Dalle Pezze et al. respond to criticisms regarding the specificity of phosphorylation of Ser2481 of mTOR as a specific readout of mTORC2 activity. We modeled the mammalian or mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) network and proposed a previously unknown mode of activation of the mTOR-containing complex mTORC2 through a phosphoinositide 3-kinase–dependent, and tuberous sclerosis complex–independent mechanism. Manning questions the validity of using the phosphorylation of Ser2481 of mTOR as a specific readout of mTORC2 activity and suggests an in vitro mTORC2 kinase assay as a more appropriate method to parameterize a dynamic mTOR model. We maintain that our computational-experimental approach in combination with careful selection of the readout and cell system is appropriate for studying mTORC2 regulation by insulin.


Optimal error estimation is key to achieve accurate photometry and astrometry. Stellar fluxes and positions in high angular resolution images are typically measured with PSF fitting routines, such as StarFinder . However, the formal uncertainties computed by these software packages tend to seriously underestimate the relevant uncertainties. We present a new approach to deal with this problem using a resampling method to obtain robust and reliable uncertainties without loss of sensitivity.


Service engagement continues to challenge providers working with individuals with serious mental illness and substance abuse disorders. Motivational Interviewing (MI), an intervention aligned with recovery-oriented principles in its emphasis on empathy, empowerment, and self-directed change, directly addresses this problem. Its effects on service engagement, however, have been inconsistent with dually diagnosed populations. To explore underlying processes that may influence engagement, the present mixed methods, single case experiment studied the effects of MI on key recovery constructs: hope, meaning, and empowerment. Participants were 6 consumers enrolled in an intensive outpatient program for co-occurring disorders. Results showed statistically significant increases for half the sample on a brief hope, meaning, and empowerment survey. Grounded theory analysis also identified positive change in identity, selfefficacy, and relationships as major recovery themes discussed in MI. It also revealed positive affect associated with spirit and method of MI. Implications for attention to personal narratives, supporting persistence in change, and satisfying psychological needs proposed by self-determination theory (SDT) are discussed.


Serum immunoreactive erythropoietin (SIE) and hemoglobin levels were measured in 152 patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus. Anemia was present in 18% of asymptomatic patients who tested positive for the human immunodeficiency virus, 50% of patients with a condition related to the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), and 75% of patients with AIDS. The mean SIE level for untreated AIDS patients (26.2 +/- 2.4 mU/mL) was greater than for patients who tested positive for human immunodeficiency virus or patients with an AIDS-related condition but not outside the normal range for SIE (4 to 26 mU/mL), and the incremental increase in SIE level for a given decline in hemoglobin level was much less in AIDS patients than in patients with uncomplicated iron deficiency anemia. Forty-two patients were treated with zidovudine, and the hemoglobin level fell 10 g/L or more in 48%. In contrast to the untreated patients, however, the mean SIE level rose 10-fold to 214 mU/mL, and the incremental change in SIE level for a given decline in hemoglobin level was markedly increased. In the zidovudine-treated patients, erythrocyte mean corpuscular volume also rose significantly from a mean of 88.1 fL to 102 fL. However, in only 1 patient was there a corresponding increase in reticulocytes and in none was there amelioration of anemia. The data indicate that SIE level is inappropriately low in anemic AIDS patients. The ability of these patients to produce erythropoietin is intact and can be expressed with zidovudine therapy. However, even very high levels of SIE fail to stimulate erythropoiesis adequately.


The serodiagnosis of Rift Valley fever (RVF) relies on the use of inactivated whole virus based reagents which present biosafety, financial and operational constraints. There are no vaccines for humans, the availability of animal vaccines is limited and they have several drawbacks. The aim of this study was to evaluate a bacterially expressed recombinant RVF virus (RVFV) nucleocapsid protein (recNP) as a safe immunodiagnostic reagent, and an immunogen in a mouse and host animal model. Several enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) were developed in this study, enabling sensitive and specific detection of antibodies and RVFV antigen in human and animal specimens. The recNP was combined with different adjuvants and used to immunize mice and sheep subsequently challenged with a virulent wild type RVFV strain. Depending on the recNP/adjuvant combination, protection against disease in mice ranged between 17 and 100%, with sterilizing immunity elicited in some experimental groups, compared to 100% morbidity/mortality and excessive viral replication in adjuvant and PBS control mice. Immunization with recNP combined with Alhydrogel, an adjuvant that biases immunity towards Th2 humoral immunity, that yielded 100% protection, induced an earlier and stronger type I interferon response in mice after challenge, compared to repression of the same gene in adjuvant and PBS control mice. There was massive activation of pro-inflammatory responses and genes with pro-apoptotic effects in the livers of control mice at the acute phase of infection, accompanied by high viral replication, possibly contributing to the pathology of the liver. There was also evidence of activation and repression of several genes involved in activation of Band T-cell immunity in control mice, some indicating possible immune evasion by the challenge virus. Immunization of sheep with the same recNP/adjuvant combinations were, however, not able to decrease replication of challenge virus. The recNP based ELISAs are an important addition to and improvement of the currently available serodiagnostic tests for RVF. The mechanism by which recNP immunization protects mice from developing severe disease during the acute phase of infection is now better understood, but the mechanism for earlier clearance of the virus needs further investigation.


ABSTRACT In addition to their ability to stimulate cell proliferation, polypeptide growth factors are able to maintain cell survival under conditions that otherwise lead to apoptotic death. Growth factors control cell viability through regulation of critical intracellular signal transduction pathways. We previously characterized C2 muscle cell lines that lacked endogenous expression of insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II). These cells did not differentiate but underwent apoptotic death in low-serum differentiation medium. Death could be prevented by IGF analogues that activated the IGF-I receptor or by unrelated growth factors such as platelet-derived growth factor BB (PDGF-BB). Here we analyze the signaling pathways involved in growth factor-mediated myoblast survival. PDGF treatment caused sustained activation of extracellular-regulated kinases 1 and 2 (ERK1 and -2), while IGF-I only transiently induced these enzymes. Transient transfection of a constitutively active Mek1, a specific upstream activator of ERKs, maintained myoblast viability in the absence of growth factors, while inhibition of Mek1 by the drug UO126 blocked PDGF-mediated but not IGF-stimulated survival. Although both growth factors activated phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-kinase) to similar extents, only IGF-I treatment led to sustained stimulation of its downstream kinase, Akt. Transient transfection of a constitutively active PI3-kinase or an inducible Akt promoted myoblast viability in the absence of growth factors, while inhibition of PI3-kinase activity by the drug LY294002 selectively blocked IGF- but not PDGF-mediated muscle cell survival. In aggregate, these observations demonstrate that distinct growth factor-regulated signaling pathways independently control myoblast survival. Since IGF action also stimulates muscle differentiation, these results suggest a means to regulate myogenesis through selective manipulation of different signal transduction pathways.


This article enquires into the transformative potential of the London National Park City. In doing so it situates the vision for, the becoming, and the Charter of an urban national park in relational thinking about metropolitan nature and sustainable urbanisation. It looks at hopes and pitfalls of the London National Park City in the face of growing socio-environmental injustice and the climate crisis. First, the article explores the National Park City as a form of ecological reflexivity and social practice in the context of relational concepts of nature and the city. Second, it examines opportunities offered by the Park City with respect to urban environmental sustainability, health and wellbeing, connected diversity, socio-economic inclusion and political agency. Third, it looks at pitfalls of the National Park City relating to environmental gentrification, as well as to trade-offs between grassroots creativity and capability to bring about material change. Last but not least, the article advocates for negotiation of synergies between 'green' and 'grey' urban natures as a strategy to address the climate crisis.


1 Abstract - The objective of this study was to verify the secular trends of sexual maturation of students between 11 and 15 years old, during a period of 10 and 20 years. The sample was composed by 1,002 students aged between 11 and 15 years; 536 boys (12.6±1.3 years old) and 466 girls (12.5±1.2 years old) who took part in the Ilhabela Mixed-Longitudinal Project on Growth, Development, and Physical Fitness. The students' assessment period occurred in 1990/91 (initial), 2000/01 (10 years later), and 2009/10 (20 years later). Sexual maturation was analyzed according to the self-assessment method and age at menarche (month and year) was collected retrospectively. The statistical analysis used was: one-way ANOVA, and Tukey's post-hoc test. The level of significance was p<0.01. The onset of menarche in the initial analysis was at: 12.5±1.2 years old; in the 2000/01 group: 12.3±1.0 years old (Δ=-1.6%), and in the 2009/10 group: 12.2±1.0 years old (Δ=-2.4%). Although there was a tendency towards reduction in age at menarche along the periods investigated, differences were not significant. There were significant differences only in genitals (G4), and pubic hair (P3) in boys after 10 and 20 years. In the same period, it did not occur any significant difference in maturational stages for girls. In conclusion, there was no secular trend of secondary sexual characteristics in boys (genital and pubic hair) and girls (breast and pubic hair) and in age at menarche over 10 and 20 years.


Generally, gel polymers are an appropriate method for increasing the rate of production of the oil reservoirs. To analyses the effects of gels on the oil reservoirs we will not only need to perform several experiments for determining of gel properties, also require to examine gel motion through the porous media by making use of a simulator software. In this paper a two dimensional, two phase (oil & water) permeability modification modeling developed by including a gelation model into a fluid flow equations. The partial differential equation of motion if the flow & gelation model in porous media one first discretized and then transferred into the non linear-couple algebra equations. The equations will be solved numerically. The results of simulation show the permeability modification in porous media for 5 years. This model is an appropriate mathematical model for examination of both permeability reduction and water production rate effects in porous media; also the permeability modification due to the gel injection in a porous media will be analyzed by using the Civan's power low. Ultimately, the results obtained are compared with experimental data for one of the Iranian Asmari reservoir, which shows a desirable accuracy of the presented mathematical model.


This paper presents a method to interconnect and synchronize two instances of real time simulation. A Bergeron transmission line model is utilized as interface between two simulation instances. Communication to transfer the necessary transmission line model quantities is implemented by utilizing TCP/IP socket communication. Part of the real time simulator includes the hardware communication facility. In regards to the necessary synchronization, an external precision clock source is used at the both ends of the communication. Each end would represent the separate instance of the real time simulation in synchronism. Again, part of the real time simulation hardware includes the necessary mechanism for the synchronization. The proposed concept is proved with a simple power simulation, separated into two instances of real time simulation, which are interconnected by communication and synchronized by external precision clock source.


From the $700 billion bailout of the banking industry to president Barack Obama's $787 billion stimulus package to the highly controversial passage of federal health-care reform, conservatives and concerned citizens alike have grown increasingly fearful of big government. Enter Nobel Prize–winning economist and political theorist F. A. Hayek, whose passionate warning against empowering states with greater economic control, The Road to Serfdom , became an overnight sensation last summer when it was endorsed by Glenn Beck. The book has since sold over 150,000 copies. The latest entry in the University of Chicago Press's series of newly edited editions of Hayek's works, The Constitution of Liberty is, like Serfdom , just as relevant to our present moment. The book is considered Hayek's classic statement on the ideals of freedom and liberty, ideals that he believes have guided—and must continue to guide—the growth of Western civilization. Here Hayek defends the principles of a free society, casting a skeptical eye on the growth of the welfare state and examining the challenges to freedom posed by an ever expanding government—as well as its corrosive effect on the creation, preservation, and utilization of knowledge. In opposition to those who call for the state to play a greater role in society, Hayek puts forward a nuanced argument for prudence. Guided by this quality, he elegantly demonstrates that a free market system in a democratic polity—under the rule of law and with strong constitutional protections of individual rights—represents the best chance for the continuing existence of liberty. Striking a balance between skepticism and hope, Hayek's profound insights are timelier and more welcome than ever before. This definitive edition of The Constitution of Liberty will give a new generation the opportunity to learn from his enduring wisdom.


ABSTRACT Our knowledge of cell cycle regulatory mechanisms in apicomplexan parasites is very limited. In this study, we describe a novel Toxoplasma gondii factor that has a vital role in chromosome replication and the regulation of cytoplasmic and nuclear mitotic structures, and we named this factor ECR1 for essential for chromosome replication 1. ECR1 was discovered by complementation of a temperature-sensitive (ts) mutant that suffers lethal, uncontrolled chromosome replication at 40°C similar to a ts mutant carrying a defect in topoisomerase. ECR1 is a 52-kDa protein containing divergent RING and TRAF-Sina-like zinc binding domains that are dynamically expressed in the tachyzoite cell cycle. ECR1 first appears in the unique spindle compartment of the Apicomplexa (centrocone) of the nuclear envelope in early S phase and then in the nucleus in late S phase where it reaches maximum expression. Following nuclear division, but before daughter parasites separate from the mother parasite, ECR1 is downregulated and is absent in new daughter parasites. The proteomics of ECR1 identified interactions with the ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation machinery and the minichromosome maintenance complex, and the loss of ECR1 led to increased stability of a key member of this complex, MCM2. ECR1 also forms a stable complex with the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK)-related kinase, T. gondii Crk5 (TgCrk5), which displays a similar cell cycle expression and localization during tachyzoite replication. Importantly, the localization of ECR1/TgCrk5 in the centrocone indicates that this Apicomplexa-specific spindle compartment houses important regulatory factors that control the parasite cell cycle. IMPORTANCE Parasites of the apicomplexan family are important causes of human disease, including malaria, toxoplasmosis, and cryptosporidiosis. Parasite growth is the underlying cause of pathogenesis, yet despite this importance, the molecular basis for parasite replication is poorly understood. Filling this knowledge gap cannot be accomplished by mining recent whole-genome sequencing data because apicomplexan cell cycles differ substantially and lack many of the key regulatory factors of well-studied yeast and mammalian cell division models. We have utilized forward genetics to discover essential factors that regulate cell division in these parasites using the Toxoplasma gondii model. An example of this approach is described here with the discovery of a putative E3 ligase/protein kinase mechanism involved in regulating chromosome replication and mitotic processes of asexual stage parasites. IMPORTANCE Parasites of the apicomplexan family are important causes of human disease, including malaria, toxoplasmosis, and cryptosporidiosis. Parasite growth is the underlying cause of pathogenesis, yet despite this importance, the molecular basis for parasite replication is poorly understood. Filling this knowledge gap cannot be accomplished by mining recent whole-genome sequencing data because apicomplexan cell cycles differ substantially and lack many of the key regulatory factors of well-studied yeast and mammalian cell division models. We have utilized forward genetics to discover essential factors that regulate cell division in these parasites using the Toxoplasma gondii model. An example of this approach is described here with the discovery of a putative E3 ligase/protein kinase mechanism involved in regulating chromosome replication and mitotic processes of asexual stage parasites.


The phrases "Old Testament justice" and "eye for an eye" are associated with harsh vengeance and retribution, and are sometimes used to justify the current practices of ubiquitous incarceration and harsh sentencing within our own criminal justice system. But a detailed analysis of the Jewish legal tradition and the criminal justice system embodied therein reveals that victim compensation and offender atonement - not retribution or inflicting suffering for its own sake - were the touchstones of criminal punishments. Indeed, prisons as we know them did not exist within the ancient Israeli or Talmudic tradition, and the punishments that most closely approximated prisons promoted rehabilitation more than incapacitation or retribution. Although the particular punishments utilized would be ill-suited to a modern secular society, the societal values reflected therein are highly relevant to our own times.


Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to devise an innovative feasible, replicable and comprehensive assessment framework of a learning organization's competitive positioning. Design/methodology/approach: The three characteristics listed above are approached as follows. Feasible refers to being easy and not in need of much resources (time, personnel,...). This is done through early elimination of non-important variables. Replicable is having a well structured methodology based on scientific proven methods. Following this methodology would result in good results that can be explained if needed and replicated if deemed necessary. Comprehensive translates into a holistic set of indices that measure performance as well as organizational learning. Findings and Originality/value: The three attributes (feasible, replicable and comprehensive) have become crucial for ensuring any kind of added value for such a methodology that hopes to tackle the modern dynamic business environment and gaining a sustainable competitive advantage. Research limitations/implications: Such a methodology would require several full contextual applications to be able to set its final design. It entails thorough internal revision of a company's structure. Therefore a great deal of transparency and self-transcendence from the individual involved is a pre-requisite for any chance of success. Originality/value: It offers a systematic way to assess a company's performance/competitive positioning while accounting for the crucial attribute of organizational learning in its makeup.


The product of five years of North American Taiwan Studies Conferences, this book carefully analyzes the emergence of national feelings in Taiwan, its historical roots and its contemporary manifestations. It addresses questions central to the looming international issue of Taiwan/China. Part one considers the historical events that help to explain the emergence and development of a separatist, dissident discourse. The second part deals with the current issue of national identity transition in Taiwan. The final part places the national identity debate in a broader perspective by focusing on the larger issues of the maturation of the national identity question.


When human listeners are confronted with musical sounds, they rapidly and automatically orient themselves in the music. Even musically untrained listeners have an exceptional ability to make rapid judgments about music from very short examples, such as determining the music's style, performer, beat, complexity, and emotional impact. However, there are presently no theories of music perception that can explain this behavior, and it has proven very difficult to build computer music-analysis tools with similar capabilities. This dissertation examines the psychoacoustic origins of the early stages of music listening in humans, using both experimental and computer-modeling approaches. The results of this research enable the construction of automatic machine-listening systems that can make human-like judgments about short musical stimuli. New models are presented that explain the perception of musical tempo, the perceived segmentation of sound scenes into multiple auditory images, and the extraction of musical features from complex musical sounds. These models are implemented as signal-processing and pattern-recognition computer programs, using the principle of understanding without separation. Two experiments with human listeners study the rapid assignment of high-level judgments to musical stimuli, and it is demonstrated that many of the experimental results can be explained with a multiple-regression model on the extracted musical features. From a theoretical standpoint, the thesis shows how theories of music perception can be grounded in a principled way upon psychoacoustic models in a computational-auditory-sceneanalysis framework. Further, the perceptual theory presented is more relevant to everyday listeners and situations than are previous cognitive-structuralist approaches to music perception and cognition. From a practical standpoint, the various models form a set of computer signal-processing and pattern-recognition tools that can mimic human perceptual abilities on a variety of musical tasks such as tapping along with the beat, parsing music into sections, making semantic judgments about musical examples, and estimating the similarity of two pieces of music. Thesis Supervisor: Barry L. Vercoe, D.M.A. Professor of Media Arts and Sciences This research was performed at the MIT Media Laboratory. Primary support was provided by the Digital Life consortium of the Media Laboratory, with additional support from Interval Research Corporation. The views expressed within do not necessarily reflect the views of supporting sponsors. Doctoral Dissertation Committee


Some quality considerations for use in isotopic dating are presented to identify and correct heretofore unidentified overestimate scenarios. These include to a lesser degree the statistical interpretation issues with linear-least-squares fitting results but more importantly the isotope effect in the individual components of the isochron coefficient ratios. By taking into consideration the isotope effect (differential mass diffusion rates) when measuring isotopic ratios from very old samples, the distribution dependency in the coefficient ratios will cause a bias if isotopic diffusion rates are not identical throughout a sample. The isotope effect is that isotopes having a smaller atomic mass will diffuse faster throughout a medium than will their heavier counterparts causing concentration gradients of their ratios even when there are no contributions from radioactive decay. The application to Rb/Sr dating is evaluated and shown to result in expected age overestimates when isotopic ratios are employed to linearize the isochron. A suggested method to test for this effect is argued to require rigorous statistical analysis. An associated optimal sampling technique would involve using single-grain etching. It is also shown that the only method to fully eliminate the isotope effect is to not use isotopic ratios at all in radioisotopic dating as the physics do not require the use of isotopic ratios for geochronological dating. However, without the ratios, the data are inherently noisy.


A mutant of Escherichia coli strain CanR 22 has been isolated which is resistant to growth inhibition by canavanine, an analogue of arginine. The properties of this strain and of another canavanine-resistant mutant, JC182-5 (isolated by Celis et al. [5]), were studied. The mutation is pleiotropic in that it results in a reduction in the activity of two distinct permeases, the arginine-specific and lysine-arginine-ornithine transport systems. The lesion maps at min 56 of the E. coli linkage map, at or near the argP locus. Although strain CanR 22 excretes arginine, this excretion appears to result from reduced ability to concentrate arginine, rather than the loss of transport ability being the result of excretion. This conclusion is based on findings with a canavanine-resistant strain auxotrophic for arginine, which exhibits transport properties similar to those of the prototrophic strains. Additionally, growth in the presence of arginine or ornithine results in a repression of the activity of the two basic amino acid transport systems. Neither the arginine-specific nor the lysine-arginine-ornithine binding proteins of the mutant cells show significant alterations in terms of amount, physical properties, or kinetic parameters. These observations lead to the proposal of a model for the two basic amino acid transport systems in which two carrier proteins with different specificities interact with a common energy coupling mechanism. A lesion in the gene (or one of the genes) for this coupling mechanism can confer canavanine resistance.


During group navigation the information shared by group members may be complex, heterogeneous and may vary over time. Nevertheless, modelling approaches have demonstrated that even relatively simple interactions between individuals can produce complex collective outcomes. In such models each individual follows the same simple set of local rules, giving rise to differential outcomes of the navigational decision-making process depending on various parameters. However, inherent heterogeneity within groups means that some group members may emerge as more influential than others in navigational tasks and this underlying social structure may affect the ability of the group at large. Here, we present our preliminary modelling of group navigation specifically developed to include internal group structure. Building on existing models and recent experimental results we examine the role of individual influence on group navigation and its effects on group navigational ability. © The Royal Institute of Navigation 2008.


The further rise of electronic publishing has come to change the scale and diversity of grey literature facing librarians and other information practitioners. This compiled work brings together research and authorship over the past decade dealing with both the supply and demand sides of grey literature. While this book is written with students and instructors of Colleges and Schools of Library and Information Science in mind, it likewise serves as a reader for information professionals working in any and all like knowledge-based communities.


We present the status of our zone plate and test object fabrication processes along with the latest fabricated components. With our nickel process, zone plates with outermost zone width of 20 nm and zone height of 90 nm have been fabricated. A gold electroplating process has recently been introduced for the fabrication of test objects. The first result for gold gratings with 70 nm period and 135 nm height is shown.


Very soon after publication of a description of a new species of Therapon from Western Australia (Mees, 1963), I became aware that I had misidentified one of the species mentioned in the discussion of the affinities of the new species. Originally I intended to write only a short supplementary paper, to rectify the error, but as more material became available, my notes expanded, until it appeared to me that longer postponement of their publication would not be likely to add much of significance. The paper as now published falls far short of a revision; rather, it contains a number of scattered notes on various species, adding, I hope, a little to knowledge of their distribution and affinities, and for that reason I have given it its somewhat vague title. For the loan or donation of material, I am indebted to Dr. E. K. Barth (Zoologisk Museum, Oslo), Mr. B. Campbell (Queensland Museum, Brisbane), Dr. R. Gibbs (United States National Museum, Washington), Dr. P. Kahsbauer (Naturhistorisches Museum, Wien), Mr. J. S. Lake (University of Sydney, Sydney), Mr. R. J. McKay (Western Australian Museum, Perth, W.A.), Dr. H. Nijssen (Zoologisch Museum, Amsterdam), Mr. S. Parker (Northern Territory Museum, Alice Springs), Dr. D. E. Rosen (American Museum of Natural History, New York), Dr. Greta Vestergren (Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet, Stockholm), Mr. A. C. Wheeler (British Museum (Natural History), London), Dr. J. T. Woods (Queensland Museum, Brisbane) and Dr. J. V. Yapchiongco (University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City). In the lists of material and tables the following abbreviations have been used: AMNH (American Museum of Natural History), BM (British


In order to accelerate the convergence speed of the conventional BP algorithm, constrained optimization techniques are applied to the BP algorithm. First, the noise-constrained least mean square algorithm and the zero noise-constrained LMS algorithm are applied (designated the NCBP and ZNCBP algorithms, respectively). These methods involve an important assumption: the filter or the receiver in the NCBP algorithm must know the noise variance. By means of extention and generalization of these algorithms, the authors derive an adaptive error-constrained BP algorithm and its simplified algorithm, in which the error variance is estimated. This is achieved by modifying the error function of the conventional BP algorithm using Lagrangian multipliers. The convergence speeds of the proposed algorithms are 20 to 30 times faster than those of the conventional BP algorithm, and are faster than or almost the same as that achieved with a conventional linear adaptive filter using an LMS algorithm.


Machine learning allows computers to learn and discern patterns without actually being programmed. When Statistical techniques and machine learning are combined together they are a powerful tool for analysing various kinds of data in many computer science/engineering areas including, image processing, speech processing, natural language processing, robot control, as well as in fundamental sciences such as biology, medicine, astronomy, physics, and materials. Introduction to Statistical Machine Learning provides a general introduction to machine learning that covers a wide range of topics concisely and will help you bridge the gap between theory and practice. Part I discusses the fundamental concepts of statistics and probability that are used in describing machine learning algorithms. Part II and Part III explain the two major approaches of machine learning techniques; generative methods and discriminative methods. While Part III provides an in-depth look at advanced topics that play essential roles in making machine learning algorithms more useful in practice. The accompanying MATLAB/Octave programs provide you with the necessary practical skills needed to accomplish a wide range of data analysis tasks.Provides the necessary background material to understand machine learning such as statistics, probability, linear algebra, and calculus.Complete coverage of the generative approach to statistical pattern recognition and the discriminative approach to statistical machine learning.Includes MATLAB/Octave programs so that readers can test the algorithms numerically and acquire both mathematical and practical skills in a wide range of data analysis tasksDiscusses a wide range of applications in machine learning and statistics and provides examples drawn from image processing, speech processing, natural language processing, robot control, as well as biology, medicine, astronomy, physics, and materials.


In the 1990s federal laws were created to encourage the teaching and speaking of American Indian languages. The "Dictionary of Jicarilla Apache", developed within the auspices of the Jicarilla Apache Nation Cultural Preservation Program with support from the Jicarilla Apache Nation Tribal Council and funding from the National Science Foundation, provides documentation of Jicarilla Apache, an Eastern Apachean language, and is intended to provide the basis for classroom and home teaching of the language. This is the first large-scale dictionary of any of the Eastern Apachean languages. The editors are scholars specialising in Native American languages who worked with Wilhelmina Phone, Maureen Olson, and Matilda Martinez, native Jicarilla speakers. Together they created this dictionary, which will be a valuable teaching and learning tool for instructing children and young adults in the Jicarilla Apache community who otherwise have no sustained contact with their heritage language. Today there are fewer than three hundred native speakers of Jicarilla Apache, and the majority of them are elderly. The school-age population is in the hundreds and this dictionary has been specifically developed to support language learning in their schools. Other Apachean peoples, as well as linguists and anthropologists, will find the dictionary useful as well. Included here are over five thousand entries organised both alphabetically and by semantic field. The 'Dictionary' also includes a grammatical sketch of the language and a guide to using the dictionary, in addition to the Jicarilla Apache to English dictionary, an English to Jicarilla index, and a lexicon organised according to semantic domains such as plants, animals, household items, etc., and for nouns and for verbs and semantic and grammatical groupings such as descriptions, activities, and motion verbs.


Early STEM education has a great potential to support children's development in constructing their own knowledge, in designing, discussing and testing ideas and finding solutions to different problems. Significant role in achieving the goals of STEM education is played by the teacher, who scaffolds the learning process, builds a creative learning environment, provokes children with open questions and guides them to test their hypothesis as young scientists, mathematicians, engineers and technology users. Preschool teachers' knowledge and perspectives could seriously influence their practices in STEM education and respectively, the fulfilment of STEM learning outcomes. It is very important to explore in depth teachers' views and experiences thus to plan and provide appropriate courses for their academic preparation or continuous professional development. While reviewing some popular misconceptions for STEM education amongst teachers, this paper presents the results of pre- and post-interviews conducted with teachers from Bulgaria in the framework of the European multilateral Erasmus+ project №2018-1-TR01-KA203-059568 "STEM for Pre-schoolers and Their Families" (PARENTSTEM) (2018–2021). The overall goal of this project was to increase family involvement in the STEM education process of early childhood children specifically coming from low socio-economic status. As a part of this goal implementation, the project aimed to extend conceptual and pedagogical knowledge of early childhood teachers on STEM. In the frame of the project the preschool teachers-participants in the study were provided with three teacher trainings (two international and one national) and were additionally supported with the intellectual outputs of the project. This paper attempted to identify teachers' preliminary knowledge, awareness and attitudes towards STEM conceptualization and pedagogy and to describe the relative influence of the project teacher trainings and activities on them. The results of the research unambiguously demonstrated the need for training of preschool teachers in terms of STEM education, outlining the main focuses to be considered when constructing STEM courses intended for preschool teachers.


The Lower Maastrichtian of Fumanya and neighbouring localities of the Vallcebre syncline (Eastern Pyrenees, Catalonia) provide the first taphonomic evidence for the hypothesis that cheirolepidiacean conifers were significant precursors of Maastrichtian Pyrenean coal. Most Frenelopsis-rich lignite beds do not bear rootlet marks, suggesting that the original peat was detrital. Sedimentological and taphonomic evidence indicates deposition in the margins of a lagoon after the transport of the cheirolepidiacean remains by flotation. The same parautochtonous assemblage includes complete impressions Sabalites longirhachis leaves and large impressions of logs attributed to the same palm trees. Other parautochthonous or allochthonous plant megaremains include extremely rare cycadalean and monocot leaves and abundant minute angiosperm seeds. Rootlet marks associated with thin lignite beds occur at the top of some charophyte limestones. The charophyte association, dominated by in situ accumulation of Peckichara and Microchara gyrogonites, suggests that these limestones were deposited in shallow, freshwater lakes and that the corresponding peat mires were limnic rather than paralic in nature. The botanical affinity of plant remains associated with these root-bearing lignites is uncertain. Palynological analysis showed abundant bisaccates, with less abundant fern spores and freshwater algal oospores. Locally, the abundant rootlet marks were associated with large brush-like rooting structures attributed to Sabalites longirhachis palms. Our results show that, at the beginning of the Maasrichtian, cheirolepidiacean conifers were still significant peat-producing plants, although, unlike analogous Lower Cretaceous ones, they shared this role with rare angiosperms, such as palms.


The Changing Face of Anti-Semitism: From Ancient Times to the Present Day, by Walter Laqueur. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. 216 pp. $22.00. Walter Laqueurs many books on European and Middle Eastern history have always combined historical depth and contemporary relevance. His latest work, a history of antisemitism, is no exception: although it begins with the ancient world and provides a brisk survey of the history of antisemitism through the era of the Holocaust, half of its chapters deal with aspects of "the new antisemitism," the surprising mutations of the old virus that have occurred in the post-Holocaust era. As Laqueur wryly notes, the Nazis made the term "antisemitism" disreputable, and most antisemites now masquerade under other names: "A spade is no longer a spade but an agricultural implement." Laqueur's chapters on ancient and medieval antisemitism, the Enlightenment and its aftermath, the rise of racialism and conspiracy theories, and the Holocaust are masterly examples of concise analysis, full of crisp judgments of the distinctive factors at play in each period. It is true, he acknowledges, that there are continuities in the history of antisemitism: Voltaire, for example, was influenced by his reading of classical authors with prejudices against the Jews, as well as by Spinoza's rationalist critique of Judaism in the seventeenth century. But as a historian, Laqueur is more attentive to differences rather than similarities across periods, and he stresses that different societies have produced different varieties of antisemitism. Antisemitism in early modern Germany, for example, was primarily theological in character, while Polish antisemitism had mainly social rather than ideological causes. Instead of depicting antisemitism as a kind of primordial lava that erupts periodically in times of crisis, Laqueur is alert to specific changes in the constellation of factors that have produced outbreaks of hatred and violence against Jewish minorities in European and Islamic societies. Laqueur has written authoritative works not only about the Holocaust, but also about various forms of ideological extremism and terrorism, as well as about Zionism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He is therefore well equipped to examine the more recent manifestations of antisemitism in the Middle East and on the left side of the political spectrum in Europe and elsewhere in the contemporary world. He begins his book with a puzzle: If more than 25 million people have been killed in internal conflicts since the end of the second World War, why have the 8,000 victims of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict received so much of the world's attention? Why has Israel been the target of more United Nations resolutions than all other nations combined? Is it a matter of sympathy for the underdog in the conflict? But surely there are many other underdogs in the world's many zones of conflict, some of them suffering more grievously than the Palestinians. …


We have developed a greenhouse technique by which a chosen soil moisture tension can be maintained continuously. The setup for supplying water at relatively constant soil moisture tension in pots includes five major components—water tank, W-tube, water distribution system, soil moisture tension sensors, and pots. The W-tube, which contains a predetermined amount of Hg, controls the soil moisture tension in the pots. Water can flow freely from the tank to the pots through the distribution system whenever the soil moisture tension exceeds that desired. Response to the sensors' demand for water is rapid. We have successfully used this setup to compare relative drought tolerance of rice (Oryza sativa L.) varieties and breeding lines. Another use of this setup might be to measure evapotranspiration (ET) almost instantaneously; the technique might be useful in some soil-plant-atmosphere-water relationship studies.


We investigated, over the course of two years, the importance of landscape context on the abundance of aphids and  their natural carabid enemies, which may help to develop effective strategies for reduction of aphid outbreaks in agricultural landscapes. This was undertaken in 12 wheat fields and in 12 maize fields each year in an agricultural landscape  in western France. Our study area was characterized by hedgerows surrounding arable fields and permanent grasslands. Some areas did not change much over a few decades, while field enlargement and removal of hedges appeared in some places following agricultural intensification,. The present paper aimed at examining if the landscape context around crop fields affected the abundance of aphids (either directly, or indirectly via their natural enemies) and if  this effect depends on the landscape scale considered. We observed that the abundance of aphids in the field was associated with landscape composition at large scale (500 m and 800 m). There was a positive correlation between the abundance of the aphids and the proportion of woodland and grassland at these scales. There was a negative correlation between the abundance of carabids and the proportion of grassland and hedgerow around crop fields. The species richness of carabids was positively correlated with the proportion of hedgerows . We found that the proportion of grassy strips affect negatively  the abundance of aphids in the wheat fields, and positively so in maize fields. Carabid abundance was positively correlated with the proportion of grassy strips at large scale in both types of cultures.


Summary In order to study the role of the kidney in fish osmoregulation, freshwater acclimatized juvenile spotted scat (Scatophagus argus L.) were subjected to four different salinities and observed for histomorphometric changes of the kidney at 1, 2, 10 and 15 days post transfer time points. The overall morphological changes displayed by fish kidney included significant decrease in the density of collecting tubules and glomeruli when subjected to higher salinity levels (10, 20 or 30 g/l) in comparison to proliferated, extensive, dense and muscular ones retained in the kidney of residents in freshwater and also of 5 g/l adapted animals. In conclusion, the observed histomorphological changes in the current study agree well with previously established physiological differences in the function of teleost kidney in freshwater and in the seawater.


Specialized markets are a unique product of China's economic transition. They are marketplaces located in industrial clusters, specializing in the wholesale of local commodities and related goods. Ding Ke reveals that, despite their seemingly primitive form, specialized markets appeared in many of the modern industrial sectors and were paradoxically upgraded and expanded as these clusters developed. He argues that specialized markets have also formed solid linkages with marketplaces in various cities in China and in other developing economies. A powerful, emerging market-oriented distribution system has thus appeared. Based on thorough fieldwork covering ten years, and using the novel theory of the platform, this book clarifies the unique development logic of specialized markets.


LightTank is an interactive Extended Reality (XR) installation that augments a large lightweight aluminium structure with holographic line drawings. It consists of four transparent projection walls which are assembled to an X shape tower like construction of 7.5 x 7.5 x 5.5 m. The project was developed by the arc/sec Lab in collaboration with the Augmented Human Lab for the Ars Electronica Festival and presented in the Cathedral of Linz in Austria. It aims to expand principles of augmented reality (AR) headsets from a single person viewing experience, towards a communal interactive event. To achieve this goal, LightTank uses an anaglyph stereoscopic projection method, which combined with simple red/cyan cardboard glasses, allows the creation of 3D virtual constructions. The holographic line drawings are designed to merge with its physical environment, whether it is the geometrical grids of the aluminium structure or the gothic architecture of the cathedral. Certain drawings seem to peel off the existing physical structure, while others travel through the cathedral and line up with the characteristic elements like columns, groined arches and rose windows. The project follows a hybrid design strategy which places equal attention to both design aspects, the physical and the digital. The aim of the setup is to explore user responsive architecture, where dynamic properties of the virtual world are an integral part of the physical environment. LightTank creates hereby a multi-viewer environment which enables visitors to navigate through holographic architectural narratives.


Day after day, many enterprises make use of the Internet and cyber space to reach out to customers everywhere at any time. The banking industry, like other industries, is using the Internet channel to protect its current position against other virtual players who may provide more convenience and lower priced services. Internet banking (IB) is meant to provide 24/7 service for banking customers, yet the electronic channel comes with challenges as well as gains for both bankers and customers. This study aims to identify the important determinants of online behavior, particularly with respect to Internet banking and the technology acceptance research. The different technology acceptance models are discussed thoroughly in the literature review to explain the stages and the foundations that led to the formation of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). This work aims at investigating the viability of the aggregated technology acceptance model, the UTAUT, in a non-industrial country (Jordan). The research also permits an extension to the model by addressing the impact of web presence on the online behavior, namely website quality perceptions. The contribution of this work lies in several areas of implementation and empirical analyses. This research extended the UTAUT model to account for the online behavior. The extension comprised decomposing the technical sources dimension of the facilitating condition construct of the UTAUT and replacing it with the website design quality structure variable. The current work validates the UTAUT measures as developed by its authors, in addition to supporting the interrelationships among the key constructs in technology acceptance research. The proposed extension to the UTAUT model attempts to capture the impact of website quality perceptions on key constructs, namely performance expectance, effort expectancy and usage behavior. A restrict research methodology was used to test both original and developed hypotheses, the results show that website quality structure does impact usage behavior indirectly, through performance expectancy and effort expectancy. Discussion, conclusion, and further research area are provided based on the results of the research.


The Compact Clause prohibits U.S. states from making "any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power" absent congressional consent. No one, however, has ever studied the Clause's application to agreements by foreign powers with U.S. states (FSAs). The conventional wisdom views FSAs as infrequent, unimportant, and otherwise identical to those interstate compacts for which the Supreme Court has opined congressional consent is generally unnecessary. My article explains why the conventional wisdom is wrong on all counts. For the first time, I present a typology of 340 FSAs and show how they are increasing in both number and importance. The states have simply not reported their practice to the federal government. More importantly, my article introduces the idea that the Constitution contains not one Compact Clause, but two - one for interstate compacts and another for FSAs. Using text, history, doctrine, function, and structure, I demonstrate how Congress can dictate for itself when states must obtain congressional approval of FSAs, independent of the interstate compact doctrine devised by the Court. In doing so, my work aims to demonstrate that the Court is not the only actor that can construct constitutional meaning; Congress has its own powers to interpret the constitutional text outside the courtroom. Ultimately, my article shows that, despite some costs, a Foreign Compact Clause will benefit states, their foreign partners, the federal government, and even our understanding of federalism as a cooperative venture, rather than just a competitive one.


Here, we report on laboratory experiments with the aim to explore cheap and innovative techniques. The main focus of the experiments was to lower the P-content in pig slurry with 25%. In that case, in principle all manure produced in the Netherlands can be applied on agricultural land in The Netherlands itself, including the organic matter and other nutrients in the manure. The results show that with physical and chemical treatment techniques 25% of the phosphate can rather easily be recovered from the solid or liquid fractions of the pig slurry. The costs of chemicals depend highly on the buffer capacity of the studied (n=3) pig slurries, and are less than 5 € per ton pig slurry.


ABSTRACTThe transport of aerosols relies primarily upon air flow for conveyance; however, the air flow pattern is dominated by large-scale circulation conditions. One mission of the 2013 7-SEAS/BASELInE (Seven SouthEast Asian Studies/Biomass-burning Aerosols & Stratocumulus Environment: Lifecycles and Interactions Experiment) was to capture/confirm the downwind effect on the surface air quality due to the long-range transport of Southeast Asia biomass-burning (SEA BB) pollutants. This phenomenon was first discovered during the 2010 Dongsha experiment and directly observed by a lidar system at Hengchun in southern Taiwan during 7-SEAS/BASELInE. Through three-dimensional structural analysis, it was found that the sinking motion behind the upper-level active short wave trough is the major mechanism that enhances subsidence along the cold surge leading edge. In turn, the enhanced subsidence could bring the long-range transport of the SEA BB pollutants down to the surface. Furthermore, the HYSPLIT backward air trajectories helped identify the SEA BB pollutants in the mid-troposphere, while the fine-resolution WRF model simulation combined with dual-polarization lidar observations demonstrated the evolution of the brought-down aerosols process. An additional significant finding of this study is that the upper-level ridge-trough short wave within 20°–35°N was very active during spring 2013, highlighting the inter-annual variability of the long-range transport of SEA BB pollutants.


For any organization sound marketing strategy and quality assurance play vital role in the growth of the organization. The price, quality and service, service centers, friendly attitude, Discounts on sales, esthetics, store location and appearance, ease of operations, guarantees and warranties, adopting new ideas, and flexible payments terms were considered to study the perceptions of the respondents. The ultimate aim is to uphold the turnover of the organization and to create good market penetration of the goods produced in highly competitive business world.


Human body temperature is regulated within a very narrow range. When exposed to hyperthermic conditions, via environmental factors and/or increased metabolism, heat dissipation becomes vital for survival. In humans, the primary mechanism of heat dissipation, particularly when ambient temperature is higher than skin temperature, is evaporative heat loss secondary to sweat secretion from eccrine glands. While the primary controller of sweating is the integration between internal and skin temperatures, a number of non-thermal factors modulate the sweating response. In addition to summarizing the current understanding of the neural pathways from the brain to the sweat gland, as well as responses at the sweat gland, this review will highlight findings pertaining to studies of proposed non-thermal modifiers of sweating, namely, exercise, baroreceptor loading state, and body fluid status. Information from these studies not only provides important insight pertaining to the basic mechanisms of sweating, but also perhaps could be useful towards a greater understanding of potential mechanisms and consequences of disease states as well as aging in altering sweating responses and thus temperature regulation.


A method of precisely calculating the external applied voltage and the optimum type-II phase matching angles for KTP crystal, which is used as both an intracavity electro-optic (EO) Q-switch and a frequency doubler, is presented. The effective EO coefficient along the phase-matching direction is defined to calculate the half-wave voltage and the quarter-wave voltage, and the precise calculation for the phase matching angles in the condition of KTP crystal optimum second harmonic phase matching is theoretically realized.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the effects of treatment on the radiologic manifestations of joint damage in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who participated in a 24-week extension study of a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial of anakinra, a recombinant human interleukin 1 receptor antagonist.

METHODS
The patients had entered a 24-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Anakinra was self-administered by subcutaneous injection of 30, 75, or 150 mg/day. Upon completion of the placebo-controlled phase, the patients entering the extension study who had received placebo were randomized to one of the 3 treatment dosages for a further 24 weeks, and the patients who had been initially randomized to one of the 3 anakinra dosages continued to receive the same dosage. Radiographs of the hands were obtained at baseline and at 24 and 48 weeks. The radiographs were evaluated using a modified Sharp method.

RESULTS
A total of 472 patients were recruited. The mean change in the total modified Sharp score of 178 patients who completed 48 weeks treatment, including all dosages, was significantly less than the change observed in 58 patients who received placebo for 24 weeks and anakinra for 24 weeks (p = 0.015). A significant reduction in the change of the total modified Sharp score was observed in the patients who received anakinra 75 and 150 mg/day. The total modified Sharp score was reduced significantly more during the second 24-week treatment period, compared to the first (p < 0.001). Significant reductions in the second 24-week period were observed following anakinra 75 mg/day (p = 0.006) and 150 mg/day (p = 0.008).

CONCLUSION
Patients with RA who received anakinra for 48 weeks demonstrated significant slowing of radiographic joint damage. The treatment effect observed after the first 24-week period appeared to increase when anakinra was continued for 48 weeks.


This paper presents a new method for simultaneous localization and mapping that exploits the topology of the robot's free space to localize the robot on a partially constructed map. The topology of the environment is encoded in a topological map; the particular topological map used in this paper is the generalized Voronoi graph (GVG), which also encodes some metric information about the robot's environment, as well. In this paper, we present the low-level control laws that generate the GVG edges and nodes, thereby allowing for exploration of an unknown space. With these prescribed control laws, the GVG can be viewed as an arbitrator for a hybrid control system that determines when to invoke a particular low-level controller from a set of controllers all working toward the high-level capability of mobile robot exploration. The main contribution, however, is using the graph structure of the GVG, via a graph matching process, to localize the robot. Experimental results verify the described work.


We describe an approach to the development of a digital library system that is founded on a number of basic principles. In particular, we discuss the critical role of metadata in all aspects of the system design. We begin by describing how the notion of metadata is sometimes interpreted and go on to discuss some of our early experiences in a digital conversion project. We report on the Profiles in Science project, which is making the archival collections of prominent biomedical scientists available on the World Wide Web. We discuss the principles that are used in our system design, illustrating these throughout the discussion. Our approach has involved interpreting metadata in its broadest sense. We capture data about the items in our digital collection for a a variety of purposes and use those data to drive the entire system. Further, we have designed our overall system architecture such that it can accommodate changes while still ensuring the persistence of the underlying data.


Understanding the structure of identifiers in a particular dataset is critical for users/applications that want to use such a dataset, and connect to it. This is especially true in Linked Data where, while benefiting from having the structure of URIs, identifiers are also designed according to specific conventions, which are rarely made explicit and documented. In this paper, we present an automatic method to extract such URI patterns which is based on adapting formal concept analysis techniques to the mining of string patterns. The result is a tool that can generate, in a few minutes, the documentation of the URI patterns employed in a SPARQL endpoint by the instances of each class in the corresponding datasets. We evaluate the approach through demonstrating its performance and efficiency on several endpoints of various origins.


The importance of forest environment in the perspective of the biodiversity as well as from the economic resources which forests enclose, is more than evident. Any threat posed to this critical component of the environment should be identified and attacked through the use of the most efficient available technological means. Early warning and immediate response to a fire event are critical in avoiding great environmental damages. Fire risk assessment, reliable detection and localization of fire as well as motion planning, constitute the most vital ingredients of a fire protection system. In this chapter, we review the evolution of the forest fire protection systems and emphasize on open issues and the improvements that can be achieved using artificial intelligence technology. We start our tour from the pillars which were for a long time period, the only possible method to oversee the forest fires. Then, we will proceed to the exploration of early AI systems and will end-up with nowadays systems that might receive multimodal data from satellites, optical and thermal sensors, smart phones and UAVs and use techniques that cover the spectrum from early signal processing algorithms to latest deep learning-based ones to achieving the ultimate goal.


In less than two decades, the concepts of limits to growth and of the necessity of an ecologically sustainable economic order have gained international recognition. These concepts are not yet understood by most people or most governments, but belief in the necessity for planning for a sustainable future is growing. Several lines of strategy are necessary to obtain a truly global commitment to sustainable programmes of development that will simultaneously protect The Biosphere. Among those now undertaken are the World Conservation Strategy, the international environmental education movement formalized at Tbilisi in 1977, and the World Campaign for The Biosphere. Educational efforts are necessary but insufficient to move the world into an ecologically sustainable mode of behaviour. Political action that reflects moral conviction roused by scientific information will also be necessary. Safeguarding the environmental future and The Biosphere requires a social commitment of a moral, quasi-religious character.


Even though introspection, reflection, and mentalization are important processes in clinical practice, no self-report measure has been developed to address the psychological construct of self-curiosity. This paper addresses this disparity, and provides a new self-report measure on this topic and data on its nomological network. Curiosity about self was initially conceptualized as the desire that people have to explore and understand themselves and their psychological functioning beyond what they already know about themselves. The manuscript presents data from three independent samples used to build the SelfCuriosity Attitude-Interest (SCAI) scale. Data show that the SCAI comprises two dimensions: attitude toward self-curiosity (cognitive propensity toward exploring one's own inner world) and interest in increasing knowledge of self (emotional/motivational pull to understand oneself better). An independent sample shows good internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and evidence of construct validity of the SCAI. This paper discusses the utility of the SCAI in clinical practice and research.


Adakites are geochemically distinct intermediate to felsic lavas found exclusively in subduction zones. Here we report the first example of such magmas from southern Tibet in an active continental collision environment. The Tibetan adakites were emplaced from ca. 26 to 10 Ma, and their overall geochemical characteristics suggest an origin by melting of eclogites and/or garnet amphibolites in the lower part (≥50 km) of thickened Tibetan crust. This lower-crustal melting required a significantly elevated geotherm, which we attribute to removal of the tectonically thickened lithospheric mantle in late Oligocene time. The identification of collision-type adakites from southern Tibet lends new constraints to not only the Himalayan-Tibetan orogenesis—how and when the Indian lithosphere started underthrusting Asia can be depicted—but also the growth of the early continental crust on Earth that consists dominantly of the tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite suites marked by adakitic geochemical affinities.


Arthur Miller's penultimate play, Resurrection Blues, is a darkly comic satirical allegory that poses the question: What would happen if Christ were to appear in the world today? In an unidentified Latin American country, General Felix Barriaux has captured an elusive revolutionary leader. The rebel, known by various names, is rumored to have performed miracles throughout the countryside. The General plans to crucify the mysterious man, and the exclusive television rights to the twenty-four-hour reality-TV event have been sold to an American network for $25 million. An allegory that asserts the interconnectedness of our actions and each person's culpability in world events, Resurrection Blues is a comedic and tragic satire of precarious morals in our media-saturated age.


Complete Photoshop CS3 for Digital Photographers is a completely updated edition of this insightful and practical guide to using Photoshop as your photographic editing tool. All of the new featurees of CS3 related to photography are thoroughly covered and wide variety of new photos and tutorials are used to teach you how to organize, enhance, correct, and retouch images; how to do creative things with those images; and how to output them. As with the previous editions, the book is designed and written especially for digital photographers: it teaches them how to use the tools and features of Photoshop, while explaining why and how Photoshop functions the way it does. Using Photoshop CS3 is essentially like having your own desktop digital darkroom, and with the help of tutorials in this book, you'll learn how to master this powerful tool. By working through the various projects, you'll explore the new and enhanced areas of Photoshop, including more in depth coverage of each of these features and how they are improved from the previous version. And to help you master these tools, the book teaches professional techniques for overcoming the many challenges you'll face. After working through the book, you'll be able to bring out the best from any photo, while establishing an efficient workflow. If you truly want to understand and master Photoshop CS3 for digital photography, this is the resource you need.


D0870 is a novel azole antifungal compound. It was compared with conventional amphotericin B and itraconazole therapy in two murine models of invasive aspergillosis, one a systemic nonimmunocompromised mouse model and the other a temporarily neutropenic mouse respiratory model. D0870 was given orally and achieved measurable concentrations in serum approximately proportional to the daily dose with accumulation over time if it was given twice daily. Amphotericin B at 3.3 mg/kg of body weight was given intraperitoneally for four to six doses, and itraconazole was given orally in a cyclodextrin suspension at 5 to 50 mg/kg daily or twice daily (BID). The duration of therapy varied from 7 to 14 days. In the nonimmunocompromised mouse model, D0870 at 25 mg/kg BID was slightly inferior to amphotericin B and itraconazole with regard to mortality, with a median survival of 20 days for the three groups (P = 0.03 compared with amphotericin B). However, D0870 at 25 mg/kg BID was inferior to amphotericin B (but not itraconazole) with respect to renal culture (P = 0.01) and brain culture (P = 0.0001) results. Only amphotericin B was statistically superior to controls with regard to mortality. In the neutropenic mouse respiratory model, D0870 at 50 mg/kg/day was superior to amphotericin B, itraconazole, and controls with regard to mortality. D0870 at both 25 and 50 mg/kg/day was statistically superior to controls with regard to lung culture results (P = 0.004 to 0.04). A second experiment with a higher inoculum showed that no drug regimen was effective in that model. In all models low doses and concentrations of D0870 in serum were ineffective. D0870 has some efficacy for the treatment of invasive aspergillosis when it is given at modest doses.


This is a study of the importance and significance of community identity to a fighting unit in the First World War. It is an analysis of the relevance of the local communities to the unit and its combat effectiveness; the role played by the unit in the local communities' involvement in the War; and the post-War ramifications of this relationship. In focusing on 1/7th Battalion Kings Liverpool Regiment, a Territorial battalion based in Bootle, Southport and the surrounding area of south west Lancashire, the thesis follows a typical Territorial unit and its home towns from recruitment and establishment to demobilisation and beyond.

A wide range of primary sources have been examined including local newspapers, local Council records, official War Diaries of the various units, battle reports and private papers of several of the combatants. In developing existing historiography the study is also believed to present new perspectives on several aspects of the War including the Lusitania riots; the battles of Festubert, 1915, and Givenchy, 1918; and the role of charities in post-War reconstruction work. It also raises general issues about the role of the Territorial Force and draws attention to several gaps in the social and military historiography of the War.

The thesis concludes that local and community identity contributed significantly towards the 1/7th Kings' morale, organisation and hence battle effectiveness. This contribution initially stemmed from the local recruits themselves but was actively nurtured and encouraged by commanders at Battalion, Brigade and Divisional level throughout the War. It also establishes that by putting the local Battalion at the centre of its concerns, the rather disparate communities were able to organise, coalesce and maximise their War effort and support. Finally, it demonstrates in the post-War years, that, despite the fluctuations in this mutually important relationship, the local identification with the Battalion was maintained in memorialisation, remembrance and reconstruction.


QEEG Correlates of Cognitive Deficits in Multiple Sclerosis During Targeted Cognitive Tasks R. Brock Frost Department of Psychology, BYU Doctor of Philosophy Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common neurological disorder of young adulthood and is often associated with cognitive impairment and emotional dysfunction. Due to the nature of the disease, the cognitive deficits in MS are often variable in their presentation, and consist of deficits in processing speed, attention, working memory, and executive functioning. The purpose of the present study was to explore common methods of documenting MS-related cognitive deficits, to elucidate the relationship between the cognitive deficits seen in MS and physiological markers of cognitive functioning (i.e., quantitative EEG), and to analyze the relationship between cognitive deficits and mood dysfunction in MS. There were 26 participants diagnosed with remitting-relapsing multiple sclerosis and 18 age, sex, and education matched controls. Results of cognitive testing indicated deficits in gross cognitive functioning, language, attention, processing speed, working memory, and executive functioning. A MANOVA encompassing group, task (PASAT and SPT) and load (light and heavy) showed significant group and load effects, but no main effect of task. The MS group performed worse than the controls and both groups performed better on the light load than the heavy load. Post hoc analysis indicated that performance on the PASAT 3 second trial was worse than on the PASAT 2 second trail compared to controls. Given that the PASAT 3 trial is theoretically easier than the PASAT 2 trial and that the PASAT 3 was administered first, the above results likely reflect learning effects. A Repeated Measures ANCOVA encompassing EEG and cognitive data (PASAT and SPT) indicated group-level differences on task performance, and suggested that at rest mean peak alpha frequency (PAF) is associated with performance on the PASAT, but not the SPT. EEG coherence during cognitive tasks was reduced between short-range connections in the theta, alpha, and beta frequency bins and enhanced in a limited number of long-range, anterior to posterior connections in the theta frequency bin in the MS group compared to controls. Finally, the MS participants had significantly more symptoms of depression and anxiety compared to normal controls. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis suggested that cognitive functioning is deleteriously affected by depression and anxiety. Overall, the results of this study substantiate the feasibility of utilizing QEEG as a physiological indicator of cognitive and cortical dysfunction in MS and show the importance of recognizing depression and anxiety and their contributions to cognitive deficits in individuals with MS.


In this paper we present results from the first use of neural networks for real-time control of the high-temperature plasma in a tokamak fusion experiment. The tokamak is currently the principal experimental device for research into the magnetic confinement approach to controlled fusion. In an effort to improve the energy confinement properties of the high-temperature plasma inside tokamaks, recent experiments have focused on the use of noncircular cross-sectional plasma shapes. However, the accurate generation of such plasmas represents a demanding problem involving simultaneous control of several parameters on a time scale as short as a few tens of microseconds. Application of neural networks to this problem requires fast hardware, for which we have developed a fully parallel custom implementation of a multilayer perceptron, based on a hybrid of digital and analogue techniques.


Maple syrup urine disease is an inherited disorder in which the body is unable to process certain protein building blocks (amino acids) properly. The condition gets its name from the distinctive sweet odor of affected infants' urine. It is also characterized by poor feeding, vomiting, lack of energy (lethargy), abnormal movements, and delayed development. If untreated, maple syrup urine disease can lead to seizures, coma, and death.


The paper reports the development of an e-monitoring and maintenance system based on web technology and mobile device, PDA. Rarity of experts led to the application of artificial intelligence and later, distributed artificial intelligence for condition monitoring and diagnosis of machine condition. Recently, web technology along with wireless communication is emerging as a potent tool in maintenance. It facilitates obtaining of the desired information by the relevant personnel at any time wherever he may be. The paper first describes the web and mobile architecture that formed the basis of the system and ICT tools used to communicate among the different layers in the architecture/system and its various client machines. It is followed by the demonstration of the use of the system with a faulty bearing simulated signal. A mobile emulator was used to perf ect the system for different requirements and the same was then tested on the PDA.


The most crucial process to assess in a tumor for efficient management is neo-angiogenesis. Currently, no reliable biomarker is available to measure angiogenesis, and direct microvessel density assay requires frequent biopsies for serial tumor monitoring. Technological innovations in imaging, however, have enabled the capture of physiological information in addition to anatomic details. One promising imaging technique for acquiring physiological information about angiogenesis is perfusion CT, which provides anatomic information as well.


Creativity is universally acknowledged as an important attribute of successful engineering design, but individual attributes and preferences can influence whether creative ideas come to fruition during the design process. However, few studies have explored the factors that can predict creative concept generation and selection in engineering design education. Thus, the current study was developed to provide an empirical understanding of how student designers' preferences for creativity predicts their ability to generate or select creative design alternatives during the concept screening process above and beyond the effects of personality through an empirical study with 178 engineering students. The factors explored included the Big 5 factors of personality, the preferences for creativity scale (PCS), and the novelty and quality of ideas generated and screened. The results show that the openness personality trait can predict the novelty of generated ideas as well as the novelty and quality of selected ideas during the concept screening process and that the creative confidence and preference factor of the PCS can predict the novelty of generated ideas and the novelty and quality of selected ideas during the concept screening process beyond the Big 5 factors of personality. A similar finding was obtained for the risk tolerance factor of the PCS. These findings demonstrate the importance of an individual's attitude toward risk and their creative confidence in the generation and selection of ideas in engineering education and provide a foundation for future research geared at building student innovation capacities.


Introduction: Growth and proliferation of the remaining microorganisms within the root canals may destroy the surrounding tissue of the root and leads to periapical lesion. Consequently, the complete elimination of microorganisms from the root canal is an important goal of endodontic therapy. Endodontic sealers do not provide complete seal in root canal system, and micro spaces have always remained between the material and canal walls that lead to penetration of these spaces, so, an antibacterial activity is essential for sealers. The aim of the present study was the in vitro evaluation of antimicrobial activity of the three endodontic sealers on two microorganisms. Methods: To study the effect of each sealer; AH26, MTA Fillapex and ADseal on Enterococcus Faecalis and Lactobacillus bacteria 10 samples were considered. In this experimental study, 60 plates were exposed to bacteria and 10 plates were considered for control group. Sealer antibacterial effect on bacterial growth was studied after 48 hours. Firstly, the freshly prepared sealers were poured inside the micro tube and diffused in the wall of the micro tube. Then solution of nutrient broth was poured into a micro tube and the determined volume of solution of bacterial suspension was added into a microtube and was kept 24 hours in the incubator to grow the bacteria. Then, it was poured in the plates of blood agar and cultured after 24 hours and then the colonies grown on the plates were counted in sufficient light. The data were analyzed with MANOVA statistical test and SPSS Version 18. Results: Most bacteria grew in the plates of ADseal sealer and MTA fillapex sealer with means of 5113.00CFU and 3077.00CFU respectively, while the lowest number of bacteria grew in the plates of AH26 sealer with a mean of 1345.15CFU. Conclusions: Most antibacterial activities of each enterococcus faecalis and lactobacillus bacteria sample was for AH26 sealer and MTA fillapex sealer. The lowest antibacterial activity was for ADseal sealer.


This article explores how children of Latino immigrants responded to a learning environment where they
could influence how and what they learned. Using ethnographic data from the much larger Agency and
Young Children project in the United States, this article describes how a particular six year old
classroom serving mostly children of Latino immigrants responded in ways that not only increased
content knowledge in subjects such as science and literacy but also increased the amount of shared or
communal agency in the classroom, even affecting the development of social capabilities by the children
and teacher alike. Using a conceptual framework borrowed from development economics and
particularly the work on agency and capabilities by Sen (1999; 2003), this paper counters a strictly
psychological, individualistic version of agency and instead conceptualizes agency as a means to
building individual and communal capabilities.


Theory and practice for comprehensive art education (K-8) has continued to reflect and influence reform in general education since the 1960s. Yet in spite of development of exemplary programs, art in many classrooms is often limited to experimentation with materials, providing breaks in the day for students or teachers. Teacher educators need to consider what training will enable emerging elementary teachers to become competent developers of relevant and purposeful art curriculum (for learning built on knowledge and skills unique to the arts.) The purpose of this qualitative study was to guide, observe, and report on the experiences of Elementary Education (EDEL) Majors in an Elementary Art Methods course within the Education Department at Montana State University. These students were asked to engage in historical/cultural inquiry as members of a group in order to construct contextual understanding of one artwork or art site. Then students were guided through the process of designing curriculum from their insights of the same art prompt. The unit foundation guidelines used were from the Transforming Education Through the Arts Challenge (TETAC), a five-year project completed in 2001. The framework, which emphasizes art integration, was founded on Discipline-Based Art Education (DBAE) and Understanding by Design (Wiggins and McTighe, 1998) concepts. The results of this study indicate that emerging teachers have a pre-determined idea about what art is and should be in the classroom. Most EDEL majors say they intend to teach or integrate art but many feel art should be fun activity allowing for free expression. However, when given opportunity to cultivate informed understanding of an artwork, EDEL students were able to design substantive and well-aligned curriculum with meaningful enduring ideas, essential questions, and learning objectives for art skills and knowledge. The findings will encourage educators to approach inquiry in elementary art methods as an information-gathering process appropriate for preparing to teach in any content area. The inquiry process alone did not lead EDEL students to experience epiphany until they began to unpack their ideas according to the structure for unit design. Then one student remarked: "Pow, suddenly it all made sense!"


In this work we investigated propagation of ultrashort laser pulses in dispersive nonlinear media. We derived a general propagation equation of pulses which includes the linear and nonlinear effects to all orders. We studied in the specific case of Kerr media and obtained an ultrashort pulse propagation equation called a Generalized Nonlinear Schrodinger Equation. The impact of the third order dispersion, the higher-order nonlinear terms self-steepening, and stimulated Raman scattering are explicitly analyzed.


Estimating demand for events that have multiple ticket prices, such as sporting, musical, and theater performances requires choosing the relevant price variable. Previous attempts may have suffered from errors in variables and from using ordinary least squares instead of panel data techniques. We estimate the price elasticity of demand for 1950s Major League Baseball games by using both a weighted-average ticket price series and an average-gate-revenue per ticket series in separate equations; the first time a direct comparison of the two series has been done successfully for baseball. The weighted-average ticket price series suffers from its implicit assumption that the proportion of seats sold in the various classifications remains unchanged, regardless of attendance at a particular game. The average-gate-revenue per ticket series proved statistically significant while the former did not.


Psychological flexibility (PF), the core process of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT; a third-wave cognitive-behavioral therapy), is the ability to stay focused on the present moment and intentionally engage in value-driven behavior despite experiencing difficult thoughts or feelings. This multifaceted construct includes components that target processes occurring both internally (e.g., cognitive processes) and behaviorally (e.g., value-consistent actions). Psychological flexibility has been applied to studies of adjustment in non-clinical samples and may be beneficial for college students as individuals navigate novel developmental stressors. Despite evidence suggesting the benefits of PF for psychological distress, additional work is needed to examine the potential of PF to foster adaptive functioning. The current study builds on previous research by a) conceptualizing distinct internal and behavioral components of PF as promotive factors and b) emphasizing competence-focused outcomes. This research examined the influence of components of PF over the course of an academic semester. A sample of college students (N = 250) completed self-report measures online at the beginning (Time 1) and end (Time 2) of a college semester. Measures included components of PF, competence, and demographic and academic information. Structural equation modeling was used to examine associations between components of PF at Time 1 on competence at Time 2, while accounting for the influence of competence at Time 1. Findings suggested that within the social domain, value-consistent action at Time 1 was associated with increased social competence at Time 2. Additional results indicated that baseline competence accounted for associations between components of PF and Time 2 competence. Implications for the dissemination of ACT-informed efforts to promote positive adjustment among college students are reviewed, and future research directions are discussed.


The stochastic metafrontier method is applied to estimate technical efficiency levels in beef cattle production in Kenya. Subsequently, a Tobit model is used to assess factors that might influence efficiency. Results show that the average efficiency level is 0.69, suggesting that there is considerable scope to improve beef production in Kenya. Considering the importance of the livestock enterprise to rural livelihoods and its potential role in poverty reduction, there is need for appropriate development strategies for enhanced efficiency. In particular, livestock development policies should focus on provision of technology-related services. For instance, promoting use of controlled cattle crossbreeding methods would enhance productivity gains. Effective institutional support is also necessary in order to improve efficiency, including improved access to market contracts, better farm management skills and off-farm income opportunities.


This study examines the effect of pH of solution, cephalexin (CEX) concentration, and O 3 dosage on removal of CEX by catalytic ozonation. All three parameters were found to exert a significant effect on the removal of cephalexin and on the enhancement in biodegradability of solution. The operating conditions were optimized using response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN). Both RSM and ANN models were found capable of predicting removal of CEX during catalytic ozonation. Simultaneous optimization of two responses (chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal and CEX removal) was carried out using genetic algorithm based multiobjective optimization. Non-dominated Pareto optimal solutions provided the range of optimum conditions for the catalytic ozonation process. The optimized values of pH (9.7), ozone supply (34.5 mg/L), and CEX concentration (33.6 mg/L) using GA multiobjective optimization corresponded to complete conversion of CEX with 72% removal of COD.


Background To determine socioeconomic status (SES) gradients in the different dimensions of health among elderly Costa Ricans. Hypothesis: SES disparities in adult health are minimal in Costa Rican society. Methods Data from the Costa Rican Study on Longevity and Healthy Aging study: 8,000 elderly Costa Ricans to determine mortality in the period 2000–2007 and a subsample of 3,000 to determine prevalence of several health conditions and biomarkers from anthropometry and blood and urine specimens. Results The ultimate health indicator, mortality, as well as the metabolic syndrome, reveals that better educated and wealthier individuals are worse off. In contrast, quality of life–related measures such as functional and cognitive disabilities, physical frailty, and depression all clearly worsen with lower SES. Overall self-reported health (SRH) also shows a strong positive SES gradient. Traditional cardiovascular risk factors such as diabetes and cholesterol are not significantly related to SES, but hypertension and obesity are worse among high-SES individuals. Reflecting mixed SES gradients in behaviors, smoking and lack of exercise are more common among low SES, but high calorie diets are more common among high SES. Conclusions Negative modern behaviors among high-SES groups may be reversing cardiovascular risks across SES groups, hence reversing mortality risks. But negative SES gradients in healthy years of life persist.


Using the variational density-functional perturbation theory, we investigate the dynamical and dielectric properties of tetragonal zirconia (t-ZrO2). We obtain the phonon frequencies at the center of the Brillouin zone, the Born effective charge tensors, and the dielectric permittivity tensors. For all these quantities, a comparison is made with the related values in the cubic phase. The Born effective charge tensors are found to be quite anisotropic. The calculated phonon frequencies present a better agreement with the infrared and Raman experimental values than previous theoretical calculations. We propose symmetry assignments that solve the contradictions existing in the literature. The electronic and static dielectric permittivity constants are in relatively good agreement with experimental values. We perform a detailed analysis of the contribution of the various infrared-active modes to the static dielectric permittivity and explain its strong anisotropy.


Exposure to ozone (O(3)) and changes in soil fertility influence both the metabolism of plant roots and their interaction with rhizosphere organisms. Because one indication of altered root metabolism is a change in belowground respiratory activity, we used specially designed measurement chambers to assess the effects of O(3) and nutrient availability on belowground respiratory activity of potted three-year-old ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws.). Seedlings were exposed to a factorial combination of three O(3) treatments and three fertilization treatments in open-top O(3) exposure chambers. Ozone exposure decreased and high nutrient supply increased total plant dry weight, but root/shoot ratios were not affected. In general, exposure to O(3) increased rates of belowground O(2) uptake and CO(2) release and the respiratory quotient (RQ, CO(2)/O(2)), although seasonal differences were detected. In October, following the second season of O(3) exposure, rates of belowground O(2) uptake and CO(2) release and RQ were increased in trees in the high-O(3) exposure treatment by 22, 73 and 32%, respectively, over values in control trees in charcoal-filtered air. Increasing nutrient supply resulted in decreasing rates of belowground O(2) uptake and CO(2) release but it had little effect on RQ. In the high-nutrient supply treatment, rates of belowground O(2) uptake and CO(2) release were decreased by 38 and 39%, respectively, compared with rates in the low-nutrient supply treatment. At the end of the second growing season, the high-nutrient supply treatment had decreased lateral root total nonstructural carbohydrates by 22% compared with the low-nutrient supply treatment. Nutrient availability altered the belowground respiratory response to O(3), such that the response to O(3) was greatest in the low-nutrient supply treatment. Significant O(3) effects on belowground respiratory activity were apparent before any reduction in total plant growth was found, suggesting that roots and rhizosphere organisms may be early indicators of physiological dysfunction in stressed seedlings.


ABSTRACT Metallophytes have the ability to grow in metal-rich soils without showing signs of toxicity. It is believed that chelating of metals to organic ligands is a mechanism that metal-tolerant plants use for detoxification. To obtain information about metal species, water extracts of roots, stems and leaves from two metallophytes (Blepharis aspera, and Helicrysum candolleanum) were analysed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) in combination with cation exchange solid-phase extraction (off-line) and on-line with size exclusion chromatography (SEC). The extracts were analysed for 10 metals that were present at higher than normal concentrations and for 8 elements that have physiological functions in plants. The elements studied were Al, Ba, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Ni, P, S, Si, Ti, V and Zn. The total concentration and the percentage of water-extractable metal were determined in all plant parts. For both plants, K had the highest extraction efficiency (>70%), followed by Mg, Mn, Ni, P and Zn. The main elements Ca, K and Mg were found to be present only in cationic form in the extracts of both plants, whereas Al, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe and Ni were present partly in non-cationic form, indicating complex formation. Size exclusion chromatography showed that all the plant parts had a similar size distribution of the dissolved organic matter, exhibiting mainly one broad peak. All the metals co-eluted with the first part of this peak, suggesting that the metals were associated with relatively large organic molecules, and more so for H. candolleanum than for B. aspera, and more pronounced for the stems than for the roots and leaves. Such data indicate that the two plants may have different mechanisms of dealing with high metal concentrations.


High-quality thin films with well-defined fast lithium ion diffusion pathways and minimal structural discontinuities are needed to develop high-performance electrodes for all-solid-state Li-ion batteries. Achieving this requires an understanding of the electrochemical processes and structural changes that take place within an electrode during charge/discharge. Here we report the successful synthesis of highly oriented olivine-structured LiCoPO4 thin films by chemical solution deposition onto Au(111)/Al2O3(0001) substrates. State-of-the-art scanning transition electron microscopy (STEM) and theoretical simulations are used to examine surface structures and the changes that occur during electrochemical cycling. As-synthesised films are found to be composed of nearly defect-free domains that are predominantly aligned with (210), (010) or (101) surfaces parallel to the substrate. High-angle annular dark field (HAADF)-STEM revealed the formation of considerable numbers of cation exchange (antisite) defects in the surface regions after only three cycles. Upon further electrochemical cycling, significant capacity fade, together with an increase in the concentration of cation exchange defects, was observed. Electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) revealed that formation of these defects is associated with oxygen loss and deformation of PO4 tetrahedra, leading to structural degradation detrimental to the electrochemical performance of thin-film LiCoPO4 electrodes.


In this investigation, the effect of the flipped classroom and associated differentiation was studied to measure the impact on student achievement and student stress levels. For the second semester of their senior year, students watched video lectures outside of class and completed assignments during class time. Students reported lower stress levels in this type of classroom environment compared to other classes. While semester grades showed improvement, exam grades did not show significant improvement. Overall, students displayed positive feelings towards the treatment and enjoyed the associated benefits of being able to choose their own assignments and explore concepts they found interesting more in-depth.


Over the past 25 years, networks have evolved from being relatively static with fairly homogeneous traffic to being more configurable and carrying a heterogeneous array of services. As the applications are ultimately the driver of network evolution, the paper begins with a brief history of circuit, packet, and wave services, along with the development of the corresponding transport layers. The discussion then moves to the evolution of network-node architecture, with an emphasis on the opticalelectrical-optical and optical-bypass paradigms. Scalability and cost-effectiveness in meeting network demands are two key factors in the discussion. The evolution of networking equipment, along with the development of the optical control plane, has facilitated a configurable optical layer. The enabling technologies, along with their ramifications, are discussed. Finally, the paper speculates on how capacity might evolve in the future, to handle the undoubtedly new services that are on the horizon.