Human breast cancers can be broadly classified based on their molecular and gene expression profiles into luminal and basal-like tumors. These tumor subtypes express markers corresponding to the two major differentiation states of epithelial cells in the breast: luminal cells that line the breast ducts and the outer myoepithelial/basal cells that provide contractile functions. Women with inherited mutations in the BRCA1 gene have increased breast cancer risk and also exhibit a specific predisposition to the development of aggressive basal-like breast cancers. Accumulating evidence suggests that BRCA1 has a role in breast epithelial differentiation and we wanted to further understand how this could contribute to the formation of basal-like tumors. Microarray, flow cytometry and immunohistochemical analysis of breast epithelial cells from disease-free women harboring deleterious mutations in BRCA1 (BRCA1 mut/+) compared to those from BRCA1 +/+ reduction mammoplasties showed an increase in markers of basal differentiation and a decrease in markers of luminal differentiation. We also created breast cancers from single cell suspensions of BRCA1 mut/+ and BRCA1 +/+ epithelial cells that had been transformed with identical oncogenes and injected into humanized mammary fat pads. Tumors derived from BRCA1 mut/+ cells had increased basal differentiation relative to cells obtained from BRCA1 +/+ patients, indicating that the perturbed differentiation evident prior to neoplastic transformation was mirrored in the tumors. Pathway analysis of the microarray data comparing BRCA1 mut/+ and BRCA1 +/+ cells from disease-free tissue indicated that signaling components relating to the transcriptional repressor Slug were overexpressed in BRCA1 mut/+ tissues. We confirmed that Slug protein levels were elevated in BRCA1 mut/+ tissues and in human tumors from BRCA1 mutation carriers. RNAi-mediated downregulation of slug in primary breast epithelial cells and cell lines derived from BRCA1 mut/+ tissue as well as breast cancer cell lines known to harbor BRCA1 mutations, led to a decrease in markers of basal differentiation, indicating that elevated Slug protein levels seen in BRCA1-associated tissues and tumors are contributing to the basal phenotype. Furthermore, RNAi-mediated knockdown of BRCA1 led to an increase in Slug protein expression and breast cancer cell lines harboring BRCA1 mutations showed an increase in Slug protein stability, indicating that loss of BRCA1 protein by mutation contributes to elevated Slug protein levels. These results reveal an important mechanism by which BRCA1 can regulate breast epithelial differentiation and may explain how, in addition to affecting incidence rates, the genetic background of patients could impact tumor phenotype. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-265.


Molecular modeling studies performed on the two cyclooxygenase isozymes (COXs) suggest that active site hydration is crucial for understanding inhibitor selectivity. In this work, models have been constructed considering some implicit water molecules, placed in the position suggested by GRID, that participate in the dynamic hydrogen-bonding network at the polar active site entrance together with protein residues 355, 524, 120, and 513. The selectivity observed for ketoprofen (1) and the structural analogues 2 and 3 may be rationalized in terms of such implicit hydration.


Levels of excretory-secretory (ES)-specific antibody were measured in Wistar rats inoculated with 1, 5, or 20 third stage larvae (L3) of Anisakis simplex. Primary inoculation induced ES-specific IgM and IgG titers, paralleling inoculum size. Secondary inoculations resulted in an IgM and IgG titer augmentation in 1 or 5 larvae-inoculated animals to levels comparable to those of animals inoculated with 20 larvae, but titers in high inoculum animals did not increase upon secondary inoculation. Primary inoculation induced low ES-specific IgE antibody titers. However, secondary inoculation produced a different pattern than with IgM or IgG titers. Instead of titers equivalent to animals receiving more larvae, rats receiving 1 larva developed higher IgE titers than rats receiving larger inoculums. IgE titers of single larvae-inoculated rats peaked at 3-5 days after secondary inoculation but disappeared by day 14. The time course of IgE production is therefore consistent with duration of the infection. As the natural infection typically involves few larvae, monitoring ES-specific IgE may be a useful diagnostic tool for human intestinal anisakiasis.


Binding energies, quadrupole deformation parameters, spins and parities of the neutron-deficient odd $Z=N+1$ nuclei in the $A\sim 80$ region are calculated in the relativistic mean field approximation. The ground-state and low-lying configurations of the recently observed $^{77}$Y, $^{79}$Zr and $^{83}$Mo nuclei are analyzed. The calculated results are compared with other theoretical predictions.


Traffic prediction is a challenging task due to the time-varying nature of traffic patterns and the complex spatial dependency of road networks. Adding to the challenge, there are a number of errors introduced in traffic sensor reporting, including bias and noise. However, most of the previous works treat the sensor observations as exact measures ignoring the effect of unknown noise. To model the spatial and temporal dependencies, existing studies combine graph neural networks (GNNs) with other deep learning techniques but their equal weighting of different dependencies limits the models' ability to capture the real dynamics in the traffic network. To deal with the above issues, we propose a novel deep learning framework called Deep Kalman Filtering Network (DKFN) to forecast the network-wide traffic state by modeling the self and neighbor dependencies as two streams, and their predictions are fused under the statistical theory and optimized through the Kalman filtering network. First, the reliability of each stream is evaluated using variances. Then, the Kalman filter is leveraged to properly fuse noisy observations in terms of their reliability. Experimental results reflect the superiority of the proposed method over baseline models on two real-world traffic datasets in the speed prediction task.


It is our belief that the genomic annotations and data formats will eventually converge into more standardized forms. At such time, an effective data retrieval confluence can be attained and elaborate annotation heuristics may not be necessary. This has begun to happen already with the LocusLink project where several databases are linked to provide a "one-stop-shopping" resource for genomic, genetic, and phenotypic information tied together by a single gene locus identifier. Overall, we were able to identify a number of clones that could serve as new cancer markers (whether they are suitable is a question to be answered in the wet lab). The moral of the story is that predictions of the end of science are rarely (if ever) correct. While some of the easier biological questions may have already been answered with the availability of the "complete" human genome, the genome contains many more answers for which we need to find the right questions. Focusing on the difficult, less understood areas is one way to ensure that we are vigilantly attempting to take advantage of the richness and depth of information available in the human genome.


Although chemical pesticides have been efficiently used to manage insect pest, their overuse has led to environmental contamination and threats to human health, enticing researchers to introduce eco-friendly and effective agents. In this study, the insecticidal effectiveness of essential oils isolated from Thymus species, including T. eriocalyx, T. kotschyanus, T. fallax, and T. vulgaris, was evaluated against the adults of Rhyzopertha dominica. The terpenes p-cymene, 1,8-cineole, linalool, α-terpineol, and carvacrol were the prominent compounds in the hydrodistilled essential oils. All essential oils produced significant fumigant at 24, 48, and 72-exposure times. The energy reserves protein by all essential oils, glycogen by T. kotschyanus and T. vulgaris, and lipid by T. fallax and T. vulgaris were significantly decreased compared to control. All essential oils except T. vulgaris affected the amylolytic and proteolytic activity of the pest. The pest increased the α- and β-esterase enzyme activity in response to the essential oils. Nutritional indices of adults were also affected by essential oils, in which feeding deterrence index was calculated from 20.41% to 61.11%. Accordingly, based on lethal and extensive sub-lethal insecticidal activities, T. eriocalyx, T. kotschyanus, T. fallax, and T. vulgaris essential oils can be considered as efficient agents for R. dominica management.


This paper describes issues of leakage localization in liquid transmission pipelines. It focuses on the standard leak localization procedure, which is based on the calculation of pressure gradients using pressure measurements captured along a pipeline. The procedure was verified in terms of an accuracy and uncertainty assessment of the resultant coordinate of a leak spot. An important aim of the verification was to assess the effectiveness of the procedure in the case of localization of low intensity leakages with a level of 0.25–2.00% of the nominal flow rate. An uncertainty assessment was carried out according to the GUM convention. The assessment was based on the metrological characteristics of measuring devices and measurement data obtained from the laboratory model of the pipeline.


A goal of single cell genome-wide profiling is to reconstruct dynamic transitions during cell differentiation, disease onset, and drug response. Single cell assays have recently been integrated with lineage tracing, a set of methods that identify cells of common ancestry to establish bona fide dynamic relationships between cell states. These integrated methods have revealed unappreciated cell dynamics, but their analysis faces recurrent challenges arising from noisy, dispersed lineage data. Here, we develop coherent, sparse optimization (CoSpar) as a robust computational approach to infer cell dynamics from single-cell genomics integrated with lineage tracing. CoSpar is robust to severe down-sampling and dispersion of lineage data, which enables simpler, lower-cost experimental designs and requires less calibration. In datasets representing hematopoiesis, reprogramming, and directed differentiation, CoSpar identifies fate biases not previously detected, predicting transcription factors and receptors implicated in fate choice. Documentation and detailed examples for common experimental designs are available at https://cospar.readthedocs.io/.


BACKGROUND Columnar lined (Barrett's) oesophagus is often considered a sequel to chronic severe reflux disease. Aberrant lower oesophageal sphincter (LOS) motility associated with Barrett's oesophagus includes reduced basal LOS pressures. The aim of this study was to characterise neuromuscular function of the LOS in normal (squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) with uninvolved LOS) and reflux affected (Barrett's) oesophagus in vitro. METHODS Strips of LOS muscle were prepared at biopsy following oesophagectomy from 16 patients with SCC and seven patients with oesophageal adenocarcinoma and Barrett's oesophagus associated with a history of reflux disease. LOS smooth muscle responses were recorded in response to electrical field stimulation (EFS), potassium chloride (KCl), DMPP, isoprenaline, capsaicin, bethanechol, and tachykinins. RESULTS Basal LOS tone and LOS relaxations in response to isoprenaline, EFS, and DMPP were not significantly altered in the Barrett's group. After tetrodotoxin pretreatment, responses to KCl and DMPP were significantly reduced in the SCC but not in Barrett's LOS. Maximal contraction in response to bethanechol was significantly decreased in Barrett's LOS while substance P and NK-2 receptor mediated contraction was unaltered. Capsaicin, NK-1, and NK-3 receptor agonists exerted negligible effects on LOS tone. CONCLUSIONS LOS muscle strips from patients with reflux associated Barrett's oesophagus exhibit a reduction in cholinergic muscle contraction while retaining similar features of basal tone, responses to tachykinins, and inhibitory muscle and neural function. Enteric inhibitory neurones in LOS muscle strips from patients with reflux associated Barrett's oesophagus display resistance to axonal sodium channel blockade. No evidence for functional NK-1 or NK-3 receptors or capsaicin sensitive axon collateral reflexes was observed in the human LOS.


Objective: To study the health status and explore the putative risk factors of chronic diseases among a Chinese rural population. Subjects and Methods: Face-to-face interviews were carried out to collect the information of social characteristics, health status and related risk factors of 11,909 families comprised of 49,383 subjects in the rural area of Liuyang, Hunan province during 2007. Chronic disease was diagnosed according to the diagnosis certification from the town clinic or superior level hospital. Results: The morbidity rate of chronic disease among Liuyang rural residents in 2007 was 19.22%. The prevalence of the top 10 chronic disorders was as follows: hypertension: 3.65%; urolithiasis: 1.03%; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: 0.92%; ischemic heart disease: 0.92%; chronic gastritis: 0.91%; cerebrovascular disease: 0.71%; lumbar disk disease: 0.61%; chronic viral hepatitis: 0.55%; gallstones: 0.54%, and diabetes: 0.54%. Age, gender, educational level, occupation, marital status, type of housing, source of drinking water, smoking, underweight and overweight were factors associated with chronic disease. We also noticed that 14.2% of the residents were underweight and 29.7% are still using unsafe sources of drinking water. Conclusions: The prevalence of chronic disease in Liuyang area was severe both in communicable and noncommunicable chronic disease. Unhealthy lifestyles such as tobacco usage and overweight partially contributed to the high prevalence of chronic disease.


To interpret uncertainty estimates from differentiable probabilistic models, recent work has proposed generating a single Counterfactual Latent Uncertainty Explanation (CLUE) for a given data point where the model is uncertain. We broaden the exploration to examine δ-CLUE, the set of potential CLUEs within a δ ball of the original input in latent space. We study the diversity of such sets and find that many CLUEs are redundant; as such, we propose DIVerse CLUE (∇-CLUE), a set of CLUEs which each propose a distinct explanation as to how one can decrease the uncertainty associated with an input. We then further propose GLobal AMortised CLUE (GLAM-CLUE), a distinct, novel method which learns amortised mappings that apply to specific groups of uncertain inputs, taking them and efficiently transforming them in a single function call into inputs for which a model will be certain. Our experiments show that δ-CLUE, ∇-CLUE, and GLAM-CLUE all address shortcomings of CLUE and provide beneficial explanations of uncertainty estimates to practitioners.


The radiographic evaluation of the hoof is essential in the diagnosis and follow-up of equine laminitis; however, few studies have been conducted in Brazilian breeds. The aim was to perform the morphometry of radiographic images taken from the digit of Mangalarga Marchador in order to obtain a profile of measurements indicative of laminitis in this population. We also compared measurements form mares without (body score 5 and 6) and with (body score 7 and 8) signs of overweight. There was no significant difference between measurements from the two groups (P> 0.05), but there was significant positive correlation between founder distance and signs of adiposity in the neck and in the base of the tail. Findings from this study demonstrate that radiographic morphology of the hoof from this population of Mangalarga Marchador mares differ from standard international reference values. Furthermore, in this group of mares, those with body condition grading 7 and 8 did not seem to be more prone to develop laminitis, since there was no difference when they were compared with mares showing lower grades. However, a significant correlation among founder distance and signs of adiposity in the neck and base of tail indicate that Mangalarga Marchador mares are also prone to obesity-associated laminitis.


The vertices of the Cayley graph of a finitely generated semigroup form a set of sites which can be labeled by elements of a finite alphabet in a manner governed by a nonnegative real interaction matrix, respecting nearest neighbor adjacency restrictions. To the set of these configurations one can associate a pressure, which is defined as the limit, when it exists, of averages of the logarithm of the partition function over certain finite subgraphs. We prove that for shifts of finite type on generalized Fibonacci trees, under an added condition, the limit exists and is given by an infinite series. We also show that the limit of any cluster points of the pressure on finite subtrees as the number of generators grows without bound, which we call the asymptotic pressure, equals the logarithm of the maximum row sum of the interaction matrix.


An Australian isolate of Penicillium striatisporum collected near Shalvey, New South Wales, exhibited selective antifungal activity against Candida albicans versus Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Bioassay-directed fractionation yielded members of the rare class of fungal metabolites known as the calbistrins. These included a new example of this structure class, calbistrin E (1), as well as the known polyenes calbistrin C (2) and deformylcalbistrin A (3). Also recovered from P. striatisporum were new triene and butenolide acids, striatisporin A (4) and striatisporolide A (5), together with the known fungal metabolites versiol (6) and (+)-hexylitaconic acid (7). Structures for all metabolites were determined by detailed spectroscopic analysis.


A general purpose transformation vector, designated pPha‐T1, was constructed for use with the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum Bohlin. This vector harbors the sh ble cassette for primary selection on medium containing the antibiotic zeocin, and a multiple cloning site flanked by the P. tricornutum fcpA promoter. pPha‐T1 was used to establish the utility of three selectable marker genes and two reporter genes for P. tricornutum transformation. The nat and sat‐1 genes confer resistance to the antibiotic nourseothricin, and nptII confers resistance to G418. Each of these genes was effective as a selectable marker for identifying primary transformants. These markers could also be used for dual selections in combination with the sh ble gene. The reporter genes uidA and gfp were also introduced into P. tricornutum using pPha‐T1. Gus expression in some transformants reached 15 μg·μg−1 of total soluble protein and permitted excellent cell staining, while GFP fluorescence was readily visible with standard fluorescence microscopy. The egfp gene, which has optimal codon usage for expression in human cells, was the only version of gfp that produced a strong fluorescent signal in P. tricornutum. The codon bias of the egfp gene is similar to that of P. tricornutum genes. This study suggests that codon usage has a significant effect on the efficient expression of reporter genes in P. tricornutum. The results presented here demonstrate that a variety of selectable markers and reporter genes can be expressed in P. tricornutum, enhancing the potential of this organism for exploring basic biological questions and industrial applications.


The paper is an evaluation of differing opinions regarding the authenticity of two of Paracelsus' works, the Astronomia Magna (1537/1538) and Brief an die Wittenberger Theologen (1525). Karl Sudhoff – the exceptionally erudite and prolific Paracelsus scholar and editor – considered Paracelsus' letter to Luther and the Wittenberg theologians to be spurious. Others have questioned the extent to which the Astronomia Magna (often considered to be Paracelsus' Meisterstück) should be placed among the genuine texts of the Paracelsian corpus. Based on historical and conceptual data, and focusing on Paracelsus' theology, the author argues that both works under consideration are authentic. The study thus highlights the need to develop a diagnostic rubric for evaluating the authenticity of works in the Paracelsian oeuvre and suggests ideas toward this end on the basis of theological motifs prevalent within Paracelsus' clearly authentic works.


Data collection and thus also possibilities to have direct information on the marine environment situation in the Latvian Baltic Proper which is covering the Eastern Gotland Basin was stopped in 1994. The real alterations of ecosystem were not estimated, as only indirect data were available. Thanks to the start of National research program KALME, three the most representative sampling locations were visited again in 2007, actually repeating the sampling program of 1994, including basic hydrological observations, nutrient concentrations, abundance and species composition of phyto- and zooplankton and macrozoobenthos. The obtained information on vertical profiles of physico-chemical parameters and the structure of biological variables allows to have a scenery what has happened during 14-15 years - in a period when the environment of the Baltic Sea has been changing under the large-scale climatic pressure and its local variations. This study is discussing the observed changes in the plankton and benthic communities of the Baltic Proper both in the light of numerical values and biological diversity. Taking into account the development of knowledge on the processes in the Baltic Sea and also the current needs for elaboration of the ecosystem-based management we have tried to estimate the adequacy of sampling approach and quality of the obtained data.


Young Minds Matter: The second Australian Child and Adolescent Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing provides updated national prevalence estimates of mental disorders in children and adolescents and measures the burden and impact of these disorders and the use of services and unmet need for services in the health and education sectors. The field work for Young Minds Matter included face-to-face interviews with the primary carer of 6,310 children and adolescents aged 4–17 years who were randomly selected from across Australia. This article describes the survey, the response rates achieved and the representativeness of the sample.


Venous insufficiency of the lower limbs is one of the most common vascular disorders affecting millions of people worldwide. Endovascular techniques are considered by current guidelines as simple, safe and effective. Persistence or even migration of foreign bodies after varicose vein endovascular surgery is a rare and unfeared complication. Herein, we present the case of a 39-year-old woman who underwent endoluminal treatment of varicose veins >2 years ago and she was admitted to our department for late cardiovascular complication caused by catheter or guidewire rupture and the dissemination of its fragments in the inferior vena cava, right heart chambers, liver and pulmonary arteries. A systematic verification of the length and integrity of the devices should be performed at the end of every endovascular procedure.


Abstract:In 1517, an ambassador from Portugal arrived in Guangzhou. This was the first diplomatic contact between Europe and China of the modern age. However, in 1521, the Ming Court decided to reject the embassy and cut off relations with Portugal. This rejection has traditionally been blamed on the imperialistic behavior of the Portuguese, who acted like typical European colonizers. However, this study argues that the Portuguese often behaved more like Southeast Asian smugglers, and that the Ming Court's rejection was based on this perception.


The main purpose of this paper is the description of our research into the influence of stimuli (photographs or line-drawing pictures) in perception of scenes. Many researchers have been using the concept of "typically" in an attempt to explain the influence of knowledge structures on processing visual stimuli. We have also tried to examine the influence of typicality on processing objects in environmental scenes. An experiment was carried out using photographs and their equivalent line-drawings. Subjects had to identify objects and associate them with environmental scenes. Our results show that the typicality factor was significant but not the kind of stimuli used (photographs versus line-drawings). We also discussed the use of photographs and line-drawing pictures as stimuli in the identifying process of visual perception.


We report the case of a patient with isolated gastric variceal bleeding. Obesity precluded the use of noninvasive means for assessing splenic vein patency. Splenic vein stenosis was diagnosed by transhepatic portal and splenic venography with pressure measurements. A cause for the stenosis could not be found. Splenectomy was used as a curative measure.


This study aims to unravel the phenomenon of digital society in understanding and learning Islam through the internet. The current human tendency to rely on information available through smartphones has given birth to the reality of shifting learning patterns that do not have to meet directly with the teacher. Even the presence of a virtual teacher is considered sufficient to justify an excellent religious way. This study uses a qualitative method with a netnographic approach that intends to reveal social phenomena in cyberspace. This method uses a particular analytical technique offered, AMS (Siber Media Analysis), which goes through 4 levels: Media room level, media document level, media object level, and experience level. This study found that online internet users can access information about religious rituals and procedures for doing them. So, internet users are part of the world's religious adherents who carry out the same religious creed. On the other hand, religious authority as a source of knowledge in learning Islam on the internet is not always institutional but can also be individual. As a result, the Islamic pattern of understanding Islam among netizens is more accessible, inclusive, egalitarian, and shows multidimensional interactions between individuals and other religious groups.


Background Multisite studies offer larger, more diverse samples to successfully capture populations and clinical practices of interest at the point of care. However, investigators face challenges with site recruitment and sampling, differences in clinical practices across sites, and data integrity. Addressing these issues a priori can improve the rigor and reproducibility of the research. Objective This article aims to describe a cascading approach to multisite research. An exemplar is provided of a study using this approach, which aimed to evaluate the prevalence of pain and the pain management practices provided to critically ill children in pediatric intensive care units in the United States. Methods The cascading approach includes two or more pilot study procedures with a progressively increasing number of sites prior to a full-scale study. Following each pilot, study procedures are evaluated; feedback was obtained from site personnel and content experts; procedures were revised accordingly; approvals were obtained; sites were trained; and the revised procedures are repeated with a larger, more diverse number of sites. Results In the exemplar provided, improvements in the efficiency and integrity of data collection were noted for the full-scale study following the pilots. All sites that completed the agreements and approvals for study participation were retained for the duration of the two pilots and full-scale study. Discussion Borrowing from principles of process improvement, the cascading approach allows knowledge to be gained regarding site differences and informs the revision of study procedures while potentially maximizing efficiency and data integrity, minimizing site burden, and maintaining site engagement for multisite studies.


Iurii Olesha entered literature full of a new vision of the world. He did not know what "literary quests" were. He confidently wrote down the impressions he had accumulated in the twenty-five years of his life.


Current practices for developing systems software usually rely on fairly low-level programming languages and tools. As an alternative, our group has been investigating the possibility of using a high-level functional language, Haskell, for kernel and device driver construction, with the hope that it will allow us to produce more reliable and secure software. In this paper, we describe our experience developing a prototype operating system, House, in which the kernel, device drivers, and even a simple GUI, are all written in Haskell. The House system demonstrates that it is indeed possible to construct systems software in a functional language. However, it also suggests some ideas for a new Haskell dialect with features that target specic needs in this domain, including strongly typed support for low-level data structures and facilities for explicit memory accounting.


Over the past few years, more and more information has become available on the Internet. That is why it has become important to assist users' navigations by making personalized recommendations. In this paper, we propose to improve web recommendation by using a sequence-based model that allows noise during navigation. This characteristic is obtained by exploiting an enhancement of Markov models called skipping. The skipping based model we propose here runs using both a low time and space complexity and provides a high coverage. We focus on the importance to give to distant resources to increase the recommendation accuracy. In order to find the adequate importance of distant resources, we apply weighting schemes, and use the EM algorithm to look for the ideal weightings. The algorithm has been tested on an Intranet browsing dataset provided by a French bank. Results show that our model outperforms state of the art configurations, and constitutes a more tractable model. Indeed, the number of resources to take into account in order to improve the recommendation accuracy shows asymptotic above a low value. Last, the simple weighting scheme we propose provides results comparable to the results computed using the EM algorithm.


Since raised oxidative stress (OS) or weak antioxidant defence or both are considered to be important players in multimechanistic pathogenesis of cancer, the present study was undertaken to evaluate their possible involvement in the pathogenesis of this disease in the local population. Levels of plasma vitamin C, vitamin E, total antioxidant activity (TAA) and thiobarbituric acid reacting substances (TBARS) as a marker of OS were measured in 20 cancer patients (Mean age 63.1 + 9.3 yr.) and 20 age, sex and socioeconomically matched healthy subjects (Mean age 63.7+7.8 yr.). Significantly low level of vitamin C (p <0.001), vitamin E (p <0.001) and TAA (p <0.003) were observed in cancer patients, whereas OS was significantly increased in patients as compared to control (p <0.003). Smokers had significantly lowered TAA and significantly raised OS than non-smokers, in both case and control groups. Tobacco chewer patients had raised OS as compared to control. This study supports the thesis that OS is a risk factor in carcinogenesis and that smoking, an established risk factor in cancer, at least partly appears through it.


This paper demonstrates the rst high temperature silicon carbide based energy harvesting module suitable for use in hostile environments. The system comprises a of SiC pin photovoltaic cell, HfO2 based capacitive storage bank and Schottky blocking diode. The system demonstrates the ability to harvest energy from a UV rich environment and store this energy on a HfO2 metal - insulator - metal (MIM) capacitor bank. The system unies work thathas focussed on developing high temperature energy harvesting technologies, a key technology in facilitating the deployment of resilient wireless sensor nodes into hostile environments. The system demonstrates the capability to store an initial voltage of 2.3V decaying to 0.5V in 300ms with a Schottky based system. Replacing the Schottky diode with a switched system, a much lower decay rate to 1.5V in over 8s was observed. This shows that an effective harvester could be made with a switched power controller.


Abstract This study reported on the efficacy of Reciprocal Skills Training (RST), a family-based treatment modality for childhood externalising disorders. Children (N = 57) ranging from 7 to 12 years old who fulfilled diagnostic criteria for oppositional defiant disorder were randomly allocated to RST (in either a hospital or clinical setting) or a waiting-list control group. At posttreatment, no significant differences were observed across the two treatment settings. Results indicated that 95.5% of children in the hospital setting and 72.2% of children in the clinical setting no longer met criteria for oppositional defiant disorder, compared to 30% of children on the waiting list. Children in the treatment groups also obtained significantly lower scores on the Externalising scale of the Child Behaviour Checklist, compared to the waiting-list group. In addition, mothers' levels of stress and depression were significantly reduced at posttreatment, compared to mothers of children on the waiting list. These findings suggest that RST is an effective treatment modality for children displaying externalising behaviours, as well as for their mothers. The results are discussed in terms of limitations of the current study and future directions for research and clinical practice.


Abstract The Hydrological Simulation Program – FORTRAN (HSPF) in interface with the Better Assessment Science Integrating Point and Nonpoint (BASINS) was used to evaluate the impact on hydrology components of the Luxapallila Creek watershed due to different land use/land cover (LU/LC) databases. The 1,770-km2 watershed is located in Alabama and Mississippi. Simulation of the watershed processes were tested at the hillslope and at the watershed outlet for the period between 1985 and 2003. Three LU/LC databases were evaluated: the GIRAS, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), and the National Land Cover Data (NLCD). The three LU/LC databases showed that more than 70% of the watershed area is covered by forest. Forest areas produced small changes among databases. Forest cover mechanisms were the main source of water losses. The model was more sensitive to daily time steps than annual periods when the MODIS and NLCD datasets were compared to the GIRAS database. In general, the MODIS dataset showed a higher variation on hydrology simulations than the NLCD database when both LU/LC databases were compared to the GIRAS database.


We propose to extend our proprietary approach of siphon synthesis to a new simple deadlock control policy. To prevent each strict minimal siphon (SMS) S from becoming empty of tokens, we often add a control place VS and associated arcs to form an invariant to control the number of tokens leaking from S. In a disturbanceless approach, the control (called Type-1) arcs are chosen to disturb the original uncontrolled model as little as possible, to reach as many states as possible. However, this policy may generate new SMSs and hence require adding too many control places and arcs to the original Petri net model. Thus, Ezpeleta et al. moved all output (called Type-2) arcs of each VS to the output transition of the entry (called idle place) of input raw materials to limit their rate into the system, called all-sided, or SMSless approach. This may overly constrain the system so that many reachable states are no longer attainable. We hence propose an intermediate, called the one-sided, approach, which does not generate new SMS, based on our siphon-synthesis theory, by appropriately choosing the locations of Type-1 arcs and it can reach more states than the all-sided approach. The same results can be extended to the elementary-siphon approach by Li et al. except with no need to fine-tune the locations of Type-1 arcs. Comparison with other approaches has been made.


The aim of this paper is to advance, within the framework of enactivism, towards a more radically embodied and situated theory of emotions and, in general, of affectivity. Its starting point is that of discussing the well-established notion of bodily resonance (Fuchs 2013, Fuchs & Koch 2014, Fuchs 2018) and the primordial affectivity approach (Colombetti 2014). I will incorporate John Dewey's theory of emotions, and recent models and empirical finding from cognitive science on the relation between perception and bodily activity (Azzalini, Rebollo & Tallon-Baudry 2019; Allen et al. 2019). The novel element proposed in this paper is taking into consideration the role of bodily oscillatory activity in the perceptual side of cognition through phenomena of relative coordination. This concept from dynamical systems theory allows for an enactivist view of emotions as temporal episodes triggered by a tension that affects the rhythmic interaction between brain, body, and environment. By defending the importance of this enacted rhythm, the body emerges as a truly active agent, gating and modulating affectivity during all the stages of the sensorimotor circuit from perception to action.


Valuation of research and development projects (R&D) is crucial for technological development, financial and operational performance improvement of companies. However, R&D valuation methods are not fully and in detail disclosed in publications, a single concept for assessing the effectiveness of R&D has not yet been developed. The cause of this scientific and practical problem is that scientific developments are carried out in conditions of increased risk and uncertainty, often aimed at solving strategic, long-term tasks, which does not allow at the initial stage to reliably evaluate their final effect of innovations. The object of research in the article are methods for assessing the economic efficiency of R&D. The aim of the article is to formulate an approach to R&D valuation method selection based on applicability criteria developed by the authors. In the course of the study, a review of existing methods for assessing effectiveness was conducted, their advantages and disadvantages were identified, and the feasibility of using a specific assessment method based on the specifics of scientific development was analyzed. There were considered R&D economic efficiency valuation models (discounted cash flows, Monte-Carlo simulations, real option valuation, decision tree analysis, relief from royalty method) as well as methods for determining discount rates used in these methods. When applying various valuation methods, the discount rate may vary due to differences in risk accounting approaches. There were also considered examples of alternative methods for R&D efficiency valuation such as grading system and integral efficiency index. The theoretical result is a review of R&D valuation methods and generalization of the information. The practical result of the work is the description of approach for selection of optimal R&D economic efficiency valuation method and possible implementation of the described approach in practice.


Abstract 1444 Background: WT1 is aberrantly over-expressed in the blast cells of most AML patients. Several adult AML groups have reported poor outcome in association with high WT1 expression. In contrast, in previously the largest pediatric study, COG investigators found no association between diagnostic WT1 expression and survival in 155 patients treated on the legacy POG-9421 trial. We recently demonstrated that the WT1 synonymous SNP rs16754 correlates with favorable outcome in childhood AML; further, SNP+ patients had higher median WT1 expression. In the present study we examine the clinical correlates of diagnostic WT1 expression within a contemporary COG trial, accounting for SNP rs16754 genotypes. Methods: WT1 mRNA expression was measured via qRT-PCR in diagnostic specimens obtained from 225 patients enrolled on the pediatric trial COG-AAML03P1. Expression levels were normalized against pooled normal bone marrow (NBM) controls. Direct sequencing of WT1 exon 7 was performed to determine SNP rs16754 genotype. WT1 expression was correlated with disease characteristics, SNP status, and clinical outcome. Results: WT1 expression varied over 4 log folds across the study cohort (range: 0.00 to 3148.27 fold NBM, median: 75.91). In 29 (13%) patients, WT1 expression was undetectable. These patients had distinct biologic characteristics compared to the remainder of the cohort, as they were predominantly FAB class M5 (56%, p FLT3/ ITD: 1 patient; NPM1 - mutated: 1 patient; no patients with mutated CEBPA or WT1 ). Survival outcomes for this group did not differ significantly from the study cohort at large. WT1 expression higher than NBM was detected in 183/196 of the remaining patients. We grouped patients into WT1 expression quartiles (Q1-Q4) for comparison of clinical characteristics and outcome. FLT3/ ITD (23% vs. 9%, p=0.017) and WT1 mutations (22% vs. 4%, p WT1 expression >302.97 fold NBM) compared to the lower 3 quartiles. Infant patients were also less common in Q4 (p=0.010). WT1 SNP rs16754 was equally distributed among quartile groups. Survival outcomes did not differ significantly between the quartiles, confirming that diagnostic WT1 expression has no prognostic impact in contemporarily-treated pediatric AML patients, when all patients were considered. However, given our recent findings regarding the clinical relevance of the WT1 SNP, we examined the prognostic impact of WT1 expression in SNP+ and SNP- subgroups. Median WT1 expression for SNP+ and SNP- patients was 149.76 (range: 0 – 2104.44) vs. 74.40 (range: 0 – 3148.27) respectively (p=0.299). When restricting analysis to SNP rs16754 negative patients (n=150), those in the highest quartile had significantly worse 3-year overall survival (OS) from study entry (51% vs. 72%, p=0.034) and event-free survival (EFS, 35% vs. 54%, p=0.033) than those in lower quartiles. When comparing SNP- patients with higher vs. lower than median WT1 expression (Q3 + Q4 vs. Q1 + Q2), patients with higher expression again had inferior EFS (39% vs 59%, p=0.008) with a corresponding relapse rate from CR of 45% vs. 25% (p=0.011). Notably, similar comparisons in WT1 SNP+ patients with high vs. low WT1 expression did not demonstrate significant outcome differences. Surprisingly, SNP+ patients within the lowest expression quartile had the poorest outcome, while those in the highest quartile had no relapses from CR. Conclusion: WT1 expression levels vary across cyto-molecular subgroups of AML. WT1 expression was not prognostic when all AML patients were considered; however, stratifying patients by SNP rs16754 genotype revealed that high WT1 expression was significantly associated with poor clinical outcome in SNP- patients. Conversely, although the small sample size of SNP+ patients precluded significant comparisons, increasing WT1 expression trended towards improved outcome in the SNP+ group. The clinical and biologic significance of WT1 over-expression appears to differ depending on the presence or absence of SNP rs16754. WT1 expression must be considered in the context of SNP status, to determine which patients would most benefit from novel WT1 -targeted therapies. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Numerical model of thermo-hydro-mechanical coupling processes of radioactive waste during the long-time disposal is established with the multi-fields coupling theory, based on the theory of continuum mechanics, thermo elastic material mechanics, and considered the influence of the variation of water viscosity due to temperature variation on permeability of pore water. The whole process of excavation,heating phase and cooling phase have been simulated in the calculation;and the calculated results are analyzed. It indicates that the anisotropy of thermo-hydro-mechanical behavior of the argillite rock is the main factor affecting temperature distribution,pore pressure and stress fields. The results make clear that the differences of coupling action and uncoupling action are obvious and the effects of coupling cannot be ignored.


A new gyrokinetic particle simulation method using the orbit averaged electron drift-kinetic equation has been developed in a three dimensional slab geometry. Using the large discrepancy between the time scale of the low frequency fluctuations and the Courant-Friedlichs-Lewy condition determined by the electron ballistic mode, the transit time ordering, ω/ωtrθ(e), is introduced. The motion of the high energy transit electron is averaged over the periodic unperturbed orbit by means of the action-variational Lie perturbation method. In a new gyrokinetic Vlasov-Maxwell system, the drift-kinetic equation for the high energy part of the electron distribution function reduces to a two dimensional problem, which involves only the E×B nonlinearity, and the adiabatic response to the low frequency fluctuation is renormalized in the field equation. The ballistic mode arising from the high energy transit electron is removed and a longer simulation time step is enabled.


We are all familiar with the process of discounting the future. From the earliest courses in economics we are taught that money receivable right now is not the equivalent of money receivable one year hence; that money receivable one year from now is not equivalent to money which will fall in to our clutches after a period of two years. And not just because inflation may erode part of the value, or because of the risk of never seeing the money. Even in a perfectly certain world of no inflation, where all accounts receivable were fully guaranteed, we would still value money more, the sooner we were to receive it.


The indiscriminate use of pesticides in fruit and vegetables can have serious public health problems and environmental issues. There is a lack of information on security measures for handling these products and their adverse effects on the entire production chain. The aim was to report the impact of indiscriminate use of pesticides in fruits and vegetables based on survey of scientific literature and data from National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA). The results indicate a high percentage of irregularities in the use of pesticides. The presence of prohibited waste or excess of allowable limits, with consequent harm to the environment and public health point to the need for policy-making more efficient control and monitoring of pesticide use.


PURPOSE
To study the arthroscopic technique of the elbow joint in dog cadavers. The possibility to see the intra articular structures, technical difficulties and complications which occurred during the procedure were analyzed.

METHODS
ten dog's cadavers (twenty elbow joints) were examined. Both, arthroscopic and instrumental portals were performed on the medial site of joint at caudal and cranial positions, respectively.

RESULTS
We could see the totality of the proposed structures. The main complications were cartilage iatrogenic lesion and periarticular infiltration.

CONCLUSION
The elbow arthroscopy in dogs permits detailed intra-articular visualization. The arthroscopic and instrumental portals were simple to be done.


Precipitation is a vital element of an atmosphere that has direct effect on Hydrology. Therefore, an accurate estimation of precipitation is obligatory to predict runoff through the catchment. Nepal has a high spatial variability of precipitation due to highly undulating surface terrain and complex relationships between land elevation and precipitation. This requires dense rain gauge network for the study of precipitation patterns in Nepal. However, it is difficult to arrange dense setup in the mountainous topography which is expensive and sometimes, even impossible for regular maintenance. The remedy for this problem could be the use of satellite based precipitation products with high temporal and spatial resolution.In this study, TRMM data are employed to calculate rainfall over Nepal. TRMM rainfall product (that is precipitation data) can be obtained as: 3-hourly, daily, monthly and annually. These data are extracted and compared with 264 rain gauge stations in Nepal over the period of 8 years for their validation. A number of scripts are developed with python programming language to process raw satellite data which includes clipping to the region of interest, aggregation of day, month and annual values and extraction of rainfall on the gauging stations.The day to day comparison showed that TRMM usually underestimates rainfall with some exception of overestimation at some regions. The CPOD_S value of 0.8 depicts that TRMM can detect precipitation in most of the days. Furthermore, in monthly comparison, TRMM estimated lower rainfall values but, the result still appeared to be acceptable (R² between 1 and 0.5) for use in other hydrological analysis. The comparison of annual precipitation as recorded by gauge and TRMM showed similar distribution patterns but the underestimation from monthly to yearly accumulate to form a huge difference in data sets. The correlation coefficient ranges from -0.86 to +0.8. The comparison of mean monthly precipitation data sets also derive same conclusion, but still possess a good R² efficiency. Though a fixed relation between altitude and intensity of rainfall could not be identified, it is observed that the efficiency of estimation decreases with increase in altitude.The reliability of point to pixel (PO-PI) comparison method is also studied. This shows a wide spatial variability even within one pixel. The trend shows increasing precipitation on higher elevation. TRMM precipitation product estimates an average value falling over the pixel.Since the comparison of monthly precipitation data showed good results, TRMM monthly precipitation data sets are also verified for use in discharge estimation from a catchment. A monthly water balance model developed by 'Thornthwaite' is simulated for four of the major river basins of Nepal including one sub-basin namely Karnali, Narayani, Bagmati, Saptakoshi and Sunkoshi. TRMM data without any bias correction factor is used for the estimation of discharge. The simulation results showed quiet an acceptable result although it is unable to catch up peak floods in some years.Since TRMM is underestimating rainfall in most of the conditions, it will be wise to use an appropriate correction factor. Thus, a conclusion can be drawn from this study that TRMM rainfall products can be used in catchments with less or no rain gauge data, for estimating runoffs with a generalized bias adjustment factor.


In aging societies, there is a strong demand for robotics to tackle problems resulting from the aging population. Patient transfer, such as lifting and moving a bedridden patient from a bed to a wheelchair and back, is one of the most physically challenging tasks in nursing care. We have developed a prototype nursing-care assistant robot, RIBA, that can conduct patient transfer using human-type arms. The basic robot motion trajectories are created by interpolating several postures designated in advance. To accomplish more flexible and suitable motion, adjustment using sensor information is necessary, because the patient's posture and positions in contact with the robot may differ slightly in each trial. In this paper, we propose a motion adjustment method in patient lifting using tactile sensors mounted on the robot arms. The results of experiments using a lifesize dummy are also presented.


Objective
While clozapine is recognized as the most effective antipsychotic for individuals with treatment-resistant schizophrenia, its effects on neurocognition remain unclear. This study aimed to compare the neurocognitive effects of clozapine treatment to those of non-clozapine antipsychotics in patients with schizophrenia and to examine the role of anticholinergic burden on cognitive impairments.

Design
This was a naturalistic study. Cross-sectional data were drawn from participants with chronic schizophrenia in two clinical trials assessing cognition. Cognition was evaluated using the Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia (MATRICS) Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB). Anticholinergic burden was calculated for each medication using the Anticholinergic Cognitive Burden (ACB) scoring system. We stratified the participants treated with non-clozapine antipsychotics into high ACB score versus low ACB score groups.

Results
One hundred and seventy participants were enrolled and treated with clozapine (n=58) or non-clozapine antipsychotics (n=112). We observed no significant differences in the MCCB T-scores between the clozapine and the total non-clozapine groups for the cognitive composite score and the seven domain scores. However, the non-clozapine high ACB group showed significant impairments in processing speed and attention/vigilance, in contrast to the non-clozapine low ACB group (p<0.05).

Conclusion
Our results show that cognitive effects of clozapine might be no different from other antipsychotics. Negative effects on neurocognition in participants treated with antipsychotics with a high ACB score were related to their total ACB score.


To study the mechanism of anthocyanin-biosynthesis regulation, we examined light-regulated gene expression involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis in purple grains of wheat. Ten kinds of anthocyanins were identified from a purple-grained wheat cultivar by HPLC-ESI-MS/MS analysis. Libraries constructed from the total RNA of purple grains under light (L) or dark (D) conditions for 15 or 20 days were sequenced. In total, 1874 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in L20 vs L15, 1432 DEGs were identified in D20 vs D15, 862 DEGs were identified in D15 vs L15, and 1786 DEGs were identified in D20 vs L20. DEG functional enrichments suggested that light-signal transduction is critical to anthocyanin biosynthesis. The 911 DEGs referred to as light-regulated DEGs (LDEGs) involved a number of genes in anthocyanin biosynthesis, transcription regulation, sugar- and calcium-signaling pathways, and hormone metabolism. These findings laid the foundation for future studies on the regulatory mechanisms of anthocyanin biosynthesis in purple grains of wheat.


For years practitioners dealing with infectious diseases have awaited the publication of a broad, general, useful reference text in this subspecialty. Previous efforts have suffered from a variety of serious deficiencies, and each has met with considerable disappointment. Indeed, considering the rapid changes that are taking place in clinical microbiology, clinical infectious diseases, antibiotic chemotherapy, and related fields, many had thought that the production of a comprehensive text of infectious diseases was an utter impossibility. When Mandell, Douglas, and Bennett announced their intent to compile such a text, there was a great deal of skepticism as to whether they would meet with any greater success than previous authors. Thankfully, the product of their efforts has laid most of the doubts to rest. Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases is indeed a treatise of monumental scope—broad-ranging, thorough, and in depth, yet easily readable. The text is divided into four parts: part


The review describes the Writ signaling pathway participation in the embryonic development, such as cell specification, migration and polarity. Recent studies have shown that the Wnt pathway plays one of the key roles in the processes of synaptic plasticity and memory formation. In this review there are evidences of the Wnt cascade involvement in the modulation of synaptic efficacy at both pre- and postsynaptic levels. Here we analyze the role of Wnt ligands in synaptic plasticity and behavior. Finally, we describe that components of Wnt pathways are involved in the development of major neurological and psychiatric disorders, including a neuroprotective role of Wnt proteins in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease.


ABSTRACT This paper examines changes that the Swedish, German and Japanese production systems are currently undertaking. It argues that new economic and socio-institutional contextual conditions worldwide together with domestic events are influencing a piece- meal changes at the heart of the Swedish, German and Japanese production Systems. Implications for Brazilian industry are discussed.


This review paper focuses on volunteers in community sports associations (CSAs). Such associations are a major context of sports volunteering across Europe, Canada and Australia—the countries in which a multitude of sports clubs are represented by governing bodies of sport. Their importance is not only in the large numbers of volunteers involved but also in the benefits of such associations to society. The clearest of these is the provision of opportunities to take part in sport, at a cost subsidized by the efforts of volunteers and thus contributing to physical health. However, the benefits extend more broadly to the quality of life and the rewards the volunteers themselves receive from association. Many community sports associations have a significant number of members who, while they do not actually play sport themselves, provide opportunities for others and also enjoy the social rewards of membership. The review is structured in the following sections: 1. Introduction. 2. The number of sports clubs, club membership, and volunteering. 3. Explaining a trend toward individual participation in sport and volunteering, and a reduction in the number of CSAs. 4. Conceptualizing community sports associations and volunteering. 5. Motivations of sports volunteers. 6. Challenges facing community sports clubs' volunteers and leaders. 7. Management and leadership of volunteers in CSAs: Applying a rational systems approach, and the pros and cons of formality. 8. Community sports associations and social capital. 9. The relationship between CSAs and event volunteering. 10. Conclusions.


Even though the introduction of the Euro did not necessitate tax harmonization per se, it is expected to lead to increasingly harmonized taxation in practice. This harmonization process will mainly take the form of negotiations on the level of EMU, where political recommendations will be formulated. In addition, individual nations will be under increasing pressure to harmonize taxes in order to curb capital outflow and tax evasion. Judging from the current state of EU negotiations, corporate taxes are likely to decline in the wake of the harmonization process, while withholding taxes may be adjusted upwards. VAT rates harmonization will likely be upwards as well. Further implementation of the source principle in Swiss taxation will likely lead to changes in the portfolio choices of foreign investors in Switzerland; the share of Swiss bonds held by EU-investors will increase.


Construction ventilation system is divided into two stages based on completion status of shafts in the underground petroleum storage project in Jinzhou, China. With the help of theoretical analysis and numerical simulations by using FLUENT software, in the first stage, reasonable construction ventilation is designed and cases with different outside temperature are discussed to investigate the effect of ventilation performance. It is found that with temperature difference increases, peak value of CO concentration, exhausting time of dirty air and required time to meet the CO concentration qualification decrease, but the influence degree is quite limited. Gallery-type network ventilation technique (GNVT) refined from theories of operation ventilation for road tunnel and mining ventilation network, is proposed to conduct the second stage construction ventilation. Ventilation performance of different ventilation schemes with various shafts' states and diverse arrangements of fans are also analyzed in this study. It turns out that Axial-GNVT with shafts taking in fresh air and access tunnel ejecting dirty air has much better performance than traditional forced ventilation from access tunnel. Improved energy saving scheme is finally adopted to guide the construction. In addition, it is worth mentioning that there is no need to build middle ventilation shafts and construct shafts as large and long as possible. Field test of wind speed, dust, poisonous gas, atmospheric pressure, temperature are performed to detect ventilation effectiveness. Reduction coefficient =0.69is obtained from the test results in consideration of super-large section and it also indicates that there is no difference if the axial fan is at the shaft mouth or in the bottom.


SUMMARY The lifetime egg production capacity of laying hens (i.e. laying persistency) has increased tremendously in the last 50 years from 220 eggs in 1960 to 500 eggs in 2019. To improve and support laying persistency, nutrition is crucial to support the hen and provide the correct nutrients for egg formation. Several organs are involved in this long-term egg formation process. The follicles produced in the ovary need to grow and ovulate to initiate egg production. The liver needs to supply the nutrients, mainly lipids, for proper follicle growth and liver fattening must be prevented to maintain liver health and function. Adipose tissue has an important role in maintaining the body energy balance, functioning as a reservoir for fatty acids provided by the diet or produced by the liver. Additionally, adipose tissue might mediate in ovulation through adipokine (hormone) production. As such, body composition of laying hens might have an important role on laying persistency. This literature review discusses the interaction between these metabolic processes, the influence of diet and hormones and the effect on laying persistency.


During the development and parametrization of 2D image-processing algorithms for surface inspection uses, you need to test a huge amount of image-data for each modification of the algorithms or parameters. For algorithm runtimes up to several seconds, this will take a long time. To speed up this process it is recommended to distribute the computation in a parallel computation environment. Compute Grids, which use the unused resources of existing hardware are the most cost efficient way to solve this problem. The most existing Grid-Concepts are based on flat connection structures with a scheduler on the top; for high job-rates the scheduler becomes the bottleneck of the whole system. Concepts to solve this problem organize the nodes in tree-structures to discharge the central scheduler. In heterogeneous Desktop-Grids where the different nodes are widely distributed the usually used random arrangement of the nodes in the tree-structure can be counterproductive, because the bandwidthes and latencies in a Grid can be varying. In this paper we will show a solution to arrange the nodes of the grid optimized by bandwidth and latency, using modified spanning-tree algorithms, so that the average response time is reduced and in result of this the job-throughput of the Compute-Grid is increased.


Abstract It is shown that an optimal linear combination of independent forecasts of tropical cyclone tracks significantly reduces the mean forecast-position errors. In this study the independent forecasts are provided by a statistical scheme (CLIPER) and a numerical weather prediction (NWP) model operating over the Australian tropics. A comparison is made between the optimal linear combination and four other forecast techniques, over the five Australian tropical cyclone seasons 1984/85–1987/88. The combination method gave a mean position error of 157 km at 24 h using independent "best track" data, an improvement of 15% over the next most accurate method. At 48 h, the mean position error of 312 km was 17% less than the next most accurate scheme. The combination method was assessed further in a real-time trial on operational data during the 1988/89 Australian tropical cyclone season. The results of this trial confirmed the superiority of the combination technique over the other methods. It will be used oper...


Laughter and fillers are common phenomenon in speech, and play an important role in communication. In this study, we present Deep Neural Network (DNN) and Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) based systems to classify non-verbal cues (laughter and fillers) from verbal speech in naturalistic audio. We propose improvements over a deep learning system proposed in [1]. Particularly, we propose a simple method to combine spectral features with pitch information to capture prosodic and spectral cues for filler/laughter. Additionally, we propose using a wider time context for feature extraction so that the time evolution of the spectral and prosodic structure can also be exploited for classification. Furthermore, we propose to use CNN for classification. The new method is evaluated on conversational telephony speech (CTS, drawn from Switchboard and Fisher) data and UT-Opinion corpus. Our results shows that the new system improves the AUC (area under the curve) metric by 8.15% and 11.9% absolute for laughters, and 4.85% and 6.01% absolute for fillers, over the baseline system, for CTS and UT-Opinion data, respectively. Finally, we analyze the results to explain the difference in performance between traditional CTS data and naturalistic audio (UT-Opinion), and identify challenges that need to be addressed to make systems perform better for practical data.


This paper deals with transformer turns ratio design with the consideration of loss minimization in isolated bidirectional DC–DC converter. Generally, the rms value of current, magnitude of current at switching instance, and duty ratio of a converter vary according to the turns ratio of an isolation transformer in the converter under the same voltages and output power level. Therefore, the transformer turns ratio has an effect on the total loss in a converter. The switching and conduction losses of IGBTs and MOSFETs consisting of dual-active bridge converter are analyzed, and iron and copper losses in an isolation transformer and inductor are calculated. Total losses are calculated and measured in cases of four different transformer turns ratios through simulation and experiment with 3-kW converter, and an optimum turns ratio that provides minimum losses is found. The usefulness of the proposed transformer turns ratio design approach is verified through simulation and experimental results.


Haustorial structure and behaviour are described for three South African species: Loranthus elegans (Moquinia rubra), L.(Tapinanthus) prunifolius and L. (Taxillus) glaucus. Fundamental differences are revealed between them, although they are nearly related. In Moquinia rubra the haustorium extends against the wood and maintains contact by a meristematic surface layer with large parts of the host cambium, which continues to function, but forms only phloem where in contact with the haustorial meristem. In Tapinanthus prunifolius the haustorium spreads against the wrood, but interrupts the cambium and links up with the phloem ; numerous xylem connexions are established between radial surfaces of host wood and parasite. In both these species variations are described, attributable to relative age and vigour of host and parasite, or, in Moquinia rubra, to a different host. In Taxillus glaucus the haustorium does not penetrate to the cambium but spreads and branches in the outer tissues below the periderm, and then sends m any fine sinkers radially to the wood, where they become embedded like coarse medullary rays, including xylem elements. This aberrant form is closely matched by an unrelated American species, Psittacanthus sternbergianus, described by Solms-Laubach. Reference is made to still another type of attachment, the 'wood-rose' type, already described for a South African species, L. (Erianthemum) dregei, and a similar specimen is illustrated.


A rapid method of determining bacterial contamination was used in a series of fifty-five bone marrow harvests (20 allogeneic and 35 autologous transplantations). The microbiological culture assays executed on bone marrow samples soon after the harvest and before the manipulation, showed a positivity only in the autologous bone marrow group. Another positivity was revealed after the freezing process of bone marrows for autologous transplantation. Two samples in the bone marrow group submitted to purging were positive after treatment and freezing process. In this study, the increase of bacterial contamination frequency seemed to be related to extensive handlings, such as pharmacological in vitro purging and freezing procedures.


Studies of the effects of top management team (TMT) composition on organizational outcomes have yielded mixed and confusing results. A possible breakthrough resides in the reality that TMTs vary in how they are fundamentally structured. Some are structured such that members operate independently of each other, while others are set up such that roles are highly interdependent. We examine the potential for three facets of structural interdependence—horizontal, vertical, and reward interdependence—to resolve ambiguities regarding effects of TMT heterogeneity. Based on a sample of TMTs in technology firms, we find that the three facets of structural interdependence are potent moderators of two classic predictions: the positive association between TMT heterogeneity and member departures, and between TMT heterogeneity and firm performance. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


One of the fundamental abilities required in autonomous agents is homing. Natural agents—for instance, desert ants—solve the homing problem mainly by using path integration within an egocentric frame of reference. When employing such a mechanism, compass information for determining direction is necessary, and the precision of the compass will have a crucial effect on the precision of homing. For deriving compass information, certain insects use the pattern of polarized light in the sky that arises due to scattering of sunlight in the atmosphere (polarized light compass). The analysis of skylight polarization is mediated by specialized photoreceptors and neurons in the visual system. Inspired by the insect's polarized light compass, we have constructed a polarization compass that was employed successfully on the mobile robot Sahabot. Three models for extracting compass information from the polarization pattern of the sky were tested. In this article, we describe the navigation system and report results of experiments performed with the Sahabot in one of the natural habitats of the desert ant Cataglyphis in North Africa.


Within postsecondary education, the assessment of effective teaching has largely relied upon student evaluations of teaching. However, the process through which teachers make sense of their student evaluations is unclear. A research team of six undergraduate nursing students and four nursing educators explored the research question: How do nursing educators make meaning from their student evaluations of teaching? Gadamerian hermeneutics guided unstructured interviews with nursing educators working at a Middle East campus of a Canadian university. The interview transcripts were interpreted through a process of naive readings, rereadings, interpretive dialogues, and interpretive writing that generated the following hermeneutic interpretations: Teachers make meaning of their student evaluation through generalized subjective characterizations of students and through their expressed intentions for their teacher-student relationships. Some of these characterizations and expressed intentions obscured what truths could be learned from the student evaluations of teaching. The experience of receiving critical student feedback invoked a personal response, at the same time, paradoxically, teachers worked hard to "not take it personally." We suggest the practice of deep listening as a way to understand students' feedback. The main takeaway message from this research is that teachers need a supportive and sustaining community of peers who are also open to listening deeply to the truths embedded in student evaluations of teaching.


In the application of projection display, the effective flux utilization is an important factor to the optical system with more optical efficiency of the system with utilization of the light source such as LEDs. In this paper, based on Monte Carlo ray tracing we simulate light extraction efficiency as well as directionality of the light pattern of sapphire-based and Thin-GaN LEDs implanted with micro-pyramid structure with or without lens encapsulation. We have shown that micro-pyramid structures at some specific slanted angles in the LEDs are useful to increase effective flux utilization through enhancement of light extraction efficiency. In the case of the sapphire-based GaN LEDs, the slanted angle in a range of 45° to 55° , with lens encapsulation, the enhancement ratio of angular flux utilization is as high as 390%. In the case of Thin-GaN LEDs, both the slanted angle of 25° without lens encapsulation and 45° with lens encapsulation (LEC) are effective ways to obtain high angular flux utilization. The enhancement ratio of angular flux utilization is as high as 500% or more and the light extraction efficiency in 30° light cone reaches more than 18%.


1.IntroductionThe effects of classroom interaction on language learning have long been a focus of research for second and foreign language teachers and researchers (e.g., Allwright, 1984). They argue that language learning comes about as a consequence of the interplay of the factors created by the learners, the teacher, and the interaction among them (teacher-student, student-student). Allwright (1984) sees classroom interaction as "the fundamental fact of classroom pedagogy because everything that happens in the classroom happens through a process of lives person-to-person interaction"(p. 156).Classroom interaction is indeed a complicated phenomenon. Teachers' perceptions of the nature of language learning, of classroom activities, and of norms for classroom participation often differ from those of their students, who have a wide variety of proficiency levels, linguistic background, culturally predisposed ways of learning, and individual motivations and objectives in studying the language (Mostafavi & Vahdany, 2016). If ignored, these differences can cause misunderstandings and create a barrier to effective language learning and teaching during face to-face interaction within the classrooms (Rivers, 1987).Several theorists have attempted to elucidate the human capability to acquire a second language and all the factors that may expedite or deter this learning (Dewaele, 2012). Definitely, the process of learning a second language has to be understood as both a process of learning rules and one in which several individual differences come into play. The environmental circumstances, age, attitude towards the target language and learning itself, neuroticism, motivation as well as extroversion are common examples of individual differences worth studying when assisting students learn a second language.Apart from the ones mentioned, learners' ability to take risks appears as a significant individual difference, which has been considered a predictor variable of success in second language learning (Gass & Selinker, 2000, 2008). Essentially, risk-taking behavior refers to a "developmental trait that consists of moving toward something without thinking of the consequences" (Alshalabi, 2003, p. 22). Language learners may engage in the act of risk taking through learning a second language since they are establishing linguistic patterns for unfamiliar situations (Gledhill & Morgan, 2000). Similarly, to communicate using the new language, either orally or in writing, the EFL learners may face the risk of making a mistake. These challenges make the students familiar with the level of risk-taking. Risk taking may entail impulsiveness and keep a correlation with extroversion, introversion, and self-confidence among others.Risk taking has concentrated on speaking rather on the other macro skills (i.e., writing, listening, and reading). Oral production has received specific attention since second language teachers may face problems when the students are not willing to take the risk of speaking activity in the second language class. Furthermore, the level of motivation can be related to risk-taking behaviors among EFL learners. For instance, the levels of anxiety can be the other factor in learners' risk taking when talking in class (Dewaele, 2012). Risk taking behavior is a condition in which the learners are ready to participate in any activity for the second language acquisition. Nakamura (1993) notes that testing oral proficiency could be a risk-taking activity since it are an important issue in language teaching. Speaking skill is one of the main risk-taking activities which play an outstanding role. Concerning speaking skill, Madsen (1983) declared that "the testing of speaking is widely regarded as the most challenging of all language tests to prepare, administer and score" (p. 147).Previous investigations on risk taking have demonstrated that in EFL learning, risk taking plays a major role, since it enhances proficiency in the target language, giving experience to students to partake actively in English classes. …


Strontium-doped calcium phosphate/chitosan films were synthetized on silicon substrates using the radio-frequency magnetron sputtering technique and the matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation technique. The deposition conditions associated with the radio-frequency magnetron sputtering discharge, in particular, include the high temperature at the substrate, which promotes the formation of strontium-doped tetra calcium phosphate layers. The physical and chemical processes associated with the deposition of chitosan on strontium-doped calcium phosphate layers were investigated using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy, and Scanning Electron Microscopy. Mass spectrometry coupled with laser induced ablation of the composite films proved to be a useful tool in the detection of the molecular ions characteristic to chitosan chemical structure.


An increasing variety of malware, such as worms, spyware and adware, threatens both personal and business computing. Remotely controlled bot networks of compromised systems are growing quickly. In this paper, we tackle the problem of automated detection of break-ins caused by unknown malware targeting personal computers. We develop a host based system, BINDER (Break-IN DEtectoR), to detect break-ins by capturing user unintended malicious outbound connections (referred to as extrusions). To infer user intent, BINDER correlates outbound connections with user-driven input at the process level under the assumption that user intent is implied by user-driven input. Thus BINDER can detect a large class of unknown malware such as worms, spyware and adware without requiring signatures. We have successfully used BINDER to detect real world spyware on daily used computers and email worms on a controlled testbed with very small false positives


Mutilation and theft in libraries is a menace that has persisted, and it is indeed a global problem. However, the worsening state of libraries in Nigeria appears to have aggravated its intensity and the consequent detrimental impact. This study attempts to investigate the perception of students on the dynamics of book theft and mutilation, including its effects and impact on the library, its services and clientele. Using a structured questionnaire distributed to a sample population of undergraduate students of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife and a stratified focus group discussion (FGD), information was elicited on their perception of the methods of theft, attitudes to and perceived implications of theft on academic performance and library use, and suggestions on ways of curbing the menace, as well as on their demographic, economic and social background
The results reveal that insensitivity to the need of other users, high cost of books, non-detection of previous acts of theft, incessant power failure are some of the factors responsible for mutilation and theft of library materials. It was also revealed that students are aware that mutilation and theft prevent effective use of the library, deprive users of vital information, including information from recommended texts, and hence impact negatively on the academic life of the users. The library should provide more copies of recommended textbooks, provide more security men who also should be more vigilant, and ensure that stiff penalties are meted out to any offending clientele.
(IFE PsychologIA: 2003 11 (1): 80-87)


This qualitative bounded case study examined how emergence (of events, ideas, and innovations) occurred from interactions between stakeholders in Kodiak, Alaska's blended learning program. The study examined two research questions with the interviews to reveal experiences of 45 participants who had been or were within the Kodiak rural schools blended learning program, employing a constant comparative method of analysis to identify themes that cut across the data. The first research question examined emergences the spaces between the six components of the CABLS framework with the implementation of Kodiak's blended learning system. The researcher identified three themes that led to emergence: synchronous interactions, real time proximal problem solving, and collaborative sharing with reciprocal feedback loops. Moreover, the research found that the conditions for emergence happened at the point of intersection where the three themes were simultaneously present. The second research question examined the perception of impact that the blended learning program had on student choices for life after high school. The researcher found that the implementation of blended learning led to extended access to resources, expanded social networks, and increased self-confidence had an impact on the choices students made after high school. Future researchers should consider how blended learning is impacting the population in rural Alaska, and its economic environment.


Motivated by two practical problems, we propose a new procedure for estimating a semivarying-coefficient model. Asymptotic properties are established which show that the bias of the parameter estimator is of order h-super-3 when a symmetric kernel is used, where h is the bandwidth, and the variance is of order n-super- - 1 and efficient in the semiparametric sense. Undersmoothing is unnecessary for the root-n consistency of the estimators. Therefore, commonly used bandwidth selection methods can be employed. A model selection method is also developed. Simulations demonstrate how the proposed method works. Some insights are obtained into the two motivating problems by using the proposed models. Copyright Biometrika Trust 2004, Oxford University Press.


When designing a new symmetric block cipher, it is necessary to evaluate its robustness against differential attacks. This is done by computing Truncated Differential Characteristics (TDCs) that provide bounds on the complexity of these attacks. TDCs are often computed by using declarative approaches such as CP (Constraint Programming), SAT, or ILP (Integer Linear Programming). However, designing accurate and efficient models for these solvers is a difficult, error-prone and time-consuming task, and it requires advanced skills on both symmetric cryptography and solvers. In this paper, we describe a tool for automatically generating these models, called Tagada (Tool for Automatic Generation of Abstraction-based Differential Attacks). The input of Tagada is an operational description of the cipher by means of black-box operators and bipartite Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs). Given this description, we show how to automatically generate constraints that model operator semantics, and how to generate MiniZinc models. We experimentally evaluate our approach on two different kinds of differential attacks (e.g., single-key and related-key) and four different symmetric block ciphers (e.g., the AES (Advanced Encryption Standard), Craft, Midori, and Skinny). We show that our automatically generated models are competitive with state-of-the-art approaches. These automatically generated models constitute a new benchmark composed of eight optimization problems and eight enumeration problems, with instances of increasing size in each problem. We experimentally compare CP, SAT, and ILP solvers on this new benchmark.


Skeleton properties determine coral survival by influencing the range of hydraulic conditions colonies can withstand, selection of suitable habitat, ability to compete for space and light, repair damage and the overall fitness and ecological success of scleractinian corals. Skeletal properties of 16 coral species comprising 3 growth forms collected from Kenyan coral reef lagoons were investigated and found to vary considerably not only between species but between reefs as well, with corals exposed to both sediment and nutrients showing consistent lower skeleton density and strength but high porosity compared to those from sediment-unaffected reefs. Further, high skeletal density and strength but low porosity values were measured in branching relative to other growth forms. The present findings also suggest that the negative effects of nutrients on skeleton properties may be counteracted by high hydrodynamic energy, resulting in stronger skeletons in high hydrodynamic energy-nutrient-polluted reef habitats relative to pristine reefs. These findings have important ecological and management implications with regard to the existence, persistence, productivity and protective value of reefs, damage risks, maintenance and conservation of biological diversity with respect to future global climate change events. Consequently, appropriate watershed, reef and fisheries management options that address the impacts of local anthropogenic stresses (sediments, nutrients, overexploitation) would be expected to alleviate the effects of these disturbances and have the potential to minimize future large-scale coral reef damage resulting from increased and frequent global climate change events, such as increased ocean acidification (due to elevated atmospheric CO2) and sea surface temperature. Keyword: coral skeleton, density, growth form, porosity, sediment, strength, anthropogenic disturbances


SUMMARY: A mutant of Mycobacterium smegmatis required 3 to 4 μg salicylate, or certain other phenolic acids/ml to restore optimal growth. Iron-deficient growth did not increase the requirement for salicylate. Salicylate, but not a salicylate-substitute was incorporated solely into mycobactin S. Mycobactin S was absorbed by growing bacteria but it did not substitute or spare the requirement for salicylate. Another mutant has been produced which required about 0.2 μg desferrimycobactin S/ml to restore growth under iron-deficient conditions. Salicylate, citrate, cobactin S with mycobactic acid S or Tween 80 did not substitute for mycobactin, but iron at 2 or more μg/ml permitted growth without mycobactin. Under these growth conditions the mycobactin requirement would be minute and some synthesis or carry-over during inoculation cannot be eliminated as a source of mycobactin. Salicylate and mycobactin were thus both required for growth.


The acquisition of the past tense has received substantial attention in the psycholinguistics literature, yet most studies report data from English or closely related Indo-European languages. We report on a past tense elicitation study on 136 4a-6-year-old children that were acquiring a highly inflected Finno-Ugric (Uralic) languageFinnish. The children were tested on real and novel verbs (N120) exhibiting (1) productive, (2) semi-productive, or (3) non-productive inflectional processes manipulated for frequency and phonological neighbourhood density (PND). We found that Finnish children are sensitive to lemma/base frequency and PND when processing inflected words, suggesting that even though children were using suffixation processes, they were also paying attention to the item level properties of the past tense verbs. This paper contributes to the growing body of research suggesting a single analogical/associative mechanism is sufficient in processing both productive (i.e., regular-like) and non-productive (i.e., irregular-like) words. We argue that seemingly rule-like elements in inflectional morphology are an emergent property of the lexicon. © 2012 Walter de Gruyter.


The problems of professional advancement of medical personnel, their professional formation and professional career have enduring importance in connection with development and improvement of medical care system in any society. The purpose of the study is to investigate characteristics of influence of type of organizational culture of medical organizations on career orientations of medical personnel. The study covered sampling of 7 364 employees of medical organizations. The complex of psycho-diagnostic techniques was applied that permitted to examine prevailing type of organizational culture of medical organizations (The R. Harrison questionnaire adapted by S. A. Lipatov), preferences of medical personnel in building up their professional career (E. Schein questionnaire "Carrier Anchors"), and their concepts about competitive medical worker (semantic differential - 16 opposite personality characteristics). The statistical methods included standard procedures of primary mathematical processing of empirical data (frequency and percentage distribution, calculation of mean group indices, standard deviation and dispersions), comparative analysis using Student's test (correctness of criterion application was checked by the Libya test), Spearman correlation analysis. It is established that under developed organizational culture of medical organization, its orientations towards task and personality, with team cohesion and high level of value-orientated unity of their members, medical workers have consistency of concepts concerning career and a unity of career orientations targeted to professional competence and service to other people that determines quality of medical care.


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
High-voltage pulsed current (HVPC) has been used to promote the healing of decubitus ulcers and surgical wounds. The benefits of HVPC are thought to include an antimicrobial action. This study was undertaken to explore the development of an in vitro system for the systematic evaluation of the effects of HVPC.

METHODS
Using agarose-based media, the system allows for examination of the direct effect of HVPC on microorganisms as well as exploration of the possible in situ generation of bacteriostatic or bactericidal factors by the action of HVPC on constituents of the media. The solid media also allow characterization of the spatial extent of the current's effects such as changes in temperature or pH. The system was used to examine the effects of HVPC on four different species of bacteria: Escherichia coli, Klebsiella, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus.

RESULTS
Both direct and indirect bactericidal effects were observed at either the positive or negative electrode, or both, for each of the organisms, although zones of inhibition varied. Temperature and pH were examined as possible mechanisms for the indirect effect. Temperature changes observed during the application of HVPC were minimal and did not contribute to the antimicrobial effect. Extreme pH changes did not appear to be the major cause of the indirect effect because the zones of inhibition observed were generally larger than the zones of extremely acid or basic pHs.

CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION
High-voltage pulsed current produced antimicrobial effects in this in vitro study. Additional studies are needed to elucidate the mechanisms and to determine whether the mechanisms occur in vivo.


The objective of this paper is the development and solution of nonlinear and mixed-integer (MIP) optimization models for real-world planning and scheduling problems in petroleum refineries. Firstly, we present a nonlinear planning model that represents a general refinery topology and allows implementation of nonlinear process models as well as blending relations. The optimization model is able to define new operating points, thus increasing the production of the more valuable products and simultaneously satisfying all specification constraints. The second part addresses scheduling problems in oil refineries, which are formulated as MIP optimization models and rely on both continuous and discrete time representations. Three practical applications closely related to the current refinery scenario are presented. The first one addresses the problem of crude oil inventory management of a refinery that receives several types of crude oil delivered exclusively by a single oil pipeline. Subsequently, two optimization models intended to define the optimal production policy, inventory control and distribution are proposed and solved for the fuel oil and asphalt plant. Finally, the planning model of Moro et al. (1998) is extended in order to sequence decisions at the scheduling level in the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) area for maximization of the production of petrochemical-grade propane and product delivery.


The Helsinki MoU agreed by the Indonesian Government and the Free Aceh Movement provided an opportunity for Aceh to have a customary institution called the Wali Nanggroe institution. This opportunity was used by the DPRA which was dominated by the Aceh Party by confirming Malik Mahmud Alhaitar as the Naggroe Aceh Mayor, in the Aceh Party structure Malik Mahmud was one of the leaders of this local Party, so it was possible to have a dual role played by the figure of Wali Naggroe. The inauguration of Malik Mahmud as the Wali Nanggroe also indirectly gave rise to a local figure of Strongmen within the structure of the Acehnese community, given the position of the Wali Nanggroe as a position that was highly respected in the structure of Acehnese people's lives. Moving on from the above problems, this study wants to see how the role of the State in giving birth to local Strongmen within the structure of Acehnese society. This research borrows his theorist Jonh T Sidel and Migdal who have formulated how the formation of local Strongmen or bossism and the characteristics of both. Based on the results in the field, it shows that the local Strongmen could emerge because of the involvement of the State in them, the involvement of the State is not limited to giving the opportunity for the birth of local Strongmen but more than that, the State also provides legal standing for local StrongmenKeywords :Local Strongmen, Wali Nanggroe


Strong support for a change in the abortion law reducing the latest termination date from the current 28 weeks to 18 weeks has come in a recently commissioned opinion poll.


A brief, critical review of dust-plasma interactions in the cosmic environment is presented, with emphasis on certain results. Both single-particle (e.g., gravitoelectrodynamics) and collective (e.g., appearance of new wave models) effects are discussed and some areas in which further research is needed are pointed out. The pressing need for laboratory studies, both to provide the necessary data for the theoretical studies and to test the predictions of these theories, is emphasized. >


In multiferroic composites which typically consist of a piezoelectric and a piezomagnetic phase, magnetoelectric coupling is the most intriguing feature of their properties. In such composites, each constituent phase has either the electroelastic or the magnetoelastic coupling, but neither possesses the magnetoelectric coupling. The composite, however, has it. The magnitude of coupling is strongly dependent on the interface condition and the boundary condition. On the mechanical side this issue has been traditionally studied under the strain-prescribed boundary condition. In this paper we examine how magnetoelectric coupling arises under the stressprescribed boundary condition, and with an imperfect interface. We examine a class of multiferroic composites containing aligned spheroidal inclusions, in which the matrix may be piezoelectric or piezomagnetic, and inclusions piezomagnetic or piezoelectric. We demonstrate how the magnetoelectric coupling coefficients depend on the phase properties, volume concentration, inclusion shape, and interface condition.


The purpose of this study is to present the research findings about factors that contribute to making customer involvement work effectively in an agile software project and to explore factors that can provide hindrance to customer involvement. We conducted 24 interviews with practitioners working with agile software projects in Norwegian software industry. Grounded theory was used to analyse the data. Findings suggested a list of factors that can enhance customer involvement and make it more effective. We called these factors enablers to customer involvement. The factors that suppliers use for effective customer involvement are: understanding customer's perception of success, effective communication, being forthcoming and accommodating, transparency and openness and establishing trust. Factors that suppliers think the customer should pay special attention to are: customer attention, product owner who understands business, good understanding of technical and functional side and persistent cooperation. This study also presents factors that can hinder customer involvement, thus making the customer–supplier relationship less effective. We called these barrier factors. These are: not getting enough customer time, lack of understanding on the customer's part, people without right skills and lack of communication. Research was carried out in the Norwegian software industry and grounded theory was used for data analysis, therefore this research can be called context-specific. Research participants interviewed were project managers, therefore this study presents project managers' viewpoints only. Another limitation is that most of the participants were from the supplier side. This study provides a theory/framework of enablers and barriers to customer involvement in agile software projects. Practitioners can use these factors to enhance customer involvement in agile projects.