Objective: The aim of this study was to cross-culturally adapt the Armando Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire into Arabic and validate its use in the general population. Methods: The translation was conducted based on the principles of the most widely used model in questionnaire translation, namely Brisling's back-translation model. A written authorization allowing translation into Arabic was obtained from the original author. The Arabic version of the questionnaire was distributed to 480 participants to evaluate construct validity. Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 17.0 for Windows was used for the statistical analysis. Results: The response rate of this study was 96%; most of the respondents (52.5%) were female. Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach's α , which showed that this questionnaire provides a high reliability coefficient (reaching 0.9299) and a high degree of consistency and thus can be relied upon in future patient satisfaction research.


Background Swine flu (H1N1) and Coronavirus diseases (COVID-19) have been compared in the past few months. Both pandemics sparked a worldwide major panic. Although both have some common symptoms and diagnoses, they are quite different in many aspects. The current study aimed to investigate the differences in clinical and viral behaviors between H1N1 Influenza and COVID-19 pneumonia. Methods This was a retrospective study of adult patients hospitalized with H1N1 influenza pneumonia between January 2019 and February 2020, and patients hospitalized with COVID-19 during the outbreak. A demographic and clinical characteristic of H1N1 influenza and COVID-19 patients were recorded. Both groups were compared—using an independent samples student t test for continuous variables and a chi-square test for categorical data—to identify significantly different parameters between the 2 diseases. Results A total of 78 patients were included and divided into 2 groups: 33 patients (42.3%) with H1N1 and 45 patients (57.7%) with COVID-19. The mean age of the patients was 43.3 ± 10.6 years. Bronchial asthma was significantly higher among patients with H1N1, while diabetes mellitus was significantly higher among patients with COVID-19. Right lower lobe affection was significantly present among those with H1N1 than those with COVID (100% vs 0%). The monocytic count was significantly higher among those with H1N1 than COVID-19 (11.63 ± 1.50 vs 7.76 ± 1.68; P < 0.001). Respiratory rates of more than 22 c/min significantly increased in patients with HINI than in those with COVID-19 (18.2% vs 4.4%; P = 0.05). Mortality increased in patients with HINI than in those with COVID-19 (18.2% vs 6.7%). However, the difference did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.15). Conclusion Clinically, it is difficult to distinguish between H1N1 and COVID-19. Thus, a polymerase chain reaction is recommended for all patients suffering from influenza-like symptoms to rule out influenza A subtype H1N1 and/or SARS-CoV2.


In this chapter we define some new separation axioms of type W-R0 We also discuss the inter-relationships among these separation properties along with several counter the manuscript should contain an abstract.


How is the sharing economy framed and who are the main actors driving current developments? Utilizing Social Media Analytics (SMA) for institutional analysis, we track the formation of the sharing economy in Sweden, its actors and their impact. Our fi ndings reveal that the sharing economy in Sweden currently encompasses a wide variety of both non-market and market practices. Discussions concerning commercial exchanges, the role of pro fi t-driven fi rms such as Uber and Airbnb, and the emergence of a market logic has created a state of in- stability. Our results point at several unresolved issues, such as taxation and regulation. Based on these fi ndings, we suggest an expanded de fi nition of the sharing economy which incorporates both market and non-market logics.


Recently school counselors have begun to be employed to school and the office of local school districts. Now it is our challenging task to firmly establish school counseling system. The purpose of this study was to review the current status of school counseling in Korea and to suggest future directions of school counseling. For this purpose, characteristics of school counseling and school counselor's role were first reviewed. In lights of these criteria, several areas which need to be improved were identified. Authors suggest the four future directions of school counseling : introduction of school psychology-based service, establishment of comprehensive school counseling program, improvement of professional ability according to school counselor's role, establishment of support system.


Organizational commitment of temporary workers is an important issue in human resource management context. A review of research articles reveals that, due to the three-way labour relationships, temporary workers do not feel fully committed to the organizations they work at. The research focuses on temporary employees of the temporary employment agency. The aim of the paper is to carry out a detailed analysis of organizational commitment of temporary staff members, to identify the predominant types of organizational commitment, which leads to identification of determinants of commitment, and also to determine the directions of its improvement. The survey found that none of the three types of commitment (affective, continuance and normative) was dominating. Nonetheless, it can be pointed out that the strongest commitment is the affective one, then follows that of continuance and the third one is the normative one. Temporary employees' commitment to the organization is positively related to work environment, application of different skills for work, and autonomy. While shaping the organizational commitment of temporary employees, the determinants that are weakly expressed and the attention should be focused on are these: lack of career opportunities, lack of training, failure to provide financial well-being, feedback from the manager, and absence of a sense of security.


It has been widely advocated that software architecture provides an effective set of abstractions for engineering (families of) complex software systems. However, architectural concepts are seldom supported directly at the level of system implementation. In embedded environments in particular, developers are often forced to rely on low-level programming languages. While this is conducive to fine-grain control over the system, it does not lend itself to addressing larger issues such as ensuring architectural integrity or managing an application family. In this paper we describe our experience with fundamentally altering the manner in which a family of embedded applications is designed, analyzed, implemented, deployed, and evolved using explicit architectural constructs. We discuss our strategy, the challenges we faced in the course of our project, the lessons learned in the process, and several open issues that remain unresolved.


A controlled regioselective synthesis of either C-2 or C-3 substituted benzo[b]furans from readily accessible 1-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-2-chloroethanones is described. Addition of a range of Grignard reagents to the α-chloro ketones generates alkoxide intermediates, which can form either 2-substituted benzo[b]furans via a [1,2]-aryl migration or 3-substituted benzo[b]furans via a direct cyclization and dehydration sequence. A temperature-dependent [1,2]-aryl migration mechanism for the formation of 2-substituted benzo[b]furan is proposed.


In congested transportation and data networks, travel (or transmission) times are time-varying quantities that are at best known a priori with uncertainty. In such stochastic, time-varying (or STV) networks, one can choose to use the a priori least-expected time (LET) path or one can make improved routing decisions en route as traversal times on traveled arcs are experienced and arrival times at intermediate locations are revealed. In this context, for a given origin-destination pair at a specific departure time, a single path may not provide an adequate solution, because the optimal path depends on intermediate information concerning experienced traversal times on traveled arcs. Thus, a set of strategies, referred to as hyperpaths, are generated to provide directions to the destination node conditioned upon arrival times at intermediate locations. In this paper, an efficient label-setting-based algorithm is presented for determining the adaptive LET hyperpaths in STV networks. Such a procedure is useful in making critical routing decisions in Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and data communication networks. A side-by-side comparison of this procedure with a label-correcting-based algorithm for solving the same problem is made. Results of extensive computational tests to assess and compare the performance of both algorithms, as well as to investigate the characteristics of the resulting hyperpaths, are presented. An illustrative example of both procedures is provided. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.


This paper outlines a conceptual framework of organizational diversification and assesses the state of empirical research on hospital organizational change. The literature on economic organization of hospitals, one of the most developed branches of health services research, still has only weak ties to economic theory. Evolving physician-hospital organizations do not fit into existing frameworks based on horizontal integration, vertical integration, or diversification. Empirical research has primarily focused on horizontal integration, and cause-effect relationships are often obscured by models that depart from economic theory and lack controls for self-selection bias. Recent empirical studies indicate that hospital mergers had moderate, rather than dramatic, effects on the rate of change in operating costs, staffing, and scale. Mergers rarely resulted in hospital closure, but were as likely to result in acute care consolidation and restructuring as in conversion to non-acute inpatient uses. While administrative costs were higher in for-profit than non-profit system hospitals, total costs were similar. System hospitals had lower marginal and average costs per stay than independent hospitals. Hospital vertical integration into subacute care was largely an artifact of the governmental uniform pricing system, which encouraged vertical integration. Hospitals that shared governance or financial risks with physicians outperformed those with high levels of physician governance and financial integration (e.g. stock ownership). Formal physician-hospital organizational arrangements often served to coordinate managed care contracting or to forge links with primary care group practices. Hospital diversification into related services improved short-term financial performance over unrelated diversification, although long-term performance was similar.


In a recent Reply [arXiv:1012.4361] to our Comment [arXiv:0906.2389, accepted to PRL], Serbyn, Skvortsov, and Varlamov raised a question of microscopic description, which we did not touch in Comment, and criticized our work [Phys. Rev. B 77, 064501 (2008)]. They hopefully agreed with one of our key result that the effective heat current vertex for fluctuating Cooper pairs (the Aslamzov-Larkin block in the diagram technique) is modified in the magnetic field, so "the heat current is proportional to the gauge-invariant momentum". However, they stated that we have overlooked the same correction to the electric current vertex and in this way we lost their huge thermomagnetic effect that does not require any particle-hole asymmetry and, therefore, prevails over the ordinary thermomagnetic effects by at least five orders in magnitude in ordinary superconductors near T_c and strongly dominates in the temperature range up to ~ 100 T_c. Here we address their criticism with all details and show that our calculations are correct.


Music has shown to be a powerful tool for both treating and enhancing the treatment of various mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. However, whether it can be a potential treatment method for patients with OCD is a topic to be explored in this following review article. OCD is a common psychiatric disorder that effects over 1% of the global population. Its symptoms can be debilitating and hence affect patients on multiple levels of their daily lives, including work, relationships, and physical health. The most common treatment methods remain to be antidepressants and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). However, many patients fail to respond well to medication, while CBT poses challenges such as difficulties in reappraisal. In this article, I will explore how music can reduce the symptoms of OCD through reducing the hyperactivity of the association loop, reducing anxiety, and enhancing dopaminergic systems required for extinction learning. Effects of Music on the Psychopathology of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) 3


BACKGROUND: Cutaneous sarcoidosis in black-skinned people is more severe and, in a subset, recalcitrant to therapy. Management of these patients is a challenge. AIM: To document the clinical features of recalcitrant cutaneous sarcoidosis (RCS) and its response to sequential therapy. A treatment algorithm is suggested. METHODS: A cross-sectional retrospective analysis was made of patients with RCS. Demographic data, clinical features, histology, blood parameters, radiology and management and response to therapy were recorded. RESULTS: A total of 30 patients with cutaneous sarcoidosis were seen, of which six had recalcitrant lesions. All had black skin, with a male to female ratio of 1:5. The average age was 48.5 years (41-67) and the average duration of lesions was 11.3 years (2-29). Skin lesions were papules (three), plaques (four), annular (three), nodules (four), ulcers (one), alopecia (one) and lupus pernio (one). Extracutaneous involvement was noted in four of six patients as follows: pulmonary (three of six), dactylitis (two of six) and hepatosplenomegaly (one of six). Histopathology was undertaken in all confirmed non-caseating granulomas. None of the cases responded to systemic prednisone alone. Alternative therapies were: chloroquine (six of six), methotrexate (four of six), doxycycline (two of six), allopurinol (two of six) and isotretinoin (one of six), and azathioprine (one of six). All patients responded well to a stepwise approach to therapy using second-line agents with no relapses during the follow-up period. CONCLUSION: Sequential therapy avoids the side effects of toxic drugs whilst controlling aggressive cutaneous lesions.


Power consumption is an important design issue of current embedded systems and SoC. It has been shown that instruction cache accounts for a significant portion of the power dissipation of the whole processor chip. WDC (way-decay cache) proposed in this paper is a novel cache architecture with resizable associativity and low leakage power. Experiment results show that for the SPECint95 benchmarks, WDC reduces energy consumption without significantly hindering performance.


An anonymized point-prevalence survey of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) carriage was conducted amongst a stratified random sample of nursing home residents in Birmingham, UK, during 1994. Microbiological sampling from noses, fingers and the environment was undertaken. Information about potential risk factors for the acquisition of MRSA was gathered. MRSA was isolated from cultures of the nose or fingers of 33 of the 191 residents who took part in the study (17%) but only 1 of the 33 positive residents had a clinical infection. Although just 10 of the 87 environmental samples were MRSA positive, there was some environmental contamination in most homes. Risk factors for MRSA carriage were hospital admission within the last year (relative prevalence 2·09, 95% CI 1·13–3·88; P < 0·05) and surgical procedures within the last year (relative prevalence 4·02, 95% CI 2·18–7·43; P = 0·002). Phage-typing of the strains revealed similarities with those circulating in Birmingham hospitals. These findings suggest that the prevalence of MRSA in nursing homes in Birmingham was high, and that the strains may have originated in hospitals.


Abstract This paper presents the influence of air blown through an injection nozzle in a circular section induction box on the axial jet and air induction. The effect of the turbulent jet on the axial mean streamwise velocity decay, turbulence characteristics, mass entrainment and temperature distribution in the near flow field of an enclosed numerical space is investigated. Convergence of the steady state simulations is achieved by using the RNG kappa-epsilon turbulence model. Comparisons of the axial mean streamwise velocity decay, turbulence characteristics and the temperature distribution in an enclosed space are reported for an injection nozzle, and another similar simulation was conducted for a circular section induction diffuser box with open ports at specific positions to evaluate its performance. The numerical analysis was validated by prototype experiments using a similar injection nozzle in a test room 11 m in length, 5.5 m wide and 2.5 m high. Measurements of the streamwise velocity and temperature distribution were made inside the room on a grid with the help of a hotwire anemometer and digital thermometer, respectively. From the analysis of the data, it was found that the near flow field streamwise velocity, turbulence kinetic energy and air entrainment characteristics of the flow were significantly influenced by the air induction diffuser ports.


Objective: It is reported that cervical cytology is a significant factor related to stage, tumor grade, nodal metastasis, recurrence and survival rate in endometrial cancer. Moreover, reduced expression of the cell adhesion molecule E-cadherin is associated with higher tumor grade and metastasis in endometrial cancer. The objective of this study is to evaluate the relationship between the results of cytological assessment of glandular cells in cervical cytology before surgery, prognostic factors, and E-cadherin expression in endometrial cancer. Methods: Between 2004 and 2011, 263 patients with endometrial cancer at all stages were treated with hysterectomy. We reviewed preoperative cervical smears and assigned each to one of three categories: (1) Negative, (2) Atypical glandular cells (AGC), and (3) Adenocarcinoma (AC). The relationship of these cytology, prognostic factors, and E-cadherin expression was evaluated. Results: Statistical significance in overall survival was shown for preoperative cervical cytology, age, surgical stage, histological type, tumor grade, myometrial invasion, cervical involvement, lymph node metastasis except peritoneal cytology. Patients with AC cytology were more likely than those with normal cervical cytology to have a higher International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage, poorer histopathology, higher tumor grade, deeper myometrial invasion, higher incidence of cervical involvement, and higher prevalence of lymph node metastasis. In addition, AC and AGC cytology appeared to be associated with a poorer prognosis and to have lower E-cadherin expression than negative cytology. Conclusions: Cervical cytology may be a guide to prognosis in endometrial cancer, and E-cadherin expression may correlate with appearances of abnormal endometrial cells.


This paper investigates China's agricultural households and their individual members' off-farm labor supply decision in response to farm production risks and a number of other factors (e.g., demographic characteristics, farm characteristics, and local market features). Whether and to what extent farming risks may affect farmers' off-farm employment in China are rarely studied. Our paper provides an empirical study to demonstrate that agricultural production risks significantly impact off-farm labor supply in rural China. The impacts of associated variables on households off-farm labor supply decisions are quantified using a sample of large–scale nationwide household finance survey in 2010. The results suggest that off-farm employment serves as a risk adaption strategy for Chinese farmers. Policy suggestions on retaining farmers to focus on agricultural production are discussed.


Portal hypertensive gastropathy (PHG) is a gastric mucosal lesion complicating portal hypertension, with higher prevalence in decompensated cirrhosis. PHG can sometimes complicate autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) due to the presence of multiple liver cysts. Besides, PHG is known to present as chest pain, with or without hematemesis. Other causes of chest pain in ADPKD include referred chest pain from progressively enlarging kidney cysts, and rare pericardial cysts. Chest pain, especially if pleuritic, in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients, is often ascribed to uremic pericarditis. We present recurrent pleuritic chest pain in a 24-year old ESRD patient with ADPKD that was initially misdiagnosed as uremic pericarditis. It was ultimately shown to represent symptomatic PHG with excellent therapeutic response to proton pump inhibitors.


An account is given of the basic theory underlying the use of ultrasounds in the diagnosis of dilatation of the abdominal aorta, and its practical value. The limitations of physical examination and vacuum radiography, and the contraindications, inconveniences and risks associated with aortography are points in favour of echography. The salient features of its application in suspected aneurysm are described with reference to 12 clinical cases. This simple and harmless examination offers a reliable and non-invasive means of detecting the presence and determining the size of such aneurysms with safety and certainty.


Abstract 1701 Mutations within the BCR-ABL domain are the most frequent mechanism of imatinib (IM) resistance. The second generation inhibitors (SGI) are indicated for imatinib intolerance or resistance and the initials trials showed similar response rates in IM resistant patients after IM failure, independent of mutation status, with exception of T315I. The aim of this work was to report the frequency of BCR-ABL mutations in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients of a Latin American population and to evaluate the clinical impact of the presence and type of mutations in overall survival (OS), progression free survival (PFS) and in the response to second generation inhibitors (SGI). Methods: retrospective analysis of 17 centers from Latin America. A total of 529 CML patients with mutation analysis performed in samples collected between 2002 and 2011 were included. Mutations were detected by direct sequencing from bone marrow or peripheral blood samples, collected from CML patients. After imatinib resistance, patients were treated with SGI (69%) or other treatments. Overall survival (OS) was calculated from date of mutation detection until last follow-up or death, and progression-free survival (PFS) from date of mutation detection until progression to accelerated phase or blast crisis, last follow-up or death. Survival curves were calculated using the log-rang test (SPSS 14.0 software).Results: the median age of patients at diagnosis was 45 years (5–87). 81% were in chronic phase (CP), 13% in accelerated phase (AP), 6% in blast crisis (BC). According to Sokal score, patients were stratified in low (36%), intermediate (30%) and high risk (34%); 36% had previously used Interferon. The median time from diagnosis until Imatinib treatment was 8 months (0–310) and from Imatinib start until mutation detection was 31 months (1–104). Mutations were found in 188 patients, in the following sites: P-loop (75/40%), nucleotide contact site (34/18%), catalytic domain (44/23%), A-loop (11/6%) and others (24/13%). The most frequent mutations detected were: T315I (30/16%), F359V/C/I (27/14%), M244V (18/9.6%), E255K/V (17/9%), G250E (17/9%), Y253H/F/Y (15/8%), M351T/L (12/6%); Ten patients presented concomitant mutations. On dasatinib treatment 29 mutations (27% T315I) were detected whereas 18 during nilotinib (16.5% T315I). Overall survival in the total group was 61% (95%CI: 51–71%) with a median time of 12 months. There was a significant difference in OS and PFS between non-mutated and mutated patients (76% vs 44% and 64% vs 44% respectively (P= 0.008 and P= 0.001). There was no difference in survival comparing P-loop mutations and others, excluding T315I. Patients with T315I mutations had a poorer outcome in comparison with other mutations (OS 21% vs 62%; PFS 35% vs 55%) (P= 0.04 and 0.06, respectively). In the group with BCR-AL mutations, OS was superior in patients that received a SGI in comparison with other treatments after resistance (50% vs 36% P= 0.007). One hundred patients (19%) died due to: disease progression (72), infections (8), graft versus host disease (2), central nervous system bleeding (2), cardiac failure (1), second neoplasia (1). 14 causes were not reported. Conclusions: Patients with BCR-ABL mutations had an inferior OS and PFS. T315I mutations were associated to a poor outcome. Treatment with SGI prolonged survival of patients after imatinib failure. Disclosures: Pagnano:Novartis: Speakers Bureau; Bristol Myers Squibb: Speakers Bureau. Boquimpani:Novartis: Speakers Bureau; Bristol Myers Squibb: Speakers Bureau. Pasquini:Novartis: Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Bristol Myers Squibb: Speakers Bureau. Spector:Novartis: Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees.


Contrary to what writers such as Hans Jonas and Val Plumwood suggest, much of nature is indifferent to human interests. Mountains, glaciers, sun-baked salt pans—such entities care neither about what interests us humans nor about what is objectively in our interests. It might be hard to see how the property of being indifferent, in this sense, could add value. But it can. For those of us who inhabit highly technological, user-friendly environments, entities such as mountains can have therapeutic value precisely because they so obviously do not care about what matters to us.


In the last decade, the suicide rate among the active-duty U.S. military has increased significantly, almost doubling in the Army and Marines Corps. The prevalent view is that factors related to military deployments are the primary drivers associated with risk of suicide, but the research evidence is mixed. There are factors, not directly related to deployment, associated with risk of suicide that is common in many studies such as suicide attempts, substance abuse problems, and young age. This study examines the extent to which suicide attempts are associated with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or depression among active duty military personnel using binomial logistic regression. The regression model uses data from the 2015 Department of Defense HealthRelated Behaviors Survey, which provides physical and mental health information on 16,699 active duty personnel in all branches of the U.S. military. This analysis finds that service members with probable PTSD or depression have a high likelihood of attempting suicide controlling for common suicide factors. Understanding the predictors of suicide attempts will inform approaches to mitigate suicide risk in the U.S military.


In certain academic, politic, social and environmental scenes and scenarios, it is declared that the dominant economic model or its prevailing integrating concepts are responsible for economic well-being entailing ecological discomfort. Starting from this assumption, a good way to the understanding of causes, while contributing a proper solution to the environmental problem issues, consists in elucidating in what terms the relation among and between ethic, environment and economy is being set out. In this historical-hermeneutical research, approaches developed in certain ethical, economic and environmental theories are analyzed in order to optimize the relationship between the human being and the environment.


The absence of dystrophin in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) disrupts the dystrophin dystroglycan glycoprotein complex (DGC) resulting in fibers fragility and atrophy, associated with fibrosis and microtubules and neuromuscular junction (NMJ) disorganization. The specific non-conventional cytoplasmic histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) was previously shown to regulate acetylcholine receptor distribution and muscle atrophy. Here we show that administration of the HDAC6 specific inhibitor tubastatin A to the DMD mouse model mdx improves muscle strength, restores microtubules, NMJ and DGC organization, and reduces muscle atrophy and fibrosis. These effects involve the known action of HDAC6 on microtubules acetylation and muscle atrophy but also involve a yet undiscovered action of HDAC6 on transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) signaling. Conversely, to inhibitors of nuclear HDACs that regulate TGF-β signaling via the activation of Follistatin expression, HDAC6 inhibition acts downstream of TGF-β ligands and receptors by increasing Smad2/3 acetylation in the cytoplasm which in turn inhibits its phosphorylation and transcriptional activity.


This paper considers language evolution from a cognitive-grammar (CG) perspective taking
 Classical Arabic Case Marking (CACM) as a case in point and a departure point. It is argued that the accusative case is
 diachronically the baseline case mark, designating the Objective Scene (OS) and demarcating an object of perception in the initial
 stage of maximal subjectivity in which the ground (G) is totally implicit. Such maximum is then attenuated through a
 process of objectification such that g entities are gradually put onstage to fulfill the functions of
 identification and predication. The nominative case, then, figures to mark such emerging entities in their
 baseline, immediate status. This conception of G with its functions is later extended to mark entities external to G, which gives
 rise to the full, nominative-marked, baseline existential core (C∃) comprising the existential
 predicate (P∃) and the existential subject (S∃). The truncation (T) of a verb's
 nominative case is argued to fulfill the semantic function of situating a process out of existential reality yielding the
 existential predicate minus (P-∃), which represents a basic elaboration on baseline C∃. Processes
 being extensions from perception, the accusative case attenuates to mark entities (D) that demarcate processes, implementing the
 semantic function of processual modification. Finally, a genitive-marked entity (RP) is proposed to implement the
 semantic function of referential modification, anchoring and referencing the conceptions of all those facets of
 reality.


Previous studies have shown that the hypothalamic content of beta-endorphin (beta EP) and other POMC-derived peptides increases 4 weeks after orchiectomy and that this increase can be prevented by testosterone replacement. To determine if these changes in hypothalamic beta EP content are secondary to changes in the biosynthesis of beta EP we have measured POMC mRNA levels in intact and castrated adult male rats with and without testosterone replacement. After either 2 or 4 weeks of treatment the medial basal hypothalamus (MBH) was collected and homogenized. An aliquot was removed for beta EP RIA, RNA was isolated, and the amount of POMC mRNA was measured using a solution hybridization S1 nuclease protection assay. In agreement with previous results, the content of beta EP in the MBH from 4-week castrated animals (7930 +/- 568 pg/mg protein) was significantly increased compared to that in either castrated and testosterone-replaced rats (5792 +/- 568 pg/mg; P less than 0.02) or intact controls (6027 +/- 349 pg/mg; P less than 0.02). POMC mRNA in the MBH from the 4-week castrated group was significantly higher compared to that in the castrated and testosterone-replaced group (2.61 +/- 0.33 vs. 1.7 +/- 0.22 pg/microgram RNA; P less than 0.05), which is parallel to the changes we found in beta EP peptide levels. Two weeks after castration no significant change was detected in the beta EP content in the MBH from castrated rats (5401 +/- 318 pg/mg protein) compared to that in the castrated and testosterone-replaced group (4848 +/- 304 pg/mg protein). However, we were able to detect a significant difference in the amount of POMC mRNA in the 2-week castrated group (1.47 +/- 0.267 pg/microgram RNA) compared to that in the 2-week castrated and testosterone-replaced group (0.815 +/- 0.061 pg/microgram RNA; P less than 0.05). The finding that testosterone replacement for either 2 or 4 weeks to castrated rats significantly reduced POMC mRNA levels suggests that sex steroids have an inhibitory effect on the biosynthesis of POMC in the MBH.


MOTIVATION
Pathway genes are considered as a group of genes that work cooperatively in the same pathway constituting a fundamental functional grouping in a biological process. Identifying pathway genes has been one of the major tasks in understanding biological processes. However, due to the difficulty in characterizing/inferring different types of biological gene relationships, as well as several computational issues arising from dealing with high-dimensional biological data, deducing genes in pathways remain challenging.

RESULTS
In this work, we elucidate higher level gene-gene interactions by evaluating the conditional dependencies between genes, i.e. the relationships between genes after removing the influences of a set of previously known pathway genes. These previously known pathway genes serve as seed genes in our model and will guide the detection of other genes involved in the same pathway. The detailed statistical techniques involve the estimation of a precision matrix whose elements are known to be proportional to partial correlations (i.e. conditional dependencies) between genes under appropriate normality assumptions. Likelihood ratio tests on two forms of precision matrices are further performed to see if a candidate pathway gene is conditionally independent of all the previously known pathway genes. When used effectively, this is a promising approach to recover gene relationships that would have otherwise been missed by standard methods. The advantage of the proposed method is demonstrated using both simulation studies and real datasets. We also demonstrated the importance of taking into account experimental dependencies in the simulation and real data studies.


In the treatise, De re aedificatoria, Alberti sought to establish what was intrinsic to the art of building. It can seem that his over‐riding concern was to establish its material and formal nature. However, architecture also figures in his other writings. Surveying the wider panorama of Alberti's thought, it becomes clear that what was extrinsic to architecture, yet crucial to its character, was of no less importance. Consistent with his emphatic naturalism, context was to be kept in view. And context extended from nature to society. His history of architecture values functionalism and his theory of its evolution begins with the material concerns of shelter and store. Yet, as architecture serves, it possesses a moral principle. Alberti, conceiving the conceptual, material, and social and moral object, co‐opts metaphor as the means to describe the building under all these headings. So, 'roof' acquires resonant meaning, as do 'hearth', 'table', and so on – both elements and moral actions of house and church. When Alberti's language is recognized as functioning in this way, it acquires for the reader a singular animation. In Florence Cathedral he finds an exemplary case. A famous and problematic late text – describing Sant'Andrea in Mantua – can be acquitted of the charge of rhetorical insincerity.


BACKGROUND
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) provides recommendations for optimal weight gain during pregnancy to minimize complications associated with obesity and excessive weight gain. The Health Belief Model and prior research suggest knowledge of health recommendations and associated risks motivate health behaviors. This study determined whether knowledge of maternal and infant obesity risks during pregnancy (ORDP) and knowledge of IOM gestational weight gain (GWG) recommendations were associated with total GWG and likelihood of adhering to IOM recommendations.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
In this prospective survey study, healthy women with a singleton pregnancy were recruited from prenatal clinic waiting rooms of a university medical center to complete a one-time survey of prepregnancy weight and height, demographic variables, knowledge of infant-related ORDP (e.g., large for gestational age), knowledge of maternal-related ORDP (e.g., Cesarean delivery), and knowledge of IOM GWG recommendations. Total GWG was obtained from clinic medical records. Logistic and multiple regression analyses were performed.

RESULTS
The sample consisted of 159 women with average age of 25 and prepregnancy body mass index of 28. Women in the sample were predominantly African American (57%) and from low socioeconomic conditions. Results showed (1) knowledge of GWG recommendations was inversely related to total GWG among normal and underweight women and (2) knowledge of infant-related ORDP was positively related to total GWG among overweight and obese women and the likelihood of exceeding recommendations among normal and underweight women. Knowledge of maternal-related ORDP was not related to GWG.

CONCLUSION
As the Health Belief Model suggests, knowledge appears to be a modifiable factor in preventing excess GWG. However, there may be misinformation regarding how to adhere to clinical recommendations.


Conservation planning exercises increasingly rely on species distributions predicted either from one particular statistical model or, more recently, from an ensemble of models (i.e. ensemble forecasting). However, it has not yet been explored how different ways of summarizing ensemble predictions affect conservation planning outcomes. We evaluate these effects and compare commonplace consensus methods, applied before the conservation prioritization phase, to a novel method that applies consensus after reserve selection.


In the article the results of wide introduction of new technologies and technique in construction of difficult objects by the Kievmetrostroy are presented.


In polarimetric interferometric synthetic aperture radar (POL-IN-SAR) imaging it is possible to recover textural and spatial information from POL-IN-SAR digital image data sets simultaneously including the extraction of digital elevation maps (DEMs) from either polarimetric (scattering matrix) or interferometric (dual antenna) SAR systems. Simultaneous polarimetric-plus-interferometric SAR offers the additional benefit of obtaining co-registrated textural-plus-spatial three-dimensional POL-IN-DEM information which when applied to repeat-pass image-overlay interferometry provides differential background and environmental stress-change information with high accuracies. Then, by either designing multiple dual polarization SAR antenna POL-IN-SAR systems or by applying advanced POL-IN-SAR image compression techniques will result in polarimetric tomographic (multiple interferometric) SAR or POL-TOM-SAR imaging. This novel three-dimensional high-resolution fine structure stress-change sensing and imaging technique is of direct and immediate relevance to wide-area dynamic surveillance and local-to-global environmental background, stress and stress-change monitoring of the terrestrial and planetary covers.


This paper provides a detailed quantitative assessment of the impact of capital and default probability on product pricing and shareholder value for a life insurer providing life annuities. A multi-period cash flow model, allowing for stochastic mortality and asset returns, imperfectly elastic product demand, as well as frictional costs, is used to derive value-maximizing capital and pricing strategies for a range of one-year default probability levels reflecting differences in regulatory regimes including Solvency II. The model is calibrated using realistic assumptions. The sensitivity of results is assessed. The results show that value-maximizing life insurers should target higher solvency levels than the Solvency II regulatory one-year 99.5% probability under assumptions of reasonable levels of policyholder's aversion to insolvency risk. Even in the case of less restrictive solvency probabilities, policyholder price elasticity and solvency preferences are shown to be important factors for a life insurer's value-maximizing strategy.


The constitutive meanings of responsible corporate environmental citizenship are to be found in global discourses. We use Gubrium and Holstein's framework on interpretive practice to study the Corporate Sustainability Reports of multinational automotive companies regarding global warming. We observe three common themes – recognizing the issue of greenhouse gases, acknowledging stakeholders, and being rolemodels for society. However, these themes take on unique meanings vis-a-vis each corporate identity. We utilize our analytic findings to offer theoretic propositions regarding emergent meanings of corporate environmental citizenship. These meanings are important to understand as firm behavior will be based on these socially-constructed meanings.


We demonstrate here a concept that chemical reactions can be enhanced by utilizing the confined hydrophobic environment of carbon nanotube (CNT) channels to separate products from reactants during a reaction and hence shift the reaction equilibrium. Taking the hydroxylation of benzene to phenol as an example, we observed that benzene is enriched inside CNT channels while the product phenol was discriminatively expelled out of the channels, as shown by solid state NMR studies. Consequently, the reaction over a CNT-confined Re catalyst exhibited a 4 times higher activity than the same catalyst dispersed on the outer walls of the same CNTs. The effect of this selective enrichment of benzene on the reaction was further confirmed by varying the amount of benzene in the reaction over commercial activated carbon-supported catalyst. CNT channels discriminating hydrophobic from hydrophilic molecules are expected to be a general feature. It is of significance for many synthetic organic processes involving molecules with different hydrophobicity in the reactants and products.


The present investigation deals with bioleaching of spent petroleum catalyst using At. ferrooxidans and At. thiooxidans. The spent catalyst used in the present study was pretreated with acetone to remove the oily hydrocarbons. FESEM and XPS analysis indicated the presence of metals in sulfide and oxide forms in spent catalyst. Both At. ferrooxidans and At. thiooxidans were found to be highly effective in producing the acid. Bioleaching with At. ferrooxidans and At. thiooxidans led to higher recovery of metals compare to control. During bioleaching similar recoveries of metals were obtained using At. ferrooxidans and At. thiooxidans. This might be due to the presence of metals as soluble oxides and sulphides in the spent catalyst. At the end of bioleaching, about 87-90% Ni, 34% Al, 65-73% Mo and 92-97% V were leached using above bacteria. It is elucidated that bioleaching with At. thiooxidans is comparatively more advantageous due to lower cost of sulphur. Keywords—Spent catalyst, At. ferrooxidans, Bioleaching, Metal recovery.


Abstract This article presents my personal experience as a European scholar at the turn of the twentieth century. In this period, sports historiography was characterized by a shift from political and social history to a broader cultural consideration of sport. In a time when the internet was developing and exchanges between researchers became easier, I experienced and contributed to the internationalization of the field. Nevertheless, this evolution did not erase national boundaries, which are still present and reveal the weight of historical traditions.


Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the level of SME banking development in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH). By using a structured questionnaire, the authors discuss perceptions of the banking sector representatives in BH regarding SME banking and their future plans for the management of credit risk associated with financing the SME sector. One of the main findings of this research is that the SME sector is becoming a strategic sector for BH banks and banks are willing to increase their involvement with SME clients. Authors also present results on current level of banks' exposure to SMEs, types of financial services offered to SME's clients by BH banks, drivers of banks' involvement with SMEs, obstacles to further development of banks' involvement with SMEs. Based on the banks' responses and results of research conducted, suggestions to policy makers are given, such as tax reforms, interest rate subventions to SMEs, improvement of judiciary, simplifying administrative procedures. Also, some recommendations are given to banks, such as the need for better understanding the requirements of SME clients providing them more personal approach and creating a partnership, as well as lobbying the government bodies to change regulations governing SME sector.

Keywords: Financial system; Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); SME banking; Comparative experiences; Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH)


The role of the spin dependence associated with Pauli-principle-induced break-up is studied quantitatively in the case of intermediate-energy deuteron elastic scattering from a 58Ni target. The magnitude of the momentum-dependent Tp tensor interaction, calculated using realistic theoretical models of the nucleon-nucleon interaction, is shown to pass through a local maximum in the region of 400 MeV incident deuteron energy. Comparison of numerical calculations with the available experimental data at this energy shows that the Pauli mechanism is not responsible for the outstanding discrepancies between theory and experiment.


Popular theology of human activity and Iabour in Ukrainian sayings and proverbs. The author of this article analyses a stratum of Ukrainian proverbs which by its semantic content constitutes a kind of popular theology of human activity and Iabour. The meaning of a number of paremies reflects the inner world of a religious person, wherein the individuality's development via daily Iabour is consistent with the plan of providence. According to popular Christian conceptions of God, He provides aid in every deed, word, thought, and wish. In popular religious cultural traditions, as well as in ecclesiastical traditions, rational activity is the aim and norm of all earthly human life; economic activity is included in Godls plan, and is considered a positive value.


Effects of pressure on the physical properties are very important for understanding highly correlated electron systems, in which pressure-induced attractive phenomena such as superconductivity have been observed. In this article, the characteristic features of various materials and pressure transmitting media for use of piston-cylinder type clamp cells are reported. Both CuBe and hybrid CuBe/NiCrAl piston-cylinder-type high-pressure clamp cells were designed for low-temperature neutron diffraction measurements. We also introduce, as the application of the cells, the results of the neutron diffraction under pressure on pressure induced superconductors of UGe2 and CeRhIn5.


The asymmetric unit of the title compound 2C23H27N2O4 +·C8H4O4 2−·9H2O, contains a cation, an anionon a twofold axis and four and half molecules of water, one of which is located on the twofold axis. In the cation, both fused pyrrolidine rings exhibit twisted conformations, while the piperidine rings adopt screw–boat and boat conformations. In the crystal, the components are linked by N—H⋯O and O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds. The brucinium cations form typical undulating head-to-tail ribbon structuresalong the a-axis direction, which associate with the carboxy phthalate and the water molecules.


This study aims to determine the role of women in the stages of work on tomato farming and the time allocation in tomato farming and in household activities. This research was conducted for 6 months from November 2016 to May 2017 in Taraitak Satu Village, Langowan Utara District, Minahasa Regency. The data used in this study consisted of primary data obtained through interviews and observations on 20 women farmers who were deliberately selected by criteria of having a husband and working not as a tomato farmer. Secondary data was obtained from the Taraitak Satu Village Office, Unsrat Agricultural Library, the Internet through google searching in the form of a thesis from another university. Data analyzed using qualitative and quantitative analysis. Based on the results of the study concluded the stages of work involving women on tomato farming, namely the stage of seed preparation, land clearing, planting and making planting holes, planting, mulching, maintenance - including watering, weeding, fertilizing, controlling pests and diseases or spraying of pesticide, trimming and binding - , harvesting, and post-harvesting. The most dominant time allocation of female labor is at the maintenance stage except spraying drugs that are not carried out by women. Maintenance activities are carried out by women because according to the local community's views women are more diligent than men in this process namely watering, weeding, fertilizing, pruning and binding. The highest outpouring of women's work time in tomato farming is in maintenance activities, especially in binding and pruning activities, which requires 2 days per harvest where the period of 1 harvest is 3 months 2 weeks. In household activities: women with families devote time per day to work for income (tomato farming) an average of 8.3 hours per day while for housework time is 4.58 and for other activities such as worship is 4.2 hours per week. Women in the research location played a dual role as breadwinners (taking care of farming tomatoes) and at the same time as housewives who have to prepare their family's needs before going to take care of tomatoes.*eprm*


Interaction of 4-1BB (CD137) and its ligand (4-1BBL) is thought to positively regulate cell-mediated and humoral immune responses. We have prepared transgenic mouse strains that express 4-1BBL cDNA under the control of MHC class II I-E (cid:1) promoter. The 4-1BBL-transgenic mice show progressive splenomegaly and selective depletion of B220 (cid:2) B cells accompanied with low levels of circulating IgG and defective humoral responses to Ag challenge. In addition, splenocytes from the transgenic mice fail to provide stimulation for allogeneic T cells in both lymphoproliferative and CTL responses in vitro, whereas their T cells remain functionally normal. Our results reveal unexpected functions of 4-1BBL in the regulation of humoral immune responses and Ag presentation. The Journal of Immunology, 2001, 167: 2671–2676. TNFR superfamily, 4-1BB is activated T cells and NK cells.


SUMMARY
A report of a working group of the Subcommittee on Taxonomy of the Actinomycetales of the International Committee on Nomenclature of Bacteria (ICNB). The group has been primarily concerned with recognition of type strains or other reference strains for the species of Actinomyces and with standardization of techniques for the study of the genus. Eleven species of Actinomyces or closely related organisms have been distributed and studied following techniques detailed in a "Manual of Procedures" which is included in the report.


INTRODUCTION
Transplantation is the best way of treatment in end-stage renal disease. Kidney transplantation is the most common among all transplantations of vascularised organs. The development of transplantational immunology, as well as the improvement of schemes of immunosuppressive treatment decrease the number of episodes of acute rejection. They also allow perennial functioning of the transplanted organ. However, the necessity to dampen the immune system, through the delivery of immunosuppressive drugs (to prevent rejection), contributes to a deterioration in the ability of the body to fight infections. Patients after kidney transplantation are in the group at special risk of bacterial, viral and fungal infections, which poses an essential therapeutic problem. The aims of this work were: the retrospective analysis of infections in patients after kidney transplantation, analysis of etiologic factors and the form of clinical infections, and the establishment of the risk factors of infections in the recipients of kidney transplant.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
147 patients hospitalized from 1.01.2007 to 31.12.2008 at the Department of Nephrology and Kidney Transplantation in the Independent Public Provincial Hospital in Szczecin were considered in the study. The data were obtained from medical records, i.e. operative reports on kidney transplant, patient's history, and the results of microbiological and serological examinations.

CONCLUSIONS
1. High risk of infection occurred in the case of: low compatibility in the human leukocyte antigen system, long cold ischemia time, and in recipients who required higher doses of corticosteroids. 2. Prompt diagnosis of the infection and the early implementation of suitable therapy seems to be fundamental for the effectiveness of treatment and the prevention of further infectious complications in patients after kidney transplantation.


Island imaginary describes the unspoken or undocumented fabric that weaves together the operations within an island. Yet, these imaginaries are sometimes perceived as intangible and often misunderstood by non-islanders, who attempt to impose contradictory realities on islanders. This study investigates identity through the imaginaries expressed by island residents within the context of a changing identity. Waiheke Island has been experiencing recurrent issues of identity and undergoing transformational developments. We sought to identify components of island identity; factors that undermine island identity; and actions that might contribute to sustaining their identity. We employed a qualitative approach using interviews and thematic analysis. We identified three thematic components of identity, namely place identity, individual identity, and community identity. We determined triggers that could undermine identities such as external infiltration and transportation. Finally, we identified responses that could support residents in affirming or reiterating their identity including island secession, better fund allocation and community efforts. Most respondents value different aspects of their environment for being scenic, safe, special, and shared. Waihekeans prefer to be identified and appreciated for their diverse and unique characteristics, without their identities being undermined. They favour a strategic and controlled form of development, while preserving their uniqueness.


Air ionizers have seen increasing use as devices for improving indoor air quality, including applications designed to reduce the transmission of infection in healthcare environments. However, little attention has been given to understanding and quantifying the physical behavior of ions in indoor air. This study presents experimental data and a theoretical model to examine the factors that influence the concentration of ions in a ventilated room. The results demonstrate how, with an ionizer in operation, the ion concentration is governed by ion—ion interactions and electrical deposition at the walls, with the ventilation rate having a minimal influence. The results also demonstrate that an ion concentration > 1010 ions · m ×3 is necessary for these electrical effects to be significant, which has implications for the suitability of an ionizer for a particular location.


Corporate governance systems develop as a result of cultural underpinnings, legal structures and different forms of financing business. This paper describes these factors in the US and UK, two examples of strong shareholder ownership patterns of financing, and Germany, a country with a tradition of strong creditor financing. Recommendations are made for best practices in governance. Although enhanced governance mechanisms is a sound goal to pursue, the results may be meaningless unless internal controls are strengthened and top management and the board of directors establish an ethical tone at the top.


CONTEXT
Levels of modern contraceptive knowledge and use among people living in rural areas of Guatemala differ substantially from those of people living in urban areas. Understanding the pace and extent of rural-to-urban migrants' adoption of urban contraceptive practices is important in determining if there is a strong need for migrant-focused reproductive health programs.

METHODS
Bivariate and multivariate analyses of data on 971 married male and female respondents in the 1999 Guatemalan Migration and Reproductive Health Survey were used to examine how migration status and duration of residence in an urban area are associated with knowledge of modern contraceptive methods and current contraceptive use.

RESULTS
Migrants' contraceptive knowledge was positively associated with the number of years they had lived in an urban area. Mayan migrants in Guatemala City did not accumulate contraceptive knowledge at the same rate as non-Mayan migrants, perhaps due to cultural and linguistic barriers to obtaining knowledge of and access to contraceptives. Rural-to-urban migrants eventually achieve a level of modern contraceptive use slightly below that of urban nonmigrants, with the level of contraceptive knowledge being an important factor associated with use of modern methods.

CONCLUSIONS
Migrants possess limited knowledge of modern contraceptive methods and, therefore, may experience unmet need for contraception or may have a limited choice of modern contraceptive methods during their first years in an urban destination. Programs designed to raise contraceptive awareness and use should target recent migrants--particularly indigenous Mayans--in urban areas.


As the drawdown of foreign forces from Afghanistan has accelerated in the run-up to their withdrawal by the end of 2014, attention has come to focus on the extent to which military equipment will be left behind for the use of the Central Asian states. Over the past decade, Russia and the United States have been the main sources of military assistance to Central Asian states, while other countries have played much smaller roles. The USA is in the process of reducing its assistance to the region as it completes its withdrawal from Afghanistan. Russia is likely to remain the main source of military and security assistance for most Central Asian states. External military assistance to Central Asian states is unlikely to have a serious negative impact on regional stability and security. Internal instability is the most serious threat that these states are likely to face. Steps will have to be taken to ensure that future assistance does not enhance the ability of internal security forces to harm civilians. This can be accomplished by focusing on training programmes over the provision of military equipment.


Although the presence of thin-ideal females in the media has been shown to decrease women's body satisfaction, preliminary research suggests that men may not be as negatively impacted. Recent research highlights the role of an individual's mindset in moderating comparison outcomes, which raises the possibility that mindset differences between men and women moderate the effects of comparisons with fit others. Mussweiler's (2003) selective accessibility model (SAM) predicts that initial perceptions of either similarity or dissimilarity with the comparison target will lead to differential reactions. A similarity mindset is predicted to promote assimilation (i.e., move selfevaluations in the direction of the comparison target), whereas a dissimilarity mindset is predicted to promote contrast (i.e., move self-evaluations away from the comparison target). Additionally, researchers have considered the role of a temporal mindset, proposing that a comparison other which elicits inspiration and thoughts of a future, better version of the self, promotes assimilation, whereas a mindset that is evaluative and focused on who one is at present fosters contrast. Most women demonstrate contrast (decrements in appearance satisfaction) following exposure to idealized media targets. However, both SAM and the temporal-mindset models predict that if women were to adopt either a similarity or possible-self mindset when comparing to idealized media targets, increased self-satisfaction should occur. Research suggests men generally may not be as negatively impacted by comparisons with media images, but SAM and the temporalmindset models predict that if either a dissimilarity or current-self mindset are induced, men may demonstrate contrast (decreased self- satisfaction). Results of the first two studies demonstrate that men experience increases in appearance satisfaction, and women decreases in appearance satisfaction, following exposure to fit peers, a pattern that likely contributes to the more pervasive negative feelings women have about their bodies. Manipulations of similarity and temporal


Observations of exoplanetary systems provide clues about the intrinsic distribution of planetary systems, their architectures, and how they formed. We develop a forward modelling framework for generating populations of planetary systems and 'observed' catalogues by simulating the Kepler detection pipeline (SysSim). We compare our simulated catalogues to the Kepler DR25 catalogue of planet candidates, updated to include revised stellar radii from Gaia DR2. We constrain our models based on the observed 1D marginal distributions of orbital periods, period ratios, transit depths, transit depth ratios, transit durations, transit duration ratios, and transit multiplicities. Models assuming planets with independent periods and sizes do not adequately account for the properties of the multiplanet systems. Instead, a clustered point process model for exoplanet periods and sizes provides a significantly better description of the Kepler population, particularly the observed multiplicity and period ratio distributions. We find that $0.56^{+0.18}_{-0.15}$ of FGK stars have at least one planet larger than 0.5R⊕ between 3 and 300 d. Most of these planetary systems ($\sim 98{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$) consist of one or two clusters with a median of three planets per cluster. We find that the Kepler dichotomy is evidence for a population of highly inclined planetary systems and is unlikely to be solely due to a population of intrinsically single planet systems. We provide a large ensemble of simulated physical and observed catalogues of planetary systems from our models, as well as publicly available code for generating similar catalogues given user-defined parameters.


Neurite formation is the earliest stage of neuronal morphogenesis, where primitive dendrites and the primitive axon emerge from a spherical neuron and begin to elongate. Defective neuritogenesis is a contributing pathogenic mechanism behind a variety of neurodevelopmental disorders. Activity-dependent neuroprotective protein (Adnp) is essential to embryonic and postnatal brain development, and mutations in ADNP are among the most frequent underlying autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We found that knockdown of Adnp in vitro and in vivo in mouse layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons leads to increased neurite initiation and defective neurite elongation, suggesting that Adnp has distinct roles in each. In vivo analysis revealed that deficits begin at P0 and are sustained throughout development, the most notable of which include increased neurite stabilization, disrupted angle of the apical dendrite, increased basal dendrite number, and increased axon length. Because small changes in neuronal morphology can have large-scale effects on neuronal function and connectivity, we performed ex vivo calcium imaging to assess spontaneous function of layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons deficient in Adnp. This revealed that Adnp deficient neurons had a greater spontaneous calcium influx and a higher proportion of cells firing action potentials. Next, we utilized GRAPHIC, a novel synaptic tracing technology, to assess interhemispheric cortical connectivity. We found increased interhemispheric excitatory connectivity between Adnp deficient layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons. Because Adnp is a multifunctional protein with both transcription factor and cytoskeletal activity, we performed localization analysis of Adnp as neurons underwent neurite formation to probe the mechanism of our morphological defects. We found that Adnp is shuttled from the nucleus to the cytoplasm upon differentiation and this shuttling can be blocked via application of a global 14-3-3 inhibitor, difopein. Furthermore, we found that Adnp binds nuclear-cytoplasmic shuttle 14-3-3ε. We conclude that Adnp is shuttled from the nucleus to the cytoplasm by 14-3-3ε, where it regulates neuronal morphology, maturation, cortical connectivity, and calcium signaling.


Biodiversity is increasingly regarded as a resource for rural development and organic agriculture as a production and marketing method that ensures a more productive future for our species and life-support systems. This publication contains the proceedings of a global gathering in May 1999 in Vignola (Italy) to discuss a declaration and action plan for linking together the organic agriculture and nature conservation movements. The role of organic agriculture in conserving biodiversity is not only linked to a substantial reduction of external inputs, it also encompasses agricultural systems that take local soil fertility and the natural capacity of plants, animals and the landscape as a key to successful production. Several experts from around the world describe research projects and case studies that illustrate the close connections between local crops and breeds, the ecological conditions of the area, the creation of new markets and the increasing consumer awareness of healthy products.


This study explored how historical concepts and research strategies were taught and made sense of by students in 2 fourth-grade classrooms. We examined the teaching and learning of a unit on Native Americans in the Chesapeake Tidewater area in each classroom. In 1 classroom, the teacher intentionally sought to enhance students' concept and strategic historical knowledge through integration of history and research strategies (based in reading-language arts), and in the other, the teacher did some inquiry-based study of history but expressed no direct intention of using it to enhance student conceptual or strategic knowledge. Daily observations of teaching practices were conducted throughout the units. The teachers were interviewed both formally and informally about what they were trying to accomplish. Six students from each class were interviewed in depth directly after they studied Native Americans and again at the end of the school year to get their perspectives on what they thought they had learned, and to assess differences in concept development and strategic knowledge about research practices. These data were augmented by informants' descriptions of their attitudes about doing research. Results suggest that the differences between the classrooms with respect to the ways the teachers taught the units were rather obvious. However, the differences reported by the 6 students from each classroom regarding concept- and strategic-knowledge development were quite subtle. The teacher in the first classroom noted appeared partly successful in helping her students develop historical concepts and strategic knowledge about research practices. The teacher in the second classroom also promoted some development of conceptual and strategic knowledge. The partial successes in both classes as well as the between-class differences are the focus of the discussion. Based on the study results, commentary is offered about how to improve concept and strategy development in historical study along with a consideration of the subject matter knowledge demands such improvements would make on elementary school teachers.


This paper tackles algorithmic and theoretical aspects of dictionary learning from incomplete and random block-wise image measurements and the performance of the adaptive dictionary for sparse image recovery. This problem is related to blind compressed sensing in which the sparsifying dictionary or basis is viewed as an unknown variable and subject to estimation during sparse recovery. However, unlike existing guarantees for a successful blind compressed sensing, our results do not rely on additional structural constraints on the learned dictionary or the measured signal. In particular, we rely on the spatial diversity of compressive measurements to guarantee that the solution is unique with a high probability. Moreover, our distinguishing goal is to measure and reduce the estimation error with respect to the ideal dictionary that is based on the complete image. Using recent results from random matrix theory, we show that applying a slightly modified dictionary learning algorithm over compressive measurements results in accurate estimation of the ideal dictionary for large-scale images. Empirically, we experiment with both space-invariant and space-varying sensing matrices and demonstrate the critical role of spatial diversity in measurements. Simulation results confirm that the presented algorithm outperforms the typical non-adaptive sparse recovery based on offline-learned universal dictionaries.


Effects of draw parameters, such as drawing temperature and feed speed, on the capillaries and the geometry of the final photonic crystal fibre (PCF) are investigated. Inert gas pressurization is introduced in the preform during the fibre drawing process to finely control the geometry of the PCF so that good uniform in transversal and longitudinal of the final PCF can be realized. Due to the introduction of a special method, the drawing temperature is increased over 1900°C and the strength of the PCF is enhanced.


There is a crucial demand for cost-effective hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalysts towards future renewable energy systems, and the development of such catalysts operating under all pH conditions still remains a challenging task. In this work, a one-step facile approach to synthesizing nitrogen-doped carbon encapsulating molybdenum phosphide nanoparticles (MoP NPs@NC) is introduced by using ammonium molybdate, ammonium dihydrogen phosphate and melamine as precursor. Benefitting from structural advantages, including ultrasmall nanoparticles, large exposed surface area and fast charge transfer, MoP NPs@NC exhibits excellent HER catalytic activities with small overpotentials at all pH values (j = 10 mA cm-2 at η = 115, 136 and 80 mV in 0.5 M H2SO4, 1.0 M phosphate buffer solution and 1.0 M KOH, respectively.). Meanwhile, the high catalytic activities of MoP NPs@NC under both neutral and basic conditions have never been achieved before for molybdenum phosphide-based catalysts. Additionally, the encapsulation by N-doped carbon effectively prevents the MoP NPs from corrosion, exhibiting nearly unfading stability after 100 h testing in 0.5 M H2SO4. Thus, our work could pave a new avenue for unprecedented design and fabrication of novel low-cost metal phosphide electrocatalysts encapsulated by N-doped carbon.


Dementia is the most common neurodegenerative condition affecting older people. It is estimated that around 550 000 subjects aged 65 years and over in England and Wales suffer from dementia of mild or greater severity.1 Prevalence increases exponentially with age, from around 1% of 65 year olds to approximately 30% of people aged 85 years and older.2 Most cases (60-70%) of incident dementia have clinical diagnoses of Alzheimer's disease, while 15-20% are accounted for by vascular dementia (VaD).3 However, Alzheimer-type and vascular pathology frequently occur in the same person, the neuropathological features associated with AD and VaD are present in many cognitively intact people, and some demented subjects do not have the neuropathological hallmarks of AD or VaD.4

Alzheimer's disease risk is unequivocally associated with polymorphisms in the apolipoprotein E ( APOE ) gene. However, APOE accounts for around half of the genetic risk for AD. Recent data suggest that the angiotensin-I converting enzyme or ACE gene (chromosome 17q23) may also be involved in genetic susceptibility to AD.6,7 ACE (OMIM *1061805) is a dipeptidyl carboxypeptidase that plays an important role in blood pressure regulation and electrolyte balance by hydrolysing angiotensin-I into angiotensin-II, a potent vasopressor and aldosterone stimulating peptide, and inactivating bradykinin, a potent vasodilator. An insertion (I)/deletion (D) polymorphism situated in intron 16 of the gene accounts for 50% of the interperson variability of plasma ACE concentration, and its links with myocardial infarction and other ischaemic heart disease and longevity have been studied extensively.5 There are few published studies on the association between the ACE I/D polymorphism and AD risk: Kehoe et al 6 reported increased risk for AD among I allele carriers; however, this result was not uniformly replicated in subsequent studies. Results from our pooled analysis suggest a slightly increased risk …


Objectives ESBL/AmpC-producing Enterobacteriaceae are an emerging public health concern. As households with preschool children may substantially contribute to the community burden of antimicrobial resistance, we determined the prevalence, risk factors and co-carriage of ESBL/AmpC-producing bacteria in preschool children and their parents. Methods From April 2013 to January 2015, each month 2000 preschool children were randomly selected from Dutch population registries. The parents were invited to complete an epidemiological questionnaire and to obtain and send a faecal sample from the selected child and from one parent. Samples were tested for ESBL/AmpC-producing bacteria. Logistic regression was used to identify risk factors for ESBL/AmpC carriage in children and parents, and findings were internally validated by bootstrapping. Results In total, 1016 families were included and ESBL/AmpC prevalence was 4.0% (95% CI 3.2%–5.0%); 3.5% (95% CI 2.5%–4.8%) in children and 4.5% (95% CI 3.4%–6.0%) in parents. Attending a daycare centre (DCC) was the only significant risk factor for children (OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.0–4.3). For parents, the only significant risk factor was having one or more children attending DCCs (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.2–4.8). For parents of ESBL/AmpC-positive children the OR for ESBL/AmpC carriage was 19.7 (95% CI 9.2–42.4). Co-carriage of specific ESBL/AmpC genotypes in child and parent occurred more often than expected by chance (14.6% versus 1.1%, P < 0.001). Conclusions In this study, intestinal carriage with ESBL/AmpCs was detected in ∼4% of households with preschool children. DCC attendance was a risk factor in both children and parents and co-carriage of specific genotypes frequently occurred in child–parent pairs. These findings suggest household transmission or/and family-specific exposure to common sources of ESBL/AmpC-producing bacteria.


Designing a parallel program to fully utilise the processing power of a multiprocessor machine requires a series of performance analysis and tuning. The paper describes a performance tuning tool for message passing parallel programs. The tool combines the advantages of relational databases and spreadsheets to organise the performance data and analyse the program performance through visualisation. Various graphical displays which assist the user to fine tune the performance of message passing programs are discussed.


3D printing is a versatile fabrication method that offers the potential to realize complex 3D devices with metamaterial characteristics in a single process directly from a computer aided design. However, the range of functional devices that might be realized by 3D printing is limited by the current range of materials that are compatible with a given 3D printing process: fused deposition modelling (FDM), which is a widely used 3D printing method, typically employs only common thermoplastics. Here we describe the development of a magnetic feedstock based on polymer-ferrite composite that is compatible with FDM. The feasibility of the technique is demonstrated by the permittivity and permeability measurement of direct printed blocks and the fabrication of a complex 3D diamond-like lattice structure. The development of printable magnetic composites provides increased design freedom for direct realization of devices with graded electromagnetic properties operating at microwave frequencies.


A usual method of calculating a transmission line with transformers, in which the voltage is held constant at both ends by synchronous condensers, is to use the circle diagram method. It is often advisable to use "over-compounded" voltage instead of constant voltage; that is, to increase the voltage as the load increases. Methods of calculation are given in this paper for two cases, first with over-compounded generator voltage and constant receiver voltage, in which case the diagram is a circle, and second, with over-compounded voltage at both generator and receiver, in which case the diagram is an ellipse. Examples are given and the diagrams are shown in Fig. 2. A short discussion is given of the advantages and limitations of using over-compounded voltage.


Ameloblastoma is a locally infiltrative benign odontogenic neoplasm. Tumours may be large, destructive and recurrent, requiring radical surgery with associated facial deformity and morbidity. The molecular pathogenesis of this tumour has been unclear, retarding the development of non‐invasive gene‐targeted therapies. In a recent paper in this journal, Kurppa et al. [4] showed that EGFR‐targeted therapy blocked cell proliferation in an ameloblastoma primary cell culture. That this therapy was not effective in another primary cell culture led to the discovery of the oncogenic BRAF V600E mutation in a high proportion (63%) of ameloblastoma samples. By defining two separate pathways, both of which can be specifically targeted, these findings are an important step towards personalized medicine of ameloblastoma. We discuss the findings in the broader context of ameloblastoma, as well as the effects of tumour microenvironment and molecular heterogeneity that need to be taken into account when considering the use of personalized therapies based on specific genetic mutations in individual patients. Copyright © 2014 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd


GATA2 is an essential transcription factor that regulates multiple aspects of hematopoiesis. Mutations in GATA2 are associated with blast crisis phase of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) while overexpression of GATA2 is a hallmark of Down syndrome acute megakaryoblastic leukemia (DS-AMKL), a malignancy that is defined by the combination of trisomic chromosome 21 and a GATA1 mutation. Here, we show thatGATA2 is essential for megakaryocyte development from both wild-type and GATA-1mutant hematopoietic progenitors. Furthermore, we reveal that GATA2 is indispensable for cell cycle progression and that its expression cooperates with activated JAK3 to promote TPO-independent expansion of megakaryocytes. Genome-wide microarray analysis revealed that GATA2 regulates a wide set of genes including cell cycle regulators and lineage-specific genes that are essential for terminal differentiation of megakaryocytes. Of note, a subset of genes within the GATA2 signature is contained within human DS-AMKL patient specimens. These observations implicate overexpression of GATA2 in the aberrant gene expression and proliferation of AMKL. Taken together, our data demonstrate thatGATA2 is a critical regulator of normal and malignant megakaryopoiesis.


Introducing Ruth
It is traditional for honorary volumes to offer a summary of the career and the academic works of the person celebrated on the occasion of their retirement. This article is self-evidently placed in the current issue of the Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology with that function, but it concerns a person who, although retiring as Professor in Mediterranean Studies, is clearly not at the end of her academic career: she has research projects currently in progress, with writing-up and publication timetables in place, and new roles from autumn 2007 as editor of the University College London Institute of Archaeology's flagship publication Archaeology International and chair of the UCL Institute of Archaeology's Publications Committee. At the same time she has concurrent plans to devote more time to working on the publishing side of the Accordia Research Institute, which she directs with John Wilkins. Ruth Whitehouse would not particularly warm to a valedictory resume of her academic career to date, and so we offer the following in the spirit of characterizing the career of a successful female academic who is the first and only female professor of the UCL Institute of Archaeology, who has worked within and significantly contributed to the successive strands of archaeological theory and practice that have come to the fore through her academic career, and who remarkably achieved this while remaining a fully rounded person who has enabled the academic development of many, and who has also maintained a total commitment to her thriving family throughout. We would also add that it is impossible not to like Ruth, although she certainly is not a 'soft touch'—being very much prepared to stand sturdily by her human, political and academic convictions.


The cyclic nonapeptides, oxytocin and vasopressin, are neurohypophysial hormones that regulate many significant physiological processes related especially to reproduction and osmoregulation. In this study, we characterized an oxytocin-related peptide cDNA from a urochordate, Styela plicata, thought to be a sister group to vertebrates. Sequence analysis of the deduced precursor polypeptide revealed that the precursor is composed of three segments: a signal peptide, an oxytocin-like sequence flanked by a Gly C-terminal amidation signal and a Lys-Arg dibasic processing site, and a neurophysin domain, similar to other oxytocin/vasopressin family precursors. However, unlike other members of this family, the tunicate oxytocin-like peptide (CYISDCPNSRFWST-NH2) is a tetradecapeptide. We termed this peptide Styela oxytocin-related peptide (SOP). Furthermore, analyses of mass spectrometry, in situ hybridization, and immunohistochemistry demonstrated production of mature SOP in the cerebral ganglion. To elucidate the physiological action of SOP, we kept the tunicate for 2 d under the three different concentrations of seawater, 60, 100, and 130%, and measured the expression levels of SOP mRNA in the cerebral ganglion. The greatest expression of SOP mRNA was observed in the 60% seawater. In 60% seawater, but not in 100 or 130%, the tunicate mostly closed the atrial and branchial siphons. Therefore, we investigated the contractile effects of SOP on the siphons in vitro. SOP caused contractions in both siphons in a dose-dependent manner. Taken together, these results suggest that SOP acts to prevent the influx of a low concentration of seawater into the body and thus play an important role in osmoregulation.


The efficiency of power transmission systems is increasingly targeted with a view to reducing parasitic losses and improving specific fuel consumption (SFC). One of the effects associated with such parasitic losses is the successive compression and expansion of fluid within the cavities between teeth of a meshing gear pair as they rotate. This process is cyclic and there are multiple cavities compressed and expanded at the same time.

During the meshing process the volume of the cavity between the teeth suddenly contracts and as a result pressure rises. The fluid is therefore expelled primarily in the axial direction (for spur gears) since this area is considerably larger compared to the backlash area. Once the cavity starts to expand fluid is drawn into the cavity between the teeth by the negative pressure. Besides the air flow in the gear box, the meshing point is of particular interest to the oil flow, since oil is typically injected at or upstream of the meshing point. Good understanding of such flows can be used to balance lubrication needs with the need to minimise the required oil volumes and parasitic losses.

This paper proposes the use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) as a means to investigate the phenomenon. A simplified two-dimensional CFD approach has been developed to study flows and pressure fields associated with spur gear meshing. The influence of the rotational speed has been investigated. Good validation is shown for the transient pressure variation within the tooth space. The limitations and potential applications of the modelling strategy are then discussed.


Modern imaging optics are highly complex systems consisting of up to two dozen individual optical elements. This complexity is required in order to compensate for the geometric and chromatic aberrations of a single lens, including geometric distortion, field curvature, wavelength-dependent blur, and color fringing.
 In this article, we propose a set of computational photography techniques that remove these artifacts, and thus allow for postcapture correction of images captured through uncompensated, simple optics which are lighter and significantly less expensive. Specifically, we estimate per-channel, spatially varying point spread functions, and perform nonblind deconvolution with a novel cross-channel term that is designed to specifically eliminate color fringing.


Efficient document management is extremely important as a tremendous volume of documents are produced and accessed by modern information systems. A document management system is described in this paper. The system stores SGML documents in an ObjectStore object-oriented database and is capable of storing, within one database, different types of documents by accommodating multiple DTDs. We create an object type for all DTDs and store each DTD as an object of that object type. We create an object type for each element definition in a DTD and store each element of an SGML document as an object. This database representation is advantageous to declarative query and fine-grained modification of documents. The system supports automatic creation of object types and insertion of documents into the database. Two different interfaces are provided for the user to retrieve, modify, and delete documents. The system supports declarative query of documents, which can be made with respect to their contents or structure.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief overview from the literature on how best to define megaprojects in contemporary contexts. There is a need for a definition that encompasses a complex matrix of characteristics, inclusive of positive and negative aspects, which are not necessarily industry or sector specific. Whilst megaprojects have often been described and defined in terms of cost, they are more accurately delineated by their convolutions. Intricacies arise from political intrigues surrounding funding of such projects and managing and governing complex social and organizational relations. Points for future research are also identified.

Design/methodology/approach

An analysis of international megaproject literature over the past five years combined with seminal works was undertaken, drawing on the broad literature of project and program management combined with elements of organizational theory. Whilst some examples are cited, in-depth case analysis has not been covered.

Findings

Albeit that the scale of some megaprojects is comparable to national GDPs, seven more characteristics beyond size have been identified, which distinguish megaprojects from large projects. These include: reach; duration; risks and uncertainties; widely disparate actors; areas of controversy such as dispute resolution; and legal and regulatory issues.

Research limitations/implications

The paper takes a broad overview and whilst some examples are cited, in-depth case analysis has not been covered. The overview does however provide a good synopsis of the future research areas that warrant exploration.

Practical implications

The paper identifies a range of analytical areas for major future research including further exploration of institutional analysis. Areas for further analysis include stakeholder issues; collaboration and understanding between technical and business personnel and reforming notions of procurement and contractual arrangements.

Social implications

Rigorous stakeholder engagement is critical for success in megaprojects, and collaborative learnings need to be exchanged. The longer term social and economic impacts need to be viewed as an imperative rather than a hindrance to the planning and execution of megaprojects and complexity rather than cost more aptly defines megaprojects.

Originality/value

The paper moves the definition of megaprojects to beyond measurement on the basis of cost to complexity and social and economic variables.


In a group of 137 patients with schizophrenia combined with delirium tremens we also observed alcoholic hallucinosis (9.5%) and alcoholic paranoid (0.7%). Delirium tremens was more often observed in patients with schizophrenia in the following age groups: under 19 and of 20-29 years. Meanwhile, the frequency of the onset of the delirium tremens in a group of 2417 patients was higher in the age groups of 35-39 and 60 and over. In the main group of schizophrenic patients the rate of the onset of this endogenous disease was higher in the age groups of 35-39, 40-44 and 50-54 years, as compared with a control group of schizophrenic patients (310 cases). The recurrent course of the disease was observed in these patients more often, whereas a continuous course was quite rare, as compared with a control group. Oneiroid states (9.5%) presented in some patients of the main group. Schizophrenic process was more favorable in combination with delirium tremens.


The annealing behavior of a lanthanum oxide thin film deposited on a silicon (001) substrate by electron-beam evaporation has been studied by aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning TEM (STEM), and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). We have developed a procedure for the precise measurement of thickness and interfacial roughness by taking advantage of features of aberration correction combined with the statistics of fluctuating crystalline edge positions. The results of the measurements and quantitative elemental analyses by STEM-EELS have revealed atomic diffusion and reactions during deposition and postdeposition annealing (PDA) at 300 and 500 °C. The channel mobility could be limited by Coulomb scattering before PDA, and by remote roughness scattering and remote phonon scattering after PDA at 500 °C. When we consider the large leakage current caused by oxygen defects in the as-deposited sample and the large equivalent oxide thickness of the thick Si-rich layer in the...


Plant classification and identification has so far been an important and difficult task. In this paper, an efficient and systematic approach for extracting the leaf architecture characters from captured digital images is proposed. The input image is first pre-processed in five steps to be prepared for feature extraction. In the second stage, methods for extracting different architectural features are studied using various mathematical and computational methods. Also, the classification rules for mapping the calculated values of each feature to semantic botanical terms in proposed. Compared with previous studies, the proposed method combines extracted features of an image with specific knowledge of leaf architecture in the domain of botany to provide a comprehensive framework for both computer engineers and botanist. Finally, Based on the proposed method, experiments on the classification of the ImagerCLEF 2012 dataset has been performed with promising results.


Power and energy consumption has become a major concern in modern data centers and cloud systems. In order to develop efficient power management mechanisms for green clouds, we need a deep understanding of the influence of system configurations on the power consumption in real cloud systems. Power profiling provides such a vehicle. Existing fine-grain profiling approaches require special hardwired connections to the pins of individual hardware devices, which is not practical for large-scale production clouds. Moreover, they cannot provide a macroscopic view of the cloud-wide power dynamics. In this paper, we present macropower, a coarse-grain power and energy profiling framework. It provides a combination of hardware and software tools that achieves power/energy profiling at server granularity. It uses direct or derived measurements to isolate and combine influences from system components in cloud power profiles. It also generates the correlations between system activities and server/cloud-wide power/energy usage. We implement a prototype of macropower and test it in a cloud testbed. The profiled data are analyzed and the impact of system configurations on the server/cloud power usage is quantified, which is valuable for autonomic and energy-efficient management of cloud resources.


The solid waste management plan of 1989 stipulates that landfilling is the chief waste disposal method in Hong Kong. Although currently no charge is involved in solid waste disposal, a landfill charge, covering the capital, operation, and maintenance costs but not the external environmental costs, will soon be introduced. This paper aims to identify the minimum size of the external costs involved with landfilling and incineration in Hong Kong with respect to global and local air pollution, water pollution, noise, and pollution from waste transport. It is found that landfilling results in a slightly lower external cost than incineration. However, factors not included in this paper, such as road casualties that arise from hauling waste and disamenities (a term coined to embrace negative impacts such as eyesores and loss of amenity values) may affect the preference of landfilling over incineration. The present study also shows that the external costs of landfilling are much greater than its capital, operation, and maintenance costs. The considerable size of the estimated external costs of traditional waste management methods demonstrates the need for in-depth and comprehensive research to develop local data.


. Wind direction variability significantly affects the performance and life-time of wind turbines and wind farms. Ac-curately modelling wind direction variability and understanding the effects of yaw misalignment are critical towards designing better wind turbine yaw and wind farm flow controllers. This review focuses on control-oriented modelling of wind direction variability, which is an approach that aims to capture the dynamics of wind direction variability for improving controller performance over a complete set of farm flow scenarios, performing iterative controller development, and/or achieving real-time 5 closed-loop model-based feedback control. The review covers various modelling techniques, including large eddy simulations (LES), data-driven empirical models, and machine learning models, as well as different approaches to data collection and pre-processing. The review also discusses the different challenges in modelling wind direction variability, such as data quality and availability, model uncertainty, and the trade-off between accuracy and computational cost. The review concludes with a discussion of the critical challenges which need to be overcome in control-oriented modelling of wind direction variability, 10 including the use of both high and low-fidelity models.


This work targets human action recognition in video. While recent methods typically represent actions by statistics of local video features, here we argue for the importance of a representation derived from human pose. To this end we propose a new Pose-based Convolutional Neural Network descriptor (P-CNN) for action recognition. The descriptor aggregates motion and appearance information along tracks of human body parts. We investigate different schemes of temporal aggregation and experiment with P-CNN features obtained both for automatically estimated and manually annotated human poses. We evaluate our method on the recent and challenging JHMDB and MPII Cooking datasets. For both datasets our method shows consistent improvement over the state of the art.


The effect of electrostatic fields on the structure of cytochrome c bound to charged interfaces was studied by resonance Raman and surface enhanced resonance Raman spectroscopy. Binding of this heme protein to the Ag electrode or heteropolytungstates which may be regarded as simple model systems for biological interfaces establishes an equilibrium between two conformational states (I II). In state I the structure and the redox potential are the same as for the uncomplexed cytochrome c. In state II however the heme pocket assumes an open structure and the axial iron Met80 bond is weakened leading to thennal coordination equilibrium between the fivecoordinated high spin and the sixcoordinated low spin configuration. These structural changes are accompanied by a decrease of the redox potential by 420 mV. The structural rearrangement of the heme pocket in state II is presumably initiated by the dissociation of the internal salt bridge of Lys13 due to electrostatic interactions with the negatively charged surfaces of the model systems. From detailed Raman spectroscopic studies characteristic spectral properties of the states I and II were identified. Based on these findings the interactions of cytochrome c with phospholipid vesicles as well as with its physiological reaction partner cytocbrome c oxidase were analysed. A systematic study of the cytochmme c/phospholipid system by varying the lipid composition and the temperature revealed mutual structural changes in both the lipid and the protein structure.