A skeletal mechanism with 133 species and 877 reactions for MOD9D (one of the main unsaturated methyl esters in biodiesel fuels) is constructed by using decoupling methodology. The obtained skeletal mechanism consists of four parts: high temperature decomposition, low temperature oxidation, ester group reactions and detailed chemistry of small species. Extensive validations are firstly performed against available experimental data in shock-tube for autoignition delay. The predicted results by the skeletal mechanism matches well with the experiment results. The comparison has been conducted between the detailed mechanism and a semi-detailed mechanism. Good agreement or even better predictions at some initial conditions has been observed. Further validations are conducted against the experimental data of fuel species' conversion rate and species concentration in PSR at varying initial temperatures. The results indicate that the developed skeletal mechanism is capable of predicting the combustion characteristics of MOD9D.


AIMS
This study set out to assess indications, feasibility, complications, and clinical outcome of percutaneous transcatheter device closure of atrial septal defects (ASDs) in infants with a bodyweight below 10 kg.

METHODS AND RESULTS
Retrospective single center chart and echocardiography review study from 8/2005-12/2013. Twenty-eight children with ASD (13 female) with a median age of 1.15 years (0.2-2.8) and a median weight of 7.2 kg (4.5-9.9) were analyzed. Indications for early ASD closure were failure to thrive (n = 15, 54%), bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) with supplemental oxygen dependency (n = 7, 25%), and genetic syndromes with suspected pulmonary hypertension (n = 12, 43%). Device implantation was successful in all patients without any periprocedural mortality or major complication. Clinical outcome after a median follow-up period of 2.1 years (0.25-7.3) revealed no residual shunt and a significant decrease of right ventricular volume load. Patients with pulmonary hypertension experienced a significant reduction of pulmonary artery/RV pressure. Patients also showed decreased supplemental oxygen dependency and less cardiac medications, but no significant "catch-up growth" in those with failure to thrive.

CONCLUSION
Interventional ASD closure in children weighing less than 10 kg can be performed without any additional major risks and shows a favorable outcome, especially in selected patients with significant non cardiac co-morbidities.


Innovation is the driving force of human progress. Recent urn models reproduce well the dynamics through which the discovery of a novelty may trigger further ones, in an expanding space of opportunities, but neglect the effects of social interactions. Here we focus on the mechanisms of collective exploration, and we propose a model in which many urns, representing different explorers, are coupled through the links of a social network and exploit opportunities coming from their contacts. We study different network structures showing, both analytically and numerically, that the pace of discovery of an explorer depends on its centrality in the social network. Our model sheds light on the role that social structures play in discovery processes.


Estimating the contribution of the forests to carbon sequestration is commonly done by applying forest growth models. Such models inherently use field observations such as leaf area index (LAI), whereas a relevant information is also available from remotely sensed images. This paper aims to improve the LAI estimated from the forest growth model (Physiological Principles Predicting growth (3-PG)) by combining these values with the LAI derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite imagery. A Bayesian networks (BNs) approach addresses the bias in the 3-PG model and the noise of the MODIS images. A novel inference strategy within the BN has been developed in this paper to take care of the different structures of the inaccuracies in the two data sources. The BN is applied to the Speulderbos forest in The Netherlands, where the detailed data were available. This paper shows that the outputs obtained with the BN were more accurate than either the 3-PG or the MODIS estimate. It was also found that the BN is more sensitive to the variation of the LAI derived from MODIS than to the variation of the LAI 3-PG values. In this paper, we conclude that the BNs can improve the estimation of the LAI values by combining a forest growth model with satellite data.


Knowledge discovery is an important process in data analysis, data mining and machine learning. Typically knowledge is presented in the form of rules. However, knowledge discovery systems often generate a huge amount of rules. One of the challenges we face is how to automatically discover interesting and meaningful knowledge from such discovered rules. It is infeasible for human beings to select important and interesting rules manually. How to provide a measure to evaluate the qualities of rules in order to facilitate the understanding of data mining results becomes our focus. In this thesis, we present a series of rule evaluation techniques for the purpose of facilitating the knowledge understanding process. These evaluation techniques help not only to reduce the number of rules, but also to extract higher quality rules. Empirical studies on both artificial data sets and real world data sets demonstrate how such techniques can contribute to practical systems such as ones for medical diagnosis and web personalization.
In the first part of this thesis, we discuss several rule evaluation techniques that are proposed towards rule postprocessing. We show how properly defined rule templates can be used as a rule evaluation approach. We propose two rough set based measures, a Rule Importance Measure, and a Rules-As-Attributes Measure, to rank the important and interesting rules. In the second part of this thesis, we show how data preprocessing can help with rule evaluation. Because well preprocessed data is essential for important rule generation, we propose a new approach for processing missing attribute values for enhancing the generated rules. In the third part of this thesis, a rough set based rule evaluation system is demonstrated to show the effectiveness of the measures proposed in this thesis. Furthermore, a new user-centric web personalization system is used as a case study to demonstrate how the proposed evaluation measures can be used in an actual application.


The following types of cables are generally used in cable stayed bridges: Parallel bars; Parallel seven wire strands; Parallel or semi-parallel wire cables; Locked coil strands and ropes; and Helical galvanized bridge strands. The first two types are extensively used in prestressed concrete structures and when applied as cables ln stayed girders bridges, a very similar installation technology is used. The cable is installed in a polyethylene tube or steel pipe which is then filled with grout. The grout adds about 30% to the weight of the cable. This adds to the cable sag and decreases its stiffness. The three latter types have been used for a long time in structures supported primarily by tension members. The guiding principle here has always been ease of inspection and maintenance.


Sustainable management of social (public) housing estates after their provision is becoming necessary in recent years due to the main purpose of meeting cheap, decent and safe housing needs of the citizens, and on the premise that housing is an indispensable human need. Notwithstanding of these, there is evidence that Sustainable Social (Public) Housing Estates Management (SSPHEM) are not being appropriately and successfully practiced. The body of knowledge reveals that the numbers of housing estates were paramount and emphasised by the relevant scholars, rather than, the effective post-construction management of these estates, for improvement of the social (public) housing estates deplorable conditions and to achieve the benefits of sustainability.
The overall aim of this research is to develop a framework for Sustainable Social (Public) Housing Estates Management (SSPHEM) in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. This research aim was attained through a critical literature review and investigation of themes relevant to the objectives: identification of the estate management principles and approaches currently used in the management of social (public) housing estates; identification of the maintenance management types and practices in the total housing estate management; identification of the underpinning concepts in stakeholder's management and the relevance/ importance of their inclusion in the management; and to conceptualise sustainability in the context of social (public) housing estate management and identify those beneficial sustainability factors for social (public) housing estates.
The research has drawn on works in relevant research methodologies, and has taken an interpretative pragmatic stance with an embedded multiple case study, being adopted to perform exploratory and explanatory case studies into the social (public) housing estate post-construction management. Qualitative and quantitative data was collected using 16 Nr) semi-structured interviews, 100 (Nr) questionnaires, documentation and direct observation. The primary data was analysed using NviVo 10 and SPSS 20 packages and interpretive thematic content analysis techniques.
An operational SSPHEM framework was developed for the social (public) housing estates that involved the integration of the appropriate: estate management approach; building maintenance approach; relevant stakeholders' involvement; and the beneficial sustainability factors. Using unsustainable management approaches was the main issue to the current social (public) housing estates incessant deplorable conditions and deficits. The study found that in-house estate management and unplanned maintenance management approaches; non-involvement/inclusion of the relevant stakeholders; and the meagre awareness, consideration, interlocking and integration of the essential and beneficial sustainability factors, were the main features of unsustainable management. The study established fourteen main factors hindering the sustainable housing estate management and maintenance approaches effectiveness. The study established six reasons for non-stakeholders involvement and seven essential and beneficial sustainability factors for the benefits of sustainability in the social (public) housing estate. The study found that effective and sufficient awareness, understanding, identification and assessment of the appropriate drivers within each theme, and a requirement for stronger correlation amongst the drivers is vital and assisted in the implementation of the operational SSPHEM framework.
Operationalising the developed SSPHEM framework suggested strategies, that in itself should ensure improvements in the current social (public) housing estates qualities and conditions and would reduce shortages, with significant benefits appreciation. The framework enhances: monitoring; evaluation; and reporting; on social (public) housing estate performances and sustainability, providing information on areas needing enhancement. The SSPHEM framework is an effective instrument for the end-users of the framework for the social (public) housing estates post-construction management, and can be adopted in other regions of Nigeria, and developing and developed countries in the world over.
The research endorsed that sustainable social (public) housing estate post-construction management should be achieved by users of the framework, being willing to make a sustainable change to the legal, cultural, financial/economic, social and political regulations to the practices of the current management approaches. Studying the relevant sustainability assessment toolkits and testing the developed SSPHEM framework, strengthens the sustainability of the framework purpose achievement. Federal and State Governments Housing Authorities staff capacity, training and research and development should encourage innovative and proactive practices for the effective performance and improvement in social (public) housing estates post-construction management.


Abstract Children who are adopted from care are more likely to experience enduring emotional and behavioral problems across development; however, adoptees' trajectories of mental health problems and factors that impact their trajectories are poorly understood. Therefore, we used multilevel growth analyses to chart adoptees' internalizing and externalizing problems across childhood, and examined the associations between preadoptive risk and postadoptive protective factors on their trajectories. This was investigated in a prospective longitudinal study of case file records (N = 374) and questionnaire-based follow-ups (N = 96) at approximately 5, 21, and 36 months postadoptive placement. Preadoptive adversity (indexed by age at placement, days in care, and number of adverse childhood experiences) was associated with higher internalizing and externalizing scores; the decrease in internalizing scores over childhood was accelerated for those exposed to lower levels of preadoptive risk. Warm adoptive parenting was associated with a marked reduction in children's internalizing and externalizing problems over time. Although potentially limited by shared methods variance and lack of variability in parental warmth scores, these findings demonstrate the deleterious impact of preadoptive risk and the positive role of exceptionally warm adoptive parenting on children's trajectories of mental health problems and have relevance for prevention and intervention strategies.


The treatment of personality disorders is a rapidly evolving focus of contemporary mental health practice. Personality dysfunction is often further complicated by the comorbidity of an Axis I disorder, such as anxiety, bipolar disorder, depression, substance abuse, and others. Because personality dysfunction cuts across many clinical domains, practitioners with the most effective therapeutic interventions are in high demand. Accordingly, clinicians must have access to current evidence-based best practices to maximize their treatment impact. This volume is a collection of the most up-to-date research on personality disorder treatment written by leading scholars of psychopathology and psychotherapy. Organized by different therapeutic approaches, each chapter presents a theoretical framework, evidence-based methods, and clinical examples. The chapters cover dialectical behavior therapy, psychodynamic theory, interpersonal theory, relational theory, family systems theory, integrative theory, and the unified approach to treating personality disorders. In addition to synthesizing the latest research on personality systems and evidence-based practice, this book also packages key clinical recommendations for the effective treatment of personality dysfunction.


Background: Few community-based data exist on the frequency of cord infection signs in low resource settings, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. We developed simple sign-based definitions of omphalitis and estimated incidence and risk factors for infection over a range of severity among neonates in Pemba, Zanzibar, Tanzania. Methods: Infants' umbilical stump was assessed on days 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, and 14 after birth for presence of pus, redness, swelling, and foul odor. Infection incidence and proportion of affected infants was estimated for 6 separate combinations of these signs. Two definitions were examined for associations between infection and selected potential risk factors using multivariate analysis. Results: Nine thousand five hundred fifty cord assessments (in 1653 infants) were conducted. The proportion of affected infants ranged from 16 (1.0%, moderate to severe redness with pus discharge) to 199 (12.0%, pus and foul odor), while single signs were observed in >20% of infants. Median time to onset of infection was 3 to 4 days; 90% of infections occurred by age 7 days. Breast-feeding within the first hour after birth was associated with lower risk of infection in multivariate analyses, while other maternal, and infant and care practices were generally not associated. Conclusions: Signs of omphalitis occur frequently and predominately in the first week of life among newborns in Pemba, Tanzania. Infection definitions relying on single signs without classifying severity level may overestimate burden. Redness with pus or redness at the moderate or severe level if pus is absent is more appropriate for estimating burden or during evaluation of interventions to reduce infection.


The systematic position and phylogenetic relationships of the family Cortrematidae Yamaguti, 1958 have always been controversial. In the present study, the phylogenetic relationships of this family and its constituent genera and families within the superfamily Microphalloidea were evaluated using previously published and newly obtained sequences of 28S rDNA of Cortrema magnicaudata (Bykhovskaya-Pavlovskaya, 1950) (Cortrematidae), Phaneropsolus praomydis Baer, 1971 and Microtrema barusi Sitko, 2013 (Phaneropsolidae). Results clearly demonstrate that the genus Cortrema Tang, 1951 is closest to Gyrabascus Macy 1935, both genera forming one of the clades within the family Pleurogenidae in the superfamily Microphalloidea and sharing several important morphological features. Thus, the family Cortrematidae should be considered among synonyms of the Pleurogenidae. Based on the analysis of morphology, C. corti Tang, 1951, C. testilobata (Bykhovskaya-Pavlovskaya, 1953) and C. niloticus Ashour, Ahmed et Lewis, 1994 are considered junior synonyms of C. magnicaudata. The phylogenetic position of P. praomydis as a family-level branch not showing close relationships with other families of the Microphalloidea, supports the status of the Phaneropsolidae as an independent family. The genus Parabascus Looss, 1907 previously considered within the Phaneropsolidae clearly belongs to the Pleurogenidae. In addition, the molecular phylogeny has demonstrated that the recently described phaneropsolid Microtrema barusi belongs to the microphallid genus Microphallus Ward, 1901. Therefore, Microtrema Sitko, 2013 is considered a junior synonym of Microphallus. Our analysis has also confirmed the status of Collyriclidae as a family within the Microphalloidea. Not yet sequenced representatives of other families within the Microphalloidea (e.g. Anenterotrematidae, Eumegacetidae, Renschtrematidae, Stomylotrematidae, etc.) need to be included in future molecular phylogenetic studies to better unravel the taxonomic structure and content of this diverse digenean superfamily.


A payment system is a set of contractual arrangements, operating facilities and technical mechanism used for presentation, authentication, and acceptance of payment orders, and discharge of the resultant financial obligation through the exchange of value between individuals, banks and other entities domestically and cross - border. An efficient, fast, secure and reliable payment system is the most important factor in creating a healthy banking system, which in turn will support economic activities. The development of payment system is different in every country. It depends on the economic system and financial system in that particular country. In Indonesia, Bank Indonesia continually develops the national payment system in order to have a comprehensive and integrated payment system, which is effective, efficient, safe, reliable and bears low risk. Thus, Bank Indonesia is expected to fulfill public needs of transaction, whether small or large transaction, using different method of payments, such as electronic-based method, cards, papers, notes and others.


The main function of the linguistic category of aspect is perfectly reflected by the traditional term "aspect" or "view" which means that the speaker chooses a view of the situation s/he is speaking about. This view of a situation, or "point of view", is first of all reflected by an internal analysis of the situation into parts: moments and stages. This necessary choice can be compared to that of a centre of attention in order to build an utterance (cf. the definition of subject and object in Chapter 4 in this volume). As such, aspect is an essential tool of the meta-informative structure of the utterance. The internal view of the situation is further completed by external view parameters concerning its repetition, the modification of its flow or intensity, the composition of several situations into one complex situation. This approach aims at integrating into a cohesive whole the great variety of uses described in the huge literature on verbal aspect in Slavic languages. The ASMIC theory is of great help in dealing with the blurred borderline between semantics and pragmatics in aspect usage, making it possible to propose some tentative way out of endless debates on Slavic aspectology: the problem of aspect pairs, the difference between aspect and Aktionsart, the amazing differences in the use of imperfective (IPF) verbs in Slavic languages and the use of the imperfect tense in French or progressive forms in English, etc. By reference to the three sorts of parameters we have defined (concerning situation types, situation internal and external view) we can distinguish precisely the different possible semantic types of perfective (PF) partners that can be derived from a simple IPF verb in Slavic languages depending on the type of semantic situation to which the simple verb refers (in a given context). The reference to the different values of the aspect parameters also makes it possible to distinguish among derived PF verbs those which can be considered as pertaining to grammatical aspect, as opposed to the lexical classes of derived verbs formed with prefixes having not only an aspectual perfectivising meaning but adding also various (spatial or abstract) meanings to the root verb.


BACKGROUND
There are limited data about the correlations between amount of anesthetics and variations in vital signs during pediatric cardiac catheterization.

METHODS
Data in 80 children with congenital heart disease undergoing cardiac catheterization with/without interventional cardiology in 2004 were examined in this retrospective cohort study. Data on blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen saturation, partial tension in end tidal carbon dioxide (PETCO2), and total amount of anesthetics given during general anesthesia were obtained from anesthetic charts. The correlations between amount of anesthetics and those vital signs were analyzed.

RESULTS
Median age of the patients was 14 months and median body weight was 8.8 kg. Median rates of variation in heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation and PET(CO2) were 22.8%, 29.3%, 5.9% and 10.8%, respectively. Although there were no statistical correlations between those vital signs and amounts of anesthetics such as fentanyl, vecuronium and sevoflurane, rates of variation in heart rate was smaller in patients for whom the amount of fentanyl given was more than 4 microg x kg(-1) x hr(-1).

CONCLUSIONS
There were no associations between amount of anesthetics and variations in vital signs in pediatric cardiac catheterization.


In this paper, we propose a new method for the motion planning problem of rigid object dexterous manipulation with a robotic multi-fingered hand, under quasi-static movement assumption. This method computes both object and finger trajectories as well as the finger relocation sequence. Its specificity is to use a special structuring of the research space that allows to search for paths directly in the particular subspace GSn which is the subspace of all the grasps that can be achieved with n grasping fingers. The solving of the dexterous manipulation planning problem is based upon the exploration of this subspace. The proposed approach captures the connectivity of GSn in a graph structure. The answer of the manipulation planning query is then given by searching a path in the computed graph. Simulation experiments were conducted for different dexterous manipulation task examples to validate the proposed method.


Organizations are repeatedly embarrassed when their sensitive digital documents go public or fall into the hands of adversaries, often as a result of unintentional or inadvertent leakage. Such leakage has been traditionally handled either by preventive means, which are evidently not hermetic, or by punitive measures taken after the main damage has already been done. Yet, the challenge of preventing a leaked file from spreading further among computers and over the Internet is not resolved by existing approaches. This paper presents a novel method, which aims at reducing and limiting the potential damage of a leakage that has already occurred. The main idea is to tag sensitive documents within the organization's boundaries by attaching a benign detectable malware signature (DMS). While the DMS is masked inside the organization, if a tagged document is somehow leaked out of the organization's boundaries, common security services such as Anti-Virus (AV) programs, firewalls or email gateways will detect the file as a real threat and will consequently delete or quarantine it, preventing it from spreading further. This paper discusses various aspects of the DMS, such as signature type and attachment techniques, along with proper design considerations and implementation issues. The proposed method was implemented and successfully tested on various file types including documents, spreadsheets, presentations, images, executable binaries and textual source code. The evaluation results have demonstrated its effectiveness in limiting the spread of leaked documents.


This study aims at comparing the appearance of the finish line using the observational method, and a new method in taking the impression and displacement of the gingival tissue without the gingival cord. In this research, Twenty one (21) patients were chosen. Who did not suffer from any supportive tissue diseases (such as inflammation or gingival bleeding). The patients needed crowns for their molars. Three impressions were taken from each patient, and the total number of impressions was 63.After preparation, the first impression was handled with the traditional method (putty – wash) without the gingival retraction. The second impression was handled with the observational method. All the final impressions were filled by Acryl, either completely or only for the prepared tooth area. After that, the bases were filled with gypsum. Cochran and McNemar test were used to study the differences among the two groups' averages. Results have shown that there are statistical differences between the first and second group. It was concluded that the Traditional Method is better than the other one .Although the observational method is good, the traditional one is much better.


: Zn 1-x Ni x O (x=0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6) nanocomposites were synthesized by co-precipitation method and further annealed at 400 o C. Characterization of nanocomposites was carried out by x-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infra-red spectrometer (FTIR), UV-Visible spectroscopic, vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) techniques. The structural study confirms that nickel (II) ions replace Zn 2+ ions in the ZnO lattice without changing its Wurtzite structure and secondary phase (NiO) was observed with the increase in nickel concentration (x ≥ 0.4). The presence of various functional groups and M-M and M-O chemical bonding were confirmed by FTIR. The optical properties of ZnO nanocrystallities with Ni-doping was investigated by UV-Vis absorption spectra which indicates red shift in the absorption band on Ni- doping. The morphology and structural information were obtained by the TEM images which shows hexagonal nanoparticles with average particle size of 15-50 nm. The change in magnetic behavior of ZnO nanoparticles with varying Ni 2+ doping concentration was investigated by VSM.


This study presents magnetic anomaly data from a new high-resolution, low-altitude helicopter-borne magnetic survey
recently collected on and offshore Tenerife in the Canary Archipelago. The Italian Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica
e Vulcanologia (INGV) in collaboration with the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales of the CSIC of Spain
conducted the survey in 2006. The data for Tenerife and surrounding marine areas were processed into digital total
intensity magnetic anomalies for geomagnetic epoch 2006.4. Relative to previously available higher altitude
magnetic survey data, the new survey mapped higher resolution anomalies with significantly improved spatial details,
especially over the Las Canadas caldera and Teide-Pico Viejo complex in the central part of the island. A good
correlation is evident between known structural geology and the magnetic anomalies, where the new shorter wavelength
anomalies facilitate more detailed and comprehensive geologic interpretations.


During the decommissioning phase of a nuclear reactor, most of the steel-reinforced concrete shielding around the pressure vessel is considered as low-level radioactive waste. It is very desirable to reduce the radioactivity of the low-level radioactive waste to below the clearance level. Normally, the radioactivity of steel after irradiation is found to be proportional to the cobalt content. In this study, for the production of low-activation steel, the mixing source and the partition behavior of cobalt in the iron- and steel-making processes are investigated. The results are summarized as follows: (1) the cobalt content in hot metal was found to be approximately 20 ppm, and the main source was serpentine. The ratio of the cobalt content to the iron content in the ore varied from 1.5 to 6.5 ppm, depending on the brand. In the charge materials for the BOF process and typical refractories, the cobalt content was negligible except for some ferroalloys. (2) By thermodynamic calculations, it can be deduced that the activity coefficient of CoO is very small in the slag.


The subject of mental health has increasingly become a topic of discussion as individuals advocate for recognition of this health issue. Early childhood adversity is often associated with mental health problems amongst adolescents, however, many do not succumb to these experiences and instead have resilient health outcomes. This study utilized data from the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN) to analyze the relationship between early adversity and adolescent mental health, how social context may mediate this association, and finally, what factors are associated with mental health resilience. It was found that many at risk children had positive health outcomes at age 14, and contextual factors such as history of witnessed violence, social support, and neighborhood safety mediated this association. Furthermore, neighborhood safety was found to be positively associated with mental health resilience. Such findings suggest that current policies need to address contextual factors when seeking to prevent mental health problems amongst adolescents.


Brain metastasis in breast cancer is particularly deadly, but effective treatments remain out of reach due to insufficient information about the mechanisms underlying brain metastasis and the potential vulnerabilities of brain-metastatic breast cancer cells. Here, human breast cancer cells and their brain-metastatic derivatives (BrMs) were used to investigate synthetic lethal interactions in BrMs. First, it was demonstrated that c-MYC activity is increased in BrMs and is required for their brain-metastatic ability in a mouse xenograft model. Specifically, c-MYC enhanced brain metastasis by facilitating the following processes within the brain microenvironment: (i) invasive growth of BrMs, (ii) macrophage infiltration, and (iii) GAP junction formation between BrMs and astrocytes by upregulating connexin 43 (GJA1/Cx43). Furthermore, RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis uncovered a set of c-MYC–regulated genes whose expression is associated with higher risk for brain metastasis in breast cancer patients. Paradoxically, however, increased c-MYC activity in BrMs rendered them more susceptible to TRAIL (TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand)–induced apoptosis. In summary, these data not only reveal the brain metastasis-promoting role of c-MYC and a subsequent synthetic lethality with TRAIL, but also delineate the underlying mechanism. This suggests TRAIL-based approaches as potential therapeutic options for brain-metastatic breast cancer. Implications: This study discovers a paradoxical role of c-MYC in promoting metastasis to the brain and in rendering brain-metastatic cells more susceptible to TRAIL, which suggests the existence of an Achilles' heel, thus providing a new therapeutic opportunity for breast cancer patients.


133
 Cs solution-phase NMR has been evaluated as an in situ probe to study the adsorption of polycations, and other ions, onto clays in aqueous suspensions containing 2.5 mass% low-iron Texas bentonite. In particular, the effectiveness of the polycations FL15, FL16, F17, of general formula [(Me2NCH2CHOHCH2)n]n+, and Magnafloc 1697, [(CH2[graphic omitted]CH2)n]n+, at displacing Cs+ ions from the Texas bentonite is compared to Na+, K+, Me4N+(TMA+) and paraquat2+. This information has been correlated with that obtained from particle-size and electrophoretic measurements in aqueous solution, together with that obtained from adsorption isotherms, variable temperature X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetry (TG) studies using dry powdered samples. FL15, FL17 and 1697 all exhibited high affinity adsorption isotherms on all the cation-exchanged forms of WL, whereas the adsorption of TMA+ ions, which represent the cationic portion of the polymers, was of lower affinity. The maximum amount of polymer adsorbed, Qmax, depended on the resident exchange cation, varying as Na+ > K+ > Cs+, and the molecular mass of the polymer. Qmax on the Na-clay approached twice the amount of polycation required to fulfil the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the Texas bentonite. XRD profiles confirmed that the polycations resided between the clay lamellae except at low loadings on the Cs+-clay. In the absence of competing (poly)cations the 133Cs NMR exhibited a broad (1500 Hz), weak signal. As (poly)cation was added the signal narrowed, eventually to 15 Hz, and grew considerably in intensity. As the adsorption isotherms suggested, the polycations were extremely effective at displacing the resident Cs+ ions, closely followed by paraquat2+. TMA+ ions were considerably less effective and Na+ and K+ ions were ineffective. Magnafloc 1697 was not as effective at displacing Cs+ ions as the FL series of polymers, and this was reflected in the zeta potential (ζ) and particle-size measurements. This data suggested that the FL polycations were able to penetrate the interlayer more effectively than the bulkier 1697, which was only adsorbed up to 68% of the CEC.


The paternal law founded on the prohibition is giving way to a maternal presence based rather on confidence which fosters hedonism. Contemporary adolescence is a world marked by the mother, by the absence of limits, regression. The fear of losing face, of feeling shame or responsibility for one's behaviour is no longer at the top of the agenda. On the contrary, the adepts of Jackass and happy slapping are perfect illustrations of contemporary individualism and indifference to the other person. Their ego has no other people to whom it could be held accountable.


The Phebus Fission Product Programme studies key phenomena and phenomenology of severe accidents in water-cooled nuclear reactors. The FPT3 test, which was the fifth and last test of the programme, was especially devoted to study the impact of a boron carbide control rod on fuel degradation and fission product transport and speciation in water-cooled reactors. It used uranium dioxide enriched to 24.5 GWd/tU, re-irradiated in situ for 8.4 days to about 180MWd/tU before the test transient to create a representative short half-life fission-product inventory. The experiment showed clear effects of the B4C control rod on bundle degradation, on the transport of fission products in the circuit and on their behaviour in the containment. Some of the results were rather unexpected, such as the large deposition of boroncontaining materials between the hot and cold legs, responsible for a large dip in fissionproduct transmission in the cold leg, and the large amount of gaseous iodine transported through the primary circuit up to the containment vessel. Despite the high concentrations of gaseous iodine arriving in the containment, the overall behaviour of this gaseous form did not significantly depart from that in previous Phebus FP tests and is characterised by a fast depletion due to adsorption on containment surfaces at short term and constant low residual concentrations in the long term. Analyses of the test results with ASTEC code modules are on-going. They especially highlight that the overall iodine behaviour in the containment can be satisfactorily well captured by assuming a significant injection of gaseous iodine from the primary circuit that remains under-predicted.


Although the retinal position of objects changes with each saccadic eye movement, we perceive the visual world to be stable. How this visual stability or constancy arises is debated. Cancellation accounts propose that the retinal consequences of eye movements are compensated for by an equal-but-opposite eye movement signal. Assumption accounts propose that saccade-induced retinal displacements are ignored because we have a prior belief in a stable world. Saccadic suppression of displacement-the fact that small displacements of the visual targets during saccades go unnoticed-argues in favor of assumption accounts. Extinguishing the target before the displacement unmasks it, arguing in favor of cancellation accounts. We show that an irrelevant displacement of the target orthogonal to saccade direction unmasks displacements parallel to saccade direction, and therefore relieves saccadic suppression of displacement. This result suggests that visual stability arises from the interplay between cancellation and assumption mechanisms: When the post-saccadic target position falls within an elliptic region roughly equivalent to habitual saccadic variability, displacements are not seen and stability is assumed. When the displacements fall outside this region, as with our orthogonal steps, displacements are seen and positions are remapped.


Background. Antisense oligonucleotides can redirect the pre-mRNA processing of targeted gene transcripts. Therapeutic alternative splicing can be employed excise a selected exon or enhance recognition of an exon normally excluded from the mature mRNA.

Aims. Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), the most common and serious form of childhood muscle wasting, arises from protein truncating mutations in DMD that preclude synthesis of a functional protein. We aim to specifically redirect dystrophin pre-mRNA processing so that one or more exons can be excluded from the mature mRNA. Depending upon the DMD mutation, the reading frame can be restored, or intra-exonic protein truncation mutations can be bypassed, allowing an internally deleted but functional dystrophin isoform to be produced.

Methods. Targeting dystrophin exon 51 for excision should restore functional dystrophin expression in the most common subset of DMD deletion patients. An extended placebo-controlled study was initiated under the sponsorship of Sarepta therapeutics in Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus Ohio.

Results. The trial has now been extended out to over 2 years and clinically significant differences were observed, with treated boys maintaining similar levels of ambulation over the trial period. No serious adverse events have been reported and the trial remains ongoing. Additional oligomers are being designed to address different dystrophin mutations, and new clinical trials should be underway in 2014.

Summary. The promising DMD trial results have renewed enthusiasm to pursue splice intervention therapies for other disorders. Spinal muscular atrophy, cystic fibrosis, facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, asthma, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and stroke are just some of the conditions under investigation. An estimated 15% of human mutations induce aberrant splicing and splice switching oligomers may be used as a personalized genetic therapy, regardless of the mutated gene.


James Lovelock is a world-renowned scientist and inventor whose work on detecting CFC's (chlorofluorocarbons) in our environment led him to develop a new theory about our planet. The Gaia Hypothesis posits that the Earth is alive-a self regulating organism in its own right. In his two other books on the subject, Lovelock set the record straight on the damage that CFC'c have done to ourplanet and its delicate balance of the interaction between life-forms. His theory has generated much controversy as it proposes that evolution is far from over and that humankind is no longer the be-all and end-all of that process. In this latest volume on the subject, Lovelock examines the health and future prospects of our ailing planet. Beautifully illustrated and presented, Healing Gaia does justice to a theory of this magnitude, while making it accessible to a wide audience of scientists and non-scientists alike. It represents the most comprehensive analysis of our origins, our reasons for existence, and our likely future.


The equity risk premium puzzle has received regular attention by economists since it was first invoked by Mehra and Prescott twenty years ago. In a recent paper, they revisit the question and reject many of the explanations offered but we are left with no clear alternative account. The current paper seeks to do two things. We provide matching historical evidence of the equity premium for Australia and compare the results for the two nations. Resulting from this, we argue that a closer understanding of phases of economic history helps to explain the puzzle.


Critical assessments of Alasdair Gray's work make frequent mention of his postmodern literary strategies and his active engagement with political issues. However, Gray himself is quick to refute claims that he is a postmodern writer, and, although his books are often described as 'political', detailed attention has yet to be paid to the kind of politics Gray espouses. By examining key ideological strands in a range of Alasdair Gray's prose writings (including texts that have attracted little critical interest) and by exploring their central, sometimes unresolved, tensions, this thesis investigates the relationship between literary and political discourses in Gray's work. Attempting to chart the range and extent of Gray's engagement with contemporary issues of political and cultural debate, the five chapters of the thesis demonstrate that Gray's literary techniques are intimately connected to his thematic and political concerns.

The thesis draws on a range of critical approaches to address Gray's work, using aspects of post-structuralist, feminist, and postcolonial theories. The first chapter examines autobiographical and semi-autobiographical texts by Gray, opening discussion about his approaches to narrative construction and historiography. It argues that Gray's texts draw attention to their own narrative paradigms and underlying ideological assumptions, and suggests that Gray's destabilization of conventional Western epistemological frameworks unsettles empirical conceptions of human subjectivity and identity, challenging the terms in which personal and national identities can be secured. The discussion of Gray's self-conscious destabilization of categories of identity underlies the questions raised in subsequent chapters. The second chapter highlights Gray's treatment of the hegemonic discourses of imperialism and capitalism. Focusing on his polemical essays and short fiction; the chapter examines the role of literature in imperial processes, the complexities of Scotland's position within imperial discourses, and explores questions of cultural agency and resistance.


The rapid improvement in mobile health technologies revolutionized what and how people can self-record and manage data. This massive amount of information accumulated by these technologies has potentially many applications beyond personal need, i.e. for public health. A challenge with collecting this data is to motivate people to share this data for the benefit of all. The purpose of this study is to survey and examine factors that may motivate sharing this data. We asked 447 participants four questions related to health data sharing and motivation. Participants with a chronic disease were concerned about data sharing but also willing to share health data if personalized feedback is provided. Functionality, ease of use, and privacy are regarded as crucial features of health apps.


Iceland is an important habitat for seabirds in the northern Atlantic, and because the effects of global climate change are manifesting to a greater extent at higher latitudes, it is necessary to understand how climate is affecting seabirds around Iceland. The effects of climate change can be exhibited through direct or indirect ecosystem effects, and the relative importance of each type of control is an essential aspect of understanding ecosystem functioning for management purposes. This paper synthesizes literature that deals with the effects of oceanographic and ecosystem features, such as sea surface temperature (SST) and lower trophic level characteristics that have the potential to influence high trophic level seabirds. The concept of bottom-up control has been suggested to explain ecosystem dynamics in several cases in the northern Atlantic. Therefore, effects of climate on lower trophic levels and trophic coupling to higher trophic levels should be well documented in systems where bottom-up control is plausible. Additionally, this paper addresses to what extent SST can explain Icelandic great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo carbo) and common eider (Somateria mollissima) population fluctuations in Breiðafjörður, Iceland. Neither analysis found significant models to explain population variation in either species, however, in both cases there were results that suggested SST may be positively related to success. This paper suggests that other potential mechanisms, such as extreme weather events and indirect effects through trophic interactions, should also be addressed in the context of the cormorant and eider populations of Iceland.


Since first presenting this work at the 2002 International Conference on Auditory Display the author has professionally produced a multimedia CD that explores the sonification of ocean wave data. "Music from the Ocean" is a multimedia CD that explores the sonification of ocean wave data for oceanography, science pedagogy, and music and sound synthesis. Turning this data into sound provides new ways of experiencing and comprehending the phenomena involved; the processes come alive and are more comprehensible, memorable and exciting than graphs of the data. This CD contains over 55 minutes of sound examples as well as an interactive Flash presentation and research paper explaining the methods in more detail. The accompanying 16-page booklet features graphics and information about the data, phenomena, and music. The CD appeals to a wide variety of consumers, from oceanographers, science teachers, experimental computer music enthusiasts, and music therapists.


Limonium (statice or sea-lavendar, family Plumbaginaceae) is grown in the Netherlands as a perennial (Limonium sinense) or annual (Limonium sinuatum) crop. Plants have tufted leaves and numerous clustered flowers of different colors and are used for flower arrangements. In August 2000, we received diseased plants of L. sinense cv. Diamond and L. sinuatum. Disease symptoms consisted of leaf wilting followed by plant collapse. The base of the leaves showed progressive necrotic areas that later turned dark brown to black. The cortex of the stem and roots was water-soaked and dark brown to black. Longitudinal sections of stems and roots of diseased plants displayed discoloration of tissues. Rotted root tissue was brown with a characteristic black margin. Rotted vascular tissues and other stem parts were also dark brown. Pith parenchyma turned gray-brown and had a firm, wet rot. In plants with advanced disease symptoms, a cavity in the stem parenchyma was observed. Isolations were made from sections of symptomatic leaves, stems and roots of both Limonium species on cherry and water agar (WA), followed by incubation at 20°C. Phytophthora sp. was isolated consistently from the base of leaves, stems, and roots of diseased plants and identification of isolates was based on morphological characteristics and by isozyme analysis (3). Observations of colony morphology and growth at 35°C were made on V8 agar. Mating type was determined in dual cultures with mating type A2 (P. nicotianae, P 1923 [4]) and A1 (P. nicotianae, PD98/8/10402). Sporangial features were observed from liquid cultures of the isolates (autoclaved soil-extract or sterile distilled water). All isolates formed colonies consisting of loose, fluffy aerial mycelia. Sporangia and chlamydospores were present in all fungal isolates and all isolates were able to grow at 35°C. Few sporangia were produced on solid media (WA and V8 juice agar), but were abundant in liquid cultures. Sporangia were borne singly or in simple sympodial sporangiophores (3 to 4 sporangia), and were ovoid/spherical, obturbinate with rounded base and had prominent papillae (some had two papillae). Sporangia measured 40 to 64 × 24 to 56 μm, (average 50.4 × 38.4 μm) and had an average length:breath ratio of 1.3:1. Chlamydospores were terminal and intercalary and measured 18 to 44 μm (average 31.6 μm). Hyphal swellings with hyphal outgrowths were present. Isolates of the fungus were heterothallic and produced oogonia and oospores rapidly and abundantly on V8 agar at 22°C only with the A1 mating type of P. nicotianae. We concluded that all isolates from Limonium had the A2 compatibility type. Antheridia were amphigynous. Oogonia were spherical and ranged from 20 to 30 μm, (average 27.5 μm). Oospores ranged from 18 to 27 μm, (average 23.1 μm). The observed characteristics are similar to those described for P. nicotianae. Isozyme analysis, using the dimeric enzymes malic enzyme (EC 126.96.36.199) and malate dehydrogenase (EC 184.108.40.206), revealed the presence of the Mdhp100 allele and the Mdh-2100 allele. Both alleles are characteristic for P. nicotianae (3). Based on morphological features and isozyme genotyping, isolates of Phytophthora from diseased Limonium plants could be assigned to P. nicotianae van Breda de haan (1). A report from Florida associated Phytophthora sp. with root rot of Limonium plants (2) but did not identify the species. According to the multi-decade records at the Netherlands Plant Protection Service (unpublished data) Phytophthora has never been observed on Limonium before. This is the first report of P. nicotianae associated with root rot and basal rot of Limonium plants in Europe. References: (1) D. C. Erwin and O. K. Ribeiro. 1996. Phytophthora Diseases Worldwide. American Phytopathological Society, St. Paul, MN. (2) D. F. Farr et al. 1989. Fungi on Plants and Plant Products in the United States. American Phytopathological Society, St. Paul, MN. (3) W. A. Man in 't Veld et al. Phytopathology 88:922-929, 1998. (4) P. Oudemans and M. D. Coffey. Mycol. Res. 95:1025-1046, 1991.


Caching mechanisms in distributed and social settings face the issue that the items can frequently change, requiring the cached versions to be updated to maintain coherence. There is thus a trade-off between incurring cache misses on read requests and cache hits on update requests. Motivated by this we consider the following dual cost variant of the classical caching problem: each request for an item can be either a read or a write. If the request is read and the item is not in the cache, then a read-miss cost is incurred and if the request is write and the item is in the cache, then a write-hit cost is incurred. The goal is to design a caching algorithm that minimizes the sum of read-miss and write-hit costs. We study online and offline algorithms for this problem. For the online version of the problem, we obtain an efficient algorithm whose cost is provably close to near-optimal cost. This algorithm builds on online algorithms for classical caching and metrical task systems, using them as black boxes. For the offline version, we obtain an optimal deterministic algorithm that is based on a minimum cost flow. Experiments on real and synthetic data show that our online algorithm incurs much less cost compared to natural baselines, while utilizing cache even better; furthermore, they also show that the online algorithm is close to the offline optimum.


Independent component analysis (ICA) is the decomposition of a random vector in linear components which are "as independent as possible." Here, "independence" should be understood in its strong statistical sense: it goes beyond (second-order) decorrelation and thus involves the non-Gaussianity of the data. The ideal measure of independence is the "mutual information" and is known to be related to the entropy of the components when the search for components is restricted to uncorrelated components. This paper explores the connections between mutual information, entropy and non-Gaussianity in a larger framework, without resorting to a somewhat arbitrary decorrelation constraint. A key result is that the mutual information can be decomposed, under linear transforms, as the sum of two terms: one term expressing the decorrelation of the components and one expressing their non-Gaussianity.Our results extend the previous understanding of these connections and explain them in the light of information geometry. We also describe the "local geometry" of ICA by re-expressing all our results via a Gram-Charlier expansion by which all quantities of interest are obtained in terms of cumulants.


This study aimed to describe the cross-cultural adaptation of the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-3 (SATAQ-3) into Brazilian Portuguese. The methodology involved the following stages: (1) translation of the questionnaire into Portuguese; (2) back-translation into English; (3) meeting with experts to prepare a draft version; (4) assessment of verbal understanding of the draft by experts and by a sample of the target population; and (5) analysis of the tool's internal consistency, using Cronbach's alpha. The questionnaire was translated into Portuguese, and the scale's final version included 30 items, as in the original. Both the experts and target population members assessed all the items as easy to understand. Internal consistency was satisfactory, reaching 0.91 for the scale as a whole. The questionnaire has now been translated and adapted into Portuguese, with evidence of clear understanding and internal consistency. However, it is still necessary to assess its measurement equivalence, external validity, and reproducibility.


A field experiment was carried out in Alfisols of eastern Dry Zone of Karnataka at University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bangalore. During kharif 2010 this study was conducted to know the effect of different locally available mulches on soil properties and crop performance in maize. Soil was red sandy loam in texture, slightly acidic and low in available Nitrogen, medium in available Phosphorous and Potash. The experiment consisted of 9 treatments namely, application of additional FYM ( Farm Yard Manure), Mulching with straw, mulching with coir pith, mulching with coconut fronds, application of tank silt, sunhemp insitu green manuring, Glyricidia green leaf manuring, Horse gram intercropping and control replicated thrice were laid out in RCBD. The treatment insitu green manuring with sunhemp has recorded the highest soil moisture content both at 15cm (16.37%) and 30cm (16.13%) soil depth almost at all growth stages. While, the same treatment recorded significantly lower soil temperature at all growth stages statistically significant and numerically higher infiltration rate (9.68cm h -1 ) and bulk density (1.42g cc -1 ) have observed respectively in insitu green manuring incorporated through sunhemp. Significant improvement in available soil nutrients (N, P and K) and organic carbon content due to insitu green manuring with sunhemp resulted in higher maize yield of 5269 kg ha -1 . Higher net income of Rs 30098 ha -1 and B:C 2.53 also realized in the same treatment.


Moulds are common and important allergens. They are more abundant outdoors but patients affected by mould allergy stay indoors much longer than outdoors. So, indoor sampling could help to assess the influence of the concentration of allergens in allergic symptoms. The aim of this study was to assess the relative efficiencies of two air sampling methods, viable and non viable, for the quantification of airborne indoor fungi in the homes of patients sensitized to Alternaria. Furthermore, outdoor sampling was carried out to compare results. Samples were taken over six months in Badajoz (SW Spain). Two houses were selected according to the presence of allergic patients to Alternaria. They were sampled once a month using both viable and non viable personal samplers at solar noon. A Burkard personal sampler was used to record spores and a Sampl'air AES Chemunex sampler was used for colonies. Three rooms were selected in each home: living room, kitchen and bathroom. Temperature and relative humidity were registered at each sample. Outdoor sampling was performed one day per week at the Faculty of Science, using a seven day Burkard sampler for spores and the same personal sampler for colonies. On average, 200-300 CFU/ m3 were found from more than 40 taxa identified. The highest number of colonies was recorded in the kitchen, then in the bathroom and finally in the living room. Nevertheless, there were minor differences between rooms. The houses studied showed a similar temporal pattern, with maximum values in December and minimum in January. Cladosporium colonies showed statistical differences between homes, but these differences were not found with Alternaria, Aspergillus or Penicillium colonies. Differences between rooms appeared for Alternaria colonies and Cladosporium herbarium spores. Temperature was positively correlated in most cases and relative humidity negatively with Alternaria spores. The number of spores collected was as twice as that of colonies, with an average concentration between 600-700 colonies/m3 , and nearly 1400 spores/m3 as maximum concentration. The temporal pattern of spores was similar to that found for colonies. Comparing colonies to spores, Alternaria and AspergillusPenicillium showed similar values. Notwithstanding, Cladosporium spores were nearly five times more abundant than colonies. The advantage of viable methods is the identification to species level, but they have the disadvantage that spores from some ubiquitous species, as Cladosporium, do not always grow in those media, which raises the interest to use additional non-viable methods.


The relative hardness (RH) of five composite materials was determined through polymerization via LED lights. Disk specimens were prepared by using composites composed of Artiste, an experimental glass fiber composite, Filtek Supreme, Z100, and LuxaCore. Specimens were polymerized for 10 and 20 seconds from the top surface only with two lights, Smartlite-IQ2 and DEMI LED, with light maintained 8 mm from the surface through a coronal section of the molar tooth. Knoop hardness numbers were determined for the top and bottom surfaces both immediately and 24 hours later. Ten RH values per group were calculated and data were statistically analyzed. Generally, RH increased with increasing polymerization time. The DEMI LED light resulted in RH values that were significantly higher than those obtained with Smartlite IQ2. Z100 had RH values of > 80% under most testing conditions and had the highest hardness values of all composites tested. Therefore, it is considered to be the most appropriate for core buildups.


This paper aims to explore the early days of business education with the aim of understanding how the Harvard Business School (HBS) contributed to the constitution of "management" as a science-based profession. The research focuses on HBS signature pedagogy, the case method and its role in the institutionalization of managerial knowledge.,The research is based on a qualitative content analysis of HBS Annals published between 1908 and 1930. Through a manual coding of the Annals, the paper traces the diffusion of the case method in the curriculum and connects it with the institutional transformations that took place between 1908 and 1930.,The data show how HBS curriculum transitioned from lectures to case teaching in the aftermath of First World War. This pedagogy allowed HBS to demonstrate the possibility of systematically investigate management problems and to deliver business education at scale. The discussion argues that the case method, acting as a boundary object between business praxis and management theories, constituted management as a science-based profession.,Recent debates have emerged about case method's ability to critically question socio-economic structures within which business is conducted. This paper contributes to the debate arguing that the historical and institutional factors leading to the affirmation of this pedagogical approach had a substantive role in the type of knowledge produced through its application. The findings challenge the idea that the affirmation of the case method is attributable to its epistemological primacy in investigating business problems.


Although detrital zircon has proven to be a powerful tool for determining provenance, past work has focused primarily on delimiting regional source terranes. Here we explore the limits of spatial resolution and stratigraphic sensitivity of detrital zircon in ascertaining provenance, and we demonstrate its ability to detect source changes for terranes separated by only a few tens of kilometers. For such an analysis to succeed for a given mountain, discrete intrarange source terranes must have unique U/Pb zircon age signatures and sediments eroded from the range must have well-defi ned depositional ages. Here we use ~1400 single-grain U/Pb zircon ages from northeastern Tibet to identify and analyze an area that satisfi es these conditions. This analysis shows that the edges of intermontane basins are stratigraphically sensitive to discrete, punctuated changes in local source terranes. By tracking eroding rock units chronologically through the stratigraphic record, this sensitivity permits the detection of the differential rock uplift and progressive erosion that began ca. 8 Ma in the Laji Shan, a 10‐25-km-wide range in northeastern Tibet with a unique U/Pb age signature.


This book adopts an integrated approach to hardware and software for logic-circuit design. It has been developed from the author's experience in lecturing to first-year undergraduate students of electronics and software engineering. Modern programming logic is used and the author describes how the basic programmable devices work, as well as how to write the software to make them work. The book starts off with the basics of combinatorial design: how to specify logic circuits, how to minimise them and how to implement them. Sequential logic design is presented using the algorithmic state machine (ASM) approach with reference to Moore and Mealy design. These are implemented in programmable logic, using a software specification to drive established programmable logic, using a software specification to drive established programmable array lgoic (PAL) architectures; the software uses the popular PALASM and PLPL specification languages with worked design examples programming standard PAL chips. Later chapters also cover arithmetic circuits and their implementation, data conversion which is used to interface digital circuits to the outside world, and practical aspects of building digital circuits. Solutions are provided for the end of chapter questions. Sections 1. Introduction 1.1 Introducing digital electronics 1.2 Organisation of this book 1.3 Preliminaries 2. Combinational logic design 2.1 Combinational logic/Boolean algebra 2.2 Logic functions 2.3 Combinational logic and computer software 2.4 Combinational logic implementation 2.5 Integrated Circuits 2.6 Basic logic Devices 2.7 Introductory combinatorial design 2.8 Laws of logic 2.9 Minimisation 2.10 Timing considerations and static hazards 2.11 Logic implementations 2.12 Terminology 2.13 Concluding comments and further reading 2.14 Questions 3. Logic circuits 3.1 Device characteristics 3.2 Switching devices 3.3 Logic technologies 3.4 Comparison of logic circuits 3.5 Specimen CMOS and ECL datasheets 3.6 Concluding comments and further reading 3.7 Questions 4. Introductory sequential logic 4.1 Sequential logic concepts 4.2 Bistables 4.3 Clocks and synchronism 4.4 Master-slave D-type bistable 4.5 Positive edge-triggered D-type 4.6 Timing considerations 4.7 Asynchronous inputs 4.8 Sequential systems 4.9 Algorithmic state machine design 4.10 Further ASM chart design 4.11 Asynchronous vs. synchronous design 4.12 Concluding comments and further reading 4.13 Questions 5. Programmable logic implementation 5.1 Programmable logic design 5.2 Programmable circuits 5.3 The PALCE16V8 PAL and the PALASM language 5.4 Introductory programmable design example 5.5 Programmable sequential logic examples 5.6 Design examples 5.7 Concluding comments and further reading 5.8 Questions 6. Number systems, coding and arithmetic 6.1 Numbers and coding systems 6.2 Binary arithmetic 6.3 Design examples 6.4 Concluding comments and further reading 6.5 Questions 7. Analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversion 7.1 Analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog basics 7.2 A/D and D/A performance characteristics 7.3 Amplifiers and operational amplifiers 7.4 D/A conversion circuits 7.5 A/D conversion circuits 7.6 Concluding comments and further reading 7.7 Questions 8. Interface and hybrid circuits 8.1 Schmitt trigger 8.2 Power supplies and decoupling 8.3 Output stages 8.4 Driving circuits 8.5 Clock circuits 8.6 Monostables 8.7 Timer chips 8.8 Concluding comments and further reading References. Appendix 1. Drawing logic circuits A1.1 Mixed-logic convention A1.2 IEEE/ANSI logic symbol standard Appendix 2. The PLPL programming language and the PEEL18CV8 A2.1 The PEEL 18CV8 PAL A2.2 The PLPL programming language A3.3 Examples in PLPL and PEEL 18CV8 Appendix 3. Semiconductor manufacturers - contact addresses Appendix 4. Further reading Appendix 5. Abbreviated answers to questionsContents


The Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network is a collaborative effort involving more than 1800 scientists and students investigating ecological processes over long temporal and broad spatial scales. Each LTER site encompasses unique ecosystems and research approaches, investigators, students and management systems. Each of the 26 sites works as part of the Network sharing expertise, data and a common mission.


The courts have long recognized a general right to inspect and copy judicial documents. Yet, large swaths of filings in patent litigations are often inaccessible. This article takes a closer look at this phenomenon by examining a single case. The Monsanto v. DuPont dispute over genetically modified Roundup resistant crops was chosen because of the impact it has on both agribusiness and patent law. The $1 billion award against DuPont will undoubtedly shape the future of the market for genetically modified crops. Moreover, because the award was issued before a single infringing seed was sold, the case raises novel patent remedy issues. This article assesses how transparent this landmark case was from two perspectives. Initially, it measures the nature and quantity of documents filed under seal. Next, this article selectively drills down on three different phases of the litigation, the pleadings, summary judgment and trial, to provide a more nuanced understanding of what the public cannot see. The results show a case that was fought largely in secret except for trial which was mostly open. Approximately 34% of the 1,697 of the filings listed in the PACER docket were filed under seal. This includes many of the key filings and court decisions. Moreover, the large majority of these secrets filings were made without any judicial oversight. It may be that the court simply did not have the resources to review all the applications to seal in this massive case. But regardless of the cause, this case highlights a recurring problem in patent litigation; the rampant sealing of documents of significant importance to the public.


Using individual-level data from the 2008 National Study of the Changing Workforce, we quantify how workers' job satisfaction levels correlate with five schedule-based workplace flexibilities. The data permit us to control for numerous variables that might otherwise explain variation in the probability of job satisfaction, including, but not limited to, income, benefits, stress, depression, job control and individual preferences over flexibilities. Conditional on this control set, we find that workplace flexibilities correlate with an 8.1 per cent increase in job satisfaction. The relationship between job satisfaction and workplace flexibilities prevails through several sensitivity analyses, bias assessments and a propensity score matching analysis. We also explore how job satisfaction, union membership and workplace flexibilities intermix; we find that workplace flexibilities may function as a partial substitute for union membership.


Information on plants used traditionally in Sudanese system of medicine is very scarce. Hence this study was undertaken to investigate the chemical constituents of Petroselinum crispum fixed oil and to evaluate its potential antimicrobial activity. 62 components were detected by GC-MS. Major components are: apiol (36.44%), 9octadecenoic acid methyl ester (27.17%), 4-Methoxy-6-(2-propenyl)-1,3-benzodioxole12.12%) and 9, 12octadecadienoic acid methyl ester (8.32%) The antibacterial activity of the oil was evaluated via the diffusion bioassay against five standard human pathogens (Gram positive: Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis; Gram negative: Escherichia coli and Pseudomonasa aeruginosa and the fungal species Candida albicans). The oil showed good activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis and also showed weak activity against Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.


Abstratct – In this unique circumstance, key execution aspects concentrating on enhancing the service experience furthermore, the patient-introduction, through giving careful consideration to service proficiency, quality, and accessibility, is progressively getting to be basic segments of the by and large authoritative execution. Changes went for these key execution measurements are basic toward improving the service esteem offered to patients. This thusly, may convert into a focused key favorable position in the aggressive healthcare commercial center. Spurred by above exchange, the goal of this exploration is to acquaint a deliberate methodology with the estimation, following and change of key parts of execution in healthcare operational adequacy. The proposed approach uses a measure assigned as the private hospitals operational viability to quantify, track, and enhance quality, accessibility and productivity of the healthcare operational framework. The advancement and parts of this measure are introduced and examined in this paper


In Against Amnesia, Nancy J. Peterson addresses the ongoing postmodernist debate over the possibility and relevance of documentary and official histories. Drawing on Adrienne Rich's claim that women's literature and multicultural literature vigorously resist the amnesia and nostalgia that characterize mainstream North American culture, Peterson examines the struggles toward collective memory in a wealth of contemporary women's writing. Peterson's in-depth analyses of selected works by Louise Erdrich, Toni Morrison, Irena Klepfisz, Joy Kogawa, and other contemporary women writers illustrate the ways in which these authors recover and represent the historical memories attached to their racial/ethnic backgrounds. Their works probe traumatic moments in the marginalized histories of minority peoples, including Native American genocide and dispossession; African American slavery, migration, and displacement; the Holocaust; and the internment of people of Japanese ancestry during World War II. Peterson contends that these writers employ literary strategies that call attention to the gaps and silences of official histories. At the same time, these literary strategies allow the authors to narrate resonant counterhistories. Rejecting the playfully imaginative treatment of history found in typical postmodern novels, these contemporary women writers seek to reconstruct historical narratives in their texts and thereby reinvigorate historical memory in contemporary American culture.


Energy analysis of a production unit helps to quantify the energy consumed at different stages, thus providing estimates of energy and material wastage, if any. From the general principles of energy analysis involving mass conversion efficiencies and the energy inputs at various stages of the production process of a motorcycle producing industry, namely Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt. Limited (HMSI), a methodology has been evolved to conduct a detailed energy analysis leading to the energy content (primary energy consumption per unit weight of the product) of the motorcycle. To facilitate the energy analysis, the whole production process has been divided into three main sub-processes, namely, frame production, engine production, and the assembly and inspection stages. Confining to the energy and material input within the premises of the industry, the energy content of the vehicle has been found to be 12.24 MJ/kg of vehicle weight. Out of the three stages, the frame manufacturing stage is found to be most energy intensive. Within frame manufacturing, the paint shop itself accounted for 87% of energy consumption. The results of this analysis, besides their use for identification of energy intensive areas, can also be used for conducting life cycle analysis.


As welfare reform moves families from reliance on welfare to reliance on work, child support and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) play an increasingly important role in the financial well-being of low-income single parent families with children. The first section of this paper examines the effect of child support, the EITC, and the tax system on the relative well-being of low-income noncustodial parents and custodial families. The authors find that a low-income noncustodial parent must have earnings 50 to 100 percent higher than the custodial parent in order to pay child support and taxes and enjoy the same standard of living as the custodial family. Noncustodial parents receive little of the tax relief available to families with children, and typical state child support guidelines do little to redress this. The authors explore three options for expanding the EITC to greater assist low-income noncustodial parents who pay child support, and discuss two options for partially or fully funding this expansion.


Chromatin footprinting in Drosophila tissue culture cells has detected the binding of a non-histone protein at +8 of the distal Adh RNA start site, on a 10-bp direct repeat motif abutting a nucleosome positioned over the inactive Adh distal promoter. Alternatively the active promoter is bound by a transcription initiation complex. We have characterized and purified a protein Adf-2 that binds specifically to this direct repeat motif 5'TCTCAGTGCA3', present at +8 and -202 of the distal RNA start site. DNase I footprinting, methylation interference, and UV-crosslinking analyses showed that both direct repeats interact in vitro with a nuclear protein of approximately 120 kilodaltons (kDa). We purified Adf-2 through multiple rounds of sequence-specific DNA affinity chromatography. Southwestern analysis showed that the purified 120 KDa polypeptide binds the Adf-2 motif efficiently as a monomer or homomultimer. In vivo titrations of Adf-2 activity with the Adf-2 motif by transient co-transfection competitions in different Drosophila cell lines suggested that Adf-2 is a cell-specific repressor. Adf-2 has been detected ubiquitously in vitro, but is functional in vivo as a sequence-specific DNA binding protein and repressor only in the cells that have the inactive distal promoter. We discuss the possibility that an activation process is required for Adf-2 protein to bind DNA and function in vivo.


This book is based on a research project that explored how young men and women use alcohol as they move from their mid teens through to their late twenties. This period of life is sometimes referred to as ˜the transition to adulthood. We wanted to find out more about young peoples experiences of drinking during this time in their lives. To explore this in a dynamic way, we conducted eight activity based focus groups with young adults aged between 16"30. During the activities, participants drew and created visual materials in the form of t-shirts, comic strips and speech bubbles. These materials provide a rich insight into young adults alcohol use. They are raw and authentic because they come directly from the young adults themselves. We believe these representations are powerful in a way that is difficult to capture in words alone. Because of this, we decided to put together this book to showcase the young men and womens representations of alcohol, through their eyes. More information about the research is available in the companion report, Creating better stories: Alcohol and gender in transitions to adulthood. A briefing paper or a shortened version of the report is also available from the Glasgow Centre for Population Health website. http://www.gcph.co.uk/genderandalcohol


Electroacupuncture (EA) is a complementary therapy to improve morphine analgesia for postoperative pain, but underlying mechanism is not well-known. Herein, we investigated EA-induced analgesic effect in a plantar incision (PI) model in male Sprague-Dawley rats. PI was performed at the left hind paw. EA of 4 Hz and high intensity or sham needling was conducted at right ST36 prior to PI and repeated for another 2 days. Behavioral responses to mechanical and thermal stimuli, spinal phospho-ERK, and Fos expression were all analyzed. In additional groups, naloxone and morphine were administered to elucidate involvement of opioid receptors and for comparison with EA. EA pretreatment significantly reduced post-PI tactile allodynia for over 1 day; repeated treatments maintained analgesic effect. Intraperitoneal naloxone could reverse EA analgesia. Low-dose subcutaneous morphine (1 mg/kg) had stronger inhibitory effect on PI-induced allodynia than EA for 1 h. However, analgesic tolerance appeared after repeated morphine injections. Both EA and morphine could equally inhibit PI-induced p-ERK and Fos inductions. We conclude that though EA and morphine attenuate postincision pain through opioid receptor activations, daily EA treatments result in analgesic accumulation whereas daily morphine injections develop analgesic tolerance. Discrepant pathways and mechanisms underlying two analgesic means may account for the results.


Guinea pig pups that were separated from their mothers and placed into a novel environment for 90 min showed an increase in dopamine (DA) turnover (ratio of metabolites to DA) in the septum compared with undisturbed baseline controls. Pups placed into the novel environment with their mothers exhibited an intermediate level of DA turnover. After 24 hr of separation in the novel environment, pups' DA turnover in the septum had returned to the baseline level. DA turnover in the caudate nucleus was unaffected by these procedures. Also, turnover in both septum and caudate nucleus when pups were not separated was positively correlated with the number of vocalizations emitted during 30 min of separation. These results closely parallel findings in separated monkeys and indicate that the guinea pig represents a useful rodent model for studying such effects. That elevated DA turnover during separation occurred in the septum suggests involvement of the mesolimbic system.


Abstract To elucidate various kinds of actinide element and fission product behavior, U crystallization experiments were carried out with a uranyl nitrate solution and with a solution in which irradiated fast reactor core fuel was dissolved. Insoluble residue simulating that found in actual reactor operation was not incorporated into the uranyl nitrate hexahydrate (UNH) crystal in the course of the U crystallization. However, the decontamination factors (DFs) were below 10 even when the UNH crystal was washed because the mother liquor containing the simulated insoluble residue occupied the interspaces of the agglutinated UNH crystal. In the U crystallization process, the DF of Pu was >40 when the UNH crystal was washed. But, Np was not removed from the UNH crystal because Np was oxidized to Np(VI) in the feed solution and thus was co-crystallized with U(VI). Cesium exhibited different behavior depending on whether Pu was present. Although a high DF of Cs was obtained in the case of uranyl nitrate solution without Pu, Cs was hardly separated at all from the UNH crystal formed from the dissolver solution of irradiated fast reactor core fuel. It is likely that crystals of a mixed salt of Pu and Cs, Cs2Pu(NO3)6, precipitated from the dissolver solution. Since Ba precipitated as Ba(NO3)2 during the crystallization process, its DF was low after the UNH crystal was washed. On the other hand, Am, Cm, Rb, Sr, Zr, Nb, Ru, Sb, and rare earth elements remained in the mother liquor at the time of U crystallization. Therefore, portions of these elements in the mother liquor that was attached to the surface of the UNH crystal were washed away with HNO3 solution.


This study was undertaken to develop guidelines for making interpretive inferences from scores on the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC), a norm-referenced test of English-language listening comprehension (LC) and reading (R) skills, about level of ability to use English in face-to-face conversation, indexed by performance in the Language Proficiency Interview (LPI) situation. LPI performance, rated according to behaviorally defined levels on the LPI/ILR/FSI quasi-absolute proficiency scale, was treated as a context-independent criterion, using the familiar regression model in an apparently novel application (for such criterion-referencing purposes) in the context of a large-scale ESL-testing program. The study employed TOEIC/LPI data-sets generated during operational ESL assessments in representative TOEIC-use settings (places of work or work-related ESL training) in Japan, France, Mexico, and Saudia Arabia, involving samples of adult, educated ESL users/learners in or preparing for ESL-essential positions with companies engaged in international commerce. The pattern of TOEIC/LPI concurrent correlations was consistent across samples and there was relatively close fit between sample LPI means and estimates from TOEIC scores, especially TOEIC-LC, using combined-sample regression equations. Theoretical and pragmatic implications of the findings are discussed. General guidelines are provided for making inferences about LPI-assessed level of oral English proficiency from TOEIC scores. Directions are suggested for further research and development activities in the TOEIC testing context.


The Winograd Schema Challenge is an alternative to the Turing Test that may provide a more meaningful measure of machine intelligence. It poses a set of coreference resolution problems that cannot be solved without human-like reasoning. In this paper, we take the view that the solution to such problems lies in establishing discourse coherence. Specifically, we examine two types of rhetorical relations that can be used to establish discourse coherence: positive and negative correlation. We introduce a framework for reasoning about correlation between sentences, and show how this framework can be used to justify solutions to some Winograd Schema problems.


The study of the heparanase has long been paid wide attention. Heparanase, an endo-β-D-glucuronidase, is capable of specifically degrading heparan sulfate (HS), one of the excellular matrix (ECM) components. It exerts its enzymatic activity catalyzing the cleavage of the β (1,4)-glycosidic bond between glucuronic acid and glucosamine residue. HS cleavage results in remodelling of the extracellular matrix as well as in regulating the release of many HS-linked molecules such as growth factors, cytokines and enzymes involved in inflammation, wound healing and tumour invasion. Varieties of experiments indicated that heparanase mRNA is overexpressed in human tumors, including breast cancer, gastrointestinal tumors, and esophageal carcinomas. A pro-metastatic and pro-angiogenic role for heparanase has been widely verified and high levels of heparanase correlate with reduced survival of cancer patients. Except protumor function, heparanase also plays a role in inflammation, angiogenesis, placentas and procoagulant activities. Heparanase is found to have many other functions in recent years, since many experiments have been carried out to identify this significant enzyme's new features. These newly found functions are related to the cellular activities such as autophagy and epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT). And together with other heparanase functions, autophagy and EMT are verified to be involved in several clinical disorders, for example, renal diseases. Considering that, once inactivated, there are no other enzymes capable of performing the same function, it is apparent that heparanase can be an effective and promising therapy target. This short review aims to establish the currently known function of this enzyme and provide evidence for heparanase targeted therapy.


Diffusion-ordered NMR spectroscopy (DOSY) is a powerful approach for the analysis of molecular mixtures, yet its application range is limited by the relatively low sensitivity of NMR. We show here that spectrally resolved 13 C DOSY data can be collected, in a single scan, for substrates hyperpolarised by dissolution dynamic nuclear polarisation (D-DNP), which provides signal enhancements of several orders of magnitude. For this we use a convection-compensation pulse scheme, which we also analyse by numerical simulation. The proposed method further allows the acquisition of several consecutive DOSY spectra in a single D-DNP experiment.


Background In 2012, Toulouse University hospital implemented a Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) system in two digestive surgery departments (41 inpatient beds). Clinical pharmacists in the wards contribute to safeguarding the medication process by reviewing prescriptions. Purpose To highlight recurrent and avoidable drug-related problems identified by pharmaceutical analysis of CPOE and to raise physicians' awareness regarding these prescription problems. Materials and Methods From April to July 2012, Pharmaceutical Interventions (PIs) concerning prescription problems were recorded in the CPOE according to the codification defined by the working group of the French Society of Clinical Pharmacy. We extracted the following data from the CPOE: drugs, type of problems and PIs. We identified the main prescription problems and drugs involved. After data analysis, preventive measures were submitted to the physicians. Results 2396 prescriptions were analysed and 450 Pharmaceutical Interventions (PIs) were accepted by physicians (18.8%). Main prescription problems concerned analgesics (52 PIs made): inappropriate administration and dosage errors; heparins (31 PIs): dosage errors; antiemetics (24 PIs): dosage errors and drug-drug interactions; antibiotics (16 PI): inappropriate prescription. To prevent these problems, a multi-disciplinary group was set up with physicians, nurses and pharmacists. This group has reviewed standardised order sets and has developed a pocket guide to help new residents while prescribing. Conclusions This study describes the most frequent CPOE problems. Communication and collaboration with physicians and nurses are the key to reducing avoidable adverse drug events and to safeguarding CPOE. No conflict of interest.


A general formula for determining the coupling loss between two single-mode fiber collimators with the simultaneous existence of separation, lateral offset and angular tilt misalignments, and spot-size mismatch is theoretically derived by use of the Gaussian field approximation. Based on this general formula, the formulas for coupling losses that are due to the misalignment of insert separation, lateral offset, and angular tilt are given. The formula for the coupling loss that is due to Gaussian spot-size mismatch of two single-mode collimators is also given. Good agreement between these formulas and experimental results is demonstrated with gradient-index rod lens-based fiber collimators operating in the 1300-nm band.


Summary form only given. In embedded devices, like PDAs, limited battery power presents a bottleneck while running power-hungry applications. Hence, it is important for such applications to be energy aware. Consider a scenario where the embedded device is wirelessly linked to a tethered server and can exploit the computing cycles in it. This presents an opportunity to execute parts of an application remotely and reduce computing energy on the embedded device. However, such a scheme is limited by the transmission energy needed in transferring program parts to be executed remotely. We present a fast profile-guided partitioning algorithm that can choose the program parts that can be executed remotely and save energy on the embedded device. We argue that the partitioning might have to be done on the client device more than once and hence the need for a efficient algorithm. We have chosen Java programs in particular because of their widespread use in embedded applications. Experiments show that our approach can conserve energy in embedded devices from 29% to 43%.


&NA; Radiocarpal fracture‐dislocations most often are caused by highenergy trauma. These difficult, uncommon injuries involve significant soft‐tissue and osseous trauma, requiring meticulous reduction and fixation. The mechanism of injury is generally a severe shear or rotational insult. Anatomically, the dislocation results in disruption of the radiocarpal ligaments and, usually, both the radial and the ulnar styloid. Understanding the anatomy of the radiocarpal joint is central to understanding the osseous and softtissue constraints that are disrupted with a radiocarpal dislocation. Diagnosis can be reliably made on physical examination and radiographic evaluation. Radiocarpal fracture‐dislocation injuries must be differentiated from Barton fractures. Associated injuries such as open fractures, neurovascular involvement, and distal radioulnar dislocations also must be taken into account. Closed reduction can be obtained relatively easily, but open reduction and internal fixation is typically necessary to ensure accurate anatomic restoration of injured bone and ligaments.


Based on definitions of coaching, coaches support their clients with their self-determination as well as their self-congruent, self-valued goals; in other words and with regard to SelfDetermination Theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 2000), coaches support their clients' autonomy need. In this paper, we present an overview of three research studies on the importance of the autonomy need and its support within coaching. In the first study, we explored the clients' basic psychological needs within the context of coaching and found that coaching was expected to mainly fulfil the autonomy need. The second study showed that, if a client had a high need for autonomy, this need could be fulfilled by coaching which further increased the client's satisfaction with the coaching. In the third study, we found that the coach's empathy seemed to contribute to supporting clients in their autonomy. We conclude the paper with theoretical and practical implications regarding the importance of autonomy and its support within coaching.


Imprinting theory suggests that founding conditions are 'stamped' on organizations, and these imprinted routines often resist change. In contrast, strategic choice theory suggests that the firm can overcome organizational inertia and deliberately choose its future. Both theories offer dramatically different explanations behind an organization's capacity for change. IPO firms provide a unique context for exploring how imprinting forces interact with strategic choice factors to address organizational capacity for change as a firm moves from private to public firm status. Juxtaposing imprinting and strategic choice perspectives, we employ fuzzy set analysis to examine the multi-level determinants of organizational capacity for change. Our cross-national data reveal three effective configurations of organizational capacity for change within IPOs, and two ineffective configurations. Our results suggest that the antecedents of organizational capacity for change in entrepreneurial threshold firms are non-linear, interdependent, and equifinal.


Blockade of the scalp electroencephalographic (EEG) sensorimotor rhythm (SMR) is a well-known phenomenon following attempted or executed motor functions. Such a frequency-specific power attenuation of the SMR occurs in the alpha and beta frequency bands and is spatially registered at primary somatosensory and motor cortices. Here, we hypothesized that resting-state fluctuations of the SMR in the alpha and beta frequency bands also covary with resting-state sensorimotor cortical activity, without involving task-related neural dynamics. The present study employed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the neural regions whose activities were correlated with the simultaneously recorded SMR power fluctuations. The SMR power fluctuations were convolved with a canonical hemodynamic response function and correlated with blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) signals obtained from the entire brain. Our findings show that the alpha and beta power components of the SMR correlate with activities of the pericentral area. Furthermore, brain regions with correlations between BOLD signals and the alpha-band SMR fluctuations were located posterior to those with correlations between BOLD signals and the beta-band SMR. These results are consistent with those of event-related studies of SMR modulation induced by sensory input or motor output. Our findings may help to understand the role of the sensorimotor cortex activity in contributing to the amplitude modulation of SMR during the resting state. This knowledge may be applied to the diagnosis of pathological conditions in the pericentral areas or the refinement of brain–computer interfaces using SMR in the future.


High resolution spectral data are used to estimate neutral temperatures at auroral heights. The data are from the High Throughput Imaging Echelle Spectrograph (HiTIES) which forms part of the Spectrographic Imaging Facility (SIF), located at Longyearbyen, Svalbard in Norway. The platform also contains photometers and a narrow angle auroral imager. Quantum molecular spectroscopy is used for modelling N 2 + 1NG (0,2), which serves as a diagnostic tool for neutral temperature and emission height variations. The theoretical spectra are convolved with the instrument function and fitted to measured rotational transition lines as a function of temperature. Measurements were made in the magnetic zenith, and along a meridian slit centred on the magnetic zenith. In the results described, the high spectral resolution of the data (0.08 nm) allows an error analysis to be performed more thoroughly than previous findings, with particular attention paid to the correct subtraction of background, and to precise wavelength calibration. Supporting measurements were made with the Svalbard Eiscat Radar (ESR). Estimates were made from both optical and radar observations of the average energy of precipitating electrons in different types of aurora. These provide confirmation that the spectral results are in agreement with the variations observed in radar profiles. In rayed aurora the neutral temperature was highest (800 K) and the energy lowest (1 keV). In a bright curling arc, the temperature at the lower border was about 550 K, corresponding to energies of 2 keV. The radar and modelling results confirm that these average values are a lower limit for an estimation of the characteristic energy. In each event the energy distribution is clearly made up of more than one spectral shape. This work emphasises the need for high time resolution as well as high spectral resolution. The present work is the first to provide rotational temperatures using a method which pays particular attention to errors in measurement and fitting, and background subtraction.