"In this lively and insightful book, Paul Rubin shows just how much light can be shed on the institutions of modern life by reference to our long species' history as hunter-gatherers. This is highly recommended reading."-Herbert Gintis, author of Game Theory Evolving "Full of insights and interesting connections among biology, public policy, and economics. It keeps the reader's interest and is well paced. Simply great-I enjoyed every minute of it."-Michael T. McGuire, coauthor of Darwinian Psychiatry "A lucid, responsible, thought-provoking, constructive inquiry into the biological foundations of economic behavior."-Richard Posner, judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit "This is a great book, and more than worthy of serious attention...An interesting and imaginative book...Wonderfully engaging."-Jason Potts, University of Queensland Darwinian Politics is the first book to examine political behavior from a modern evolutionary perspective. Paul H. Rubin demonstrates why certain political-moral philosophies succeed or fail in modern Western culture. He begins by showing relationships between biology and natural selection and the history of political philosophy and explains why desirable policies must treat each person as an individual. He considers the notion of group identity and conflict, observing a human propensity to form in-groups, a behavior that does not necessitate but often leads to deviancies such as racism. In discussing altruism, Rubin shows that people are willing to aid the poor if they are convinced that the recipients are not shirkers or freeloaders. This explains why recent welfare reforms are widely viewed as successful. Rubin illustrates evolutionary premises for religious belief and for desires to regulate the behavior of others, and how in today's world such regulation may not serve any useful purpose. Ultimately, the author argues that humans naturally seek political freedom, and modern Western society provides more freedom than any previous one. Paul H. Rubin is a professor of economics and law at Emory University. He is the author of Managing Business Transactions: Controlling the Costs of Coordinating, Communicating, and Decision Making and Privacy and the Commercial Use of Personal Information.


With the objective to contribute to a better understanding of ecological consequences of deforestation on the below-ground system in the Western Llanos of Venezuela, we evaluated the vertical distribution, nutrient concentration and seasonal changes of total fine root mass (FRM) (<2 mm diameter) in a semi-deciduous tropical dry forest and in 2 adjacent pastures of Cynodon nlemfuensis: a young pasture (YP, 5 years old) and an old pasture (OP, 18 years old) in the Obispo municipality, Barinas State. This evaluation included measurements at the end of the rainy season, during the dry season and during the subsequent early rainy season in 2005/2006. Highest FRM was recorded during the dry season, which probably indicates a plant water-stress response mechanism. The highest proportion (63‒88%) of FRM was concentrated in the 10–20 cm soil layer at all studied sites, probably due to a higher nutrient and moisture content at that depth. Non-significant differences (P>0.05) were observed in the total concentrations of organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium and magnesium in the FRM in soils supporting forest, OP and YP at the evaluated depths. Non-significant changes in the total FRM and nutrient concentrations were observed between the sampling periods and the 3 study sites. YP soils showed a slight increase in FRM that could be associated with the root growth of secondary vegetation, which is considered a weed and is periodically removed. Our results suggest that the land use change from tropical forest to pastures has not significantly affected the mass of fine roots and their carbon and nutrient concentrations. Further studies are needed to determine if these findings apply to other ecosystems.


This article is the first of five based on a series of lectures which was sponsored by the power and industrial group of the AIEE New York Section during the 1943–44 season. The behavior of currents flowing in the earth, as influenced by the resistivity of the soil, frequency of the current, and size and shape of electrodes, is analyzed here.


This study describes the 35-year progression of activities in the Pontal do Paranapanema region of São Paulo State, Brazil. These activities began as a research project on the conservation ecology of the highly endangered Black Lion Tamarin and broadened into a landscape-scale restoration and conservation project involving the active participation of hundreds of landless families that colonized the region. Rather than viewing these colonists as a threat, a non-governmental organization arose to address their needs, providing training and support livelihoods. Local communities were engaged in conservation and restoration activities focused on studying the movement patterns of endangered species, environmental education programmes, planting native trees along riparian corridors, establishing coffee agroforestry plantings and initiating community-managed nurseries for the production of local native seedlings and non-native fruit trees. Farmers gained knowledge, income and food security, and developed a sense of ownership and shared responsibility for protecting wildlife, conserving forest fragments and restoring forests. Land sharing and restoring forest functions within an agricultural landscape matrix created new opportunities for people and endangered wildlife. We explore how key factors and partnerships critically influenced the landscape trajectory and conclude with lessons learned that may be relevant to sustainable landscape initiatives in other contexts.


For a sample of global and international equity mutual funds, we test the proposition that managers likely to end up as losers manipulate fund risk differently from interim winners. In contrast with Brown, Harlow, and Starks (1996) who found robust support for the tournament model, we found no evidence of tournament like behavior for international and global mutual funds. A possible explanation of this behavior is that investors in these funds are primarily seeking diversification and therefore are less sensitive to relative performance.


Analyzing the behaviour of a concurrent program is made difficult by the number of possible executions. This problem can be alleviated by applying the theory of Mazurkiewicz traces to focus only on the canonical representatives of the equivalence classes of the possible executions of the program. This paper presents a generic framework that allows to specify the possible behaviours of the execution environment, and generate all Foata-normal executions of a program, for that environment, by discarding abnormal executions during the generation phase. The key ingredient of Mazurkiewicz trace theory, the dependency relation, is used in the framework in two roles: first, as part of the specification of which executions are allowed at all, and then as part of the normality checking algorithm, which is used to discard the abnormal executions. The framework is instantiated to the relaxed memory models of the SPARC hierarchy.


Hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) is widely used in industrial processes and products while it possess a severe health effect to living being and environmental hazard. Removing Cr(VI) from industrial wastewater and other contaminated sources is important for human health and the ecosystem. Various treatment technologies have been developed to remove it, but further research is needed to improve their effectiveness. This report discusses the adsorption of Cr(IV) using a phosphonium-based ionic liquid, trioctyldodecylphosphonium chloride, in a polymer inclusion membrane (PIM) matrix. The PIM's chemical structure was also examined by FTIR spectroscopy, and a cross-sectional SEM image was taken. The adsorption efficiency of PIM increase as the IL content increase, and experiencing a significant jump in over 30% of IL content. The maximum adsorption capacity corresponds to PIM40 and PIM50, which shown a 90% adsorption in 24 hours. However, PIM50 was difficult to regenerate and reuse due to membrane stability. Cr(VI) adsorption by PIM40 followed a pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Langmuir isotherm model with adsorption capacity of 74.1 mg g-1. Following the isotherm model, the adsorption of Cr(VI) probably through an anionic exchange between IL in the PIM and Cr(VI) complex. Cr(VI) desorption from PIM40 was carried out by using a 0.5 mol L-1 NaNO3.The PIM40 was able to be reused for five times without a significant change in the performance. This study has shown that PIM can effectively remove heavy metals from water and selectively remove specific contaminants. PIM are also relatively easy to regenerate or replace, making them a potentially cost-effective method for removing heavy metals from water.


The currently available therapies for colorectal cancer have led to a significant increase in survival, but the majority of patients with advanced disease progress and eventually die of their disease. This is a particularly frustrating scenario when a patient experiences a complete remission, only to recur with refractory disease.


Planarians in the Phylum Platyhelminthes occupy a peculiar phylogenetic position and have a strong regenerative capacity of their adult tissues, which has aroused general attention. Planarians are spontaneously exposed to various pathogens (microbes and harmful chemicals), but typically survive these challenges. Therefore, these animals can provide useful insights into the evolution of the innate immune system. This review mainly focuses on immune tissues (epidermis, pharynx, and intestine), immune cells (phagocytic reticular cells) and immune genes of planarians. In addition, we provide an overview of the critical proteins in the innate immune system - for example, pattern recognition receptors, complement system proteins, anti-microbial peptides and antioxidant enzymes. In particular, the effectors of the signaling pathways activated upon planarian infection are reviewed.


Goal-directed behaviour is dependent upon the ability to detect errors and implement appropriate post-error adjustments. Accordingly, several studies have explored the neural activity underlying error-monitoring processes, identifying the insula cortex as crucial for error awareness and reporting mixed findings with respect to the anterior cingulate cortex. Variable patterns of activation have previously been attributed to insufficient statistical power. We therefore sought to clarify the neural correlates of error awareness in a large event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study. Four hundred and two healthy participants undertook the error awareness task, a motor Go/No-Go response inhibition paradigm in which participants were required to indicate their awareness of commission errors. Compared to unaware errors, aware errors were accompanied by significantly greater activity in a network of regions including the insula cortex, supramarginal gyrus, and midline structures such as the anterior cingulate cortex and supplementary motor area. Error awareness activity was related to indices of task performance and dimensional measures of psychopathology in selected regions including the insula, supramarginal gyrus and supplementary motor area. Taken together, we identified a robust and reliable neural network associated with error awareness.


Ryazan Railway Training School (now — Ryazan branch of Emperor Alexander I ST. Petersburg State Transport University) is celebrating the centenary (100th anniversary). Its history includes an enormous amount of significant and minor facts, meaningful events. They have defined and influenced its development. There are copies of archival documents in the museum of the Ryazan branch PGURS. These copies of archival documents show the details of the establishment of the Ryazan Railway Training School. Branch workers and graduates have done a great job to systematize the data from the city archives and the museum fund during the anniversary preparation. A book «100 years to Ryazan Railway Training School» has been prepared for publication. The book contains research papers and photos. This article reflects the reliable historical facts. We refer to the following: the background of Ryazan Railway Training School, military and post-war events, introducing new specialties, names of outstanding people. The article deals with the current state of Ryazan branch of Emperor Alexander I ST. Petersburg State Transport University. The students fill Ryazan branch every autumn. Young people introduce modern ideas, thoughts and plans, new life to Ryazan branch of Emperor Alexander I ST. Petersburg State Transport University every autumn. Development of careful attitude to the history and keeping traditions are the priority tasks in the work of Ryazan branch of Emperor Alexander I ST. Petersburg State Transport University at all times.


Light beams carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM), such as Laguerre–Gaussian (LG) beams, give rise to the violation of the standard dipolar selection rules during interaction with matter, yielding, in general, an exchange of angular momentum larger than ℏ per absorbed photon. By means of ab initio three-dimensional (3D) numerical simulations, we investigate in detail the interaction of a hydrogen atom with intense Gaussian and LG light pulses. We analyze the dependence of the angular momentum exchange with the polarization, the OAM and the carrier-envelope phase of light, as well as with the relative position between the atom and the light vortex. In addition, a quantum-trajectory approach based on the de Broglie–Bohm formulation of quantum mechanics is used to gain physical insight into the absorption of angular momentum by the hydrogen atom.


Abstract:  Pachyonychia congenita is a rare genodermatosis that can affect the larynx. Laryngeal obstruction is very unusual with only a few cases reported. A 2‐year‐old girl presented with typical clinical features of pachyonychia congenita shortly after birth. At age 9 months, following an upper respiratory infection, she developed stridor and hoarseness and was found to have severe laryngeal obstruction, which was felt to be secondary to pachyonychia congenita based on direct laryngoscopy and laryngeal biopsy. Leukokeratosis of her larynx was treated with CO2 laser on three occasions, with improvement in her respiratory distress after each treatment. This report is the first case of pachyonychia congenita with laryngeal obstruction in which the gene mutation has been established (a deletional mutation in K6a), confirming that laryngeal obstruction can occur in PC‐1.


Through a series of tests,the berite fundamental mechanical property and solubility of difficult soluble salt are studied,at the same time,after its complete dissolution and its porosity is studied and its physical and mechanical properties are ascertained.Results show that its compressive strength is 18.86MPa,tensile strength is 2.59MPa,it is found that the glauberite salt rock is a kind of soft rock,and it's failure mode is a typical column cleave,the salt rock is a friable material in the nature.In the long time creep tests,by regressive analyses,the creep curve of glauberite at different stress level is obtained:at 50% of its compressive strength,the creep curve is e(t)=0.009t0.3265,at 80%of compressive strength,the creep curve is e(t)=0.0098ln(t)-0.0014.It is clear from the creep curves of the rock mass,that the creep rate at high stress level is higher than that at the lower stress level.The glauberite belongs to the difficult soluble salt,its dissolution rate is very low,the characteristic curve of solution is νt=-0.0005Ln(t)+0.0041,the equation of dissolution rate is ν=-0.0002Ln(t)+0.0015.Through the theoretic analyses the porosity of 35.87% is obtained when the glauberite is dissolved completely. The study on dissolution rate and porosity of complete dissolution is important to investigae the solution mining mechanism of the difficult soluble glauberite.


A series of novel 2-(5-bromo-2-(2,2,2-trifluoroethoxy)phenyl)-5-aryl-1,3,4-oxadiazole (3a-e) were synthesized and confirmed by spectral analyses. The optimized structure with their bonding aspects and vibrational frequencies of the same have been examined utilizing DFT-B3LYP technique with a basis set 6-31G(d,p). In the optimized structures of compounds 3a-e, the bond lengths and bond angles are in accord with their corresponding reported analogous. The vibrational frequencies resulted from experimental as well as theoretical are in well accord with each other. Furthermore, Mulliken charge and MEP analyses of the compound have been calculated in order to get insight into the compound. The quantum chemical descriptors such as HOMO and LUMO energies were used to analyze the charge transfer within the molecule. In addition, the results of polarizabilities, first order hyperpolarizabilities and dipole moment of title compounds imply that these could be utilized for the preparation of NLO crystals.


The large ZBTB family comprises a diverse group of transcriptional factors. Several ZBTB proteins have emerged as critical factors that regulate the lineage commitment, differentiation, and function of lymphoid cells as well as many other developmental events. For instance, dysfunctions of ZBTB20 or ZBTB24 have been linked to multisystem failures in humans. Within the B-cell lineage, BCL6, ZBTB7A, ZBTB17, and ZBTB1 regulate the development/differentiation of B cells in both bone marrow and peripheral lymphoid organs, while ZBTB20 and ZBTB32 seem to mainly impact the maintenance of terminal plasma cells. Given the importance of B cells in the prevention and treatment of infectious or autoimmune disorders, we herein summarize the roles of seven ZBTB family members (BCL6, ZBTB7A, ZBTB17, ZBTB20, ZBTB32, ZBTB1, and ZBTB24) in the development, differentiation, and function of B cells as well as the underlying molecular mechanisms.


The goal of preferred provider organizations (PPOs) is to identify cost effective physicians, hospitals and other providers and form them into healthcare delivery systems. Widespread interest in PPOs stems from the belief that they can contain costs while offering consumers a choice of physicians and hospitals. But there is little information available about the demand by employers to offer PPOs as a health plan option. This study gathered information on employers' attitudes toward PPOs through a survey of companies in the Minneapolis metropolitan area. Most of the surveyed firms were found to be self-insured and offered a choice of healthcare plans, including HMOs. Contrary to some previous studies, healthcare costs are a major concern by all of the firms. PPOs are viewed as one part of an overall strategy to reduce those costs while maintaining quality of care and convenient access to providers. Although somewhat skeptical about potential savings and concerned over the administrative costs of offering a new health plan, most of the firms indicated support for the PPO concept. The greatest market opportunity for PPOs is to offer the plan as an alternative within the company's existing indemnity plan, wherein employees who use the preferred providers are exempt from at least a portion of the coinsurance and deductible requirements.


BACKGROUND
As the number of US burn centers has declined, access to burn care is increasingly limited. Inexperience in burn wound assessment by referring physicians often results in overtriage or undertriage. In an effort to improve access to burn care in our region, we instituted a program of telemedicine evaluation of acute burns.

METHODS
We created a telemedicine network linking our burn center to three hospitals located 298 to 350 air miles away. Participants agreed to perform telemedicine consultation for acutely burned patients admitted to their emergency departments. We compared consults and referrals from these facilities during the period July 2005 to August 2007 (TELE) to those during a 2-year period before instituting telemedicine (PRE-TELE).

RESULTS
During the TELE period, 80 patients were referred, of whom 70 were seen acutely by telemedicine, compared with 28 PRE-TELE referrals. The groups did not differ in age or burn size. Only 31 patients seen by telemedicine received emergency air transport (44.3%), compared with 100% of PRE-TELE patients (p < 0.05). Nine other TELE patients were transported by family; 30 other patients were treated locally. Ten remaining patients were transported without telemedicine evaluation. TELE patients transported by air had somewhat larger burn sizes (9.0% vs. 6.5% total body surface area; p = NS) and longer length of stay (13.0 days vs. 8.0 days; p = NS) than PRE-TELE patients. Burn size estimates by burn center physicians made either by telemedicine or direct inspection correlated closely but both differed significantly from those of referring physicians. Providers and patients expressed a high level of satisfaction with the telemedicine experience.

CONCLUSIONS
Acute evaluation of burn patients can be performed accurately by telemedicine. This can reduce undertriage or overtriage for air transport, improve resource utilization, and both enhance and extend burn center expertise to many rural communities at low cost.


A new type of cold rolled dual phase steel sheet with good formability and dent-resistance has been developed for automobile outer body panels. The steel, basically a low carbon and manganese aluminum killed steel, is manufactured by means of hot rolling with high temperature coiling, cold rolling, and continuous annealing with water-quenching and tempering. The mechanical properties after temper rolling are characterized by yield strength lower than 24 kgf/mm2, total elongation larger than 40% and 3-value higher than 1.5. Moreover the steel sheet has not only high bake hardenability but also high anti-aging property.


Over the past decade, the field of Library and Information Studies (LIS) has promoted cultural competence as a means of improving services to multicultural or traditionally underserved populations. However, critical LIS scholars have noted that cultural competence and diversity are viewed predominately as a matter of skill acquisition on the part of the library worker, rather than as one that involves a critique of the forces of structural racism, discrimination, and colonialism in society. In response, this paper proposes adapting frameworks from other professions for the library context: Multi-Dimensional Cultural Competence (MDCC) from counselling psychology, and cultural safety (CS) from Indigenous nursing. The former views cultural competence in terms of diversity factors, components, and multiple levels of foci, while the second is premised in postcolonial understandings and respect for Indigenous knowledges. The proposed synthesis, Multi-Dimensional Cultural Safety (MDCS), is established by first identifying the epistemological and ideological shortcomings of cultural competence, focusing on the need for institutional critiques as well as a recognition of racialization and power structures. Next, the two existing frameworks are explained in terms of their origins, content, and professional contexts, noting how each addresses the shortcomings of cultural competence as well as each other's shortcomings. The proposed framework is then elaborated upon in an LIS context and illustrated with hypothetical examples.


This investigation sought to identify differences in the human psychophysiological stress response when mediated by affiliation, by assessing heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), electrodermal activity (EDA), serum Cortisol (SC) concentration, interleukin-2 (IL-2) concentration, and state anxiety among subjects who underwent an anagram solution task. Thirty male subjects from the University of North Texas were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions and asked to solve a series of difficult anagrams either alone or with a companion. Subjects assigned to the control condition were asked to copy permutations of the anagrams. Before, and immediately after the anagram/copying tasks HR, SBP, DBP were measured, blood samples drawn, and The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) administered to all subjects. EDA was measured throughout all trials. Changes from baseline through the experimental period for all dependent variables were analyzed by employing difference scores derived from contrasting baseline and experimental measures. These scores were subjected to an analysis of variance (ANOVA) resulting in one significant between group effect among all dependent variables examined. Contrary to stated hypotheses, the alone condition significantly differed from the companion and control conditions by demonstrating a significant decrease in systolic blood pressure from baseline through the experimental period. It was concluded that the decrease in systolic blood pressure from baseline through the experimental period for the alone group was a result of chance sampling of individuals possessing unique psychophysiological response patterns. Appraisals of inter-group differences in response patterns across all dependent variables suggest that an insufficient stressor, and limitations in design, statistical analysis, and measurement may have contributed to this investigation's results. Implications of findings were discussed along with suggestions for future research.


We present an image-intensified charge-coupled-device (ICCD) version of Z-scan by employing an ICCD detector and fixing the sample at the beam waist, and a measurement of the third-order nonlinear optical coefficient of single crystal zinc oxide (ZnO). The χ(3) value of −9.1×10−15 cm2/W measured is in agreement with the published result. Our Z-scan configuration of placing sample at beam waist and collecting the whole wavefront by an ICCD detector is simple and can be deployed in cryogenic research where the sample cannot be Z-scanned.


Therapeutic effect of radio-iodine treatment on thyroid patients with autonomously functioning toxic thyroid nodule was evaluated. Fifty one patients were given a standard dose of 10 mci of radioiodine (I-131) and were followed up for 2-3 years. The failure rate (relapse after 10 mci of radioiodine) of this regime was 10%. It was found that the nodules less than or equal to 3 cms. in size were completely cured after a dose of 10 mic. of radio-iodine therapy, over a follow up period of next 6 months. Patients having nodules larger than 3 cms. relapsed after first dose of 10 mci of radio-iodine, but were cured completely after the second dose of 10 mci of radio-iodine therapy. Tri-iodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) values were both found to be high before giving treatment in all the cases. Only one case developed hypothyroidism after radioiodine therapy.


THE broad features of the operation of the L-1 coaxial system for the transmission of television have been public for more than a year,1 but thus far the factors influencing the design of the coaxial television terminals and a detailed discussion of the equipment now in service in the Bell Systems' television network have not been published. The television terminals here described were placed into network service in 1947, but in basic form are similar to experimental models developed prior to the war and used in early television transmission studies over the coaxial cable.2,3


The paper with the above title by Gray (Anaesthesia 1989; 44: 51 1-4) gives a gloomy view of the efficiency of the equipment usually employed to reduce atmospheric pollution by waste anaesthetic gases or vapours. The staff who administer anaesthetics in four hospitals in Glasgow were found to be exposed to nitrous oxide in concentrations which would be unacceptable in those countries in which there are specific regulations that relate to environmental control. The author assumes that the state of affairs in these hospitals was no worse than that in any other part of the western world where similar methods are used to avoid this hazard, whether or not it is in fact harmful. One reason for this may be that anaesthetic and dental staff may look upon the scavenging systems employed as cumbersome and intrusive upon their hreatment of the patient. One wonders why inadequacy of the air conditioning system is held responsible, as well as of the scavenging system, when it was demonstrated in 1980' that even 20 changes of air per hour was of minor importance in the reduction of atmospheric pollution to an acceptable level. An efficient collection system attached to the expiratory (APL) valve is also of no avail when the nasal inhaler (facepiece) fits the face badly. This is a common feature of dental chairside anaesthesia, especially during the end expiratory phase when positive pressure in the breathing system has to overcome the resistance of the expiratory valve. Any manipulation around the patient's air passages by the dentist or anaesthetist may necessitate temporary removal of the inhaler, and cause a cloudburst of nearly undiluted anaesthetic gases to follow the line of least resistance, and, instead of passing through the expiratory valve, to fall upon the anaesthetist's face. A suction (aspiration) system is now being introduced to overcome this unsatisfactory situation. This consists of a funnel installed 20 cm above the patient's face with a constant displacement of 2500 litres/minute. This funnel may be suspended from either the wall or the ceiling: it does dictate the precise location where the anaesthetic is given and is intended to be used in addition to the collection system on the expiratory valve and not to replace it. This local suction can be bought for half the price of an anaesthetic trolley; no information is given about the level of noise it produces. A double facepiece is manufactured to prevent leakage around the patient's face. There is a space between the facepiece and the patient end of the breathing system from which waste gases are carried to the exterior via a widebore corrugated hose. It is powered by a fan (individual to each place of work) to give a displacement of about 500 litres/ minute. Again, no information is given about the level of noise that it produces. Many inventions have seen the light of day which are inconvenient and costly to the anaesthetist and of benefit only to the manufacturer.2 The attempt to produce scavenging systems based on the concept of collection of waste gases after they have been voided to the room air has proven to be impossible. The solution is to remove the gases from the point at which they are used and to discharge them where they can do no harm. This can be achieved only by removing the gases from the breathing system at the same rate as the fresh gas inflow. This may be done with the ejector f l~wmete r .~ .~ This instrument may be connected to the breathing attachment by narrow-bore tubing. It is appropriate for all types of breathing systems, including those for paediatric, dental and obstetric use.' It is powered by compressed air at 300 kPa, and affords continuous surveillance and control of gas evacuation from the breathing attachment, with flow rates of up to 15 litres/minute. This fulfils all clinical requirements. It permits active emptying of the breathing attachment before it has to be disconnected from the patient in contrast to all other scavenging devices. Therefore no extra scavenging is required. The gas flow rate in this device is low and produces no noise. It complies with all national requirements that relate to the anaesthetic environment. All manufacturers in the western world were presented with information about this method several years ago, but so far only those in Denmark have shown any interest.


One of the challenges in deploying a machine learning model is that the model's performance degrades as the operating environment changes. To maintain the performance, streaming active learning is used, in which the model is retrained by adding a newly annotated sample to the training dataset if the prediction of the sample is not certain enough. Although many streaming active learning methods have been proposed for classification, few efforts have been made for regression problems, which are often handled in the industrial field. In this paper, we propose to use the regression-via-classification framework for streaming active learning for regression. Regression-via-classification transforms regression problems into classification problems so that streaming active learning methods proposed for classification problems can be applied directly to regression problems. Experimental validation on four real data sets shows that the proposed method can perform regression with higher accuracy at the same annotation cost.


QSAR (quantitative structure-activity relationship) modeling is one of the well developed areas in drug development through computational chemistry. Similar molecules with just a slight variation in their structure can have quit different biological activity. This kind of relationship between molecular structure and change in biological activity is center of focus for QSAR Modeling. Predictions of property and/or activity of interest have the potential to save time, money and minimize the use of expensive experimental designs, such as, for example, animal testing. Intelligent machine learning techniques are important tools for QSAR analysis, as a result, they are integrated into the drug production process. The effective learnable model can reduce the cost of drug design significantly. The quantile estimation via neural network structure technique introduced in this paper is used to predict activity of pyrimidines based on the structure-activity relationship of these compounds which assist for finding potential treatment agents for serious disease. In comparison with statistical quantile regression, the qrnn significantly reduce the prediction error.


This study reports the isolation of two novel cysteine-rich antibacterial peptides, turgencin A and turgencin B, along with their oxidized derivatives, from the Arctic marine colonial ascidian Synoicum turgens. The peptides are post-translationally modified, containing six cysteines with an unusual disulfide connectivity of Cys1-Cys6, Cys2-Cys5, and Cys3-Cys4 and an amidated C-terminus. Furthermore, the peptides contain methionine residues resulting in the isolation of peptides with different degrees of oxidation. The most potent peptide, turgencin AMox1 with one oxidized methionine, displayed antimicrobial activity against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) as low as 0.4 µM against selected bacterial strains. In addition, the peptide inhibited the growth of the melanoma cancer cell line A2058 (IC50 = 1.4 µM) and the human fibroblast cell line MRC-5 (IC50 = 4.8 µM). The results from this study show that natural peptides isolated from marine tunicates have the potential to be promising drug leads.


Objective : To review the various bodily symptoms presented by African psychiatric patients and attempt to understand them. Method : The literature on bodily (somatic) symptoms is surveyed with special reference to Africans and examples are drawn from a focused group discussion in one African rural community. An attempt to explain these bodily symptoms is made from the point of view of current psychosocial distress. Results : African psychiatric patients have a bewildering number of bodily complaints. These bodily complaints may accompany known psychiatric entities or may present simply as somatic symptoms with no other known mental disorders. Conclusion : One way of appreciating the meaning and significance of bodily symptoms in Africans is by analyzing the associated psychosocial distress. Keywords : patients, bodily symptoms, psychiatry, African Tropical Journal of Medical Research Vol. 9(1) 2005: 11-17


SUMMARY Nd-isotope analyses of greywackes from the Skiddaw Group give an eNd range of −9.3 to −4.1, broadly compatible with suggestions of a provenance within an inactive and dissected, continental-margin volcanic arc. There is no clear temporal trend but the youngest greywackes have the lowest eNd values, perhaps suggesting an increase in the proportion of an older continental component through time as the arc was eroded. Two stratigraphical units were also sampled from the Manx Group, the likely lateral equivalent of the Skiddaw Group on the Isle of Man. Of these, the Lonan Flags gave eNd values of −6.0 and −5.1, within the upper part of the Skiddaw Group range. However, a sample from the slightly younger Maughold Banded Group has eNd = +2.1, indicative of a large influx of juvenile volcaniclastic detritus. This influx appears to have occurred earlier (mid-Arenig) in the Manx Group than in the Skiddaw Group where the first volcaniclastic interbeds are seen in the (Llanvirn) Tarn Moor Formation.


This article develops the concept of mobile canvassing as an element in the eventual development of on-call driverless transportation. Mobile canvassing is the use of GPS-enabled smartphones to mediate a two-sided real-time interaction between itinerant actors in a meso-area—that is, the area beyond our ability to actually see another actor but not beyond a distance that can be traversed in a few minutes. The article develops the idea of the smartphone as a "meso-scope" (e.g., a device that gives us an overview of the activities, services, and possibilities that are in our proximate, but also somewhat distant, vicinity). The article examines the need for symmetrical criticality (the development of a critical mass on both sides of the interaction) in this development. Further, the article considers the use of mobile canvassing apps to facilitate the development of autonomous vehicles.


Practitioners involved with the medical care of active children often are called on for advice regarding physical activity recommendations in children and adolescents who are ill. This article has covered many general and specific guidelines to be considered when counseling children and their parents. Recommendations regarding specific athletes must be individualized, and there is room for a great deal of common sense. However, information in this article as well as referenced sources should provide readers with current available knowledge to guide the management of individual cases. New developments and research in this field certainly may alter current guidelines.


This report describes a 4 mo old intact male Akita that presented for evaluation of a life-long history of facial swelling and failure to thrive. Physical examination revealed an enlarged cranium with prominent bony swellings on the maxillary bone, excessive laxity and crepitus involving multiple joints, and proprioceptive deficits. Radiographs demonstrated multiple osseous abnormalities including endosteal thickening of the femurs and ilium. Necropsy revealed gross compression of the cerebellum and brainstem. Physical exam findings, radiographic abnormalities, and histopathology of multiple bony lesions were all consistent with craniomandibular osteopathy. In this unique case of craniomandibular osteopathy, the dog was affected with severe bony proliferations leading to generalized hyperostotic lesions and brainstem compression resulting in neurologic deficits.


This report aims to describe the process undertaken for designing an L-extension for the reaction frame in the civil engineering workshop. The process generally follows guidelines as set out in the Australian Standards for steel design. The project undertaken will be explained with background on the testing frame itself and outline the stricter conditions due to its testing nature. A beam, column and connections are to be designed with appropriate documentation supporting the outcomes of analysis. This report will discuss the calculations used to come to the conclusion of the beam and column cross sections. It will also provide some insight into the further calculations for the connection design.


This study examines the discursive trajectories of the cosmopolitan Egyptian Jew in the documentaries Salata baladi (Nadia Kamel, 2007) and 'An Yahud Misr (Amir Ramses, 2012) in light of Youssef Chahine's classic al-Iskandariyya … leh (1978). Undoubtedly, each of these films provides a complex story of Jewish life in Egypt and, taken together, these creative works offer an alternative to formulaic representations of Jews in Egyptian cinema and television. Yet, a close analysis of the three films reveals an underlying problematic rendering of cosmopolitanism in the context of the Egyptian Jewish community. Arguably, the filmmakers' main interest in attending to the Jewish question relates more to nostalgic views of Egyptianness (of the pre-1952 Revolution era) as a cosmopolitan, multiethnic and multi-religious identity, than to a genuine interest in Jewish life, history and religion. In other words, the limited and skewed view of the Jewish community, with its near exclusion of the poor, uneducated, monolingual and religiously traditional Jewish residents of Egypt, is driven primarily by anxieties about Egyptian identity in which cosmopolitan Jews are assigned a supporting role in the play of an idealized Egypt of the past and in challenging xenophobic sentiments in the present.


Effects of self-steepening (SS) of chirped Gaussian pulses on optical fiber communication system using midway optical phase conjugation (OPC) are analyzed. Dynamic evolution of the ultrashort pulses is simulated numerically. It is found that OPC cannot compensate for pulse waveform distortion due to SS.The initial chirp of pulses and dispersion can counteract SS and improve the compensation performance for the distortion.


Microconidiating cultures of "peach-fluffy" (pe, fl; Y8743m, L; FGSC #569) were fixed at various times after the initiation of growth and examined with an electron microscope. Hyphae from which microconidia form are markedly vacuolated and show a much more extensive system of rough endoplasmic reticulum than young vegetative hyphae. A bulge in the hypha presages the start of microconidium formation, followed by the rupture of the outermost wall layers. A thick collar forms around the protruding microconidium due to extensive thickening of the inner wall layer of the parent hypha. At this stage, the cytoplasm of the developing microconidium is still continuous with that of the microsporophore cell from which it arises and is contained by a wall which is derived from the thickened collar. The microconidium is finally isolated from the cytoplasm of the microsporophore by a centripetal extension of the collar. Microconidia differ from macroconidia in having a more extensive endoplasmic reticulum and fewer mitochondria, in addition to being smaller and having a single nucleus.


The finite difference method (FDM) is one of the most applied and studied numerical methods for seismic wave propagation due to its computational efficiency. There are several available algorithms based on FDM, each one presenting advantages and disadvantages. Concerning offshore elastic wave simulations, it is well known that numerical schemes based on staggered grids are the most applied and successful schemes, but they spend a great amount of computational memory. It is because of the need to store both velocity and stress components. On the other hand, simple grid FDM based schemes based on second-order elastic wave equations in terms of only displacement components present unacceptable responses when modelling high Poisson ration material layers (specially water). This paper presents a new FDM staggered-grid scheme (ESG) based only in displacements – where new stable DF approximations are applied directly to the second-order wave equation – able to model offshore regions as well as staggered grid schemes. The ESG has the same stability and accuracy characteristics as staggered grid schemes but spends as memory as simple grid schemes. In other words, it is presented a staggered grid scheme that takes advantage of the two better features of staggered and simple grid schemes.


Adoptive cell therapy with ex vivo expanded tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) offers a potentially curative treatment for cancer. However, the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment limits the effectiveness of TIL therapy. To address this medical need, we used our Immune-CRISPRomics® Platform to perform a series of genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 screens to identify targets enhancing the ability of T cells to infiltrate and kill solid tumors in an in vivo setting. These screens identified SOCS1 as a top target that restrains T cell anti-tumor immunity. Based on these findings, we developed KSQ-001, an engineered TIL (eTIL) therapy created via CRISPR/Cas9-mediated editing of SOCS1 for the treatment of solid tumors.Genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 screens were conducted in in vitro primary human T cells and TIL cultures and in in vivo primary mouse OT1 and PMEL-TCR-Tg T cells in syngeneic tumor models. The efficacy of surrogate murine KSQ-001 (mKSQ-001), in which the SOCS1 gene is inactivated by CRISPR/Cas9 in OT1 or PMEL-TCR-Tg T cells, was evaluated in both the B16-Ova and CRC-gp100 syngeneic tumor models, with memory formation and efficacy evaluated both in the presence and absence of cyclophosphamide-mediated lymphodepletion. KSQ-001 was manufactured from human TIL using SOCS1-targeting sgRNAs selected for therapeutic use based on potency and selectivity, with KSQ-001 characterized for in vitro function and in vivo anti-tumor efficacy.Upon adoptive transfer of a single dose into solid tumor-bearing hosts, mKSQ-001 was found to robustly enhance anti-tumor efficacy and eradicate tumors in 7/10 mice in the PD1-sensitive OT1/B16-Ova model and to drive responses in the PD-1 refractory PMEL/CRC-gp100 syngeneic tumor model. mKSQ-001 also showed a ten-fold increase in anti-tumor potency in vivo compared to unengineered T-cell product and established durable anti-tumor memory by persisting in the form of T central memory cells detectable at high frequency in the peripheral blood of complete responder mice. In the setting of lymphodepletion, mKSQ-001 also displayed heightened anti-tumor potency, accumulation, and memory formation in comparison to inactivation of PD-1. Importantly, human KSQ-001 displayed a transcriptional signature indicative of increased anti-tumor function, produced increased amounts of pro-inflammatory cytokines, exhibited a hypersensitivity to IL-12 signaling, and demonstrated increased anti-tumor function both in vitro and in vivo solid tumor models.Based on insights from our Immune-CRISPRomics® platform and demonstrated efficacy across multiple preclinical tumor models, we have developed KSQ-001, a novel eTIL therapy. These preclinical data support clinical testing of KSQ-001 in a variety of solid tumor indications.


From the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering (B.Y.S.K., W.C.W.C.), Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research (B.Y.S.K., W.C.W.C.), the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (W.C.W.C.), and the Department of Chemical Engineering (W.C.W.C.), University of Toronto (B.Y.S.K., J.T.R., W.C.W.C.); and the Division of Neurosurgery (B.Y.S.K., J.T.R.) and the Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain Tumour Research Centre ( J.T.R.), Hospital for Sick Children (B.Y.S.K., J.T.R.) — both in Toronto. Address reprint requests to Dr. Chan at the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, 164 College St., 407, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3G9, Canada, or at warren.chan@ utoronto.ca.


: Proportional fair bandwidth allocation in packet switches is a fundamental issue for quality of service (QoS) support in IP networks. Input-queued switches performing packet-mode scheduling deliver all the segments of a packet contiguously from the input port to the output port, thus greatly simplify the output reassembly and yield performance advantage over switches with cell-mode scheduling under certain conditions. An important issue of packet-mode scheduling is how to achieve fair bandwidth allocation among flows with different packet sizes. Most packet scheduling algorithms for input-queued switches operate on fixed-sized packets known as cells. In reality, communication traffic in many systems such as Internet runs on variable-sized packets. Motivated by potential savings of segmentation and reassembly, there has been increasing interest in scheduling variable-sized packets in a non preemptive manner known as packet-mode scheduling. The dissertation work will study frame-based packet-mode scheduling for better scalability. The relation between the frame size and packet sizes will be derived and the speedup will be analyzed.


Exercise physiology is the comprehensive study of the biophysical, biomechanical and biochemical processes that contribute to movement production and disease progression. Advances in exercise physiology research have provided the foundation for human enhancement and medical treatment. The focus of the program is to promote student innovation and foster the development of independent thought. Students and faculty interact in a collegial fashion facilitating open inquiry and collaborative science.


Background All longitudinal cohort studies strive for high participant retention, although attrition is common. Understanding determinants of attrition is important to inform and develop targeted strategies to improve study participation. We aimed to identify factors associated with research participation in a large children's primary care cohort study. Methods In this longitudinal cohort study between 2008 and 2020, all children who participated in the Applied Research Group for Kids (TARGet Kids!) were included. TARGet Kids! is a large primary care practice-based pediatric research network in Canada with ongoing data collection at well-child visits. Several sociodemographic, health, and study design factors were examined for their associations with research participation. The primary outcome was attendance of eligible research follow-up visits. The secondary outcome was time to withdrawal from the TARGet Kids! study. Generalized linear mixed effects models and Cox proportional hazard models were fitted. We have engaged parent partners in all stages of this study. Results A total 10,412 children with 62,655 total eligible research follow-up visits were included. Mean age at enrolment was 22 months, 52% were male, and 52% had mothers of European ethnicity. 68.4% of the participants attended at least 1 research follow-up visit. Since 2008, 6.4% of the participants have submitted a withdrawal request. Key factors associated with research participation included child age, ethnicity, maternal age, maternal education level, family income, parental employment, child diagnosis of chronic health conditions, certain study sites, and missingness in questionnaire data. Conclusions Socioeconomic status, demographic factors, chronic conditions, and missingness in questionnaire data were associated with research participation in this large primary care practice-based cohort study of children. Results from this analysis and input from our parent partners suggested that retention strategies could include continued parent engagement, creating brand identity and communication tools, using multiple languages and avoiding redundancy in the questionnaires.


Purpose of reviewDocosapentaenoic acid (DPA) is a long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid that is intermediary between eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid in the n-3 synthesis pathway. DPA is part of our normal diet through fish and lean red meat. In recent years, DPA has received increasing attention as an important bioactive fatty acid in light of its potential beneficial health effects, which include anti-inflammatory actions, antiplatelet aggregation, and improved plasma lipid prolife. This review provides a short summary of the most recent research on DPA. Recent findingsIn this review, we report on the latest association data as well as data generated from in-vitro and in-vivo studies on DPA and cardiovascular health, mental health, inflammation, and cancer. We also report on the newly identified DPA metabolites and their effects on exacerbation of inflammation in animal models. SummaryAlthough there is a growing body of evidence supporting DPA's role as an important bioactive fatty acid, there is a need for more 'cause and effect studies', clinical trials and studies which can reveal whether DPA plays separate roles to those identified for eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid.


In this study, to predict the microstructure in weld HAZ of low alloyed steel, prediction model for the phase transformation considering the influence of prior austenite grain size and cooling rate was developed. For this study, six low alloyed steels were designed and the effect of alloying elements was also investigated. In order to develop the prediction model for ferrite transformation, isothermal ferrite transformation behaviors were analyzed by dilatometer system and 'Avrami equation' which was modified to consider the effect of prior austenite grain size. After that, model for ferrite phase transformation during continuous cooling was proposed based on the isothermal ferrite transformation model through applying the 'Additivity rule'. Also, start temperatures of ferrite transformation were predicted by A r3 considering the cooling rate. CCT diagram was calculated through this model, these results were in good agreement with the experimental results. After ferrite transformation, bainite transformation was predicted using Esaka model which corresponded most closely to the experimental results among various models. The start temperatures of bainite transformation were determined using K. J. Lee model. Phase fraction of martensite was obtained according to phase fractions of ferrite and bainite.


The spread of COVID-19 makes it essential to investigate its prevalence. In such investigation research, as far as we know, the widely-used sampling methods didn't use the information sufficiently about the numbers of the previously diagnosed cases, which provides a priori information about the true numbers of infections. This motivates us to develop a new, two-stage sampling method in this paper, which utilises the information about the distributions of both population and diagnosed cases, to investigate the prevalence more efficiently. The global likelihood sampling, a robust and efficient sampler to draw samples from any probability density function, is used in our sampling strategy, and thus, our new method can automatically adapt to the complicated distributions of population and cases. Moreover, the corresponding estimating method is simple, which facilitates the practical implementation. Some recommendations for practical implementation are given. Finally, several simulations and a practical example verified its efficiency.


A sensitive test system for the detection of mutagenic nitroarenes in a new tester strain Salmonellatyphlmurium NM1011 with a high nitroreductase activity has been developed. The tester strain was constructed by subcloning the corresponding gene into pACYC184 plasmid, and introducingthe plasmid into TA1535 harboring a fusion gene umuc'-9lacZ (pSK1002). The strain enablesus to monitor expression of the SOS function umuC, by measuring the β-galactosidase activity in the cells. The sensitivity of the NM1011 was compared with that of parent tester strain (TA1535/pSK1002), or a nitroreductase deficient strain in seventeen mutagenic/carcinogenic nitroarenes. The newly developed strains with a high nitroreductase activity had about 4 times higher nitrofurazone-reductase activity than the parent strain, and was found to be highly sensitive to the compounds such as 2-nitrofluorene (2-NF), 1-nitronaphthalene (1-NN), 2-nitronaphthalene (2-NN), 1-nitropyrene (1-NP), m-dinitrobenzene (m-DNB), 4,4'-dinitrobiphenyl (4,4'-DNB), 3-nitrofluoranthene, 3,7- and 3,9-dinitrofluoranthene, 5-nitroacenaphthene (5-NA), 1,6-dinitropyrene, and 2,4-dinitrotoluene (2,4-DNT). On the contrary, the enzyme-deficient strain did not show considerable responses to 2-NF, m-DNB, 1-NN, 2-NN, 1-NP, 4,4'-DNB, 2,4-DNT, and 5-NA. These results suggest that a newly developed tester strain that has high nitroreductase activity is very useful for the detection of mutagenic nitroarenes contaminating the water and urban atmosphere.


Research in innovation has created much knowledge to apply concerning tools, methods and processes. However, the challenge of allowing "space", time and competence for innovation capability development is sparsely reported. The purpose of this research is to identify how organizational and behavioral factors are affecting product innovation capability and its development in organizations. The research sets out to explore and elaborate on the research question: How can product innovation capability among organizations and individuals be improved by identifying and changing organizational factors? The individual and organizational factors need to be taken in relation to the product innovation. Theories of innovation capability, innovation and learning, innovation and creative climate are used as a basis for this research. Interviews and a creative climate questionnaire have been used for empirical input in five med-tech companies. The qualitative result elicits six factors that influence the innovation capability and its development in organizations; brings out the two most important factors from the survey and elaborate a cross analyses from the qualitative and quantitative input.


Environmental context Understanding the molecular composition and chemical transformations of organic aerosols during atmospheric aging is a major challenge in atmospheric chemistry. Ultra-high resolution mass spectrometry can provide detailed information on the molecular composition of organic aerosols. Aerosol samples collected in summer and winter at an urban site are characterised and compared in detail with respect to the elemental composition of their components, especially nitrogen- and sulfur-containing compounds, and are discussed with respect to atmospheric formation processes. Abstract Organic compounds are major constituents of atmospheric aerosol particles. The understanding of their chemical composition, their properties and reactivity are important for assessing aerosol effects upon both global climate change and human health. The composition of organic aerosols is poorly understood, mainly due to its highly complex chemical composition of several thousand compounds. There is currently no analytical technique available covering a wide enough chemical space to characterise this large number of organic compounds. In recent years ultra-high resolution mass spectrometry has been increasingly used to explore the chemical complexity in organic aerosols from laboratory and ambient samples. In the present study ambient particles <1 µm were collected at an urban site in Cambridge, UK, from August to December 2009. The water-soluble organic fraction of the filters was separated from inorganic ions following a procedure developed for humic-like substance isolation. Ultra-high resolution mass spectrometry analyses were performed in negative and positive polarity. Data in the mass range of m/z 50–350 were analysed for their elemental composition. Summer samples generally contained more components than winter samples. The large number of compounds was subdivided into groups according to their elemental composition. Up to 80 % of the peaks contain nitrogen and sulfur functional groups and only ~20 % of the compounds contain only C, H and O atoms. In summer the fraction of compounds with oxidised nitrogen and sulfur groups increases compared with winter indicating a photo-chemical formation route of these multifunctional compounds. In addition to oxidised nitrogen compounds a large number of amines was identified.


In the recent years many new measurements of the decay of the neutral Xi0 hyperon have been reported both by the NA48/1 and the KTeV collaboration. The results are based on data samples of more than 2 billion Xi0 decays. In this report new measurements of the Xi0 lifetime, decay asymmetries, and semileptonic decay rates are presented. The latter allow the extraction of the CKM matrix element |V_us|, complementary to kaon decays.


Background and Purpose— We recently showed that cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is associated with functionally relevant brain network impairments, in particular affecting posterior white matter connections. Here we examined how these brain network impairments progress over time. Methods— Thirty-three patients with probable CAA underwent multimodal brain magnetic resonance imaging at 2 time points (mean follow-up time: 1.3±0.4 years). Brain networks of the hemisphere free of intracerebral hemorrhages were reconstructed using fiber tractography and graph theory. The global efficiency of the network and mean fractional anisotropies of posterior–posterior, frontal–frontal, and posterior–frontal network connections were calculated. Patients with moderate versus severe CAA were defined based on microbleed count, dichotomized at the median (median=35). Results— Global efficiency of the intracerebral hemorrhage–free hemispheric network declined from baseline to follow-up (−0.008±0.003; P=0.029). The decline in global efficiency was most pronounced for patients with severe CAA (group×time interaction P=0.03). The decline in global network efficiency was associated with worse executive functioning (&bgr;=0.46; P=0.03). Examination of subgroups of network connections revealed a decline in fractional anisotropies of posterior–posterior connections at both levels of CAA severity (−0.006±0.002; P=0.017; group×time interaction P=0.16). The fractional anisotropies of posterior–frontal and frontal–frontal connections declined in patients with severe but not moderate CAA (group×time interaction P=0.007 and P=0.005). Associations were independent of change in white matter hyperintensity volume. Conclusions— Brain network impairment in patients with CAA worsens measurably over just 1.3-year follow-up and seem to progress from posterior to frontal connections with increasing disease severity.


Abstract : We have set up a study that will provide a certain type of exposure therapy, called prolonged exposure therapy (PE) to military Veterans. We will ask 272 Veterans to participate in the study. Our goal is to compare PE conducted in three different ways: (1) PE that is office-based (OB; Veterans come to the clinic to meet with the therapist), (2) PE delivered via home-based telehealth (HBT; Veterans stay at home and meet with the therapist using the computer and video cameras), and (3) PE delivered in home, in person (IHIP; the therapist comes to the Veterans homes for treatment). We will be checking to see if symptoms of PTSD, depression, and anxiety get better (less severe) after the treatment and six months later. We will also see if there are differences in the three ways we will be providing the therapy. We hypothesize that the IHIP approach, compared to the other two approaches, will be more effective at reducing the PTSD symptoms experienced by these Veterans because it will help Veterans attend each session and complete the therapy homework assigned by the therapists (such as doing feared activities around the house or the neighborhood). We have now been referred 311 veterans. Of the 311 referred, including 263 males (85%) and 48 females (15%), 30 veterans (10% of those referred) have been randomized to the study. Of the 30 randomized participants, 19 (63%) are currently in Prolonged Exposure therapy, 5 (17%) have completed therapy and 6 (20%) have dropped out of therapy.


The article is devoted to finding ways to improve the economic efficiency of agricultural enterprises of the Chelyabinsk region on the basis of the economic model of the influence of herbicides and interacting factors on the profitability of the scenarios.


The Albina District in North Portland, Oregon has experienced a tumultuous cycle of disinvestment, decline, and now reinvestment that has caused a shift in its racial and socioeconomic composition. As new sources of investment and capital have been introduced into this historically black neighborhood, a new housing redevelopment trend has emerged that reflects consideration towards sustainable design and "eco-conscious" lifestyles. This style of redevelopment in N. Williams Avenue caters to those with higher incomes that desire an "urban" and "sustainable" lifestyle through their housing choices. In this paper I argue that this new housing trend is a gentrifying phenomenon that establishes a pretext of environmentalism and sustainability to sell market rate housing that is largely unaffordable to the neighborhood's original residents and contributes to an ongoing pattern of displacement. Sharon Zukin's sensitizing concepts of gentrification and the marketplace and Karen Gibson's "Bleeding Albina" form the theoretical foundation of my inquiry on this type of housing redevelopment. Discussion on how low income communities face the paradox of desiring to ameliorate their local environment but fearing the risk of gentrification and displacement following rising land value is a key consideration to this paper (Bouzarovski, S., Frankowski, J., & Herrero, S. T. (2018), Checker, M. (2011), and Kern, L., & Kovesi, C. (2018)). Literature on how sustainable design is overlooked in its potential to lower costs associated with affordable housing is incorporated as well (Gan, X., Zuo, J., Wu, P., Wang, J., Chang, R., & Wen, T. (2017)). Introduction North Williams Avenue has been a distinctive and historic avenue throughout Portland's development. It is a major street within the Albina neighborhood which has undergone THE GREEN GENTRIFICATION OF N. WILLIAMS AVENUE 3 tremendous change since the early 20th century. It has been reshaped and redefined since then socially, economically, and racially. N. Williams Ave. once symbolized the presence and influence of the Black community on Portland and still has many architectural sites that depict the cultural institutions and businesses that continue to or have served this community. With the ongoing changes to the urban landscape, shifting demographic composition, and large scale urban development, this stretch of the avenue is nearly unrecognizable to older, former residents. Gentrification is a social process and can follow major events involving disinvestment from neighborhoods, dilapidation, and then ultimately revitalization (Marcuse, 1986). This transformation through gentrification also comes at a time when consideration towards climate change and environmental degradation has put pressure on urban planners, housing developers, and government actors to respond to these concerns. New trends for multi-family housing have emerged that reflect this shift in how housing is designed and marketed. In this paper, I ask to what extent is N. Williams Avenue experiencing green gentrification by prominent and pervasive housing redevelopment trends? To effectively measure the extent and intensity of these gentrifying forces this research article assesses the validity of green gentrification of N. Williams Ave by the following: 1. Demographic and socioeconomic analysis of 3 census tracts; 2. And field observation and media analysis of 6 multi-family buildings that may be indicative of green gentrification. Background and literature review Albina is synonymous with Portland's historic black community. The neighborhoods of Boise and Eliot were majority Black until the end of the 1990's as a culmination of Oregon's recession, disinvestment, and neighborhood instability caused many to move out if they could (Gibson, 2007). Housing policy and discrimination towards prospective homeowners in Albina THE GREEN GENTRIFICATION OF N. WILLIAMS AVENUE 4 ultimately led to dire economic conditions and the "blighted" status that Albina was known for in the 1980s. Neighborhoods were facing a lack of real estate capital to avoid abandonment and dilapidation. This quote captures the severity of the situation: "In 1987, all the banks and thrifts in Portland made just ten mortgage loans to a four-census tract area constituting the heart of the Albina community" (Gibson, 2007, p. 19). With stiff resistance from lenders even as late as 1987, Black residents interested in homeownership faced detrimental barriers to improving the neighborhood on their own accord. For those that remained, Albina suffered from high vacancy rates, predatory lending, and economic stagnation that made future community improvements difficult or largely unsuccessful. The city of Portland made attempts to ameliorate the economic conditions of neighborhoods such as Eliot and Boise. However, most new sources of residents and capital to this neglected community originated from outsiders, not from those who were pushed out in the first place. Remaining residents felt that their efforts to improve the community were overlooked by these newcomers as Albina became more hospitable for people to live in again (Gibson, 2007, p. 19). Many newcomers were drawn to Albina's neighborhoods due to its proximity to the city center and to its historic Victorian homes, for example. While economically Albina experienced revitalization following the end of the 20th century, White people became the predominating group of Albina following this economic recovery. A drastic demographic shift occurred in which the Eliot and Boise neighborhoods went from being majority Black neighborhoods to majority White. Gibson argues that the economic conditions of Albina were the result of "deliberate decisions to deny blacks access to urban housing markets and to reinforce spatial segregation" (Gibson, 2007, p. 4.) THE GREEN GENTRIFICATION OF N. WILLIAMS AVENUE 5 Following these tumultuous changes to Albina's demographic profile, N. Williams Ave. became the site of new, large scale redevelopment the neighborhood had not seen in decades. Large apartment buildings and businesses emerged that reflect attitudes towards eco-conscious lifestyles and sustainable, urban environments. Neighborhoods such as Eliot and Boise face a new type of gentrification known by several names. Despite the lack of consensus on one specific term, it refers to the following: "ecological gentrification prioritizes profit-minded development over social equity by selectively co-opting sustainability discourses, and grassroots efforts to improve the environmental quality of neighbourhoods" (Bouzarovski et al., 2018, p. 849). What was once the center of cultural and economic Black Portland now features a new urban form that prioritizes a high quality of life through multi-modal transportation infrastructure, low carbon housing, and amenities oriented around sustainability. Green gentrification subjects neighborhoods to historic urban processes that are well-documented in urban studies discourses, but also inflicts new patterns of change given new social and cultural contexts (Checker, 2011). What this means for N. Williams Ave. is that current understandings of gentrification may be insufficient as it grapples with a new phenomenon that is reforming urban environments. The need to expand this discourse is crucial as middle and upper income people shift away from classical forms of suburbanization towards urban lifestyles being played out on N. Williams Ave. (Rice, J. L., Cohen, D. A., Long, J., & Jurjevich, J. R., 2019). Redlining, neighborhood decline, and opportunistic real estate speculation made the conditions of these neighborhoods prime for redevelopment. Albina's real estate market recovered, but it ultimately led to displacement and marginalization of its non-White, renting residents. A turnover of Black residents has occurred while an influx of White newcomers pursue their congruent relationship with developers that THE GREEN GENTRIFICATION OF N. WILLIAMS AVENUE 6 cater to their distinct tastes and values. This relationship is key to understanding how N. Williams Ave. is changing demographically and economically. Methodology This project studied both the 3 census tracts (34.02, 34.01, and 22.03) in the N. Williams Corridor as well as 6 specific buildings exemplifying recent neighborhood changes. These properties are all located on N. Williams Ave. on parcels zoned for CM3 (Commercial Mixed Use 3). All properties offer at least 75 rental units or more, used phrases and terminology such as "urban", "sustainable", or "luxury" to brand their housing, and offer rental rates that are higher than the median rent for the city of Portland. These characteristics formed the criteria for new housing in Albina that could be considered evident of green gentrification. The study is designed based on the following definition of gentrification: 1. An influx of newcomers that belong to a higher socioeconomic status; 2. An increase in land and home values; 3. Displacement of original residents that are priced out of their own neighborhoods; 4. And real estate speculation involving an increase in capital and economic activities with the promise of high returns. The incorporation of a historical background and data on demography is essential to understanding the current conditions of this neighborhood today. Gibson's "Bleeding Albina" developed a timeline of how gentrification spread and reshaped North Portland's Albina. Since the Fair Housing Act of 1968 outlawed redlining and freed up the areas in which Black Portlanders could find housing, the year 1970 became a useful benchmark for evaluating this THE GREEN GENTRIFICATION OF N. WILLIAMS AVENUE 7 section of N. Williams Ave. The end of redlining marked a historic socioeconomic shift for Albina. Demographic changes were analyzed for a 40 year interval between 1970 and 2010, along with data on the unemployment rate of White and Black residents; median household income


Liquid water's rich sub-picosecond vibrational dynamics arise from the interplay of different high- and low-frequency modes evolving in a strong yet fluctuating hydrogen bond network. Recent studies of the OH stretching excitations of H2O indicate that they are delocalized over several molecules, raising questions about whether the bending vibrations are similarly delocalized. In this paper, we take advantage of an improved 50 fs time-resolution and broadband infrared (IR) spectroscopy to interrogate the 2D IR lineshape and spectral dynamics of the HOH bending vibration of liquid H2O. Indications of strong bend-stretch coupling are observed in early time 2D IR spectra through a broad excited state absorption that extends from 1500 cm-1 to beyond 1900 cm-1, which corresponds to transitions from the bend to the bend overtone and OH stretching band between 3150 and 3550 cm-1. Pump-probe measurements reveal a fast 180 fs vibrational relaxation time, which results in a hot-ground state spectrum that is the same as observed for water IR excitation at any other frequency. The fastest dynamical time scale is 80 fs for the polarization anisotropy decay, providing evidence for the delocalized or excitonic character of the bend. Normal mode analysis conducted on water clusters extracted from molecular dynamics simulations corroborate significant stretch-bend mixing and indicate delocalization of δHOH on 2-7 water molecules.


Theoretical approaches to renaming as present within critical toponymy and cultural geography are described in the article. The critical approach presumes neglecting the traditional etymological studies and considers toponymy as a reflection and a projection of certain social processes. A geographical approach to the social meanings of renamed places is suggested to develop this paradigm by means of explaining the multiplicity of a place. The place itself as a notion, a center of human meanings and a starting point of the unite world view is used as a domain for the suggested approach. The critical geographical paradigm is combined with the representational approaches typical for new cultural and humanistic geography in order to create a stereoscopical vision of a place through the multiplicity of its meanings, images, lived social practices and semiotic signs. Developing the notion of geoconceptualization of a place within its renaming a palimpsestic approach in toponymic studies is stated. Geoconcept are regarded not only as linked to certain place images and meanings, but also as a part of the process of the endless process of the new world views' formation. The toponymical palimpsest reveals the multiplicity of renamed place as semiotic resignification thus turning a geoconcept into an intertext.


We conducted a comprehensive search for optical phase variations of all close-in (a/R⋆ < 10) planet candidates in 15 quarters of Kepler space telescope data. After correcting for systematics, we found eight systems that show secondary eclipses as well as phase variations. Of these, five (Kepler-5, Kepler-6, Kepler-8, KOI-64, and KOI-2133) are new and three (TrES-2, HAT-P-7, and KOI-13) have published phase curves, albeit with many fewer observations. We model the full phase curve of each planet candidate, including the primary and secondary transits, and derive their albedos, dayside and nightside temperatures, ellipsoidal variations, and Doppler beaming. We find that KOI-64 and KOI-2133 have nightside temperatures well above their equilibrium values (while KOI-2133 also has an albedo, >1), so we conclude that they are likely to be self-luminous objects rather than planets. The other six candidates have characteristics consistent with their being planets with low geometric albedos (<0.3). For TrES-2 and KOI-13, the Kepler bandpass appears to probe atmospheric layers hotter than the planet's equilibrium temperature. For KOI-13, we detect a never-before-seen third cosine harmonic with an amplitude of 6.7 ± 0.3 ppm and a phase shift of −1.1 ± 0.1 rad in the phase curve residual, possibly due to its spin-orbit misalignment. We report derived planetary parameters for all six planets, including masses from ellipsoidal variations and Doppler beaming, and compare our results to published values when available. Our results nearly double the number of Kepler exoplanets with measured phase curve variations, thus providing valuable constraints on the properties of hot Jupiters.


The purpose of this paper is to determine the variables that influence venture capital supply in Sub-Sahara Africa. The study developed econometric models and examined a 10-year period (2006 to 2015) pertaining to eight (8) Sub-Sahara African countries namely: Botswana, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda. The empirical model includes six determinants (initial public offering, market capitalisation, unemployment rate, foreign direct investment inflow, inflation rate and trade openness). Secondary data was utilised for the study. The primary sources of data were the World Bank Development indicators and Preqin data base. All the statistical analyses in the study were performed using E-views version 8. Panel data models of pooled, fixed and random effects were employed. The results suggest that there is a significant positive relationship between initial public offering, market capitalisation and venture capital supply. Second, there is no significant relationship between unemployment rate, foreign direct investment inflows, trade openness and venture capital supply. Based on the empirical findings, this study recommends that Sub-Sahara African governments should attempt to develop their economies by improving infrastructure and corporate governance. There is also a need for African countries to develop the equity market.


How do technology-based entrepreneurs transform technological ideas into business opportunities? We explore how individual's self-regulatory focus and institutional forces influence in the opportunity construction process. This research addresses the apparent paradox between the exploration efforts of the entrepreneur to find a use for the technological idea, with the institutional pressure advance to opportunity exploitation. We use an inductive multiple-case study with a sample of three technology-based entrepreneurs to shed some light on the phenomena. The results suggest that there is a two-stage process in the transformation of an idea into an opportunity; entrepreneur's ability to moderate their self-regulatory focus is seen to play an important role in this process. These findings hold several implications for entrepreneurs and stakeholders interested in promoting technology-based entrepreneurship.


Five Sinopoda species in the okinawana-group including one new species from central and south-western China are treated in the current paper: S. cochlearia Zhang, Zhang Zhang, 2015, S. fasciculata Jäger, Gao Fei, 2002, S. guangyuanensis sp. nov., S. hamata (Fox, 1937) and S. wangi Song Zhu, 1999. The female of S. fasciculata is described for the first time. New province records are provided as well as photos of copulatory organs and habitus.


In this paper, we first generalize a recent work of Zheng and Tse on diversity-multiplexing tradeoff (DMT) for some rank-deficient channels (poor scattering). We show that rank deficiency lowers DMT curves from that of i.i.d. Rayleigh fading channels. We show an interesting observation that suggests a fractional diversity gain may be possible at integer multiplexing gains. As the scattering becomes rich, the DMT approaches that of the i.i.d. Rayleigh fading channels. We next focus on spatially correlated multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channels. We show that spatial correlation does not change the DMT but still degrades the outage performance and analyze such a degradation at high SNR


This discussion paper explores the problems of operating systems support when implementing concurrency controls at the level of the instruction set in processors designed for multiand manycore chips. It introduces the SVP model and its implementation in DRISC processors to a level of detail required to understand these problems. The major contribution of the paper is in analysing the issues faced in porting operating system functionality onto such processors. The paper covers the issues of job scheduling, dynamic resource management, memory protection and security. It provides examples in μTC (a language based on the SVP model) of how resource management and security issues are managed. It concludes that the implementation of concurrency controls in a processor's instruction set is very disruptive. However, the author sees no alternatives if mainstream computing is ever to be served effectively by multiand many core processors.


At a factory which produces a wide variety of products such as ASIC's or microcomputers, it is necessary to detect any machine causing a bottleneck and return it to a high level of performance for fast and effective production. This paper introduces a workflow control system called "JUSTICE/MORAL" (just time process control system/method of optimum-buffer restriction and adjustment logic) which dynamically detects a machine causing a bottleneck and feeds work to that machine at an appropriate time. The advantages of this system are as follows: (1) manufacturing cycle time can be reduced by an average of 13% and a maximum of 50% and (2) throughput can be increased up to approximately 10%. Part of this system has been installed in our factory. We have seen factory cycle time improve by approximately 20% in the two month period from July to September 1998. Also, the machine causing the bottleneck was found quickly; as a result, the utilization of this machine increased by 3%,.


Objective: To evaluate the prenatal care assistance provided to women assisted at delivery and examine the relevance of laboratory tests to the quality of prenatal care. Methods: A cross-sectional cohort study carried out in a university referral hospital, in the city of Santa Cruz-RN, from June to July 2014, including 50 pregnant women assisted at delivery. The women were between 18-40 years old and presented low obstetric risk. Data was collected from the prenatal medical chart and through a structured questionnaire. The characterization of the prenatal assistance adequacy was developed based on guidelines of the Prenatal and Puerperium Humanization Program (PPHP) and the Prenatal and Postpartum Technical Manual (PPTM). A descriptive analysis of the data was performed and the chi-square test was used for verification of differences between proportions. Results: It was observed that 86% (n=43) of the women initiated the prenatal care assistance early and had an average of 7.3 appointments. The clinical obstetric procedures had five or more records in 58% (n=29) of the sample. When assessed the laboratory tests records, a low percentage of adequacy was found in the 2nd recommended routine testing (32%, n=16). According to the parameters (PPHP and PPTM), prenatal care was suitable only in 24% (n=12) of the cases. When evaluated the classification of prenatal care assistance without the use of laboratory tests, the adequacy rose to 48% (n=24), presenting a statistically significant difference (p<0.001). Conclusion: Access to prenatal care assistance was satisfactory; however, its quality was deficient, and the major weakness seems to be related to the records of laboratory tests. Descriptors: Prenatal Care; Quality of Health Care; Blood Tests.


A sawtooth-free period is produced following the pellet injection in the pellet fuelled discharge of qa = 3.4 (where qa is the safety factor at the plasma boundary) in the HL-2A tokamak. Establishment of the current profile such as in the hybrid scenario is studied under the condition of pellet injection in HL-2A. It is shown that a q-profile of weak negative shear is produced immediately after the pellet injection, and it then evolves to a broad flat profile with q0 > 1 (where q0 is the safety factor at the centre). The measured MHD mode structures evidence consistencies of the evaluated q-profile with locations of the q = 1 surface in the sawtoothing period and of the q = 2 surface in the sawtooth-free period. TRANSP analysis indicates that the energy confinement is enhanced substantially during and after pellet injection, which is resulted from the q-profile optimization and the plasma density peaking.


Graph convolutional networks (GCNs) have achieved remarkable learning ability for dealing with various graph structural data recently. In general, deep GCNs do not work well since graph convolution in conventional GCNs is a special form of Laplacian smoothing, which makes the representation of different nodes indistinguishable. In the literature, multi-scale information was employed in GCNs to enhance the expressive power of GCNs. However, over-smoothing phenomenon as a crucial issue of GCNs remains to be solved and investigated. In this paper, we propose two novel multi-scale GCN frameworks by incorporating self-attention mechanism and multi-scale information into the design of GCNs. Our methods greatly improve the computational efficiency and prediction accuracy of the GCNs model. Extensive experiments on both node classification and graph classification demonstrate the effectiveness over several state-of-the-art GCNs. Notably, the proposed two architectures can efficiently mitigate the over-smoothing problem of GCNs, and the layer of our model can even be increased to $64$.


The phenomenon of failed states might be expected to lead to the development of mass–based social movements to address the typically ensuing social problems. This article explores the general failure of reformist insurgencies to develop in failed states, using analyses of Nigeria's Bakassi Boys and Oodua People's Congress, and references to other armed groups. The cause of this failure is found in the legacy of patronage politics, especially the strategies of rulers who monopolized economic opportunities as a way of controlling people. As centralized patronage networks fragment, popular movements develop to challenge this control. Local political entrepreneurs, however, continue to dominate local markets, including clandestine ones, and use this social domination to buy off members of mass movements. As their new patrons give them access to weapons and protection against rivals, the organizational position of members who pursue individual economic interests is enhanced, while the people with more overt ideological agendas are marginalized.


The inhibition effect of nitrotetrazolium blue chloride (NTBC) on copper corrosion in 0.1 M H2SO4 solution was investigated by quantum chemical calculations, molecular dynamic (MD) simulations, electrochemical measurements, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) surface morphological examination. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements were also employed to study the adsorbed layer of NTBC on the copper surface. Adsorption behaviors of NTBC on copper surfaces were studied by MD simulations. The inhibition effect of NTBC was further confirmed by the results of electrochemical measurements and surface morphological examination. The NTBC increased the total resistance of the copper corrosion process according to the results of EIS due to formation of an absorption layer on the copper surface. Potentiodynamic polarization curves indicated that the corrosion rate decreased prominently with the addition of NTBC into H2SO4 solution, as the increasing concentration of NTBC caused a decreasing current density (icorr). The optimal concentration of NTBC as an inhibitor for the corrosion of copper in 0.1 M H2SO4 solutions was determined to be 500 ppm according to electrochemical and morphological studies. Quantum chemical calculations were employed to study the electronic properties of NTBC to ascertain the correlation between the inhibitive effect and the molecular structure. Both the experimental and theoretical results are in good agreement with each other in this regard and confirm that NTBC is an effective inhibitor. The quantum chemical calculations and MD simulations provided strong evidence that the superior inhibition effect of NTBC is due to its ability to adsorb strongly at copper surfaces.


Abstract The majority of migrant workers target those countries in southern Africa that have stronger economies. Irregular migrants are in a particularly vulnerable position, and this article discusses the protection that this category of persons may expect to experience in the southern African region. It traverses the international, continental and regional instruments providing protection to irregular migrants, and considers the constitutional and legislative frameworks in relation to social protection in Botswana and South Africa. The article concludes by recommending that the broader notion of "social protection", rather than the narrower concept of "social security", should be emphasized. Job creation programmes are essential. It suggests that the advantages of the free movement of people in the region should be explored and encouraged. The article also supports the notion that a regional policy that seeks to balance the flow of migrants in the Southern African Development Community should be adopted.


This thesis surveys and implements some calibration methods for the SABR and Heston models. Hagan (2002) examined the effect of the SABR parameters on the skew in order to determine which parameters may be redundant. Hagan and West (2005) found that by fixing one of the parameters in the SABR model, the remaining parameters were stable over time. We implement a SABR calibrator to confirm that the parameters are stable over time. We then examine the effects of the five Heston parameters on the skew in order to determine if any of the parameters are redundant. Calibrators where some parameters have been fixed and calibrators where no parameters have been fixed are implemented. The performance of these calibrators is then compared based on three criteria: the stability of the parameters over time, the fit of the solution and the computational efficiency of the calibrator. We find that the Heston parameters are more stable if the redundant parameters are fixed, the computation time is less and the fit is slightly worse. All implementations are done in the context of the South African market. The calibrators are programmed in Matlab and the code is included in the appendix. 1 Un iv rsi ty of Ca pe To wn The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it is to be published without full acknowledgement of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or noncommercial research purposes only. Published by the University of Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. Un ive rsi ty f C ap e T ow n


It has been shown by Bettie, Garrett, and Garrett and Willows, that when certain salts are heated up to 300-400oC. one can observe the discharge of positive and negative electricity. This phenomenon is observed more particularly in the case of the halogen salts of cadimum, zinc and ammonium. The researches of Schmidt and Sheard have shown that the discharge is due to two factors, (1) emission of the charges from the surface of the heated salt, and (2) to the conductivity of the salt vapours themselves. The thermionic effect of the above-mentioned salts was studied in detail by Prof. O. W. Richardson and his pupils, while some investigations of the electrical properties of the salt vapours were made by Schmidt in the papers referred to above. The object of the present research was to the current passing in the salt vapours. The Thermionic Effect of the Salt and the Conductivity of the Salt Vapours. Some experiments were carried out in order to test whether the conductivity of vapours is due to charges which have diffused to other parts of the apparatus from the surface of the heated salt. For this purpose the vapours were investigated after passing through a cylindrical condenser in which the electric force was strong enough to sweep all charged particles to the electrodes. The apparatus used consisted of a small bulb A (fig. 1), in which the cadmium iodide was placed. The vapour at first passed through the plug of glass wool B to stop the large ions which might be produced during the heating of salt, then entered the condenser K1, where the smaller ions could be removed by the electric field. The outer coating of the condenser K1 was obtained by platinising the inner surface of gases tube with a "liquid platinum" (from Deutsche Gold und Silber Scheide Anstalt) and was connected to earth. As the inner coating of the condenser a glass rod covered with the same substance was used, and was connected by a a platinum wire the source of electromotive force.


The lipid phosphatase Pten (phosphatase and tensin homologue on chromosome 10) is a key tumour suppressor gene and an important regulator of neuronal signalling. Pten mutations have been identified in patients with autism spectrum disorders, characterized by macrocephaly, impaired social interactions and communication, repetitive behaviour, intellectual disability, and epilepsy. Pten enzymatic activity is regulated by a cluster of phosphorylation sites at the C-terminus of the protein. Here we specifically focussed on the role of Pten T366 phosphorylation and generated a knock-in mouse line in which Pten T366 was substituted with alanine (PtenT366A/T366A). We identify that phosphorylation of Pten at T366 controls neuron size and connectivity of brain circuits involved in sensory processing. We show in behavioural tests that PtenT366/T366A mice exhibit cognitive deficits and selective sensory impairments, with significant differences in male individuals. We identify restricted cellular overgrowth of cortical neurons in PtenT366A/T366A brains, linked to increases in both dendritic arborization and soma size. In a combinatorial approach of anterograde and retrograde monosynaptic tracing using rabies virus, we characterize differences in connectivity to the primary somatosensory cortex of PtenT366A/T366A brains, with imbalances in long-range cortico-cortical input to neurons. We conclude that phosphorylation of Pten at T366 controls neuron size and connectivity of brain circuits involved in sensory processing and propose that PTEN T366 signalling may account for a subset of autism-related functions of Pten.


The study examines the role of online discussion forums (ODFs) in the learning process, using Garrison, Anderson and Archer's (2000) Community of Inquiry (CoI) model, particularly on the development of metacognitive skills, higher-order thinking skills and collaborative learning, all of which provide the impetus for workplace skills, such as analytical skills and teamwork. To achieve that, the study adopts the qualitative content analysis method to examine learners' text submissions in the ODF. An ODF was set up on www.easyclass.com (an online learning management system), and students were invited to post their submissions in the forum bi-weekly for three months. A series of prompts from the course instructor were given to the learners in the ODF bi-weekly after the f2f classroom interaction. The prompts were designed to elicit students' responses, which would provide evidence of students' learning, such as application of theory to practice, the abstraction of major ideas from a text, appropriate inferences and synthesis of ideas, etc. The analysis of the findings demonstrated evidence of metacognitive awareness, which was facilitated by the asynchronous nature of the discussion forum, as it gives learners sufficient time to engage in thorough research and careful thought before posting their submission. The findings also demonstrated that peer-to-peer knowledge dissemination is best stimulated using the ODF, as it gives learners opportunities to participate actively and to collaborate with their peers in the learning process.


A pairing interaction fitted to be applied in nuclei with active particles moving close to the continuum threshold or even immersed in the continuum itself is introduced. It is found that the effects of the nonresonant continuum upon physically meaningful quantities is unimportant. We applied the theory to heavy tin isotopes and good agreement between theory and the very few available experimental data is found.