This essay seeks to extend Faulkner's imaginative writings beyond the temporal, spatial and aesthetic parameters of regionalism and modernism, according to which his work has been widely read. In an exemplary reading of his 1942 novel Go Down, Moses, I recontextualize Faulkner's fiction in a broader literary and discursive tradition of the US frontier narrative. To draw out the frontier meanings and tropes of Go Down, Moses, I examine closely those texts – Faulkner's and others' – that circulate around the major fiction and necessarily exert, I argue, interpretative pressure on it. These more secondary or contiguous texts include Faulkner's screenwriting for two of the great Hollywood Western directors, John Ford and Howard Hawks; his short stories and speeches; James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking tales; and the political discourse that emerged in response to the democratic crisis of the 1930s. Certain tropes and narratives – to do with colonialism, for example – that have been submerged within the Faulknerian southern narrative of the plantation, begin to surface, to reset the narrative in relation to a national project. Reading Faulkner in this way constructs a critical frame that is both diachronic and transregionalist, and thus contributes to current debates articulated within the revisionary project of new southern studies about the ways in which we think and write anew about the post-South.


A group-oriented access control scheme is proposed for P2P (peer to peer) networks. In the proposed scheme, authentication control, admission control and revocation control are used in order to provide security services for P2P networks. Moreover, the proposed scheme can simply and efficient establish share key between two members without interactions, therefore it can perform secure communications with them. The analysis of security and performance shows that the proposed scheme not only can realize authentication and secure communication, but also can easily and efficiently add new group members and revoke malicious group members. Therefore, it is more efficient, and more practical protocol for P2P networks.


Summary Australian stingless bees contribute to the pollination of some commercially important field crops, but it is unclear whether they can increase crop production reliably in the greenhouse environment. Three 20 week trials were therefore conducted, each using a different hive of Austroplebeia australis Friese and Trigona carbonaria Smith placed in separate glasshouses containing Capsicum annuum L. A third glasshouse contained C. annuum but no bees. In the third week of each trial, the numbers of pollen grains present on stigmatic surfaces and pollen tubes growing along styles were determined. Changes in brood volume were assessed by x-ray computerised tomography at weeks 1, 10 and 20. Additionally, the hives were weighed at these times. At the end of each trial, fruit diameter and length and their fresh and dry weights were measured as were seed fresh and dry weights. Bee behaviour was recorded in the third trial. T. carbonaria foraged less sporadically on C. annuum flowers than did A. australis, and pollination by both bee species showed their potential to increase fruit yield and quality. The effects of pollination by either species were, however, not consistent among the three trials. Hive weights and brood volumes for all colonies increased, so it is considered that both species thrived whilst being able to pollinate the plants. Both species therefore have the potential to improve fruit yield and quality within the greenhouse environment. It was noted that A. australis caused damage to the styles in each trial. This may be attributed to the foraging strategies employed by this species and further work is needed to determine optimum bee to flower stocking rates.


Cited author database searches are an effective means of identifying a list of references that have 'cited' the works of a particular author. Yet graduate-level instruction on the efficacy of search strategies, when commentary on a specific author are needed, has been largely ignored. This paper presents a framework for cited author searching with an illustrated example in the field of forensic psychology, i.e., bibliographic retrieval of articles that include references to an expert witness's published work. Such applications should facilitate instruction in graduate-level training. ********** Specialty areas in the behavioral sciences such as forensic psychology require training and instructional approaches that are highly focused and guided by the professional needs of the field. Even though many graduate psychology programs offer specialty training in the forensics area, pedagogic instruction tends to be traditionally oriented (Hess & Weiner, 1999). For example, online searching strategies are often overlooked in teaching. The current paper illustrates a novel approach on obtaining research on court-related topics which has been largely ignored in the literature to date, i.e., cited author searching. In the legal arena, it is often necessary for an attorney to challenge the credibility of the oppositions' expert testimony. While many tactics are used to accomplish this goal, an easily overlooked approach in this challenge is conducting a comprehensive review of the witness's previous published work on issues relevant to their current testimony (Piotrowski & Perdue, 2003a). Strategically, the task is to identify conflicting opinions published by the expert witness over time, or the commentary of other authors that provide challenges, critiques, or limitations on the expert witness's prior writings. Identifying this crucial literature can often be accomplished by conducting an online 'cited reference' search of an appropriate database using the name of the expert witness as a 'cited author.' This type of search is an extremely helpful feature that provides citations to publications that have 'cited' the selected author. Concurrently, instances of the author 'self-citing' his/her prior publications are also identified in such a search. By tracing these cited references, an astute researcher can often locate publications wherein the opposing expert has either contradicted himself/herself or the expert has been challenged with critical analyses on the accuracy or veracity of a particular position or statement by other authors. Identifying instances wherein the witness has published positions contrary to that enunciated in court or in which other experts have published challenges to the validity of such positions can be critical in the cross-examination of expert witnesses or to their pre-trial testimony. Therefore, an investigator may find it advantageous to consider retrieving publications of this nature by performing a 'cited reference' search using the name of the expert witness as the cited author. Analyzing cited references via these search strategies can result in an effective, complementary means to identifying a particular author's publishing history (Reed & Baxter, 2003). Fortunately, a number of traditional, as well as relatively new databases that provide for such 'cited reference' searching are currently available (see Table 1). For many years, researchers have relied on the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) and its premier databases Social SciSearch and SciSearch since these highly respected databases were the first to offer retrieval of articles that cite the works of a specific author (Garfield, 1998). Such tracking of a cited author usually leads to additional, related articles. But as stated above, this is also an excellent, and often overlooked avenue to locating articles in which the testimony of an author-expert witness may be impeached or where the expert witness may be associated with holding contradictory positions. …


The need for personhood-focused long-term care (LTC) is well-documented. A myriad of sociocultural, political, nursing/professional and organisational contexts facilitate or hinder registered nurses (RNs)' capacity to ensure personhood-focused LTC. Complexities derive from the countless interrelated aspects of these contexts, blurring clear distinctions of causality, responsibility and accountability. Context-related complexities were highlighted at a recent international conference attended by invited experts in LTC leadership from six countries (Canada, USA, England, Northern Ireland, New Zealand and Sweden). The group was convened to explore the value and contributions of RNs in LTC (McGilton, , International Journal of Older People Nursing 7, 282). The purpose of this paper is to expand the discussion of personhood-focused care beyond RNs, to contexts that influence the RN's capacity to ensure personhood-focused practices are embedded in LTC settings. Consistent with key topics covered at the international conference, we selected four major contexts for discussion in this paper: (i) sociocultural, (ii) public policy/financing/regulation, (iii) nursing/professional and (iv) organisational. For each context, we provide a brief description, literature and examples from a few countries attending the conference, potential impact on personhood-focused practices and RN strategies to facilitate personhood-focused care. The knowledge gained from attending to the influence of contextual factors on the RN's role in facilitating personhood-focused practices provides critical insights and directions for interventions aimed to maximise RN role effectiveness in LTC. In practice, understanding linkages between the various contexts offers indispensable insight for LTC nurse leaders charged with managing day-to-day operations and leading quality improvement initiatives that promote personhood-focused practices.


Herein we report on the first successful coupling of the dithienophosphole (S2PO) functional building block with three types of heteroaryl end caps using direct (hetero)arylation C–H bond functionalization methods. As a model reaction, S2PO was coupled with ethylhexyl phthalimide. The reaction conditions were optimized to give yields up to 67%. Applying the optimized conditions to hexyl phthalimide and N-annulated perylene diimide gave yields of 68% and 49% for the corresponding products, respectively. Compounds were characterized by optical absorption and emission spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermal gravimetric analysis and compared with their phosphole-free analogues. It was found that incorporation of the phosphole resulted in a lowering of the LUMO energy level for both compounds compared to their analogues. The bis(perylene diimide)S2PO product was used as an acceptor in bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaic devices with three donor polymers. High Voc values of 1.0–1.1 V were obtained from devices spin cast from o-dichlorobenzene, a significant result for devices with non-fullerene acceptors.


Aluminum/carbon composite systems can have outstanding mechanical properties. Aluminum and carbon fiber reinforced polymer matrix composites (CFRP) are typically considered corrosion resistant when used alone, but can develop severe galvanic corrosion when in physical contact in the same component or structure. General engineering practice is to avoid contact between aluminum and CFRP in any application where moisture may be present, but it is still of great importance to understand the consequences if the two materials accidentally become in contact. There may also be applications where a low rate of galvanic corrosion is acceptable. This dissertation contributes unique experimental and numerical approaches to improve the fundamental understanding of galvanic corrosion in aluminum/carbon composite systems, with particular focus on rate limiting control mechanisms in a hightemperature low-sag bare overhead transmission line conductor utilizing a CFRP load bearing core. The improved understanding was accomplished partially by the development of a novel assessment method for the in-situ galvanic corrosion testing of bare overhead conductors of various designs. The method allows for real-time measurements of galvanic corrosion currents while retaining the original geometry of the conductors. One of the most important findings is that the galvanic corrosion is under cathodic control, which means that the total galvanic corrosion rate is determined by the iii exposed carbon area, and independent of the exposed aluminum area. Another important finding is that the galvanic corrosion process is under diffusion control, which means that the total galvanic corrosion rate is mainly controlled by the rate at which oxygen arrives at the carbon surface. The implication of these findings is that the geometry of the component or structure can affect the galvanic corrosion rate by orders of magnitude. The dissertation work has also included the development of a structural health monitoring method for CFRP supported overhead conductors using Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR). This comprehensive research has significantly contributed to the increased acceptance of CFRP supported bare overhead conductors in both the United States and worldwide. The knowledge gained in this study is already aiding the evaluation of existing conductor designs and the development of future ones.


Operating systems have been shown to waste machine resources by leaving cores idle while work is ready to be scheduled. This results in suboptimal performance for user applications, and wasted power. Recent progress in formal verification methods have led to operating systems being proven safe, but operating systems have yet to be proven free of performance bottlenecks. In this paper we instigate the first effort in proving performance properties of operating systems by designing a multicore scheduler that is proven to be work-conserving.


Graphlets represent small induced subgraphs and are becoming increasingly important for a variety of applications. Despite the importance of the local graphlet problem, existing work focuses mainly on counting graphlets globally over the entire graph. These global counts have been used for tasks such as graph classification as well as for understanding and summarizing the fundamental structural patterns in graphs. In contrast, this work proposes a flexible, efficient, and scalable parallel framework for the more challenging problem of counting graphlets locally for a given edge or set of edges.The local graphlet counts provide a topologically rigorous characterization of the local structure surrounding an edge. The aim of this work is to obtain the count of every graphlet of size k ∈ {3, 4} for each edge. The framework gives rise to efficient, parallel, and accurate unbiased estimation methods as well as exact graphlet algorithms for counting graphlets locally. Experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed exact and estimation methods.


Multitouch enabled surfaces can bring advantages to modelling scenarios, in particular if bimanual and pen input can be combined. In this work, we assess the suitability of multitouch interfaces to 3D sketching tasks. We developed a multitouch enabled version of ShapeShop, whereby bimanual gestures allow users to explore the canvas through camera operations while using a pen to sketch. This provides a comfortable setting familiar to most users. Our contribution focuses on comparing the combined approach (bimanual and pen) to the pen-only interface for similar tasks. We conducted the evaluation helped by ten sketching experts who exercised both techniques. Results show that our approach both simplifies workflow and lowers task times, when compared to the pen-only interface, which is what most current sketching applications provide.


In this paper, we will investigate the performance of Raptor codes on arbitrary binary input memoryless symmetric channels (BIMSCs). In doing so, we generalize some of the results that were proved before for the erasure channel. We will generalize the stability condition to the class of Raptor codes. This generalization gives a lower bound on the fraction of output nodes of degree 2 of a Raptor code if the error probability of the belief-propagation decoder converges to zero. Using information-theoretic arguments, we will show that if a sequence of output degree distributions is to achieve the capacity of the underlying channel, then the fraction of nodes of degree 2 in these degree distributions has to converge to a certain quantity depending on the channel. For the class of erasure channels this quantity is independent of the erasure probability of the channel, but for many other classes of BIMSCs, this fraction depends on the particular channel chosen. This result has implications on the "universality" of Raptor codes for classes other than the class of erasure channels, in a sense that will be made more precise in the paper. We will also investigate the performance of specific Raptor codes which are optimized using a more exact version of the Gaussian approximation technique.


The main goal of this study is to demonstrate the existence of a significant empirical link between infrastructure and financial sectors reforms the effects of which are reflected in infrastructure sectors performance. This paper reports on the findings of an exploration of this issue for the case of the power sector in developing countries. We estimate the impact of the four main components of the power sector reform in these countries, namely, the creation of an independent regulatory agency, the unbundling of generation, transmission, and distribution, the introduction of competition and the implementation of privatization programs in the generation and distribution segments, on some of this sector's performance outcomes, and attempt to assess the contribution of the domestic financial systems' reforms to these outcomes. In a dataset on 42 developing countries covering the 1990-2005 period, we find that private participation in generation and distribution has significantly improved power supply as reflected in higher electricity generation per capita and technical and labor efficiency in the distribution segment. The unbundling of generation, transmission, and distribution has contributed to improving productive efficiency through a better use of the labor factor in the distribution segment. We find that the creation of a separate regulatory agency has boosted the generation segment in terms of both capacity and sales and has generated better incentives for a more efficient use of labor input in the distribution segment. We also find that regulatory experience has significantly contributed to improving access to electricity. The results suggest that while the power sector, in particular, its generation segment, has significantly benefited from the introduction of independent regulation, the beneficial effects of (good) regulatory practices have been exacerbated by the modernization of the financial systems. More specifically, improved financial systems have eased access to capital for operators allowing them to upgrade their networks and decrease power losses in distribution. The overall results obtained in this paper strongly recommend that along with reforming the power sector, policy makers in developing countries should implement the financial reforms that would deepen their domestic financial systems thus allowing them to recover the full benefits of these systems' positive externalities on the performance of the sector.


How did the human mind emerge from the collection of neurons that makes up the brain? How did the brain acquire self-awareness, functional autonomy, language, and the ability to think, to understand itself and the world? In this volume in the Essential Knowledge series, Zoltan Torey offers an accessible and concise description of the evolutionary breakthrough that created the human mind. Drawing on insights from evolutionary biology, neuroscience, and linguistics, Torey reconstructs the sequence of events by which Homo erectus became Homo sapiens. He describes the augmented functioning that underpins the emergent mind -- a new ("off-line") internal response system with which the brain accesses itself and then forms a selection mechanism for mentally generated behavior options. This functional breakthrough, Torey argues, explains how the animal brain's "awareness" became self-accessible and reflective -- that is, how the human brain acquired a conscious mind. Consciousness, unlike animal awareness, is not a unitary phenomenon but a composite process. Torey's account shows how protolanguage evolved into language, how a brain subsystem for the emergent mind was built, and why these developments are opaque to introspection. We experience the brain's functional autonomy, he argues, as free will. Torey proposes that once life began, consciousness had to emerge -- because consciousness is the informational source of the brain's behavioral response. Consciousness, he argues, is not a newly acquired "quality," "cosmic principle," "circuitry arrangement," or "epiphenomenon," as others have argued, but an indispensable working component of the living system's manner of functioning.


Generally, the locational marginal price (LMP) is obtained by solving a linear programming formulation. Network losses are considered through the preset loss factors based on historical operation information. This usually brings errors in the calculated loss under different new scenarios. Further, the congestion component of an LMP is dependent on the choice of the reference bus. In this paper, a new iterative LMP calculation method is proposed to overcome the aforementioned two drawbacks associated with the traditional LMP calculations. At each iteration, a linear programming problem for market clearing is solved first. Losses on branches are considered as fictitious nodal demands at their terminal buses. Secondly, the AC power flow is calculated according to the dispatch results. Loss factors and fictitious nodal demands are then updated according to the AC power flow solution, thus removing the need and dependence on presetting loss factors. Another important merit is that LMP and its congestion component obtained from the proposed iterative LMP calculation method are independent of choice of the reference bus. The effectiveness of the proposed method is illustrated on two benchmark systems. The importance of obtaining accurate losses and LMPs is also demonstrated.


BEIJING — China's security chief has told provincial officials they need to be more prepared for the "negative impact" of slowing growth, underscoring Beijing's concern a slowdown could bring social unrest. Large-scale strikes have hit China in recent weeks, as workers resentful about low salaries or lay-offs face off with employers juggling high costs and exports hit by lower demand from the debt-burdened West. Politburo member Zhou Yongkang said authorities needed to improve their system of "social management", including increasing "community-level" manpower. "In the face of the negative impact of the market economy, we have not formed a complete system of social management," Zhou said in a Friday speech to officials reported by the state Xinhua news agency at the weekend. "It is urgent that we build a social management system with Chinese characteristics to match our socialist market economy." China's economy grew by 9.1 percent in the third quarter, down from 9.5 percent in the previous quarter. Manufacturing -a key engine of growth -slumped to its lowest level in nearly three years last month, amid slowing demand from the European Union and the United States. Beijing has started to implement measures to boost lending and spur growth in the world's second largest economy. China's central bank last week reduced the amount of money banks must keep in reserve for the first time in three years, after earlier easing lending restrictions on more than 20 small banks nationwide. Analysts have warned that China's huge army of factory staff -many of them migrant workers -will be the first to feel the effects of the global slowdown. Ji Shao, a Beijing-based labour expert, told AFP recently she had visited Shenzhen and expected many small firms to shut down due to high costs, difficulty accessing loans and the global downturn. Last week, more than 1,000 workers at a plant in China's commercial hub Shanghai went on strike for at least two days, some clashing with police, to protest at staff being laid off, the US-based China Labor Watch said. In November, more than 7,000 workers went on strike at a factory in the southern province of Guangdong -China's manufacturing heartland -clashing with police in a protest over layoffs and wage cuts. Details and images of many of the recent strikes have emerged first via Twitter-like "weibo" social networking sites that Chinese authorities are struggling to purge of what officials call "rumours" and "false news." China has the world's largest online community, with more than half a billion Internet users, and as such news of unrest quickly spreads round the country despite the government's strict censorship regime.


The complete guide for how to design and conduct theory-testing and other case studies Case Study Methodology in Business Research sets out structures and guidelines that assist students and researchers from a wide range of disciplines to develop their case study research in a consistent and rigorous manner. It clarifies the differences between practice-oriented and theory-oriented research and, within the latter category, between theory-testing and theory-building. It describes in detail how to design and conduct different types of case study research, providing students and researchers with everything they need for their project.The main aims are to: present a broad spectrum of types of case study research (including practice-oriented case studies, theory-building case studies and theory-testing case studies) in one consistent methodological framework. emphasize and clearly illustrate that the case study is the preferred research strategy for testing deterministic propositions such as those expressing a necessary condition case by case and that the survey is the preferred research strategy for testing probabilistic propositions. stress the role of replication in all theory-testing research, irrespective of which research strategy is chosen for a specific test. give more weight to the importance of theory-testing relative to theory-building. Case Study Methodology in Business Research is a clear, concise and comprehensive text for case study methodology.

Templates are supplied for case study protocol and how to report a case study. A modular textbook primarily aimed at serving research methodology courses for final year undergraduate students and graduate students in Business Administration and Management, which is also useful as a handbook for researchers. Written by Jan Dul, Professor of Technology and Human Factors, RSM Erasmus University, Rotterdam and Tony Hak, Associate professor of Research Methodology, RSM Erasmus University, Rotterdam, in collaboration with other authors from RSM Erasmus University.


Elections are cornerstones for societies transitioning from civil war to democracy. The success or failure of these elections is shaped by the strategies former rebels employ to mobilize voters. Of those strategies, clientelism is particularly important as it represents improved voter-elite relations over dysfunctional wartime politics but, if pervasive, also risks undermining long-term democratic consolidation. We argue that the organizational legacies of rebellion shape how rebels engage in electoral clientelism. We expect that former rebels target preelectoral benefits to areas of wartime support, rely on wartime military networks to deliver those benefits, and exploit discretionary control over peace dividends when allocating electoral benefits. We combine original geospatial data on the timing and location of over 2,000 tsunami aid projects with village-level surveys in post–civil war Aceh, Indonesia, to test these hypotheses. Results from difference-in-differences models and detailed tests of causal mechanisms are consistent with our theoretical expectations.


?Antipsychiatry,? Esalen, psychedelics, and DSM III: Radical challenges to psychiatry and the conventional treatment of mental health in the 1970s.The upheavals of the 1960s gave way to a decade of disruptions in the 1970s, and among the rattled fixtures of American society was mainstream psychiatry. A ?Radical Caucus? formed within the psychiatric profession and the ?antipsychiatry? movement arose. Critics charged that the mental health establishment was complicit with the military-industrial complex, patients were released from mental institutions, and powerful antipsychotic drugs became available. Meanwhile, practitioners and patients experimented with new approaches to mental health, from primal screaming and the therapeutic use of psychedelics to a new reliance on quantification. In Break on Through, Lucas Richert investigates the radical challenges to psychiatry and to the conventional treatment of mental health that emerged in the 1970s and the lessons they offer for current debates.Drawing on archives and government documents, medical journals, and interviews, and interweaving references to pop (counter)culture into his account, Richert offers fascinating stories of the decade's radical mental health practices. He discusses anti?Vietnam War activism and the new diagnosis of post?traumatic stress disorder given to some veterans; the radical psychiatrists who fought the system (and each other); the entry of New Age?style therapies, including Esalen's Human Potential Movement, into the laissez-faire therapeutic marketplace of the 1970s; the development of DSM III; and the use of LSD, cannabis, and MDMA. Many of these issues have resonance today. Debates over medical marijuana and microdoses of psychedelics echo debates of the 1970s. With rising rates of such disorders as anxiety and depression, practitioners and patients continue to search for therapeutic breakthroughs.


This article prepares catalogers for the new cataloging standard Resource Description and Access (RDA) by giving trainers and Library and Information Science (LIS) educators the information they need to plan training for themselves and their staff or students. The theoretical principles of RDA are introduced as well as the corresponding vocabulary that trainers will need to use. This is followed by an overview of the structure of RDA as compared to the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, 2nd ed. (AACR2). Examples of rule changes and options are highlighted for trainers along with a reminder to review existing cheat-sheets and manuals that are based on AACR2. Finally, types of training formats are suggested.


"Big data" — the collection and statistical analysis of numerous digital data points — has transformed the commercial and policy realms, changing firms' understanding of consumer behavior and improving problems ranging from traffic congestion to drug interactions. In the criminal justice field, police now use data from widely-dispersed monitoring equipment, crime databases, and statistical analysis to predict where and when crimes will occur, and police body cameras have the potential to both provide key evidence and reduce misconduct. But in many jurisdictions, digital access to basic criminal court records remains surprisingly limited, and, in contrast to the civil context, no lucrative market for the data (apart from that for background checks) exists to induce the private sector to step in to fill the gap. As a result, bulk criminal justice data is largely limited to survey data collected by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Unlocking the "black box" by uniformly collecting and reporting basic, anonymized data from criminal cases — including, e.g., the charges, pretrial release decision, appointment of counsel, and case disposition — would have significant benefits. It would allow researchers, reformers, and government actors to both more effectively study the system as a whole and to more easily identify jurisdictions violating the Constitution by, for example, routinely denying counsel or pretrial release and imprisoning defendants for inability (rather than unwillingness) to pay a fine or fee. This Article documents this problem, explores its causes, and proposes a solution, arguing that the federal government should form a framework for the uniform collection of anonymized local, state, and federal criminal justice data. While participation in this uniform system is likely to be incremental, even partial data would improve our understanding of the system as a whole and aid efforts to enforce well established, but frequently violated, constitutional rights.


To close the gap to automated systems capable of handling magnetic particles in liquid compartments at a scale between lab-on-a-chip systems and large pipetting stations, a compact reactor device for sample volumes between 1 and 1000 μL has been developed and thoroughly characterized. The device combines segmented flow technology, magnetic particle handling, and UV/VIS detection to enable automated sample-to-answer processes. The dosing accuracy of 10, 50 and 100 μL sized compartments separated by ethyl acetate, n-decane, PDMS and air was evaluated. For flow rates between 5 and 100 μL s−1, the dosing deviation for most process conditions was below 10%. The dosing accuracy decreased with increasing density differences between the single-phases. Carry-over examinations between subsequent compartments separated by ethyl acetate or air revealed a direct correlation between cross-contamination and increasing particle concentration and flow rate. A permanent magnetic field array used to separate the particles was tested for five commercial magnetic particle types. The array was able to retain all particle types with a maximum loss of 0.045 ± 0.031% per separation. An alternating electromagnetic field was used to resuspend the particles inside their fluidic environment in a contactless manner through the capillary wall. Depending on their magnetic properties, all particle types were resuspendable in buffer of moderate ionic strength within 0.4 and 16 s. To conclude, an example of a sample-to-answer multi-stage process is presented. DNA from lysed human whole blood was automatically isolated and analyzed inside the device. In this way, DNA at a concentration of 12.4 ± 1.9 μg mL−1 could be isolated, which was comparable to manual isolation in microcentrifuge tubes (13.0 ± 1.6 μg mL−1). The equal integrity of the DNA purified using the reactor and manually was verified by PCR.


Objectives Cancer is frequently complicated by thromboembolic events (TEs). We aimed to determine the incidence of TEs in lung cancer patients treated with platinum-based chemotherapy and study patients' baseline and treatment attributes correlating with its onset. Materials and methods Advanced lung cancer patients started on platinum-based chemotherapy were evaluated at baseline and during routine visits for the development of TEs. The duration of follow-up was 4 weeks from the last chemotherapy. A TE occurring between the first dose of chemotherapy and 4 weeks after the last dose was considered to be chemotherapy associated. Results Of the 165 patients on platinum chemotherapy who completed follow-up, TEs occurred in 4.8% (8 out of 165) patients. Among these, three patients had developed venous pulmonary thromboembolism and five patients had developed cerebral infarction, out of which four had arterial cerebral infarction and one patient had a superior sagittal sinus thrombosis. The majority of events (7 out of 8) occurred within 100 days of starting platinum chemotherapy. Overall, the median time until occurrence of TE was 48 days (range, 10–130 days). None of the presumed risk factors were found be associated with the occurrence of TEs on univariate analysis. Conclusions Advanced lung cancer patients on platinum chemotherapy are predisposed to thromboembolism due to many factors. Despite its lower incidence in our study, exclusion of patients with prior thrombosis suggests the incidence of de novo thrombosis, and hence raises a valid question of the need of thromboprophylaxis in a selected group of patients.


The present volume is devoted to the study of the life and work of Moritz (Moshe) Steinschneider (1816-1907). It shows that far from being a "mere bibliographer," Steinschneider pursued a precise scientific agenda. This is a noteworthy contribution to our understanding of the project of the Wissenschaft des Judentums.


All processes of life are controlled by networks of interacting biochemical components. The purpose of modelling these networks is manifold. From a theoret- ical point of view it allows the exploration of network structures and dynamics, to find emergent properties or to explain the organisation and evolution of networks. From a practical point of view, in silico experiments can be performed that would be very expensive or impossible to achieve in the laboratory, such as hypothesis-testing with regards to knock-out experiments or overexpression, or checking the validity of a proposed molecular mechanism. The literature on modelling biochemical networks is growing rapidly and the motivations behind different modelling techniques are some- times quite distant from each other. To clarify the current context, we review several of the most popular methods and outline the strengths and weaknesses of deterministic, stochastic, probabilistic, algebraic and agent-based approaches. We then present a com- parison table which allows one to identify easily key attributes for each approach such as: the granularity of representation or formulation of temporal and spatial behaviour. We describe how through the use of heterogeneous and bridging tools, it is possible to unify and exploit desirable features found in differing modelling techniques. This paper provides a comprehensive survey of the multidisciplinary area of biochemical networks modelling. By increasing the awareness of multiple complementary modelling approaches, we aim at offering a more comprehensive understanding of biochemical networks.


ABSTRACT Women who aspire to leadership positions in public relations have to develop political astuteness when it comes to addressing ascribed identities and expectations associated with gender and race. Through 51 in-depth interviews with women working in mid-management and senior-executive level positions in public relations in the U.S., this study provides new insights into women's perceptions regarding the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities to succeed in public relations leadership. The study revealed some women's preferences for contemporary management styles such as servant leadership and transformational leadership as well as barriers to advancement and influence, particularly for women of color.


This paper presents a detailed ethnographic study of the design problems of a major national IT system in UK child protection and welfare services. The implementation of the Integrated Children's System (ICS) has disrupted social work practice and engendered growing professional resistance, prompting a fundamental review of its design. Marshall McLuhan's concept of chiasmus is a central feature of the analysis presented here of the tribulations of the ICS. Chiasmus refers to the tendency of any system, when pushed too far, to produce unintended contradictory effects, and is an intrinsic feature of the behaviour of complex, socio-technical systems. The dysfunctions of the ICS provide a pertinent, large-scale example. The ICS constitutes an attempt, via technological means, to reorganize child welfare services in the UK. Whilst aimed at improving child safety, the ICS has had the opposite effect of increasing the potential for error. This chiasmus has been exposed through the multi-site ethnography reported here, which shows how rigidly designed processes, enforced by IT systems, force social work professionals into unsafe investigative and recording practices which put children at greater risk. The paper ends by proposing an alternative approach to design, based on proven socio-technical precepts, emphasizing the principles of minimum critical specification, usercenteredness and local autonomy.


This paper reports the design, fabrication and preliminary characterization of optofluidic Fabry-Perot micro coupled cavities enabling on-chip refractometry with large dynamic range.

Large dynamic range refractometry is needed in several applications such as in portable food analyzers, where the quality of fruits and beverages are classified based on their Brix number, which indicates the sugar content. The Brix numbers is obtained from the refractive index using standard conversion tables [1-2], where the refractive index varies from 1.333 (0 oB) to 1.49 (80 oB). The conventional design of integrated refractometer is based on Fabry-Perot cavity, in which the wavelength of longitudinal modes shifts with the change in the refractive index of the filling medium [3-4]. Their dynamic range is usually in the order of 10-3, limited by the free spectral range (FSR) of the micro cavity. Therefore, the food analyzers are usually based on volume optics components and the change of the refraction angle with the change in the refractive index that allows for the large dynamic range of sensing.

In this work, we report a novel design based on cascading two coupled Fabry-Perot micro cavities allowing for orders of magnitude increase in the FSR besides the decrease in the linewidth which enhances the resolution as well. Fig. 1 shows the schematic diagram of the new design and the idea of operation. The lengths of the two cavities are slightly different and adjusted such that some modes are suppressed after each allowed mode. The use of Si/Air layers to form the Bragg mirror with thickness of 3.8/3.6 mm allowed us to achieve designs with mode separation of 40 nm around a wavelength of 1550 nm.

Fig. 2 shows a SEM photo of part of the fabricated structures. The fabrication was done using standard MEMS technology in which DRIE process is used to make a 150 mm deep etching in Si to form the Bragg mirrors, fiber grooves, and the microfluidic channels and ports. Test structures in the form of single cavities and mirrors were also fabricated on the same chip.

Fig. 3 shows the measured transmittance of one of the fabricated coupled-cavities together with the measured transmittance of the single cavity corresponding to one of them. The single cavity has a length of 128 mm and the coupled-cavities have lengths L1 = 160 mm and L2 = 128 mm as referred to Fig. 1. The mirrors are composed of two Si layers in both cases. We can see the increase in the FSR achieved in the coupled cavity which is about 3 times as the single cavity and also the reduction in the line-width by less than half. In fact the technology tolerance, especially the over-etching, had a great effect on the fabricated structures. The fabricated mirrors had a wider bandwidth than expected and we could obtain a much larger FSR in the coupled-cavity. In some designs we obtained only one peak in the whole measured band of 140 nm.


This Note is about the First Amendment issues that are raised when political candidates use music in conjunction with political campaigns without the consent of songwriters and recording artists. Sometimes, based on the circumstances, copyright law provides a clear remedy for a contested use. Other times, however, an artist will have to look to other legal doctrines for a remedy. Although there are other doctrines that the musical artist may invoke, this Note will demonstrate that these alternative avenues of relief are inadequate to protect the artist and also flawed in that they fail to fully address the unique First Amendment concerns that arise in such a scenario. There is, thus, a lacuna in this area of the law - a "gap" that Congress must fill. This Note argues that Congress should address this lacuna by providing a remedy that would protect the rights of musical artists not to associate, through their music, with the campaign of a candidate whose views they do not share. I will discuss this First Amendment-based nonassociation interest, which is entangled with the related interest against compelled speech. These two interests, taken together, constitute a strong reason for Congress to fill the lacuna, thus protecting musical artists. Such a remedy, however, must also take into account the competing First Amendment interests of the political candidates who seek to express their political views through music. Part I of this Note will set the stage with a discussion of the relevant portions of the Copyright Act, followed by a historical survey of the use of music in political campaigns. Section I.A will explain how the statutory structure of copyright law, in tandem with practices inherent to the music industry, leads to a scenario in which a musical artist is without legal recourse under the Copyright Act. Section I.B will discuss the history of the use of music in political campaigns and survey the legal battles arising out of several contested uses, noting the specific claims the plaintiffs stated in each. Part II of this Note will then discuss the two competing First Amendment issues that are at stake when a politician seeks to use a song or sound recording for political speech while the writer or performer of that song or sound recording wishes not to be associated with that speech. Part III will address the existing avenues of relief (outside of copyright) that are available to a hypothetical plaintiff, namely, a right of publicity action and a claim under § 1125(a) of the Lanham Act. Section III.A will address the right of publicity, concluding that it is an unreliable cause of action that does not lend itself to the necessary balancing of competing First Amendment interests and that it is also unlikely to provide a remedy for our plaintiff. Section III.B will address the Lanham Act, and conclude that such a plaintiff is not likely to find relief under the Act Additionally, trademark doctrine is not equipped to fully and consistently address the unique First Amendment interests underlying such a scenario. The various tests that have been developed by the courts to address First Amendment issues in Lanham Act cases are inadequate to address this scenario, which implicates competing First Amendment interests - as opposed to a more typical case, in which the First Amendment is simply used as an affirmative defense by a plaintiff. Section IV.A will propose that Congress enact legislation to create a remedy that fills the lacuna by protecting musical artists while also ensuring that the First Amendment rights of political candidates are not unduly burdened. Finally, section IV.B will address two implications of the proposed legislation. This Note will conclude that political candidates should generally be required to obtain the consent of musical artists in order to use a song, but when such a use rises to the level of true political speech - in that it communicates a discrete political message pertaining to a matter of public concern - political speech interests outweigh the competing nonassociation interests of the musical artist and the use should be permitted with or without consent.


Charging drivers for the congestion they cause is a well-known concept among economists, traffic engineers and transport professionals. Many studies have been performed to explore and better address this issue during the history of transport economics and in recent years the first congestion pricing schemes have been finally implemented in some cities (Singapore, London, Stockholm). Nonetheless, several theoretical and practical problems still restrain this measure from being widely adopted. The lack of consistency with the traffic engineering perspective and limited degree of realism represent the main theoretical limitations of traditional congestion pricing models. The public resistance and fair distribution of gains and losses are the major practical barriers to the implementation of congestion pricing schemes. In this thesis, we discuss congestion pricing models controlled by the gMFD within agent-based simulation (MATSim). With this approach we seek efficient tolling schemes from an economic and traffic perspective. Furthermore, by means of investigations of the distributional effects of the proposed schemes we look for the strategy that maximizes the social welfare and with the highest potential acceptability. In the first phase of this study, through a review of theoretical studies and real experiences we identify the main reasons behind and factors influencing public resistance to the introduction of congestion pricing measures. Particularly, the question of equity is discussed in order to derive the necessary background for the evaluation of distributional effects. A thorough review of the major congestion pricing models proposed to date is made to construct our model. The survey goes from the traditional approaches like Marginal Cost Pricing and the bottleneck model to the most recent approaches based on macroscopic traffic models. During the review we discuss the main advantages and drawbacks of each approach. In the end, we describe the concept of Macroscopic Fundamental Diagram (MFD) and introduce important issues like the distribution of traffic and the phenomenon of hysteresis. The experiment is set up with MATSim to study the metropolitan area of Zurich. First, we test the consistency of simulation outputs with the traffic flow theory by playing with different parameters of the traffic model in order to obtain the most reliable result. Then, we derive and explore the main macroscopic traffic relations of the network defined by the cordon. This analysis shows the influence of distribution of traffic, expressed by the spatial spread of density, on the performance of the network. Furthermore, this property can be associated to the phenomenon of hysteresis loops. In order to account for this additional complexity, a generalized macroscopic fundamental diagram (gMFD) is experimentally derived to express the relationship between accumulation, production and spread of density. Finally, three tolling schemes differently controlled by the gMFD are designed: a uniform toll (Flat Toll) that allows the system working below the critical accumulation threshold; a time-varying toll (Step Toll) that charges drivers according to the total delay inside the cordon estimated through the gMFD; the Spread Toll that explicitly considers the question of spatial distribution of traffic inside the cordon. In particular, the Step Toll applies a charge in order to completely eliminate delay, whereas the Spread Toll penalizes users only for actual delays due to the overall increase of demand rather than clustering of congestion. By integrating different aspects like the traffic performance improvements, travel behavior responses and economic impacts we carry out a comprehensive evaluation of the schemes. In this broad appraisal framework the typical traffic enhancement measurements (heaviness of congestion, delays etc.) are combined with economic indicators such as the variation of agents' utility. An analysis of travel behavior responses is carried out to identify the major trends associated with the tolling schemes and possible relationships with the traffic and economic impacts. Different socio-demographic groups are defined in order to evaluate the distributional impacts on inhabitants of different neighborhoods and areas, and on different trip purposes (work, home, education, shopping and leisure). Finally, considerations on the potential levels of public acceptance of the schemes are made on the basis of some indicators such as the share of winners, the average gain and loss, and the benefit-cost ratio. The proposed schemes have shown to perform differently from each other. While the Step Toll and the Flat Toll determine comparable traffic enhancements, the first one outperforms the second one in terms of economic impacts and distributional effects. The smoother adaptation of demand determined by the Step Toll is probably its strong point. The Spread Toll, which was conceived as the fairest scheme, does not produce any considerable traffic improvement and it is even detrimental from the economic perspective. As to the question of public acceptance, although the slightly lower share of winners, the Step Toll determines higher gains than the other two schemes. Hence, from a social welfare perspective (combination of efficiency and distributional impacts), the Step Toll is the best performing scheme, followed by the Flat Toll and Spread Toll. Besides these results, the investigations of macroscopic traffic properties of networks have shed light on important aspects of the traffic flow theory. First, the distribution of congestion expressed as spatial spread of density has considerable influence on the network performance. This property could be modeled in heterogeneous networks by introducing the spread as additional variable in the gMFD. Second, hysteresis loops in the MFD plane occur in presence of congestion and their pattern can be identified with the spread. Furthermore, the decrease of performance seems to be related to the frequency of loading-unloading cycles.


This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of mannan-oligosaccharides (MOS) and β-glucan (BG) prebiotic (agrimos) on the behavioral and physiological parameters in heat stressed broiler chickens. One hundred sixty eight of one-day-old broiler chickens of Ross 308 strain were obtained from a local hatchery. The experiment was started at 28-day old; where birds were exposed to heat stress (HS) and were randomly allotted to four dietary treatments containing 0 (control), 0.5, 2, and 4 g/kg MOS and BG probiotic, respectively. Each treatment consisted of three replicates of 14 birds each. The results revealed that 0.5, 2 and 4 g/kg significantly increased walking, panting, wing elevation, and wing and leg but 4 g/kg agrimos only significantly increased drinking and preening, and decreased resting. Dietary inclusion of agrimos at a dose of 4 g/kg caused a significant increase in the percentage of lymphocyte, and decrease in phosphorus level. While at doses of 2 and 4 g/kg, treated chickens had a significant decrease in cortisol level together with a significant increase in hemoglobin level. Chickens fed with agrimos, regardless of dose, had significantly lower percentage of heterophils and heterophil/lymphocyte ratio. In conclusion, the current results support that MOS and BG prebiotic dietary supplementation may be considered as a protective management practice in the broiler chickens to control the negative effects of HS.


ABSTRACT Dunn, R.J.K.; Lemckert, C.J.; Teasdale, P.R., and Welsh, D.T., 2013. Macroinfauna dynamics and sediment parameters of a subtropical estuarine lake—Coombabah Lake (Southern Moreton Bay, Australia). The distribution, composition, density, and biomass of benthic macrofauna within estuarine environments typically exhibit significant variations attributable to heterogeneity in and interactions between physical, biological, and chemical processes. The spatial and temporal dynamics of benthic macroinfauna assemblages and physicochemical sediment parameters within the intertidal mudflats of a subtropical estuarine lake (Coombabah Lake, Southern Moreton Bay) were studied at four sites from August 2006 to April 2007. No significant seasonal changes were observed at any site for all physical sediment parameters. The northern sample sites were characterised by fine- to medium-grained to moderately to poorly sorted sediments and the southern sample sites by fine-grained to moderately well to well-sorted. A total of 1029 individuals representing species from three orders, including deposit feeding and filter feeding macroinfaunal groups, were collected. The highest combined species densities occurred in the fine-grained southern sites, with the greatest combined species density occurring at Site 4 during winter. Amphipods (Victoriopisa australiensis) and polychaete worms (Simplisetia aequisetis) dominated the lake-wide faunal community with V. australiensis, representing 49% of the total retrieved macroinfauna. Significant correlations between mean macroinfauna densities, biomassDW, sediment parameters, and seasonal maximum monthly temperatures were identified during the study. Seasonal trends in combined site densities were observed at each of the lake sites, with the highest combined density occurring during winter. Spatial and temporal variations might also be partially explained by the predation pressures of fish and migratory wading birds within the lake, with the seasonal presence of migratory wading birds coinciding with the minimum observed macroinfauna densities at each sample site.


Third generation wireless systems have adopted Direct-Sequence/Code-Division MultipleAccess (DS/CDMA) as the multiple access scheme of communication. This system would typically operate in a multipath fading channel. This dissertation only deals with the task of channel estimation at the base station where the multipath delays and attenuations for each user are estimated. This information is used to aid the recovery of data that was transmitted by each user. Subspace-based algorithms are popularly used to perform the task of channel estimation because they have the desirable property of perfectly estimating the channel in a noise-free environment. In this dissertation a new subspace-based channel estimation algorithm for DS/CDMA systems is presented. The proposed algorithm is based on the Parametric Subspace algorithm by Perros-Meilhac et al. for singk-user systems. The main focus of this dissertation is to convert the Parametric Subspace algorithm from a single-user system to a multi-user DS/CDMA system. It has been shown in the literature that by using information of the pulse-shaping filter in the Channel Subspace algorithm, the variance of the channel estimates is decreased. However, this has only been applied to a single-user system. There are several subspace algorithms that have been proposed for DS/CDMA systems. Most of these algorithms sample the received signal at the chip rate, making it impossible to exploit knowledge of the pulse-shaping filter in the channel estimation algorithm. In this dissertation a new subspace-based channel estimation algorithm is derived for a DS/CDMA system with multiple receive antennas, where the output is oversampled with respect to the chip rate. By oversampling the received signal, knowledge of the pulse-shaping filter is used in the channel estimation algorithm. It is shown that the variance of the channel estimate for the proposed subspace algorithm is less than the TorlaklXu subspace algorithm that does not exploit information of the pulse-shaping filter. A mathematical expression of the mean square error of estimation for the new algorithm is also derived. It was shown that the analytic expression provides a good approximation of the actual MSE for high SNR. The Parametric Subspace Delay Estimation (PSDE) algorithm was developed by PerrosMeilhac et al. to estimate the multipath delays introduced by the communications channel. The limitation of the PSDE algorithm is that the performance of the algorithm deteriorates as the power of the multipath signals decrease with increasing delay time. This dissertation proposes a modified version of the PSDE algorithm, called the Modified Parametric Subspace Delay Estimation (MPSDE) algorithm, which performs better than the PSDE algorithm in an environment where the power of the multipath signals varies. The final part of this dissertation discusses the TorlakIXu channel estimation algorithm and the Bensley/Aazbang delay estimation algorithm. In order to compare the performance of these two subspace algorithms, the TorlakIXu algorithm is converted to a delay estimation algorithm that is called the Parametric TX algorithm. The performance of the Bensley/Aazbang delay estimation algorithm and the proposed Parametric TX algorithm are compared and it is shown that the Parametric TX algorithm offers the better performance.


The development of standard models for describing general lexical resources has led to the emergence of numerous lexical datasets of various languages in the Semantic Web. However, equivalent models covering the linguistic domain of morphology do not exist. As a result, there are hardly any language resources of morphemic data available in RDF to date. This paper presents the creation of the Hebrew Morpheme Inventory from a manually compiled tabular dataset comprising around 52.000 entries. It is an ongoing effort of representing the lexemes, word-forms and morphologigal patterns together with their underlying relations based on the newly created Multilingual Morpheme Ontology (MMoOn). It will be shown how segmented Hebrew language data can be granularly described in a Linked Data format, thus, serving as an exemplary case for creating morpheme inventories of any inflectional language with MMoOn. The resulting dataset is described a) according to the structure of the underlying data format, b) with respect to the Hebrew language characteristic of building word-forms directly from roots, c) by exemplifying how inflectional information is realized and d) with regard to its enrichment with external links to sense resources.


Ostrich (Struthio camelus) is a species belonging to the Struthionidae family of Struthioniformes order that does not have the flying ability among birds. The aim of this study was to make a subgross investigation on anatomical structures of middle ear in ostrich and to determine the morphometry of the columella. In the present study, 4 adult ostrich heads were used in the study. Tympanic cavity and the formations inside are removed from the skull by protecting the cranial roof. Subgross examinations of tympanic cavity, columella and other anatomic structures were then performed, and morphometric measurements of columella and some anatomical structures were performed using a digital calliper.It was determined that tympanic cavity, surrounded by ear capsule (os oticum), had a conical shape and was covered with mucosa that was tightly adjacent to the periosteum. Tympanic membrane, columella and osteochondral structures, ligaments, a branch of external ophthalmic artery and the presence of chorda tympani were detected in tympanic cavity. It was observed that columella was placed diagonally in tympanic cavity. The vestibular (proximal) end having a circular shape was found to have a large basis and annular ligament which ended up with thickened, small columns.
Finally, we demonstrated anatomy and morphometric values of middle ear in ostrich. The anatomy and formations of the middle ear are clearly shown. It can be asserted that anatomical formations in the middle ear of an ostrich are similar to other birds.


Rigorous non-reflective boundary conditions for the multi-component, chemically non-equilibrium reactive flows with real gas effect were derived with the coupling of the species conservations and the fluid equations. The chemically non-equilibrium sound speed was obtained directly from the matrix decomposition of the conservation equations. It was shown that the sound speed of chemically non-equilibrium flow with real gas effect is different from the frozen sound speed of the mixture. The present derivation of non-reflective boundary condition provides the consistency in the characteristic wave speeds for both numerical algorithms of governing equations and boundary conditions. In the limit of single species, the present result reduces to the previous non-reflective boundary conditions given by Poinsot and Lele. The boundary conditions were tested by the shock wave, acoustic wave, vortex and diffusion and premixed flame propagation involving the detailed chemistry and variable thermal properties. The results showed that improper boundary condition generates reflective waves and high frequency noise in the computation domain. It is demonstrated that the present boundary conditions are robust and allow the acoustic and combustion waves propagating out the boundary without causing wave reflection.


Among storage components, hard disk drives (HDDs) have become the most commonly-used type of non-volatile storage due to their recent technological advances, including, enhanced energy efficacy and significantly-improved areal density. Such advances in HDDs have made them an inevitable part of numerous computing systems, including, personal computers, closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems, medical bedside monitors, and automated teller machines (ATMs). Despite the widespread use of HDDs and their critical role in real-world systems, there exist only a few research studies on the security of HDDs. In particular, prior research studies have discussed how HDDs can potentially leak critical private information through acoustic or electromagnetic emanations. Borrowing theoretical principles from acoustics and mechanics, we propose a novel denial-of-service (DoS) attack against HDDs that exploits a physical phenomenon, known as acoustic resonance. We perform a comprehensive examination of physical characteristics of several HDDs and create acoustic signals that cause significant vibrations in HDD's internal components. We demonstrate that such vibrations can negatively influence the performance of HDDs embedded in real-world systems. We show the feasibility of the proposed attack in two real-world case studies, namely, personal computers and CCTVs.


DeepTingle is a text prediction and classification system trained on the collected works of the renowned fantastic gay erotica author Chuck Tingle. Whereas the writing assistance tools you use everyday (in the form of predictive text, translation, grammar checking and so on) are trained on generic, purportedly"neutral"datasets, DeepTingle is trained on a very specific, internally consistent but externally arguably eccentric dataset. This allows us to foreground and confront the norms embedded in data-driven creativity and productivity assistance tools. As such tools effectively function as extensions of our cognition into technology, it is important to identify the norms they embed within themselves and, by extension, us. DeepTingle is realized as a web application based on LSTM networks and the GloVe word embedding, implemented in JavaScript with Keras-JS.


Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA

Growing evidence indicates that incongruities in the inflammatory and immune response pathways contribute to tumorigenesis. We seek to explore the underlying biological mechanisms that both promote and inhibit breast cancer (BrCa) tumorigenesis via innate immune pathways involving the Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and their associated agonists. Women of African descent (AA) are an understudied group at high risk for developing aggressive BrCa. Therefore, we previously examined the occurrence of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in selected genes along TLR pathways among a small cohort of AA women with breast cancer and identified a SNP in the central regulatory kinase IRAK4 that was associated with increased breast cancer risk. In silico predictions suggest that the IRAK4 minor variant rs4251545 codes for an Ala428Thr missense mutation that introduces a potential phosphorylation site in the extreme carboxy terminus (XCT) of the IRAK-4 kinase domain. The current study tests the hypothesis that functional IRAK4 promotes BrCa cell growth and migration using in vitro (cultured human BrCa cell) and in vivo (zebrafish BrCa xenograft) models.

Materials and methods: ER-positive MCF7 and triple-negative MDA-MB-231 (wild-type IRAK4) and MDA-MB-468 (IRAK4 w/rs4251545) human BrCa cell lines were compared. Cultured cells were treated for 24 hours with or without IRAK1/4 inhibitor. Cell migration and cell growth among BrCa lines were compared using wound healing and crystal violet assays, respectively. BrCa cell xenografts of zebrafish (ZF) embryos were examined for metastatic potential and the physiologic effects of morpholino inhibition of ZF IRAK4 among embryos with and without BrCa xenograft burdens were compared. In addition, zebrafish/tumor xenograft model was used to address the in vivo metastatic property of BrCa cells and the effect of targeting zebrafish irak4 using morpholino (MO) knockdown approach in the tumor-host environment on the metastatic behavior of MDA-MB-468 cells.

Results: Treatment with IRAK1/4 inhibitor delayed BrCa migration and growth in all BrCa cells lines. Relative in vivo migration rates/ (or metastatic property) of MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468 BrCa xenografts in ZF resemble in vitro rates, in which MDA-MB-231s migrate metastasized more rapidly/ (or aggressively). MO inhibition of ZF zebrafish IRAK4 irak4 gene expression in the host environment MDA-MB-468 xenografted fish inhibits MDA-MB-468 metastasis in the zebrafish/tumor xenograft.

Conclusion: Inhibition of IRAK4 reduces BrCa growth and migration in vitro and in vivo in zebrafish. The development of drugs that target IRAK4 and other regulators of the innate immune pathway may help modulate BrCa tumor progression.

Citation Format: K. Sean Kimbro, Karine Ferri-Lagneau, Jamil Haider, Susan Yeyeodu, Xiaohe Yang, TinChung Leung. IRAK4 and breast cancer cell migration in culture and zebrafish xenografts. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 4983. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-4983


Objectives. To compare computer-based telecolposcopy with telemedicine network telecolposcopy. Materials and Methods. An on-site expert and local clinician at two rural sites conducted colposcopic examinations on 264 women. Colposcopic images were captured and transmitted to two other experts at a remote location using a statewide telemedicine system and a computer and modem-based system. Sensitivity and specificity, agreement of examination adequacy and management, effects of delayed interpretations, and costs were compared for each system. Results. A greater rate of satisfactory colposcopy results was reported by the telemedicine network (66.1%) compared with computer-based (43.6%) telecolposcopy (p < .0001). Greater rates of cervical biopsy (p = .005) and endocervical curettage (p = .03) were required by delayed telecolposcopy compared with immediate telecolposcopic services. There were no significant differences in sensitivity of detecting cervical neoplasia among the types of the telecolposcopy. Computer-based telecolposcopy cost $28 less per patient than telemedicine network telecolposcopy. Conclusions. Computer-based telecolposcopy may be a reasonable, cost-effective adjunct to on-site colposcopy for evaluating women in medically underserved areas. Synchronous telecolposcopic examination minimizes histologic sampling and improves consultation.


Our work links Chinese calligraphy to computer science through an integrated intelligence approach. We first extract strokes of existent calligraphy using a semi-automatic, two-phase mechanism: the first phase tries to do the best possible extraction using a combination of algorithmic techniques; the second phase presents an intelligent user interface to allow the user to provide input to the extraction process for the difficult cases such as those in highly random, cursive, or distorted styles. Having derived a parametric representation of calligraphy, we employ a supervised learning based method to explore the space of visually pleasing calligraphy. A numeric grading method for judging the beauty of calligraphy is then applied to the space. We integrate such a grading unit into an existent constraint-based reasoning system for calligraphy generation, which results in a significant enhancement in terms of visual quality in the automatically generated calligraphic characters. Finally, we construct an intelligent calligraphy tutoring system making use of the above. This work represents our first step towards understanding the human process of appreciating beauty through modeling the process with an integration of available AI techniques. More results and supplementary materials are provided at http://www.cs.hku.hk/~songhua/calligraphy.


Copyright © 2019 Phcog.Net. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Cite this article : Kumar AHS, George M. Evaluating the Chrono-pharmacology of Icosapent Ethyl to Assess its Therapeutic Efficacy in Reducing Hypertriglyceridemia Associated Cardiovascular Events. BEMS Reports. 2019;5(2):26-8. ABSTRACT Background: The pharmacological efficacy of drugs used to treat chronic diseases is evaluated based on a cumulative performance over a fixed term (usually 3 to 5 years). The justification for selecting such fixed terms is scientifically not convincing especially considering patients will be taking such drugs for a much longer time frame. Hence to address this gap we present here a novel concept of chrono pharmacological assessment of drug efficacy. Materials and Methods: Using the data reported from the recently concluded REDUCE-IT trail evaluating the pharmacological efficacy of Icosapent Ethyl to reduce the cardiovascular adverse effects in patients with elevated triglyceride levels, we compared the year wise slopes of the curves in the placebo and Icosapent Ethyl administered group as an approach of chrono pharmacological assessment of drug efficacy. Results: The chrono pharmacological assessment revealed an unexpected observation of increased rate of adverse events compared to the placebo group in the years 3 to 4 and post year 5 of the Icosapent Ethyl administered group. Such increased rate of adverse events may perhaps be due to the cumulative effects of the drug. Conclusion: This study highlights the merit of chrono pharmacological assessment in identifying any potential adverse event rates with chronic use of drugs. Hence chrono pharmacological evaluation of drugs used to treat chronic diseases must be considered to improve drug dosage regimen and achieve optimal therapeutic efficacy, safety and cost effectiveness.


This paper describes some results obtained from full-scale measurements of wind effects on a super-tall building, Di-Wang Tower, located in Shenzhen, China. This tall building has 79-storeys with a height of approximately 324 m. Field measurements including wind speed, wind direction and wind-induced acceleration responses have been made. The amplitude-dependent characteristics of damping are obtained by using the random decrement technique from the detailed analysis of the field acceleration measurements. The main objective of this paper is to present detailed investigations into the effects of nonlinear damping on the dynamic responses of the tall building subjected to various types of applied loads based on the measured amplitude-dependent damping characteristics. The predicted dynamic responses of the building obtained by using the measured damping characteristics were compared with those computed by using constant damping parameters assumed by the structural designers. It is concluded from the investigations that knowledge of actual damping characteristics are very important in the accurate prediction of the dynamic responses of a tall building when the major harmonic components of the applied loads overlap with the lowest natural frequencies of the building. The design damping level for tall building structures currently used by structural engineering practitioners appears to be high and not conservative. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Historical accounts of the Privileges or Immunities Clause of Section One of the Fourteenth Amendment generally assume that John Bingham based the text on Article IV of the original Constitution and that Bingham, like other Reconstruction Republicans, viewed Justice Washington's opinion in Corfield v. Coryell as the definitive interpretation of Article IV. According to this view, Justice Miller in the Slaughterhouse Cases failed to follow both framers' intent and obvious textual meaning when he sharply distinguished Section One's privileges or immunities from Article IV's privileges and immunities.This article, the second in an extended investigation of the origins of the Privileges or Immunities Clause, presents historical evidence which strongly suggests that none of these assumptions are correct. Although John Bingham's first draft of the Fourteenth Amendment used the language of Article IV, mid-way through the Reconstruction debates Bingham realized he had made a mistake. Withdrawing his initial proposal, Bingham abandoned the language of Article IV and drafted a second version of the Amendment. This second version protected the "privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States " - a phrase which mirrored antebellum language regarding the rights of national citizenship. Bingham insisted that his second and final version of Section One did not refer to the common law state-conferred rights of Corfield and Article IV, but instead nationalized a different and limited set of constitutionally recognized privileges and immunities, in particular the first eight amendments to the Constitution. Understanding the difference between Bingham's first and second drafts not only explains what otherwise appear to be inconsistencies in Bingham's speeches, it also calls into question contemporary efforts to read the Privileges or Immunities Clause as a source of un-enumerated natural rights. Like other moderates in the Thirty-Ninth Congress, Bingham wished to expand the protection of individual rights in the states, but not at the expense of the retained right of the people in the states to regulate the content of most civil rights, subject only to the requirements of due process and equal protection.


"Charles Dickens" is the acclaimed definitive biography by bestselling author Claire Tomalin. Charles Dickens was a phenomenon: a demonicly hardworking journalist, the father of ten children, a tireless walker and traveller, a supporter of liberal social causes, but most of all a great novelist - the creator of characters who live immortally in the English imagination: the Artful Dodger, Mr Pickwick, Pip, David Copperfield, Little Nell, Lady Dedlock, and many more. At the age of twelve he was sent to work in a blacking factory by his affectionate but feckless parents. From these unpromising beginnings, he rose to scale all the social and literary heights, entirely through his own efforts. When he died, the world mourned, and he was buried - against his wishes - in Westminster Abbey. Yet the brilliance concealed a divided character: a republican, he disliked America; sentimental about the family in his writings, he took up passionately with a young actress; usually generous, he cut off his impecunious children. From the award-winning author of "Samuel Pepys", "Charles Dickens: A Life" paints an unforgettable portrait of Dickens, capturing brilliantly the complex character of this great genius. If you loved "Great Expectations", "Oliver Twist" and "A Christmas Carol", this book is invaluable reading. "By far the most humane and imaginatively sympathetic account yet for the general reader". (Amanda Craig, "New Statesman"). Claire Tomalin is the award-winning author of eight highly acclaimed biographies, including: "The Life and Death of Mary Wollstonecraft"; "Shelley and His World"; "Katherine Mansfield: A Secret Life"; "The Invisible Woman: The Story of Nelly Ternan and Charles Dickens"; "Mrs Jordan's Profession"; "Jane Austen: A Life"; "Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self"; "Thomas Hardy: The Time-Torn Man" and, most recently, "Charles Dickens: A Life". A former literary editor of the "New Statesman" and the "Sunday Times", she is married to the playwright and novelist Michael Frayn.


'She wanted to swim far out, where no woman had swum before.' Kate Chopin was one of the most individual and adventurous of nineteenth-century american writers, whose fiction explored new and often startling territory. When her most famous story, The Awakening, was first published in 1899, it stunned readers with its frank portrayal of the inner word of Edna Pontellier, and its daring criticisms of the limits of marriage and motherhood. The subtle beauty of her writing was contrasted with her unwomanly and sordid subject-matter: Edna's rejection of her domestic role, and her passionate quest for spiritual, sexual, and artistic freedom. From her first stories, Chopin was interested in independent characters who challenged convention. This selection, freshly edited form the first printing of each text, enables readers to follow her unfolding career as she experimented with a broad range of writing, from tales for children to decadent fin-de siecle sketches. The Awakening is set alongside thirty-two short stories, illustrating the spectrum of the fiction from her first published stories to her 1898 secret masterpiece, 'The Storm'.


This research evaluates the effect of physiological responses during electrical acupuncture (EA) stimulation on specific acupuncture points (APs: PC5 and PC6). A variety of special responses in the human body were determined by electroencephalogram (EEG), heart rate (HR) in an electrocardiogram (ECG), and skin impedance test for 2 groups, sham group as a control and a group under acupuncture stimulation. The total stimulation time in this study was set for 5 min since the effect of EA on all recorded parameters became stable within this period. According to the experiments, during EA stimulation of PC5 and PC6, the power spectrum of EEG showed that the number of low frequency waves was increased in all lobes. Heart rate variability measures of 10 subjects stimulation trials at PC6 and PC5 were compared to 10 subjects who received no stimulation treatment. In both the AP and the sham groups, the mean R-R interval increased significantly during EA stimulation. A comparison between the AP and non-AP group in terms of skin resistance measurement experiments revealed no difference in skin resistance. The results of this study verified that EA stimulation of APs (PC5, PC6) causes EEG changes, and ECG heart rate changes. However, from human skin impedance measurements, the beneficial effects were not sustained. These results may be helpful in the understanding of the mechanism underlying the effect of electrical acupuncture on PC6 and PC5.


OBJECTIVES
We sought to determine factors that would predict the development of subglottic stenosis (SGS) and tracheomalacia (TM) in preterm infants. The utility of a semiquantitative measurement of airway dimensions was assessed in relation to signs of airway complications. We also sought to determine from a high-risk population of infants those likely to have abnormal findings identified by bronchoscopic examination.

METHODS
Prospective airway endoscopy was performed for preterm infants who were intubated for 7 days or more or who demonstrated chronic oxygen needs beyond 28 days after birth and 36 weeks postconceptional age. Subjects were 117 preterm (less than 36 weeks' gestation) infants from two level III intensive care nurseries. Endoscopy was used to classify the type and degree of airway injury. Subglottic stenosis was defined subjectively and compared with an objective measurement using subglottic spatial relations described as a trans-subglottic/vocal cord ratio (TSG/VC). Clinical signs and symptoms and other risk factors were evaluated as significant predictors of SGS and TM, identified by bronchoscopy.

RESULTS
Moderate or severe airway abnormalities were identified in 32 patients (27.3%); 13 with SGS, 17 with TM, and 2 with both. All but one infant with TSG/VC less than 0.83 had signs and symptoms of airway dysfunction. Variables more commonly found in patients with SGS included greater number of intubations, use of inappropriately large endotracheal tubes, and longer duration of intubation. Higher averaged mean airway pressure during the first week after birth and lower gestational age were clinical features associated with TM.

CONCLUSIONS
Flexible bronchoscopic evaluation of a high-risk population demonstrated a higher incidence of moderate or severe SGS or TM than previously suspected. Subglottic stenosis and TM appear to have different etiologies based on different factors associated with their development. The TSG/VC ratio correlated well with obstructive symptoms and may represent a means to quantitate clinically subglottic narrowing. Infants with chronic lung disease who have persistently elevated partial pressure of carbon dioxide, apnea, or phonation abnormalities are most likely to have airway abnormalities identifiable by bronchoscopy.


Exploring the characteristics of different types of workplace conversations, including decision-making, training, briefing or making arrangements, this enthralling account pays particular attention to interactions with a more social focus, such as small talk or office gossip. Presenting a range of approaches to analyzing such workplace discourse, Almut Koester argues for a combination of quantitative corpus-based methods, to compare specific linguistic features in different genres and qualitative methods involving a close analysis of individual conversations, to explore such issues as politeness, power, conflict and consensus-building. A corpus of conversations recorded in a variety of office environments both in the UK and the USA is used throughout to demonstrate the interplay between speakers accomplishing tasks and maintaining relationships in the workplace.


Past attempts at writing a history of Chinese translation theory have been bedeviled by a chronological approach, which often forces the writer to provide no more than a list of important theories and theorists over the centuries. Or they have stretched out to almost every aspect related to translation in China, so that the historical/political backdrop that had an influence on translation theorizing turns out to be more important than the theories themselves. In the present book, the author hopes to devote exclusive attention to the ideas themselves. The approach adopted centers around eight key issues that engaged the attention of theorists through the course of the twentieth century, in the hope that a historical account will be presented that is not time-bound. On the basis of 38 articles translated into English by teachers and scholars of translation, the author has written four essays discussing the Chinese characteristics of this body of theory. Separately they focus on the impressionistic, the modern, the postcolonial, and the poststructuralist approaches deployed by leading Chinese theorists from 1901 to 1998. It is hoped that publication of this book will make possible cross-cultural dialogue with translation academics in the West, although the general reader will find much firsthand information on Chinese thinking about translation.


Roads generate a variety of influences on wildlife populations; however, little is known about the effects of roads on endemic wildlife on islands. Specifically, road-kills of island foxes ( Urocyon littoralis) on San Clemente Island (SCI), Channel Islands, California, USA are a concern for resource managers. To determine the effects of roads on island foxes, we radiocollared foxes using a 3 -tiered sampling design to represent the entire population in the study area, a sub-population near roads, and a sub-population away from roads on SCI. We examined annual survival rates using nest-survival models, causes of mortalities, and movements for each sample. We found the population had high annual survival (0.90), although survival declined with use of road habitat, particularly for intermediate- aged foxes. Foxes living near roads suffered lower annual survival (0.76), resulting from high frequencies of road-kills (7 of 11 mortalities). Foxes living away from roads had the highest annual survival (0.97). Road-kill was the most prominent cause of mortality detected on SCI, which we estimated as killing 3-8% of the population in the study area annually. Based on movements, we were unable to detect any responses by foxes that minimized their risks from roads. The probabilities of road-kills increased with use of the road habitat, volume of traffic, and decreasing road sinuosity. We recommend that managers should attempt to reduce road-kills by deterring or excluding foxes from entering roads, and attempting to modify behaviors of motorists to be vigilant for foxes. © 2011 The Wildlife Society.


The rise of social media in business world today has been one of the major trends that are highly affecting business transactions worldwide. Existing literature focused on how businesses can leverage social media to better interact with their customers, deal with their questions and queries, and encourage them to participate in new product development and/or other marketing activities. Various studies investigated the increased use of social media by companies to drive innovation. This study attempts to understand how B2C high-tech start-ups harness innovation through social media through providing a deep analysis of the literature dealing with startups utilisation and/or usage of social media. The study also provides directions for future research in this area of the field.


A detailed characterization of a Raman pump laser throughout the construction process is reported. Due to specific requirements for the pulsed Raman experiment, there were no commercially available pump lasers capable of meeting our specifications. The pump source must produce high energy pulses of 50mJ to 100mJ with variable duration centered at 200ns. To create this pump source, the pulses are gated from a CW source and then amplified with a high gain Nd:YAG amplification system. High spatial quality is also a necessity as the laser needs to be coupled into a small diameter waveguide functioning as the Raman cell. The laser was found to operate well, producing the required energy with the desired pulse flexibility. However, the amplification process induced spatial distortion that effectively produced a super Gaussian intensity distribution.


Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of disability in all regions of the globe. The global incidence rate of TBI is estimated at 200 per 100 000 people per year; however, this rate is uncertain and a likely underestimate. The Injury Expert Group within the Global Burden of Disease 2005 (GBD) Project aims to provide better estimates of the incidence, prevalence and duration of TBI in each of the 21 GBD regions. One of the two inputs into the estimates is a systematic literature review which was conducted using Medline and Embase databases. The search results were screened for relevance and data quality and the incidence, prevalence and duration of injury estimates were abstracted from the relevant literature. The second input was country specific hospital and survey data. Preliminary results from the literature review show that the incidence, prevalence and expected duration of disability from TBI differ between global regions. Data were scarce for 9 of the 21 global regions, all 9 encompassing developing countries. Obtaining estimates for developing countries is important as preliminary results show higher incidence rates from these regions. For example, the incidence rate of TBI in South Africa has been estimated at 1.5 to 3.5 times that of the estimated global rate. It is necessary to understand the absolute rate and variation of TBI across the globe so that more effective efforts can be made to reduce unnecessary suffering due to TBI throughout the world.


Beliefs and values are hard to alter; yet they strongly influence employees' attitudes towards strategic changes. Using a longitudinal case study in the oil industry, we show how to distinguish between ideological beliefs (justified by ethical values) and mundane beliefs (substantiated by knowledge structures). We explain that the willingness of workers to participate in change was promoted by a dynamic interaction between these interdependent belief sets. More critically, we show that acceptance of change did not require a change in values, but rather a change in the way that values were applied. We develop propositions that move theory forward and point to future directions for research.


The United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 1325 calls on all actors involved to address the special needs of women and girls during rehabilitation, reintegration and post-conflict reconstruction. This study endeavors to analyse the reintegration experience of women and girls in post-conflict Uganda. In this country, the recruitment of combatants by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has been characterised by the forcible abduction of young boys and girls, and the eventual deployment of child soldiers. The government of Uganda, in its attempt to defeat the LRA and in recognition of the fact that the LRA forcibly conscripted children to wage their cause, offered amnesties to all individuals who returned or were rescued from the LRA. This process has had consequences for the general female population of the Acholi community in northern Uganda.
There has been scant research done on the long-term impact of the LRA war on the Acholi community, and more especially on those who were abducted. While little is known about the war's impact on the male population, even less is known about the female children abducted and forced to become servants and "wives" of LRA male combatants. It is vital to note that the experiences of abduction, violence and even return for women and girls have been different to that of men and boys. This paper explores these issues.


There are environmental health concerns for dental health care providers chronically exposed to trace amounts of waste nitrous oxide (N2O). This study compared the effectiveness of three N2O scavenging systems, the Porter/Brown, the Accutron, and the Matrx, in actual time during use in a standardized mock dental treatment protocol that reflected clinical practice while minimizing the influence of confounding variables. At every occasion during the procedure, the Porter/Brown scavenger system left the operatory with significantly less N2O than any of the other scavengers tested. The Porter/Brown removed between 71% and 91% of the N2O compared to the control (no device).


Constitutional interpretation, as it is usually conceived, looks to the past-to an old text, to history, to precedent, to tradition-in an effort to limit political majorities But over the last generation or so, a different approach to the Constitution has emerged. That approach, which might be called modernization, tries to anticipate trends in public opinion instead of taking lessons from the past; and a modernizing court, instead of facing down popular majorities, yields when it finds out that it has misgauged public opinion. This modernizing approach has characterized the Supreme Court's recent work in many disparate areas, including, among others, the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause of the Eighth Amendment and the limits on sex discrimination imposed by the Equal Protection Clause Perhaps most interesting, the substantive due process decisions of the last forty years are modernizing decisions; unlike the pre-New Deal substantive due process decisions to which they are often, mistakenly, compared. Modernization is an appealing approach in many ways. Among other things, it holds out the hope of more easily reconciling judicial review with democracy. But modernization also raises serious questions. There are questions of institutional competence-anticipating trends in public opinion sounds like a politician's job, not a court's-although there may be less to this objection than meets the eye. Perhaps the more important objections are that modernization may distort the political process, and it may cause courts to be too willing to accommodate what they perceive as the demands of popular opinion, at the expense of a principled judicial role.