) seems more straightforward, at least for those species living in belly buttons.


The dynamics of an age‐structured population in a fluctuating environment is determined by the stochastic individual contributions from annual survival and fecundity to the total reproductive value of the population the next year. All parameters required to describe the population dynamics are simple properties of the distribution of these individual demographic contributions, which we call individual reproductive value. The asymptotic population growth rate in the average environment and the demographic and environmental variances are respectively the mean individual reproductive value over individuals through time and the variance within and between years. Our approach leads to an intuitive understanding of demographic and environmental variances in age‐structured populations and their decomposition into additive age‐specific components due to survival and reproduction. We show how to apply this approach to estimate the demographic and environmental variances and their components. The estimates are based on yearly random samples of individual vital rates and require no information about the total population size.


American International Group, Inc. (AIG), a large insurance company, received a massive bailout during the financial crisis in response to difficulties centered on the company's multifaceted exposure to residential mortgage-backed securities. The company is back on its feet, albeit in more streamlined form and with a new overseer — the Federal Reserve. This paper focuses on a piece of the AIG story that is rarely told — the role of the company's securities-lending program in imperiling the company and some of its insurance subsidiaries. The paper argues that regulatory responses to AIG have been inapt. AIG did not need another regulator, but better risk management. The markets would have conveyed that message clearly had regulators not intervened to ensure AIG's survival. This paper adds the missing piece to the AIG story in an effort to challenge the notion that more regulatory oversight for companies like AIG will prevent future crises.


We present results from using optical frequency domain reflectometry for high-density distributed fiber optic measurement of strain in a composite wind blade during dynamic fatigue testing. Three optical fibers were bonded to the surface of a 9-m wind blade in a grid pattern at the root, and along both the spar caps of the high- and low- pressure sides. The fiber contained distributed fiber Bragg gratings each 50-mm long spaced 50-mm apart and strain measurements were taken with 82-um spatial resolution across each grating. Within the first 10k cycles at 100% load a region of concentrated strain less than 40 mm wide was identified. This work illustrates the evolution of this region as the blade fatigued, demonstrating the potential of distributed fiber optic strain measurement for early defect detection in large-scale composite structural health monitoring.


Private security contractors who commit crimes abroad enjoy extensive protection from prosecution. When private security contractors discharge weapons without authorization, the U.S. State Department immediately compels them to make official statements regarding the incidents. The statements are made under the threat of job loss, but are subsequently protected by immunity. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia's dismissal of United States v. Slough highlights the difficulties prosecutors face in obtaining untainted evidence as a result of these protected statements. The Department of Justice has no control over grants of immunity to private security contractors and they face substantial obstacles in obtaining independent untainted evidence in war zones. As a result, prosecutors in Slough could not gather sufficient untainted evidence to hold employees of the private security firm Blackwater responsible for the homicide of fourteen Iraqi civilians. This Comment suggests the State Department should adopt procedural changes to avoid future challenges associated with compelled statements and allow successful prosecutions of private security contractors.


The analysis of research data plays a key role in data‐driven areas of science. Varieties of mixed research data sets exist and scientists aim to derive or validate hypotheses to find undiscovered knowledge. Many analysis techniques identify relations of an entire dataset only. This may level the characteristic behavior of different subgroups in the data. Like automatic subspace clustering, we aim at identifying interesting subgroups and attribute sets. We present a visual‐interactive system that supports scientists to explore interesting relations between aggregated bins of multivariate attributes in mixed data sets. The abstraction of data to bins enables the application of statistical dependency tests as the measure of interestingness. An overview matrix view shows all attributes, ranked with respect to the interestingness of bins. Complementary, a node‐link view reveals multivariate bin relations by positioning dependent bins close to each other. The system supports information drill‐down based on both expert knowledge and algorithmic support. Finally, visual‐interactive subset clustering assigns multivariate bin relations to groups. A list‐based cluster result representation enables the scientist to communicate multivariate findings at a glance. We demonstrate the applicability of the system with two case studies from the earth observation domain and the prostate cancer research domain. In both cases, the system enabled us to identify the most interesting multivariate bin relations, to validate already published results, and, moreover, to discover unexpected relations.


Lugnano in Teverina is internationally famous for its archaeology thanks to the remarkable discoveries made in Poggio Gramignano during the investigations of the American team of archaeologists from the University of Arizona, lead by Prof. David Soren. The archaeological campaigns of the late 1980s and early '90s revealed the remains of a Roman rustic villa, later reused as a children's necropolis dating to the mid-5th century CE. Nevertheless, the municipality is rich in other important archaeological evidence. The aim of this work is therefore to highlight some of this less-known evidence, in particular those belonging generally to the Roman period. DOI:10.2458/azu_jaei_v10i1_montagnetti


Japanese metalworkers use a wide range of irogane alloys (shakudo, shibuichi), which are colored with a single patination solution (niiro eki). This approach allows different alloys to be combined in one piece and patinated, producing a multi-colored piece of metalwork. At present the niiro patination process is unreliable. In this study we develop a deeper understanding of the effect of patination solution ingredients on color. We have tested a synthetic niiro solution, comparing the color results with traditional niiro solution patination. Surface products have been analyzed to determine how they are influenced by both the niiro solution and cleaning procedures during patination. A large range of shibuichi and shakudo alloys have been produced to determine the full color pallette. This work also explores the use of alternative processes for the patination of irogane alloys, examining the effect of laser marking and anodizing on irogane alloys.


Catholic Spain is usually identified, even by professional historians, with the Counter Reformation, as far as the supposedly "golden age" of Philip II and Philip III is concerned. This study examines not the foreign policy of Habsburg Spain, in its naval and military campaigns against militant Islam and Protestant heresy, but the reality of Catholic practice in the Iberian peninsula itself. Certain features of Spanish religion, such as the insistence on orthodoxy combined with a persistent anti-clericalism, are traced to this crucial period in the development of Catholicism in Spain. NonInquisitorial as well as Inquisitorial evidence is drawn on and Roman archival sources are used in addition to documents from Spain itself. This work thus seeks to analyze Spanish Catholicism during the period of the Counter-Reformation not in a traditional way, as part of Spanish history in isolation; but as a distinct part of the Catholic Church as a whole, in the era of post-Tridentine reform, taking as reference-points recent work on that larger subject by scholars not only in Spain but in other countries also, such as France and Italy.


We propose and demonstrate a simple one-bus two-ring configuration where the two rings are mutually coupled that has advantages over the one-ring structure. Unlike a one cavity system, it can exhibit near critically-coupled transmission with a broader range of loss. It can also significantly enhance the cavity finesse by simply making the second ring twice the size of the bus-coupled one, with the enhancement proportional to the intensity buildup in the second ring.


Real-Time Ethernet has become the major communication technology for modern automation and industrial control systems. On the one hand, this trend increases the need for an automation-friendly security solution, as such networks can no longer be considered sufficiently isolated. On the other hand, it shows that, despite diverging requirements, the domain of Operational Technology (OT) can derive advantage from high-volume technology of the Information Technology (IT) domain. Based on these two sides of the same coin, we study the challenges and prospects of approaches to communication security in real-time Ethernet automation systems. In order to capitalize the expertise aggregated in decades of research and development, we put a special focus on the reuse of well-established security technology from the IT domain. We argue that enhancing such technology to become automation-friendly is likely to result in more robust and secure designs than greenfield designs. Because of its widespread deployment and the (to this date) nonexistence of a consistent security architecture, we use PROFINET as a showcase of our considerations. Security requirements for this technology are defined and different well-known solutions are examined according their suitability for PROFINET. Based on these findings, we elaborate the necessary adaptions for the deployment on PROFINET.


This study was performed to investigate the effects of feeding rates on growth performance, feed conversion and body composition of juvenile snow trout (Schizothorax zarudnyi). For this purpose, fish with an initial body weight of 2.17± 0.1 g were fed a commercial diet (40% protein, 3.8 Kcal/g diet) at five ration sizes 2%, 4%, 6%, 8% and 10% of their body weight per day, for 60 days. Feeding trial was conducted in triplicate. Maximum weight gain, best feed conversion ratio (FCR), best specific growth rate (SGR %), highest energy retention (ERE %) and protein efficiency ratio (PER %) were evident for rations of 4–6% body weight. Second-degree polynomial regression analysis for PER, FCR and ERE indicated the break-points occurred at 4.9, 5.1 and 5.2% BW day−1, respectively. Maximum body protein content was obtained for 4% and 6% rations. Body moisture, fat and ash content remained unchanged. Based on the above results, it may be concluded that 4.9-5.2% body weight per day ration is optimal for the growth, conversion efficiencies and body composition of juvenile S. zarudnyi and it entails favorable economic benefits.


Known primarily as a great painter, Bartolome Esteban Murillo (1617-1682) was also one of the best draftsmen of the 17th century. Although his devotional paintings seem to have been created effortlessly, they are the result of careful thought and study, a process that comes alive in the preparatory drawings. Murillo used a variety of techniques, favoring pen and ink and brown wash and red-and-black chalk. Like painters schooled in Italian Renaissance practice, the Spaniard developed his paintings in stages, starting with sketches of the full composition and then focusing on details that posed specific problems. Occasionally, Murillo used drawings as a medium for original compositions; these are highly finished pieces, usually enhanced by the use of wash and unmistakably stamped with the artist's personality. This sumptuous book is a thoroughly revised edition of the 1976 publication Murillo & His Drawings. Twenty sheets have been added to the catalogue of authentic works, the bibliography has been brought up to date, and the entries have been revised.


Hydroformylation of alkenes for the production of aldehydes is one of the most important homogeneously catalyzed reactions on an industrial scale. Mostly, these processes are based on expensive rhodium as the catalyst metal. In this contribution, we present for the first time the successful application of ruthenium as a cheaper alternative metal in a continuously operated miniplant. In the reaction of 1-octene, ex situ extraction of the oxo-products is conducted using the nonpolar solvent iso-octane, while the catalyst is retained in a polar DMF phase. After optimizing the reaction conditions on a batch scale, the recycling of the ruthenium catalyst was realized over a period of 90 h in a fully automated miniplant setup.


Despite blatant references to homoerotic desire in Kate O'Brien's oeuvre — two of her novels Mary Lavelle (1936) and As Music and Splendour (1958) contain lesbian characters, whilst gay male characters appear in Without my Cloak (1931) and The Land of Spices (1941) — it is only in recent years that scholarship has considered O'Brien as a writer of homosexual themes. There are obvious reasons as to why the lesbianism in O'Brien's work and others who wrote about it during the mid-twentieth century has suffered from such neglect. It is only since second-wave feminism that an academic critique of sexuality has seemed appropriate to the academy. Tom Inglis notes that in comparison to British cultural history 'the lack of research into the history of Irish sexuality is puzzling, although it corresponds to a general lack of interest in sexuality in Irish academia' (10). Before 1990, there were few references to lesbianism in criticisms of O'Brien's novels. Emma Donoghue explains this as 'not so much by covering up her bonds with other women, as by denying those partnerships were of any relevance to her work ... most of those who have written on Kate O'Brien have simply avoided the lesbian issues in her work' (Out of Order 37). Drawing on anthropological ideas pertaining to liminal space, this article seeks to discover how twentieth century Irish author Kate O'Brien's construction of queer communities in novel Mary Lavelle (1936) can be understood as liminal spaces that exist in opposition to governing heteronormative ideologies. I propose that Ireland is configured as a closeted space in Mary Lavelle, and upon leaving Ireland, O'Brien's lesbian characters can experience and experiment with different facets of their gender identity and sexuality and enter into what I define as a space of queer liminality.


The purpose of the study is to find a suitable method for removal of iron and manganese considering local economic and environmental aspects. El Salvador is situated in Central America with a coast line towards the Pacific Ocean. The country borders Guatemala and Honduras. Aguilares is a town situated in the department of San Salvador, with a population of approximately 33,000 people. Currently, the population is provided with water for about two hours per day, since it is the highest capacity of the existing wells. During these two hours many households fill a small tank with water to use for the remainder of the day. The water is not safe to use for oral consumption because of the levels of bacteria and other contamination. One of the wells, situated in the community of Florida is not in use at this date because of the high levels of Iron and Manganese in the ground water which cannot be removed with the present technique.Ground water is naturally pure from bacteria at a depth of 30 m or more, however solved metals may occur and if the levels are too high the water is unsuitable to drink. The recommended maximum levels by WHO (2008) [1] for Iron and Manganese are 2 mg/l and 0.5 mg/l respectively.Literature and field studies led to the following results; Iron and manganese can be removed by precipitation followed by separation. Precipitation is achieved by aeration, oxygenation or chemical oxidation and separation is achieved by filtration or sedimentation.The different methods all have advantages and disadvantages. However the conclusion reached in this report is that aeration and filtration should be used in the case of Florida. What equipment and construction that should be used depends on economic and resource factors as well as water requirements, which is up to the council of Aguilares to deliberate.


Mediterranean cork oak savannas, which are found only in southwestern Europe and northwestern Africa, are ecosystems of high socioeconomic and conservation value. Characterized by sparse tree cover and a diversity of understory vegetation ‐ ranging from shrub formations to grasslands ‐ that support high levels of biodiversity, these ecosystems require active management and use by humans to ensure their continued existence. The most important product of these savannas is cork, a non-timber forest product that is periodically harvested without requiring tree felling. Market devaluation of, and lower demand for, cork are causing a decline in management, or even abandonment, of southwestern Europe's cork oak savannas. Subsequent shrub encroachment into the savanna's grassland components reduces biodiversity and degrades the services provided by these ecosystems. In contrast, povertydriven overuse is degrading cork oak savannas in northwestern Africa. "Payment for ecosystem services" schemes, such as Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification or Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation and enhancement of carbon stocks (REDD+) programs, could produce novel economic incentives to promote sustainable use and conservation of Mediterranean cork oak savanna ecosystems in both Europe and Africa.


A system tbr lexical acquisition is presented where word meanings are represented by clusters of phrase patterns obtained from analysis of a text corpus. A sample of cases, in the form of a concordance of phrases in which a particular word occurs in the text, is used Ibr the basic analysis. Clustering techniques are used to group together cases having similar grammar and/or meaning. This view is that words obtain their meaning from the category describing this clustering of cases. This category is theorybm~ed in that it contains a model to represent the word meaning at an abstract level, whereas the cases provide empirical evidence which confirm or disprove the model. A complex category evolves as more cases are encountered. Each new case matches to an existing categoD', or m~' dynamically alter existing categories as needed to account for the new case. An experimental system is presented which includes syntactic and semantic analysis of phrases obtained from text. It uses a hand-built lexicon and grammar to bootstrap a learning process. The ability to dynamically alter category structure through interpretation of new cases is shown as a way to build lexical structure semi-automatically.


From the nutritional point of view, data on dietary fiber content, tannin and in vitro protein digestibility of processed millet is of importance, because millets are never eaten raw. Effects of commonly used traditional methods on dietary fiber, tannin content and %IVPD of two locally available pearl millet varieties (Kalukombu and Maharashtra Rabi Bajra) were investigated. The millet was subjected to various processing methods like milling (whole flour, semi refined flour and bran rich fraction) roasting, boiling, pressure cooking & germination respectively. Processing had little effect on the total dietary fiber (TDF) content in both varieties; however the bran rich fraction showed highest TDF content of around 29%. Tannins effectively lowered upon boiling and pressure cooking respectively, but significantly increased (P ≥ 0.05) upon germination. Although the % IVPD of the millet (45.5 – 49.3 g/100g) was low, it significantly increased upon milling (bran rich fraction), roasting and germination respectively.


Abstract. Transformation of isoprene coupled with auto-oxidation of SIV in aqueous solutions was studied experimentally and by chemical-kinetic modelling over a broad range of solution acidities (pH=3–9) to complement the research on aqueous-phase and heterogeneous transformation of isoprene reported recently by many laboratories. Isoprene significantly slowed down the auto-oxidation in acidic and basic solutions, and accelerated it slightly in neutral solutions. Simultaneously, production of sulphate ions and formation of solution acidity were significantly reduced. Formation of sulphite and sulphate derivatives of isoprene - sulphurous acid mono-(2-methyl-4-oxo-but-2-enyl) ester (m/z=163), sulphurous acid mono-(4-hydroxy-2-methyl-but-2-enyl) ester (m/z=165), sulphuric acid mono-(2-methyl-4-oxo-but-2-enyl) ester (m/z=179), sulphuric acid mono-(4-hydroxy-2-methyl-but-2-enyl) ester (m/z=181), and possible structural isomers of these species – was indicated by electrospray ionisation mass spectrometric analysis of post-reaction mixtures. The experimental results were explained by changes in a subtle quantitative balance of three superimposed processes whose rates depended in different manner on the acidity of reacting solutions – the scavenging of sulphoxy radical-anions by isoprene, the formation of sulphoxy radical-anions during further reactions of isoprene radicals, and the auto-oxidation of SIV itself. A chemical mechanism based on this idea was explored numerically to show good agreement with experimental data. In basic and neutral solutions, the model overestimated the consumption of isoprene, probably because reactions of primary sulphite and sulphate derivatives of isoprene with sulphoxy radical-anions were not included. Interaction of isoprene with sulphur(IV) species and oxygen can possibly result in formation of new organosulphate and organosulphite components of atmospheric aerosols and waters, and influence the distribution of reactive sulphur and oxygen species in isoprene-emitting organisms exposed to SIV pollutants.


abstract: Research on the eastern rim of the Tibetan Plateau is generally hampered by the lack of established chronologies. The mountains of southwest China in particular are not very well explored. As a point of intersection of various culture-geographic regions and of long-distance exchange networks, the Liangshan region in southwest Sichuan deserves special attention. Unfortunately, this area is usually excluded from studies into the prehistory of southwest China, chiefly because the archaeological material is remarkably heterogeneous and the local prehistoric cultural sequence therefore has long remained obscure. Based on the results of excavations and survey work conducted during recent decades, this article represents a first attempt to suggest a chronological scheme for southwest China and neighboring parts of Yunnan from the earliest evidence of human occupation around 3000 b.c. to the onset of large-scale Han influence around a.d. 100. Additionally, the article reconstructs processes of early cultural developments and human occupation of the southeastern rim of the Tibetan Plateau that can serve as a point of departure for future research on the prehistory of western China.


Ice supersaturation in the upper troposphere is a complex and important issue for the understanding of cirrus cloud formation. On one hand, infrared sounders have the ability to provide cloud properties and atmospheric profiles of temperature and humidity. On the other hand, they suffer from coarse vertical resolution, especially in the upper troposphere and therefore are unable to detect shallow ice supersaturated layers. We have used data from the Measurements of OZone and water vapour by AIrbus in-service airCraft experiment (MOZAIC) in combination with Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder (AIRS) relative humidity measurements and cloud properties to develop a calibration method for an estimation of occurrence frequencies of ice supersaturation. This method first determines the occurrence probability of ice supersaturation, detected by MOZAIC, as a function of the relative humidity determined by AIRS. The occurrence probability function is then applied to AIRS data, independently of the MOZAIC data, to provide a global climatology of upper-tropospheric ice supersaturation occurrence. Our climatology is then compared to ice supersaturation occurrence statistics from MOZAIC alone and related to high cloud occurrence from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP). As an example of application it is compared to model climatologies of ice supersaturation from the Integrated Forecast System (IFS) of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and from the European Centre HAmburg Model (ECHAM4). This study highlights the benefits of multi-instrumental synergies for the investigation of upper tropospheric ice supersaturation.


Mr. Putter knows what he likes, and dancing is "not" on the list. But his neighbor Mrs. Teaberry has been watching ballroom dancing on TV! She talks the reluctant Mr. Putter into coming along for an evening at the Crystal Ballroom, along with fine cat Tabby and good dog Zeke, of course. The ballroom is full of sparkles and surprises. What a wonder!"


This paper examines the implementation, communication and benefits of corporate codes of ethics by the top companies operating in Australia, Canada and Sweden. It provides an international comparison across three continents. It is also based on a longitudinal approach where three national surveys were performed in 2001–2002 and replications of the same surveys were performed in 2005–2006. The empirical findings of this research show in all three countries that large organisations indicate a substantial interest in corporate codes of ethics. There are, however, differences in the ways that the companies in each country implement and communicate their corporate codes of ethics and the benefits that they see being derived from them. The longitudinal comparison between 2001–2002 and 2005–2006 indicates changes in the implementation, communication and benefits of corporate codes of ethics in the three countries.


Make the most of Project 2013without becoming a technical expert! This book is the fastest way to take control of Project 2013, and use it to efficiently manage every phase of your project, from up-front planning through project completion and post-mortems. Even if youve never used Microsoft Project before, this book will show you how to do what you want, one incredibly clear and easy step at a time. Project 2013 has never, ever been this simple! Who knew how simple Project2013 could be? This is the easiest, most practical beginners guide to running real projects with Project 2013 simple, reliable instructions for doing everything you really want to do! Heres a small sample of what youll learn: Master todays best project management techniques Use Project 2013 to solve many key project management problems Master Projects revamped interface, from Start screen to Backstage Leverage Project 2013s best new features in your day-to-day work Get comfortable with the Project Window and its powerful views Set up realistic project schedules and calendars Add new tasks, dependencies, and resources Create budgets, track costs, and quickly resolve cost overruns Smoothly reflect changes in your project Report on progress, from completed work to anticipated finish dates Strengthen decision-making with dashboards, plans, and timelines Streamline processes by integrating Project with SharePoint and Office Securely share project data with team participants and stakeholders Improve efficiency by customizing Projects interface to your needs Coherently manage complex project portfolios Extend project management to smartphones, tablets, and the cloud Brian Kennemer, Microsoft MVP for Project and Project Server, has worked with Project since 1997. He served on the Microsoft Consulting Services Global Enterprise Project Management team for five years, and has helped several Microsoft Partners design and deploy ProjectServer-based systems. Sonia Atchison has worked with Microsoft Project since 1999. In 2006, she joined Microsofts writing team, producing extensive help content, videos, and content for Office.com and TechNet.


In this paper, we address the problem of motion-induced 3-D robot-to-robot extrinsic calibration that is based on ego-motion estimates and combinations of interrobot measurements (i.e., distance and/or bearing observations from either or both of the two robots, recorded across multiple time steps). In particular, we focus on solving minimal problems, where the unknown 6-degree-of-freedom (DOF) transformation between the two robots is determined based on the minimum number of measurements necessary to find a finite set of solutions. In order to address the very large number of possible combinations of interrobot observations, we identify symmetries in the measurement sequence and use them to prove that any extrinsic robot-to-robot calibration problem can be solved based on the solutions of only 14 (base) minimal problems. Moreover, we provide algebraic (closed-form) and efficient symbolic-numerical (analytical) solution methods to these minimal problems. Finally, we evaluate the performance of our proposed solvers through extensive simulations and experiments.


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Although large numbers of birds visit the Wadden Sea each year, consumption by birds amounts only to 8.7 g AFDM m-2 a-1 which equals 10-25 % of the secondary production. A main consumer is the Bar-tailed Godwit. In the Wadden Sea a European and an Afro-Siberian population of Bar-tailed Godwits stopover on their migration between wintering and breeding areas. Birds of the European population stayed during spring stopover for 30-40 days in the study area. Birds were extremely site faithful to their spring stopover site showing an annual mortality of 17-26 %. The use of the northern Wadden Sea as a wintering site is mainly determined by thermostatic costs, which are smaller for females than for males resulting in a female bias during winter. Deciding for northern wintering forms a trade off between energetically cheap wintering and behaviourally avoiding movement to unknown places. On spring migration, European birds follow an energy minimizing and Afro-Siberian birds a time minimizing strategy with much higher energy demands. Afro-Siberian birds could follow this strategy by investing as much time as possible in foraging and keeping to a strict, well timed schedule.


To investigate the association between markers of synovial inflammation and matrix turnover (MRI-based and serum biomarkers) and knee symptoms in established knee osteoarthritis (KOA). This cross-sectional study utilised data from a randomised, multicentre placebo-controlled trial (UK-VIDEO) of vitamin D therapy in symptomatic KOA. Data on serum biomarkers, type III collagen degradation (C3M), metabolite of C-reactive protein (CRPM) and cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP), were available at baseline whilst contrast-enhanced (CE) MRI data were acquired in a subsample at baseline and annually. Knee symptoms were assessed using WOMAC at all visits. We examined the cross-sectional association between knee symptoms and three MRI-based and three serum markers of synovitis and matrix turnover, respectively. A total of 447 participants were included in the serum and 136 participants in the MRI analyses. MRI-defined medial perimeniscal synovitis was positively associated with knee pain and, suprapatellar and medial perimeniscal synovitis with knee function in multivariate analysis. We observed a statistically significant, negative association between a higher concentration of serum C3M and CRPM and knee pain, respectively. Furthermore, the highest CRPM quartile was negatively associated with knee function. Our findings suggest that, in established painful radiographic KOA, MRI-defined medial perimeniscal and suprapatellar synovitis were positively associated with knee symptoms. Serum-based C3M and CRPM markers were negatively associated with knee symptoms. Pain fluctuations are common in KOA and a better understanding of the relationship between markers of synovitis and matrix turnover and knee symptoms would facilitate a more accurate assessment of temporal changes in disease progression.


Peak oxygen consumption (VO2peak) testing is commonly performed to assess endurance training effectiveness in athletes, including soccer players. However, how variables such as playing position, training type (off-vs. in-season), and performance anxiety levels affect maximal exercise capacity have not been determined. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of positioning, training type, and pre-performance directional anxiety on VO2 max values in female soccer players. METHODS: Sixteen female collegiate soccer players completed two trials using a cycle ergometer. VO2peak was determined by the participant's inability to continue pedaling and/or an established plateau in VO2 despite increasing workload. Prior to testing, a Competitive State Anxiety Inventory (CSAI-2) was completed to determine somatic anxiety, cognitive anxiety, and self-confidence. RESULTS: No significant differences were found between VO2peak and positioning, training type, and pre-performance directional anxiety (p=0.085, p=0.115, p=0. 244 respectively). However, a strong correlation was found between somatic and cognitive anxiety (r2= 0.736, p=0.079). CONCLUSION: VO2peak values were not affected by positioning type in female collegiate soccer players. High and low levels of anxiety did not predict maximal performance capabilities; however, somatic and cognitive anxiety positively interacted in determining performance. To better characterize performance anxiety in the future, research could examine cortisol levels prior to maximal performance.


Abdominal obesity is associated with metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. Mitochondrial dysfunction is often related to metabolic disorder commonly found in abdominal obesity. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number is a biomarker which can be used to reflect the activity of mitochondria. Abdominal obesity is more commonly found in males compared to females and the incidence is growing in young adult male, therefore we investigated the relationship of mtDNA copy number and anthropometric and metabolic biomarkers in young adult male.A total of 25 healthy young adult males of age 19 to 24 years old were recruited in the study. Metabolic biomarkers were evaluated along with body mass index, waist circumference and total body fat, visceral fat by bioelectrical impedance analysis. mtDNA copy number was measured in peripheral blood leukocytes by using real-time polymerase chain reaction method.After adjusting for ages, mtDNA copy number correlated with body mass index (r= 0.45,P= 0.03) and waist circumference (r= 0.43,P= 0.04) but had no significant correlation with fasting plasma glucose, insulin, HOMA-IR, testosterone, total body fat and visceral fat.mtDNA copy number has a positive correlation with BMI and waist circumference. Even though it is still controversial over other studies, further studies are needed to explain the causality and significance of our findings.


Mutations provide the raw material of evolution, and thus our ability to study evolution depends fundamentally on whether we have precise measurements of mutational rates and patterns. Here we explore the rates and patterns of mutations using i) de novo mutations from Drosophila melanogaster mutation accumulation lines and ii) polymorphisms segregating at extremely low frequencies. The first, mutation accumulation (MA) lines, are the product of maintaining flies in tiny populations for many generations, therefore rendering natural selection ineffective and allowing new mutations to accrue in the genome. In addition to generating a novel dataset of sequenced MA lines, we perform a meta-analysis of all published MA studies in D. melanogaster, which allows more precise estimates of mutational patterns across the genome. In the second half of this work, we identify polymorphisms segregating at extremely low frequencies using several publicly available population genomic data sets from natural populations of D. melanogaster. Extremely rare polymorphisms are difficult to detect with high confidence due to the problem of distinguishing them from sequencing error, however a dataset of true rare polymorphisms would allow the quantification of mutational patterns. This is due to the fact that rare polymorphisms, much like de novo mutations, are on average younger and also relatively unaffected by the filter of natural selection. We identify a high quality set of ~70,000 rare polymorphisms, fully validated with resequencing, and use this dataset to measure mutational patterns in the genome. This includes identifying a high rate of multi-nucleotide mutation events at both short (~5bp) and long (~1kb) genomic distances, showing that mutation drives GC content lower in already GC-poor regions, and finding that the context-dependency of the mutation spectrum predicts long-term evolutionary patterns at four-fold synonymous sites. We also show that de novo mutations from independent mutation accumulation experiments display similar patterns of single nucleotide mutation, and match well the patterns of mutation found in natural populations.


The impact of international economic disturbances upon the centrally planned economies (CPEs) of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe has been a particularly important area of research. Neuberger and Tyson (1980) and the numerous contributors to that volume provide a bench mark for the development of open economy macroeconomics of CPEs. This paper provides an extension of the work of Wolf ( 1978b), ( 1980), inter alia, for the CPE and modified centrally planned economy (MCPE). The analysis below explicitly considers the real and monetary impacts of exogenous disturbances in a model with two types of monies - enterprise deposits and household currency - and both consumer goods and intermediate products (or capital services), each of which may have a fixed or market determined price. The model is unique not only in its detail but also in that it provides a flow of funds approach which incorporates wealth effects. The fundamental result is that exogenous disturbances do have an impact - either real or monetary - upon the domestic economy of the CPE even though price-equalization taxes or subsidies eliminate the most direct potential impacts. Only via a finely tuned policy of price or tax (subsidy) adjustments or the imposition of trade controls can the impact be completely eliminated. This result is contrary to the accepted wisdom that the price-equalization mechanism in CPEs completely and automatically insulates the domestic economy.


The topic of Markov Random Fields (MRFs) has been well studied in the past, and has found practical use in various image processing, and machine learning applications. Where coding is concerned, MRF specific schemes have been largely unexplored. In this thesis, an overview is given of recent developments and challenges in the lossless coding of MRFs. Specifically, we concentrate on difficulties caused by computational intractability due to the partition function of the MRF. One proposed solution to this problem is to segment the MRF with a cutset, and encode the components separately. Using this method, arithmetic coding is possible via the Belief Propagation (BP) algorithm. We consider two cases of the BP algorithm: MRFs with only simple cliques, and MRFs with complex cliques. In the latter case, we study a minimum radius condition requirement for ensuring that all cliques are accounted for during coding. This condition also simplifies the process of conditioning on observed sites. Finally, using these results, we develop a systematic procedure of clustering and choosing cutsets.


Background
Little is known about the effectiveness of strategies to enable people to achieve and maintain recommended levels of physical activity.

Objectives
To assess the effectiveness of interventions designed to promote physical activity in adults aged 16 years and older, not living in an institution.

Search methods
We searched The Cochrane Library (issue 1 2005), MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycLIT, BIDS ISI, SPORTDISCUS, SIGLE, SCISEARCH (from earliest dates available to December 2004). Reference lists of relevant articles were checked. No language restrictions were applied.

Selection criteria
Randomised controlled trials that compared different interventions to encourage sedentary adults not living in an institution to become physically active. Studies required a minimum of six months follow up from the start of the intervention to the collection of final data and either used an intention-to-treat analysis or, failing that, had no more than 20% loss to follow up.

Data collection and analysis
At least two reviewers independently assessed each study quality and extracted data. Study authors were contacted for additional information where necessary. Standardised mean differences and 95% confidence intervals were calculated for continuous measures of self-reported physical activity and cardio-respiratory fitness. For studies with dichotomous outcomes, odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated.

Main results
The effect of interventions on self-reported physical activity (19 studies; 7598 participants) was positive and moderate (pooled SMD random effects model 0.28 95% CI 0.15 to 0.41) as was the effect of interventions (11 studies; 2195 participants) on cardio-respiratory fitness (pooled SMD random effects model 0.52 95% CI 0.14 to 0.90). There was significant heterogeneity in the reported effects as well as heterogeneity in characteristics of the interventions. The heterogeneity in reported effects was reduced in higher quality studies, when physical activity was self-directed with some professional guidance and when there was on-going professional support.

Authors' conclusions
Our review suggests that physical activity interventions have a moderate effect on self-reported physical activity, on achieving a predetermined level of physical activity and cardio-respiratory fitness. Due to the clinical and statistical heterogeneity of the studies, only limited conclusions can be drawn about the effectiveness of individual components of the interventions. Future studies should provide greater detail of the components of interventions.


Abstract Reconstructions of SE Asia at 5 Ma intervals for the past 50 Ma are presented. They are constrained by new data from the Philippine Sea plate, which forms the eastern boundary of the region, by recent interpretations of the South China Sea and Eurasian continental margin, forming the western boundary, and by the known motions of the Indian-Australian plate to the south. An attempt is made to satisfy geological and palaeomagnetic data from the region. The implications of these reconstructions for the Tertiary evolution of SE Asia are discussed in the light of other new data from the region. There are two regionally important periods of change during the past 50 Ma. Both appear to be the expression of arc-continent collision and resulted in major changes in the configuration of the region and in the character of plate boundaries. At c. 25 Ma the collision of the Australian continent with the Philippine Sea plate arc caused major effects which propagated westwards through the region. At c. 5 Ma collision of the Philippine arc and the Eurasian continental margin occurred in Taiwan. This appears to be a key to the recent tectonics of the region. Principal features of the model include the following interpretations. Middle Tertiary counter-clockwise rotation of Borneo closed a large proto-South China Sea and led to the development and destruction of marginal basins north of the Celebes Sea. The rotation implies that much of the north Borneo margin was not a subduction, but a strike-slip boundary for most of this period. It also suggests that the central West Philippine Sea, the Celebes Sea and the Makassar Strait formed part of a single marginal basin which opened between late Eocene and mid Oligocene, and narrowed westwards like the present South China Sea. Luzon is suggested to have formed in an arc on the north side of the Celebes Sea-West Philippine Basin, whereas most of the other Philippine islands probably formed part of an arc at the southern edge of the Philippine Sea Plate before the Early Miocene. Arc-continent collision in the early Miocene caused plate boundaries to change and initiated the clockwise rotation of the Philippine Sea plate. Since then the Philippine fragments have moved in a very narrow zone, mainly as part of the Philippine Sea plate, with significant strike-slip motion of fragments at the plate margin. Most subduction under the Philippines was oblique, mainly at the western edge, and north of Mindanao. The Molucca Sea was a very wide area which formed part of the Philippine Sea plate before c. 15 Ma and originated as trapped Indian ocean lithosphere. It has been eliminated by subduction on its east and west sides. The present-day double subduction system never extended north of the present Molucca Sea into the Philippines. The Sulawesi ophiolite has an Indian ocean origin and was emplaced on the west Sulawesi continental margin at the end of the Oligocene. The major change in plate boundaries at the beginning of the Miocene following arc-continent collision of the Australian margin with the Philippine Sea plate arc caused initiation of the Sorong Fault system and led to westward movement of continental fragments which were accreted to Sulawesi during the late Neogene. The Sula platform and Tukang Besi platform formed part of a single large microcontinent with the Bird's Head before c. 15 Ma. They moved to their present positions after slicing of fragments from this microcontinent at different times and each was attached to the Philippine Sea plate for a few million years before collision. Most of the Banda Sea is interpreted to have an extensional origin and to have opened during the late Neogene. The reconstructions imply that there has been little convergence at the north Australian margin in Irian Jaya since the early Miocene and most convergence has occurred during the last c. 5 Ma. Movement of Philippine Sea arc fragments within the northern New Guinea margin along strikeslip zones probably accounts for the terrane character of this orogenic belt.


With the expansion of available research methodologies, particularly those in qualitative research, scholars began examining the various aspects of doctoral programs, including program design, student experiences and research writing. Recently, more researchers also started investigating research learning and teaching within doctoral programs. However, most of the literature on doctoral preparation is derived from the English-speaking world and research learning in non-English speaking countries remains invisible. To address this inequity, in this study, we examine the teaching and learning of qualitative research within a doctoral qualitative research methods class in Lithuania. In the article, we provide a historical context and present analyses from interviews with one doctoral student and two professors who taught the class. The study demonstrantes a strong potential of Lithuanian scholars to teach, learn and contribute to qualitative research internationally.


Context. In many application domains, critical systems must comply with safety standards. This involves gathering safety evidence in the form of artefacts such as safety analyses, system specifications, and testing results. These artefacts can evolve during a system's lifecycle, creating a need for change impact analysis to guarantee that system safety and compliance are not jeopardised. Objective. We aim to provide new insights into how safety evidence change impact analysis is addressed in practice. The knowledge about this activity is limited despite the extensive research that has been conducted on change impact analysis and on safety evidence management. Method. We conducted an industrial survey on the circumstances under which safety evidence change impact analysis is addressed, the tool support used, and the challenges faced. Results. We obtained 97 valid responses representing 16 application domains, 28 countries, and 47 safety standards. The respondents had most often performed safety evidence change impact analysis during system development, from system specifications, and fully manually. No commercial change impact analysis tool was reported as used for all artefact types and insufficient tool support was the most frequent challenge. Conclusion. The results suggest that the different artefact types used as safety evidence co-evolve. In addition, the evolution of safety cases should probably be better managed, the level of automation in safety evidence change impact analysis is low, and the state of the practice can benefit from over 20 improvement areas.


The businesses of IT infrastructure product and service manufacturers in Germany are exposed to a variety of opportunities and risks. Some of the opportunities they face emerge from the rapid pace of technological development and the resulting business potential in artificial intelligence, big data analytics, internet of things and cloud technologies. These technologies offer their customers a vast amount of opportunities to innovate their business models and design their digital transformation to compete. IT infrastructure vendors can benefit from associated investments. However, these developments also entail certain business risks for vendors, such as those arising from the availability of innovative public cloud offerings, which can replace commoditised IT infrastructure. As a result, IT Infrastructure vendors experience significant changes in customer (purchasing) behaviour, which threatens their business success. Some of these changes are of a disruptive nature and affect both the manufacturers and also their indirect sales partners in the IT infrastructure sales ecosystem. Based on a Grounded Theory Methodology (GTM) research approach, this study has aimed to improve the understanding of these market dynamics and to provide a transformation framework that enables vendors and their partners to adapt to the changes. Data collection was carried out by conducting twenty-four semi-structured interviews with business professionals who reported on their long-term experiences and observations in this regard. The study analysed which relevant influencing factors have to be considered and how the affected sales ecosystems are structurally changing.
As the findings of the study indicate, successful IT infrastructure sales ecosystem transformations depend on a variety of influencing factors. From a customer perspective, these factors relate to the necessity of a modified vendor sales differentiation strategy, providing added value to clients during digital business transformation. Corresponding activities build on the prior development of the skills of the vendors' sales teams. Furthermore, the study underlines the relevance of developing and expanding the sales partner landscape to provide customers with a scalable ecosystem with all digitalisation-relevant core competencies during the increasingly demanding sales process. The study also revealed an increased need to particularly take into account individual sales employee needs and concerns during transformation efforts and to promote improved procedural and organisational agility. For each of these aspects, the study presents and discusses a variety of adequate action strategies. Compared to the existing literature, the findings particularly suggest a different way of thinking during transformation that takes into account the relevance of ambidexterity, trust and empowerment of employees and partners to ensure transformation success. As a further contribution to both theory and practice the study provides the so-called "A.C.T.I.V.A.T.E." model for managing transformational change, which integrates the identified influencing factors and provides concrete strategies to handle them. For this purpose, the framework allows the assessment of the individual maturity level of sales ecosystems and suggests concrete recommendations to develop them further. This approach enables vendors and their partners to exploit and explore both existing and new market opportunities and to mitigate transformation risks to the same extent.


Although the Council of Europe has been working in the area of administrative law for decades, the body of pan-European general principles of good administration developed by this organisation remains mostly uncharted. This article attempts to help fill this academic gap by examining the scope and content of the pan-European principles of administrative law stemming from the Council of Europe, with a special emphasis on the principle of good administration. In doing so, the sources of administrative law of the Council of Europe are considered, together with the mechanisms by which they penetrate and permeate domestic legal systems. This article concludes that the work done by the Council of Europe in the administrative field has contributed to a process of harmonisation in its Member States' domestic law, but that the exact scope thereof has yet to be uncovered and requires further research.


The replacement of fossil fuels by a clean and renewable energy source is one of the most urgent and challenging issues our society is facing today, which is why intense research is devoted to this topic recently. Nature has been using sunlight as the primary energy input to oxidize water and generate carbohydrates (a solar fuel) for over a billion years. Inspired, but not constrained, by nature, artificial systems can be designed to capture light and oxidize water and reduce protons or other organic compounds to generate useful chemical fuels. Significant progress has been made recently in artificial photosynthesis based on molecular chemistry and material science. However, developments in these two areas have occurred more independently than what is perhaps desired. "Mole cules and Materials for Artificial Photosynthesis" will bring together researchers in these two scientific communities to explore possible synergistic effects of "fusion" between molecular and materials systems. The primary topics to be covered in our conference will include: