Author(s): Mueller, Michael T | Advisor(s): Pisano, Albert P | Abstract: This dissertation describes the initial development of a polymer-based, microcantilever infrared sensor. The development of the sensor is bio-inspired and based upon the long-range infrared sensor found in the pyrophilous jewel beetle Melanophila acuminata, which is able to seek out forest fires from more than 50 km away. Based on several proposed models of the infrared detector found in Melanophila acuminata, as well as published in vivo experiments, the feasibility of polymer-based infrared thermal sensors was explored and developed. Polymer materials were chosen due to their high absorptivity in the infrared range due to vibrational resonance modes characteristic of their organic bonds. Polymeric materials investigated in the course of this work include the polysaccharide and biomaterial chitin, its deacetylated derivative, chitosan, and the work-horse polymer of the semiconductor industry, novolak-resin-based photoresist. Chitin and chitosan are particularly noteworthy polymers for exploration in infrared detection due to their natural absorbance of infrared radiation near the 3 um and 10 um bands, which are important for the detection of the temperatures of warm engines and human body temperature, respectively. Because only limited work (primarily focused on electrodeposition) has been focused on the microscale patterning of chitosan, a photolithography process for chitosan and chitin was developed to allow the integration of the material into a variety of microelectromechanical systems processes. In addition to optical / infrared sensing, this process has a variety of potential applications in tissue engineering, protein engineering, and lab-on-a-chip devices. To demonstrate these areas of use, surface functionalization was demonstrated using bioconjugation to attach a protein to a patterned chitosan surface. Thin films of chitosan and chitin were characterized using laser profilometry to identify the effect of temperature on the film stress, and contact angle to determine the degree of hydrophobicity or hydrophilicity at the chitosan or chitin surface.Chitin in the infrared sensor of Melanophila acuminata functions as a thermomechanical material that has a high coefficient of thermal expansion and strong optical absorption in the infrared due to its chemical composition and organic bonds (absorption which matches its forest fire target). Based on this infrared detection mechanism, the potential exists to develop a broad, novel class of polymer-based, biomimetic infrared sensors having high CTE and spectral absorption tuned to a target of interest.Towards this objective, a photoresist-polysilicon cantilever bimorph prototype was designed, fabricated, and tested. Two types of this device were formed with different readouts; one required an optical readout while the other used a capacitive readout. Devices were characterized using optical and thermal methods. Prototypes were found to suffer from the presence of residual stress which caused significant out-of-plane deflections upon release. Such strain gradients should be minimized (by modifying the thermal processing steps or by annealing) to maximize the capacitive output signal. The optically-interrogated cantilever was observed to bend due to both stimulation with heat and with infrared radiation. The presence of a human finger in the vicinity of the silicon die was sufficient to cause cantilever deflection that was readily observable using optical techniques. The interdigitated cantilever array using capacitive readout was found to be highly sensitive, with a dynamic range g500:1, a peak spectral sensitivity from 600 nm to 1.2 um, and a threshold sensitivity of 2 uW/cm2.


The efficacy and tolerability of cinnarizine (75 mg, at bedtime) in migraine prophylaxis and the presence of possible predictive factors for therapeutic responsiveness were evaluated in an open-label pilot trial. Eighty consecutive outpatients suffering from migraine with or without aura participated in the study. After 12 weeks of therapy, 55 patients experienced a greater than 66% reduction in headache frequency and were considered responders. A significant reduction in the number of migraine days (mean reduction 58 +/- 8%) and in intake of medication to treat acute attacks (mean reduction 55 +/- 11%) was also observed. Cinnarizine was well tolerated, as documented by the low number of adverse effects. Failure to respond to previous prophylactic treatments was a negative predictive factor correlated with a poor prognosis. This study, even bearing in mind its limitations as an open-label trial, suggests that cinnarizine might be an effective prophylactic anti-migraine agent. The clinical characteristics of migraine patients do not help to predict response to treatment.


One of the primary concerns of countries with high levels of biodiversity is the conservation of species and natural environments. This prioritization is based in part on a recognition of the importance of ecosystem services, understood as the various benefits that humans derive from ecosystems, which may be developed into goods and services that are transacted in markets. The Nagoya Protocol is an international agreement whose purpose is to provide a framework under which countries can support biodiversity conservation by regulating access to native genetic materials. Such materials may be of interest to companies, organizations, and institutions for commercial, non-commercial, or both purposes. Furthermore, genetic resources constitute important inputs in numerous industries, including those in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, botany and horticultural, agricultural, personal hygiene and cosmetics, and food and beverage sectors. The present study explores whether there is a relationship between biodiversity, the implementation of systems to protect natural areas and the quality of institutions, and the utilization of the Nagoya Protocol framework in individual countries. A Probit model was estimated to test these relationships, and a Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) was conducted to identify whether the aforementioned factors explain the execution of access and benefit sharing (ABS) agreements, as measured through the lodging of Internationally Recognized Certificates of Compliance (IRCC) in the Access and Benefit-Sharing Clearing-House (ABSCH) of the Convention on Biological Diversity. The findings indicated that biodiversity conservation policies, specifically the designation of protected natural areas, are important factors that might motivate actors in Nagoya Protocol member countries to utilize the protocol system. The CCA also revealed that the quality of institution factors such as the protection of property rights, the efficiency of legal frameworks for dispute resolution, investor protection, and a low government regulation burden. also help to explain the utilization of ABS agreements.


BACKGROUND
Extensive full-thickness burns require replacement of both epidermis and dermis. In designing skin replacements, the goal has been to re-create this model and make a product which has both essential components.

METHODS
In the present study, we developed procedures for establishing confluent, stratified layers of cultured human keratinocytes on the surface of modified collagen-chitosan scaffold that contains fibroblasts. The culture methods for propagation of keratinocytes and fibroblasts isolated from human neonatal foreskin were developed. The growth and proliferation of normal human keratinocytes were evaluated in serum-free (keratinocyte growth medium) and our modified medium. Characterization of human keratinocytes was determined by using pan-keratin and anti-involucrin monoclonal antibodies. For fabrication of relevant biodegradable and biocompatible collagen-chitosan porous scaffold with improved biostability, modified method of freeze-gelation was used. In generating organotypic co-cultures, epidermal keratinocytes were plated onto the upper surface of scaffold containing embedded fibroblasts.

RESULTS
The results showed that the growth of isolated human skin fibroblasts and keratinocytes in our modified medium was more than that in the serum-free medium. The different evaluations of collagen-chitosan scaffold showed that it is relevant to growth of cells (fibroblast and keratinocyte) and has a good flexibility in manipulation of the living skin equivalents.

CONCLUSION
These findings indicate that the integration of collagen-chitosan scaffold with co-cultured keratinocyte and fibroblast in vitro provides a potential source of living skin for grafting in vivo.


To maintain the long-term stability of the implant, it is important to minimize the loss of bone tissue around the implant. Several clinical studies have shown that the average loss of the crestal bone around the implants is 1.5-2%. mm during the first year after prosthetics has been done. In this article, the author suggests a number of hypotheses related to the loss of crestal bone. He comes to the conclusion that stress and overstrain are the main factors that lead to the loss of crestal bone during the first year of implant functioning. The author notes that in the hypotheses presented in the article there are causes that can influence the loss of bone around the implant in one way or another. At the same time, it is necessary to carry out the appropriate medical correction of the oral cavity through antibiotic therapy and antiinflammatory drugs, which will also prevent the process of losing the crestal bone.


The study was aimed to evaluate the number of TAMs and to investigate whether they have association with microvessels density and patients' survival times. 46 cases of melanomas, divided into four groups according to the Breslow scale, were tested immunohistochemically with antibodies anti-CD68, CD163, iNOS to vizualized macrophages and anti-CD34 antibody to stain microvessels. The number of macrophages and the microvessels density were counted by hotspot analysis using an image analysis system. The study revealed increased numbers of CD68 and CD163 positive macrophages in successive stages of Breslow scale, but statistically significant differences were observed only between I and IV group for CD68 positive macrophages, and between I and III, IV group for CD163 positive macrophages. The mean number of the microvessels was significantly increased in group II, III, IV compared to group I. The correlative study showed significant positive correlations between the mean number of CD68 and CD163 positive macrophages and microvessels density. Moreover, the number of CD163 positive macrophages was associated inversely with patient's survival time. The results of our study may indicate that higher infiltration of macrophages, especially CD163 positive cells, is associated with more advanced melanomas, microvessels density and worse patient's prognosis.


: Raynaud's-Phenomenon. This is characterized by paroxysmal reduced perfusion and discoloration of fingers due to excess arte-rial vasoconstriction induced by cold tempera- ture and emotional stress. In primary Raynaud's-phenomenon no underlying disease is detected whereas secondary Raynaud's-phenomenon is


Important advances in the treatment of adult acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANLL) have occurred in the last ten years. The percentage of patients achieving complete remission has increased strikingly, the median duration of these remissions has lengthened, and the percentage of long-term survivors has risen. Ten years ago, a 25% remission rate for adults with ANLL was exceptional. Five years ago, complete remission rates of 35% to 45% were routine. (See the article in this issue by Coltman et al reporting results from a Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) study that enrolled patients in 1971 and 1972 [p 1342].) Today, complete remission rates of greater than 60% are regularly achieved using combinations that generally include an anthracycline antibiotic (daunorubicin hydrochloride or doxorubicin hydrochloride) and cytarabine. 1,2 A complete remission rate of 82% of all patients treated, not simply those receiving adequate trials, has been reported using a combination of daunorubicin, cytarabine, and


The fringe tracker system of the ASSI (Active Stabilization in Stellar Interferometry) beam combining table at the I2T interferometer is described and its performance evaluated. A new real{time algorithm for the optical path dierence (OPD) measurement is derived and validated. It is based on a sinusoidal phase modulation whose amplitude is optimized. It also allows automatic fringe detection at the beginning of an observation when scanning the OPD. The fringe tracker servo{loop bandwidth is adjusted by a numerical gain and ranges between 20 and 50 Hz in the reported experiments. On stars, fringe{locked sequences are limited to 20 s due to fringe jumps. However, the fringe tracker is able to recover the coherence area after a few seconds. Such a fringe tracker operation can last more than one hour. A fringe tracking accuracy of 85 nm is achieved for visibility ranging between 7 and 24%, a turbulence coherence time of approximately 9 ms at 0.85 m, a Fried parameter of around 14 cm at 0.5 m and an average light level of 100 000 photoevents/s, (typically visual magnitude 2 in the conditions of the experiment). Visibility losses are evaluated and are found to be mainly due to turbulent wavefront fluctuations on the two telescopes and to the static aberrations of the optical train. The measurements of OPD and angle of arrival are reduced to derive turbulence parameters: the coherence time, the average wind speed, the Fried parameter and the outer scale. Our estimations for the outer scale range between 20 and 120 m, with an average value of the order of 40 m. Both OPD and angle of arrival data, obtained on 15 m baseline and a 26 cm telescope diameter respectively, are fully compatible with the same modied Kolmogorov spectrum of the turbulence, taking into account a nite outer scale.


A monolayer of human diploid cell culture L-68 (21st and 30th passages) was infected with a intermediate variant of rubella vaccine strain Orlov and studied for 8 days by light and electron microscopy. Virus reproduction was associated with slight cytopathic effect; virions were detected in low amounts inside vacuoles and cisterns of the lamellar complex, groups of virions were found in the cytoplasm in association with cytomembranes and outside cells. Cell cultures differed by the cytopathic effect of the virus on the monolayer: microfocuses were found in the 21st passage culture, while in the 30th passage culture the monolayer was diffusely damaged.


This study discusses the unique and labour intensive practice of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) and suggests specific mechanization option/approaches for its mechanization. Despite the continuous growth in global human population, there still exist substantial labour shortages in the agricultural sector, because of outmigration of the work force. Much of the focus on agricultural research improvement efforts in recent decades has been on modifying crops' genetic potential more than on improving cropping practices, mechanization, automation and production systems. The demand for rice being a staple food for more than half of the world population will continue to increase, hence the need for increased yield. The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) has shown that by modifying crop, soil, water, intensive weeding and nutrient management, can under most of the circumstances evaluated to rise of the productivity of land, water, seeds, capital and labour used for irrigated rice production. However, SRI practices such as Paddy nursery, single seedling transplanting, single direct seeding, water management and intensive mechanical weeding requires specific mechanization approaches. This study summarizes and reflects on the cultivation practices and possible specific mechanization and automation through mechatronics and Information Technology application for the system of rice intensification (SRI).


The crystal and magnetic structure of the C15 Laves phase of HoMn2 was restudied using powder neutron diffraction. High-resolution spectra showed HoMn2 to remain cubic Fd3m below the magnetic transition temperature. The Ho spins assume a spin-canted ferromagnetic structure with 7.9 mu B per Ho atom. One out of four Mn sites carries a moment of 0.6 mu B induced by the strongly polarizing magnetic environment of ferromagnetically coupled near-neighbour (111) planes of rare-earth spins. A small thermal expansion anomaly accompanied by a spin reorientation is found at the Curie point of 25 K; the Neel point of the system lies at 31 K.


Training an effective predictive model with empirical risk minimization requires a distribution of the input training data that matches the testing data. Covariate shift can occur when the testing cases are not class-balanced, but the training is. In order to detect when class imbalance is present in a test sample (without labels), we propose to use statistical divergence based on the Wasserstein distance and optimal transport. Recently, slicing techniques have been proposed that provide computational and statistical advantages for the Wasserstein distance for high-dimensional spaces. In this work we presented a computationally simple approach to perform generalized slicing of the kernel-based Wasserstein distance and apply it as a two-sample test. The proposed landmark-based slicing chooses a single point to be the sole support vector to represent the witness function. We run pseudo-real experiments using the MNIST dataset and compare our method with maximum mean discrepancy (MMD). We have shown that our proposed methods perform better than MMD on these synthetic simulations of covariate shift.


This article discusses a study undertaken to enhance online service delivery by the South African Police Service (SAPS) by means of its website. It makes various recommendations to achieve this, following various investigations. The SAPS describes its primary goal as "service to the public". This is in line with the South African government's Batho Pele ("People first") initiative to improve the delivery of public services. However, as society is changing in response to the demands of the Internet Age, service providers (for the purpose of this study, police agencies) must, too, adjust. The application of e-Governance will enable these agencies to serve the public with a wide variety of information and services. This study makes recommendations in this regard as well. In the initial study for this work user needs regarding the establishment of the SAPS website were assessed. Subsequently a study was conducted to determine best practices in various English-speaking countries, using an evaluation framework compiled for this purpose. Based on the results gained a measuring instrument was designed to evaluate the SAPS website. Four expert evaluators were then requested to do so. The assessment of possible shortcomings of the SAPS website and recommendations for enhancing online service delivery and e-Governance by the study are set out in the article.


as well as those reported by others 6 show that splenectomy can be safely performed with good results even in patients who do not respond to PE. Other authors have done splenectomy to prevent relapses in TTP, confirming a reduction of the relapse rate with minimal morbidity.5,7 Overall, these findings suggest that splenectomy reduces the frequency of relapses and can induce prolonged remissions in refractory patients. The reason for clinical improvement after splenectomy remains elusive. Recently, the body of evidence supporting an autoimmune mechanism as the primary cause of endothelial damage in TTP has increased.9 If the preliminary reports suggesting an autoimmune basis for TTP are confirmed, 10 these findings could contribute to a better understanding of the role that the spleen plays in the pathogenesis of this disease.


Algorithms in varied fields use the idea of maintaining a distribution over a certain set and use the multiplicative update rule to iteratively change these weights. Their analyses are usually very similar and rely on an exponential potential function. In this survey we present a simple meta-algorithm that unifies many of these disparate algorithms and derives them as simple instantiations of the meta-algorithm. We feel that since this meta-algorithm and its analysis are so simple, and its applications so broad, it should be a standard part of algorithms courses, like "divide and conquer."


Recently streptokinase and urokinase have been shown to be useful in the nonoperative treatment of thromboembolic disease. Urokinase is emerging as a safer and more effective thrombolytic agent when applied either to definitively lyse spontaneous thrombosis where no underlying structural lesion is present or to serve as an adjunct prior to surgical reconstruction or transluminal angio plasty. The authors report a case of a high-risk cardiac patient in whom an embolic occlusion of the distal popliteal artery was completely recanalized by using a localized catheter infusion of urokinase. The source of the embolus was a left ventricular thrombus. No serious bleeding or proximal or distal embolic complications occurred. The potential hazards of fragmentation of the embolic source in the presence of systemic thombolysis, distal trifurcation embolization, and concomitant use of heparin are reviewed.


The purpose of this study is to figure out the spatial structure of knowledge network between regions through analysis of joint patent network in Korea. This study investigated regions which are located in power nodes with indicators of centrality, and sub community structures in network using Newman's community detecting method from 2000 to 2010. Above all, we could find scale free as the network characteristic of co-invention patent network. As a result, spatial structure of knowledge network was found to transform from regions clustered neighbors to scattered regions between 2000 and 2005. In addition communities have each two more power nodes as a core of networks. Moreover these poser nodes are also shift and centralizing southern Gyeonggi region and Daejeon region. The result of this study indicates spatial model of knowledge network is transforming urban systems between regions to hierarchical urban network system.


The increase of life-time together with the improvement of the social, sanitary and medical cares lead to the apparition of a cohort of "very old" subjects. The prevalence of symptoms compatible with colopathies among the olders is impressive. The spectrum of large bowel disease in the elderly is essentially similar to that found at a younger age but the incidence of some diseases increases with age. This review presents the specificity of colopathies of the olders and focuses on the following medical topics: irritable bowel disease (IBS), clostridium colitis, ischemic disease, iatrogenic disorders. The specificity of the "geriatric" patients should be integrated into diagnosis and clinical management.


The study Portrayal of Pak-US Relations in elite press of Pakistan and United States during Raja Pervaiz Ashraf Regime (June 2012-December 2012) is focused to study the relations between Pakistan and United States of America in the government of Pakistan's Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf who took charge as Prime Minister in June 2012. In this study the content analysis of the two newspapers is made where the editorials of elite pres i.e. Daily Dawn from Pakistan and Washington Post from United States were analyzed. In this study the framing theory is used in the theoretical framework. There are total 82 editorials regarding Pak-US relations that were analyzed, 29 editorials of Washington Post whereas 53 editorials of Daily Dawn. The study has shown that the newspapers of both the countries has mostly shown the unsatisfied behavior towards the issues and has criticized the foreign policy of their respective countries.


B25 Background: Team Up is a national pilot partnership among the American Cancer Society (ACS), U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Cancer Institute (NCI), and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Program agents from each national agency collaborated with local affiliates in six states to: 1) establish and strengthen partnership synergy at state and county levels; 2) identify, adopt and implement evidence-based interventions; and 3) improve breast and cervical screening among the most underserved women. We hypothesized that specific dimensions of partnership functioning are directly related to a partnership's synergy, a proximal indicator of success. With this focus, emphasis was placed on collaboration to create a system change and identify variations in state practice, identify how variations may affect achievement of programmatic goals either positively or negatively.
 Methods: Partnership members completed the Lasker and Weiss Partnership Self-Assessment tool four times over three years (2004-2007). The tool measures partnership collaboration processes (synergy), partnership functioning (leadership, management) and community-related challenges (communication). Semi-structured qualitative interviews supplemented the on-line Lasker and Weiss surveys.
 Results: Preliminary results suggest that state teams understand the purpose of their partnership, but the strength of partnerships and degree of synergy varied between state and national teams and over time. Teams with higher synergy scores (mean 3.8 out of mean 5.0) were more likely to accomplish program goals than those with lower scores.
 Conclusions: Partnerships and collaborations can be advantageous, especially more inclusive partnerships with broad participation and open communication. Group cohesion and recognition of goals throughout the life of a project are essential to partnership success, and to improve cancer screening in diverse communities.


Background & Aims: Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) remains a rare malignancy, ranking the leading lethal primary liver cancer worldwide. However, biological functions of integrator complex subunit 8 (INTS8) remain unknown in ICC. Thus, this research aimed to explore the potential role of INTS8, as well as develop a novel diagnosed or therapeutic target in ICC. Methods: Differently expressed genes in two GEO datasets were obtained by RRA package in R software. The "maftools" package was implemented to visualize the cholangiocarcinoma (CHOL) mutation data in TCGA database. The expression of INTS8 was detected by preforming quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry in cell lines and human samples, respectively. The association between subtypes of tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TICs) and INTS8 expression in CHOL was performed by using CIBERSORT tools. We evaluated a correlation between INTS8 expression and mismatch repair genes (MMRs) and DNA methyltransferases in pan-cancer analyses. Finally, the pan-cancer prognostic signatures of INTS8 were identified by univariate analyses. Results: We obtained the mutation landscape of a RRA gene set in CHOL. The expression of INTS8 was actually upregulated in ICC cell lines and human ICC samples. Furthermore, INTS8 expression is tightly associated with distinct landscape of TICs, the MMRs, and DNA methyltransferases in CHOL. In addition, the high INTS8 expression group presented a significantly poor outcomes, including overall survival (OS), disease-specific survival (DSS) and disease-free interval (DFI) (P < 0.05) in multi-cancers. Conclusions: INTS8 contributes to the tumorigenesis and progression of ICC. Our study highlights the significant roles of INTS8 in ICC and pan-cancers, providing a valuable molecular target for cancer research.


Biobased specialty firm Amyris will wrap up a years-long vitamin E deal by selling its royalty rights to partner DSM for $57 million. Amyris will no longer be in the vitamin E business, but the two firms will continue to work together. In 2017, Amyris sold its plant in Brotas, Brazil, to DSM. Now DSM will produce Amyris's molecules for markets including flavors and fragrances, skin care, sweeteners, and cannabinoids. That deal will be worth up to $40 million over the next 3 years, Amyris says.


Olfactory receptors (ORs), which belong to the G-protein-coupled receptor family, have been widely studied as ectopically expressed receptors in various human tissues, including the skin. However, the physiological functions of only a few OR types have been elucidated in skin cells. All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) is a well-known medication for various skin diseases. However, many studies have shown that ATRA can have adverse effects, resulting from the suppression of cell proliferation. Here, we investigated the involvement of OR7A17 in the ATRA-induced suppression of human keratinocyte (HaCaT) proliferation. We demonstrated that OR7A17 is expressed in HaCaT keratinocytes, and its expression was downregulated by ATRA. The ATRA-induced downregulation of OR7A17 was attenuated via RAR α or RAR γ antagonist treatment, indicating that the effects of ATRA on OR7A17 expression were mediated through nuclear retinoic acid receptor signaling. Moreover, we found that the overexpression of OR7A17 induced the proliferation of HaCaT cells while counteracting the antiproliferative effect of ATRA. Mechanistically, OR7A17 overexpression reversed the ATRA-induced attenuation of Ca2+ entry. Our findings indicated that ATRA suppresses cell proliferation through the downregulation of OR7A17 via RAR α- and γ-mediated retinoid signaling. Taken together, OR7A17 is a potential therapeutic target for ameliorating the anti-proliferative effects of ATRA.


We analyzed the chest CT findings in nine patients with biopsy-proven eosinophilic granuloma. Multiple cystic lesions with relatively thin walls seems characteristic of this disease. Small nodular lesions and increased density were observed in many cases. Pleural or subpleural lesions were found in all cases. In seven cases, the distribution of the lesions were predominantly in the upper or upper and middle lung fields. In the remaining two cases however, lesions were found homogeneously throughout the whole lung. In order to analyze the site of the lesions in the secondary pulmonary lobule, a specimen obtained from an open lung biopsy was inflated and fixed using fixative by Heitzman's method. Observation of the slices of the specimen by dissection microscope and their soft X-ray radiographs demonstrated that the lesion existed in the central area of acini. However, CT of the patient before open lung biopsy didn't showed centriacinar distribution. The disparity is because a certain number of lesions lobule is necessary to identify the centriacinar pattern by CT.


Tissue homeostasis requires a tight control of stem cells to maintain quiescence in normal conditions, and ensure a balance between progenitor cell production and the need to preserve a stem cell pool in repair conditions. Using ex-vivo and in-vivo genetic approaches, we provide evidence that primary cilium-mediated repressive Hedgehog (Hh) signalling is required to maintain skeletal muscle stem cells (MuSCs) in a quiescent state. De-repression and further activation of Hh signalling initiates MuSC entry and progression through the cell cycle, and controls self-renewal to ensure efficient repair of injured muscles. We propose a model whereby disassembly of primary cilia upon MuSC activation induces a switch in Hh signalling from a repressive to active state that controls exit from quiescence. Positive Hh response in bi-potential muscle progenitor cells regulates also cell cycle progression and drives MuSC self-renewal. These findings identify Hh signalling as a major regulator of MuSC activity. Highlights Cilia-containing quiescent MuSCs are Hh signalling suppressed MuSC activation coincides with a switch to active Hh signalling Smo mutation delays cell cycle entry and progression, and causes impaired self-renewal Ptch1 mutation promotes exit from quiescence, rapid cell cycle and increased self-renewal Graphical abstract


One of nine women in Swedenrun the risk of getting breast cancer before 75 years of age. The diagnosis ofbreast cancer can be perceived as a stressful life incident which may lead to asudden change in life. The nurse's task is to support and be there for the patient from diagnosis. Aim:To describe women with breast cancer experience of meeting with the nurse fromdiagnosis to treatment. Method: Aliterature review based on 11 qualitative items. Results: Four themes were formed which was the importance ofcompetence, the importance of empathy and sympathy, the importance of person-centeredcare and the importance of accessibility. The theme named importance of person-centeredcare formed three subthemes which was need for information, personalrelationship and support and hope. Conclusion:Since the meeting with the nurse is experienced individually, it's veryimportant that the nurse approach to a patient-centered meeting with eachwoman. Further research should be conducted with the purpose to helping nursesto achieve a good meeting with patients.


This paper aims to add further research to the field of downside risk, and downside risk measures' influence on the average returns in the U.S. stock market. The study also examines and compares how well the Fama-French three-factor model, Carhart four-factor model, Fama-French five-factor Model, q-four factor model, and q-five factor model explain these average returns. This was done by constructing zero-cost portfolios, split into two weight classes of stocks in the portfolios. The study shows relatively strong results for a major group of the downside risk measures. The measures of the major group show significance and good explanatory power; this could lay ground for further research and use of downside risk measures in financial contexts. Regarding the minor group of the downside risk measures, the result gives ambiguous implications about the way the asset pricing models can explain those residual mean returns. Therefore, the minor group could not establish what asset pricing model is preferred over other models.


Purpose of review Healthcare disparities are health differences that adversely affect disadvantaged populations. In the United States, research shows that women of color, in particular Black and Hispanic women and their offspring, experience disproportionately higher mortality, severe maternal morbidity, and neonatal morbidity and mortality. This review highlights recent population health sciences and comparative effectiveness research that discuss racial and ethnic disparities in maternal and perinatal outcomes. Recent findings Epidemiological research confirms the presence of maternal and neonatal disparities in national and multistate database analysis. These disparities are associated with geographical variations, hospital characteristics and practice patterns, and patient demographics and comorbidities. Proposed solutions include expanded perinatal insurance coverage, increased maternal healthcare public funding, and quality improvement initiatives/efforts that promote healthcare protocols and practice standardization. Summary Obstetrical healthcare disparities are persistent, prevalent, and complex and are associated with systemic racism and social determinants of health. Some of the excess disparity gap can be explained through community-, hospital-, provider-, and patient-level factors. Providers and healthcare organizations should be mindful of these disparities and strive to promote healthcare justice and patient equity. Several solutions provide promise in closing this gap, but much effort remains.


The paper describes initial findings regarding the performance tradeoffs between cluster computing where the participating processors are independent machines connected by a high speed switch and desktop multiprocessing where the processors reside within a single workstation and share a common memory. While interprocessor communication time has typically been cited as the limiting force on performance in the cluster, bus and memory contention have had similar effects in shared memory systems. The advent of high speed interconnects and improved bus and memory access speeds have enhanced the performance curves of both platforms. We present comparisons of the execution times of three applications with varying levels of data dependencies-numerical integration, matrix multiplication, and Jacobi iteration across three environments: the PVM distributed memory model, the PVM shared memory model, and the Solaris threads package.


We present a new general concentration-of-measure inequality and illustrate its power by applications in random combinatorics. The results find direct applications in some problems of learning theory.


In this article an observer is introduced for state estimation of nonlinear deterministic systems. The observer gain is computed by a Riccati differential equation similar to the extended Kalman filter. The modification of the Riccati differential equation for the proposed observer is based on the application of H,-filtering and robust control methods, which allows an effective treatment of the nonlinearities. Thus, the high performance of the extended Kalman filter can be further improved.


Farm animals often suffer from diseases of the gastro-intestinal tract. Modulation of natural defence mechanisms by dietary additives may be one way to improve intestinal health and food safety. In mammals, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) play an important role in the host defence of skin and mucosal surfaces. We sought for novel members of known antimicrobial peptide families using in silico analysis and discovered 7 unknown chicken beta-defensins (AvBDs) and one chicken cathelicidin (CMAP27). High, breed-independent AvBD9 mRNA expression was found in crop and esophagus tissue. Promoter analysis of the AvBD9 gene as well as AvBD9 mRNA expression variability observed in the crop tissue of young animals, suggested an inducible nature of the AvBD9 gene. CMAP27 mRNA was highly and predominantly expressed in myeloid and lymphoid tissues. Abundant CMAP27 protein was found in heterophilic granulocytes, but not in other peripheral blood cells. Considerable infiltration of CMAP27 containing heterophils was observed in the jejunum of Salmonella-challenged 4 day-old chicken broilers at 8 and 48 hours post infection as compared to non-infected animals; however, CMAP27 expression was not induced in intestinal epithelial cells. Synthetic AvBD9 and CMAP27 peptides showed potent broad spectrum antimicrobial activity against bacteria and fungi. Their potent antimicrobial properties and possible upregulation and mobilisation at mucosal interfaces render these peptides prime candidates to be investigated in studies addressing AMP modulation by dietary modulation.


Nucleotide sequences of the chloroplast gene rbcL from 42 species of the fern tribe Physematieae (Dryopteridaceae) were analyzed to gain insights into the inter- and intrageneric relationships and the generic circumscriptions in the tribe. The phylogenetic relationships were inferred using the neighbor-joining and maximum-parsimony methods, and both methods produced largely congruent trees. These trees reveal that: (1) Athyrium, Cornopteris, Pseudocystopteris, and Anisocampium form a clade and Athyrium is polyphyletic; (2) Deparia sensu lato is monophyletic and Dictyodroma formosana is included in the Deparia clade; (3) Diplaziopsis forms a clade with Homalosorus, which is isolated from the other genera of the Physematieae; (4) Monomelangium is included in the monophyletic Diplazium clade; and (5) Rhachidosorus is not closely related to either Athyrium or Diplazium.


We report 2 siblings diagnosed with Farber's disease type IV. Type IV is a subtype of Farber's disease that presents in the neonatal period and usually initially lacks the triad of symptoms, including painful and deformed joints, subcutaneous nodules, and hoarse cry, classically seen in the other subtypes. While it is well known that all neonates with type IV present with hepatomegaly, a previously unrecognized presentation is that of cholestatic jaundice and rapidly evolving liver failure. We describe 2 siblings who presented with jaundice in the neonatal period and discuss the clinical data and variation in pathologic findings that should be considered for the diagnosis.


GBA1 mutations result in excess storage of glucosylceramide (GC) and the induction of Gaucher disease (GD). GD is frequently associated with elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and the development of brain inflammation. The mechanisms underlying GC-driven brain inflammation in GD are ill-defined. Recently, we described immune complexes of GC-specific IgG autoantibodies in experimental and clinical GD, which induced massive complement activation and C5a generation. Further, we found that C5a-mediated activation of its cognate C5a receptor 1 (C5aR1) tips the balance between GC formation and degradation, thereby fueling excess GC accumulation and inflammation in visceral tissues in experimental and clinical GD.
 Previously, the C5a/C5aR1 axis was found to regulate the blood brain barrier integrity in systemic lupus and promote neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease. Here, we determined the production of C5a in the brain of Gba1 D409V/knockout (9V/null) GD-prone mice. C5a production in the brain of 9V/null mice was markedly elevated, when compared to WT control mice. Also, 9V/null mice suffered from massive accumulation of GC in the brain and loss of neurons. To assess the relevance of C5a/C5aR1 axis activation for brain inflammation in GD, we targeted glucocerebrosidase (GCase) with conduritol B epoxide (CBE) in WT and C5aR1−/− mice. Strikingly, CBE-injected WT mice died within 30 days. In contrast, all C5aR1−/− mice survived the 60 days observation window, were protected from CBE-induced accumulation of GC in the brain, showed a marked reduction of microglial cell activation and only a minor loss of neurons. Our data suggest that the C5a/C5aR1 axis is a critical driver of neurodegeneration in experimental GD.


In the advancing ubiquitous computing, users are increasingly confronted with a tremendous amount of information proactively provided via notifications from versatile applications and services, through multiple devices and screens in their environment. The human's attention is becoming a new significant bottleneck. Further, the latest computing trends with emerging new devices including versatile IoT devices, and contexts, such as smart cities and vehicles, are even accelerating this situation. In such situations, "attention management", including attention representation, sensing, prediction, analysis, and adaptive behavior in the computer systems, are needed in our computing system. Following last years' successful UbiTtention 2016 and UbiTtention 2017 workshops with up to 50 participants, the UbiTtention 2018 workshop brings together researchers and practitioners from academy and industry to explore the management of human attention and notifications with versatile devices and smart situations to overcome information overload and overchoice.


Electrolytic lesions were placed in several structures of the CNS in lactating cats. Lesions in the periventricular region of the caudal hypothalamus resulted in stoppage of established lactation. This effect was due to failure of milk removal. Oxytocin when administered from the 1st postoperative day permitted lactation to continue, though at a subnormal level. The results suggest that through the periventricular diencephalic region course afferent fibers to the neurohypophysis which are involved in the oxytocin reflex release induced by suckling.


To the Editor: Rolfe and Pearson! conclude that foreign medical graduates are rated less well in communication skills than other graduates, and that the reasons for this may be language difficulties and a lack of formal training in interpersonal skills.' The letters responding to this article note that language background is an important variable that requires independent consideration when assessing the effectiveness of communication skills training programs. Gloverand Young" imply that coming from a non-English-speaking background may adversely influence student performance, while Torda! states that foreign graduates may be deficient in communications skills, with the qualifier that they are working in the English language. We are currently conducting research to determine the relationship between spoken and written English language proficiency and academic and clinical performance, including communication skills. At the University of Adelaide, all firstyear students have been screened for English language proficiency since 1994, following the example of Sydney University," Students who are identified as likely to experience difficulties with the course due to language skills are required to participate in a two-year language development program, conducted by a specialist English language teacher. All students are systematically instructed in communication skills. At this preliminary stage of our data analysis it is apparent that communication skills, language skills and language background are not necessarily related. In 1994, 40 of 149 third-year students failed their communications component; 14 of these were native English speakers. Of the 88 students from a nonEnglish-speaking background, 20 failed the course. If language and communication skills are related, unsatisfactory performance in one should result in unsatisfactory results in the other. Forty-nine of the students were identified as likely to be experiencing difficulties due to language (three were native English speakers); 16 failed the communications component. Similarly, of the 100 students with no identified language difficulties, 20 failed communication skills. Factors other than linguistic ones are clearly influencing these outcomes. The relationship between English language skills and other skills relevant in medical education is complex. Until appropriate investigations are conducted, it would be unwise to muddy the waters of academic discussion by confounding what may be quite independent variables.


Evaporators with mini and micro channels are one of the main focuses in the design and development of equipment applied to compact refrigeration systems. The objective of this work is to investigate pressure drop of natural refrigerant, isobutane (R-600a), in the single-phase flow through two small tubes, with 1.0 mm and 2.6 mm of internal diameter. Also, the pressure drop was analyzed in the boiling flow in a 2.6 mm internal diameter tube. The experimental tests included mass velocities of 188, 240, 280 and 370 kg/(m2s), heat fluxes in the range from 0 to 134 kW/m2 and boiling flow the saturation temperature of 22 oC and vapor quality up to 0.8. It was possible to observe the significant influence of the diameter and mass velocity on the total pressure drop and the frictional pressure drop, respectively. The experimental frictional pressure drop in flow boiling in 2.6 mm of internal diameter was compared with four different correlations in literature.


Femoral hypoplasia–unusual facies syndrome (FHUFS) is a rare condition characterized by a variable degree of unilateral or bilateral femoral hypoplasia associated with facial clefting and other minor malformations. The prenatal diagnosis of this condition is possible, but so far has been reported prospectively in only two cases. We review all cases of FHUFS reported in the literature and also describe three cases detected prenatally in the mid‐trimester, underlining the variable expression of the syndrome. The reported association with maternal diabetes mellitus and differential diagnosis with other syndromes characterized by femoral hypoplasia are also discussed. Copyright © 2007 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


OBJECTIVE
To examine how primary care patients with psychosocial problems actually introduce and present these topics. To examine the influence of some personality traits (emotional dependency and health locus of control) on psychosocial problem disclosure.

DESIGN
"Case control". Cases had a GHQ-12 score equal or higher than three. Controls were matched with cases according to GP, GPs' attribution of absence or presence of emotional distress sex, age and presence of chronic illness.

SETTING
Six single handed primary care practices.

MEASURES
Clinical and Socio-demographic data, Social Problems List, List of 12 Threatening Life Events, GHQ-12, Multidimensional Health Locus of Control, Interpersonal Dependency Inventory and a Social Support Index.

RESULTS
The introduction of psychosocial topics by patients is related to the attribution of emotional distress by GP. Patients identified correctly as not distressed present less often psychosocial topics compared to patients recognised as distressed. Distressed patients not recognised as such more often than the others did not offer any psychosocial cue. The personality measures did not influence the presentation of psychosocial problems.

CONCLUSIONS
The lack of psycho-social cues from patients and of patient-centred skills contributed to the non recognition of emotional distressed patients. GPs' active facilitation of the presentation of psychosocial topics in such patients would improve the recognition of emotional distress.


The use of protected areas by the tourism industry and the subsequent impacts on host communities have been well documented. Less is known about the levels of knowledge that communities have about protected areas and how the members of host communities learn about these areas. If information search patterns used by local residents are not understood or, at worst, ignored, protected area managers may find difficulty gaining support from local communities. The research reported in this study investigates the relationship between local communities and management authorities using a case study approach based on the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Area (WTQWHA). The paper examines how residents of the communities that surround the WTQWHA seek out information on the nearby protected rainforest area and identifies the information delivery methods preferred by the community. Data used in the study were collected via a community survey (n = 853) conducted in 2007. Findings indicated that the involvement of the local community in a genuine two-way communications process about conservation strategies and the development of recreation opportunities increase the level of support for the management agency as well as the retention of the protected area.


From the perspective of environmental regulation, this paper constructed a high-quality development evaluation system for the virtual reality industry (hereinafter referred to as VRI), calculated the high-quality development level of the VRI, and empirically studied the path of high-quality development of VRI based on the research methods of entropy weight method and structural equation model (hereinafter referred to as SEM), as well as the data of listed companies of VRI in China from 2011 to 2020. The results showed that (1) VRI adapted to the high-quality development level, but there was a certain gap, its high-quality development degree shows a rising trend; (2) the degree of corporate public welfare development had a positive effect on corporate profitability, while the degree of green development and coordinated development had a weak impact on corporate profitability; (3) open and innovative dimensions had a reverse effect on the profitability of enterprises. Enterprises should seek ways to reduce environmental costs and enhance competitiveness. The industrial chain, technology chain and value chain should be constructed to promote the healthy development of VRI and provide support for the formulation of high-quality development policies for VRI.


Three groups of Zophobas morio were subjected to two temperature treatments in order to test the hypothesis that there is a positive correlation between ambient temperature and metabolic rate in super worms. Using the weight of each trial group and a CO 2 probe, we took measure of a respiration chamber's CO 2 increase in order to evaluate metabolic rate. The data did not support our hypothesis due to significant standard error caused by a large spread in our experimental data.


Endless human evolution had led to certain level of change in mankind. Advancement in technology has minimized human effort and time. Eluding side effects due to technology growth has direct or indirect impact on human health. One such side effect caused by electrical devices is sensitiveness to Electromagnetic (EM) waves termed as Electro Magnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS). Cause, effects, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of EHS is discussed in this paper. The evidence of causality of exposures in effect is evaluated by means of criteria list. Other functional impairments with similar symptoms, causes and effects are also discussed. This paper discusses the e-survey conducted on different age group affected due to the effect of EHS. Hence from a limited quantity of research in this area concludes that diagnosis and awareness of EHS need to be improved to safeguard the mankind.


The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) recognize the need to understand the link between disability and poverty. In fact this has become one of the key issues in the subject of poverty reduction in Asia and the Pacific. The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) noted that persons with disability (PWD) often belong to the poorest segments of the population. To better understand the economic condition of PWDs, it is crucial that information about their economic activities and daily life is obtained. This information can serve as basis for the formulation of policies and intervention strategies for the government, other stakeholders, and the international community. In 2008, the Philippine Institute for Development Studies collaborated with the Institute of Developing Economies (IDE) in Japan, a semigovernmental research institute working for international cooperation between developing countries and Japan, to undertake a survey on PWDs in Metro Manila. The survey covered four Metro Manila cities, namely: Makati, Pasay, Valenzuela, and Quezon City. It was conducted in partnership with the Social Welfare Office of each of the cities and various PWD organizations. This report presents the results of this survey.


Advancements in implantable medical devices have created the need for more robust continuous data transmission abilities. Implantable medical device wireless data transmission within a health-care setting is beneficial, as it has the potential to increase safety, broaden independence, and increase mobility for patients. Minimizing the need for an individual to be tethered to electrical equipment restores movement, improves the quality of life for him or her, and may reduce the safety risk profile.


Knowing the ecological requirements of bird species is essential for their successful conservation. We studied the niche characteristics of birds in managed small-sized green spaces in the urban core areas of southern (Kavala, Greece) and northern Europe (Rovaniemi, Finland), during the breeding season, based on a set of 16 environmental variables and using Outlying Mean Index, a multivariate ordination technique. Overall, 26 bird species in Kavala and 15 in Rovaniemi were recorded in more than 5% of the green spaces and were used in detailed analyses. In both areas, bird species occupied different niches of varying marginality and breadth, indicating varying responses to urban environmental conditions. Birds showed high specialization in niche position, with 12 species in Kavala (46.2%) and six species in Rovaniemi (40.0%) having marginal niches. Niche breadth was narrower in Rovaniemi than in Kavala. Species in both communities were more strongly associated either with large green spaces located further away from the city center and having a high vegetation cover (urban adapters; e.g., Common Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs), European Greenfinch (Chloris chloris), Eurasian Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus)) or with green spaces located closer to the city center and having high gray area cover and anthropogenic disturbance level (urban exploiters; e.g., Western Jackdaw (Corvus monedula), House Sparrow (Passer domesticus), Eurasian Magpie (Pica pica)). The eleven species that were common to both study areas similarly used the environmental variables and had similar niches, indicating that birds respond similarly to urbanization irrespective of latitude. Sixteen species in Kavala and eleven species in Rovaniemi were identified as conservation priority species, based on their niche specialization level and conservation status. The management actions proposed for the conservation of priority species will also benefit other species with similar ecological requirements and ultimately help maintain diverse bird communities in small-sized green spaces in urban core areas.


Abstract: Incubated slices and freshly dissociated cells from 8‐day‐old rat cerebellum were used to try to identify the cells that participate in the large increases in cyclic GMP levels that follow activation of excitatory amino acid receptors in this tissue. In the slices, cyclic GMP responses to L‐gluta‐mate and related excitants were unaffected by tetrodotoxin and could be replicated by the guanylate cyclase activator nitroprusside. Nitroprusside and the receptor agonists appeared to activate the same pool of the enzyme. Prior destruction of neuroblasts, deep nuclei, or Golgi neurones did not cause loss of responses to L‐glutamate. If granule cells were rendered necrotic, however, the cyclic GMP responses to all excitants tested were reduced by ≧ 90%. Substantial losses of responses to veratridine and high K+ levels also occurred, but the nitroprusside‐induced elevations were unaffected. In dissociated cell suspensions, the magnitude of responses to receptor agonists, but not those to nitroprusside, was markedly dependent on cell concentration. Responses to L‐glutamate were the same in cell suspensions that were Purkinje cell depleted and Purkinje cell enriched. It is concluded that granule cells are primarily involved in the cyclic GMP responses to excitatory amino acids but that the cyclic GMP accumulations occur elsewhere, probably in glial cells.


Abstract The act of sexual violence is a crime that is classified as a violation of human rights (HAM). The increase number of sexual violence cases in the world, including Indonesia, shows that the current justice system is unable to guarantee justice for victims, and most importantly recovery for victims. For this reason, a justice restoration approach is needed as an alternative in law enforcement against sexual crimes. Practically, marriage used as a way to approach justice restoration. This article used normative and juridical approach to discuss law enforcement on sexual crimes through restorative justice approach. It can be concluded that law enforcement on sexual crimes should observe based on criminology, victimology and ontology aspects, in order to be able to place the problem objectively. As a complaint offense, sexual crimes may not be passed on to criminal process, if there is peace between the victim and the perpetrator, provided that there is an agreement among the victim, perpetrator, family and society without coercion from various parties. The main focus in restorative justice of sexual crimes is to provide protection and assistance to victims from various parties, thus, the victims can be released from trauma or psychological impact that caused by sexual violence experienced by the victim or the impact received after the occurrence of sexual crime.


An LVL-concrete composite floor (LCC) is a hybrid flooring system, which was adapted from a timber-concrete composite (TCC) floor system. By replacing the timber or glulam joists with LVL joists, the strength of the floor was increased. However, the demand nowadays is to build longer spans and this may reduce the stiffness and lead to the floor being more susceptible to vibration problems.
While the vibration problem may not be as critical as other structural issues, people could feel sick and not comfortable if the floor vibrates at the resonant frequency of the human body. Hence, this research focuses on the dynamic behaviour of long span LCC flooring systems. Experimental testing and finite element modelling was used to determine the dynamic behaviour, with particular regard to the natural frequency, fn and mode shape of an LCC floor.
Initially, a representative series of LVL-concrete composite specimen types were built starting from (1) full-scale T-joists specimens, (2) reduced-scale (one-third) multi-span T-joists specimens and (3) reduced-scale (one-third) 3m x 3m floor. The specimens were tested using an electrodynamic shaker. The SAP 2000 finite element modelling package was used to model and evaluate the full- and reduced-scale LVL-concrete composite T-joist experimental results. Additionally, a 8m x 7.8m LCC floor was modelled and analysed using SAP 2000. The behaviour of the 8m LCC floor was investigated through the changing of (1) concrete topping thickness, (2) depth of LVL joists, (3) different types of boundary conditions, and (4) the stiffness of the connectors.
Both the experimental results and the finite element analyses agreed and showed that increased stiffness increased the natural frequency of the floor, and the boundary conditions influenced the dynamic behaviour of the LCC floor. Providing more restraint increased the stiffness of the floor system. The connectors' stiffness did not influence the dynamic performance of the floor.
The study outcomes were based on a 8 Hz natural frequency limitation where the fundamental natural frequency of the LCC floor must exceed 8 Hz in order to prevent vibration problems. The research showed that a 8m LCC long span floor can be constructed using LVL joists of between 300 mm to 400 mm depth with a concrete thickness of 65 mm for the longer spans, and joists of between 150 mm to 240 mm depth in conjunction with a concrete topping thickness of 100 mm for the shorter spans.


Risk is one of the important parameters in portfolio optimization problem. Since the introduction of the mean-variance model, variance has become the most common risk measure used by practitioners and researchers in portfolio optimization. However, the mean-variance model relies strictly on the assumptions that assets returns are multivariate normally distributed or investors have a quadratic utility function. Many studies have proposed different risk measures to overcome the drawbacks of variance. The purpose of this paper is to discuss and compare the portfolio compositions and performances of four different portfolio optimization models employing different risk measures, specifically the variance, absolute deviation, minimax and semi-variance. Results of this study show that the minimax model outperforms the other models. The minimax model is appropriate for investors who have a strong downside risk aversion.


A major event which is likely to have a considerable impact on engineering libraries and librarians is the inauguration (January 1, 1980) of the American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES), which, as a central organization representing the engineering profession, will now consolidate and augment the work hitherto handled by the Engineers Joint Council, Engineering Council for Professional Development and Association for Cooperation in Engineering. This is primarily looked upon as a device to enable engineering societies to communicate with each other more effectively. A unique feature of the AAES will be one of its autonomous groups, the Accreditation Commission for Engineering and Technology (ACET). The collection and dissemination of data on matters like engineering manpower and continuing education, until now handled by bodies like the EJC, will be entrusted to ACET.


This memo identifies implementation issues with RFC 2131, "Dynamic
Host Configuration Protocol," reported by a number of implementers,
assesses the severity of the problem, then proposes changes to RFC
2131 intended to overcome the issues. This is intended for use as the
basis for discussion of RFC 2131 before it is proposed for Internet
Standard status.


This paper presents the results and analysis of experiments carried out on a platoon control system developed in the Partners for Advanced Transit and Highways (PATH). The objective of this project is to evaluate the feasibility of applying currently available technology to the concept of vehicle platoon control. The Integrated Platoon Control System (IPCS) includes a control system, communication system, data acquisition system, and various sensors including a radar system. The control algorithm was developed using a modified sliding control method which compensates for the inherent nonlinearities that exist in the automobile plant. Previous simulation results show that the hybrid throttle and brake controller successfully controlled two and four car platoons. Experimental results using two cars also showed successful results. The automated vehicle satisfactorily tracked the manually driven lead vehicle through two different kinds of maneuvers.


This research was done to reveal the metaphorical images formulated by school managers working in educational institutions affiliated to the Ministry of National Education on covid-19 pandemic process. Each participant answered a standard open-ended questionnaire form, "If I am to formulate a metaphor to describe Covid-19 pandemic process as a school manager... I would formulate.... Because..... The raw data obtained from the answers to the open-ended questionnaire were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. School managers formulated 34 different metaphors on Covid-19 Pandemic Process. These metaphors were grouped under eight different conceptual categories with their common features. The categories in question differed according to the gender of participants. Findings provided detailed information on how school managers perceived the pandemic process. These findings can be used to improve management processes, education, and training services in schools.


Introduction Parasites can modify host behavior to ensure their own growth and transmission. Multiple species of the fungi Ophiocordyceps infect ants, but in a species-specific manner; one fungal species co-evolved to successfully modify the behavior of one ant species. However, several characteristics of the behavioral modification seem to be similar across different Ophiocordyceps-ant systems, including a preference for the time of the day for manipulating host behavior. In this study, we explored the various mechanisms via which the circadian clock of Ophiocordyceps might be playing a role in modifying host behavior. We studied O. camponoti-floridani that modifies the behavior of its ant host Camponotus floridanus. To separate the role of the clock in behavior manipulation, from its role in growth and survival, we compared the daily gene expression profile of O. camponoti-floridani to a generalist, non-manipulating fungal parasite, Beauveria bassiana, which also successfully infects the same ant host. Results Majority of the 24h rhythmic O. camponoti-floridani genes show peak expression before or at the transitions between light and dark. Rhythmic genes in O. camponoti-floridani, for which B. bassiana lacks an ortholog, were overrepresented for enterotoxin genes. Around half of all genes that show 24h rhythms in either O. camponoti-floridani or B. bassiana showed a consistent difference in their temporal pattern of daily expression. At the halfway mark in O. camponoti-floridani infections, when diseased ants show a loss of 24h rhythms in daily foraging, several fungal clock genes, including Frequency, showed differential expression. Network analyses revealed a single gene cluster, containing White Collar 1 and 2, that showed overrepresentation for genes oscillating every 24h in liquid culture as well as genes differentially expressed while growing inside the ant head. Conclusion This study identifies several sets of putatively clock-controlled genes and biological processes in O. camponoti-floridani that likely plays a role in modifying the behavior of its ant host. Differential expression of O. camponoti-floridani clock genes or 24h-rhythmic genes during infection is suggestive of either a loss of daily rhythm or a change in the amplitude of rhythmic gene expression. Both possibilities would suggest that a disease-associated change occurs to the functioning of the O. camponoti-floridani clock, and its output, while the fungi grows inside the ant head.


This study saw the development of an experimental setup capable of generating and measuring optical-field-induced currents in a variety of nanodevices fabricated specifically for this project. Each device design features two metallic contacts, closely separated by about 5 micrometers, deposited onto a semiconductor or insulator substrate. The region between these two contacts is a junction, being where the laser is focused to generate, and consequently measure, the current. In total, 15 separate substrate samples had nanodevices fabricated onto them. Most devices were made using gold etching, placing Au on mostly GaN substrates, but some SiC and SiO2 substrates were also used. Devices were also fabricated using a lift-off procedure, allowing for a Ti/Au-GaN device to be made.
 Two separate laser systems were used to investigate the generation of optical-field-induced currents. One, a titanium-sapphire laser generating a field asymmetry by ultrashort pulses, the other a ytterbium laser generating it by a fundamental and second harmonic superposition. However, while currents were measured with both laser systems, several characteristics of the signal raised further questions. The phase modulation of the Ti:Sa laser did not result in a current oscillation, nor did the device only produce a current when the pulse was polarised in the direction of the junction, instead generating a current even with a perpendicularly polarised pulse. On the other hand, the Yb laser measurements seemed to confirm that the current direction has a polarisation dependence, since no current was generated with perpendicularly polarised pulses, and when reversing the polarisation there was a sign change in the current. However, modulating the relative delay of the two pulses from the Yb laser generated no current oscillation, unlike what was expected from the model. Furthermore, the high intensities required to induce a current would ablate both the gold and substrate materials, destroying the devices. Likewise, the phase modulation of the Ti:Sa also saw no change in current.
 To substantiate the experimental efforts, a model derived from Bloch equations developed by Khurgin[1] to estimate the photoinduced charge produced by a single, or two cross-polarised, laser pulses on a device was recreated. It was also expanded upon to cover two-colour experiments, like the wave superposition used in the Yb laser experiments. Finally, a fully featured GUI was written to more easily control the parameters of the model, having the potential to quickly create and compare experimental results to the expected modelled outcome.


A monitoring and forecasting system is needed for bioregional planning, natural resource policy analysis and management strategy testing in California. The advantages of qualitative, rule-based models, and a state-transition paradigm to build ecosystem models are discussed. An intelligent geographic information system to model the effects of fire, grazing, thinning and protection on species composition, canopy coverage and resource values in the woodland is presented. Conceptual issues and possible improvements are discussed.<<ETX>>


Soft tissue sarcomas are always challenging lesions. This study is aimed to stress on unusual presentation of sarcoma patients that may cause significant delay in the diagnosis to provide appropriate therapy. Two subsets of cases were studied: (A) 50 cases of abscess forming mass in the body (prospective) (B) 40 cases of soft tissue sarcomas studied for the clinical presentation (retrospective). Among 50 cases of group A that presented with abscess on FNAC 8 cases had sarcomatous cytology. Clinical presentation of soft tissue sarcoma were studied retrospectively of 40 cases, among which 8 were presented as abscess, 2 were as chronic large hematoma without history of trauma and the most common presentation was as painless slowly growing mass i.e. among 30 cases. Among the cases presented with abscess (group A) 16% of cases were diagnosed as soft tissue sarcoma. 20% of cases of soft tissue sarcoma (group B) presented with abscess formation and 5% of cases with chronic large hematoma without history of trauma.


Abstract Chemical composition, antioxidant, anticancer, and antimacrobial activities of essential oil obtained from leaves of Rumex nervosus has been evaluated here for the first time. GC/MS analysis reveals the presence of Palmitoleic Acid (28.35%) and Palmitic acid, (25. 37%) as their methyl ester as major components. The essential oil showed significant DPPH radical scavenging activity (94.907 ± 0.1089% and 94.003 ± 0.0749%) at concentration (100 and 80) μg/mL respectively. The oil showed promising activity against staph aureus, while showed weak activity against (Hela and 3T3) cell lines. The crude extract / fractions of R. nervosus (leaves) showed significant antioxidant activity at dose (100 and 80) μg/mL. Futhermore the crude showed significant activity against (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231) cell lines with IC50 (20.5138 ± 0.933 and 25.1728 ± 0.9176) μg/mL respectively, and chloroform fraction showed good activity against (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231) cell lines with IC50 (31.154 ± 0.965 and 42.269 ± 2.1045) μg/mL.


Most human cancers express CD47 to escape the macrophage surveillance. To reinstate macrophage functionality in clearing tumor cells, targeting CD47 has been an important strategy in immune-oncology therapy. We profiled a large panel of tumor cell lines of both solid and blood tumors that are frequently used in cancer drug research and in Mixeno® animal study in Crown Bioscience for CD47. Despite its being reported as a ubiquitously expressed immune-escape marker in cancer cells, the expression levels of CD47 vary among different tumor cell lines when the cells were examined by flow cytometry. It is of interest that a portion of tumor cells in fact do not present CD47 despite gene expression data, such as RNA-seq data, suggesting that they do. To establish a robust and reproducible in vitro assay platform to support anti-CD47 drug research, we applied a macrophage differentiation system using isolated CD14+ monocytes as starting material, and were able to achieve > 80% of M1 and M2 populations, respectively, through the 6-day differentiation. Differentiated macrophage was cocultured with target tumor cells labeled for flow cytometry analysis. In the presence of anti-CD47 antibody, steady phagocytosis effect was observed with aCD47 BRIC126 antibody and target tumor cells expressing high level of CD47 markers. BRIC126 antibody blocks the CD47-SIRPalpha interaction. To prove the finding, we constructed isogenic cell models from the same parental cells in that CD47 gene is knocked out in one sub-cell line and overexpressed in another sub-cell line. The isogenic systems are also subject to the CD47 biology studies and can be served as positive and negative controls in phagocytosis assays. Detailed data will be discussed. Citation Format: Huajun Yang, Zhongliang Li, Beibei Tang, Frank Xing, Qian Shi. CD47 expression predicts efficacy of macrophage-mediated phagocytosis of tumor cells [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2017 Oct 26-30; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2018;17(1 Suppl):Abstract nr B002.


Semantically rich maps are the foundation of indoor location‐based services. Many map providers such as OpenStreetMap and automatic mapping solutions focus on the representation and detection of geometric information (e.g., shape of room) and a few semantics (e.g., stairs and furniture) but neglect room usage. To mitigate the issue, this work proposes a general room tagging method for public buildings, which can benefit both existing map providers and automatic mapping solutions by inferring the missing room usage based on indoor geometric maps. Two kinds of statistical learning‐based room tagging methods are adopted: traditional machine learning (e.g., random forests) and deep learning, specifically relational graph convolutional networks (R‐GCNs), based on the geometric properties (e.g., area), topological relationships (e.g., adjacency and inclusion), and spatial distribution characteristics of rooms. In the machine learning‐based approach, a bidirectional beam search strategy is proposed to deal with the issue that the tag of a room depends on the tag of its neighbors in an undirected room sequence. In the R‐GCN‐based approach, useful properties of neighboring nodes (rooms) in the graph are automatically gathered to classify the nodes. Research buildings are taken as examples to evaluate the proposed approaches based on 130 floor plans with 3,330 rooms by using fivefold cross‐validation. The experiments conducted show that the random forest‐based approach achieves a higher tagging accuracy (0.85) than R‐GCN (0.79).


In this letter, we report an InAsSb p/sup +/-n junction photodetector grown on InAs substrate by liquid phase epitaxy. Electrical and optical characterizations of the device have been carried out at room temperature for operation of the device in the mid-infrared region. The study revealed that the dark current of the photodetector under reverse bias is dominated by a trap-assisted tunnelling current component, which degrades the detectivity of the device. Further, by operating the device at a suitable low reverse bias it is possible to improve the room-temperature detectivity significantly as compared to its value at zero bias.


Frama-C is a source code analysis platform that aims at con- ducting verification of industrial-size C programs. It provides its users with a collection of plug-ins that perform static analysis, deductive veri- fication, and testing, for safety- and security-critical software. Collabora- tive verification across cooperating plug-ins is enabled by their integra- tion on top of a shared kernel and datastructures, and their compliance to a common specification language. This foundational article presents a consolidated view of the platform, its main and composite analyses, and some of its industrial achievements.


The authors construct, estimate, and simulate a macroeconomic model for Chile. This model allows aggregate supply and demand factors to interact in determining such key economic variables as inflation, the real wage, the real exchange rate, real output and employment, and the current account balance. The model ensures the consistency of different aggregates by imposing the relevant budget constraints on the fiscal sector, the central bank, and the balance of payments. To this consistent framework, the model adds behavioral equations with sound analytical foundations. The authors use model simulations to explore the effects of domestic policies and external shocks (like a balanced-budget fiscal expansion, a policy of increased growth in minimum wages, a fall in world copper prices, and an oil price shock). These simulations help illustrate the effects of economic policies and external factors that shape current policy discussions in Chile.


. The intelligent construction and development of traditional agricultural water production process has become an important pillar industry in China's coastal areas. With the application of IoT technology, the agricultural water monitoring process can manage the data collected by the sensor system in real time. In this paper, a data link management solution is proposed in combination with advanced Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) technology, which effectively realizes the sinking of business anchor points and greatly reduces the business response time. The practical application shows that the scheme realizes the network and intelligence of agricultural water monitoring system management, and has broad market prospect.


Current research examining self-determination in cultural contexts has yielded mixed findings. This qualitative interview study collected rich information from parents of four major cultures about their under- standing of self-determination and their daily engagement in self-determination related activities with their children with disabilities. Various culturally-related patterns were found indicating differences between parents of mainstream culture and other cultures. Differences existed in the following areas: understanding the concept of self-determination; talking to the child about strengths and weaknesses; promoting self-efficacy; and teaching independent living, goal setting, problem solving, and decision making skills. Implications and recommenda- tions for future research are provided.


This research aim to determine the explanation knowledge boundary for improvement of basic diagnosis. This paper compares different machine learning techniques including Maximum Entropy, Bayesian Networks, and Naive Bayes for solving the boundary determination problems of the discourse marker's connection problem, usage of several discourse markers within the boundary, and implicit discourse marker. The results have shown an improvement through using machine learning techniques comparing with Centering Theory used in the previous work.


BACKGROUND
Cardiac disease is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in children with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). This study aimed to report the frequency of cardiac disease diagnostic methods used in US pediatric maintenance hemodialysis patients.

METHODS
A cross-sectional analysis of all US pediatric (ages 0.7-18 years, n = 656) maintenance hemodialysis patients was performed using data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ESRD Clinical Performance Measures Project. Clinical and laboratory information was collected in 2001. Results were analysed by age, sex, race, Hispanic ethnicity, dialysis duration, body mass index (BMI), primary ESRD cause and laboratory data.

RESULTS
Ninety-two percent of the patients had a cardiovascular risk factor (63% hypertension, 38% anemia, 11% BMI > 94th percentile, 63% serum phosphorus > 5.5 mg/dL and 55% calcium-phosphorus product ≥ 55 mg(2)/dL(2)). A diagnosis of cardiac disease was reported in 24% (n = 155) of all patients: left ventricular hypertrophy/enlargement 17%, congestive heart failure/pulmonary edema 8%, cardiomyopathy 2% and decreased left ventricular function 2%. Thirty-one percent of patients were not tested. Of those tested, the diagnostic methods used were chest X-rays in 60%, echocardiograms in 35% and electrocardiograms in 33%; left ventricular hypertrophy/enlargement was diagnosed using echocardiogram (72%), chest X-ray (20%) and electrocardiogram (15%).

CONCLUSIONS
Although 92% of patients had cardiovascular risk factors, an echocardiography was performed in only one-third of the patients. Our study raises the question of why echocardiography, considered the gold standard for cardiac disease diagnosis, has been infrequently used in pediatric maintenance dialysis patients, a high-risk patient population.


Abstract. Ice losses from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have accelerated since the 1990s, accounting for a significant increase in the global mean sea level. Here, we present a new 29-year record of ice sheet mass balance from 1992 to 2020 from the Ice Sheet Mass Balance Inter-comparison Exercise (IMBIE). We compare and combine 50 independent estimates of ice sheet mass balance derived from satellite observations of temporal changes in ice sheet flow, in ice sheet volume, and in Earth's gravity field. Between 1992 and 2020, the ice sheets contributed 21.0±1.9 mm to global mean sea level, with the rate of mass loss rising from 105 Gt yr−1 between 1992 and 1996 to 372 Gt yr−1 between 2016 and 2020. In Greenland, the rate of mass loss is 169±9 Gt yr−1 between 1992 and 2020, but there are large inter-annual variations in mass balance, with mass loss ranging from 86 Gt yr−1 in 2017 to 444 Gt yr−1 in 2019 due to
large variability in surface mass balance. In Antarctica, ice losses
continue to be dominated by mass loss from West Antarctica (82±9 Gt yr−1) and, to a lesser extent, from the Antarctic Peninsula (13±5 Gt yr−1). East Antarctica remains close to a state of balance, with a small gain of 3±15 Gt yr−1, but is the most uncertain component of Antarctica's mass balance. The dataset is publicly available at https://doi.org/10.5285/77B64C55-7166-4A06-9DEF-2E400398E452 (IMBIE Team, 2021).


With the growing demand for wireless Internet access and increasing maturity of IEEE 802.11 technologies, wireless networks have sprung up by the millions throughout the world as a popular means for Internet access. An increasingly popular use of Wi-Fi networking equipment is to provide wireless 'hotspots' as the wireless access points (APs) to the Internet. These APs are installed and managed by individuals and businesses in an unregulated manner -allowing anyone to install and operate one of these devices using unlicensed radio spectrum. This has allowed literally millions of these APs to become available and 'visible' to any interested party who happens to be within range of the radio waves emitted from the device. As the density of these APs increases, these 'beacons' can be put into multiple uses. From home networking to wireless positioning to mesh networks, there are more alternative ways for connecting wirelessly as newer, longer-range technologies come to market. This paper reports an initial study that examines a database of over 5 million wireless access points collected through systematic wardriving by Skyhook Wireless. By performing the analytical study of this data including the default naming behavior, movement of access points over time, and density of access points, we found that the AP data, coupled with location information, can provide a fertile ground for understanding the "what, where and why" of Wi-Fi access points. More importantly, the analysis and mining of this vast and growing collection of AP data can yield important technological, social and economical results.


The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of sex on the hormonal and metabolic changes in growing goats subjected to levels of feed restriction. We used 72 Saanen kids, including 24 intact males, 24 castrated males and 24 females with initial bodyweight of 15.76 ± 0.174 kg and initial age of 108.4 ± 18.86 days respectively. A split-plot design was employed (3 sexes = intact males, castrated males, and females; 3 levels of feed restriction = 0% (ad libitum), 25% and 50%). Groups of three goat kids were formed by sex (each goat eating one level of feed restriction); goats of each group were slaughtered when animals fed ad libitum reached 30 kg bodyweight. Fat and protein deposition were calculated by the difference between the determinations performed on samples of homogenates of control animals slaughtered at the start of the experiment and the experimental animals. Blood samples were collected every 10 days to evaluate glucose, total protein, albumin, urea, creatinine, cholesterol, non-esterified fatty acid, β-hydroxybutyrate, aspartate aminotransferase, gamma glutamyltransferase, creatine kinase, triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine and insulin-like growth factor. Females presented greater fat deposition than did castrated and intact males, regardless of feed restriction (P < 0.0001). Protein body retention (kg) was affected only by feed restriction (P < 0.0001). In females, aspartate aminotransferase activity was greater in those subjected to 50% feed restriction (83.83 ± 4.96 U/L). Regardless of sex, the greatest serum β-hydroxybutyrate concentration was observed when animals were subjected to 50% feed restriction (P < 0.0149). Plasma concentration of insulin-like growth factor 1 was similar in castrated and females, being lower than in intact males. Intact males showed lower plasma T3 concentration than did females (P < 0.05). Females changed their glycolytic metabolism to retain fat deposition even under feed restriction, whereas males mainly changed their protein metabolism to retain protein synthesis, and were less affected by feed restriction.


We stretch a single DNA molecule with thermophoretic forces and measure these forces with a spring balance: the DNA molecule itself. It is an entropic spring which we calibrate, using as a benchmark its Brownian motion in the nanochannel that contains and prestretches it. This direct measurement of the thermophoretic force in a static configuration finds forces up to 130 fN. This is eleven times stronger than the force experienced by the same molecule in the same thermal gradient in bulk, where the molecule shields itself. Our stronger forces stretch the middle of the molecule up to 80% of its contour length. We find the Soret coefficient per unit length of DNA at various ionic strengths. It agrees, with novel precision, with results obtained in bulk for DNA too short to shield itself and with the thermodynamic model of thermophoresis.


The strength of biomimetics comes from its ability to draw from life mechanisms and strategies to design innovative solutions. In spite of recent methodological progresses, more specifically on tools and processes, biomimetics' implementation still faces strong difficulties. Among other things, design teams have a hard time finding and selecting relevant biological strategies. Facing these challenges, we consider an alternative, yet well recognized, approach: the integration of profiles having a training in natural science within biomimetic design teams. As biologists aren't used to work in design teams, there is a need for a process actually guiding their practice in biomimetics and determining the way they will interact with the "traditional" design team. After studying the literature and asking for experts' opinion on the matter, we introduced a biomimetic design process considering this new profile as an integral part of biomimetic design teams. With the final goal of making biomimetics implementable, this proposed theoretical process is currently tested in both a student and an industrial project in order to optimize our methodological contribution with practical feedbacks.


Strong light-matter coupling leads to the formation of mixed exciton-polariton states, allowing for a rigorous manipulation of the absorption and emission of excitonic materials. Here, we demonstrate the realization of this promising concept in organic photodetectors. By hybridizing the E11 exciton of semiconducting (6,5) single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) with near-infrared cavity photons, we create spectrally tunable polariton states within a photodiode. In turn, we are able to red-shift the detection peak that coincides with the lower polariton band. Our photodiodes comprise a metal cavity to mediate strong coupling between light and SWNTs and utilize P3HT and PC70BM as the electron donor and acceptor, respectively. The diodes are formed either via mixing of SWNTs, P3HT, and PC70BM to create a bulk heterojunction or by sequential processing of layers to form flat heterojunctions. The resulting near-infrared sensors show tunable, efficient exciton harvesting in an application-relevant wavelength range between 1000 nm and 1300 nm, with optical simulations showing a possible extension beyond 1500 nm.


Thanks to incredible advances in instrumentation, surveys like the Sloan Digital Sky Survey have been able to find and catalog billions of objects, ranging from local M dwarfs to distant quasars. Machine learning algorithms have greatly aided in the effort to classify these objects; however, there are regimes where these algorithms fail, where interesting oddities may be found. We present here an X-ray bright quasar misidentified as a red supergiant/X-ray binary, and a subsequent search of the SDSS quasar catalog for X-ray bright stars misidentified as quasars.


I n the article grounded, that informative safety occupies one of key places in the system of providing vitally of important interests of all countries. It is foremost conditioned by the urgent necessity of creation of the developed informative environment of society. But ex- actly through an informative environment mostly come true threat to national safety in the different spheres of activity of personality, society and state. In modern terms there was a requirement in overthinking and clarification of problem of informative safety through the prism of existential and network practices taking into account modern ambivalent of in- formative processes. It is shown that network practices of providing of informative safety have a row of features that is set by character of social practices in a cyberspace and network, stream organization of virtual space. It is shown, that modern tendencies different personality and social anomalies can cause in the field of information, that unavoidable will put both personality and public safety under a threat. At the same time, without regard to the sub- stantial enough working of problem of informative safety, unity in understanding of essence of phenomenon of informative safety in the context of the network for existential measuring in a modern scientific paradigm it is not. Summarizing socio-philosophical comprehension of this problem in unfortunately there are not levels on a due. Networ k practices of providing of informative safety are determined by a functional value, but not the place where are subjects at. Locations (territories) are now determined the by derivatives from the submachine's of informative network. In other words, made decision in a network, but come true locally and territorial. An event «in place» becomes to the derivatives from an event in a network knot. This feature is the basis of essence of practices of both providing of informative safety and realization of aggression, for example, of hybrid wars. For example, today an aggressor can conduct informative wars on any territories, being in a comfortable for him place and at any time, keeping the anonymity. It is shown that complication of social co-operations and increase of their intensity in the conditions of cyberspace are conditioned by matrix nature of network space that results in high variety of practices of providing of safety. Network communicative space pro-  duces the efficiency presented by the new system of social limitations. Interests of subjects remain, develop and increased, and, the necessity of certain efficiency is kept and increased as a guarantor of safe co-operation in a network. To such state peculiar large enough degree of spontaneity, chance, disorganization of social co-operation, and are dangers. More difficult, reflective comprehension of freedom – «paradoxical freedom» is con- ceived in life of society. Her descriptions are the inevitable imposing and assuming of responsibility for the obvious and latent consequences of risks: a social subject is put in the terms of life, when it is necessary constantly to choose. It appears that it is simply impossible not to choose something or someone taking into account the factor of immedi- ate or set aside, obvious or latent risks. The estimations of the done choice are actively varied in social and cultural space and change in time. A choice, that became functional, effective for one cultural space, is not universal for other cultures. Deviation in one valued- normative space becomes an innovation in other. «Risk freedom» becomes the norm of practices of providing of safety. T o it some movement of focus of attention of society is related from a norm to the value. In a modern cyberspace in a greater measure an orientation develops on a value, but not orientation on a norm. On the other hand, absence of the single valued system is another feature of network «social order» that generates a variety and development of tolerance. Contemporaneity is characterized by an orientation on the new methods of selection, that admits stability and safety to the prospect. Network the Internet presents space of most closeness and intensity of communication. The different types of social structures, that is set by an orientation, closeness and intensity of informative streams, predetermine the different forms of co-ordination in society. Grounded, that branching of ways of providing of informative safety in the conditions of network communications of informative society is set by such criterion, as a level of intensity of communication. Pro- viding of informative safety, foremost in the Internet, are the practical operating under overcoming of breaks and protecting from information. Overcoming of breaks comes true with the aim of orientation in general informative space for the purpose control after in- formation. Drawn conclusion, that informative safety is protecting the information and protecting from information. Providing of informative safety in the conditions of informa- tive society is a necessity that becomes the attribute of modern life of any social subject, and requires incessant work with information that includes for itself co-operating with different consulting models, where localization of action, providing of freedom and mini- mization of risk are.


The functionality of gathering spatio-temporal data has seen increasing usage in various applications and devices. The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite navigation system which is mostly used for gathering location information. Map-matching is the procedure of matching trajectories from a sequence of raw GPS data points to the appropriate road networks. GPS data errors are one of the biggest problems and correcting them is a big challenge. The main goal of this thesis work is to build a data pipeline and visualization framework for turning raw GPS data to trajectories and correcting erroneous GPS points by new map-matching approach. For achieving the goal a new approach for trajectory pattern mining is introduced.