In this paper, we investigate the security of Rainbow and Unbalanced Oil-and-Vinegar (UOV) signature schemes based on multivariate quadratic equations, which is one of the most promising alternatives for post-quantum signature schemes, against side-channel attacks. We describe correlation power analysis (CPA) on the schemes that yield full secret key recoveries. First, we identify a secret leakage of secret affine maps S and T during matrix-vector products in signing when Rainbow is implemented with equivalent keys rather than random affine maps for optimal implementations. In this case, the simple structure of the equivalent keys leads to the retrieval of the entire secret affine map T. Next, we extend the full secret key recovery to the general case using random affine maps via a hybrid attack: after recovering S by performing CPA, we recover T by mounting algebraic key recovery attacks. We demonstrate how this leakage on Rainbow can be practically exploited on an 8-bit AVR microcontroller using CPA. Consequently, our CPA can be applied to Rainbow-like multi-layered schemes regardless of the use of the simple-structured equivalent keys and UOV-like single layer schemes with the implementations using the equivalent keys of the simple structure. This is the first result on the security of multivariate quadratic equations-based signature schemes using only CPA. Our result can be applied to Rainbow-like multi-layered schemes and UOV-like single layer schemes submitted to NIST for Post-Quantum Cryptography Standardization.


The Internet has doubled in size every year in recent years and now spans the globe, facilitating the exchange of all matter of digital data. Recent development has been categorized by an explosion in new commercial activity. Despite overwhelming coverage in the popular press, relatively little is understood regarding the impact the Internet is having on firms that use this medium to facilitate commerce. Even less is understood about the impact on small enterprises-the largest segment of U.S., Japanese, and Western European businesses. This article reports the results of an exploratory study examining critical issues surrounding the use of the Internet in emerging enterprises. The survey (1) describes how small businesses develop and use their on-line sales presence, (2) explores factors that motivate firms to invest in electronic commerce, (3) assesses the importance of the expected benefits of an on-line sales presence on the decision to go on-line, and (4) examines some of the barriers that prevent sma...


As a source or sink of reactive power, compensators can be made from a voltage sourced inverter circuit with the a.c. terminals of the inverter connected to the system through an inductive link and with a capacitor connected across the d.c. terminals. Theoretical calculations on linearised models of the compensators have shown that the parameters characterising the performance are the reduced firing angle and the resonance ratio. The resonance ratio is the ratio of the natural frequency of oscillation of the energy storage components in the circuit to the system frequency. The reduced firing angle of the inverter divided by the damping coefficient, β, where β is half the R to X ratio of the link between the inverter and the system. The theoretical results have been verified by computer simulation and experiment. There is a narrow range of values for the resonance ratio below which there is no appreciable improvement in performance, despite an increase in the cost of the energy storage components, and above which the performance of the equipment is poor with the current being dominated by harmonics. The harmonic performance of the equipment is improved by using multiple inverters and phase shifting transformers to increase the pulse number. The optimum value of the resonance ratio increases pulse number, indicating a reduction in the energy storage components needed at high pulse numbers. The reactive power output from the compensator varies linearly with the reduced firing angle while the losses vary as the square of it.


The study was an evaluation of two approaches to teacher
education, namely a behaviouristic/teaching skills
approach and a humanistic/personal development approach,
in Jordan. The study focused on determining the
effects of these two approaches on teacher effectiveness
during training.
The population of the study consisted of 60 universitygraduate
newly-recruited teachers in UNRWA/UNESCO
schools in Jordan.
The independent variable was the approach to training
while the dependent variables were three instruments:
(a) Classroom observation schedule as measured by
educational supervisors and headteachers (b) Teacher
performance scale as measured by the teacher-trainees,
by their pupils and headteachers and (c) Self-concept
scale as measured by teacher-trainees (pre and post).
The time allocated for the implementation of the
treatment extended for three months and instructional
materials relevant to both approaches were selected,
prepared and made available to two groups who were
randomly distributed in advance.
Analysis of data indicated that trainees improved
roughly equally under both approaches. There was continuous improvement in teaching performance as
assessed in the classroom visits conducted six times
for each teacher-trainee during the treatment. Their
self-concept also grew with training on both approaches.
The outcomes of the approaches were compared and each
examined in its own right.
The study intended to enrich the methodological approach
developed and applied by the UNRWA/UNESCO Institute of
Education, which is called the "Integrated Multi-Media
Approach" whereby different media are applied, in an
integrated manner, in the in-service teacher education
programmes. The study proposed and used a theoretical
background and framework that might be a basis for the
programme design and development in teacher education.
The analysis of data suggested that certain method,—
ological issues merited further investigation, but
that neither approach had been shown to be detrimental to
the overall training.


In 1973, Myron Scholes and the late Fischer Black published their seminal paper on option pricing. The Black-Scholes model revolutionized financial economics in several ways: It contributed to our understanding of a wide range of contracts with option-like features, and it allowed us to revise our understanding of traditional financial instruments. This article addresses the question of how well the Black-Scholes model of option pricing works. The goal is to acquaint a general audience with the key characteristics of a model that is still widely used, and to indicate the opportunities for improvement that might emerge from current research. The article reviews the key features of the Black-Scholes model, identifying some of its most prominent assumptions. The author then employs recent data on almost one-half million options transactions to evaluate the Black-Scholes model. He discusses some of the reasons why the Black-Scholes model falls short, and goes on to assess recent research designed to improve our ability to explain option prices.


Feature Issue on Optical Interconnection Networks (OIN). We demonstrate the
 feasibility of the data vortex interconnection network architecture for use in
 supercomputing by emulating realistic network traffic on an eight-node subnetwork.
 The evaluation workload uses memory accesses from the Barnes-Hut application in the
 SLPASH-2 parallel computing benchmark suite, which was extracted by using the M5
 multiprocessor system simulator. We confirm that traffic is routed correctly and
 efficiently.


Background Anemia affects almost two-thirds of pregnant women in developing countries and contributes to maternal morbidity and mortality and to low birthweight. Objective To determine the prevalence of anemia and the dietary and socioeconomic factors associated with anemia in pregnant women living in an urban community setting in Hyderabad, Pakistan. Methods This was a prospective, observational study of 1,369 pregnant women enrolled at 20 to 26 weeks of gestation and followed to 6 weeks postpartum. A blood sample was obtained at enrollment to determine hemoglobin levels. Information on nutritional knowledge, attitudes, and practice and dietary history regarding usual food intake before and during pregnancy were obtained by trained interviewers within 1 week of enrollment. Results The prevalence of anemia (defined by the World Health Organization as hemoglobin < 11.0 g/dL) in these subjects was 90.5%; of these, 75.0% had mild anemia (hemoglobin from 9.0 to 10.9 g/dL) and 14.8% had moderate anemia (hemoglobin from 7.0 to 8.9 g/dL). Only 0.7% were severely anemic (hemoglobin < 7.0 g/dL). Nonanemic women were significantly taller, weighed more, and had a higher body mass index. Multivariate analysis after adjustment for education, pregnancy history, iron supplementation, and height showed that drinking more than three cups of tea per day before pregnancy (adjusted prevalence odds ratio [aPOR], 3.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.3 to 8.0), consumption of clay or dirt during pregnancy (aPOR, 3.7; 95% CI, 1.1 to 12.3), and never consuming eggs or consuming eggs less than twice a week during pregnancy (aPOR, 1.7; 95% CI, 1.1 to 2.5) were significantly associated with anemia. Consumption of red meat less than twice a week prior to pregnancy was marginally associated with anemia (aPOR, 1.2; 95% CI, 0.8 to 1.8) but was significantly associated with lower mean hemoglobin concentrations (9.9 vs. 10.0 g/dL, p = .05) during the study period. A subanalysis excluding women with mild anemia found similar associations to those of the main model, albeit even stronger. Conclusions A high percentage of women at 20 to 26 weeks of pregnancy had mild to moderate anemia. Pica, tea consumption, and low intake of eggs and red meat were associated with anemia. Women of childbearing age should be provided nutritional education regarding food sources of iron, especially prior to becoming pregnant, and taught how food choices can either enhance or interfere with iron absorption.


Using the so-called ac field technique, we investigate experimentally the influence of optical beam coupling on the generation of subharmonic gratings in a photorefractive sillenite crystal. By the use of two different recording configurations, we are able to distinguish between effects caused by material nonlinearities and effects caused by optical beam coupling.


In this review it is reported about the research on the structure of intermolecular water cyclic associates (clusters) with general formula (Н2О)n and their charged ionic clusters [(Н2О)n] + and [(Н2О)n] by means of computer modeling and spectroscopy methods as 1 Н-NMR, IR-spectroscopy, DNES, EXAFS-spectroscopy, X-Ray and neurons diffraction. The computer calculation of polyhedral nanoclusters (Н2О)n, where n = 3–20 are carried out. Based on this data the main structural mathematical models describing water structure (quasicrystalline, continuous, fractal, fractal-clathrate) have been examined and some important physical characteristics were obtained. The average energy of hydrogen bonding between Н2О molecules in the process of cluster formation was measured by the DNES method compiles -0.1067 ± 0.0011 eV. It was also shown that water clusters formed from D2О were more stable, than those ones from Н2О due to isotopic effects of deuterium.


Value at risk (VaR) is an approach used in risk management to measure downside risk. Not all VaRs, however, are created equal. Defining and accurately measuring market risk is a considerable task. VaR estimates depend on a number of inputs, including assumptions, data parameters, and methodology. Accordingly, comprehending the optimal use of various input and how they might impact the VaR forecast is necessary to avoid biasing portfolio risk estimates. The authors examine three equity portfolios of varying degrees of diversification, using twenty common VaR models developed through four VaR techniques to clearly demonstrate the ramifications of using inappropriate models. They find that particular characteristics of a portfolio must guide and determine which VaR model may be applied in order to extract accurate VaR estimates. Using the wrong VaR model will bias the behavior of portfolio managers and cause them to be exposed to much more risk than they desire.


In the context of decision support systems, a model management system (MMS) is analogous to a database management system providing support for the various phases of a modeling life-cycle while insulating user from the physical aspects of model base storage and processing. An underlying premise is the recognition of models as a resource that need to be managed and modeling as an activity that need to be supported within organizations. The recent developments of the Web and distributed computing environments is creating ever increasing demands for sharing and reusing heterogeneous models over corporate intranets and the Internet. To this end, this paper presents a semantic Web services-based architecture for MMS. The architecture is based on service-oriented principles and web services standards to support model sharing and reuse in a distributed environment. Integral to the architecture is the use of ontologies and artificial intelligence (AI) planning techniques to facilitate model composition. We demonstrate the features and advantages of the proposed architecture using representative examples. We conclude with a discussion of the current state of implementation and plans for future work.


Three employees from two different detergent companies were investigated for occupational asthma, using skin prick tests, serum specific IgE, and specific bronchial challenge. Two were challenged with lipase and one with cellulase. All three cases had immunological evidence of sensitisation to the detergent enzymes with which they worked. Bronchial challenge in each provoked a reproducible dual asthmatic response, which reproduced their work related symptoms. These are the first reported cases of occupational asthma attributable to cellulase and lipase in the detergent industry. Four of the most common enzymes used in this industry have now been reported to cause occupational asthma; continued vigilance and caution are needed when working with these or other enzymes.


The aim of the present study was to establish the Tweed's parameters for South Indian population. A study of 70 South Indian young adults (35 males and 35 females) within age range of 18-28 years with acceptable profile and occlusion were selected for the study and assessed using Tweed's analysis. The three angular parameters of Tweed's analysis, Frankfort Mandibular plane angle (FMA), Frankfort Mandibular Incisal Angle (FMIA) and Incisor Mandibular plane angle (IMPA) for the South Indian population was measured and found to be 23.1, 57.1 and 99.8 degree respectively. Significant difference was seen among young adult South Indian population and Caucasian values of Tweeds diagnostic triangle. There was a difference in between the mean values of FMA and FMIA among male and female South Indian population and the IMPA did not show any difference.


At the dawn of a new millennium, America's quest to overcome the lasting impact of centuries of racial inequality is on a collision course with its even more pervasive preoccupation with quantifiable measurements of that all American social good, "success." According to Nicholas Lemann in The Big Test: the Secret History of the American Meritocracy (New York, 1999), his masterful account of this impending collision course in higher education, "two conflicting sets of numbers" are being generated that spell mutually inconsistent solutions for distributing high-stakes educational opportunity. The first is "everyone's scores on standardized tests." The second is "the share of good jobs and educational billets" held by African Americans or women. Those who believe in education by the first set of numbers allocate places in colleges or universities based on scores on mental aptitude tests. Deciding who "deserves" to benefit from admission to selective colleges and universities occurs within a testocracy which sorts, evaluates, and ranks measurable mental aptitude. Test scores are presumed to tell us all that we can and need to know about each applicant's potential and future capacity, defined by "merit." Those committed to the second set of numbers believe just as fervently in discovering and promoting untapped, and perhaps immeasurable, human potential when it lives in dark-skinned or female bodies. Commitments to the second set of numbers are defended in the name of fairness. In recent years, claims of merit have trumped African American's claims of fairness. The testocrats, those who believe in the first set of numbers, are certain that those who are capable of knowing the most will rise to become part of a competent and legitimate intellectual elite or mental theocracy. Thus. they satisfy concerns about fairness and equal opportunity when access to higher education--or other opportunities such as jobs or public offices--is awarded in an open competition to those with the most merit, i.e., those with the highest test scores. While the old boys network of yore was an elite based on inherited privilege, this new elite claims to earn their places based on their inherited aptitude, legitimated by claims of democratic opportunity. Equal opportunity in this understanding means the opportunity to achieve one's just deserts based on one's measurable merit. Once a meritocracy is firmly in place, the equal opportunity society expects nothing further of its successes. Equality of results is anathema. Monitoring what anyone does with opportunity is tyrannical. Society will certainly benefit, since those who are most deserving will be justly rewarded, and thus presumably have incentive to keep climbing upward. In contrast, those who emphasize the second set of numbers--defenders of affirmative action--seek to measure how far we have come from slavery and state-sanctioned segregation. They seek to redistribute opportunity to succeed based on principles of fairness to ensure that those who have traditionally been denied such opportunity are compensated or at least no longer held back. They argue that the traditional "test-centered" approaches to merit--based on fixed, one-size-fits-all tests of mental aptitude--simply fail to detect the actual potential of those who, because of the legacy of human bondage and Jim Crow, are ill prepared to excel on aptitude tests but can nevertheless succeed. This approach implicitly questions whether indicators of aptitude measured by standard tests are a true test of merit, but this critique is more often than not left unstated. Whether the "winners" deserve to succeed, i.e., whether they have "merit," is not the issue. The question is whether the particular losers of color deserve to lose. The need to assure diversity among those admitted to elite universities, as with other educational opportunities, is one way this concern with fairness and compensatory justice has recently been articulated. …


Despite a growing interest in academic spin-offs (ASOs), research has overlooked the determinants, strategies, and outcomes of their internationalization choices. In this chapter, we review existing literature on the topic of internationalization of ASOs, connecting it to international business and international entrepreneurship literature, identifying relevant theoretical and empirical knowledge gaps. We then carry out a descriptive investigation about the characteristics and internationalization patterns of ASOs in the Italian context, drawing on a survey on 120 companies. Based on the review and our results, we highlight research areas deserving future investigation.


INTRODUCTION The role of interpersonal communications has long been understood to play an important role in explaining the unfolding of various social phenomena. In commerce, such interpersonal communications, which are typically referred to as word of mouth (WOM), have traditionally involved face-to-face exchanges of product- or brand-related information between members of personal social networks. As research has shown, WOM is especially important because messages exchanged through this format are more influential in terms of shaping consumer choice than firm-controlled messages such as advertising (Godes et al., 2005; Walsh, Gwinner, & Swanson, 2004; Buttle, 1998) Research into the spread of conventional WOM communications has revealed that not all members of personal social networks are equally important in terms of facilitating the spread of information by WOM (Clark & Goldsmith, 2005). Consumer behavior researchers have identified several different types of consumers who are more likely to disseminate product or marketplace information to other consumers, and who also tend to exert influence over other consumers. The subject of this paper concerns one of these special consumers, the market maven. Though early purchasers and opinion leaders certainly warrant the attention of marketing managers, the ideal target for communicating marketing mix changes that span multiple product categories and involve something more than new product introduction should have knowledge about a wide array of goods and services and the process of acquiring them (Feick & Price, 1987). Market mavens are recognized by other consumers for a generalized marketplace expertise across a wide range of product classes in contrast to opinion leaders that tend to focus on a narrow range of product classes (Feick & Price, 1987). Market mavens are motivated learn about products and brands across a wide variety of product classes and spread this knowledge to other consumers, thus making them especially important players in spreading marketplace information through WOM (Gladwell, 2000). Although conventional WOM communication is known to influence consumer behavior, its influence is typically limited personal social networks where consumers interact face-to-face. The rise of internet technologies removes this limitation by allowing interested individuals to form and exchange information in virtual communities. These communities enable consumers to extend their reach beyond personal social networks into vast virtual social networks that span the globe. This empowers consumers as never before and greatly increases the importance of WOM communication in consumer choice (Hart & Blackshaw, 2005). Because of this, marketing practitioners are exploring ways to stimulate and manipulate electronic WOM (eWOM) (Dellarocas, 2006) and marketing researchers are beginning to explore consumer behaviors and the flow of eWOM in virtual communities (Sun et al, 2006; Godes & Mayzlin, 2004). Despite the recent interest in eWOM, there remains a dearth of research regarding efficient and effective electronic identification and differentiation of market mavens online. This study draws on prior research into the characteristics and motivations of the market maven to propose online behaviors that will help marketers distinguishing market mavens from other virtual community members, such as opinion leaders. The managerial implications of being able to identify and differentiate market mavens from others are discussed along with ideas for future research. eWOM AND COMMUNITY-GENERATED MEDIA Interpersonal communications are important for influencing marketplace choices and diffusing information on new products (Arndt, 1967). Traditionally, such WOM communications have involved face-to-face exchanges of product or brand information. eWOM on the other hand, does not involve face-to-face exchanges, but rather takes place through a wide variety of Internet media including discussion forums (e. …


We study the changes in greeting behavior caused by the COVID-19 pandemic We find that after the use of handshakes and social kissing as forms of greeting decreased drastically, they became common again already a few months after the outbreak Nevertheless, a consistently large proportion of respondents (around 57%) plan to change their greeting behavior permanently, either because they simply became used to it or because they want to avoid the danger of contracting and transmitting infectious diseases As can be seen from the results of the first survey wave in April, 2020, the belief in conspiracy theories about COVID-19 did not influence the greeting behavior of individuals, but it proved to have a strong impact in the second survey wave in September, 2020


Background Age and body mass index (BMI) are positively associated with the development of the metabolic syndrome (MetS). Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) can attenuate BMI-related increases in prevalence of MetS, but the nature of this association across different age strata has not been fully investigated. Aim To identify the association between CRF and MetS prevalence across age strata (20–69 years) and determine whether associations are independent of BMI. Methods CRF was estimated from incremental treadmill exercise in British men attending preventative health screening. Participants were placed in four age strata (20–39, 40–49, 50–59 and 60–69 years) and classified as fit or unfit using age-related cut-offs. The presence of MetS was defined using the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III criteria. Results 9666 asymptomatic men (48.7±8.4 years) were enrolled. The prevalence of MetS was 25.5% in all men and ranged from 17.1% in those aged 20–39 years to 30.6% in those aged 60–69 years. Fit men's likelihood of meeting the criteria for MetS was half (OR=0.51, 95% CI 0.46 to 0.57) that of unfit men. The likelihood of MetS was 32–53% lower across age strata in fit, compared with unfit men. Adjustment for BMI attenuated the association, though it remained significant in men aged 20–49 years. Conclusions The cardiometabolic benefits of CRF are independent of BMI particularly in men <50 years. Public health messages should emphasise the important role of CRF alongside weight management for enhancing cardiometabolic health.


Gastric cancer is one of the most common malignancies and a leading cause of cancer death worldwide. The prognosis of stomach cancer is generally poor as this cancer is not very sensitive to commonly used chemotherapies. Epigenetic modifications play a key role in gastric cancer and contribute to the development and progression of this malignancy. In order to explore new treatment options in this target area we have screened a library of epigenetic inhibitors against gastric cancer cell lines and identified inhibitors for the BET family of bromodomains as potent inhibitors of gastric cancer cell proliferations. Here we show that both the pan-BET inhibitor (+)-JQ1 as well as a newly developed specific isoxazole inhibitor, PNZ5, showed potent inhibition of gastric cancer cell growth. Intriguingly, we found differences in the antiproliferative response between gastric cancer cells tested derived from Brazilian patients as compared to those from Asian patients, the latter being largely resistant to BET inhibition. As BET inhibitors are entering clinical trials these findings provide the first starting point for future therapies targeting gastric cancer.


Assessing the influence of land cover in species distribution modelling is limited by the availability of fine‐resolution land‐cover data appropriate for most species responses. Remote‐sensing technology offers great potential for predicting species distributions at large scales, but the cost and required expertise are prohibitive for many applications. We test the usefulness of freely available raw remote‐sensing reflectance data in predicting species distributions of 40 commonly occurring bird species in western Oregon.


This essay examines the production of a dynamic "Old Negro" figure in African American discourse during the New Negro Renaissance. Conflicting impulses to claim the Old Negro as an ancestor and to renounce him as an obstacle to racial progress mirrored a broader tension about representing slavery in black cultural production. While Alain Locke and other critics called for literature to portray the Negro of the new day and discard the old representations, James Weldon Johnson understood the Old Negro's enduring importance to modern black self-conception. His 1912 novel, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, portrays the consequences of accepting existing, white-authored literary representations of the Old Negro. While Johnson's ex–colored man fails to reclaim this figure, Johnson himself did exactly that in his 1917 adaptation of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852), an operatic cantata that until now has never been examined. In this text, Johnson incorporates and evolves the Old Negro into a contemporary literary tradition that challenges the racial violence of Jim Crow and celebrates black survival


The release of over 27 million pages of internal tobacco industry documents as a result of discovery processes in The State of Minnesota and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota versus Philip Morris et al and other legal cases has provided tobacco control researchers and advocates with unprecedented opportunities to understand more about the inner workings of the industry. Documents are available for public viewing at the Minnesota Tobacco Document Depository, which opened in Minneapolis in 1998, at the Guildford Document Depository in Guildford, England, and on the world wide web, accessible through http://www.TobaccoArchives.com/ and other sites. In addition, through websites, users can get access to documents produced under the state litigation in Washington, Mississippi, Florida, and Texas, and selections from the British American Tobacco documents housed at Guildford, UK. (see "other tobacco documents resources", below).

Though the vast majority of documents are from the Minnesota case, which resulted in the release of documents from Philip Morris, RJ Reynolds, American Tobacco, Lorillard, the Tobacco Institute, Brown and Williamson, and the Council on Tobacco Research, collections continue to become available in conjunction with other legal cases. Given the enormous numbers of documents that are available, the collections may prove to be either a treasure trove of information valuable for tobacco control research and advocacy, or a quagmire of quantity into which researchers sink in despair. In this article, we discuss differences between searching for documents at the depository and on various online sites and suggest some practical strategies that may help researchers be more productive while using these collections.

The depository is located in Minneapolis in a business park near the University of Minnesota. The number of computer terminals available for public searching is limited, so it is usually necessary to make reservations in advance of a visit to ensure …


High precipitation amounts of strongly varying ionic composition make the western parts of southern Norway well-suited for studies of certain relationships between precipitation chemistry, hydrology, and runoff acidity. Ions from sea-spray are the predominant ions in precipitation in these areas. The remaining ions are almost exclusively acidifying compounds (H+, NH4+, SO42−, NO3−), negatively correlated to the sea-spray ions.

Hydrochemical observations during 5 years confirm that Cl− and, to a considerable extent, also SO42− move rather easily through the catchments, while NO3− is strongly adsorbed. The acid top soil tends to lead to acid surface runoff, while water penetrating deeper mineral soils becomes enriched in Ca2+ and depleted in H+, resulting in a high correlation between runoff acidity and runoff rate. The short-term variations in runoff acidity are thus governed largely by runoff rate and by atmospheric deposits of Cl− and SO42−. In this particular precipitation climate this yields in fact a negative short-term correlation between precipitation acidity and runoff acidity.

A long-term acidification, indicated by declining fish populations, does probably arise from a SO42− -increase in runoff (caused by increased atmopheric deposition), and from a change in soil properties (caused by acid precipitation, and possibly also by changed vegetation).


A new approach to thermal conductivity evaluation derived from transient hot-wire (THW) and transient hot-strip (THS) experiments is presented. Although based on the widely used quasilinear approximation to the working equation, the new method no longer requires precise location of the evaluable part of the signal but can rather be applied to the entire curve monitored. The two-step procedure involves assigning a unique thermal conductivity value, λ i , to each data point observed, followed by statistical treatment of the resulting set of values. The thermal conductivity of the material under test is then obtained from a distribution model applied to λ i as the location of the most probable value, λ m . Since no special action by the experimenter is required, the new method is suitable for integration into the instrument's evaluation software. The evaluation procedure was first verified on finite-element-model simulated THW/THS signals and has then been successfully applied to experimental data on water (THW) and Pyrex (THS).


Aim Recent meta-analyses have revealed that plant traits and their phylogenetic history influence decay rates of dead wood and leaf litter, but it remains unknown if decay rates of wood and litter covary over a wide range of tree species and across ecosystems. We evaluated the relationships between species-specific wood and leaf litter decomposability, as well as between wood and leaf traits that control their respective decomposability. Location Global. Methods We compiled data on rates of wood and leaf litter decomposition for 324 and 635 tree species, respectively, and data on six functional traits for both organs. We used hierarchical Bayesian meta-analysis to estimate, for the first time, species-specific values for wood and leaf litter decomposability standardized to reference conditions (k*wood and k*leaf) across the globe. With these data, we evaluated the relationships: (1) between wood and leaf traits, (2) between each k* and the selected traits within and across organs, and (3) between wood and leaf k*. Results Across all species k*wood and k*leaf were positively correlated, phylogenetically clustered and correlated with plant functional traits within and across organs. k* of both organs was usually better described as a function of within- and cross-organ traits, than of within-organ traits alone. When analysed for angiosperms and gymnosperms separately, wood and leaf k* were no longer significantly correlated, but each k* was still significantly correlated to the functional traits. Main conclusions We demonstrate important relationships among wood and leaf litter decomposability as after-life effects of traits from the living plants. These functional traits influence the decomposability of senesced tissue which could potentially lead to alterations in the rates of biogeochemical cycling, depending on the phylogenetic structure of the species pool. These results provide crucial information for a better representation of decomposition rates in dynamic global vegetation models.


: Many of the researchers attained concentration on CFRP (Carbon fiber reinforced polymers) and identified as maximum material for the implementing in the domains of engineering in former past years unsettled for their maximum robustness for less ratio weight, resistance of corrosion & resilience. However, process of machining is seen as the great challenge due to their high strength & high hardness. The selection of cutting tool is another aspect. The present contribution of experimental work deals with the impact of machining aspects on CFRP plates prepared by Hand lay-up procedure. Here, the simulation study has been conducted on a CNC Drilling machine by considering Speed, Feed and type of Cutting tool as parameters. A High-Speed Steel (HSS) Drill bit of size 12mm is used to drill the hole without coating and with titanium-aluminum-nitride (TiAlN) Nano coating. The drilling operation further enhanced once again by double coating of HSS tool with titanium-aluminum-nitride to describe the hole quality. The drilling operation is performed on six different thicknesses of CFRP plates to observe the quality of the hole at entry and exit. When the double coated HSS tool introduced it is observed that the quality of hole at entry and exist is same and without push-out delamination (POD). The observations are optimized by using Design of experiments (DOE). Finally, the outcomes exhibit the optimal drill hole quality surface on the CFRP metal through using double coating of titanium-aluminum-nitride on HSS drill bit is explained by using Taguchi Analysis for six different thickness.


Objective: Fecal loading, cognitive impairment, loose stools, functional disability, comorbidity and anorectal incontinence are recognized as factors contributing to loss of fecal continence in older adults. The objective of this project was to assess the relative distribution of these factors in a variety of settings along with the outcome of usual management. Methods: One hundred and twenty adults aged 65 years and over with fecal incontinence recruited by convenience sampling from four different settings were studied. They were either living at home or in a nursing home or receiving care on an acute or rehabilitation elderly care ward. A structured questionnaire was used to elicit which factors associated with fecal incontinence were present from subjects who had given written informed consent or for whom assent for inclusion in the study had been obtained. Results: Fecal loading (Homes 6 [20%]; Acute care wards 17 [57%]; Rehabilitation wards 19 [63%]; Nursing homes 21 [70%]) and functional disability (Homes 5 [17%]; Acute care wards 25 [83%]; Rehabilitation wards 25 [83%]; Nursing homes 20 [67%]) were significantly more prevalent in the hospital and nursing home settings than in those living at home (P < 0.01). Loose stools were more prevalent in the hospital setting than in the other settings (Homes 11 [37%]; Acute care wards 20 [67%]; Rehabilitation wards 17 [57%]; Nursing homes 6 [20%]) (P < 0.01). Cognitive impairment was significantly more common in the nursing home than in the other settings (Nursing homes 26 [87%], Homes 5 [17%], Acute care wards 13 [43%], Rehabilitation wards 14 [47%]) (P < 0.01). Loose stools were the most prevalent factor present at baseline in 13 of the 19 (68%) subjects whose fecal incontinence had resolved at 3 months. Conclusion: The distribution of the factors contributing to fecal incontinence in older people living at home differs from those cared for in nursing home and hospital wards settings. These differences need to be borne in mind when assessing people in different settings. Management appears to result in a cure for those who are not significantly disabled with loose stools as a cause for their fecal incontinence, but this would need to be confirmed by further research.


Following Marcel Mauss, who argued that the way people move and position their bodies is socially learned and culturally specific, I examine the ways that bodies move in one particular culture in Papua New Guinea, namely the Lelet. I extend Mauss' insights by drawing on the work of Judith Butler, who suggests that gender is a performance rather than instinctive. Looking at the kinds of actions Lelet women perform, I argue that these play an important part in constituting them as gendered beings. Lelet women's bodily movements, comportments and dispositions are heavily circumscribed by conventions that define what sorts of movements are appropriate to their gender. This process of engendering is quintessentially about power and shows how particular forms of power produce particular subjects. Although these gender conventions are sometimes enforced by punitive means, women largely come to embody them as a process of self-government. Although the Christian church has upheld such conventions in the past, the Pentecostal Christianity the Lelet now practice has produced departures from them, which I analyse.


Summary

1. Management of stream biodiversity is often tightly linked with the restoration and protection of riparian and catchment vegetation. Despite that, there are no established guidelines on how much forest should be retained or replanted in riparian zones and surrounding catchments to maintain or re-establish instream ecological integrity. In this study, we assess relationships between vegetation cover at multiple spatial scales (reach, segment and catchment) and macroinvertebrate metrics that reflect community structure, ecological condition and biodiversity at 138 Waikato, New Zealand, stream sites sampled in 2006.

2. Percentage of catchment vegetation in native forest had stronger relationships with measured diversity and condition metrics than segment or reach scale measures of riparian vegetation. Functional feeding group metrics were weakly associated with upstream catchment vegetation cover.

3. Of the macroinvertebrate metrics tested, the RIVPAC O/E and an organic pollution tolerance metric based on species presence–absence (Macroinvertebrate Community Index; MCI) had the strongest relationships with percentage native riparian vegetation, followed by the quantitative MCI and measures of the richness and relative abundance of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera faunas. The O/E and MCI indicated that catchments with 80–90% in native forest or scrub (low-growing trees) were associated with faunas indicative of "clean" water quality.

4. Of the biodiversity indices considered Fisher's α Index of species richness had the strongest relationship with percent native riparian vegetation in the upstream catchment. There are no established thresholds for measuring biodiversity loss in New Zealand streams, but this analysis indicates that on average streams draining catchments with 40–60% upstream native vegetation cover retain 80% of the mean biodiversity present in pristine forest streams.

5. This research indicates that riparian management aimed at enhancing macroinvertebrate biodiversity and the ecological condition of streams is likely to be more successful when focused on protecting and/or restoring headwater catchments rather than short stretches of stream.


Higher education institutions (HEIs) are pivotal organizations in knowledge societies. A growing need for societal legitimation has led many HEIs to expand their media efforts—as news media are important sources through which both the broader public and stakeholders inform themselves about HEIs. Despite this importance of the news media–HEI nexus, few studies have analyzed it, and the scholarship has considerable gaps. Most studies focus on few news outlets, specific media types, or coverage of a few research universities. Therefore, this study provides a comprehensive picture of coverage of all Swiss HEIs across diverse media. Using data from quantitative content analysis of news articles ( N = 5,732), official statistics, and HEI websites, we conducted a hierarchical cluster analysis to map coverage. We identified 6 types of HEIs that differ from official distinctions of HEIs, are portrayed differently in news media, and exhibit different structural characteristics. Only 2 types receive a high amount of coverage, showing that few large and strongly resourced universities have great advantages in the competition for visibility.


The objective of the present work is co-production of bio-fuels and magnetic activated carbon (MAC) materials via fast pyrolysis of lignin and ferrous salts mixtures and steam activation of pyrolysis char. Specifically, the effect of the addition of the ferrous salts on the quality of biofuels including bio-gas and bio-oil is investigated. The effect of the addition of the ferrous salts on the mass loss rate of bio-chars during the steam activation process is also investigated. Results show that for the fast pyrolysis process, the addition of ferrous salts leads to a hydrogen rich bio-gas and non-guaiacols containing bio-oil production. The cracking effect of irons for the fast pyrolysis vapors is believed to be the dominated reason. For the steam activation process, the addition of the ferrous salts causes a relatively low mass loss rate of bio-chars, because steam can oxidize iron to form magnetite.


This case study is one of ten international case studies developed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), in association with the Korean Research Institute for Human Settlements (KRIHS), for the cities of Anyang, Medellin, Namyangju, Orlando, Pangyo, Rio de Janeiro, Santander, Singapore, Songdo, and Tel Aviv. At the IDB, the Competitiveness and Innovation Division (CTI), the Fiscal and Municipal Management Division (FMM), and the Emerging and Sustainable Cities Initiative (ESCI) coordinated the study. This project was part of technical cooperation ME-T1254, financed by the Knowledge Partnership Korean Fund for Technology and Innovation of the Republic of Korea. At KRIHS, the National Infrastructure Research Division coordinated the project and the Global Development Partnership Center (GDPC) provided the funding. Medellin launched a series of strategies to become smart city. They are oriented to the citizen, through a series of services that improve their quality of life as they develop capacity and organizational structure in the entities that control mobility, the environment, and safety. In addition, these initiatives have created mechanisms to communicate and interact with citizens in order to promote continuous improvement of smart services.


The objective of this study is the synthesis of activated carbon derived from cattle manure compost (CMC) causing environmental problems using zinc chloride (ZnCl2) activation and to examine the suitability and performance of the prepared activated carbon (PAC) in removing 2-methylisoborneol (2-MIB) from aqueous solution. The influence of ZnCl 2/CMC ratios and outgassing from the PACs on the removal of 2-MIB were studied. Pore texture and surface functional groups were obtained to characterize the PACs. It is suggested that the increase of micropore surface area and volume as a result of the activation favored the removal of 2-MIB while activated carbon rich in acidic functional groups showed poor 2-MIB adsorption. The preferable removal of 2-MIB depended on the poor acidic functional groups and the higher micropore surface area in the PACs. A sample of the PACs was synthesized at a lower temperature (around 550 WC) compared to commercially available activated carbon (CAAC) (around 900 °C). The sample showed a performance for 2-MIB removal for drinking water purification as well as CAAC. Furthermore from the results of N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms and 2-MIB adsorption isotherm in aqueous solution pore structure of PACs and 2-MIB adsorption mechanism on it were suggested.


The integration of III–V optoelectronic devices on silicon is confronted with the challenge of heat dissipation for reliable and stable operation. A thorough understanding and characterization of thermal transport is paramount for improved designs of, for example, viable III–V light sources on silicon. In this work, the thermal conductivity of heteroepitaxial laterally overgrown InP layers on silicon is experimentally investigated using microRaman thermometry. By examining InP mesa-like structures grown from trenches defined by a SiO2 mask, we found that the thermal conductivity decreases by about one third, compared to the bulk thermal conductivity of InP, with decreasing width from 400 to 250 nm. The high thermal conductivity of InP grown from 400 nm trenches was attributed to the lower defect density as the InP microcrystal becomes thicker. In this case, the thermal transport is dominated by phonon–phonon interactions as in a low defect-density monocrystalline bulk material, whereas for thinner InP layers grown from narrower trenches, the heat transfer is dominated by phonon scattering at the extended defects and InP/SiO2 interface. In addition to the nominally undoped sample, sulfur-doped (1 × 1018 cm−3) InP grown on Si was also studied. For the narrower doped InP microcrystals, the thermal conductivity decreased by a factor of two compared to the bulk value. Sources of errors in the thermal conductivity measurements are discussed. The experimental temperature rise was successfully simulated by the heat diffusion equation using the FEM.


Fresh material, type studies and molecular phylogeny were used to clarify phylogenetic relationships of the nine genera Acrocordiella, Blogiascospora, Clypeosphaeria, Hymenopleella, Lepteutypa, Pseudapiospora, Requienella, Seiridium and Strickeria. At first sight, some of these genera do not seem to have much in common, but all were found to belong to the Xylariales, based on their generic types. Thus, the most peculiar finding is the phylogenetic affinity of the genera Acrocordiella, Requienella and Strickeria, which had been classified in the Dothideomycetes or Eurotiomycetes, to the Xylariales. Acrocordiella and Requienella are closely related but distinct genera of the Requienellaceae. Although their ascospores are similar to those of Lepteutypa, phylogenetic analyses do not reveal a particularly close relationship. The generic type of Lepteutypa, L. fuckelii, belongs to the Amphisphaeriaceae. Lepteutypa sambuci is newly described. Hymenopleella is recognised as phylogenetically distinct from Lepteutypa, and Hymenopleella hippophaëicola is proposed as new name for its generic type, Sphaeria (= Lepteutypa) hippophaës. Clypeosphaeria uniseptata is combined in Lepteutypa. No asexual morphs have been detected in species of Lepteutypa. Pseudomassaria fallax, unrelated to the generic type, P. chondrospora, is transferred to the new genus Basiseptospora, the genus Pseudapiospora is revived for P. corni, and Pseudomassaria carolinensis is combined in Beltraniella (Beltraniaceae). The family Clypeosphaeriaceae is discontinued, because the generic type of Clypeosphaeria, C. mamillana, is a member of the Xylariaceae. The genus Seiridium, of which the sexual morph Blogiascospora is confirmed, is unrelated to Lepteutypa, as is Lepteutypa cupressi. The taxonomy of the cypress canker agents is discussed. The family Sporocadaceae is revived for a large clade of the Xylariales that contains Hymenopleella, Seiridium and Strickeria among a number of other genera. Neotypes are proposed for Massaria fuckelii and Sphaeria hippophaës. Didymella vexata, Seiridium marginatum, Sphaeria corni, Sphaeria hippophaës, Sphaeria seminuda are epitypified, Apiosporina fallax, Massaria occulta, Sphaeria mamillana and Strickeria kochii are lecto- and epitypified. We also provide DNA data for Broomella vitalbae, Cainia desmazieri and Creosphaeria sassafras.


Increasing focus is being placed on fair assessment practices in South Africa. Most psychological tests used in this country were designed and developed in other countries. Research has shown that when using these tests on a different target population, it is important to determine the suitability of the test for that population. This involves investigating reliability, validity and possible sources of bias. It is equally important to have local normative data with which scores can be compared and interpreted. Research in this area has been limited. The purpose of this study was to undertake such research by evaluating a widely used test, the Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices (RCPM), and its existing norms, for Zulu children in South Africa. The study also aimed to provide raw data, which could be used to assist with the compilation of local norms. The test was administered to a convenience sample of 522 primary school children between the ages of 5 and 12 years old. The sample was divided into two groups to represent two different geographical locations: rural and urban. The sample consisted of 284 rural children and 237 urban children. There were 263 males and 259 females in the sample. Findings indicated good test reliability for this sample. Test validity however could not be confirmed as possible sources of bias at the content and item levels were shown. Age had a significant effect on performance, but level of education appeared to be the strongest predictor of performance on the RCPM for this sample. Significant gender differences were found. There was a tendency for males to outperform females on the test. Location had a significant effect on scores, where urban children performed better than rural children. Comparison of Zulu sample scores with those produced by the British standardisation sample, revealed a large discrepancy in performance between the two different cultural groups. The Zulu sample mean scores were significantly lower than the British mean scores. These findings highlight the need for locally developed normative data. The validity of the test for the sample requires further investigation. Results indicate that test adaptation may be required for Zulu children.


Abstract. Map renderers play a crucial role in Web, desktop, and mobile applications. In this context, code portability is a common problem, often addressed by maintaining multiple code bases: one for theWeb, usually written in JavaScript, and one for desktop and mobile, often written in C/C++. The maintenance of several code bases slows down innovation and makes evolution time-consuming. In this paper, we review existing open-source map renderers, examine how they address this problem, and identify the downsides of the current strategies. With a proof of concept, we demonstrate that Rust, WebAssembly, and WebGPU are now sufficiently mature to address this problem. Our new open-source map renderer written in Rust runs on all platforms and showcases good performance. Finally, we explain the challenges and limitations encountered while implementing a modern map renderer with these technologies.


Based on the view of morality proposed by the Moral Foundations Theory, this paper investigates whether voting intention is associated with moral foundation endorsement in not perfectly bipolar electoral contexts. Three studies carried out in Italy from 2010 to 2013, showed that controlling for ideological orientation, moral foundation endorsement is associated with voting intention. In Study 1 and 3, in fictitious and real national elections, intention to vote for right-wing political groups rather than for left-wing rivals was associated with Sanctity, confirming previous results obtained in the U.S. Furthermore, as a function of the specific competing political groups in each of the examined contexts other moral foundations predicted voting intention. In Study 1, Care and Authority predicted voting intention for the major political groups rather than for an autonomist party that aimed at decreasing central government's fiscal power in favor of fiscal regional autonomy. In Study 3, Loyalty predicted the intention to vote for the major parliamentarian parties rather than for a movement that aimed at capturing disaffection towards traditional politics. In Study 2, at real regional elections, Loyalty predicted voting intention for the incumbent right-wing governor rather than for the challengers and Fairness predicted voting intention for left-wing extra-parliamentarian political groups rather than for the major left-wing party. Thus multiple moral concerns can be associated with voting intention. In fragmented and unstable electoral contexts, at each election the context of the competing political groups may elicit specific moral concerns that can contribute to affect voting intention beyond ideological orientation.


Background: Systemic sclerosis is an autoimmune connective tissue disorder which is characterised by cutaneous and internal organ fibrosis. Raynaud's phenomenon is the earliest feature and may precede the onset of the disease by months to years. The heart, lungs, gastrointestinal tract, kidneys and other organs may be involved. Our aim was to evaluate skin thickness and echogenicity in systemic sclerosis patients by ultrasound and compare it with the healthy age and sex matched controls. Method: Our study included 15 successively admitted patients (14 females and 1 male) with systemic sclerosis and 15 healthy age and sex matched controls. All the patients met the ACR criteria of diagnosis. The age range of the patients was 25-55 years. The disease duration ranged from 1-8 years. A complete history and physical examination was done for each patient. Skin thickness and echogenicity were measured by a 20MHz ultrasound probe at 6 different anatomical sites which was compared with that of the controls. Result: Skin thickness was more in systemic sclerosis patients (significant p value) as compared to controls, and echogenicity was inversely proportional to the skin thickness. Conclusion: Skin ultrasonography is a noninvasive method which can reflect the severity of skin involvement and periodic assessment of skin thickness and echogenicity can help to monitor the progression of the disease.


Italian water services reform, started in 1994, has been surrounded by a lively debate on water management models; however, the story of the reform is difficult to understand if only those models chosen by local public agencies are considered. This paper provides a general picture of the reform, analyzes the decision-making process and presents a map of local outcomes. The decision-making analysis considers the course of action taken by the actors involved in reform from 1994 to 2008, and summarizes the events into three rounds. The map of the local modes of governance is focused on the relationship between local authorities and utilities, and has been realized through a collection of data from the 91 areas in which the national system has been reorganized, which has allowed the definition of four ideal types of outcome. The analysis shows that the range of solutions is wider (and the boundaries between them more ambiguous) than commonly assumed by the mainstream national debate which appears to overestimate the role of tools and of formal instruments, and, conversely, to underestimate the real and differentiated abilities and power of the actors in the water sector.


Research institutions have emphasized alternative disease control agents because they represent a great option with beneficial effects on human and animal health and ecosystem balance. Despite the studies already done on botanical fungicides, their effective use requires knowledge about the applicability of natural products to different production systems. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of essential oils of Ocimum pupuraceus L., Cymbopogon nardus (L.) Rendle, Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapf, and Lippia sidoides Cham. on the inhibition of mycelial growth and germination of conidia of B. maydis. The other objectives of this study were to perform gas chromatographic and phytotoxicity analyses, and test the control of bipolaris leaf spot using essential oils of L. sidoides applied as a preventive and curative agent. Among the treatments studied, the essential oil of L. sidoides is effective in inhibiting mycelial growth and conidial germination at the concentrations of 5 and 1%, respectively. The main constituent of the oil is thymol (92.68%). The concentration range 0.75-3% of L. sidoides essential oil is phytotoxic to maize plants. Lower values of the area under the progress curve of bipolaris leaf spot are observed at concentrations 0.1-0.5%, when the essential oil was applied as a preventive agent prior to the colonization of plant tissues by the pathogen. The application of the oil as a curative to plants with the disease also shows efficacy at the concentration 0.1%, reducing the severity by more than 54%. These results demonstrate the potential effects of L. sidoides essential oil on preventive and curative control of bipolaris leaf spot in maize and mycelial growth.

 Key words: Medicinal plants, alternative control, phytopathogens, Zea mays, Bipolaris maydis, Lippia sidoides.


Improvements in mass spectrometry (MS)-based strategies for characterizing the plant lipidome through quantitative and qualitative approaches such as shotgun lipidomics have substantially enhanced our understanding of the structural diversity and functional complexity of plant lipids. However, most of these approaches require chemical extractions that result in the loss of the original spatial context and cellular compartmentation for these compounds. To address this current limitation, several technologies were developed to visualize lipids in situ with detailed chemical information. A subcellular visualization approach, direct organelle MS, was developed for directly sampling and analyzing the triacylglycerol contents within purified lipid droplets (LDs) at the level of a single LD. Sampling of single LDs demonstrated seed lipid droplet-to-droplet variability in triacylglycerol (TAG) composition suggesting that there may be substantial variation in the intracellular packaging process for neutral lipids in plant tissues. A cellular and tissue visualization approach, MS imaging, was implemented and enhanced for visualizing the lipid distributions in oilseeds. In mature cotton seed embryos distributions of storage lipids (TAGs) and their phosphatidylcholine (PCs) precursors were distribution heterogeneous between the cotyledons and embryonic axis raising new questions about extent and regulation of oilseed heterogeneity. Extension of this methodology provides an avenue for understanding metabolism in cellular (perhaps even subcellular) context with substantial metabolic engineering implications. To visualize metabolite distributions, a free and customizable application, Metabolite Imager, was developed providing several tools for spatially-based chemical data analysis. These tools collectively enable new forms of visualizing the plant lipidome and should prove valuable toward addressing additional unanswered biological questions.


It is well-known that there are significant differences among the European Union regions, which have been heightened due to the most recent enlargement in 2004. This paper aims to analyze this diversity and propose a classification of European Regions (EU) that is adjusted to the different axes of socioeconomic development and, simultaneously, is useful for European regional policy purposes. The data used in this paper were published by the European Union Statistical Office (Eurostat) and correspond to the main statistical indicators of NUTS2 (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) regions in the EU. Multivariate statistical techniques allowed the identification of clusters of socioeconomic similarity, which are contrasted with the classes considered in the financial proposal of the European Commission (EC) for the period 2007-2013. It was found that each of the two main groups of the EC classification – convergence regions and competitiveness and employment regions – comprises at least two significantly different groups of regions, which differ not only in their average income but also in other indicators associated with their particular weaknesses. Also, it has been revealed that two other groups–phasing-in regions and phasing-out regions –, beyond their inexpressive denomination, lack homogeneity, being spread throughout different clusters.


This paper considers a wireless multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication system in a frequency-nonselective scenario with spatially uncorrelated Rayleigh fading channel coefficients and investigates the design of linear dispersive (LD) space-time block codes. Efficient LD codes are obtained by optimizing the constituent weight matrices so that an upper bound on the union bound of the codeword error probability is minimized. Interestingly, the proposed design procedure automatically generates LD codes that either correspond to, or are close to, the well-known class of orthogonal space-time block (OSTB) codes. A theoretical analysis confirms this by proving that OSTB codes are indeed optimal, when the setup under study permits their existence. Simulation results demonstrate the excellent performance of the designed codes. In particular, the importance of the codes' near-orthogonal property is illustrated by showing that low-complexity linear equalizer techniques can be used for decoding purposes while incurring a relatively moderate performance loss compared with optimal maximum-likelihood (ML) decoding


Pronunciation variability is present in both native and foreign words. Since pronunciation variability constitutes a problem for automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems, modeling pronunciation variation for ASR has been the topic of various studies. In most studies, modeling pronunciation variation was attempted within the standard framework used in mainstream ASR systems. Given that some assumptions made within this framework are not in line with the properties of speech signals and the findings in human speech recognition, and that the improvements obtained by modeling pronunciation variation within this framework have generally been small, it might be better to look for a new paradigm in which pronunciation variation can be modeled more accurately. In this paper a novel paradigm for ASR is presented, which has many potential advantages for modeling pronunciation variation.


Background: Adherence to self-management in asthma is poor. Aim: To investigate the effect of disease-unspecific motivational training on self-management adherence in addition to asthma-specific patient education. Methods: We randomized patients with partly controlled asthma to asthma education, with or without the Zurich Resource Model (ZRM) training. Main elements of the ZRM training are development of action-oriented personal goals and activation of resources to achieve and practice them in daily life. The primary outcome was adherence to self-monitoring and to a written personal action plan during three months. Secondary outcomes included patient-reported self-efficacy. Results: As control patients (n=30) were younger, mostly male and had better asthma control compared with the intervention group (n=30), we adjusted the analyses for these imbalances. Both groups showed excellent adherence to self-monitoring over three months [27 patients (90.0%) in intervention and 25 patients (83.3%) in control group, adjusted odds ratio: 1.28 (0.24–6.78), P=0.78)]. Patients in the ZRM group tended to adjust their medication more often [median 36% days with action (IQR 11–62%)] than control patients [9% (0–43), P=0.18]. In both groups, actions were rarely in accordance with the action plan [median 20% of actions appropriate (IQR 0–37) in intervention and 11% (IQR 0–56) in control group, P=0.92]. After three months, self-efficacy was significantly better with ZRM (adjusted difference on self-efficacy scale 2.31, 95% CI 0.31–4.31, P=0.02). Conclusion: Unspecific self-management training had no short-term effect on self-management adherence in asthma patients. Self-efficacy improved, but it is uncertain whether this translates into better long-term outcomes.


This dissertation forms part of a broader review of the Tasmanian Youth Justice Collaborative Case Conference (CCC) process, which is currently being undertaken at a policy level. The Collaborative Case Conference program is currently practiced in the Northern Youth Justice Area only. Over the period since it was adopted by the North, it has evolved considerably, adapting to meet the needs of complex clients. The contribution of the CCC is recognised in the new Youth Justice Model of Care (MOC, 2012), which intends to evaluate the effectiveness of the CCC, and make recommendations as to its extension to other areas of the State.
The purpose of this dissertation is to focus on one part of this overall review; the "Referral Pathway" into the Collaborative Case Conference (CCC) process itself. In doing so, it will raise issues for consideration within the current referral pathway in meeting the requirements of complex and exceptional needs clients entering the Youth Justice System. The aim is to propose a new referral pathway that is linked to a primary assessment that determines an early intervention approach.
The dissertation has three specific objectives: The first section outlines the current Collaborative Case Conference (CCC) process, which employs a horizontal and vertical response and both highlights and streamlines the referral pathway. To provide an overview of the CCC process, this dissertation draws information from the Department of Health and Human Service, Children and Youth Service, Collaborative Case Conference Policy and Guidelines (2012). Secondly, through a literature review lens, this dissertation responds to the current CCC referral pathway by arguing that the one pertinent issue to successfully working with this target group is that complex needs require a higher level of collaborative expertise and therefore require an early intervention approach and subsequent pathway into the CCC process. Lastly, this dissertation clearly outlines a new early intervention front-end approach into the CCC process. This new revised approach is put forward as the most effective way to respond to high needs complex clients that enter the Youth Justice System.
The methodological insight for this dissertation is based on the assumption that a review on the referral pathway into the Collaborative Case Conference process will advocate as evidence for future policy change. Thus, within a literature review framework, this dissertation highlights that policy administrators need to understand that an early intervention approach into the Collaborative Case Conference process will deliver more effective and timely outcomes when supporting this high needs client group. The main policy implications of these findings are straightforward. To embrace research and develop an early intervention referral pathway into the CCC process. Through implementation of this policy, collaboration will occur as an established early practice, resulting in better outcomes for exceptional needs Youth Justice Clients.


The first book to prove CIA and U.S. government complicity in global drug trafficking, The Politics of Heroin includes meticulous documentation of dishonesty and dirty dealings at the highest levels from the Cold War until today. Maintaining a global perspective, this groundbreaking study details the mechanics of drug trafficking in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and South and Central America. New chapters detail U.S. involvement in the narcotics trade in Afghanistan and Pakistan before and after the fall of the Taliban, and how U.S. drug policy in Central America and Colombia has increased the global supply of illicit drugs.


Numerous projects have focused on the relationship between student-faculty interactions and outcome variables such as academic achievement and overall satisfaction of college students (e.g., Lamport, 1993; Pascarella, 1980; Pascarella & Terenzini, 1976; Pascarella, Terenzini, & Hibel, 1978). To date, however, there has been no empirical work that has examined the relation between student-faculty interaction and college students' self-concept. Determining whether or not faculty have an impact on students' self-concept may be meaningful in regard to students' overall achievement as well as, their general experience in college. Student-Faculty Interaction Tinto (1987) stated that student-faculty interactions, which include both formal classroom experiences and informal interactions outside of class, are crucial to the academic continuation and intellectual development of students. According to Tinto (1987), a lack of such interactions is a very significant determinant of attrition. Likewise, Pascarella and Terenzini (1976) reported that the frequency and quality of student-faculty interactions significantly predict freshman academic outcomes such as college satisfaction and attrition. Related work has found that students who frequently interacted with faculty expressed greater satisfaction with their total college experience in comparison to students who interact at a lesser level (Wilson, Gaff, Dienst, Wood, & Bavry, 1975). Wilson et al. (1975) also indicate that faculty who enjoy and seek interaction with students outside of class demonstrate their accessibility for such interaction through their in-class attitudes and teaching styles. In a project that specifically examined the relation between student-faculty interaction and academic performance, Pascarella, Terenzini, and Hibel (1978) found that student-faculty interactions had a significant influence on students' academic performance as measured by students' SAT scores and freshman year cumulative GPA. Interactions focusing on intellectual or course-related matters had the strongest association with achievement (Pascarella, Terenzini, & Hibel, 1978). However, interactions dealing mostly with future careers also made a significant contribution to students' achievement. Further, they found that students who interacted more frequently with faculty, performed better academically than what was predicted from their pre-enrollment characteristics (i.e., SAT scores). On the other hand, students who seldom met with faculty tended to achieve at lower levels than predicted. Taken together, the existing research suggests that student-faculty interactions are important to a student's college experience. College Student Self-Concept Self-concept can be defined as how a person thinks about him/herself in different areas of his or her life. More specifically, academic self-concept refers to a student's perceptions of his or her academic abilities (House, 1992). A number of projects (e.g., Hamachek, 1995; House, 1993) have shown that students' self concept is significantly associated with academic achievement. Further, Loeb and Magee (1992) suggest that students with low self-esteem who find it difficult adjusting to college academics may benefit from support (e.g., faculty, peers, family) which may lead to increased satisfaction with college and enhanced self-concept. Lastly, Gerdes and Mallinckrodt (1994) recently suggested that having support and interaction with faculty may be related to students' academic achievement and self-concept. The Present Study The present study examines the relation between student-faculty interactions and students' academic achievement and self-concept. Based upon the existing research, it is hypothesized that positive student-faculty interactions will result in higher levels of academic achievement among college students. There has been no empirical work, to date, which directly examines the relation between student-faculty interaction and college student self-concept. …


The objective of this thesis is the analysis of the dynamics of the outer region of wall-bounded flows, focusing on the interaction between the inner- and outer- layers. The primary tool used in the present study is a set of Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) of turbulent channels with friction Reynolds number Re? ? 630. In those simulations, the standard non-slip and impermeability boundary conditions are substituted by prescribed velocity disturbances that destroy the near-wall energy cycle characteristic smooth-walled flows. In this sense, the present DNSes can be understood as a simulation of a turbulent flow consisting on a core region without a near-wall region. The profiles of the mean velocity and of the velocity fluctuation intensity show similar effects as those reported on rough-walled flows, and our wall- forcing corresponds to equivalent sand roughness in the fully rough regime. The changes on the flow structure imposed by the wall forcing are essentially limited to the roughness sublayer; a layer near the wall whose height is proportional to a length scale defined in terms of the additional Reynolds stresses. The spectral distribution of energy in this layer is dominated by the wavenumber of the velocity disturbances and by its harmonics. Outside of it, only the largest scales of the flow are modified by the wall forcing. They are the global modes identified in previous works, corresponding to structures highly correlated from the wall to the center of the channel. Our results indicate that their intensity does not scale with the friction velocity, nor with the centerline velocity. However, a velocity scale proporional to u? log(Re? ) is able to collapse of the velocity fluctuations of several wall-bounded turbulent flows over a wide range of Reynolds numbers and surface roughness. Similar conclusions are drawn from the analysis of the coherent structures of vor ticity that populate the logarithmic and outer regions of the wall-disturbed cases. The attached clusters have the same properties over smooth and rough walls, and in both cases they make important contributions to the Reynolds stress in the logarithmic and outer regions. In average, the attached clusters are statistically associated with wall-normal velocity bursts and cone-shaped streaks of low-momentum fluid. Our results indicate that the global modes are connected to the part of these streaks that have sizes comparable to the flow thickness. They are very coherent motions, where the wall-normal and streamwise velocity components are tightly coupled. The final part of this thesis puts together all those observations into a linear model that explains the generation of the cone-shaped low-speed streaks of the loga rithmic region by bursts of wall-normal velocity. The results of the linear simulations show that localized bursts generate elongated upstream u-streaks that agree well with the velocity fields conditioned to attached clusters, but where the downstream wakes observed in real turbulent flows are absent. The absence of the downstream part of the low-momentum cones suggests that the cones are the cause, rather than the effect, of the bursts. It is hypothesized that the burst are generated by some instability of the local velocity profile, in analogy with the near-wall cycle. However, while the near-wall cycle is autonomous, the effect of the outer region has to be included in the model in order to generate strong enough streaks. This suggests that the causality assumed in most models of wall-bounded turbulence could be reversed, and that the outer region may be critical for the dynamics of the logarithmic layer.


Introduction Meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) hospital-acquired infection is associated with increased patient mortality. National guidelines state that shared patient equipment must be cleaned after use. The authors sought to identify MRSA contamination in a sample of non-disposable venepuncture tourniquets and audit cleaning habits between patient contacts. Materials and methods Fifty tourniquets were collected from junior doctors, nursing staff and wards from two district general hospitals in Essex, UK in 2007. A questionnaire was completed at the time of collection for each tourniquet. The tourniquets were cultured using standard microbiology techniques. Findings 18/50 (36%) tourniquets were positive for S aureus and of these 6/50 (12%) were MRSA positive. 33/43 (77%) healthcare professionals using non-disposable tourniquets for venepuncture made no attempts at cleaning their tourniquets. 10/43 (23%) staff admitted to cleaning their tourniquets. The tourniquets were used for an average of 14 weeks on approximately three different patients per day. 30/50 (60%) tourniquets were visibly soiled and of these 13 were blood stained and 20/50 (40%) appeared 'clean'. Worn tourniquets when compared with the 'clean' tourniquets were more likely to be contaminated with S aureus, 15/30 (50%) vs 3/20 (15%), and MRSA 5/30 (17%) vs 1/20 (5%). Conclusion Non-disposable venepuncture tourniquets are contaminated with MRSA and pose a risk to patients. The majority of clinical staff do not clean them between patient contacts as recommended by guidelines. The use of non-disposable venepuncture tourniquets should be abandoned. The introduction of disposable tourniquets to clinical practice should be an adjunct to current measures for MRSA prevention.


Glia and neurons in the brain can respond differently to stressful conditions. For example, glia survive when exposed to levels of nitric oxide (NO) that are toxic to neurons. Almeida et al. examined this difference in sensitivity in cultured cells and report that the difference in expression of a single enzyme may be responsible. NO exposure is known to inhibit cellular respiration, and this appears to trigger an increase in glycolysis in astrocytes, which enables them to maintain energy production. Neurons cannot engage in this process because they do not express a specific isoform of the enzyme 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase (PFK2). PFK2 generates fructose-2,6-bisphosphate, an allosteric activator of the enzyme PFK1. Activation of PFK1 enhances glycolysis and is neuroprotective. Moreover, activation of PFK2 was linked to adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase, an enzyme that is stimulated during respiratory inhibition. The presence or absence of a single isoform of PFK2 in astrocytes and neurons, respectively, illustrates how subtle differences may determine a neurotoxic or neuroprotective response to cell stressors. A. Almeida, S. Moncada, J. P. Bolaños, Nitric oxide switched on glycolysis through the AMP protein kinase and 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase pathway. Nat. Cell Biol. 6, 45-51 (2004). [Online Journal]


We study non-binding procurement auctions where both price and non-price characteristics of bidders matter for being awarded a contract. The outcome of such auctions critically depends on how information is distributed among bidders during the bidding process. As we show theoretically, whether it is in the buyer's interest to conceal or to disclose non-price information most importantly depends on how important the quality aspects of the good to be procured are to the buyer: The more important the quality aspects are to the buyer, the more interesting concealment becomes. We then empirically study the impact of a change in the information structure using data from a large European online procurement platform for different categories of goods. In a counterfactual analysis we analyze the reduction of non-price information available to the bidders. In the data we find that the choice of information structure indeed matters. Confirming the hypothesis obtained in our theoretical framework, we find that in auction categories where bidders' non-price characteristics are of little importance for the decisions of the buyers, concealment of non-price information decreases buyers' welfare by up to 6% due to reduced competitive pressure leading to higher bids. In contrast, for categories where bidders' non-price characteristics strongly influence buyers' decisions concealment of non-price information increases buyers' welfare by up to 15%.


A questionnaire was used to study causal attribution to social roles as influenced by perceived deviance of the role, instructions to identify with the role, and participant gender. The perceived deviance or nondeviance of the roles was determined by a pilot study. The roles were varied randomly through 12 hypothetical events, and identification or nonidentification instructions randomly assigned. The participants were 194 male and female university students. Participants gave the cause of each event and rated the cause on five dimensions: internality, externality, stability, globality, and controllability. Causal attribution to deviant social roles was found to result in a significantly higher across-scales score and to be more internal, less external, and more global than attribution to nondeviant roles. Participant gender showed an interaction with deviance overall and on the dimensions of stability and globality due to significantly higher ratings by women participants than those by men. Identification instructions did not produce a significant effect.


This paper details how the complexity can be reduced in conic section function neural network (CSFNN) by using sensitivity analysis and the results are given for various problems. This is, particularly important for neural network hardware applications. The method used here extracts the cause and effect relationship between the inputs and outputs of the network. After training a neural network, one may want to know the effect that each of the network inputs is having on the network output. The input channels that produce low sensitivity values can be considered insignificant and can most often be removed from the network. This will reduce the size of the network, which in turn reduces the complexity and the training time.


Because reinforcement learning suffers from a lack of scalability, online value (and Q-) function approximation has received increasing interest this last decade. This contribution introduces a novel approximation scheme, namely the Kalman Temporal Differences (KTD) framework, that exhibits the following features: sample-efficiency, non-linear approximation, non-stationarity handling and uncertainty management. A first KTD-based algorithm is provided for deterministic Markov Decision Processes (MDP) which produces biased estimates in the case of stochastic transitions. Than the eXtended KTD framework (XKTD), solving stochastic MDP, is described. Convergence is analyzed for special cases for both deterministic and stochastic transitions. Related algorithms are experimented on classical benchmarks. They compare favorably to the state of the art while exhibiting the announced features.


Roadside swales are drainage ditches that also treat runoff to improve water quality, including infiltration of water to reduce pollutant load. In the infiltration study, a quick and simple device, the Modified Philip Dunne (MPD) infiltrometer, was utilized to measure an important infiltration parameter (saturated hydraulic conductivity, Ksat) at multiple locations in a number of swales. The study showed that the spatial variability in the swale infiltration rate was substantial, requiring 20 or more measurements along the highway to get a good estimate of the mean swale infiltration rate. This study also developed a ditch check filtration system that can be installed in swales to provide significant treatment of dissolved heavy metals and dissolved phosphorous in stormwater runoff. The results were utilized to develop design guidelines and recommendations, including sizing and treatment criteria for optimal performance of the full-scale design of these filters. Finally, the best available knowledge on swale maintenance was combined with information obtained from new surveys conducted to develop recommendations for swale maintenance schedules and effort. The recommendations aim toward optimizing the cost-effectiveness of roadside swales and thus provide useful information to managers and practitioners of roadways. The research results and information obtained from this study can thus be used to design swale systems for use along linear roadway projects that will receive pollution prevention credits for infiltration. This will enable the utilization of drainage ditches to their full pollution prevention potential, before building other more expensive stormwater treatment practices throughout Minnesota and the United States.


We report on a qualitative investigation of the influence of emotions on the decision making of traders in four City of London investment banks, a setting where work has been predominantly theorized as dominated by rational analysis. We conclude that emotions and their regulation play a central role in traders' decision making. We find differences between high and low performing traders in how they engage with their intuitions, and that different strategies for emotion regulation have material consequences for trader behavior and performance. Traders deploying antecedent-focused emotional regulation strategies achieve a performance advantage over those employing primarily response-focused strategies. We argue that, in particular, response-focused approaches incur a performance penalty, in part because of the reduced opportunity to combine analysis with the use of affective cues in making intuitive judgments. We discuss the implications for our understanding of emotion and decision making, and for traders' practice.


External ejaculation (the cum shot) is considered a central component of heterosexual pornography and is often used to visually mark the end of an action of sexual intercourse. Critical analyses of pornography have asserted that external ejaculation can be conceptualized in terms of the maintenance of heteronormative expectations of male dominance as expressed through hegemonic masculinity. The present analysis adopts a broader view of external ejaculation by considering the phenomenon in terms of contamination, performance, and discipline. The polysemic analysis presented suggests that in some cases the conventions of pornography as represented in the external cum shot can represent a threat to masculinity and male spectators by creating unrealistic expectations for male sexual performance.


Object Little is known about how much protection a flow diversion stent provides to a non-thrombosed aneurysm without the adjunctive use of coils. Methods A three-dimensional anatomically realistic computation aneurysm model was created from the digital subtraction angiogram of a large internal carotid artery-ophthalmic artery aneurysm which could have been treated with either a neck bridging stent or a flow diversion stent. Three-dimensional computational models of the Neuroform EZ neck bridging stent and Pipeline embolization device were created based on measurements with a stereo-microscope. Each stent was placed in the computational aneurysm model and intra-aneurysmal flow structures were compared before and after placement of the stents. Computational fluid dynamics were performed by numerically solving the continuity and Navier–Stokes momentum equations for a steady blood flow based on the finite volume method. Blood was assumed as an incompressible Newtonian fluid. Vessel walls were assumed to be rigid, and no-slip boundary conditions were applied at the lumens. To estimate the change in the intra-aneurysmal pressures we assumed that, at the inlets, the intra-arterial pressure at peak systole was 120 mm Hg both before and after stent placement Results Without any stent, the blood flow entered into the aneurysm dome from the mid to proximal neck area and ascended along the distal wall of the aneurysm. The flow then changed its direction anteriorly and moved along the proximal wall of the aneurysm dome. In addition to the primary intra-aneurysmal circulation pattern, a counterclockwise vortex was observed in the aneurysm dome. The placement of a Neuroform EZ stent induced a mean reduction in flow velocity of 14% and a small change in the overall intra-aneurysmal flow pattern. The placement of a Pipeline device induced a mean reduction in flow velocity of 74% and a significant change in flow pattern. Despite the flow velocity changes, Neuroform EZ and Pipeline devices induced reductions in intra-aneurysmal pressure of only 4 mm Hg and 8 mm Hg, respectively. Conclusions The flow diversion effects of both stents were limited to flow velocity reduction. In a non-thrombosed aneurysm or an aneurysm with delayed thrombosis, the intra-aneurysmal pressure remains essentially unchanged regardless of the level of the intra-aneurysmal flow velocity reduction induced by the stents.


Non small-cell carcinoma is one of the cancers that do not yet have a clear advantage in the targeted therapy. Although despite the results of new therapies being awaited, some studies have revealed new drugs that appear to change the evolution of this incurable disease. The case we are presenting it is illustrative for possibilities to treat this type of cancer in Romania. Current treatment for this form of cancer is: chemotherapy in first line which is represented by gemcitabine in combination with cisplatin or carboplatin. In the second-line docetaxel is recommended. Third line is not well defined at us because we did not have in current use afatinib, necitumumab or immunological agents. In this case we have used vinorelbin in mono-therapy and erlotinib. The peculiarity of the case consisted that had a sensibility to more lines of chemotherapy and radiotherapy and ultimately though I had not a determination of epidermal growth factor receptor, patient response to erlotinib.


Written by Thomas Hobbes and first published in 1651, Leviathan is widely considered the greatest work of political philosophy ever composed in the English language. Hobbes's central argument-that human beings are first and foremost concerned with their own fears and desires, and that they must relinquish basic freedoms in order to maintain a peaceful society-has found new adherents and critics in every generation. This new edition, which uses modern text and relies on large-sheet copies from the 1651 Head version, includes interpretive essays by four leading Hobbes scholars: John Dunn, David Dyzenhaus, Elisabeth Ellis, and Bryan Garsten. Taken together with Ian Shapiro's wide-ranging introduction, they provide fresh and varied interpretations of Leviathan for our time.


Background Generalized HIV epidemics propagate to future generations according to the age patterns of transmission. We hypothesized that future generations could be protected from infection using age-targeted prevention, analogous to the ring-fencing strategies used to control the spread of smallpox. Methods We modeled age-targeted or cohort-targeted outreach with HIV treatment and/or prevention using EMOD-HIV v0·8, an individual-based network model of HIV transmission in South Africa. Results Targeting ages 20 to 30 with intensified outreach, linkage, and eligibility for antiretroviral therapy (ART) averted 45% as many infections as universal outreach for approximately one-fifth the cost beyond existing HIV services. Though cost-effective, targeting failed to eliminate all infections to those under 20 due to vertical and inter-generational transmission. Cost-effectiveness of optimal prevention strategies included US$6238 per infection averted targeting ages 10–30, US$5031 targeting 20–30, US$4279 targeting 22–27, and US$3967 targeting 25–27, compared to US$10 812 for full-population test-and-treat. Minimizing burden (disability-adjusted life years [DALYs]) rather than infections resulted in older target age ranges because older adults were more likely to receive a direct health benefit from treatment. Conclusions Age-targeted treatment for HIV prevention is unlikely to eliminate HIV epidemics, but is an efficient strategy for reducing new infections in generalized epidemics settings.


Purpose
Research has indicated that males diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) outnumber females diagnosed with ASD, which has been attributed to a number of potential biological and genetic risk factors. The purpose of this paper is to estimate how many girls may be missing from ASD via a two-study format, comparing two distinct data sets to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention population estimates for sex distribution of males vs females in ASD.

Design/methodology/approach
In Study 1, the authors utilized data from the National Database for Autism Research as a clinic-based sample. In Study 2, the authors utilized data from the National Survey of Children's Health as a community-based sample.

Findings
The current study estimates that approximately 39 percent more girls should be diagnosed with ASD. The authors estimate that the sex distribution in ASD should be approximately 28 percent female and 72 percent male based upon current practices. Thus, it appears that more females are being identified as potentially having ASD but were not subsequently being diagnosed with ASD as compared to their male counterparts.

Originality/value
These results could suggest that a leaky pipeline in the assessment of girls with ASD may exist along one or more points in the ASD diagnostic process, with one potential point at the level of ASD-specific screening (i.e. the SCQ in Study 1) in the clinic setting and another in the community setting as a whole for universal screening (i.e. NSCH data in Study 2).


Small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (snRNPs) are protein–ribonucleic acid (RNA) complexes defined by a core noncoding RNA of approximately 100–600 nucleotides and tightly bound proteins that together accumulate in the nucleus. The snRNPs are best known for their role in RNA splicing complexes, including U1, U2, U4, U5 and U6 snRNPs found in the spliceosome. Additional snRNPs are functionally diverse, but in many cases the RNA component of snRNPs can base-pair with a substrate for precise alignment and possible catalysis. The U7 snRNP directs 3′-end mRNA formation for histone transcripts, and the 7SK snRNP regulates transcription. Two special groups of snRNPs, small nucleolar RNPs (snoRNPs) and small Cajal-body RNPs (scaRNPs), are restricted to their named subnuclear compartments in order to direct post-transcriptional modification of ribosomal and splicing RNAs, respectively. Certain herpesviruses express high levels of novel snRNPs involved in the regulation of gene expression. Due to their important biological roles, there are many diseases associated with snRNPs.

Key Concepts:

The snRNPs are small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles, a class of dynamic RNA–protein complexes that accumulate in the nucleus.

Major and minor splicing snRNPs form super-complexes (spliceosomes) that direct the precise splicing of messenger RNAs.

In the special process of trans-splicing, splice leader (SL) snRNPs donate RNA to the ends of transcripts.

The U7 snRNP coordinates 3′ end processing of metazoan histone messenger RNAs.

The 7SK snRNP regulates transcription by selectively sequestering and rendering inactive the P-TEFb protein, a key modulator of RNA polymerase II.

Two groups of snRNPs are singled out for specific subnuclear localisation: small nucleolar and small Cajal-body associated (sno/scaRNPs) direct methylation and pseudouridylation of splicing and ribosomal RNAs.

Some mammalian herpesviruses express viral snRNPs, which have enigmatic and complex functions in gene regulation.

Several diseases including lupus present autoantibody production of antibodies directed at snRNP-affiliated proteins such as Sm, Lsm and La.

Most snRNPs have been affiliated with diseases and are therefore promising biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis.

Keywords:

mRNA splicing;
splice leader RNA;
snoRNA;
scaRNA;
U7;
7SK;
EBER;
HSUR;
viral snRNPs;
lupus