In his article, Professor Cupp takes a critical look at the current state of successor liability in products liability law. For many years, traditional corporate law principles dictated whether a successor corporation would be held responsible for the torts caused by products produced by its predecessor. These principles disallowed successor liability in many cases, even when the successor engaged in the same line of business or sold the same product line as its predecessor. The Restatement (Third) of Torts: Products Liability suggests that this continues to be the trend. Professor Cupp, however, through careful analysis of current case law, demonstrates that although many courts continue to follow the traditional approach, an increasing number of states have followed one of two less restrictive approaches, each resulting in more successor responsibility. Professor Cupp advocates adoption of these less restrictive approaches. The most persuasive rationale for adopting these alternative approaches is that they more effectively channel responsibility for products back to the predecessor corporation than does the traditional approach. They do so by forcing successor corporations to consider the projected cost of the predecessor's products liability at the time the successor purchases the predecessor. After analyzing the "channeling back" justification for alternative approaches, Professor Cupp favorably analogizes courts' application of one of the less restrictive approaches in CERCLA cases to products liability, as well as making fairness and efficiency arguments. Cupp further argues that the courts present a more realistic, appropriate, and logical avenue for the change than do state legislatures. Finally, Professor Cupp considers, in cases where the traditional approach is not abandoned, how the fraud exception to the traditional rule might often be used to achieve the same goals of the two alternative approaches.


In this paper, we present a novel stroke reconstruction algorithm for 3D cursive script using an inexpensive accelerometer and magnetometer. By imposing constraints based on ergonomics and habitual motions, the proposed algorithm can accurately estimate the orientation of a handheld device under both static and dynamic conditions. Then, the gravitational force is subtracted from the measured acceleration force for the stroke-induced acceleration, the values of which are integrated twice over time to obtain a position trajectory. The reconstruction performance is evaluated by comparing estimated stroke trajectories from a magnetometer-aided inertial measurement unit (mIMU) with those from an optical motion tracking system for alphanumeric cursive scripts. Furthermore, the recognition rates of the proposed algorithm and other conventional algorithms are compared. The experimental results reveal high accuracy in both stroke reconstruction and recognition rates.


In today's busy life, no one has sufficient time to buy or bargain any type of products. It is common in such cases that customers, who are looking for purchasing a certain product, will be willing to substitute with a comparable product when facing a stock-out, rather than visiting a different store to bargain the original product. In this article, we study an inventory control problem in which demand is fulfilled by using two similar substitutable items. Retailer fulfilled demand of one product by other substitutable product when stock-out of the one of them. We consider inventory levels of both of the items and time dependent demand. The orders for both products are placed at the same time. Our objective is to maximize joint profit for two substitutable deteriorating items with respect to cycle time and a time at which one product is stock-out.The numerical analysis is carried out based on the analytical results. The critical inventory parameters are computed for the decision maker.


ABSTRACT People generally accept that there is causation by omission—that the omission of some events cause some related events. But this acceptance elicits the selection problem, or the difficulty of explaining the selection of a particular omissive cause or class of causes from the causal conditions. Some theorists contend that dependence theories of causation cannot resolve this problem. In this paper, we argue that the appeal to norms adequately resolves the selection problem for dependence theories, and we provide novel experimental evidence for it.


From December 1992 to February 1993, 104 newly diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis patients were enrolled in a prospective cohort study to assess the response to the 6 month-short-course regimen implemented in Cote d'Ivoire. This treatment encompassed the daily intake of Rifampicin and Pyrazinamide for 2 months followed by Rifampicin and Isoniazid for the remaining 4 months. All the patients were enrolled at the Treichville Tuberculosis Treatment Centre in Abidjan, and a follow-up of 6 months was observed for each patient. All in all, 41 patients were HIV-positive whereas 63 where HIV-negative. No statistical difference was noted between HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients with regard to the completion of therapy (85% versus 87%). The cure rate after an effective 6 month-therapy was similar among HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients (83% versus 84%) as well as the treatment failure rate which was 2.4% and 3% respectively. The results clearly indicate that the 6 month-short-course regimen policy implemented in Côte d'Ivoire is as effective for the treatment of HIV-associated tuberculosis as for the treatment of tuberculosis.


Sleep, along with the sleep-related behaviors that impact sleep quality, have emerged as one of the major determinants of health and well-being (alongside good diet, regular exercise, and not smoking). In turn research is beginning to identify that sleep is strongly socially patterned—by socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, immigrant status, stage of the life course, work experiences, stress, and neighborhood contexts. Yet no textbook currently exists that brings together the accumulated evidence on the social epidemiology of sleep. This book is targeted toward (a) social epidemiologists who wish to study sleep as a health outcome, (b) sleep epidemiologists who want to learn about the social determinants of sleep, and (c) other scholars working in the intersection between sleep health, social epidemiology, and health disparities. The textbook begins with an introduction of social epidemiology and sleep epidemiology, that is, a brief overview of the social epidemiology of sleep as well as the methods of assessment in sleep epidemiology and their validity, the descriptive epidemiology of sleep, and some basic biology of sleep. Part II focuses on what is known about the basic descriptive epidemiology of sleep, including consideration of sleep across the life span and among special populations. Each chapter of the remaining sections of the book (Part III) covers the major social determinants of sleep (socioeconomic status, immigration status, neighborhood contexts, etc.) from the accumulated research as well as research needs/opportunities as they relate to that social dimension of health.


Cultivars of Cucurbita mixta Pang, have been slowly disappearing from listings in seed catalogs in the United States. Several years ago 4 cultivars were listed: 'Green Striped Cushaw', 'White Cushaw,' 'Japanese Pie,' and 'Tennessee Sweet Potato.' Today, 'Green Striped Cushaw' is occasionally listed. Of the other 3 cultivars, the author has recently seen only fruits of 'White Cushaw', which were produced by growers who save their own seed. Although these 4 cultivars of C. mixta are productive, they are very susceptible to powdery mildew, which may account for their decline in popularity.


Background: Outcomes for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) have dramatically improved, but survival for patients who relapse remains poor. Mutations in genes encoding epigenetic modifiers are present in the majority of patients at relapse. In particular, activating mutations in NSD2 (MMSET, WHSC1), namely the glutamate to lysine substitution at amino acid 1099 (p.E1099K), are among the most common such mutations in epigenetic regulators. NSD2 converts histone 3 lysine 36 (H3K36) into its dimethylated form (H3K36me2) which in turn leads to stereotactic inhibition of EZH2 mediated H3K27me3. We and others have established that this leads to changes in chromatin state and gene expression. However, the pathways by which this leads to a clonal advantage remains elusive.
 Design/Method: We previously reported that overexpression of wild-type (WT) and p.E1099K mutant (EK) NSD2 in B-ALL cell lines led to unique cell context specific chromatin alterations and altered gene expression but did not lead to changes in proliferation or intrinsic drug resistance in vitro (Pierro et. al. Blood 2017 130:2474). We reasoned that these observations could be explained by the need for cooperating pathways that together with NSD2 EK lead to a clonal advantage. Thus we modulated expression of NSD2 using short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) in the B-ALL cell line RS4;11 which harbors a heterozygous NSD2 EK mutation (NSD2 low). As a control, RS4;11 was also stably transduced with a non-targeting shRNA sequence (NSD2 high). Knockdown of NSD2 as well as decrease in H3K36me2 in NSD2 low lines was confirmed by Western Blot. Differences in gene regulation in NSD2 low cells were assessed by ChIPseq for CTCF, H3K9Ac, H3K27Ac, H3K36me2 and H3K27me3, and the results were correlated with RNAseq data. This data was then compared to RNAseq and ChIPseq data from REH and 697 NSD2 WT and EK overexpression cell lines in an effort to identify candidate genes or pathways preferentially regulated by the NSD2 EK mutation.
 Results: NSD2 low cells displayed a distinct gene expression profile compared to NSD2 high with 301 upregulated and 573 downregulated genes (LFC 0.58, P = 0.05). When compared to gene expression data from our previously reported NSD2 overexpression cell lines, there was minimal overlap across cell lines with only 15 differentially expressed genes shared between RS4;11 NSD2 knockdown and REH EK overexpression cell lines and only 24 genes shared between RS4;11 NSD2 knockdown and 697 EK overexpression cell lines. Across all cell lines (RS4;11, REH and 697), only three genes (NSD2, SCN8 and PCNXL2) overlapped, all of which were upregulated in NSD2 high cell lines. Using less stringent criteria (LFC 0.26, P = 0.1), we observed greater overlap with 34 shared up and downregulated genes among lines. Of the shared genes, only ZNF521 which is overexpressed in NSD2 high cell lines, is known play a role in leukemogenesis. Moreover, RS4;11 pathway analysis revealed several biologically relevant pathways modulated by the NSD2 EK mutation such as Ras, integrin signaling, cholesterol/steroid biosynthesis, apoptosis and cell proliferation.
 Significant differences were also observed across epigenetic marks between RS 4;11 NSD2 high and low cells. In accordance with previously published data, we observed a global decrease in the H3K36me2 mark in RS4;11 NSD2 low lines. When aligned with changes in histone marks, among genes downregulated in NSD2 low cells there was a clear correlation with acquisition of the repressive H3K27me3 mark (and a decrease in the H3K9Ac mark). However among genes upregulated in NSD2 low cells we saw paradoxical increases in the H3K36me2 mark and decreases in the H3K27me3. Furthermore, gene expression was also influenced by marks not directly regulated by NSD2, namely H3K27ac and H3K9ac, indicating that local NSD2 mediated epigenetic changes are not the sole regulator of gene expression.
 Conclusion: The activating p.E1099K substitution in NSD2 leads to a distinct gene expression profile in B-ALL cell lines that is cell context dependent. Moreover, while there is significant overlap in the transcriptional profile between WT and EK overexpression, there are distinct differences possibly indicating novel properties of the pE1099K substitution beyond enzyme hyperactivation. Our findings also imply that NSD2 EK collaborates with other leukemia associated alterations that result in clonal selection.

 No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


A heterogeneous system is a system uniting PCs and different devices with distinctive working frameworks or conventions. Heterogenous network provides proper connectivity and continuous data transfer between different network technologies. With the increased use of mobile wireless network, a lot of problems are being faced in combining more wireless networks. In this paper we present a survey on hetrogenous network discussing issues related to heterogenous seamless mobile connectivity and availability for horizontal and vertical handoff system. Proefficient handoff means better quality of service and experience. Also a brief study of different researchers has been presented. Keywords : Heterogenous network, quality of service, quality of experience Cite this Article Shrishti Kaurav, Rajendra Singh Kushwah . A Survey on Heterogenous Network. Current Trends in Signal Processing . 2015; 5(3): 23–28p.


OBJECTIVE
Through the observation, analysis, and treatment to lots of clinical patients with unusual feeling symptom of pharynx (UFSP), followed by the functional examination of autonomic nerve, putting forward the clinical classify and therapy of UFSP.

METHODS
Through the clinical history inquired, routine examination, 24 hours pH value determined of esophagus, erect experiment, and coefficient of variation of the R-R(CVR-R) examination of electrocardiogram etc, divided the UFSP into two types: the type of pathogeny clear and the type of pathogeny unclear. The clear-type was further classified into five subtypes: the type of a mental scar, the type of morbid state of mind, the type of reflux esophagitis, the type of climacteric syndrome and menstrual disorder, and the type of functional disturbance of independence nerve.

RESULTS
In the cases of 256, 106 were cured,76 were positive effective, 41 were effective, with total effective rate of 87.1%. Thirty three (12.9%) cases were not cured. Forty six (18.0%) of them with the type of a mental scar were whole cured. One hundred and thirty six (53.1%) of them with the type of morbid state of mind had a 93.4% (127) effective rate. Twenty one (8.2%) of them with the type of reflux esophagitis had 71.4% (15) effective rate. Among 35 (13.7%) cases of climacteric syndrome and menstrual disorder type, 29 cases were cured with a 82.9% effective rate. Twelve (4.7%) cases of the type of functional disturbance of independence nerve had 50% effective rate. Six (2.3%) cases of the pathogeny unclear type'were not cured.

CONCLUSIONS
UFSP could be clinical classified and treated followed the detail inquiry of medical history and relative examination.


The standard endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) approach of cystogastrostomy involves the use of series of plastic pigtail stents that are placed through the wall of the cyst. The use of a single stent has also been described in the literature. Here we describe five cases of EUS-guided cystogastrostomy with irrigation of infected pancreatic pseudocysts using a single self-expandable metal stent (SEMS). To our knowledge this has not been described in the literature in the United States. This novice approach will have significant implications in the management of infected pseudocysts with a lower morbidity, mortality and overall cost compared to conventional management such as surgery or percutaneous drainage.


A method inspired from S. Katz's service evaluation algorithm [6] is presented. The new algorithm is recursive, rather than iterative, in nature, and especially suited for networks that do not contain cycles. It also introduces two new features which take existing theoretical results into account, and as such corresponds more closely to the current state of traffic theory.


We discuss the use of event studies in macroeconomics and finance, arguing that many important macro-finance questions can only be answered using event studies with high-frequency financial market data. We provide a broad picture of the use of event studies, along with their limitations. As examples, we study financial markets' responses to specific events that help address questions such as the slope of bond demand functions and the efficacy of central bank liquidity programs. We also study the change in financial market responses to news in payrolls and unemployment in response to former Fed Chairman Greenspan's statement that payrolls are more informative.


Alveolar gas is compressed and expanded during every breathing cycle. The volume displacement measured at the mouth Vt (tidal volume) is therefore smaller than the volume displacement of the lung V't that may be measured with a body plethysmograph. Experimental data found in normal subjects and in patients with obstructive emphysema confirm the theoretical prediction that the ratio Vt/V't decreases with increasing airway resistance, breathing frequency, and lung volume. The effect was found to be very small in normal subjects breathing at different breathing rates; however, in patients with obstructive emphysema it may be appreciable, presumably because of the high airway resistance and the elevated functional residual capacity. With increasing altitude the effect is expected to be more pronounced. The mechanical work performed in compressing and expanding alveolar gas is not included in the conventional pressure-volume diagram, when intraesophageal pressure is plotted against the volume displacement measured at the mouth. This work may be determined, however, by recording the volume displacement of the lung simultaneously with tidal volume and intraesophageal pressure. Work related to compressibility is insignificant in most circumstances. In patients with obstructive emphysema, however, it becomes appreciable during hyperpnea. The compressibility of alveolar gas was also found to increase the negative work performed by respiratory muscles.

volume displacement of the lung (V't); Vt/V't in obstructive emphysema; dynamic pressure-volume diagram; mechanical model - respiratory dynamics; ventilation; negative work of inspiratory muscles; ventilation and breathing work at high altitudes; mechanics of breathing

Submitted on June 21, 1963


We show how to use boundary conditions to drive the evolution on a Quantum Mechanical system. We will see how this problem can be expressed in terms of a time-dependent Schr\"{o}dinger equation. In particular we will need the theory of self-adjoint extensions of differential operators in manifolds with boundary. An introduction of the latter as well as meaningful examples will be given. It is known that different boundary conditions can be used to describe different topologies of the associated quantum systems. We will use the previous results to study how this topology change can be accomplished in a dynamical way.


To be able to exploit the magnetic properties of antiferromagnetic transition metal oxide perovskites in spintronic devices, as magnetic random access memory (MRAM) devices, a better understanding of how these magnetic properties may be controlled is crucial. Due to the strong coupling between structure and magnetic properties in such materials, a promising route to control and tune these properties is by means of structural control. An important structural parameter in perovskites is the BO6 octahedron, and structural distortions corresponding to distortions of these octahedra have been the main focus in this master thesis. The octahedral distortions in superlattices of antiferromagnetic LaFeO3 (LFO) and non-magnetic SrTiO3 (STO) has been investigated using density functional theory (DFT). Superlattices with various film layer thicknesses – ranging from one octahedral unit to six octahedral units – and orientation – where both [001] and [111] oriented superlattices have been investigated, – were tested to look at how these factors affected the octahedral distortions in the superlattices. This was done by performing two different calculation methods – phonon mode calculations and structural calculations. In this way, it was also investigation whether the phonon mode calculation method actually could be used to investigate how different factors influenced the structure of the superlattices, or whether the conventional structure calculation method should be used to investigate such effects. The results indicated that the octahedral distortions – corresponding to octahedral rotations, – in the superlattices were affected by both the film layer thicknesses and the superlattice orientation. The film layer thicknesses were found to mainly affect the rotation magnitudes in the different film layers, while the orientation could affect the overall tilt pattern in the film layers. The results were generally consistent for the two different kinds of calculation methods, indicating that phonon mode calculations can be used to investigate how structures in superlattices are affected by different factors. Hence, it was found that octahedral control in superlattices of LFO and STO can be obtained. This control might make it possible to tune the magnetic properties of LFO film layers in such superlattices.


The purpose of this study is to investigate the hierarchy of difficulty in the usage of the definite article by high school students in Korea based on the Rasch model and to analyze what causes the hierarchy of difficulty. This study investigates 133 high school students'' responses on eight different uses of the definite article as noted by Segall (1990). According to the findings, it is confirmed that students respond differently to the definite article depending on whether they have grammatical knowledge of it and understand the context of paragraphs. In order for students to understand the definite article correctly, systematic lessons are needed in English reading and writing classes. Moreover, an English teacher should include sentences that have different meaning by the definite article distributed throughout the text when designing a lesson plan for reading comprehension.


In this article, the author attempts to bring the practical theological conversion research into dialogue with the theory of social constructionism. Such an interdisciplinary approach to religious conversion shifts the attention from the intra-psychic religious experience of the converter to the contextual understanding of conversion phenomena. The author emphasises that the narrative-socialconstructionist perspective enables a more complete interpretation of the conversion process. Furthermore, the author emphasises that the social constructionist approach to conversion research has its own perspective in the area of practical (empirical) theology as an interdisciplinary discipline. By using the postulates of social construction, the author believes that one should not reject the view that God is present in a conversion, nor that this should be questioned. Here, through the social constructionist approach and in conversion research, there is an attempt to create a dialogue with other social sciences. Interaction between social sciences and theological empirical research opens the door to a holistic understanding of the conversion phenomena where all researchers are welcomed to give their contribution. In the end, it should be pointed out that conversion is not just pure social construction. The experience of conversion is above social construction. Social construction cannot comprehend the experience of conversion without a dialogue, first and foremost a dialogue with theology. In a word, the aim of this work is not to give a whole explanation by using social constructionism only, but to invite an area of social constructionism into a dialogue with a discourse of practical theology. UDC: 234.22:303.442.4 Original scientific paper Received: March 11, 2010. Accepted: March 23, 2010.


Dust transported in the martian atmosphere is of intrinsic scientific interest and has relevance for the planning of human missions in the future. The MSR Campaign, as currently designed, presents an important opportunity to return serendipitous, airfall dust. The tubes containing samples collected by the Perseverance rover would be placed in cache depots on the martian surface perhaps as early as 2023-24 for recovery by a subsequent mission no earlier than 2028-29, and possibly as late as 2030-31. Thus, the sample tube surfaces could passively collect dust for multiple years. This dust is deemed to be exceptionally valuable as it would inform our knowledge and understanding of Mars' global mineralogy, surface processes, surface-atmosphere interactions, and atmospheric circulation. Preliminary calculations suggest that the total mass of such dust on a full set of tubes could be as much as 100 mg and, therefore, sufficient for many types of laboratory analyses. Two planning steps would optimize our ability to take advantage of this opportunity: (1) the dust-covered sample tubes should be loaded into the Orbiting Sample container (OS) with minimal cleaning and (2) the capability to recover this dust early in the workflow within an MSR Sample Receiving Facility (SRF) would need to be established. A further opportunity to advance dust/atmospheric science using MSR, depending upon the design of the MSR Campaign elements, may lie with direct sampling and the return of airborne dust.


Abstract Recent investigations have shown that various factors may affect the shear strength of glacial till and that these factors may be involved in the drumlin-forming process. The presence of frozen till in the deforming zone, variation in pore-water pressure in the till, and the occurrence of random patches of dense stony-till texture have been considered. The occurrence of dense stony till may relate to the dilatancy hypothesis and can be considered a likely drumlin-forming factor within the region of critical stress levels. The up-glacier stress level now appears to be the more important, and to provide a sharper division between drumlin-forming and non-drumlin-forming conditions.


[1] The decision to sequester CO2 in the deep ocean should ultimately be based not only upon what would happen to deep sea marine biota but also upon what would happen to surface organisms if nothing were done to limit atmospheric CO2. Thus such a decision should be based on a proper understanding of long-term chronic effects, from the global-scale perturbation in near-surface ocean CO2, in addition to acute effects, from large local increases in CO2 caused by purposeful sequestration. Here we focus on the long-term chronic effects of CO2 on shallow water benthic organisms that have calcium carbonate shells. With two duplicate 6 month manipulative experiments, we demonstrate that a 200 ppm increase in CO2 adversely affects the growth of both gastropods and sea urchins. Thus even moderate increases in atmospheric CO2 that could well be reached by the middle of this century will adversely affect shallow water marine benthic organisms. This provides another reason, beyond concerns for climate, to enhance efforts to limit increases in atmospheric CO2 to the lowest possible levels.


Light can be used to increase alertness, evoke relaxation and suppress sleepiness. Therefore, it can be deployed to support the well-being and performance of people in working places. These socalled 'non-visual' or 'biological' effects have become an increasingly important topic in lighting design over the last few years. Research on the physical effects of light on our body, as opposed to effects on visual perception and emotion, is still on-going. This paper will discuss the implementation of current research results into practical applications. Furthermore, this article will discuss opportunities and benefits for lighting designers to apply this research by suggesting methods of application in lighting solutions for various work places. Those are driven by biological aspects of lighting, but take into account visual and emotional attributes, to aim at overall well-being in work places.


We propose a model of strategic network formation in repeated games where players adopt actions and connections simultaneously using a simple reinforcement learning scheme. We demonstrate that under certain plausible assumptions the dynamics of such systems can be described by so called replicator equations that characterize the co-evolution of agent strategies and network topology. Within this framework, the network structures emerging as a result of the game-dynamical interactions are described by the stable rest points of the replicator dynamics. In particular, we show using both simulations and analytical methods that for certain N-agent games the stable equilibria consist of star motifs as the main building blocks of the network.


Licenseplate identification is a challenging area, which is in contrast with the traditional practice of monitoring the vehicles manually. In this paper, License Plate Recognition system uses Image Processing and Character recognition for obtaining the desired information. The purpose of this system is to develop a real time applications which recognize the license plate from cars at the gate for example entrance of parking area or border crossing. The captured video is processed using MATLAB 2013a and the recognized digits are compared with the database and displayed using interface usingHough transform, sobel edge detection and segmentation process on the input. The Arduino board is then initiated from the signal generated by MATLAB for mechanical operation [gate opening].


The profound effects of reactive elements (REs) on the adhesion energy and adhesive strength of the α-Al2O3/β-NiAl interface in thermal barrier coating (TBC) systems have attracted increasing attention because RE-doping has played a significant role in improving the thermal cycling lifetime of TBCs. However, the fundamental mechanism is, so far, not well understood due to the experimental difficulty and theoretical complexity in interface modelling. For this purpose, in the present study we have performed comprehensive density functional theory calculations and information targeted experiments to underline the origin of the surprising enhancement of interface adhesion, stability and mechanical strength of the α-Al2O3/β-NiAl interface by different RE doping levels. Our results suggest that the interface failure firstly appears within the NiAl layer adjacent to the Al-terminated oxide under mechanical loading, while the formation of O-RE-Ni bond pairs at the interface can effectively hinder the interface de-cohesion, providing a higher mechanical strength. By comparing several typical REs, it is observed that Hf can emerge not only with the highest interface adhesion energy, but also the highest mechanical strength; in agreement with our experimental results. By continuously increasing the dopant concentration, the strengthening effect may increase correspondingly, but is limited by the solute solubility. These results shed light into the effect of REs on the stability and strength of the α-Al2O3/β-NiAl interface, providing theoretical guidance for interface design via a combinational analysis of bond topology and electronic structure.


Due to a lack of religious or metaphysical orientation in modern Western societies, interpersonal conflicts of interest and value are solved under the premise of individuals acting rationally through the interaction on a free market and the formation of political majorities gaining legislative power. However, the legitimacy of this approach becomes increasingly questionable when it comes to sustainability conflicts. In view of this, Hans Jonas considered the possibility of the need to suspend democratic institutions in favor of a benevolent tyrant to avert a potential catastrophe. Since any form of centralism comes with its own problems of legitimacy, utilizing the more modest orientation claims of prudence ethics is a more promising alternative in deliberations on the justifiability of an occasional suspension of the majority principle without exposing a society to the dangers of domineering arbitrariness.


Abstract. Polar nephelometers provide in situ measurements of aerosol angular light scattering and play an essential role in validating numerically calculated phase functions or inversion algorithms used in space-borne and land-based aerosol remote sensing. In this study, we present a prototype of a new polar nephelometer called uNeph. The instrument is designed to measure the phase function, F11, and polarized phase function, -F12/F11, over the scattering range of around 5 to 175∘, with an angular resolution of 1∘ at a wavelength of 532 nm. In this work, we present details of the data processing procedures and instrument calibration approaches. uNeph was validated in a laboratory setting using monodisperse polystyrene latex (PSL) and di-ethyl-hexyl-sebacate (DEHS) aerosol particles over a variety of sizes ranging from 200 to 800 nm. An error model was developed, and the level of agreement between the uNeph measurements and Mie theory was found to be consistent within the uncertainties in the measurements and the uncertainties in the input parameters for the theoretical calculations. The estimated measurement errors were between 5 % and 10 % (relative) for F11 and smaller than ∼ 0.1 (absolute) for -F12/F11. Additionally, by applying the Generalized Retrieval of Aerosol and Surface Properties (GRASP) inversion algorithm to the measurements conducted with broad unimodal DEHS aerosol particles, the volume concentration, size distribution, and refractive index of the ensemble of aerosol particles were accurately retrieved. This paper demonstrates that the uNeph prototype can be used to conduct accurate measurements of aerosol phase function and polarized phase function and to retrieve aerosol properties through inversion algorithms.


Prior knowledge of the typical signal spectrum at the equalizer input can be used to speed up the convergence of a least mean-square error nonrecursivc equalizer by placing a weighting matrix in the path of the coefficient (tap gain) corrections. When the training sequence is periodic with period equal to the time-spread of the nonrecursive equalizer, the weighting matrix is not only symmetric and Toeplitz, but also circulant. Thus the fast update algorithm can be implemented by inserting a single nonrecursive filter in the path of the periodic input sequence before it is used for computing coefficient correction terms. The stability and convergence of the fast start-up algorithm with "stochastic" update in the presence of noise are examined. In the absence of prior information about the channel characteristics, this fast converging training procedure may be easily extended to a one-shot method of equalizer setup. The one-shot method, which involves estimation of the inverse filter from one period of the received signal, proves to be robust in the presence of noise. Simulation resuits are given for class I partial-response and Nyquist (20 percent roll-off raised cosine) data transmission systems with quadrature amplitude modulation over a dial-up telephone connection.


This paper proposes a method to identify the type and the Burgers vector of dislocations visualized via transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The first step is to determine experimentally the orientation, with respect to the sample holder, of a grain of known crystal structure whose dislocation slip systems have been previously reported. With this determined orientation of the grain, the method calculates the orientation of the projections of the possible dislocation line vectors in the transmission electron microscope screen coordinate system and then compares them with the observed dislocations to identify their type and the Burgers vector. The coordinate transformations underlying the method are outlined, and its validity is demonstrated using TEM measurements on a titanium sample. The method is expected to simplify the related TEM determination work.


Abstract Patients who have been contaminated by chemical compounds present a number of difficulties to emergency departments, in particular, the risk of secondary contamination of healthcare staff and facilities. The Department of Health in the United Kingdom has provided equipment to decontaminate chemically contaminated casualties who present at emergency departments. The capacity of this equipment is limited, and although both the ambulance and fire services have equipment to cope with mass casualties at the scene of a chemical incident, there is still the possibility that acute hospitals will be overwhelmed by large numbers of self-presenting patients. The risks and potential consequences of this gap in resilience are discussed and a number of possible practical solutions are proposed.


Desmognathus quadramaculatus and D. folkertsi are cryptic salamander species that occur sympatrically across the entire range of the latter species. However, the larval form of D. folkertsi has never been formally described, and studies of salamander larval communities within its range require the ability to distinguish it from its cryptic relative. We conducted morphometric analyses in order to compare the larval forms of these two species living in allopatry and searched for characters that may be useful in distinguishing them in the field. Larvae of D. quadramaculatus had a larger average body size than D. folkertsi, and larger specimens of the former species had redder tail fins. MANCOVA indicated significant differences in a suite of 22 morphological characters between the two species. Additional principal component analysis (PCA) and discriminant function analysis (DFA) indicated strong separation of factor and discriminant scores, respectively. Besides body size and tail-fin color, the best potential field character appears to be the forelimb length (FLL)/snout-vent length (SVL) ratio with larvae of D. quadramaculatus having a ratio above 0.2 and those of D. folkertsi having a lower ratio. However, these differences need to be confirmed in sympatry before they can be completely relied upon as useful field characters.


In this thesis some research questions regarding durability and quality of roads has been investigated. The questions are analyzed from an image analysis point of view and aims to be a complement to existing methods for analyzing asphalt. One important factor for the durability of the asphalt layer on roads is the affinity between the stones in the asphalt and the binder that holds the stones together, called bitumen. One step in testing the affinity is to manually estimate the degree of bitumen coverage after the stones covered in bitumen has been washed for a while. The goal with the first two papers is to replace this manual estimation by image analysis methods. The first paper deals with the easier problem where there is a clear color difference between the stones and the bitumen. By using reference images to get information of the typical stone and bitumen color and a graph-cut algorithm we get result that seems to be close to the real degree of bitumen coverage. In the second paper we instead look at the problem with darker stones. In this case we cannot see a clear color difference between the stones and the bitumen. Instead we notice that bitumen and stones reflect light in different ways and take multiple images with lighting from different directions. The degree of bitumen coverage is then estimated by detecting specular reflections in the images. Another quality control of asphalt is to estimate the size distribution in an asphalt sample and see if it corresponds to the recipe for the asphalt. This is investigated in the third paper, where slices of the asphalt are analyzed. The analysis consists of segmenting the stones individually so that the size of all grains can later be estimated. (Less)


Most approaches to understanding human motor control assume that people maximize their rewards while minimizing their motor efforts. This tradeoff between potential rewards and a sense of effort is quantified with a cost function. While the rewards can change across tasks, our sense of effort is assumed to remain constant and characterize how the nervous system organizes motor control. As such, when a proposed cost function compares well with data it is argued to be the underlying cause of a motor behavior, and not simply a fit to the data. Implicit in this proposition is the assumption that this cost function can then predict new motor behaviors. Here we examined this idea and asked whether an inferred cost function in one setting could explain subject's behavior in settings that differed dynamically but had identical rewards. We found that the pattern of behavior observed across settings was similar to our predictions of optimal behavior. However, we could not conclude that this behavior was consistent with a conserved sense of effort. These results suggest that the standard forms for quantifying cost may not be sufficient to accurately examine whether or not human motor behavior abides by optimality principles.


Abstract Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) is the accurate diagnostic method for pancreatic masses and its accuracy is affected by various FNA methods and EUS equipment. Therefore, we aimed to elucidate the instrumental and methodologic factors for determining the diagnostic yield of EUS-FNA for pancreatic solid masses without an on-site cytopathology evaluation. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 260 patients (265 pancreatic solid masses) who underwent EUS-FNA. We compared historical conventional EUS groups with high-resolution imaging devices and finally analyzed various factors affecting EUS-FNA accuracy. In total, 265 pancreatic solid masses of 260 patients were included in this study. The accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of EUS-FNA for pancreatic solid masses without on-site cytopathology evaluation were 83.4%, 81.8%, 100.0%, 100.0%, and 34.3%, respectively. In comparison with conventional image group, high-resolution image group showed the increased accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of EUS-FNA (71.3% vs 92.7%, 68.9% vs 91.9%, and 100% vs 100%, respectively). On the multivariate analysis with various instrumental and methodologic factors, high-resolution imaging (P = 0.040, odds ratio = 3.28) and 3 or more needle passes (P = 0.039, odds ratio = 2.41) were important factors affecting diagnostic yield of pancreatic solid masses. High-resolution imaging and 3 or more passes were the most significant factors influencing diagnostic yield of EUS-FNA in patients with pancreatic solid masses without an on-site cytopathologist.


type="main" xml:lang="en"> We present evidence of crowding out of intrinsic motivation in real purchasing decisions from a field experiment in a large supermarket chain. We compare three instruments, a label, a subsidy, and a neutral price change, in their ability to induce consumers to switch from dirty to clean products. Interestingly, a subsidy framed as an intervention is less effective than either a label or a neutrally framed price change. We argue that this provides a new explanation for crowding behavior: consumers are resistant to having the line of demarcation between public and private decision making moved in either direction. (JEL C93, Q18, Q54, Q58, H23, H41)


We studied the sensitivity of the process e + e − → ℓνqq ′ to anomalous trilinear gauge boson couplings of the W W γ and W W Z vertices at the center of mass energies √ s = 500 GeV and 1 TeV. The bounds for the couplings we obtained result from an analysis of a five dimensional angular differential cross section. In our calculations we included all tree level Feynman diagrams contributing to the final state as well as the finite widths of the vector bosons. Both unpolarized and polarized beams were considered. We found that the 500 GeV measurements will be at the level of loop contributions to the couplings and may show hints of new physics while the 1 TeV should be sensitive to new physics at the loop level. We also explored ℓνqq final states off the W resonance and found that useful information could be extracted from this region of phase space.


Background The British Thoracic Society (BTS) recommend pleural fluid TB culture (TBC) should only be requested where there is clinical suspicion of TB pleuritis. Many clinicians request TBC when investigating pleural effusions regardless of clinical suspicion. Objectives To examine the sensitivity of pleural fluid TBC in TB patients. To audit the appropriateness of pleural fluid TBC requests. To determine if enhanced clinical information increased the utility of TBC. Method We assessed pleural fluid from TB patients and clinical information accompanying all pleural fluid TBC requests at our hospital between Jan 2008 and Dec 2012. Clinical information suspecting TB on the request form was considered a high level of suspicion. Absence of information was considered a low level of suspicion. Results The prevalence of pleural effusion in TB was low 6/120 (5%). The sensitivity of pleural fluid TBC in cases of TB presenting with a pleural effusion was 33%. Of 918 pleural fluid samples, 67 (7.3%) had a high clinical suspicion. The positive predictive value (PPV) of pleural fluid TBC with high clinical suspicion was 3% (table 1). The remaining 851 had low clinical suspicion with a negative predictive value of 100%. Discussion The prevalence of TB diagnosed by pleural fluid TBC is low (2/918). Clinical suspicion of TB did not significantly improve the PPV. No patients with a low clinical suspicion cultured TB. Our data supports BTS recommendations that pleural fluid TBC should only be requested when TB pleuritis is suspected.


This project examined the transition from high school to adulthood for students eligible for special education services who have low incidence disabilities (i.e., intellectual and developmental disabilities). The research answered the question, "What are evidence-based best practices and community resources for assisting in the transition of individuals with low incidence disabilities from high school and special education services to adulthood?" To answer this question, the researcher reviewed literature of evidence-based practices that increased success rates of students in special education after they transitioned into adulthood. A review of literature revealed that interagency collaboration, functional skill curriculum and assessment, vocational skill training, and self-determination awareness and training delivered to student between the ages of 16 and 22 positively influenced transition from special education services into adulthood. The product of this project is a 16-chapter transition manual of evidence-based best practices in transition planning and community resources available to facilitate transition. The manual is designed for use by transition planning teams supporting students with low incidence disabilities, students themselves and their families, and adult service providers. The community resources included in the manual are those accessible to North County San Diego residents. The evidence-based best practices for transition presented in the manual are appropriate for any student eligible for special education diagnosed with a low incidence disability and who is preparing for the transition from high school to adulthood.


Heating and current drive systems such as high energy Neutral Beam Injection (NBI) are being considered for pulsed EU DEMO ("DEMO1") pre-conceptual design. Their aim is to provide auxiliary power, not only during flat-top, but also during transient phases (i.e. plasma current ramp-up and ramp-down). In this work, NBI fast particle power loads on DEMO1 first wall, due to shine-through and orbit losses, are calculated for the diverted plasma ramp-up phase. Numerical simulations are performed using BBNBI and ASCOT Monte Carlo codes. The simulations have been done using a complete 3D wall geometry, and implementing the latest DEMO NBI design, which foresees NBI at 800 keV particle energy. Location and power density of NBI-related power loads at different rampup time steps are evaluated and compared with the maximum tolerable heat flux taken from ITER case. Since NBI shine-through losses (dominant during low density phases) depend mainly on the beam energy, plasma density and volume, DEMO has a more favourable situation than ITER, enlarging NBI operational window. Using ITER criteria, DEMO NBI at full energy and power could be switched on during ramp-up at <ne> ~ 1.3×1019 m-3. This increases the appeal of neutral beam injectors as auxiliary power systems for DEMO.


The purpose of this study is to explore cohort changes in first-time homeownership in Korea. The study collected qualitative data from individual interviews to explore the housing trajectories of different birth cohorts. As a result, Individual interviews facilitated an exploration of the decision making process of first-time homeowner with in a cohort context. The cohorts born in the 1950s seek a sense of security through homeownership, and have strong Korean sentiments of ownership. They tried various means to buy a house, and real estate market boom at that time played a role in the driving force. The cohorts born in the 1960s have less insecurity of tenure than the previous cohorts, but they still feel the need for homeownership. Since the currency crisis in 1997 caused the fluctuation of housing price, the 1960s cohort experienced a dramatic decline and rebound of assets while the previous cohorts had experienced a steady rise in housing prices. Finally, the attitude towards housing in the group of 1970s cohorts has changed from ownershiporiented to use-oriented.


Diffuse Alveolar Hemorrhage (DAH) is rarely reported complication of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). A young woman diagnosed SLE, with a previously normal plain chest radiograph, developed acute onset cough, dyspnoea and hemoptysis. The repeat urgent chest radiograph revealed alveolar opacities. The triad of acute onset respiratory symptoms on a background of SLE and previously normal chest radiography raised the suspicion of DAH in her. She made satisfactory clinical response to high dose corticosteroid and pulse intravenous cyclophosphamide. We conclude that high index of suspicion is required for recognition of DAH. Prompt diagnosis and management are keys to successful outcome. Key words: Systemic lupus erythematosus, Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage, Rare complication


Major depressive disorder (MDD) is one of the most common neuropsychiatric disorders affecting over one-fifth of the population worldwide. Owing to our limited understanding of the pathophysiology of MDD, the quest for finding novel antidepressant drug targets is severely impeded. Monoamine hypothesis of MDD provides a robust theoretical framework, forming the core of a large jigsaw puzzle, around which we must look for the vital missing pieces. Growing evidence suggests that the glial loss observed in key regions of the limbic system in depressed patients, at least partly, accounts for the structural and cognitive manifestations of MDD. Studies in animal models have subsequently hinted at the possibility that the glial atrophy may play a causative role in the precipitation of depressive symptoms. Antidepressants as well as monoamine neurotransmitters exert profound effects on the gene expression and metabolism in astrocytes. This raises an intriguing possibility that the astrocytes may play a central role alongside neurons in the behavioral effects of antidepressant drugs. In this article, we discuss the gene expression and metabolic changes brought about by antidepressants in astrocytes, which could be of relevance to synaptic plasticity and behavioral effects of antidepressant treatments.


This article tries to reflect about skills that librarian or information specialists should develop to design an online course. Define distance education, online education, and collaborative learning. Establish the importance of community sense. Describe the process to design online courses. Finally, compare the Mexican Librarianship and Information Sciences Schools graduate profiles with the skills required to design online courses.


We test the presence of a change of slope in a logistic regression model with covariate measured with errors. Under the null hypothesis of no change-point, estimation of a single intercept and slope can be carried out straightforwardly by various conditional score based methods. If the alternative hypothesis holds and indeed there exists a change-point, estimation becomes more challenging, nevertheless it can still be carried through via semiparametric procedures. However, this does not warrantee a score type of testing procedure due to a degeneration of the estimating equation for the change-point location under the null. The usual Wald type tests fail as well due to another degeneration caused by the singularity of the information matrix. We propose a Wald type test without requiring to estimate the change-point location. Numerical results show the satisfying performance of the proposed testing procedure in terms of both level precision and power.


Introduction: Prevalence and severity of depressive illness among the youth are on the rise. Objective: To examine the prevalence and severity of depressive illness among youth coming to the psychiatry outpatient department of District Headquarters Hospital, Sargodha. Material and Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. The study population includes young people (15-24 years) coming to the Out-patient Department of Psychiatry in District Headquarters Hospital, Sargodha. The duration of the study was from 1st February 2018 to 20th May 2018. 50 patients were selected through the convenience sampling technique. Beck's depression inventory-II semi-structured questionnaire was used for data collection from people aged 15-24 years coming to psychiatry OPD. The diagnosis was made as per the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-V). Informed consent was obtained from all participants. Chi-square applied. P-value of 0.05 taken as cut off value. Results: Depression was present in 64% of the study participants. Among female participants, 77.42% of females while among male participants, 42.11% of males were suffering from depression (P-value=0.012) which shows that there is a significant association between gender and depression. Overall, 50% of the participants were mildly depressed, 34.37% were moderately depressed and only 15.63% were severely depressed (P-value = 0.618). Among depressed, 75% were 20-24 years old and 25% were 15-19 years old. Conclusion: Prevalence of depression is found to be more among women and in the young age group 20-24 years. Therefore, regular psychiatric screening, treatment, and follow-up are recommended in an educational institute for early diagnosis and treatment.


Although interferon (cid:1) (IFN (cid:1) ) decreases relapse rate and disease activity in multiple sclerosis (MS), the mechanisms involved have not been elucidated. The present study is the first report on the apoptotic effect of IFN (cid:1) in mature, but not immature, myeloid dendritic cells (DCs). Both exogenous IFN (cid:1) added to DCs matured through exposure to proinflammatory cytokines and endogenous IFN (cid:1) secreted after lipopolysaccharide stimulation induced DC cell death.Apoptosis of mature DCsrequiredbothNF- (cid:2) BandSTAT-1activa-tion, and was mediated through the induction of caspase-11 expression and activation of caspase-3. In vivo, we observed increased caspase-11 expression and a significant decrease in the number of splenic DCs after lipopolysaccharide administration in wt but not in STAT-1–deficient mice. Since mature DCs are major contributors to the inflammatory response and essential partners in the induction of adaptive immunity, IFN (cid:1) -dependent elimination of activated DCs could play an essential role in re-establishinghomeostasis,andmightrep-resent a new molecular mechanism for the therapeutic effect of IFN (cid:1) in MS. (Blood. 2009;114:1344-1354) expression and caspase-3 activation.


Large amounts of software are running on what is considered to be legacy platforms. These systems are often business critical and cannot be phased out without a proper replacement. Migration of these legacy applications can be troublesome due to poor documentation and a changing workforce. Estimating the costof suchprojects is nontrivial. Expert estimationis the most common method, but the method is heavily relying on the experience, knowledge,and intuition of the estimator. The use of a complementary estimation method can increase the accuracy of the assessment. This paper presents a metamodel that combines enterprise architecture modeling concepts with the COCOMO II estimation model. Ourstudy proposes a method combining expert estimation with the metamodel-based approachtoincrease the estimation accuracy. The combination was tested with four project samples at a large Nordic manufacturing company, which resulted in a mean magnitude of relative error of 10%.


Objective To compare the effectiveness and safety of dexamethasone versus betamethasone for preterm birth (registered in PROSPERO CRD42017078006). Search strategy We searched in MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, LILACS, Clinical Trials.gov, International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, reference lists and contacted field experts. Selection criteria, data collection and analysis Randomized controlled trials comparing any corticosteroids against each other or against placebo. Three researchers independently selected, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of the included studies by using EROS and COVIDENCE software. We performed a pairwise meta-analysis and Bayesian network meta-analysis. Main results We included 45 trials (11227 women, 11878 infants). There was no important difference between corticosteroids in neonatal death (odds ratio[OR] 1.05; 95% confidence interval 0.62-1.84; moderate-certainty evidence[CE]), neurodevelopmental disability (OR 1.03; 0.80-1.33; moderate-CE), intraventricular haemorrhage (OR 1.04; 0.56-1.78); low-CE) and birthweight (+5.29 gr; -49.79 to 58.97; high-CE). Compared with betamethasone, dexamethasone may reduce chorioamnionitis (OR 0.70; 0.45-1.06; moderate-CE), foetal death (OR 0.81; 0.24-2.41; low-CE) while may increase puerperal sepsis (OR 2.04; 0.72-6.06; low-CE) and respiratory distress syndrome (OR 1.34; 0.96-2.11; moderate-CE), however, the confidence interval indicates both beneficial and detrimental effects. Conclusions We found no important difference on neonatal death, neurodevelopmental disability, intraventricular haemorrhage and birthweight between corticosteroids. Compared with betamethasone, dexamethasone may reduce chorioamnionitis and foetal death, but may increase endometritis/puerperal sepsis and respiratory distress syndrome. Further research is warranted to improve the certainty of evidence. Keywords preterm birth, antenatal corticosteroids, dexamethasone, betamethasone, systematic review, network meta-analysis


The detection of brain tumors using magnetic resonance imaging is currently one of the biggest challenges in artificial intelligence and medical engineering. It is important to identify these brain tumors as early as possible, as they can grow to death. Brain tumors can be classified as benign or malignant. Creating an intelligent medical diagnosis system for the diagnosis of brain tumors from MRI imaging is an integral part of medical engineering as it helps doctors detect brain tumors early and oversee treatment throughout recovery. In this study, a comprehensive approach to diagnosing benign and malignant brain tumors is proposed. The proposed method consists of four parts: image enhancement to reduce noise and unify image size, contrast, and brightness, image segmentation based on morphological operators, feature extraction operations including size reduction and selection of features based on the fractal model, and eventually, feature improvement according to segmentation and selection of optimal class with a fuzzy deep convolutional neural network. The BraTS data set is used as magnetic resonance imaging data in experimental results. A series of evaluation criteria is also compared with previous methods, where the accuracy of the proposed method is 98.68%, which has significant results.


The significant growth in the global Internet traffic and routing table size requires solutions to address Internet scalability and resiliency. A number of proposals have considered moving away from the flat legacy Internet routing to a two-level hierarchical routing, separating edge networks from transit carrier networks. In this paper, we study the extended inter-domain traffic engineering capabilities arising in a transit-edge separated Internet routing, focusing on those multi-homed edge networks (e.g., small ISPs, content providers, large corporations) that aim at increasing their Internet resiliency experience. We model using game theory the interaction between distant independent edge networks exchanging large traffic volumes, with the goal of seeking efficient edge-to-edge load-balancing routing solutions. The proposed traffic engineering framework relies on a non-cooperative potential game, built upon path prepending- and path diversity- dependent costs, that indicates efficient equilibrium solution for the edge-to-edge load-balancing coordination problem. Simulations on real instances show that, in comparison with the alternative multipath BGP and normal LISP, we can achieve significantly higher resiliency and stability. In particular, our simulation for an illustrating case shows four-times more stable multipath routing solutions with a five-times larger path diversity.


Recent research suggests an "Internet paradox"—that a communications technology might reduce social involvement and psychological well–being. In this article I examine some of the limitations of current Internet communication, including those of access, medium, presentation, and choice, that bear on the formation and maintenance of social relationships. I also explore issues central to human meaning in a technological culture—those of the history of the self, of individuality, and of human relationships—and suggest that social forces, technological and otherwise, have increasingly eroded our social interconnectedness and even produced psychological fragmentation. Finally, by considering the psychology of privacy, subjectivity, and intimacy, I look at the historical and developmental processes of internalization by which we construct the "virtual interior" of mind. Understanding this link between human meaning and technological culture, in the form and pattern of our virtual interiors, may help us to see opportunities as well as dangers for the growth of our humanity, our ethics, and our spirituality.


While existing federated learning approaches mostly require that clients have fully-labeled data to train on, in realistic settings, data obtained at the client side often comes without any accompanying labels. Such deficiency of labels may result from either high labeling cost, or difficulty of annotation due to requirement of expert knowledge. Thus the private data at each client may be only partly labeled, or completely unlabeled with labeled data being available only at the server, which leads us to a new problem of Federated Semi-Supervised Learning (FSSL). In this work, we study this new problem of semi-supervised learning under federated learning framework, and propose a novel method to tackle it, which we refer to as Federated Matching (FedMatch). FedMatch improves upon naive federated semi-supervised learning approaches with a new inter-client consistency loss and decomposition of the parameters into parameters for labeled and unlabeled data. Through extensive experimental validation of our method in two different scenarios, we show that our method outperforms both local semi-supervised learning and baselines which naively combine federated learning with semi-supervised learning.


Abstract Mitochondria are the essential players in eukaryotic ATP production by oxidative phosphorylation, which relies on the maintenance and accurate expression of the mitochondrial genome. Even though the basic principles of translation are conserved due to the descendance from a bacterial ancestor, some deviations regarding translation factors as well as mRNA characteristics and the applied genetic code are present in human mitochondria. Together, these features are certain challenges during translation the mitochondrion has to handle. Here, we discuss the current knowledge regarding mitochondrial translation focusing on the termination process and the associated quality control mechanisms. We describe how mtRF1a resembles bacterial RF1 mechanistically and summarize in vitro and recent in vivo data leading to the conclusion of mtRF1a being the major mitochondrial release factor. On the other hand, we discuss the ongoing debate about the function of the second codon-dependent mitochondrial release factor mtRF1 regarding its role as a specialized termination factor. Finally, we link defects in mitochondrial translation termination to the activation of mitochondrial rescue mechanisms highlighting the importance of ribosome-associated quality control for sufficient respiratory function and therefore for human health.


Introduction/Background The innate immune system is a key factor in the fate of an HPV infection and a proinflammatory environment has been shown to facilitate HPV persistence and cervical carcinogenesis. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have innate antibacterial and antiviral properties, as well as a role in tissue remodelling but have not been studied in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). Bacterial vaginosis is known to be associated with HPV infection and CIN, therefore the vaginal microbiota (VMB) may also influence the innate immune response and subsequent disease state. We aimed to investigate changes in VMB composition and expression of Human Beta Defensin-1 (hBD-1), Secretory Leucocyte Protease Inhibitor (SLPI) and inflammatory cytokines according to disease status. Methodology Population: Non-pregnant, premenopausal women attending the colposcopy clinic in London, UK with cytological ± histological disease classification. Analysis: Vaginal swab samples were used for 16s rRNA bacterial sequencing to assess VMB composition and for enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to determine hBD-1, SLPI, IL-1b and IL-8 levels. Results A total of 232 women were included and classified into three groups; 34 normal, 81 low-grade CIN, and 117 high-grade CIN. Lower levels of Lactobacillus spp. with increased bacterial species diversity, were seen with increasing disease severity. A bacterial vaginosis-like VMB was observed twice as frequently in women with high-grade disease (28%) compared to controls (14%). Higher levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines; IL-1b and IL-8 and AMPs; hBD-1 and SLPI increase with increasing disease severity. Conclusion Lactobacillus spp. are thought to protect the female reproductive tract from pathogens, including viruses and the lower levels observed with increasing disease severity, along with higher levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines may play a role in disease outcomes. AMPs are known to be overexpressed in several cancers, and therefore higher levels may have a deleterious effect due their ability to facilitate tissue remodeling that is required for carcinogenesis. Disclosure Nothing to disclose.


From the team's inception in 1903, the New York Yankees were a floundering group that played as second-class citizens to the New York Giants. With four winning seasons to date, the team was purchased in 1915 by Jacob Ruppert and his partner, Cap "Til" Huston. Three years later, when Ruppert hired Miller Huggins as manager, the unlikely partnership of the two figures began, one that set into motion the Yankees' run as the dominant baseball franchise of the 1920s and the rest of the twentieth century, capturing six American League pennants with Huggins at the helm and four more during Ruppert's lifetime. The Yankees' success was driven by Ruppert's executive style and enduring financial commitment, combined with Huggins's philosophy of continual improvement and personnel development. While Ruppert and Huggins had more than a little help from one of baseball's greats, Babe Ruth, their close relationship has been overlooked in the Yankees' rise to dominance. Though both were small of stature, the two men nonetheless became giants of the game with unassailable mutual trust and loyalty. The Colonel and Hug tells the story of how these two men transformed the Yankees. It also tells the larger story about baseball primarily in the tumultuous period from 1918 to 1929-with the end of the Deadball Era and the rise of the Lively Ball Era, a gambling scandal, and the collapse of baseball's governing structure-and the significant role the Yankees played in it all. While the hitting of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig won many games for New York, Ruppert and Huggins institutionalized winning for the Yankees.


We study the sample placement and shortest tour problem for robots tasked with mapping environmental phenomena modeled as stationary random fields. The objective is to minimize the resources used (samples or tour length) while guaranteeing estimation accuracy. We give approximation algorithms for both problems in convex environments. These improve previously known results, both in terms of theoretical guarantees and in simulations. In addition, we disprove an existing claim in the literature on a lower bound for a solution to the sample placement problem.


This thesis explored some aspects of the relationship between structural progression of the glaucomatous optic nerve head (ONH) and functional progression of the visual field.

Sixty-one individuals with a longitudinal series of ONH images were manually identified from a database of approximately 2800 individuals attending a hospital glaucoma clinic. The ONH images obtained from the various photographic sources were equalized, for each individual, in terms of ONH size.

Custom-software was designed to enable the viewing of consecutive and chronologically different ONH image-pairs under monoscopic and stereoscopic conditions, with and without sequential flicker. The efficacy, for the identification of progressive glaucomatous loss, amongst the 61 individuals, of the four viewing techniques was qualitatively evaluated by two ophthalmologists. Stereo-flicker identified the largest number of cases of progression, although little agreement was present between the two ophthalmologists.

The digital characteristics of the ONH images from 27 of the 61 individuals enabled quantitative digital stereo-planimetry. A weak positive curvilinear association was present, at baseline, between the reduction in the neuroretinal rim area and the outcomes of perimetry, including residual retinal ganglion cell (RGC) count. However, little agreement was again present between the two ophthalmologists. Little association was present with either ophthalmologist between progressive structural damage and functional damage.

A separate manual search of 1000 individuals with glaucoma archived in 'Open eyes' identified 112 individuals with a minimum of 5 visual field examinations over a minimum of 5 years. The outcomes at each stimulus location of the differential light sensitivity, expressed in decibels (dB), and of the residual RGC count, against time to follow-up, were compared using univariate linear regression analysis. In general, residual RGC count identified progression, in terms of a greater statistical significance and/ or of more stimulus locations, at an earlier stage of the disease than sensitivity expressed in dB.


Background Despite evidence of the effectiveness of injectable opioid treatment compared with oral methadone for chronic heroin addiction, the additional cost of injectable treatment is considerable, and cost-effectiveness uncertain. Aims To compare the cost-effectiveness of supervised injectable heroin and injectable methadone with optimised oral methadone for chronic refractory heroin addiction. Method Multisite, open-label, randomised controlled trial. Outcomes were assessed in terms of quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs). Economic perspective included health, social services and criminal justice resources. Results Intervention costs over 26 weeks were significantly higher for injectable heroin (mean £8995 v. £4674 injectable methadone and £2596 oral methadone; P<0.0001). Costs overall were highest for oral methadone (mean £15805 v. £13410 injectable heroin and £10945 injectable methadone; P =n.s.) due to higher costs of criminal activity. In cost-effectiveness analysis, oral methadone was dominated by injectable heroin and injectable methadone (more expensive and less effective). At willingness to pay of £30 000 per QALY, there is a higher probability of injectable methadone being more cost-effective (80%) than injectable heroin. Conclusions Injectable opioid treatments are more cost-effective than optimised oral methadone for chronic refractory heroin addiction. The choice between supervised injectable heroin and injectable methadone is less clear. There is currently evidence to suggest superior effectiveness of injectable heroin but at a cost that policy makers may find unacceptable. Future research should consider the use of decision analytic techniques to model expected costs and benefits of the treatments over the longer term.


Despite considerable progress in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia in the past several decades, the prognosis of the majority of patients with this disease remains guarded. Advances in supportive care and better characterization of disease subsets through cytogenetics and molecular analysis have led to significant success in treating specific subsets of patients, such as those with acute promyelocytic leukemia and core binding factor leukemias, particularly among the younger patients who are able to better tolerate the effects of cytotoxic chemotherapy. However, overall, only about 40% of younger patients and 10% of older patients with this disease are alive at 5 years. Current research is focusing on the identification of new cellular targets amenable to specific inhibitors, designing the best strategies for combining these novel agents with traditional chemotherapy regimens, and determining prognostic indicators that may allow us to better stratify therapy. Clinical Lymphoma, Myeloma & Leukemia, Vol. 11, No. S1, S60-4 © 2011 Published by Elsevier Inc.


ABSTRACT A method based on Fourier series solution to Fick's diffusion equation has been proposed to evaluate effective diffusivity (D) as a function of moisture content in agricultural materials undergoing shrinkage during drying process. The shrinkage kinetics of the particulate was used to correlate its instantaneous size (spherical equivalent diameter) as a function of material moisture content A computer program was used to evaluate D based on shrinkage kinetics and experimental drying data and relate it to moisture content. The method was used to obtain moisture diffusivity data for thin layer drying of grape and corn.


There are a great number of medicine and cosmetic advertisements in printed mass media. These advertisements are numerous and very productive in term of expressing intent so that they emerge interesting language problems to be studied. Lexical and grammatical cohesion markers on those advertisements are written in various ways. Based on that, the problems of the study are follows: (1) what kind of cohesion marker developed on medicine and cosmetic advertisements in mass media, (2) how is the form of sentences applied on medicine and cosmetic advertisements. Data collecting method applied in this research is observation method with noting technique. The collected data from that technique is then analyzed by distributional method with techniques of substitution, ellipsis, and reading mark. Based on 15 data of discourses in medicine and cosmetic advertisement, it is found that the lexical and grammatical cohesion markers on those discourse are ellipsis, substitution, and repetition. The forms of sentences applied in the discourses of medicine and cosmetics advertisement are around 1-14 numerous. There are around 1-14 sentences applied in discourses of medicine and cosmetic advertisement. Based on the analysis of functional structure to sentences used in the discourse, there are 33 functional structures. Kata kunci: kohesi, koherensi, wacana


Heat stress during Brassica napus seed filling severely impairs yield and oil content. However, the mechanisms underlying heat-stress effects on B. napus seed photosynthesis and oil accumulation remain elusive. In this study we showed that heat stress resulted in reduction of seed oil accumulation, whereas the seed sugar content was enhanced, which indicated that incorporation of carbohydrates into triacylglycerols was impaired. Photosynthesis and respiration rates, and the maximum quantum yield of photosystem II in developing seeds were inhibited by heat stress. Transcriptome analysis revealed that heat stress led to up-regulation of genes associated with high light response, providing evidence that photoinhibition was induced by heat stress. BnWRI1 and its downstream genes, including genes involved in de novo fatty acid biosynthesis pathway, were down-regulated by heat-stress. Overexpression of BnWRI1 with a seed-specific promoter stabilized both oil accumulation and photosynthesis under the heat-stress condition, which suggested BnWRI1 plays an important role in mediating the effect of heat stress on fatty acid biosynthesis. A number of sugar transporter genes were inhibitedby heat stress, resulting in defective integration of carbohydrates into triacylglycerols units. The results collectively demonstrated that disturbances of the seed photosynthesis machinery, impairment of carbohydrates incorporation into triacylglycerols, and transcriptional deregulation of the BnWRI1 pathway by heat stress might be the major cause of decreased oil accumulation in the seed.


The reduction of inequalities within and between countries stands as a policy goal, and deserves to take centre stage in the design of the Sustainable Development Goals agreed during the Rio+20 Summit in 2012. The 2013 edition of A Planet for Life represents a unique international initiative grounded on conceptual and strategic thinking, and - most importantly - empirical experiments, conducted on five continents and touching on multiple realities. This unprecedented collection of works proposes a solid empirical approach, rather than an ideological one, to inform future debate. The case studies collected in this volume demonstrate the complexity of the new systems required to accommodate each country's specific economic, political and cultural realities. These systems combine technical, financial, legal, fiscal and organizational elements with a great deal of applied expertise, and are articulated within a clear, well-understood, growth- and job-generating development strategy. Inequality reduction does not occur by decree; neither does it automatically arise through economic growth, nor through policies that equalize incomes downward via ill conceived fiscal policies. Inequality reduction involves a collaborative effort that must motivate all concerned parties, one that constitutes a genuine political and social innovation, and one that often runs counter to prevailing political and economic forces. Contents: 1. Why inequalities matter (Pedro Ramos Pinto). 2. The new prosperity of rentiers (Thomas Piketty). 3. Inequality, the emergence of a political idea in the 20th century (Vincent Bonnecase). 4. Inequalities and growth: A comprehensive ideology emerges (Francois Bourguignon). 5. Economic equality as a condition for biodiversity conservation (Raphael Bille, Gilles Kleitz, Gregory M. Mikkelson). 6. Income inequalities, health inequalities and social progress (Sridhar Venkatapuram). 7. Inequalities within the urban half of the world (David Satterthwaite, Diana Mitlin). 8. Killing carbon tax with the equity argument: Lessons from the Sarkozy tax (Jean-Charles Hourcade). 9. Pathways to sustainability in a crisis-ridden world (Peter Utting). 10. Brazil's social policy in the 21st century (Thiago Varanda Barbosa, Mayra Jurua Oliveira). South Africa: when devolved governance fails (Giordano, Thierry). 11. Bringing Bottom of the Pyramid into business focus (Erik Simanis). 12. The solidarity economy: emancipatory action to challenge politics (Bruno Frere). 13. Defining sustainable development goals for 2030 (Xue Lan, Jeffrey D. Sachs, Guido Schmidt-Traub, Laurence Tubiana)


Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, m+p+o-xylene (BTEX) and two trimethylbenzenes (BTEXT) were monitored in Rio de Janeiro downtown area during 2004 and 2005. Some criteria pollutants and meteorological parameters were also determined in order to assess the main data correlations. 94 samples were collected, using activated charcoal cartridges, between 9:00 am and 3:00 pm. The mean concentrations obtained were: 14.5, 22.8, 9.19, 19.3, 8.5, 10.4 and 12.1 µg m-3 for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, m+p-xylene, o-xylene, 1,2,3-trimethylbenzene and 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene, respectively. These values are similar to mean concentrations obtained in the Brazilian cities of Porto Alegre, Volta Redonda and Sao Paulo, which use the same type of fuel. Multivariate analyses showed that individual BTEXT are emitted by the same source and are not well correlated with other primary pollutants. These results may be due to the contribution of evaporative losses of the BTEXT and to the formation of secondary volatile organic compounds in the atmosphere.


Lymphocytes derived from children and adults infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1), as well as from seronegative children and adults, were tested for their ability to proliferate in response to recombinant HIV envelope (env) and core (cor) peptides. Proliferative responses to env were seen in 9% of control children compared with 27% of infected children (p less than 0.02). There was no difference in the response rates of seropositive and seronegative adults (17% and 16%, respectively). Proliferative responses to cor were seen more frequently in children and adults (22% and 28%, respectively) than their seronegative cohorts (11% and 12%, respectively). Also, the proliferative response to env and cor was seen in 27% and 37%, respectively, of seronegative children who were born to seropositive mothers and then subsequently seroreverted. These results suggest that sensitization to HIV recombinant antigens has resulted in a cell-mediated immune response in some HIV-infected individuals. Furthermore, the significant cell-mediated immune response to these antigens in seroreverting children raises the possibility that they may have been sensitized to this antigen by previous HIV infection.


An end‐point life cycle impact assessment is used to evaluate the damages of electricity generation from fossil fuel‐based power plants with carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) technology. Pulverized coal (PC), integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC), and natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) power plants are assessed for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture, pipeline transport, and storage in a geological formation. Results show that the CCS systems reduce the climate change‐related damages but increase the damages from toxicity, acidification, eutrophication, and resource consumption. Based on the currently available damage calculation methods, it is concluded that the benefit of reducing damage from climate change is larger than the increases in other damage categories, such as health effects from particulates or toxic chemicals. CCS significantly reduces the overall environmental damage, with a net reduction of 60% to 70% in human health damage and 65% to 75% in ecosystem damage. Most of the damage is due to fuel production and combustion processes. The energy and infrastructure demands of CCS cause increases in the depletion of natural resources by 33% for PC, 19% for IGCC, and 18% for NGCC power plants, mostly due to increased fossil fuel consumption.


Interdiffusion in the diffusion couples of metallic multilayers is investigated for the variation of mobility and different initial phase separation (IPS) states. A phase field simulation shows that the diffusion flux and interface movement increase for higher atomic mobility. The shorter IPS time influences the diffusion flux of two-phase diffusion couples, and has almost no influence on the interface movement.


Raman spectroscopy has advanced considerably in the last several years due to rapid developments in instrumentation and the availability of theoretical methods for accurate calculation of Raman spectra, thus enormously facilitating the interpretation of Raman data. This review is restricted to cover papers mainly published in the Journal of Raman Spectroscopy, which serve to give a fast overview of recent advances in this research field as well as to provide readers of this journal a quick introduction to the various subfields of Raman spectroscopy. It also reflects the current research interests of the Raman community. Similar reviews of highly active areas of Raman spectroscopy will appear in future issues of this journal. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


SARS-Cov-2 was first reported in Wuhan, a town in Hubei Province of China with a population of 11 million in December 2019, following an outbreak of non-pneumonia of a clear cause. The virus has now spread across the globe considerably more than 200 countries and territories, and the world health organization (WHO) described it as a pandemic on 11 March 2020. On the economic front, COVID-19 has led more than 200 countries partially or totally lockdown. This situation disrupted global supply chain, and induced a significant fall in both economic activity and financial asset prices. Canada, being one of the country affected by the Virus with 731 000 Cases, and 18 622 Deaths as at the 21 of January 2020. Recently vaccines have been developed but the contamination wave keeps on increasing every day. On the socioeconomic front, COVID-19 has led more than 200 countries into partial or total lockdown, disrupted global supply chains, and induced a fall in both economic activity and financial asset prices. It's of prime importance to study how COVID-19 impact's on Canada's commodity market. The commercial and financial effect of COVID-19. The impact of COVID-19 is unclear because the public health crisis is still unfolding. There is limited amount of studies concerning this topic, because the crisis is still unfolding. The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of Covid-19 on Canada's Commodity markets. The author uses extreme bound analysis for market interpretation and sourced data from Bank of Canada and Our World in Data COVID-19, from January 1 to December 31 2020. The result of the study show that, Total deaths per million have an impact on the monthly Bank of Canada's commodity price index of energy because of the robust relationship between them. Furthermore, the result also show that, commodity price index of energy and total deaths per million are determinants to total commodity price index. Furthermore, commodity price index excluding energy, commodity price index of energy, commodity price index of minerals and metals, commodity price index of forestry and total deaths per million are robust determinants of monthly Bank of Canada total commodity Prices. M.BCNE, M.ENER, M.MTLS, M.MTLS, M.FOPR, M.FOPR, M.AGRI, M.FISH, TC, TD have a positive relationship with MBCPI. M.BCPI, M.BCNE, M.MTLS, M.AGRI and M.FISH.


For the objective of studying the structure of an atomizing nozzle which is the key component of a water mist fire-fighting equipment, this paper presents a detailed experimental investigation of the atomizing characteristics of a two-phase flow emulsification nozzle by the use of a Malvern particle size analyzer. In the experiment, the media is the mixture of water and air. The operating characteristics of the emulsification nozzle and the influences of the water pressure and air pressure on the atomizing characteristics of the nozzle have been analyzed. The experimental results show that the atomizing characteristics of this nozzle satisfy the requirements of the water mist fire-fighting system very well.


Research on teacher collaboration emphasizes the key role of collaborative culture for teachers' functioning; however, there is little empirical evidence to investigate its relationship with knowledge sharing among university ESP teachers. In the present study, the relationship between EFL teachers' collaborative climate and knowledge sharing was sought. The data were collected through two surveys of 328 Iranian ESP teachers. A Pearson correlation was carried out to investigate the relationship between the two variables of the study. A multiple regression analysis was also run to examine if ESP teachers' collaborative climate predicts their knowledge sharing. A follow-up interview with 13 ESP teachers was conducted to consolidate the findings and explore the contribution of teachers' collaborative climate to their knowledge sharing. The Pearson correlation coefficient test demonstrated a significant positive correlation for four measures (organizational culture, the head of department, teachers' attitude, workgroup support), and the collaborative climate. The results of the multiple regression also indicated that four subscales of collaborative climate were the predictors of ESP teachers' attitude towards knowledge sharing. Analysis of the interview data, on the other hand, indicated how teachers' collaborative climate contributes to their knowledge sharing through one of the four main sources, namely helpful atmosphere, encouragement received from the heads of departments, the expectation of reward, and work group support. In line with these findings, several practical recommendations were offered.


Home visitors can support parents who have low levels of emotional well-being. While support may be effective for some families, the circumstances in which it is effective are less well understood. Longitudinal administrative data from Home-Start UK were analysed to identify how the nature of support was related to changes in parental emotional well-being, and whether these effects were the same for families with different risk factors. Sub-groups were identified of people experiencing problems with various aspects of emotional well-being: mental ill health (n = 1,289), social isolation (n = 1,413) and low self-esteem (n = 1,400). Multiple linear regression models were used to explore the relationships between the nature of support and the rate of improvement. These effects were considered in subgroups of families with domestic violence problems, disabled parents, a disabled child, large family sizes or multiple risks. More frequent visits and support being provided by paid workers, as opposed to volunteers were related to faster improvements. Paid worker support was particularly related to faster improvements in families with domestic abuse, disabled parents and multiple risks. However, volunteer support seemed just as effective for large families and those with disabled children. These findings have implications for those providing and commissioning home visiting services.


In this letter, a novel approach to the output-feedback inverse reinforcement learning (IRL) problem is developed by casting the IRL problem, for linear systems with quadratic cost functions, as a state estimation problem. Two observer-based techniques for IRL are developed, including a novel observer method that re-uses previous state estimates via history stacks. Theoretical guarantees for convergence and robustness are established under appropriate excitation conditions. Simulations demonstrate the performance of the developed observers and filters under noisy and noise-free measurements.


Abstract. Habsyah TS, Basyuni M, Siregar LAM, Afandi D, Syahputra I. 2021. Distribution of polyprenol and dolichol in oil palm genotype (Elaeis guineensis) involving lipase activity. Biodiversitas 22: 830-837. The aim of this study was to determine the pattern of chemical compounds from the polyisoprenoid group in oil palm plants that were contributing to the lipase activity. The study was conducted in two locations. A sampling of leaves and fruit mesocarp from 90 progenies was conducted at PT. Socfin Indonesia Aek Loba Plantation, Asahan District, North Sumatra, Indonesia. Biochemical analysis of polyisoprenoid was carried out at the Forest Biotechnology Laboratory, Faculty of Forestry, University of Sumatera Utara, Medan. The results showed that the total lipids in leaves tissue ranged from 0.40 to 1.032 mg/g, with the lowest total lipid found in SL-4966 progeny and the highest total lipid found in SL-9737 progeny. Polyisoprenoid values ranged from 1.63 to 10.82 mg/g dry weight. The highest polyisoprenoid content was obtained in SL-10682 progeny, and the lowest was in SL-5045 progeny leaf tissue. The polyisoprenoid in fruit mesocarp tissue ranged from 1.79 to 4.14 mg/g. The lowest polyisoprenoid content (1.79 mg/g) of fruit mesocarp was found in SL-4233 progeny, while the highest (4.14 mg/g) was found in SL-5010 progeny.  Dolichol and polyprenol are equally dominant in palm leaves.  Carbon polyprenol chain lengths ranged from C45-C105, and dolichol ranged from C50-C110. The polyprenol carbon chain lengths in the mesocarp tissues were C65-C120 and dolichol was C65-C125. Polyisoprenoid analysis on oil palm leaf and fruit mesocarp tissue showed that lipid patterns of oil palm leaf and mesocarp were categorized as type II lipid patterns. It provides important information for selecting genotypes of low lipase activity of oil palm plants.


A versatile surface model reconstruction method from serial planar contours is proposed. The method is devoted to construct human organ models for laparoscopic surgery simulation and real surgery assistance. Like many other similar-purposed methods, the proposed method tiles triangles among near contours of an organ on each two adjacent slice images, then the surface model is constructed by aggregating all tiled triangles; however, the proposed method considers more information and rules than these methods to construct more-reasonable and less-distorted models. The proposed method consists of four steps: (i) feature points on contours are first extracted to link, then partial triangles are tiled around the feature points; (ii) similar contour segments on the two near contours are extracted by a matching algorithm for tiling triangles; (iii) contours on two adjacent images are superposed, then cross points of the contours are extracted to split the remaining contour segments; (iv) at last, the proposed dynamic programming algorithm is used to construct the remaining part of the whole complete model. Comparing with other similar-purposed methods, the proposed method has the advantages: (i) more than one (cross) contour are allowed in a slice image; (ii) reasonable data structure for describing the relationship among contours on one slice image is given to help the reconstruction; (iii) the proposed method is more versatile to construct more-reasonable and less-distorted models; (iv) complicated models can be properly reconstructed.


The three anterior-most segments in arthropods contain the ganglia that make up the arthropod brain. These segments, the pre-gnathal segments, are known to exhibit many developmental differences to other segments, believed to reflect their divergent morphology. We have analyzed the expression and function of the genes involved in the segment-polarity network in the pre-gnathal segments compared with the trunk segments in the hemimetabolous insect Oncopeltus fasciatus. We show that there are fundamental differences in the way the pre-gnathal segments are generated and patterned, relative to all other segments, and that these differences are general to all arthropods. We argue that given these differences, the pre-gnathal segments should not be considered serially homologous to trunk segments. This realization has important implications for our understanding of the evolution of the arthropod head. We suggest a novel scenario for arthropod head evolution that posits duplication of an ancestral single-segmented head into three descendent segments. This scenario is consistent with what we know of head evolution from the fossil record, and helps reconcile some of the debates about early arthropod evolution.


Abstract We present some highlights of two ongoing investigations that deal with the dynamics of planetary systems. Firstly, until recently, observed eccentric patterns in debris disks were found in young systems. However recent observations of Gyr-old eccentric debris disks leads to question the survival timescale of this type of asymmetry. One such disk was recently observed in the far-IR by the Herschel Space Observatory around ζ2 Reticuli. Secondly, as a binary companion orbits a circumprimary disk, it creates regions where planet formation is strongly handicapped. However, some planets were detected in this zone in tight binary systems (γ Cep, HD 196885). We aim to determine whether a binary companion can affect migration such that planets are brought in these regions and focus in particular on the planetesimal-driven migration mechanism.


Preliminary calculations, with exchange, of wave functions for some atoms of the first long period have been made. The results for Mn show that the (3d) wave function of the (3d)5(4s)2 6S state of neutral Mn differs little from that of the (3d)5 6S state of Mn+2, whereas it differs considerably from that of the (3d)7 4F state. Similar results are to be expected for other atoms. The (3d) wave functions of Ti+, Mn+, and Cu+ show a close approach to geometrical similarity; so also do those of V+2 and Mn+2. For the singly-ionized atoms Ca+ to Cu+, the screening number for the (3d) wave function at first decreases with increasing atomic number; a physical reason is given for this behavior. The relation of these results, and others interpolated from them, to the results of Catalan, Rohrlich, and Shenstone on the "horizontal analysis" of the low terms of the spectra of atoms of the first long period is shown.