The purpose of this study is to find out what are key elements of constraint, strategies and stakeholders and to construct some strategies that may help enhance the role of zakat in achieving SDGs. This study uses a mix method, combining Delphi method and Interpretative Structural Modeling (ISM) by conducting literature studies and In-depth interviews with experts, practitioners and academicians. In realizing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it requires the greater role of Zakat as a financing instrument. Experts, practitioners and academicians agreed that Strategy to Enhance Zakat Role to Support Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires synergy between stakeholders. This is in line with 17th goal of SDGs, partnerships for the goals. In managing zakat, innovation is needed by utilizing fintech in zakat information system. The process of strengthening and monitoring zakat management must go through structured strategic steps to realize the acceleration of zakat management development. Researchers provided an analysis that BAZNAS and LAZ should collaborate with related parties to collect zakat such as fintech companies and coordinate with other institutions to distribute social funds to reduce overlapping distribution and to link programs or activities with SDGs.


We present a real–time smoothing methodology for the stabilization of videos captured from small robotic helicopter platforms. We suppress supposedly unintended vibrations considering relative rotation and displacements between successive frames. We propose a similar, an affine or a bilinear transformation to model global motion assuming that camera movement dominates the motion field of aerial footage. A similar model gave worst results in comparison to the others, however all can effectively be employed to stabilize video and should be used depending on particular circumstances. In our implementation all transformations can be estimated by iterative least squares, and an affine model can also be adjusted by a proposed iterative total least squares procedure. Field experiments were carried out with a tele–operated helicopter that transmits wireless video to a receiver in ground where digital smoothing is done. With this configuration we stabilized video at an average speed between 20 and 28 fps, while surpassing problems generated because of the presence of high–levels of noise. We improved our system performance by predicting camera motion and got satisfactory results with even just a small delay of 3 frames. Extending our smoother with more complex vision understanding processes seems straightforward given its flexibility and robustness.


Security properties of cryptographic protocols are typically expressed as reachability or equivalence properties. Secrecy and authentication are examples of reachability properties, while privacy properties such as untraceability, vote secrecy, or anonymity are generally expressed as behavioral equivalence in a process algebra that models security protocols. Our main contribution is to reduce the search space for attacks for reachability as well as equivalence properties. Specifically, we show that if there is an attack then there is one that is well-typed. Our result holds for a large class of typing systems, a family of equational theories that encompasses all standard primitives, and protocols without else branches. For many standard protocols, we deduce that it is sufficient to look for attacks that follow the format of the messages expected in an honest execution, therefore considerably reducing the search space.


We study the structural correlations in the Italian overnight money market over the period 1999-2010. We show that the structural correlations vary across different versions of the network. Moreover, we employ different configuration models and examine whether higher-level characteristics of the observed network can be statistically reconstructed by maximizing the entropy of a randomized ensemble of networks restricted only by the lower-order features of the observed network. We find that often many of the high order correlations in the observed network can be considered emergent from the information embedded in the degree sequence in the binary version and in both the degree and strength sequences in the weighted version. However, this information is not enough to allow the models to account for all the patterns in the observed higher order structural correlations. In particular, one of the main features of the observed network that remains unexplained is the abnormally high level of weighted clustering in the years preceding the crisis, i.e. the huge increase in various indirect exposures generated via more intensive interbank credit links.


Export structure and economic growth: an empirical analysis, 1985-2003 - The paper discusses the idea that the quality of exports matters for economic growth. The influence of the structure of exports on the rates of economic growth is discussed within the context of a growth model with external constraints. To test the relationship between exports and growth, exports are divided in two groups: a) dynamic from a Schumpeterian perspective (high-tech sectors) and b) dynamic from a Keynesian perspective (international demand grows at higher rates than the average). The key hypothesis is that countries whose total exports have higher shares of sectors with Keynesian and Schumpeterian efficiency will grow faster. The empirical results are consistent with this hypothesis. In addition, the results suggest that Schumpeterian efficiency tends to have a stronger impact on growth than Keynesian efficiency.


The increasing popularity of Web services for application integration has strengthened the need for automated Web service composition and joint execution. Although there has been considerable research on Web service composition, very little has been studied about Web service execution, with the possible exception of Web service choreography languages. In this paper we focus our attention on Web service execution adaptation, and briefly summarize our earlier work on modeling adaptation using context ontologies. We then extend our earlier work and show how the adaptation process can itself be automated via the determination of the affected instances of the adapted Web service instances. We also present an algorithm for automated workflow adaptation that makes use of the contextual information via the context ontologies. � 1. Introduction, Motivation & Related Work


Most existing datasets for speaker identification contain samples obtained under quite constrained conditions, and are usually hand-annotated, hence limited in size. The goal of this paper is to generate a large scale text-independent speaker identification dataset collected 'in the wild'. We make two contributions. First, we propose a fully automated pipeline based on computer vision techniques to create the dataset from open-source media. Our pipeline involves obtaining videos from YouTube; performing active speaker verification using a two-stream synchronization Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), and confirming the identity of the speaker using CNN based facial recognition. We use this pipeline to curate VoxCeleb which contains hundreds of thousands of 'real world' utterances for over 1,000 celebrities. Our second contribution is to apply and compare various state of the art speaker identification techniques on our dataset to establish baseline performance. We show that a CNN based architecture obtains the best performance for both identification and verification.


In Estonia university-based real estate education in a business school environment started in the middle of 1990ies, together with the formation and development of real estate market, when universities began to include real estate related courses into their business administration curricula. Subsequent development of real estate education was connected on the one hand with the reforms in the field of higher education and on the other hand with the development of professional standards and the launch of certification of real estate related professions. At present the schools of economics and business administration of most universities have real estate related courses in their curricula n at the levels of diploma, bacheloris and masteris degree studies. Prevalent courses are real estate economics, real estate finance, real estate appraisal and real estate marketing. However, there are only a few real estate related curricula, e.g. the real estate management curriculum in Tallinn University of Technology. In developing courses in the schools of economics and business administration primarily the necessity for qualified real estate appraisers, - brokers and nmanagers has been kept in mind. Consequently the universities have participated in working out the professional standards of the above-named professions, in synchronizing professional requirements in an international level and in carrying out professional qualification exams, in co-operation with the professional associations. The further directions of developing real estate education are the refinement of the methodical side of existing courses, the development of real estate courses at the doctoral level and the participation in international co-operation networks, in order to offer a wider scale of opportunities in choosing courses to students who decide to specialize in real estate field.


Our experience in the roentgen-ray therapy of iritis of the exudative type dates back about seven years. The first observation made was in a case of iritis supposedly of traumatic origin, and roentgen-ray exposure was made to determine the presence of a foreign body. There was a large fibrinous exudate in the anterior chamber, and it was noted that rapid disappearance of this spongy material followed roentgen-ray exposure. This happened without the administration of internal treatment, there being used here only mydriatics to keep the ciliary body at rest and to dilate the pupil fully. However, in the light of continued experience, similar clinical pictures, by the use of similar light, stimulating doses of roentgen rays, administered at the direction of one of us (H. N. B.), not by one laboratory but by several different laboratories, all resulting in the same marked amelioration of symptoms with prompt, eventually complete resolution


This paper presents the idea of Web service interface syndication - a scheme for the collaborative creation of overlay networks based on common Web service interfaces. Rather than requiring complex management of dynamic peers we picture a setting of interconnected static Web applications forming syndicates and offering services in a self-organized fashion. Among other application scenarios, this paper will present vicinitySearch, a collaborative Weblog search service which has been created in order to demonstrate the concept. This service offers a remarkable added-value to the Weblog community, making use of existing collaborative structures and the interoperability provided by XML Web services. Apart from the general concept of Web service interface syndication, the paper presents an implementation of the vicinitySearch service that has been done in terms of a Wordpress plugin


Corporate and university spin-offs are often created to commercialize new technologies. Yet, it is not clear how these spin-offs transform their inventions into new products, goods and services that create value. In this article, we use the knowledge-based theory to argue that this transformation requires a "knowledge conversion capability" (KCC) that has three components: conceptualization and visioning of applications of that knowledge; configuration and design of potential products and other applications; and the embodiment and integration of knowledge into products. Using data from 91 corporate and 78 university spin-offs, we find that these two sets of firms differ in their emphasis on the three KCC components, benefit differentially from these three components in terms of their performance, and vary significantly in their performance.


The article deals with the semantics and syntactical features of the word toxic named "word of the year" (2018) by the Oxford Dictionary. In Russian, its analogue – toksichnyj – has also gained immense popularity and almost unlimited metaphorical compatibility in expressions that characterize interpersonal relationships. The author shows semantic and syntactic differences between the word токсичный ("toxic") and its synonym ядовитый ("poisonous"). The article analyzes the word as a privately-estimated predicate that is species-specific with respect to the Russian predicate плохой ("bad"). The author proposes a hypothesis of the spread of this word in the language, associated with the transfer of the qualities of an inanimate object to an animate, characteristic of the modern representation of man as an artifact.


OBJECTIVES: Sepsis is a life-threatening response to infection that causes tissue damage, organ failure, and death. Effective early prediction of sepsis would improve patients' diagnosis and reduce the cost associated with late-stage sepsis infection by applying appropriate early intervention. However, effective early prediction is challenging because sepsis biomarkers are neither obvious nor definitive, and sepsis datasets are heavily imbalanced against positive diagnosis of sepsis while containing significant missing values. Early prediction of sepsis in ICUs using clinical data is the objective of the PhysioNet/Computing in Cardiology Challenge 2019. DESIGN: In this article, we proposed a machine learning algorithm to aid in the early detection of sepsis. SETTING: We applied linear interpolation and implemented a sample weighted AdaBoost model to predict sepsis 6 hours before clinical diagnosis. PATIENTS: Medical data contains more than 40,000 patients gathered from three geographically distinct U.S. hospital systems that consisted of a combination of hourly vital sign, lab values, and static patient descriptions. INTERVENTIONS: The challenge metric, however, did not directly reward models for their generalizability across institutions. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The article is evaluated using a new metric called Utility Score that is defined as Official scoring criteria. Our approach was among the top 10% of entries to the Challenge on a hidden test set. CONCLUSIONS: Herein, we demonstrate that our proposed approach was the most effective of the Challenge entrants when such generalizability is explicitly accounted for in model evaluation.


Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation technique that is affordable and easy to operate compared to other neuromodulation techniques. Despite this method is promising in treating neurological diseases and enhancing cognitive functions, the precise mechanism of the effect of this sub-threshold stimulation has not been understanded well. Understanding the mechanism is important in designing the proper protocol and system for the brain's electrical stimulation. The aim of this paper is to identify this mechanism with the neural modeling approach. As the results of some physiological studies have shown that under tDCS, sudden calcium signaling associated with calcium signaling of astrocyte cells in the brain are found, in the proposed model, this cell is considered as well as the main neurons and interneurons. The purpose of this model is to simulate the effect of tDCS on cortical activity related to the evoked response potential (ERP) and to compare with the actual results of previous experimental studies on rats. The results show that this model can simulate all the evidence of experimental studies. While the proposed purely neuronal model in previous studies could not simulate all the evidence.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the commonest organism cultured from the blood of children suspected to have bacterial sepsis and their antibiogram sensitivity using the commonly used antibiotics in a private practice and see if there are differences from established data from other areas.

METHOD
Children beyond neonatal age presenting to a children's specialist hospital in southeast Nigeria over a 2 year period with fever and other features of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) thought to be due to bacterial infection (but without focal point of infection) had their blood cultures done. A review of their case notes and an analysis of their blood culture and antibiogram sensitivity results was done.

RESULTS
Fourteen cases fitted the criteria and were analysed. Staphylococcus aureus was the commonest organism and of the profiled antibiogram the sensitivity pattern showed that ciproxin, gentamycin, chloramphenicol and erythromycin were the best.

CONCLUSION
Staphylococcus aureus is still a major cause of childhood bacterial sepsis. Gentamycin and erythromycin are safe and useful antibiotics in their treatment and are recommended.


Electroreduction of carbon dioxide into value-added fuels or chemicals using renewable energy helps to effectively reduce carbon dioxide emission and alleviate the greenhouse effect while storing intermittent energies. Due to the existing infrastructure of global natural gas utilization and distribution, methane produced in such a green route attracts wide interests. However, limited success has been witnessed in the practical application of catalysts imparting satisfactory methane activity and selectivity. Herein, we report the fabrication of an atomically dispersed Co-Cu alloy through the reconstruction of trace-Co doped Cu metal-organic framework. This catalyst exhibits a methane Faradaic efficiency of 60% ± 1% with the corresponding partial current density of 303 ± 5 mA·cm −2 . Operando X-ray adsorption spectroscopy and attenuated-total-reflection surface enhanced infrared spectroscopy unravel that the introduction of atomically dispersed Co in Cu favors * CO protonation via enhancing surface water activation, and suppresses C−C coupling by reducing * CO coverage, thereby leading to high methane selectivity.


The adoption of nursing models has become widespread throughout the profession with little empirical evidence of their usefulness or critical evaluation. This paper gives an overview of the issues surrounding the development and use of models and presents research data which indicates that one model (Roper, Logan & Tierney's Activities of Living) is problematic in the long-term care of the elderly. The characteristics of this model which are problematic are common to other models and have relevance for other areas of nursing.


Hemangiopericytoma is a rare tumor that is thought to originate from the vascular pericytes of Zimmerman. Although they represent less than 1% of all vascular neoplasms, 15% to 30% of these tumors are found in the head and neck. The benign or malignant nature of a hemangiopericytoma is determined clinically, not histologically, indicating the need for close and careful follow-up. We describe a congenital midline nasal mass in a 2-year-old boy that proved to be a hemangiopericytoma. Clinical photographs, a magnetic resonance imaging scan, and histologic photographs depict the findings. The evaluation and differential diagnosis of midline nasal masses are discussed.


In this article, we propose a novel method to address the two-dimensional (2D) image-based 3D object retrieval problem. First, we extract a set of virtual views to represent each 3D object. Then, a soft-attention model is utilized to find the weight of each view to select one characteristic view for each 3D object. Second, we propose a novel Holistic Generative Adversarial Network (HGAN) to solve the cross-domain feature representation problem and make the feature space of virtual characteristic view more inclined to the feature space of the real picture. This will effectively mitigate the distribution discrepancies across the 2D image domains and 3D object domains. Finally, we utilize the generative model of the HGAN to obtain the "virtual real image" of each 3D object and make the characteristic view of the 3D object and real picture possess the same feature space for retrieval. To demonstrate the performance of our approach, We established a new dataset that includes pairs of 2D images and 3D objects, where the 3D objects are based on the ModelNet40 dataset. The experimental results demonstrate the superiority of our proposed method over the state-of-the-art methods.


A multisectoral dynamic general equilibrium tax model with and without announcement effects for open and closed capital markets is used to evaluate efficiency gains and transitional effects from equal-yield tax reforms for seven different taxes in the UK economy. Impacts of an unanticipated tax reform on investment, capital accumulation, output and employment are compared to those of anticipated tax reforms. Households, producers, traders, investors and the government are found to be more capable of adjusting their economic behaviour when tax announcements are made in advance. In equal-yield tax experiments welfare gains up to 1.4% of base year GDP can occur by removing distortions in taxes. Welfare loss of up to 2.05% of it can happen if a less distortionary tax, such as the labour income tax is replaced by more distortionary taxes. These simulation results hold whether the capital markets are closed or open. 1 This article builds on research undertaken as part of the ESRC project on General Equilibrium and Dynamic Modelling for the Analysis of UK Policy Issues.


Brief, impromptu essays written for the 1990 administration of the College Board's English Composition Test (ECT) were randomly sampled for four different groups of examinees. These essays were subjected to further holistic ratings beyond those conducted for the ECT administration, and analytical ratings were also obtained. The holistic scores were correlated with the analytical scores to determine which essay characteristics were most closely associated with high holistic scores. The results indicated that overall organization, use of supporting materials, noteworthy ideas, rhetorical strategy, and thesis statement were the strongest correlates. Comparisons with the results of a previous study of 1979 ECT essays, written on a different topic, showed that these same characteristics were also most closely associated with high holistic scores in that study. These characteristics correlated strongly with high holistic scores for all subgroups randomly sampled, and for males and females.

Additional factors associated with better holistic scores but studied only for the 1990 topic included following instructions, completion of the task, use of a standard essay format, use of literary references, and proficiency in the English language.

Certain types of essay content were also associated with higher scores on the 1990 topic. Essays combining current affairs with literature and history or combining literature and history received slightly higher scores on average than essays based only on current affairs, literature, history, or personal experience. Nevertheless, some essays receiving high scores were based solely on personal experience, did not contain literary references, and did not use a standard essay format. The analyses suggest that some practice with this type of brief, impromptu essay, particularly under strict time constraints, may be useful as preparation for taking such essay examinations.


The bishops of the 11th-14th centuries were key figures both within the church
hierarchy and within state organisation across Europe. In addition to being the
primary religious authorities within their dioceses they were also local or national
potentates in their own right, judges, feudal lords, warriors and advisers to kings and
other rulers. And yet their nature and extent of their local power is often elusive.
Moreover the nature of their power changed over time making their role and their
authority extremely fluid. One can hardly study the history of the medieval church
without understanding how their control was exercised in the diocese, and in the city.
This thesis will assess the differences, the shift and the changes in the power of the
bishop in the city and the diocese of Lincoln and Cremona from mid 11th century to
mid 14th century. Understanding how their power and their role changed in time is
important to understand the role of the church and medieval society as a whole.
Lincoln, with the biggest medieval diocese in England and with its unique series of
bishops such as Hugh of Wells, Hugh of Avalon, Robert Grosseteste and Oliver
Sutton, represents a substantial example to study in order to understand why and
how the power of the bishop changed. On the other hand Cremona, with its unique
political role during the central medieval centuries and with bishops of the calibre of
Oberto and Sicardo, epitomizes the struggle for power and authority the bishops had
to face in a communal Italian city. The comparison between the bishop's powers
offers us similarities and the differences between the roles and functions of the
prelates in the two cities, as indicated by the available evidence and by the questions
asked by historians. This study allows me to suggest a broader and more satisfying
picture. The thesis uses a series of sources ranging from the bishops' records,
registers, and Episcopal Acta, manuscript and parchment sources, the Latin
chronicles of the period, as well as architectural evidence.


Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases and accumulating evidences suggest a key role of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide in the pathogenesis of AD. According to the amyloid cascade hypothesis, the imbalance of producing and clearing Aβ is the beginning of neurodegeneration and dementia. Consequently, immunotherapy becomes popular through using antibodies against Aβ. However, many studies of monoclonal antibodies were stopped because adverse effects appeared or there were no evident benefits observed. Some antibody fragments have many advantages over monoclonal antibodies, such as small sizes, lack of the crystallizable fraction (Fc) and so on. There are three main antibody fragments, including single chain variable fragments (scFvs), Fab fragments and single-domain antibody fragments. Nanoparticles can facilitate the entry of drug molecules across the blood-brain barrier, making them become excellent carriers. Various kinds of nanoparticles have been applied in the treatment of AD. The combination of nanoparticles and antibody fragments against amyloid-β can be used in the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's disease. In this review, we summarize the progress of antibody fragments against amyloid-β in AD, focusing on the combined application with nanoparticles in the diagnosis and treatment of AD.


ABSTRACT Cells of the Escherichia coli dnaE(Ts) dnaE74 and dnaE486 mutants die after 4 h of incubation at 40°C in Luria-Bertani medium. Cell death is preceded by elongation, is inhibited by chloramphenicol, tetracycline, or rifampin, and is dependent on cell density. Cells survive at 40°C when they are incubated at a high population density or at a low density in conditioned medium, but they die when the medium is supplemented with glucose and amino acids. Deletion of recA or sulA has no effect. We isolated suppressors which survived for long periods at 40°C but did not form colonies. The suppressors protected against hydroxyurea-induced killing. Sequence and complementation analysis indicated that suppression was due to mutation in the cydA gene. The DNA content of dnaE mutants increased about eightfold in 4 h at 40°C, as did the DNA content of the suppressed strains. The amount of plasmid pBR322 in a dnaE74 strain increased about fourfold, as measured on gels, and the electrophoretic pattern appeared to be normal even though the viability of the parent cells decreased 2 logs. Transformation activity also increased. 4′,6′-Diamidino-2-phenylindole staining demonstrated that there were nucleoids distributed throughout the dnaE filaments formed at 40°C, indicating that there was segregation of the newly formed DNA. We concluded that the DNA synthesized was physiologically competent, particularly since the number of viable cells of the suppressed strain increased during the first few hours of incubation. These observations support the view that E. coli senses the rate of DNA synthesis and inhibits septation when the rate of DNA synthesis falls below a critical level relative to the level of RNA and protein synthesis.


A dark wave of exile, incest, and
magic burns across the tropics,
forging a knotted trail into the
black hole. Three star-crossed siblings
wander in search of one another
as a storm of purple prose
and easy listening slowly engulfs
them.


The 3 cases presented here involve 3 unusual and different complications of costal exostoses: spontaneous hemothorax, pneumothorax, and pericardial effusion. All of the cases presented with chest pain to the emergency department. Two of the cases have hereditary multiple exostoses. All but one of the patients required surgical intervention. Complications of costal exostoses are rare, but hemothorax, pneumothorax, and pericardial effusions can occur.


The maximal symmetry, or perfect cosmological principle (PCP), that prevents AdS-type spaces from degenerating into anti-inflationary collapse is argued to be unphysical. For example, the simple requirement that brane-bulk models should be the result of having evolved from even more energetic string phenomena picks out a preferred time direction. We question whether quantum cosmological reasoning can be applied in any meaningful way to obtain, what are essentially, classical constructs. An alternative scheme is to more readily accept the PCP and allow the branes to also become eternal. A perpetually expanding and contracting brane model could be driven by the presence of charged black holes in the AdS bulk, that effectively violates the weak-energy condition as singularities are approached. This can be contrasted with the so-called ekpyrotic universe which also closely accepts the PCP. This being broken only by occasional collisions between branes, that can then simulate a big-bang cosmology.


The smallest RNA genome segment of African horsesickness virus (AHSV) encodes the nonstructural protein NS3 (24K). NS3 localizes in areas of plasma membrane disruption and is associated with events of viral release. Conserved features in all AHSV NS3 proteins include the synthesis of a truncated NS3A protein from the same open reading frame as that of NS3, a proline-rich region, a region of strict sequence conservation and two hydrophobic domains. To investigate whether these features are associated with the cytotoxicity of NS3 or altered membrane permeability, a series of mutants were constructed and expressed in the BAC-TO-BAC baculovirus-expression system. Our results indicate that mutations in either of the two hydrophobic domains do not prevent membrane targeting of the mutant proteins but abolish their membrane anchoring. This prevents their localization to the cell surface and obviates their cytotoxic effect. The cytotoxicity of NS3 is therefore dependent on its membrane topography and thus involves both hydrophobic domains. NS3 has many of the characteristics of lytic viral proteins that play a central role in viral pathogenesis through modifying membrane permeability.


While context-free grammars are characterized by a simple proof-theoretic grammatical formalism namely categorial grammar and its logic the Lambek calculus, no such characterizations were known for tree-adjoining grammars, and even for any mildly context-sensitive languages classes in the last forty years despite some efforts [15, 13]. We settle this problem in this paper. On the basis of the existing fragment of the Lambek-Grishin calculus which captures tree-adjoining languages, we present a logic called HLG: a proof-theoretic characterization of tree-adjoining languages based on the Lambek-Grishin calculus [9, 10] restricted to Hyperedge-replacement grammar with rank two studied by Moot [13, 14]. HLG is defined in display calculus with cut-admissibility. Several new techniques are introduced for the proofs, such as purely structural connectives, usefulness, and a graph-theoretic argument on proof nets for HLG.


Flow accelerated corrosion (FAC) and liquid droplet impingement erosion (LDI) are the main pipe wall thinning phenomena in piping system of power plants in Japan. Authors have promoted the development of prediction method to evaluate local thinning trend by FAC/LDI. To apply the method to pipe wall thinning management in power plants, it is required to be transformed into practical tools for easy usage. In Japan, discussion is being made to considerate the introduction of prediction tools into wall thinning management based on wall thickness measurement at present.Authors have simplified their FAC/LDI models to predict wall thinning trend one-dimensionally along piping layout, and applied to actual thinning data of power plants. With PWR's FAC data and BWR's LDI data, maximum thinning rate for each pipe elements were roughly predictable with considerable accuracy. Especially for high thinning rate data, which is important in plant management, the model was able to evaluate within the factor of 2. By installing this model, prediction software "FALSET" was developed, equipped with practical functions for the management. With the further verification and improvement of each function, there are prospects for this software to be utilized as a management tool in power plants.Copyright © 2013 by ASME


The relative affinity of a series of Prussian Blue analogues presenting various chemical compositions for the adsorption of different gases, such as water vapor and hydrocarbons, was studied. The ability of Co[CoIII(CN)6]0.66·5.2H2O for the separation of hydrocarbons in a humid atmosphere was demonstrated.


Abstract The purpose of this study was to understand the characteristics of senior consumers' food-related lifestyle and to investigate their demand for menu development of senior' friendly food products. An one-to-one survey method was used for data collection, and the survey was conducted with 490 senior participants who are over 55 years-old living in Seoul and Kyunggi area. The main results of this study were as follows: Most participants usually spend from 60,000 to 150,000won on food a month, and the female participants played a decisive role on food purchasing and preparation. They preferred home meal for their three regular meals to bread, convenience food, or eating-out. For menu development of senior-friendly food products, the demand for food products using moist-heat cooking method was higher than those using dry-heat cooking method. Also, the respondents did not like strong taste such as salty, spicy, or bitterness in senior-friendly foods, and wanted to have a variety of noodle, kimchi, meat, seafood meals.Key words : senior-friendly food, menu development, consumer demand1)


Abstract Grazing livestock freely select landscape resources, unless they are herded or constrained by fences. Automated animal control (AAC) systems offer an alternative to physical fences by using animal-positioning technology and aversive stimuli to deter animals from staying in sensitive environments and so limit their impact. This paper reports on a replicated field experiment completed to test whether occasional stimuli (audio cue followed by a mild electric stimulus), delivered by discontinuously activated AAC collars, could suffice to modify the grazing behavior of groups of cattle. Four groups of eight steers were confined in 8-ha rectangular paddocks that had an ad libitum supplement feeder located in one end to attract cattle. The steers' positional information was recorded continuously for 3 d using a GPS receiver encased in a collar fitted around their neck. These data were used to characterize their use of the paddocks without intervention. Subsequently a restriction zone was activated on the collars. This zone contained the supplement feeders and represented approximately 10% of the paddock area. Cattle movement was again monitored during a second 3-d period, in which the steers were subjected to discontinuous aversive stimuli (5 min of stimulation followed by a random 0–30 min interval without stimulation) if they were located inside or moved into the restriction zone. Cattle visits to the restriction zone were shorter and the return interval longer when steers were subjected to discontinuous stimulation. Overall, there was a 97% reduction in the use of the restriction zone between the first and second deployments. These results suggest that grazing impact can be drastically reduced by making a zone less desirable through discontinuous aversive stimulation. Such a discontinuous (25% of the time on) AAC system can reduce power consumption in collars and so help overcome energy supply limitations that hinder commercial AAC applications.


Abstract Investment casting research is being carried out by the University of Birmingham, sponsored by EPSRC and a consortium of industrial companies. The programme is aimed at developing a fundamental understanding of the process, with a view to routinely producing sound, net shape castings. A key stage within the investment process is that involving the removal of wax from the unfired ceramic shell. This important process is carried out within the confines of a sealed pressure vessel, more commonly referred to as a Boilerclave*, with external pressure gauges as the only indication of what is actually happening inside the cavity. To metaphorically 'see' inside the vessel would allow the factors controlling de-wax to be characterised and controlled. This paper contains results obtained at The University of Birmingham using a specially instrumented steam autoclave that allows visual data capture, thermal and steam pressure profiles within the chamber, and thermal instrumentation of waxes and shells to be obtained. Results of thermal and pressure profiles inside the vessel body are presented and implications of these results upon the mechanism of wax removal and the effect upon ceramic shells are discussed.


A general and sensitive method for the mapping of initiation sites of DNA replication in vivo, developed by Vassilev and Johnson, has revealed replication origins in the region of simian virus 40 ori, in the regions upstream from the human c-myc gene and downstream from the Chinese hamster dihydrofolate reductase gene, and in the enhancer region of the mouse immunoglobulin heavy-chain gene. Here we report that the region containing the promoter of the human heat shock protein 70 (hsp70) gene was identified as a DNA replication origin in HeLa cells by this method. Several segments of the region were cloned into pUC19 and examined for autonomously replicating sequence (ARS) activity. The plasmids carrying the segments replicated episomally and semiconservatively when transfected into HeLa cells. The segments of ARS activity contained the sequences previously identified as binding sequences for a c-myc protein complex (T. Taira, Y. Negishi, F. Kihara, S. M. M. Iguchi-Ariga, and H. Ariga, Biochem. Biophys. Acta 1130:166-174, 1992). Mutations introduced within the c-myc protein complex binding sequences abolished the ARS activity. Moreover, the ARS plasmids stably replicated at episomal state for a long time in established cell lines. The results suggest that the promoter region of the human hsp70 gene plays a role in DNA replication as well as in transcription.


Nitrous oxide is a monopropellant with potential for use in propulsion systems for orbit correction, positioning and attitude control of satellites. This paper presents experimental results with a 2N thruster prototype employing nitrous oxide gas decomposed by a rhodium oxide catalyst supported on alumina. Initially, the thruster design, the test bench and test procedures are described. Then the main experimental results, including thrust curves, mass flow rates, pressures and temperatures along the thruster are presented for pulsed operation. At the end specific impulses, characteristic velocities and thruster efficiencies are determined, thus indicating a catalytic decomposition efficiency of about 88%.


Allosamidins, which are secondary metabolites of the Streptomyces species, have chitin-mimic pseudotrisaccharide structures. They bind to catalytic centers of all family 18 chitinases and inhibit their enzymatic activity. Allosamidins have been used as chitinase inhibitors to investigate the physiological roles of chitinases in a variety of organisms. Two prominent biological activities of allosamidins were discovered, where one has anti-asthmatic activity in mammals, while the other has the chitinase-production- promoting activity in allosamidin-producing Streptomyces. In this article, recent studies on the novel biological activities of allosamidins are reviewed.


Purpose: To evaluate the applicability of Farmer ion chambers for absolute dosimetry of high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy sources in water and the potential to use this methodology for brachytherapytreatment planning system (TPS) dose calculation validation. Method and Materials: Water tank absolute dosimtric measurements of 192Ir doses were performed with a Farmer ionization chamber. Autoradiography was used for determination of absolute source position and subsequent alignment of the source with the chamber. A small solid water phantom was used for brachy catheter support. The phantom was immersed in a water tank equipped with a chamber holding mechanism capable of 1D motion. The chamber and the electrometer used for absolute dose measurements had ADCL traceable calibration factors for external beam reference dosimetry (calibrated in water with 60Co beam). Doses were measured from 2 cm to 11 cm away from a single dwell position. Measurements were compared to doses calculated by Oncentra HDR TPS as well as simple hand calculations, utilizing point source geometry, inverse square dose falloff and published data for radial dose falloff due to attenuation. Results: The measured and the TPS doses agreed within 3% up to 8 cm from the source, within 4% from 8 cm to 10 cm, and within 6% at 11 cm. The hand calculations, performed as a simple consistency check, agreed with the TPS within 1% across the entire tested range. Conclusions: The presented results indicate that Farmer chambers are suitable for absolute dosimetry of 192Ir sources over the useful HDR therapeutic range (2 cm to 10 cm). Absolute measurements in water performed with Farmer chambers can be easily employed for commercial TPS dosimetric commissioning as well as for routine dosimetric checks of the HDR delivery systems.


In this paper, we developed GridGML for efficiently supplying a GML and visualizing the map with partitioning map and caching method to a mobile device. In order to overcome the weighting of a file, which is the biggest weakness of a GML, GridGML extracts only the most necessary parts for the visualization of the map among GML attributes, and makes the file light as a class instance by applying an offset value. GridGML manages a partition based on the visualization area of a mobile device to visualize the map to a mobile device in real time, and transmits the partition area by serializing it for the benefit of transmission. Also, the received partition area is compounded in a mobile device and is visualized by being partitioned again as four visible areas based on the display of a mobile device. Then, the area is managed by applying a caching algorithm in consideration of repetitiveness for a received map for the efficient operation of resources. Also, in order to prevent the delay in transmission time as regards the instance density area of the map, an adaptive map partition mechanism is proposed for maintaining the transmission time uniformly.


Abstract : NIMAMUSE Fusion V2.1 is a computer mapping software program produced by the Naval Research Laboratory for the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA). In addition to demonstrating the NIMA digital map data products, coordinate conversions, and datum transformations, Fusion provides general purpose mapping capabilities for managing user data, route planning, and route monitoring. This report presents the software requirements for Fusion V2.1.


OBJECTIVE
To examine the effects of marital status and marital satisfaction on survival after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).

METHODS
Participants were 225 people who had CABG between 1987 and 1990. Marital status at the time of surgery and marital satisfaction 1 year after surgery were used to predict survival 15 years after surgery.

RESULTS
Married people were 2.5 times (p < .001) more likely to be alive 15 years after CABG than those who were not married. This finding was true for men and women, although the result for women was marginally significant adjusting for age. Those in high-satisfaction marriages were 3.2 times (p < .003) more likely to be alive 15 years after CABG compared with those reporting low marital satisfaction. Highly satisfied men were 2.7 times (p < .03) and highly satisfied women were 3.9 times (p < .15) more likely to be alive adjusting for age. Although the result was not significant for women, the effect size for marital satisfaction was actually larger for women than for men.

CONCLUSIONS
Being married, especially being in a highly satisfying marriage, offered a significant benefit to long-term survival after CABG. Why marital status and marital satisfaction have this effect on survival is surely mulitfactorial, most likely a combination of spousal support and survivor motivation to adopt a healthy lifestyle, along with the provision of emotional support to the survivor, which all could have the effect of modulating the physiologic mechanisms responsible for slowing the advancement of CVD.


An optical frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) based self-healing unidirectional ring network is designed and its performance is verified. It employs arrayed waveguide grating add/drop multiplexers (ADMs) and erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) with waveguide level equalizers in each remote node. The route diversity configuration is employed to make the network robust and bit loss-free route switching is performed. The level diagram reproducibility for each OFDM channel is guaranteed by the waveguide-level equalizers. Successful transmission performance confirms the effectiveness of the proposed system.


A new concept of crystalline phase embedded in amorphous matrix is proposed as solid permeable material for the separation and purification of hydrogen. A β-(Ti,Zr,Nb) crystalline phase forms in the liquid during the cooling of Nb-containing Ti-based bulk metallic glasses (BMGs). The β-(Ti,Zr,Nb) body centered cubic phase composed of group 4 and 5 elements of the periodic table provides remarkable hydrogen permeation properties, which are superior to those of palladium alloys. The hydrogen permeability of those in-situ Ti-based BMG matrix composites has been investigated as a function of the volume fraction of crystalline phase at 623K and for the inner pressure of 1.75bar.


Techniques similar to those used in instrumenting tablet presses were applied to an automatic capsule-filling machine. The dosing unit was modified to allow the bonding of strain gauges to the compression piston. The guages formed the arms of a Wheatstone bridge circuit. Thus, compression and ejection events were monitored by measuring the bridge unbalance voltage using a suitable amplifier-recording system. The instrumented piston was calibrated in a physical testing machine. Dosing unit rotation required the interposing of a mercury contact swivel between the amplifier and instrumented piston. The instrumentation system required only one minor, permanent modification to the machine, a cut in the dosator tube. Since the same dosator piston sensed both compression and ejection, only one of the two dosing units was instrumented and the other was removed from the machine. A solenoid switching system was devised which only permitted the feeding of empty gelatin shells into the filling cycle for the instrumented piston. Representative fillers were run at constant powder bed and piston heights. Oscilloscope tracings showed two stages in slug formation: (a) "precompression," representing the force sensed during dipping of the dosator into the powder before actual compression, and (b) actual piston compression. Generally, the maximum slug compression force fell to zero rapidly on retraction of the piston, but in some cases a retention force was noted, possibly due to elastric rebound of the slug against the retracted piston. A negative deflection due to binding of the piston also was observed in tracings of one material. Lubricated batches exhibited ejection forces of less than 1 kg.


One of the main challenges in group therapy with drug-addicted patients is collective pseudomentalization, i.e., a group discourse consisting of words and clichés that are decoupled from any inner emotional life and are poorly related to external reality. In this study, we aimed to explore the phenomenology of pseudomentalization and how it was addressed by the therapist in an outpatient group for drug-addicted patients. The group was composed of seven members, and the transcripts of eight audio-recorded sessions (one per month) were rated and studied. The interventions of the therapist were measured with the mentalization-based group therapy (MBT-G) adherence and quality scale by independent raters. Two sessions, one with the highest and one with the lowest adherence, were selected, and the clinical sequences of pseudomentalization were analyzed in a comparative way. The findings revealed that pseudomentalization does occur as a collective phenomenon, akin to "basic assumptions" of Wilfred Bion, which we reconceptualized in this study. Any pseudomentalization seemed to be reinforced by the therapist when she was presenting frequent and long interventions, when abstaining from the management of group boundaries, when providing questions focused more on content than on the mental states of the group members, and when not focusing on emotions. However, the ultimate source of collective pseudomentalization seemed to be the fear of the group members of being overwhelmed by painful emotions, mental confusion, and a loss of identity. The findings also indicated that the principles of MBT-G may be a good antidote to pseudomentalization.


AIM
To identify clinicopathological factors predictive of lymph node metastasis (LNM) in intramucosal poorly differentiated early gastric cancer (EGC), and further to expand the possibility of using endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for the treatment of intramucosal poorly differentiated EGC.

METHODS
Data for 81 surgically treated patients with intramucosal poorly differentiated EGC were collected, and the association between the clinicopathological factors and the presence of LNM was retrospectively analyzed by univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Several clinicopathologic factors were investigated to identify predictive factors for lymph nodes metastasis, including gender, age, family history of gastric cancer, number of tumors, tumor location, ulceration, tumor size, macroscopic type, lymphatic vessel involvement, and signet-ring-cell component.

RESULTS
Tumor size (OR = 7.273, 95%CI: 1.246-29.918, P = 0.042), lymphatic vessel involvement (OR = 42.219, 95%CI: 1.923-97.052, P = 0.018) and signet-ring-cell component (OR = 17.513, 95%CI: 1.647-77.469, P = 0.034) that were significantly associated with LNM by univariate analysis, were found to be significant and independent risk factors for LNM by multivariate analysis. However, gender, age, family history of gastric cancer, number, location, ulceration and macroscopic type of tumor were found not to be associated with LNM. Of these 81 patients diagnosed with intramucosal poorly differentiated EGC, 7 (8.6%) had LNM. The LNM rates were 9.1%, 22.2% and 57.1%, respectively, in cases with one, two and three of the risk factors. There was no LNM in 54 patients without the three risk clinicopathological factors.

CONCLUSION
Tumor size, lymphatic vessel involvement and signet-ring-cell component are independently associated with the presence of LNM in intramucosal poorly differentiated EGC. Thus, these three risk factors may be used as a simple criterion to expand the possibility of using ESD for the treatment of intramucosal poorly differentiated EGC.


Little is known about the epilepsy that often occurs in the juvenile form of Huntington's disease (HD), but is absent from the adult‐onset form. The primary aim of this study was to characterize the seizures in juvenile HD (JHD) subjects with regard to frequency, semiology, defining EEG characteristics, and response to antiepileptic agents. A multicenter, retrospective cohort was identified by database query and/or chart review. Data on age of HD onset, primary HD manifestations, number of CAG repeats, the presence or absence of seizures, seizure type(s), antiepileptic drugs used, subjects' response to antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), and EEG results were assembled, where available. Ninety subjects with genetically confirmed JHD were included. Seizures were present in 38% of subjects and were more likely to occur with younger ages of HD onset. Generalized tonic‐clonic seizures were the most common seizure type, followed by tonic, myoclonic, and staring spells. Multiple seizure types commonly occurred within the same individual. Data on EEG findings and AED usage are presented. Seizure risk in JHD increases with younger age of HD onset. Our ability to draw firm conclusions about defining EEG characteristics and response to AEDs was limited by the retrospective nature of the study. Future prospective studies are required. © 2012 Movement Disorder Society


Abstract This paper discusses waste recycling as a compound in building materials. Foundry sand-based self-compacting concretes (SCC) were investigated to see the possibility of recycling foundry sand wastes (FSW). FSW was used as a cementitious addition (by partial cement replacement: 10%, 20% and 30% wt. cement), then as a fine aggregate (by partial sand substitution: 10%, 30% and 50% wt. sand). For this, an experimental study was carried out to evaluate physical and mechanical properties of SCC at fresh and hardened states. The results show that the FSW also played the role of a filling material, which slightly improved the compactness of the concrete while saving part of the cement. According to the results of the non-destructive tests by ultrasonic tests, all concretes gave a dynamic modulus of elasticity that was almost identical and which was greater than 36 GPa. Compressive strength value slightly reduced with the cement substitution by the crushed foundry sand waste. However, up to 30% FSW, the compressive strength recorded after 28 days was around 30 MPa. A slight decrease in the fluidity of concrete at 10% substitution of natural sand by FSW was observed. After up to 30% replacement of sand by foundry sand wastes, the fluidity of the concrete was improved. The improvement in the fluidity of the concretes was perhaps due to the fineness of the natural sand and that of the foundry sand. When used as up to 50% of sand substitution, FSW can be used as a fine aggregate for concretes without affecting the essential proprieties of concretes.


Insights gained depend on the questions asked. This chapter describes the why and the how of our study's approach. After outlining some principal research interests of comparative news analyses, we introduce a theoretical hierarchy of infl uences that needs to be observed in order to understand the construction of media content. In fi tting this model to the specifi c requirements of our study, we emphasize, in particular, the importance of integrating event-centered and mediacentered considerations, of incorporating an explicit comparative perspective, and of applying appropriate strategies of data analysis. The main part of the chapter introduces the explanatory factors that are used in this study to elucidate crossnational and cross-organizational differences in journalists' use of the six core concepts of political news. The explanatory factors are systematized according to their level of analysis, and we provide a great many examples to illustrate their use in this study, together with concrete operationalizations. We conclude by situating our own approach in the recent development of explanation-oriented comparative news research.


Recent determinations of the white dwarf luminosity function (WDLF) from very large surveys have extended our knowledge of the WDLF to very high luminosities. It has been shown that the shape of the luminosity function of white dwarfs (WDLF) is a powerful tool to test the possible properties and existence of fundamental weakly interacting subelectronvolt particles. This, together with the availability of new full evolutionary white dwarf models that are reliable at high luminosities, have opened the possibility of testing particle emission in the core of very hot white dwarfs. We use the available WDLFs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the SuperCOSMOS Sky Survey to constrain the values of the neutrino magnetic dipole moment ($\mu_\nu$) and the axion-electron coupling constant ($g_{ae}$) of DFSZ-axions.


Wheat gliadin is the triggering agent in coeliac disease. In this study, we documented that proteolytic fragments of gliadin, in contrast to other food antigens, induced interleukin (IL)-8 and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) production and significantly increased interferon (IFN)-gamma-induced cytokine secretion in human monocytic line THP-1 cells. Stimulation with gliadin resulted in elevated phosphorylation of the IkappaBalpha molecule and increased NF-kappaB/DNA binding activity that was inhibited by sulfasalazine, l-1-tosylamido-2-phenylethyl chloromethyl ketone and pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC). The activation pathway was shown to be independent of the CD14 molecule. Less mature U-937 monocytes responded to gliadin stimulation by low IL-8 secretion, TNF-alpha production was not detectable. We propose that gliadin-induced activation of monocytes/macrophages can participate in mechanisms leading to the impairment of intestinal mucosa in coeliac patients.


The nanocomposite (Au@BSA) which was synthesized using gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) was used as an electrochemical sensing layer for chiral recognition of propranolol (PRO). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy and amperometric testing technique were employed to characterize the Au@BSA nanocomposite. Differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were used to assess the enantioselective performance of the fabricated interface, and the optimal experimental conditions, such as acidity and incubation time were also discussed. The results showed that after the modified interface interacted with PRO enantiomers larger discrepancy was obtained from S-PRO, and linear electrochemical responses to PRO enantiomers were obtained from 1.0 × 10−5 to 5.0 × 10−3 mol L−1 with a detection limit of 3.3 × 10−6 mol L−1 (S/N = 3). To gain more information on the role of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) in the chiral recognition of PRO enantiomers, the interface fabricated using AuNPs or BSA was also allowed to interact with PRO enantiomers, and no obvious signal discrepancy was obtained. The results suggested that only Au@BSA could be employed for the enantioselective recognition of PRO enantiomers.


A novel high-speed serial transmitter, which is constructed by pre-driver and main driver, is demonstrated. The pre-driver and main driver consist N stages delay cells and driver cells, respectively. Properties of the transmitter can be adjusted by changing the delay time of delay cell and number of stages. The simulation result of transmitter indicated the slew rate of 480 Mb/s and output ramp of 0.9 ns are in agreement with the USB 2.0 specification.


The World Health Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) have launched a new initiative to boost the use of environmentally friendly, sustainable alternatives to the toxic chemical DDT, used to control malaria.

WHO estimates that every year malaria kills about a million people worldwide, more than 90% of whom are in sub-Saharan Africa, and causes around 300 million cases of acute illness every year, three quarters in children.

The initiative, backed by nearly $40m (£27m; €30m) in funding from the Global Environmental Facility, a partnership of international institutions, non-governmental organisations, and the private sector, foresees the introduction of 10 projects in about 40 nations in Africa, the eastern Mediterranean, Asia, and the Pacific. These projects aim to build on the successful results …


Discrete-time ARMA processes can be placed in a one-to-one correspondence with a set of continuous-time processes that are bounded in frequency by the Nyquist value of ? radians per sample period. It is well known that, if data are sampled from a continuous process of which the maximum frequency exceeds the Nyquist value, then there will be a problem of aliasing. However, if the sampling is too rapid, then other problems will arise that will cause the ARMA estimates to be severely biased. The paper reveals the nature of these problems and it shows how they may be overcome. It is argued that the estimation of macroeconomic processes may be compromised by a failure to take account of their limits in frequency.


Large-scale key-value stores are widely used in many Web-based systems to store huge amount of data as (key, value) pairs. In order to reduce the latency of accessing such (key, value) pairs, an in-memory cache system is usually deployed between the front-end Web system and the back-end database system. In practice, a cache system may consist of a number of server nodes, and fault tolerance is a critical feature to maintain the latency Service-Level Agreements (SLAs). In this paper, we present the design, implementation, analysis, and evaluation of R-Memcached, a reliable in-memory key-value cache system that is built on top of the popular Memcached software. R-Memcached exploits coding techniques to achieve reliability, and can tolerate up to two node failures. Our experimental results show that R-Memcached can maintain very good latency and throughput performance even during the period of node failures.


Mercury of the Waves: Modern Cryptology and U.S. LiteratureHenry VeggianUniversity of Pittsburgh, 2005The doctoral dissertation examines United States literary and institutional history during the period 1900-1973. The study demonstrates how cryptology was detached from its philological residence over three phases (the amateur, institutional, and professional). In the amateur phase, which was regionally specific to the Midwest, the science was characterized by social reformist debate. In the second, institutional phase, the amateur version of cryptology was institutionalized by the United States federal government following WWI to imitate a specific institutional model (that of the French Bureau du Chiffre). During the third, professional phase, the prior two were enhanced during the interwar period by linguists, mechanical engineers, literary modernists, and cryptologists. Running parallel to this narrative is a modern American literary genealogy that, beginning with Henry Adams and extending through Thomas Pynchon, engaged cryptology during that same era. The dissertation locates their discourse within Vichian humanism, and in doing so it first explains how modern literature (and the American novel in particular), its practices, and institutions contributed discursive rhetoric, hermeneutical methods, and institutional models to the emergent 20th century U.S. security state; secondly, it argues that a particular genealogical style that spans the writings of Henry Adams, T.S. Eliot, William Faulkner, Raymond Chandler, and Thomas Pynchon elaborated an diverse rhetorical discourse by which to respond to that assemblage of new institutional entities, and without which that assemblage would be incoherent.


The invention comprises at least one surface emitting semiconductor laser (21) having a common substrate 13 is a monolithic vertical two meters adjacent to the integration in (monolithic) (1) and at least one pump radiation source (2) to surface emitting laser to a semiconductor apparatus. The surface light emitting semiconductor laser device further comprises a heat conductive member (18) having a mounting surface (28) and in thermal contact with said semiconductor laser (21), installed on the carrier 27. The present invention also relates to a method for manufacturing the surface emitting semiconductor laser device of this type. The surface light emitting semiconductor laser, the vertical emitter, the pump radiation source, heat conductive member, the carrier


Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the importance of immigration as a risk factor for self-reported frequent mental distress (FMD) among black respondents to an Internet survey. Method: Snowball sampling was used to obtain Internet survey responses from immigrant and non-immigrant black adults in the United States. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to control for the effects of personal characteristics (N = 301). Results: In this sample of black adults, 13.3% had FMD. Being an immigrant was not associated with FMD in this sample (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 0.75, P = .53). However, more drinking days was an independent risk factor (OR = 1.07, P < .01). Conclusions: Being an immigrant was not an independent risk factor for FMD in this sample of black adults. However, drinking more days per month was a significant risk factor. Primary care providers should be alert for FMD and alcohol consumption in this population. Directing health education about hazardous drinking toward high-risk individuals should be considered.


We report a liquid-phase time-resolved X-ray diffraction study that resolves the molecular structures of the short-lived intermediates formed in the photodissociation of tetrabromomethane in methanol. Time-resolved X-ray diffraction can detect all chemical species simultaneously, and the diffraction signal from each chemical species can be quantitatively calculated from molecular structures and compared with experimental data with high accuracy and precision. The photochemistry of carbon tetrahalides has long been explored to describe their reactions in the natural environment due to its relevance to ozone depletion. Excited with an ultraviolet optical pulse, the complicated photodissociation dynamics of CBr4 was followed in a wide temporal range from picoseconds up to microseconds and associated rate coefficients were determined by analyzing time-resolved diffraction patterns accumulated from 100 ps X-ray pulses. The homolytic cleavage of one C-Br bond in the parent CBr4 molecule yields the CBr3 and Br radicals, which escape from the solvent cage and combine nongeminately to form C2Br6 and Br2, respectively. C2Br6 eventually decays to give C2Br4 and Br2 as final stable products. Our diffraction data at the current signal-to-noise ratio could not provide any evidence for the geminate recombination of the CBr3 and Br radicals to form the Br2CBr-Br isomer or the solvated ion pair, implying that their formation is a minor channel compared with those observed clearly by time-resolved diffraction in this work.


Based on the previous studies, through the geological interpretation of remote sensing images, the field geological survey and the analysis of historical earthquakes, large-scale fracture data in southwest China is obtained. Based on the data, a Tibetan Plateau crust model consisted of 6 crustal blocks was designed with the GPS data as the judgment basis in imposing and testing the rationality of the boundary conditions. By using the finite element numerical simulation method, according to the mechanical properties of earthquakes, this paper analyzes the border effect of the surrounding plates or crustal blocks, calculates the stress distribution under such combination of the crustal blocks and the border effect, and then analyzes China's strong earthquake region. Applying the 3S technology to the finite element numerical simulation analysis not only provides the data sources for the study of the geological model and the basis for the boundary conditions, but also enables the change of traditional numerical simulation methods from qualitative analysis to quantitative analysis. With the in-depth development of the large-scale parallel computing, the attempt to make the DEM data as the surface model data of the finite element numerical simulation will largely enhance the authenticity and predictability of the simulation results.


This paper reviews water use and water resource issues in Beijing Municipality, the main trends in the agricultural production systems in and around the city with respect to land use, input use, production and economic role, and the impacts of agricultural activities on water quality. Rapid urbanization and strong intensification of agricultural production have meant that the quantity and quality of available water resources have become matters of concern. The agricultural sector still has a major role in supplying the municipality's population with food products, but it is also a major water user and has contributed to large gaps between water supply and demand and to high levels of water pollution. Among the main changes in agriculture in the last decade are the loss of arable land to urbanization, the rapid reduction in the area under grain, and the rapid increase in livestock numbers and in areas under vegetables and orchards. Intensive crop and vegetable production and intensive livestock rearing are major water polluters. The paper also points to some measures being taken to address these problems.


This paper attempts to sketch a 'rhetorical economy' of feminist opposition to the sex industry, via the case study of debates around Amnesty International's 2016 policy supporting decriminalisation as the best way to ensure sex workers' human rights and safety. Drawing on Ahmed's concept of 'affective economies' in which emotions circulate as capital, I explore an emotionally loaded discursive field which is also characterised by specific and calculated rhetorical manoeuvres for political gain. My analysis is situated in what Rentschler and Thrift call the 'discursive publics' of contemporary Western feminism, which encompass academic, activist, and public/media discussions. I argue that contemporary feminist opposition to the sex industry is shaped by a 'sex war' paradigm which relies on a binary opposition between radical feminist and 'sex positive' perspectives. In this framework, sex workers become either helpless victims or privileged promoters of the industry, which leaves little room for discussions of their diverse experiences and their labour rights. As Amnesty's policy was debated, this allowed opponents of the sex industry to construct sex workers' rights as 'men's rights', either to purchase sex or to benefit from its sale as third parties or 'pimps'. These opponents mobilised sex industry 'survivors' to dismiss sex worker activists supporting Amnesty's policy as privileged and unrepresentative, which concealed activists' experiences of violence and abuse and obscured the fact that decriminalisation is supported by sex workers across the world.


Background. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disorder of the adult life, characterized by the progressive loss of cortical and spinal motor neurons and an outcome usually fatal within 3 to 5 yrs, due to respiratory failure, with no effective therapies presently available. Efforts are needed in ALS to find novel treatments, able to reduce or block neuronal loss and/or to rebuild damaged neuronal circuits. Recent studies have raised the interest for the use of bone marrow-derived cells (BMCs) to repair damaged nervous system; this approach seems particularly attractive in ALS, which is characterized by neuronal degeneration. Aims of the study. To evaluate, at the multicenter setting, feasibility, safety and tolerability, and possible benefit of repeated procedures of G-CSF-induced BMC mobilization in ALS patients. Patients and methods. Seven Neurology Centers, along with seven Hematology Centers, are participating to the multicenter "STEMALS" trial, that started in June 2006 and will enrol a total of 28 patients, with 4 mobilization procedures for each patients; this is the interim analysis, after 42 mobilization procedures performed on a total of 22 patients. Patient median age is 56 yrs (range 40–64), 14 are male. The protocol includes four cycles of G-CSF, scheduled at 3 mos. intervals. In each cycle, G-CSF is administered at the dose of 5 μg/kg s.c., twice a day, for 4 consecutive days. At each cycle, CBCs and circulating CD34+ cells are determined, since day 0 through day 6. Results. Overall, 18 patients completed the first G-CSF cycle and all displayed good response; peak values were for WBCs: 41 x10 3 /μL (range 24– 71) at day 3, and for CD34+ve cells: 52/μL (range 8.4–156), at day 4; 16 patients have already completed the second mobilization course, with values of circulating cells matching those of the first cycle (median WBCs/μL: 42x10 3 ; median CD34+ve/μL: 60.7); a few patients have undergone the third and fourth cycle, again they consistently displayed high levels of mobilization. Overall, the mobilization procedures were well tolerated, with the exception of a transient increase of growth hormone level in one patient, and a deep venous thrombosis in one patient, both complications did not preclude to conclude the treatment. Conclusion. The STEMALS trial indicate that: i. the use of G-CSF to induce BMC mobilization is safe, well tolerated and feasible in ALS, even at the multicenter level; ii. so far, few and reversible adverse effects have been recorded; iii. peak values of circulating CD34+ve cells indicate that BMC mobilization capacity in ALS is analogous to that commonly observed in the healthy population; iv. there are no signs of impaired mobilization, after repeated courses of G-CSF administration, performed at few month intervals. A longer follow up is still required to verify possible benefits of the repeated BMC mobilization program in ALS.


The study of the effectiveness of the use of iron (III) sulfate (Ferix-3) in the treatment of natural water. Experimental studies of the effectiveness of this reagent in various conditions: the dosage of coagulant, alkalization of water, the dose and grade of flocculant, the temperature of the treated water. Optimal results were obtained with a dosage of coagulant of 30–70 mg/l, the parameters of water meet the requirements. The content of suspended substances in the supernatant layer does not exceed 30 mg/l with a duration time of clarification of 30 minutes or more. The practicality of coagulation treatment with the use of modern reagent based on ferix-3 ferric iron has been substantiated.


As a result of a program jointly funded by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and the Pipeline Research Committee (PRC) of the American Gas Association (A.G.A.), known data has been consolidated and a systematic investigation has been made into the mutual effects of ac electric power transmission lines (power lines) and natural gas transmission pipelines (pipelines) jointly sharing rights-of-way. The results presented are of use to both the electric power and natural gas transmission industries for addressing problems arising from a mutual coexistence. Program objectives were to consolidate known data concerning mutual effects arising from power lines and pipelines sharing a common right-of-way; develop a unified and systematic method for predicting electromagnetically induced voltages and currents on pipelines; and investigate mitigation techniques to minimize interference effects upon pipeline and component reliability and personnel safety. In the fulfillment of these objectives, new techniques for coupling prediction and pipeline mitigation have been developed and other available data has been collected and summarized. The overall objective of the program was to develop a reference book which concisely presented the coupling prediction and mitigation information derived in a manner useful to both power and pipeline industry users in the design, construction and operation of their respective systems. (ERA citation 04:026270)


Introduction: Workers in aluminum production are exposed to a complex mixture of different particles and gases that are potentially harmful to the airways. We have established a method for controlled particle exposure in a human exposure chamber. We aimed to examine the effect of short term exposure to aluminum oxide (Al 2 O 3 ) on lung function and inflammatory markers in induced sputum in healthy volunteers. Methods: Fifteen healthy volunteers (all males, age 19-31) were exposed to an atmosphere of fused Al 2 O 3 particles in the range of 3.8-4.0 mg/m 3 for two hours including 30 min of exercise (stationary bike). Also a sham exposure was performed at least two weeks apart from the Al 2 O 3 exposure. Spirometry was carried out, and induced sputum and blood samples were collected 48 hours before, 4 and 24 hours after exposure. Results: Mean (+/- SEM) percentage sputum neutrophils was increased 24 hours post vs pre Al 2 O 3 exposure (43% (4) vs 31% (4), p=0.01). No significant neutrophil response was observed with sham exposure. No differences were seen in fibrinogen levels and differential cell counts in blood before and after Al 2 O 3 exposure. cDNA microarray (mRNA) analysis of sputum samples showed significantly increased levels after Al 2 O 3 exposure for genes that play a role in the regulation of coagulation processes, lipid metabolism, DNA replication, cellular development and repair, and cell to cell signaling. Conclusion: The present study suggests that controlled exposure to Al 2 O 3 particles induces neutrophilic inflammation in the airways, and increased expression of genes associated with several disease processes. Al 2 O 3 exposure had no effect on markers of systemic inflammation.


Although the amygdala's role in shaping social behavior is especially important during early post-natal development, very little is known of human amygdala functional development before childhood. To address this important gap, this study used resting-state fMRI to examine early functional network development of the amygdala and its subregions in 80 participants from 3-months to 5-years of age. Whole brain functional connectivity with the whole amygdala and its laterobasal and superficial nuclear groups were largely similar to those seen in older children and adults, and functional distinctions between subregion networks exist already. These patterns suggest many amygdala functional circuits are intact from infancy, especially those that are part of larger motor, visual, auditory and subcortical (basal ganglia especially) networks. Notably, these observed robust amygdala functional networks in infancy precede reports to date of elicited amygdala reactivity in development. Developmental changes in connectivity were observed between the laterobasal nucleus and bilateral ventral temporal and motor cortex as well as between the superficial nuclei and medial thalamus, occipital cortex and a different region of motor cortex. These results show amygdala-subcortical and sensory-cortex connectivity begins refinement prior to childhood, though connectivity changes with associative and frontal cortical areas, seen after early childhood, were not evident in this age range. These findings represent early steps in understanding amygdala network dynamics across infancy through early childhood, an important period of emotional and cognitive development.


The impulse to explore is a fundamental human need, but for some reason within many institutions of education that impulse is replaced with the obligation to answer.  Many beginning design students come to a design school with just this mentality.  One opportunity of contemporary design education is to reframe this question-answer paradigm by providing the space and time to live the questions and in a sense deschool students. In his 1987 book The Ignorant Schoolmaster: Five Lessons in Intellectual Emancipation , Jacques Ranciere points out that traditional educational models obstruct students, compressing them into a pre-packaged mold.  Ranciere suggests that such students can be charatcerized by their ignorance of what they do not know and how or why to know it.  In Ranciere's model, the master becomes both the placeholder of knowledge and the position of knowledge dissemination.  In step with Ranciere's critique, this paper will argue that contemporary desing education must break down this model and shift power toward the learner within the constraints of the learned language-medium. In response to this established imparative, this paper presents two foundational design experiences and discusses the strategic way these directed investigations are outlined so that the students can have freedom to explore within a disciplinary framework. The first process explores a sequence of design problems that question materiality in architecture. Students are exposed to Marshall McLuhan's dictum " the medium is the message. " Learning from the the material (a medium) itself proposes a connection between the physicality of a crafted artifact and the content it communicates; there is an embodied economy within a crafting process that expresses aspects of design that go beyond the infinity of the mind. The second process explores a desing/build exercise where students begin with a design in hand that must be veted prior to construction.  This vetting exposes the necessity of iteration and the potential of having space to explore beyond the scope of standard detailing and typical construction methods; the design of the components coming together becomes the design of the thing. By emphasizing crafted objects – purposefully constructed descriptive, analytical, and generative devices – these two discussions collectively describe and analyze the relationship between making processes and the formation of internalized knowledge (and nonknowledge); the discussions also describe the platforms that production offers for jumping off into future exploration.  This idea will be tied to philosopher Graham Harman's discussion in his pamphlett, The Third Table , which describes the potential of art and architecture to qualify the world in a unique way. Finally, this paper will conclude by accessing the value of these processes in structuring a situation where students can take on power for themselves.  As a learner, one makes and then evaluates and then carries that forward… it is not an economy of question and answer, but a process of uncovering, re-working and educating one's self, which contributes to the learner's agency and their ability to continue to learn once they are no longer within the institution of education.


Trichoderma is an opportunistic, avirulent plant symbiont. Chitin is the main structural component of fungi, enzyme responsible to metabolize the chitin and various techniques to enhance the chitinolytic enzyme production at the genetic level are receiving great attention to develop the efficient biocontrol agent. UV mutagenesis was found to be one of the novel strategy for developing Trichoderma mutants with enhanced chitinolytic activity. Four mutant strains were obtained from the wild T. harzianum, after UV treatment of different time period ranging from 2min, 4min, 6min, 8 min. Chitinase overproducing mutants were selected by growing on basal chitinase detection medium, based on the diameter of purple color zone formation around the colony in a shorter time. Selected mutants were tested for in vitro inhibition of test pathogen (A. flavus and A. parasiticus) by using various plate culture techniques (dual culture, pathogen at center, inverted plate technique) for their bio-efficacy.


Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is a binding target of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein. An ACE2-like enzyme, such as bacterial M32-carboxypeptidase (M32-CAP), is assumed to be a potential therapeutic candidate for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Here, we screened bacteria with an ACE2-like enzyme activity from Japanese fermented food and dietary products using the fluorogenic substrate for rapid screening. The strain showing the highest activity, Enterobacter sp. 200527-13, produced an enzyme with the same hydrolytic activity as ACE2 on Angiotensin II (Ang II). The enzymatic analysis using the heterologously-expressed enzyme in E. coli revealed that the enzyme catalyzes the same reaction with that of ACE2, Ang II hydrolysis to Ang 1-7 and phenylalanine. The gene sequence information showed that the enzyme belongs to the M32-CAP family. These results suggested that the selected enzyme, M32-CAP (EntCP), from Enterobacter sp. 200527-13 was identified as an ACE2-like enzyme.


ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is the preparation of hydrolytically degradable copolymers of waste poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET). To achieve this, we modified PET by using biodegradable poly(lactic acid) (PLA). Modification reactions were carried out in o-nitrophenol as solvent at 140 and 170°C for 8, 16, and 24 h in the presence of dibutil tin oxide (DBTO) as catalyst. The amount of the total polymers (PLA and PET) in the reaction mixture was 30% by weight, and the weight ratios of PLA/PET were 10/90, 50/50, and 90/10. These modified products were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) as well as by hydrolytic degradation determinations. Hydrolytic degradations of the products were determined gravimetrically. Disc-shaped samples were placed in tubes containing phosphate buffer solution of pH 7.2 and kept in a water bath at 60°C for 28 days. The weight loss of the products after hydrolytic degradation ranged from 1.25% to 48.75% after 28 days.


The objective of the study was to investigate the effects of CYP2D6 activity on the efficacy and safety of mirtazapine in patients with depressive disorders and comorbid alcohol use disorder who received mirtazapine. The study included 109 Russian patients who received mirtazapine at a dose of 30.0 [15.0; 45.0] mg per day. Genotyping of CYP2D6*4 (1846G>A, rs3892097) was performed using real-time polymerase chain reaction with allele-specific hybridization. The activity of CYP2D6 was evaluated by determining the concentration of endogenous substrate of the enzyme and its urinary metabolite - pinoline to 6-hydroxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-beta-carboline ratio, using high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. The statistically significant differences between the scores on HAM-D scale in patients with different genotypes were revealed by day 16: (GG) 5.0 [3.0; 6.0], (GA) 1.5 [1.0; 3.2] (p<0.001), and for the UKU scale: (GG) 6.0 [6.0; 7.0], (GA) 8.5 [8.0; 10.0] (p<0.001). The calculation of correlation coefficients between the differences in scale scores and metabolic rate showed the presence of statistically significant weak inverse correlation with the efficacy indicator evaluated by HAMD scale (r = -0.278, p<0.05), but not by the UKU scale (r = 0.274, p>0.05). This study demonstrated that an increased CYP2D6 activity reduces the efficacy of treatment with mirtazapine.


The Santa Eulalia-Monforte massif is a post-kinematic Late Carboniferous-Early Permian calc-alkaline composite massif (LC-EP) located in the Ossa-Morena Zone (OMZ, Portugal). This paper examines the field relationships between pinkish granites and mafic-intermediate rocks from the external ring of this massif and presents new U-Pb zircon age determinations. The estimated 206 Pb/ 238 U ages, 297±4Ma for the pinkish granite and 303±3Ma for a gabbro-diorite point to a short time interval between the crystallization of both magmas. At outcrop scale, contacts of the mafic-intermediate rocks with the host pinkish granite are sharp and corroborate this age relationship, but do not justify why the host-enclave contacts often has curved and irregular shapes, indicating liquid-liquid interaction. A full analysis of the distribution of U-Pb zircon ages and respective Th/U ratios suggests that the compositionally distinct magmas were roughly contemporaneous. The obtained ages also fit the LC-EP Iberian calc-alkaline suite that was formed contemporaneously to the development of the Iberian-Armorican Arc and when the Paleotethyan oceanic Plate subducted under the Eurasian active margin. Taking this geodynamic setting as a reference, the LC-EP Iberian calc-alkaline magmatism can be interpreted as most probably related to the Cimmerian cycle instead of the traditionally accepted model that ascribe a closer connection of this magmatism with the Variscan cycle. The Santa Eulalia-Monforte massif is a post-kinematic Late Carboniferous-Early Permian calc-alkaline composite massif (LC-EP) located in the Ossa-Morena Zone (OMZ, Portugal). This paper examines the field relationships between pinkish granites and mafic-intermediate rocks from the external ring of this massif and presents new U-Pb zircon age determinations. The estimated 206 Pb/ 238 U ages, 297±4Ma for the pinkish granite and 303±3Ma for a gabbro-diorite point to a short time interval between the crystallization of both magmas. At outcrop scale, contacts of the mafic-intermediate rocks with the host pinkish granite are sharp and corroborate this age relationship, but do not justify why the host-enclave contacts often has curved and irregular shapes, indicating liquid-liquid interaction. A full analysis of the distribution of U-Pb zircon ages and respective Th/U ratios suggests that the compositionally distinct magmas were roughly contemporaneous. The obtained ages also fit the LC-EP Iberian calc-alkaline suite that was formed contemporaneously to the development of the Iberian-Armorican Arc and when the Paleotethyan oceanic Plate subducted under the Eurasian active margin. Taking this geodynamic setting as a reference, the LC-EP Iberian calc-alkaline magmatism can be interpreted as most probably related to the Cimmerian cycle instead of the traditionally accepted model that ascribe a closer connection of this magmatism with the Variscan cycle.


Mesoporous silica KIT-6 was chemically modified using 3-mercaptopropyltriethoxysilane (3-MPTS) via post-grafting method to prepare functionalized mesoporous KIT-6-SO3H with highly acidic ‒SO3H groups. Thin layers of KIT-6-SO3H coating onto quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) electrodes are employed as a meso-KIT-6-QCM sensor for the adsorptive removal of Pd(II), Cd(II) and Cs(I) ions with a high detection sensitivity. From ICP-OES measurements, the calculated adsorption capacity (Qe) values are much coincide with that obtained from QCM sensor. Due to the synergetic cooperation between high surface area, large pore volumes and active ‒SO3H groups, KIT-6-SO3H exhibited a remarkable adsorption capacity for metal ions. The effect of initial solution pH on the metal ions uptake was carefully studied. Kinetics and isotherm studies further reveal that adsorption of metal ions by KIT-6-SO3H obeys second-order kinetic and Langmuir isotherm, respectively.


Abstract. Most soil management activities are implemented at farm scale, yet digital soil maps are commonly available at regional/national scale. Disaggregating these regional/national maps to be applicable for farm scale tasks particularly in data poor or limited situations. Although disaggregation is a frequently discussed topic in recent DSM literature, the uncertainty of the disaggregation process is not often discussed. Underestimation of inferential or predictive uncertainty in statistical modelling leads to inaccurate statistical summaries and overconfident decisions. The use of Bayesian inference allows for quantifying the uncertainty associated with the disaggregation process. In this study, a framework of Bayesian Area-to-Point Regression Kriging (ATPRK) is proposed for downscaling soil attributes, in particular, maps of soil organic carbon. Estimation of point support variogram from block supported data, was carried out using the Monte Carlo integration via the Metropolis-Hasting Algorithm. A regional soil carbon map with a resolution of 100 m (block support) was disaggregated to 10 m (point support) information for a farm in the northern NSW, Australia. The derived point support variogram has a higher partial sill and nugget while the range and parameters do not deviate much from the block support data. The disaggregated fine-scale map (point support with a grid spacing of 10 m) using Bayesian ATPRK had an 87 % concordance correlation with the original coarse scale map. The uncertainty estimates of the disaggregation process were given by a 95 % confidence interval (CI) limits. Narrow CI limits indicate, the disaggregation process gives a fair approximation of mean SOC content of the study site. The Bayesian ATPRK approach was compared with dissever; a regression-based disaggregation algorithm. The disaggregated maps generated by dissever had 96 % concordance correlation with the coarse-scale map. dissever achieves this higher concordance correlation through an iteration process while Bayesian ATPRK is a one-step process. The two disaggregated products were validated with 127 independent topsoil carbon observations. The validation concordance correlation coefficient for Bayesian ATPRK disaggregation was 23 % while downscaled maps generated from dissever had 18 % CCC. The advantages and limitations of both disaggregation algorithms are discussed.


The process of annotating histological gigapixel-sized whole slide images (WSIs) at the pixel level for the purpose of training a supervised segmentation model is time-consuming. Region-based active learning (AL) involves training the model on a limited number of annotated image regions instead of requesting annotations of the entire images. These annotation regions are iteratively selected, with the goal of optimizing model performance while minimizing the annotated area. The standard method for region selection evaluates the informativeness of all square regions of a specified size and then selects a specific quantity of the most informative regions. We find that the efficiency of this method highly depends on the choice of AL step size (i.e., the combination of region size and the number of selected regions per WSI), and a suboptimal AL step size can result in redundant annotation requests or inflated computation costs. This paper introduces a novel technique for selecting annotation regions adaptively, mitigating the reliance on this AL hyperparameter. Specifically, we dynamically determine each region by first identifying an informative area and then detecting its optimal bounding box, as opposed to selecting regions of a uniform predefined shape and size as in the standard method. We evaluate our method using the task of breast cancer metastases segmentation on the public CAMELYON16 dataset and show that it consistently achieves higher sampling efficiency than the standard method across various AL step sizes. With only 2.6\% of tissue area annotated, we achieve full annotation performance and thereby substantially reduce the costs of annotating a WSI dataset. The source code is available at https://github.com/DeepMicroscopy/AdaptiveRegionSelection.


A model of asset price dynamics is derived in which large jumps in stock prices are determined endogenously. An important property of the model is that it can lead to asset price distributions that are multimodal. The model can explain how relatively small changes in dividends can lead to relatively large changes in asset prices and it can be used to identify the time period in which bubbles begin and end. The framework is applied to modeling the U.S. stock market crash in October 1987. Some forecasting experiments also are conducted with the result that the model is able to predict the size of the eventual crash in the aggregate stock price.


Drawing on archival research, this article introduces several Russian poems by the Arabic mahjar poet and writer Mikhail Naimy (Mīkhāʿīl Nu'aymah) (1889-1988) for the first time to scholarship. By examining the influence of Russian literature on Naimy's literary output, we shed light on the role of multilingualism in generating literary identities and in shaping literary form. Naimy's Russian poetry, we argue, furthers our understanding of the nahḍah as a multilingual movement that synthesized influences from many different languages. We also show how this multilingual orientation served as a bridge between the nahḍah and mahjar literature, by helping Arab writers craft a poetics of Arabic modernism in the diaspora. Alongside documenting an important archival discovery, this research contributes to our understanding of the temporality of Arabic modernism while illuminating its geographically and linguistically diverse substance.