Abstract. In order to reach the goal of reliably solving Earth monitoring tasks, automated and efficient machine learning methods are necessary for large-scale scene analysis and interpretation. A typical bottleneck of supervised learning approaches is the availability of accurate (manually) labeled training data, which is particularly important to train state-of-the-art (deep) learning methods. We present SemCity Toulouse, a publicly available, very high resolution, multi-spectral benchmark data set for training and evaluation of sophisticated machine learning models. The benchmark acts as test bed for single building instance segmentation which has been rarely considered before in densely built urban areas. Additional information is provided in the form of a multi-class semantic segmentation annotation covering the same area plus an adjacent area 3 times larger. The data set addresses interested researchers from various communities such as photogrammetry and remote sensing, but also computer vision and machine learning.


&NA; Spirodela polyrhiza is a fast‐growing aquatic monocot with highly reduced morphology, genome size and number of protein‐coding genes. Considering these biological features of Spirodela and its basal position in the monocot lineage, understanding its genome architecture could shed light on plant adaptation and genome evolution. Like many draft genomes, however, the 158‐Mb Spirodela genome sequence has not been resolved to chromosomes, and important genome characteristics have not been defined. Here we deployed rapid genome‐wide physical maps combined with high‐coverage short‐read sequencing to resolve the 20 chromosomes of Spirodela and to empirically delineate its genome features. Our data revealed a dramatic reduction in the number of the rDNA repeat units in Spirodela to fewer than 100, which is even fewer than that reported for yeast. Consistent with its unique phylogenetic position, small RNA sequencing revealed 29 Spirodela‐specific microRNA, with only two being shared with Elaeis guineensis (oil palm) and Musa balbisiana (banana). Combining DNA methylation data and small RNA sequencing enabled the accurate prediction of 20.5% long terminal repeats (LTRs) that doubled the previous estimate, and revealed a high Solo:Intact LTR ratio of 8.2. Interestingly, we found that Spirodela has the lowest global DNA methylation levels (9%) of any plant species tested. Taken together our results reveal a genome that has undergone reduction, likely through eliminating non‐essential protein coding genes, rDNA and LTRs. In addition to delineating the genome features of this unique plant, the methodologies described and large‐scale genome resources from this work will enable future evolutionary and functional studies of this basal monocot family. Significance statement Spirodela polyrhiza is a fast‐growing aquatic and basal monocot with a small genome, so understanding its genome architecture should inform plant adaptation strategies and genome evolution. However, long repetitive regions are formidable challenges for the proper assembly, annotation and closure of genome projects. Here we overcame this bottleneck by combining high‐throughput sequencing and genome mapping technologies to generate a validated sequence map of the 20 Spirodela polyrhiza chromosomes. Genome‐wide profiling data revealed a genome in a cycle of reduction with very low global DNA methylation and a reduced ribosomal DNA as well as gene content.


An early diagnosis of popliteal artery pseudoaneurysm-a sequela of popliteal artery trauma-is difficult owing to its late presentation following total knee arthroplasty. The incidence of a popliteal artery pseudoaneurysm with a hematoma presenting only a peripheral nerve injury after total knee arthroplasty is also uncommon in the absence of common diagnostic features such as a pulsatile swelling with an audible bruit on auscultation. In the present report, we describe popliteal artery pseudoaneurysm following total knee arthroplasty.


Dense swarms of the krill Meganycti- phanes norvegica in the Norwegian Sea were patrolled by large, piscivorous fish, which apparently use the krill swarms as feeding grounds in their hunt for plank- tivores. For the krill, patrols of piscivores may add to the generally accepted anti-predator benefit of the swarming behavior. The fact that krill swarms govern small-scale patchiness of large piscivores emphasizes the key role of krill in oceanic ecosystems.


Abstract Television coverage of football gambling established the industrial preconditions within sports media for fantasy sports coverage to emerge and proliferate. Coverage of gambling and fantasy sport encourages active, dedicated consumptive behaviour and participation from audiences. The popularization of content devoted to these activities illuminates key tensions marking the discourses around both sports betting and fantasy football since leagues like the NFL have distanced themselves from gambling. Nonetheless, paratextual television programmes dedicated to sports gambling developed the discursive frameworks that define sports betting and fantasy football as skill- and research-based pastimes. Gambling experts, especially Jimmy 'the Greek' Snyder, facilitated the emergence of contemporary 'fantasy gurus' like ESPN's Matthew Berry. These on-air experts brand themselves through a particular combination of statistical analysis, commentary, and humor. Both Snyder and Berry analyze statistical data and trends to offer viewers reasons to put specific players in weekly fantasy lineups or bet a certain way. Historically, sports betting and fantasy football programmes have had a mutually-beneficial relationship with media industries. This relationship reveals the process by which marginal forms of sports media can move from the periphery to the center of fan culture.


Virginia Tech s gothic architecture "embodies the solemn, timeless look of academia, imbuing all who come here with a powerful sense of place ... until they get to math class "(Wall Street Journal, 1 January 2000). Approximately sixty faculty teach in the Math Emporium, a technology-assisted learning community serving more than 7, 000 students each semester. With 500 work-stations, the emporium offers a variety of options for learning mathematics, including online learning, tutorials, tutors, lectures on CD-ROM, group meetings, live lectures, and tests and quizzes online.


Background By lowering LDL cholesterol (LDLC) ∼60% beyond statins, PCSK9s have the potential to profoundly improve primary and secondary prevention of atherosclerotic coronary artery (CAD), peripheral (PAD), and carotid artery disease. Purpose In 189 patients referred to a regional Cholesterol Center for diagnosis and treatment of hypercholesterolemia, who had initial LDL cholesterol (LDLC) ≥130 but <160 mg/dl, our specific aim was to determine how many would be eligible for PCSK9 therapy by extant preferred commercial insurance criteria. Methods Current preferred commercial insurance criterion for PCSK9 therapy consisted of ≥1 of the following 3 conditions: Heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (previous LDLC >190 mg/dl and Tendon Xanthomas), Atherosclerotic cerebral-cardio-peripheral vascular disease. Failure to tolerate 2 or more statins. Results At entry, in the 189 patients, mean±SD and median LDLC were 144±9 mg/dl and 143 mg/dl respectively. Of the 189 patients (96 female and 93 male with median age 53) 16 (8%) were diagnosed as having heterozygous FH, with median LDLC of 139 mg/dl, and 32 (17%) had sustained a cerebral-cardio- peripheral vascular event with median LDLC on treatment of 146 mg/dl. Of the 189 patients, in 44 (23%) the maximum tolerated statin dose was zero (complete statin intolerant), with median LDLC of 145 mg/dl. Of the 44 statin intolerant patients, 18 (41%) had either HeFH or an atherosclerotic event, and 26 (59%) had neither positive. Altogether 73 of 189 (39% of patients with entry LDLC ≥130 but <160 were eligible for PCSK9 therapy from commercial carriers. Conclusion Of 189 patients referred to a regional Cholesterol diagnosis and treatment center with initial LDLC ≥130 but <160 mg/dl, 73 (39%) met current commercial insurance carrier preferred criteria for PCSK9 drug coverage.


objective: This study evaluated the ability of heme oxygenase-1 to prevent or reverse renal fibrosis. Methods: Sprague-dawley male rats were submitted to unilateral ureteral obstruction and divided into groups: non-treated and hemin. Biochemical and histological analyses were performed. We also conducted RT-PCR to verify the expression of heme oxygenase-1, MCP-1, IL1-β, IL-6, TNF-α, COL-I, COL-III, PAI-1 and fibronectin mRNA. results: heme oxygenase-1 expression significantly increased in treated animals. The non treated group showed significantly higher levels of proteinuria than the Hemin group. The protein/urinary creatinine ratio in obstructed pelvis was also higher in non treated group, which also showed greater albuminuria and higher percentage of fibrosis when compared to the Hemin group. The expression of pro-inflammatory and pro-fibrotic molecules was significantly higher in the non treated group. Conclusions: The treatment induced the expression of heme oxygenase-1, preventing the installation of fibrosis and even limiting its progression.


This paper takes up some of Jacques Derrida's work on ethics, responsibility and justice in order to ask if business ethics is possible within the limits in which it currently finds itself. We begin by discussing the `ethical turn' in Derrida's recent work and then, after setting this in context with a brief discussion of Emmanuel Levinas, survey a selection of Derrida's `ethical' works. This provides the basis for a discussion of the limits of calculative and legalistic business ethics, and the broader problem of the ethics of knowing what to do. Although in this paper we do not pretend to `deconstruct' business ethics, we conclude with a discussion of the prospects of a possible future deconstruction of business ethics.


OBJECTIVES
The control and predictability of degradation rates and the absence of obstructive phenomena are two main challenges for research regarding biodegradable ureteral stents. The objectives are to assess the degradation performance and safety of braided combinations of three synthetic biodegradable polymers and copolymers; and to evaluate the interference of a heparin dip coating on degradation and bacterial colonization.

METHODS
The hydrolysis of polyglycolic acid (PGA), poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) and Glycomer™ 631 is assessed in this in vitro study that comprises ten groups. Stent samples present a braided arrangement and are incubated in porcine urine that undergoes analysis and exchange every 48 h until degradation. Coating is carried out with sodium heparin via dip coating and determination of the heparin release is carried out by ELISA test. Variables of study are stent mass, mass fold change, degradation time, bacterial colonization and concentration of heparin released in artificial urine.

RESULTS
There is statistical significance in degradation times between all materials except between the Glycomer™ 631 alone and combined with PGA. Mass fold change analysis of the Glycomer™ 631 evidences an increasing trend of its mass during degradation. The combination of Glycomer™ 631 and PGA presents a progressive and gradual degradation, where PGA degrades at week 3 while Glycomer™ 631 remains intact until its fragmentation at the late stage of degradation. Heparin coating has no significant impact on mean degradation times and trends in any group, nor on bacteriuria rates; heparin concentration decreases significantly after 72 h. Products of degradation are released steadily with minimum dimensions.

CONCLUSIONS
The combination of synthetic biodegradable polymers and copolymers with different degradation rates provides a gradual staged degradation. Heparin dip coating is a safe and feasible technique to coat biodegradable ureteral stents without interfering in degradation rates although it does not have a significant effect on the onset of bacterial colonization.


Mobile ad hoc networks (MANET) is a system consists of mobile nodes that act as autonomous. The Network without any fixed infrastructure and there is no centralized management in this networks. Congestion is one of the most important challenges facing this networks, which is causing several problems. Delay and packet loss when the stations are not able to get the information because of overcrowding, are the results of congestion. In this paper, a method for congestion control is proposed that uses the AOMDV algorithm. In this method using the length of the queue of nodes, obtained routes with less traffic and basis on congestion of the founded routes, the load is distributed between them. The results of the simulation shows a decrease delay and queue length of nodes and packet loss rate and increase the throughput of the network.


An accidental or deliberate mass toxicological event will present an utmost challenge to the medical community. Israel Defense Force's Home Front Command assists the Ministry of Health in preparing hospitals to cope with the event. An intensive planning, instruction, and equipping process terminates with a large-scale hospital drill. The Hospital MTE deployment scheme is outlined, areas of responsibilities, materials and methods, and inspection methods and issues are discussed. Twenty-two MTE drills took place in 20 hospitals since November 1997; half of them were not anticipated. The number of simulated casualties ranged from 5-200. The main lessons gained concerning medical organization and quality of care included: 1) deficient relevant information disclosure to staff; 2) inefficient utilization of the decontamination facility; 3) inadequate respiratory care during patient transportation; and 4) disregard for the synergistic effects of combined injuries. Control and coordination were limited by: 1) personal protective equipment; 2) a lack of real-time assessment of the burden levels throughout admission and treatment sites; 3) difficulties maintaining law and order within hospital sites; 4) inadequate medical charting; 5) failure to maintain patient privacy; and 6) insufficient collaboration with firstresponders. Most of these lessons were implemented in the subsequent drills, which became more sophisticated and realistic. Drills succeeded in building the confidence and collective memory among hospital staff and management, as well as implementing simple and feasible guidelines concerning incident diagnosis and management. Some future exercise plans are discussed.


Term suggestion techniques recommend query terms to a user based on his initial query. Providing adequate term suggestions is a challenging task. Most existing commercial search engines suggest search terms based on the frequency of prior used terms that match the first few letters typed by the user. We present a novel mechanism to construct semantic term-relation graphs to suggest semantically relevant search terms. We build term relation graphs based on multi-partite networks of existing social media. These linkage networks are extracted from Wikipedia to eventually form term relation graphs. We propose incorporating contributor-category networks to model the contributor expertise. This step has been shown to significantly enhance the accuracy of the inferred relatedness of the term-semantic graphs. Experiments showed the obvious advantage of our algorithms over existing approaches


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY How important is gender in predicting an individual's personal earnings? The hotly-debated "gender gap" suggests that women do not earn as much as men for equal work. This work develops two multiple logistic ordinal regression models that measure the effect of job and personal characteristics on personal earnings of salaried and hourly-wage workers in the Maine labor force. The models produced not only exhibit substantial predictive accuracy, but also begin to unwind the complex effects that factors such as education, industry, location, and unionization have on what one makes. Keywords: Earnings Survey, Gender Gap, Logistic Ordinal Regression INTRODUCTION Gender is often cited as the explanation for gaps in earnings regardless of industry, location, tenure in the job, and other factors. This study identifies significant drivers of hourly wages and salaries for Maine workers using data from a study that analyzed Maine's labor force, and paints a much more complex picture. It applies logistic ordinal regression (LOR) to build individual earnings models for both salaried and wage-earning men and women. These models are then used to simultaneously examine the effects on the earnings of Maine workers' personal characteristics, such as the region where the individual lives, and job characteristics, such as industry choice. Most of the previous research involving the modeling of human capital uses ordinary least squares regression analysis. However, earnings data are rarely collected using exact dollar amounts. Even the U.S. Census uses earnings bands, as people are more likely to respond if presented with ranges of possible responses. Unfortunately, two major statistical assumptions of least squares regression are violated when a dependent variable, such as earnings, is recorded in bands. First, the variance of the modeled error terms cannot be constant, and, in fact, will vary as a function of the dependent variable. Second, because the dependent variable can only take on a limited number of values, the distribution of the error terms cannot be normally distributed. Under these conditions, the appropriate statistical tool is multiple logistic ordinal regression (MLOR), which can accommodate independent variables measured on a ratio, interval, ordinal, or nominal level. MLOR has been used for a variety of modeling purposes such as estimating, workplace satisfaction (Bennett, Robson, & Bratton, 2001), voter preferences (Koop & Poirier, 1994), and financial risk (Hawley & Fujii, 1994). This study compares the important drivers of personal earnings for two distinct groups: salary earners and hourly-wage earners. Survey data were drawn from respondents who were asked to report their earnings using standardized wage and salary bands. These bands were then used as the dependent variable in two multiple logistic ordinal regression models that explored the predictive value of a variety of independent variables describing personal-earner characteristics and job characteristics. Both of the resulting models show an impressive degree of accuracy in predicting wages, explaining 44.5 percent of the overall variability in salary bands and 48.7% of the variability in wage bands. More importantly, the models demonstrate that gender is but one of many considerations that influence earnings and is by no means the dominant one. MOTIVATION FOR THE STUDY The United States 2000 Census identified a significant but shrinking gap between the average earnings of men and women. Nationwide, the median income was reported as $18,957 for females and $29,458 for males, a gender earnings gap of $10,504. A substantial gender earnings gap was also documented in Maine, where the Census identified a $9,902 differential based on median male earnings of $26,546 and median female earnings of $16,644. A similar gap was reported by Seguino and Butler (1998), who calculated that in 1989 the median income for males in Maine exceeded the median for females by $9,818. …


Large scale ex situ propagation of coral colonies for reef restoration is a relatively new and developing field. One of the many advantages of utilizing ex situ coral nurseries is the ability to optimize water quality conditions for coral health and survival. Slight alterations in environmental parameters (light, pH, temperature etc.) can affect the health and grow-out time of cultured coral, ultimately influencing production rates. However, corals are also subjected to pests associated with culture facilities such as ciliates, cyanobacterial blooms, and infectious diseases. Therefore, adjusting environmental parameters to optimize coral growth for a shorter ex situ residency time will lead to greater survival and faster restoration. Studies indicate that some coral species demonstrate parabolic tissue growth in response to increasing sea-surface temperatures until the maximum temperature tolerance is reached, whereafter they bleach. To maximize coral growth in Mote Marine Laboratory's ex situ system, we tested the effect of two water temperature treatments (high temperature: 29.5 ± 0.03 °C; control: 25.2 ± 0.08 °C) on two coral species commonly used in reef restoration. To quantify this, we used four replicates of three genotypes each of Montastraea cavernosa (n = 12) and Acropora palmata (n = 12). Two-dimensional tissue area was recorded monthly using ImageJ and survival rates within each treatment were documented for 7 months. Results found that M. cavernosa had greater growth rates and equal survivorship in the high temperature treatment compared to the control treatment. A. palmata grew faster and had equal survivorship in the control treatment compared with the high temperature treatment. These results suggest that temperature preferences exist among coral species within ex situ systems and restoration practitioners should consider species-specific temperature regimes to maximize ex situ coral growth rates. This information is critical for optimizing production when corals are in the grow-out stage and should also be considered when designing ex situ systems to ensure temperature regulation can be controlled on a species-specific basis.


An ant colony optimization (ACO) application to a fuzzy controller (FC) design, called ACO-FC, is proposed in this paper for improving design efficiency and control performance, as well as ACO hardware implementation. An FC's antecedent part, i.e., the ldquoifrdquo part of its composing fuzzy if-then rules, is partitioned in grid-type, and all candidate rule consequent values are then listed. An ant trip is regarded as a combination of consequent values selected from every rule. A pheromone matrix among all candidate consequent values is constructed. Searching for the best one among all combinations of rule consequent values is based mainly on the pheromone matrix. The proposed ACO-FC performance is shown to be better than other metaheuristic design methods on simulation examples. The ACO used in ACO-FC is based on the known ant colony system and is hardware implemented on a field-programmable gate array chip. The ACO chip application to fuzzy control of a simulated water bath temperature control problem has verified the designed chip effectiveness.


AIM OF THE WORK
The aim of the present study is to document the antitumor activity of the combination of gemcitabine and cisplatin for the treatment of advanced NSCLC, asses the nature and severity of the side effects and elicit the impact of the combination chemotherapy on progression free survival and overall survival.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
From August 1997 to August 2001, we conducted a phase II study of gemcitabine and cisplatin in 60 chemonaive patients (21 stage IIIB and 39 stage IV). For the first 34 cases, gemcitabine was given at a dose of 1,000 mg/m2 IV on days 1, 8 and 15 with cisplatin 100 mg/m2 on day 15, every 28 days. In the following 26 patients, the regimen was modified to gemcitabine 1,250 mg/m2 days 1 and 8 and cisplatin 80 mg/m2 day 1, every 21 days.

RESULTS
Patients included 53 males and 7 females [median age, 52 years (range, 28-69)]. Twenty-nine had adenocarcinoma, 18 large-cell carcinoma and 13 squamous-cell carcinoma. Thirty-one patients had a performance status (PS) of 2 and 22 presented with weight loss. All patients were evaluable for response. Three patients achieved a complete response (CR) and 22 had partial response (PR), giving an overall response of 41.7%, with a median duration of 10 months (range, 4-46 months). The time to progression (TTP) was 8 months (range, 2-46 months), with a median overall survival of 9 months (range, 2-46 months). The one-year survival rate was 30.3% for the entire study population, 44% for responders, and statistically improved in patients with a PS of I and those with no weight loss. A total of 255 cycles were administered (median, four cycles/patient). Myelosuppression was significant (but manageable) with grade 3/4 neutropenia in 32.6% of cases, anemia in 18.6% and thrombocytopenia in 20.4%. Nonhematologic toxicity was limited to grade 3/4 nausea and vomiting in 28.8% of cases and impaired liver enzymes in 13.6%.

CONCLUSION
Inspite of the relatively poor prognostic characteristics in the study population, gemcitabine and cisplatin, was an effective combination with tolerable, manageable toxicity in advanced NSCLC.


A numerical analysis and water model study of the mold region of a continuous casting apparatus are performed with a novel injection concept using swirling flow in the pouring tube, to control the heat and mass transfer in the continuous casting mold. As a result, the following results were found: (1) By changing swirl strength, it is easy to control the flow pattern as well as the direction of the flow. (2) Uniform velocity distribution can be obtained within a very short distance from the outlet of the nozzle. (3) Heat and mass transfer near the meniscus can be remarkably activated compared with a conventional straight type immersion nozzle without swirl. (4) Swirl helps the superheat in the melt dissipate. (5) Penetration depth of nozzle outlet flow is decreased remarkably by the application of swirling. Those findings mentioned above are very useful to control the flow pattern in the billet and bloom continuous casters.


This paper reconsiders Horace, Carm. 3. 30. 1 in relation to Isocrates, Antid. 7 and Ennius, Ann. 567 Vahlen2 (= 579 Skutsch), three texts which contain the idea of the work of an ancient author as a "monument". But both Isocrates' section and Ennius' line have had a peculiar textual history which has for a long time prevented scholars from recognizing the similarity of these texts to Horace's exegi monumentum aere perennius. The passage of Isocrates was in fact damaged by a lacuna and the line of Ennius was preserved in a corrupt form by a late grammarian. It was only at the beginning of the 19th century that the rediscovery of Isocrates manuscripts revealed a complete text of Antid. 7, while the line of Ennius was restored brilliantly by conjecture in the middle of the 20th century, thus enabling scholars to rethink the mutual relations among the three authors. The examples here discussed show, once again, how classical scholarship has been affected by the time and process by which ancient texts were recovered.


A 256/spl times/256 CMOS passive pixel image sensor with especially equipped simple switches, which enables motion detection, is implemented. Each pixel consists of a simple combination of a photodiode and an address switch. Photocharge generated at each pixel is converted to voltage by means of a column charge amplifier array, and motion detection has been realized with utilizing the photodiode as a frame memory. Its output is transformed to a digital value with a 128 array 8-bit analog-to-digital (A/D) converter. Simultaneously, fixed pattern noise is suppressed by utilizing A/D conversion as the CDS circuit. Due to its simple structure, more than 70% fill factor ratio has been realized. The extracted motion detection results can be displayed digitally at 128 frames per second by means of 128 A/D converter arrays.


Background: Malignant Peripheral Neural Sheath Tumors (MPNST) are a type of sarcoma that arise spontaneously from a peripheral nerve or plexiform neurofibroma. Approximately 1 in 10 people with a constitutional mutation in the NF1 gene, a negative regulator of RAS function, develop MPNST with a peak incidence in the adolescent and young adult years. Available chemotherapy treatment for MPNST has low response rates, and the prognosis for unresectable or metastatic tumors is poor. A clinically relevant system to rapidly evaluate the efficacy of many agents and combinations of agents on MPNSTs which can be translated into clinical trials is needed. Methods: Here, we seek to identify promising single drug and combination therapies using FDA approved and other agents of interest via high-throughput screening platforms, based on established MPNST cell line models (SNF02.2, SNF10.1, SNF94.3, and SNF96.2). Taking into consideration past lessons learned from in vitro experiments, we designed stringent screening conditions that assess the candidate compounds and combinations at clinically-relevant concentrations and exposure times that mimic the in vivo pharmacokinetics in an effort to maximize the translational potential of these results. Fifty-four agents with roughly ¼ inhibitors of the RAS downstream pathways, another ¼ kinase inhibitors, and the remainder a representation of many classes of agents with diverse mechanisms of action were screened across 4 cell lines with biological replicates. The majority of the agents are FDA approved. Others are in active clinical trials, demonstrate a promising mechanism of action, or have published preclinical data in MPNST models. CellTiter Glo assays were used to assess cell viability at the maximal achievable serum concentration from phase I studies and at two lower concentrations. Promising agents were then studied in two-drug combinations to evaluate for synergy in addition to efficacy of the combination. The combinations were selected with careful attention to known drug-drug interactions, metabolism, schedule and non-overlapping toxicities. Results: Our screening results indicate that a number of FDA approved chemotherapy agents, evaluated at clinically relevant concentrations and exposure times, significantly reduced cell viability across all cell lines tested. These findings suggest promising opportunities for developing combination clinical trials. Citation Format: Elliott Kahen, Diana Yu, Christopher Cubitt, Dan Sullivan, Damon R. Reed. Assessing combinations of FDA approved chemotherapy in malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST) cell lines. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 2536. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-2536


Recently, a new and powerful matrix decomposition method has been developed and used in image decomposition for computer vision. Themethod is recursive, and is based on non-iterative univariate truncations of two variable High Dimensional Model Representation (HDMR). In each step, two vectors in the left and right domains of the target matrix are determined and used in reference vectors of the next step. Each initial reference vector's elements are identical and orthogonality is ensured in the construction. This work brings flexibility to the initialization of the reference vectors and increases the quality of the approximations via decomposition truncation. Certain numerical implementations are also presented for illustration.


Integrated regional water management (IRWM) helps us to comprehend the ecological, political, and economic complexities of broad watershed regions in California. In this case study, stakeholder theory served as the framework for an assessment of water management at Mt. Laguna, CA, a rural community on the outskirts of San Diego, CA. After identifying stakeholders, I conducted interviews and surveys to gauge perspectives on water management at Mt. Laguna and to develop categories speaking to the major concerns. In addition, I used a document review to help understand the policy framework surrounding water management in this community. I created four categories: water scarcity and access, fire protection, environmental protection and recreation, and costs of infrastructure and water quality testing. A complex, fractured aquifer system led to disagreements about water scarcity in the region, which combined with rule of capture water law to illustrate how unbridled water extraction could lead to stresses and conflict. I identified fire protection as a top priority, demanding extensive water resources in the wake of the Cedar Fire of 2003. The U.S. Forest Service continues to balance conservation and recreational goals through environmental impact assessments. Finally, costs of infrastructure and water quality testing produced great strain on rural communities, particularly those less affluent than Mt. Laguna. To mitigate these conflicts, it is important that stakeholders develop an understanding of each other's priorities and the ecological realities of the surrounding region, and participate in collaborative management. Low Impact Development measures to conserve water could also help alleviate conflicts.


America is embroiled in a culture war over homosexuality. The homosexual movement demands the end of "heteronormativity" - the social and legal preference for heterosexuality. It insists that "Gay Is Good" - just as good as heterosexuality. This article presents a defense of heteronormativity; it argues that straight is better. In particular, it argues that naturally conceiving, bearing and raising children is intrinsically good for parents; that it is both intrinsically and instrumentally good for children to be raised by their biological parents who are married to each other; and that traditional marriage is both intrinsically and instrumentally good for women and men. Because of the unique benefits of traditional marriage, it is also beneficial to society. Because of these benefits, society may legitimately favor heterosexuality (e.g., in public education), although it may not punish other forms of sexual behavior that are not harmful.


When agents know a protocol, this leads them to have expectations about future observations. Agents can update their knowledge by matching their actual observations with the expected ones. They eliminate states where they do not match. In this paper, we study how agents perceive protocols that are not commonly known, and propose a logic to reason about knowledge in such scenarios.


Gram-positive bacteria resistant to vancomycin are rare; but they include members of the genera Leuconostoc, Lactobacillus, and Pediococcus, as well as recently emerging vancomycin-resistant strains of Enterococcus faecium and Enterococcus faecalis. Vancomycin, teicoplanin, and several vancomycin derivatives were tested for their activities against vancomycin-resistant gram-positive bacteria. Vancomycin-resistant E. faecium and E. faecalis were generally cross-resistant to other glycopeptides, but some N-substituted vancomycin derivatives were active against the resistant strains, with MICs of 2 to 32 micrograms/ml. These vancomycin derivatives also had significant levels of activity against intrinsically vancomycin-resistant organisms such as Leuconostoc sp. While vancomycin resistance in E. faecium and E. faecalis was inducible, resistance in members of the genera Leuconostoc, Lactobacillus, and Pediococcus appeared to be expressed constitutively. Antibody to a vancomycin-induced membrane protein found in membranes of resistant enterococci did not detect a cross-reacting protein in other vancomycin-resistant species.


In this paper we present our ongoing work for getting the discrimination power of the Fuzzy Texture Spectrum encoding. The model we propose provides the classes encoded by the spectrum having outstanding power for getting homogeneous, granulated and structured texture image characterization. Moreover, we provide the membership functions allowing getting the degrees to which an image (or image part) is homogeneous, structured and micro


Hybrid surfaces consisting of a micropillar array of hydrophobic and hydrophilic sites were designed and fabricated to understand the effects of their unique surface morphology and chemistry on droplet condensation. Droplet impingement experiments have revealed that hybrid surfaces exhibit high contact angles, which is characteristic of purely hydrophobic surfaces. However, little is known about the wetting behavior of droplets that nucleate and grow on hybrid surfaces during condensation. In fact, condensed droplets display a distinct wetting behavior during the droplet growth phase which cannot be reproduced by simply impinging droplets on hybrid surfaces. In this study, hybrid surfaces with three different spacing ratios were subjected to condensation tests using an environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) and a condensation cell under ambient conditions. For hybrid surfaces with spacing ratio below 2, droplets were observed to form on top and sides of the micropillars, where they grew, coalesced with adjacent droplets, and shed after reaching a given size. After shedding, the top surface remained partially dry, which allowed for immediate droplet growth. For hybrid surfaces with spacing ratio equal to 2, a different wetting behavior was observed, where droplets basically coalesced and formed a thin liquid film which was ultimately driven into the valleys of the microstructure. The liquid shedding process led to the renucleation of droplets primarily on top of the dry hydrophilic sites. To better understand the nature of droplet wetting on hybrid surfaces, a surface energy-based model was developed to predict the transition between the two observed wetting behaviors at different spacing ratios. The experimental and analytical results indicate that micropillar spacing ratio is the key factor for promoting different wetting behavior of condensed droplets on hybrid surfaces.


Fisher's linear discriminant analysis (FLDA) has been attracting many researchers and practitioners for several decades thanks to its ease of use and low computational cost. However, FLDA implicitly assumes that all the classes share the same covariance: which implies that FLDA might fail when thhis assumption is not necessarily satisfied. To overcome this problem, we propose a simple extension of FLDA that exploits a detailed covariance structure of every class by utilizing revealed by the class-wise auto-correlation matrices. The proposed method achieves remarkable improvements classification accuracy against FLDA while preserving two major strengths of FLDA: the ease of use and low computational costs. Experimental results with MNIST and other several data sets in UCI machine learning repository demonstrate the effectiveness of our method.


The transition avalanche to streamer are presented in atmospheric pressure nitrogen. The results of two-dimensional simulation are obtained by using finite Elements Method combined with Flux Corrected Transport algorithm(FEM-FCT). We modeled the negative streamer which enables to propagate with out and with photoionization. The results of simulation without photoionization and with photoionization are compared. We show that photoionization plays important roles not only in streamer formation but also in streamer propagation.


We observed the cluster CIZA J2242.8+5301 with the Arcminute Microkelvin Imager at 16 GHz and present the first high radio-frequency detection of diffuse, non-thermal cluster emission. This cluster hosts a variety of bright, extended, steep-spectrum synchrotron-emitting radio sources, associated with the intracluster medium, called radio relics. Most notably, the northern, Mpc-wide, narrow relic provides strong evidence for diffusive shock acceleration in clusters. We detect a puzzling, flat-spectrum, diffuse extension of the southern relic, which is not visible in the lower radio-frequency maps. The northern radio relic is unequivocally detected and measures an integrated flux of 1.2 ± 0.3 mJy. While the low-frequency (<2 GHz) spectrum of the northern relic is well represented by a power law, it clearly steepens towards 16 GHz. This result is inconsistent with diffusive shock acceleration predictions of ageing plasma behind a uniform shock front. The steepening could be caused by an inhomogeneous medium with temperature/density gradients or by lower acceleration efficiencies of high energy electrons. Further modelling is necessary to explain the observed spectrum.


A high fidelity testbed for large-scale system analysis requires emulation to represent the execution of critical software, and simulation to model an extensive ensemble of background computation and communication. We leverage prior work showing that large numbers of virtual environments may be emulated on a single host, and that the time stamped interactions between them can be mapped to virtual time, and we leverage existing work on simulation of large-scale communication networks. The present paper brings these concepts together, marrying the scale emulation framework OpenVZ (modified earlier to operate in virtual time) with a scalable network simulator S3F. Our algorithmic contributions lay in the design and management of virtual time as it transitions from emulation, to simulation, and back. In particular, inescapable uncertainties in emulation behavior force us to explicitly set and reset timestamps so as to avoid either emulator or simulator having to deal with a packet arriving in its logical past. We provide analytic bounds and empirical evidence that the error introduced in resetting timestamps is small. Finally, we present a case-study using this capability, of a cyber-attack with the smart power grid communication infrastructure.


For optical communications links where receivers are signal-power-starved, such as through free-space, it is important to design transmitters and receivers that can operate as close as practically possible to theoretical limits. A total system penalty is typically assessed in terms of how far the end-to-end bit-error rate (BER) is from these limits. It is desirable, but usually difficult, to determine the division of this penalty between the transmitter and receiver. This paper describes a new rigorous and computationally based method that isolates which portion of the penalty can be assessed against the transmitter. There are two basic parts to this approach: (1) use of a coherent optical receiver to perform frequency down-conversion of a transmitter's optical signal waveform to the electrical domain, preserving both optical field amplitude and phase information, and (2): software-based analysis of the digitized electrical waveform. The result is a single numerical metric that quantifies how close a transmitter's signal waveform is to the ideal, based on its BER performance with a perfect software-defined matched-filter receiver demodulator. A detailed description of applying the proposed methodology to the waveform characterization of an optical burst-mode differential phase-shifted keying (DPSK) transmitter is experimentally demonstrated.


The oxidative instability of tin-based halide perovskites (Sn-HaP) is a culprit for inferior device performance and applications in other optoelectronic devices. Here, we have investigated the impacts of a Rb additive on the FASnI3 based device characteristics. It is observed that the RbCl additive facilitates uniform morphology with better crystal quality and suppression of oxidation of Sn2+. This results in an enhancement in the device efficiency of 3.12% for pure Sn-HaP to 5.89% for the RbCl additive with high reproducibility and superior stability. It also benefited from a higher diffusion potential and mitigation of defect activities with the RbCl additive in Sn-HaPSCs. These results corroborate that the incorporation of Rb in the FASnI3 structure plays a crucial role in improving the film growth, surface chemistry, and mitigation of trap centers.


5255 The catechol 4-hydroxyequilenin (4-OHEN) is a metabolite of the equine estrogen equilenin, a component of a widely prescribed formulation that is used as a hormone replacement treatment for post-menopausal women. Our focus is on studying the physical and biochemical properties of DNA adducts that are formed when 4-OHEN is auto-oxidized to o-quinones that bind to dC and dA in DNA to form unusual cyclic adducts. The stereochemically defined 4-OHEN-dC and 4-OHEN-dA lesions were site-specifically incorporated into oligonucleotide duplexes and their susceptibilities to removal by nucleotide excision repair (NER) proteins were investigated. Computer modeling studies indicate that the dC adducts adopt unusual conformations and cause significant perturbations of the normal B-DNA structure since duplexes containing such adducts are strongly destabilized. The effects of temperature on NER were investigated using the prokaryotic UvrABC proteins from the thermophilic organism B. caldotenax to assess the mechanisms of recognition and incision associated with these bulky adducts. Although both the 4-OHEN-dC and -dA adducts form chemically analogous cyclic adducts that distort the double helices, the 4-OHEN-dC adducts are incised more efficiently than the dA adducts at both 37 °C and 55 °C. The repair efficiencies can also depend on adduct stereochemistry and sequence context. Research supported by NIH grants CA 73638 (J.L. Bolton, P.I.) and CA112412.


This tenth volume from the annual International High Technology Small Firms Conference adds to substantial specialist work on growth problems of New Technology Based Firms (NTBFs). This series represents a clear case where the whole is greater than the sum of its individual parts and, in view of recent continuing favourable reviews, provides a body of work that is the authoritative voice on NTBF research. Contributors to this series include all the major experts on NTBFs, many making multiple contributions.Key themes emerged from the 2002 conference, some continuing well-established agendas, while other topics were new. Indeed, academics interested in the evolution of this research may use the series to monitor how the mix of interests has evolved over the past decade.Following an editorial introduction, this volume comprises papers grouped in four topic areas. The first of these topics is Strategy, a key NTBF topic given that rapid technological change and long product lead times render choices on product development of critical importance. Although NTBF formation has been a core conferenc theme since its inception, interest has recently intensified, a concern reflected in the second sub-section on "Spin offs".The third sub-section concerns the recently emerged "hot topic" of Clusters and their role in promoting NTBF formation and growth, while the fourth and final-subsection of this volume is concerned with Networking. Many of the spatial issues raised regarding clusters are pursued in the Networking section at an organisational level. The well established nature of certain topics (e.g. Strategy, Spin offs, and Networking) bear witness, both to the enduring relevance of key research areas, and to how our understanding of these issues has improved over a decade of conferences and subsequent books.


In normal mice, the total count of peritoneal leukocytes was markedly decreased after intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of the capsular polysaccharide of Klebsiella pneumoniae (CPS-K) depending on the dosage injected. This decrease was mainly due to the depletion of macrophages, and a decrease in the number of lymphocytes occurred to a lesser extent. CPS-K in relatively smaller doses mobilized polymorphonuclear neutrophilic leukocytes (PMN) into the peritoneal fluid but it decreased them transiently in larger doses. In mice infected i.p. with a virulent strain of Salmonella enteritidis, there was an abundant emigration of PMN into the peritoneal fluid. When 200 mug of CPS-K was injected i.p. immediately before bacterial challenge, emigration of PMN was markedly delayed for 48 hr after infection. Associated with this suppressed emigration of PMN, the numbers of macrophages and lymphocytes in the peritoneal fluid were significantly less in mice treated with CPS-K than those in untreated control mice for 48 hr after infection. The numbers of both cell-associated and extracellular bacteria in the peritoneal fluid were markedly greater in mice treated with CPS-K than those in untreated control mice. In both in vivo and in vitro experiments, ingestion of bacteria by macrophages and PMN was not blocked by CPS-K or neutral CPS-K, the active substance responsible for the infection-promoting effect of CPS-K. It appeared that CPS-K somehow impaired the intraphagocytic bactericidal activity.


Clinical application of a demineralized freeze-dried cortical bone membrane allograft (DFBMA) for treatment of intra(infra)bony periodontal pockets in dogs was evaluated. The mean pre-treatment periodontal probing depth equaled 7.2-mm. Post-treatment probing depths in all 11 cases were normal, with a mean periodontal probing gain of 5.4-mm. Guided tissue regeneration using a commercially available veterinary canine DFBMA and canine demineralized freeze-dried bone allograft (DFDBA) resulted in clinically significant periodontal attachment gains. The gain of new periodontal tissue attachment was statistically significant (P < 0.0001). The commercially available veterinary allograft products predictably increased new periodontal attachment without any identified membrane sequelae in these 11 cases.


Introduction Since biochar has the potential to mitigate climate change and enhance agricultural outputs, new research is exploring its dual role relative to greenhouse gas emissions from agronomic soils, with particular focus on nitrous oxide (N2O). It is well accepted that definitive investigations of sustainable contemporary biochar applications in different (bio)technologies must be underpinned by combined physico-chemical and microecophysiological analyses. Nevertheless, recent nitrogen cycle research has measured principally the occurrence and emission of different N species to then infer shifts in microbial activity in response to biochar augmentation, with a few emerging studies assessing its effects on the functional genes/communities. As a result, a wide scope for critical and exciting research exists. This must be informed by comprehensive multidisciplinary studies of the dynamics of functional N-cycle genes, enzymes, strains and communities across different ecosystems and environmental biotechnologies – agriculture, contaminant remediation, wastewater treatment, malodorant gas biofiltration and landfill. This review aims to summarize the state-of-the art and highlight critical research that is required to assess the effect of biochar addition on N-cycling in different ecosystems. Conclusion We conclude that despite emerging research there are still critical knowledge gaps on the microbial response to biochar, which need to be addressed before the material can be applied in specific key environmental biotechnologies.


We are successful to lit the OLED lighting panel through the magnetically coupled wireless power transmission technology. For the wireless power transmission, we used the operation frequency 932 kHz, specially designed double spiral type transmitter, small and thin receiver on the four layered printed circuit board, and schottky diodes for the full bridge rectifier. Our white OLED is a hybrid type, in which phosphorescent and fluorescent organics are used together to generate stable white color. The total efficiency of power transmission is around 72%.


Sarcoglycanopathies are rare autosomic limb girdle muscular dystrophies caused by mutations in one of the genes coding for sarcoglycan (α, β, δ, and γ-sarcoglycans). Sarcoglycans form a complex, which is an important part of the dystrophin-associated glycoprotein complex that protects sarcolemma against muscle contraction-induced damages. Absence of one of the sarcoglycan at the plasma membrane induces the disappearance of the whole complex and perturbs muscle fiber membrane integrity. We previously demonstrated that point mutations in the human sarcoglycan genes affects the folding of the corresponding protein, which is then retained in the endoplasmic reticulum by the protein quality control and prematurely degraded by the proteasome. Interestingly, modulation of the quality control using pharmacological compounds allowed the rescue of the membrane localization of the mutated sarcoglycan. Two previously generated mouse models, knock-in for the most common sarcoglycan mutant, R77C α-sarcoglycan, failed in reproducing the dystrophic phenotype observed in human patients. Based on these results and the need to test therapies for these fatal diseases, we decided to generate a new knock-in mouse model carrying the missense mutation T151R in the β-sarcoglycan gene since this is the second sarcoglycan protein with the most frequently reported missense mutations. Muscle analysis, performed at the age of 4 and 9-months, showed the presence of the mutated β-sarcoglycan protein and of the other components of the dystrophin-associated glycoprotein complex at the muscle membrane. In addition, these mice did not develop a dystrophic phenotype, even at a late stage or in condition of stress-inducing exercise. We can speculate that the absence of phenotype in mouse may be due to a higher tolerance of the endoplasmic reticulum quality control for amino-acid changes in mice compared to human.


We investigated the antibacterial activity of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) dispersed in surfactant solutions of sodium cholate, sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate, and sodium dodecyl sulfate. Among the three surfactants, sodium cholate demonstrated the weakest antibacterial activity against Salmonella enterica, Escherichia coli, and Enterococcus faecium and thereby was used to disperse bundled SWCNTs in order to study nanotube antibiotic activity. SWCNTs exhibited antibacterial characteristics for both S. enterica and E. coli. With the increase of nanotube concentrations from 0.3 mg/mL to 1.5 mg/mL, the growth curves had plateaus at lower absorbance values whereas the absorbance value was not obviously affected by the incubation ranging from 5 min to 2 h. Our findings indicate that carbon nanotubes could become an effective alternative to antibiotics in dealing with drug-resistant and multidrug-resistant bacterial strains because of the physical mode of bactericidal action that SWCNTs display.


The cell characteristics of an alloy FePt nano-dot (ND) charge trapping memory with a high-k dielectric as a blocking oxide was investigated. Adoption of a high-k Al2O3 material as a blocking oxide for the metal nano-dot memory provided a superior scaling of the operation voltage compared to silicon oxide under a similar gate leakage level. For the 40-nm-thick high-k (Al2O3) blocking oxide, we confirmed an operation voltage reduction of ∼7 V under the same memory window on for silicon dioxide. Also, this device showed a large memory window of 7.8 V and a low leakage current under 10−10 A in an area of Φ 0.25 mm. From these results, the use of a dielectric (Al2O3) as a blocking oxide for a metal nano-dot device is essential, and a metal nano-dot memory with a high-k dielectric will be one of the candidates for a high-density non-volatile memory device.


The virulence of Isaria fumosorosea alone and integrated with an enhanced formulation of diatomaceous earth (diatomaceous earth + bitterbarkomycin, DEBBM) was tested against the lesser grain borer Rhyzopertha dominica (F.) (Coleoptera: Bostrychidae) under laboratory conditions on stored wheat. The fungus was applied to wheat grains at various concentrations of 3.60 × 106, 3.60 × 108, and 3.60 × 1010 conidia/kg alone, or in combination with 15 and 30 ppm of DEBBM. R. dominica was held at 20, 25 and 30°C and two RH regimes (56 and 75%) and mortality was registered after 5, 10 and 15 d. Generally, I. fumosorosea was most effective at 25°C caused the highest mortality of R. dominica at 56% RH. The increase of temperature, concentration and exposure interval increased the insecticidal effect of DEBBM at low RH level. The DE alone suppressed the progeny emergence at higher dose rate as compared I. fumosorosea alone, but their simultaneous use further reduced the progeny production of R. dominica. The integrated use of both tested bio control agents synergized the effect of each other and caused the highest mortality at 25°C and 56% RH. The results clearly demonstrated that I. fumosorosea and new enhanced DEBBM can be integrated to be an effective control measure for R. dominica in stored wheat.


We consider the problem of designing query strategies for priced information, introduced by Charikar et al. In this problem the algorithm designer is given a function $f : \{0,1\}^n \to \{-1,1\}$ and a price associated with each of the $n$ coordinates. The goal is to design a query strategy for determining $f$'s value on unknown inputs for minimum cost.
Prior works on this problem have focused on specific classes of functions. We analyze a simple and natural strategy that applies to all functions $f$, and show that its performance relative to the optimal strategy can be expressed in terms of a basic complexity measure of $f$, its influence. For $\varepsilon \in (0,\frac1{2})$, writing $\mathsf{opt}$ to denote the expected cost of the optimal strategy that errs on at most an $\varepsilon$-fraction of inputs, our strategy has expected cost $\mathsf{opt} \cdot \mathrm{Inf}(f)/\varepsilon^2$ and also errs on at most an $O(\varepsilon)$-fraction of inputs. This connection yields new guarantees that complement existing ones for a number of function classes that have been studied in this context, as well as new guarantees for new classes.
Finally, we show that improving on the parameters that we achieve will require making progress on the longstanding open problem of properly learning decision trees.


Our previous studies of the immune response of aged mice inoculated with influenza A virus revealed age-related decreases in antigen-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocyte function (CTL), T-cell proliferation, IL-2 production, antigen presentation, and antibody production. Because dietary restriction (DR) of rodents has been shown to extend maximum life span, delay the onset of tumors, and improve many immunologic parameters in aged animals, we tested the effect of such a regimen on the immune response to the influenza virus. We report that DR significantly inhibited the age-related decline in antigen presentation and T-cell proliferation. It also reduced the decline in antibody production to the virus. This is the first demonstration of improved immunity to an actual infectious agent resulting from DR. The improvement appears to be on a number of levels and to reflect more than one operative mechanism.


Objectives Recent qualitative research found young men reporting that an expectation that eating disorders (EDs) mainly affect young women led them, and others, to only recognise their symptoms when their ED had become entrenched. This raises questions about how these stereotypes persist. We therefore explored how EDs in males were represented in articles published in UK newspapers over a 10-year period (7.12.2002–7.12.2012), specifically attending to whether newsprint media represent EDs in males as 'gender appropriate', 'gender anomalous' or 'gender neutral'. Design A qualitative thematic analysis of UK newspaper articles. Methods We searched two databases, Newsbank and LexisNexis, for newspaper articles including ED and male terms in the lead/first paragraph. Following de-duplication, 420 articles were scrutinised; 138 met inclusion criteria for detailed textual analysis and were imported into NVivo10. Findings The number of articles peaked in 2008 when a UK politician announced that he had experienced bulimia nervosa. Analysis of how the articles portrayed male ED-related characterisations and experiences revealed that they conveyed ambiguous messages about EDs in males. Despite apparently aiming to dispel stereotypes that only young women experience EDs and to address stigma surrounding EDs in males, many aspects of the articles, including repetition of phrases such as 'a young woman's illness', serve to reinforce messages that EDs are inherently 'female' and so 'anomalous' for men. Conclusions Newspaper articles represent men with EDs as atypical of men, as a result of having an ED (and any feminising or demasculinising characteristics associated with this), and as atypical of people with EDs, who are still usually portrayed as teenage girls. Such media representations frame a cultural paradigm in which there is an expectation that men may feel shame about or strive to conceal EDs, potentially contributing to men with EDs delaying help-seeking, gaining late access to treatments and reducing chances of successful outcomes.


Kidneys from broiler chickens at slaughter (6 to 7 weeks of age and mixed sex) were collected by U.S. Department of Agriculture personnel. Forty kidneys were collected from grossly normal birds with grossly normal kidneys (Group D). Grossly swollen kidneys were collected from birds that were otherwise grossly normal (Group A), that had gross lesions of Marek's disease (Group B), or that had gross lesions of squamous cell carcinoma (Group C). These kidneys were fixed in Carson's 10% buffered formalin, embedded in plastic, sectioned at 2 microns, and then stained with periodic acid-Schiff-hematoxylin for glomerular cell counting. Tissue was also processed for electron microscopy from six Group D birds and from six birds total from Groups A, B, and C that had the most severe histologic glomerular lesions. Glomerular tuft cell counts and visceral epithelial cell counts were performed by light microscopy at a magnification of 100x (oil immersion). Total tuft cell counts of all abnormal groups (A, B, and C) were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than those of Group D. Reptilian glomerular tuft cell counts for all abnormal groups were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than the reptilian glomerular tuft counts for Group D. Mammalian glomerular tuft cell counts for Groups A and B were significantly higher than those of the control group (Group D). Electron microscopic examination of the glomeruli from selected birds revealed no dense deposits in the basement membrane and no effacement of epithelial podocyte foot processes. No essential ultrastructural differences were noted between the control group and the abnormal groups.


Fibroblasts, a rich source of chemokines, interact with eosinophils and play a key role in the pathogenesis of airway disease. RANTES is produced by fibroblasts to attract and activate eosinophils. LPS is known to induce RANTES and cause protein tyrosine phosphorylation. Nonreceptor protein tyrosine kinase Syk is widely expressed and an important role in intracellular signal transduction in hemopoietic cells. In the present study, we examined whether Syk was expressed in a number of primary human nasal polyp tissue-derived fibroblast lines and whether it played some role in cellular function. Syk proteins were expressed in human nasal fibroblasts, but the expression level varied. There were positive correlations between the level of Syk expression and RANTES production induced by LPS. Overexpression of wild-type Syk by gene transfer enhanced RANTES production from nasal fibroblasts stimulated with LPS. The decrease of Syk expression by the administration of Syk antisense inhibited RANTES production. These results suggest that Syk expression affects RANTES production in fibroblasts of nasal polyps.


Infertility is a very common problem which may have social, cultural, and economical consequences. Fibromyalgia also frequently affects women of reproductive age. Both conditions impair quality of life and adversely influence sleep quality, as well. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between female infertility and fibromyalgia as well as their effects on quality of life, sleep quality, and several reproductive hormones. This study included 52 infertile women and 38 women who attended to the obstetrics and gynecology outpatient clinic for family planning purposes. The diagnosis of fibromyalgia was made as per American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria. Study participants were asked to complete Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), and fibromyalgia impact questionnaire (FIQ). The frequency of fibromyalgia was not significantly different between the groups. Infertile women in this study were younger, had significantly lower educational status, and less likely to be employed compared with the control group. Among the SF-36 subscales physical functioning, role physical, vitality, mental health, social functioning, and bodily pain scores were lower in the control group than the infertile group. PSQI total score was not different between the groups. Although infertility is known to be stressful, the burden of caring for small children is also high for mothers which should be taken into consideration while evaluating the effects of infertility, and motherhood on quality of life and sleep quality of women at childbearing age. Received :09.09.2020 Received in revised form :23.10.2020 Accepted :02.11.2020 Available online :05.01.2021


Applications with Service-oriented Enterprise Architectures in the Cloud are emerging and will shape future trends in technology and communication. The development of such applications integrates Enterprise Architecture and Management with Architectures for Services & Cloud Computing, Web Services, Semantics and Knowledge-based Systems, Big Data Management, among other Architecture Frameworks and Software Engineering Methods. In the present work in progress research, we explore Service-oriented Enterprise Architectures and application systems in the context of Big Data applications in cloud settings. Using a Big Data scenario, we investigate the integration of Services and Cloud Computing architectures with new capabilities of Enterprise Architectures and Management. The underlying architecture reference model can be used to support semantic analysis and program comprehension of service-oriented Big Data Applications. Enterprise Services Computing is the current trend for powerful large-scale information systems, which increasingly converge with Cloud Computing environments. In this paper we combine architectures for services with cloud computing. We propose a new integration model for service-oriented Enterprise Architectures on basis of ESARC - Enterprise Services Architecture Reference Cube, which is our previous developed service-oriented enterprise architecture classification framework, with MFESA - Method Framework for Engineering System Architectures - for the design of service-oriented enterprise architectures, and the systematic development, diagnostics and optimization of architecture artifacts of service-oriented cloud-based enterprise systems for Big Data applications.


Restorative justice was initially used for minor crimes, but it has been increasingly used to address the aftermath of violent crimes. Previous studies have indicated that restorative justice can be effective in reducing the harmful effects of violent victimization. However, there is limited research on how restorative justice can support victim recovery. This article presents a theoretical framework to better understand the relationship between victim recovery and restorative justice. The framework identifies core recovery factors that are common to victims of different types of violence, as well as those that are relevant to the restorative justice process. In addition, the framework highlights enabling factors that can facilitate the victim recovery process when present in restorative justice as well as inhibiting factors that can impede the victim recovery process if they are present in restorative justice.


Purpose: The highly complex pediatric patients with congenital heart disease require interprofessional teamwork and collaboration to ensure high-quality outcomes with low mortality and morbidity (Congenit Heart Dis. 2013;8:3–19). The purpose of this study was to conduct an impact evaluation for a newly formed pediatric cardiac intensive care unit (PCICU) and to answer: Is there a difference between the pediatric intensive care unit and the PCICU on clinical outcome measures of pediatric cardiac postoperative patients and nursing resources? Design: A retrospective pretest/posttest design was used with the independent variables being type of intensive care unit. The confounding variables included demographic data, clinical outcome data, registered nurse (RN) staffing data, and RN turnover data. Setting: The setting was a large, level I pediatric medical and surgical intensive care unit (ICU) located at a children's hospital within an academic medical center. Sample: The population was pediatric cardiac postoperative patients. Patients excluded were those older than 18 years or cases without a Society of Thoracic Surgeons and European Association for Cardiothoracic Surgery Congenital Heart Surgery Mortality Category score of 1 through 5. Methods: Owen's impact evaluation method and descriptive statistical measures, t test and Pearson &khgr;2 test, were used for analysis. Results: Demographic data were comparable between the pediatric intensive care unit (n = 296) and PCICU (n = 333). No statistical differences were found in several of the clinical outcome measures. Statistically significant differences were found in surgeon (P = .00) and RN nursing hours per patient day for all cardiac patients (P = .01). The PCICU time frame had a higher RN turnover rate. Conclusions: The majority of quality measures were not statistically different between the 2 ICUs. Even though statistical significance was not reached, the clinical impact of the PCICU's reduction in patient infections, mortality, and ICU length of stay was noted. Implications: This evaluation has provided organizational leaders the quality indicators and costs that have been impacted with the addition of interprofessional teamwork and coordination of care through the development of a PCICU.


The quality of measurement data is critical to the accuracy of both outdoor and indoor localization methods. Due to the inevitable measurement error, the analytics on the error data is critical to evaluate localization methods and to find the effective ones. For indoor localization, Received Signal Strength (RSS) is a convenient and low-cost measurement that has been adopted in many localization approaches. However, using RSS data for localization needs to solve a fundamental problem, that is, how accurate are these methods? The reason of the low accuracy of the current RSS-based localization methods is the oversimplified analysis on RSS measurement data. In this proposed work, we adopt a generalized measurement model to find optimal estimators whose estimated error is equal to the Cramer-Rao Lower Bound (CRLB). Through mathematical techniques, the key factors that affect the accuracy of RSS-based localization methods are revealed, and the analytics expression that discloses the proportional relationship between the localization accuracy and these factors is derived. The significance of our discovery has two folds: First, we present a general expression for localization error data analytics, which can explain and predict the accuracy of range-based localization algorithms; second, the further study on the general analytics expression and its minimum can be used to optimize current localization algorithms.


We present sensitive, high angular resolution (6 ′′ × 5 ′′ ) λ21-cm observations of the neutral hydrogen in the nearby barred Seyfert galaxy, NGC4151. These HI observations, obtained using the VLA in B-configuration, are the highest resolution to date of this galaxy, and reveal hitherto unprecedented detail in the distribution and kinematics of the HI on sub-kiloparsec scales. A complete analysis and discussion of the HI data are presented and the global properties of the galaxy are related to the bar dynamics presented in Paper I. HI absorption, consistent with previous studies, is detected against the radio continuum nucleus and shows two components – a deep absorption component, centred at 987 ± 1 km s −1 and width 87 ± 3 km s −1 , and a weaker component, redshifted to 1096 ± 6 km s −1 with a width of 35 ± 15 km s −1 . An alternative fit is also presented. In addition to the absorption, a high velocity cloud is detected in emission, coincident with the nucleus. This cloud is red-shifted by 260 km s −1 from systemic, has an HI mass of 2.3 × 10 7 M⊙, and corresponds to outflow on the far side of the nucleus. Contrary to previous studies, no HI bridge is detected reaching from the shocks directly across the nucleus. Instead, the gas streams from the shocks onto smaller orbits and forms fingers of HI which wind around the nucleus, consistent with predictions from general numerical simulations of bars. These fingers correspond closely with dust arcs seen in optical studies and resemble nuclear features seen by others in weak barred galaxies such as M100. A new rotation curve is presented, extending to within 8 ′′ of the nucleus and showing a turnover at a radius of �35 ′′ , which was previously undetected in lower resolution studies. The corresponding resonance curve and the properties of the shocks (Paper I) yield a bar pattern speed of 24.5 ± 3.7 km s −1 and one Inner Lindblad Resonance (ILR) at a radius of 2.8 ±0.6 kpc. Our observations, however, do not rule out the possibility of an Inner ILR.


Solid state controlled drive systems are viewed as nonlinear loads by AC mains as they generate harmonic currents and create a reactive power burden on the grid. This paper presents a comparison of power quality aspects of switched reluctance and permanent magnet brushless DC motor drives. The key issues covered under power quality comparison are reactive kVA drawn, harmonic spectrum, total harmonic distortion and power factor of the two drives. Experimental results are presented for the motor operating at different loading conditions. A comparison of the results is carried out to assess the level of pollution caused to the utility by each drive system.


Brown adipocytes play a critical role for adaptive thermogenesis to regulate body temperature in cold or to circumvent diet-induced obesity. In this study, we investigated the role of cellular repressor of E1A-stimulated genes 1 (CREG1) on brown adipogenesis and uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) expression by using in vitro culture models. In murine mesenchymal stem cell line C3H10T1/2, Creg1 mRNA expression significantly increased in a time-dependent manner along with Ucp1 mRNA induction in brown adipogenesis. Creg1 gene overexpression upregulated the expression of brown fat-related genes including Ucp1 but its suppression downregulated these gene expression in C3H10T1/2 cells. Unlike the brown adipogenesis, Creg1 mRNA expression decreased significantly after differentiation stimulation in white adipogenesis of 3T3-L1 cells. Either Creg1 gene overexpression or suppression hardly affected white adipogenesis. In addition, CREG1 protein stimulated brown adipogenesis and rescued the adipogenesis in the absence of thyroid hormone in C3H10T1/2 cells. In reporter assay, CREG1 induction stimulated Ucp1 promoter activity, which was enhanced by co-expression with thyroid hormone receptors. The effect of CREG1 on Ucp1 promoter activity was also stimulated by retinoic acid. These results strongly suggest that CREG1 plays an important role on the regulation of UCP1 expression and brown adipogenesis.


Summary For many diseases the infection status of individuals cannot be observed directly, but can only be inferred from biomarkers that are subject to measurement error. Diagnosis of infection based on observed symptoms can itself be regarded as an imperfect test of infection status. The temporal relationship between infection and marker outcomes may be complex, especially for recurrent diseases where individuals can experience multiple bouts of infection. We propose an approach that first models the unobserved longitudinal infection status of individuals conditional on relevant covariates, and then jointly models the longitudinal sequence of biomarker outcomes conditional on infection status and covariate information through time, thus resulting in a joint model for longitudinal infection and biomarker sequences. This model can be used to investigate the temporal dynamics of infection, and to evaluate the usefulness of biomarkers for monitoring purposes. Our work is motivated and illustrated by a longitudinal study of bovine digital dermatitis (BDD) on commercial dairy farms in North West England and North Wales, in which the infection of interest is Treponeme spp., and the biomarkers of interest are a continuous enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay test outcome and a dichotomous outcome, foot lesion status. BDD is known to be one of the possible causes of foot lesions in cows.


Occlusion issue is the biggest challenge in pedestrian detection. RCNN-based detectors extract instance features by cropping rectangle regions of interest in the feature maps. However, the visible pixels of the occluded objects are limited, making the rectangle instance feature mixed with a lot of instance-irrelevant noise information. Besides, by counting the number of instances with different degrees of overlap of CrowdHuman dataset, we find that the number of severely overlapping objects and the number of slightly overlapping objects are unbalanced, which may exacerbate the challenges posed by occlusion issues. Regarding to the noise issue, from the perspective of denoising, an iterable dynamic instance noise filter (DINF) is proposed for the RCNN-based pedestrian detectors to improve the signal-noise ratio of the instance feature. Simulating the wavelet denoising process, we use the instance feature vector to generate dynamic convolutional kernels to transform the RoIs features to a domain in which the near-zero values represent the noise information. Then, soft thresholding with channel-wise adaptive thresholds is applied to convert the near-zero values to zero to filter out noise information. For the imbalance issue, we propose an IoU-Focal factor (IFF) to modulate the contributions of the well-regressed boxes and the bad-regressed boxes to the loss in the training process, paying more attention to the minority severely overlapping objects. Extensive experiments conducted on CrowdHuman and CityPersons demonstrate that our methods can help RCNN-based pedestrian detectors achieve state-of-the-art performance.


We used immunogold staining and stereology to examine the ultrastructural localization and to estimate the relative content of CD44 in different strata and cell types of normal human epidermis. We found that CD44 existed almost exclusively on the plasma membranes; only rare labeling occurred on vesicular structures within the cytoplasm. Quantitation of the immunogold particles indicated that the labeling density of melanocytes corresponded to that of basal keratinocytes, and Langerhans cells displayed a labeling density of ∼10% that of the surrounding spinous cells. Among keratinocyte strata, the highest labeling density occurred on spinous cells, suggesting upregulation of CD44 after detachment from the basement membrane. The plasma membrane distribution of CD44 was compartmentalized, with little signal on cell–cell and cell-substratum contact sites such as desmosomes, the plasma membrane domain facing the basement membrane, and the close apposition of terminally differentiating granular cells. In contrast, CD44 was abundant on plasma membrane domains facing an open intercellular space, rich in hyaluronan. This distribution is in line with a role of CD44 as a hyaluronan receptor, important in the maintenance of the intercellular space for nutritional and cell motility functions in stratified epithelia.


We study the Newton observer design, developed by Moraal and Grizzle (1995), when the exact discrete-time model of the sampled-data system is not available analytically. The hybrid reconstruction of the Newton observer in (Arcak, 2006) eliminates the dependence on this exact discrete-time model by numerical integration and finite difference Jacobian approximations. This paper reduces the computational cost of (Arcak, 2006) using an inexact Newton method and the generalized minimum residuals (GM-RES) algorithm. It then studies how a line search scheme can be incorporated in this modified Newton observer to enlarge the region of convergence


Current class of conceptualizations of customer based brand equity (CBBE) which explains the formation of brand equity on the basis of consumers' cognition and behavior are primarily built on the foundations of associative network theory. This paper identifies that theoretically a stable point estimate of CBBE cannot be derivable using this foundation. Primary objective of this paper is to prove this hypothesis using an experimental design. Thereafter, a case is made for re-looking at CBBE within motivational perspective. Accordingly, need for motivational perspective is outlined and a new definition of CBBE is proposed.


At the center of the Milky Way, with a distance of ∼8 kpc, the compact source Sagittarius A* (SgrA*) can be associated with a super massive black hole of ∼4x 106M⊙. SgrA* shows strong variability from the radio to the X-ray wavelength domains. Here we report on simultaneous NIR/sub-millimeter/X-ray observations from May 2007 that involved the NACO adaptive optics (AO) instrument at the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope, the Australian Telescope Compact Array (ATCA), the US mm-array CARMA, the IRAM 30m mm-telescope, and other telescopes. We concentrate on the time series of mm/sub-mm data from CARMA, ATCA, and the MAMBO bolometer at the IRAM 30m telescope.


ABSTRACT The genetic diversity of the natural freshwater community of cyanophages and its variations over time have been investigated for the first time in the surface waters of the largest natural lake in France. This was done by random screening of clone libraries for the g20 gene and by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Nucleotide sequence analysis revealed 35 distinct cyanomyovirus g20 genotypes among the 47 sequences analyzed. Phylogenetic analyses showed that these sequences fell into seven genetically distinct operational taxonomic units (OTUs). The distances between these OTUs were comparable to those reported between marine clusters. Moreover, some of these freshwater cyanophage sequences were genetically more closely related to marine cyanophage sequences than to other freshwater sequences. Both approaches for the g20 gene (sequencing and DGGE analysis) showed that there was a clear seasonal pattern of variation in the composition of the cyanophage community that could reflect changes in its biological, chemical, and/or physical environment.


This paper focuses on current patterns of restructuring in Russian Karelia's timber industry, which constitutes the backbone of the regional economy. In particular, the paper investigates the relationship between an increased export orientation of this industry and a notable worsening of its output structure, combined with a lack of technological innovations. This situation results in a general instability of Karelian economy, which is increasingly dependent on fluctuations of international timber prices, as well as on exchange rate policy of the Russian government and central bank. This results in a decline in Karelian living standards, especially in remote rural settlements, which are crucially dependent on export of raw timber. Moreover, the current business climate in Russia strengthens Karelia's specialisation in export of raw timber and deters investment in higher-added-value timber-processing industries. The paper discusses this relationship and suggests that the Republic should start to stimulate the development of domestic-market-oriented timber-processing industries on account of an active inward investment promotion strategy.


The prevalence of obesity and associated medical disorders has increased dramatically in the United States and throughout much of the world in the past decade. Obesity, induced by excess intake of carbohydrates and fats, is a major cause of Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and the cardiorenal metabolic syndrome. There is emerging evidence that excessive nutrient intake promotes signaling through the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), which, in turn, may lead to alterations of cellular metabolic signaling leading to insulin resistance and obesity-related diseases, such as diabetes, cardiovascular and kidney disease, as well as cancer. While the pivotal role of mTOR signaling in regulating metabolic stress, autophagy, and adaptive immune responses has received increasing attention, there remain many gaps in our knowledge regarding this important nutrient sensor. For example, the precise cellular signaling mechanisms linking excessive nutrient intake and enhanced mTOR signaling with increased cardiovascular and kidney disease, as well as cancer, are not well understood. In this review, we focus on the effects that the interaction between excess intake of nutrients and enhanced mTOR signaling have on the promotion of obesity-associated diseases and potential therapeutic strategies involving targeting mTOR signaling.


Writers, observers, and practitioners of international politics frequently invoke the term "geopolitics" to describe, explain, or analyze specific foreign policy issues and problems. Such generalized usage ignores the fact that geopolitics as a method of understanding international relations has a history that includes a common vocabulary, well-established if sometimes conflicting concepts, an extensive body of thought, and a recognized group of theorists and scholars. In Geopolitics, Francis P. Sempa presents salient aspects of the history of geopolitical thought and applies its classical analyses to Cold War and post-Cold War international relations.


This thesis presents a new type of solar simulator and new measurement
methods that allow for fast power rating of photovoltaic devices and for fast
performance measurements for energy rating and energy yield predictions
indoors under controlled, and more realistically simulated outdoor conditions.
A novel indoor measurement system for photovoltaic device characterisation
based on light emitting diodes (LEDs) as the light sources is described. The
solar simulator is capable of reproducing spectral changes seen in natural
sunlight, with its intricacies of variable air mass and weather conditions, to a
better match than previously possible. Furthermore, it allows measurements
under varying light intensity and device temperature.
The prototype LED-based solar simulator developed is characterised and its
measurement quality is analysed. The system achieves a class BAA solar
simulator classification with a class B spectral match, class A light intensity
uniformity and a class A temporal stability. It is the first system of its kind that
meets the standards of a solar simulator in spectral match to the standard
sunlight spectrum and in terms of minimum light intensity. An uncertainty
analysis shows that calibration uncertainty for crystalline silicon solar cells is
5% in maximum power with a 95.45% level of confidence. Recommendations
for further versions of the solar simulator are given and show potential of
reducing this uncertainty down to 2.9% across all measurement spectra
(1.8% with a primary calibrated reference cell).
A new method for automated power-rating of single- and multi-junction
devices is developed. The method uses a unique spectral response
measurement and fitting method. It eliminates the need of external
measurement equipment for determining spectral response. A simulated
characterisation of an amorphous silicon single- and double-junction solar
cell show accuracy of better than 0.5% in maximum power. First
measurements on the LED-based solar simulator show a measurement error of 4.5% in maximum power, which is due to a lack of measurement feedback
of spectral output and measurement irradiance.
The first three-dimensional performance matrix for use in photovoltaic energy
rating is reported, utilising the LED-based solar simulator. Device
characteristics are measured indoors under varying irradiance, temperature
and spectrum. A measurement method is detailed and utilised on a
crystalline and amorphous silicon solar cell. It allows for the first time a direct
investigation of spectral effects on photovoltaic devices under controlled
conditions. Results show that amorphous silicon devices are very sensitive to
changes in spectrum. Thus, spectral effects should not be neglected in energy yield predictions for such devices.


Proper evaluation of clinical innovations and of the process of their diffusion is essentialfor the development of sound health care policy. This case study examines transcutaneous oxygen monitoring in neonatal intensive care, a procedure that was rapidly adopted in the late 1970s as a scientific breakthrough of great promise, then all but abandoned within a decade in favor of pulse oximetry, a still more recent technology. The study incorporates the results of interviews with representatives of industry as well as biomedical researchers and clinicians involved with these devices. Factors in technology diffusion are analyzed, with special attention to those susceptible to change by policy makers. Participants in the diffusion process also include nurses, hospital administrators, the legal profession, the news media, and the public, but the pivotal roleand hence ultimate responsibility-is seen to be that of the physician. The discussion is presented in the context of a proposed "ethics of evidence " pertinent to medical decision making.


The bringing back of the quality of education to the work of teachers has prompted a whole range of teacher research at international level. The OECD's international teacher researches sought to explore the possibilities of attracting and retaining teachers as well as the conditions for ensuring their professional development by interpreting the teaching profession as a complex vocation. (OECD, 2009) Some developed countries have to face significant teacher shortages. International reports identify teacher shortages as a serious problem with the expansion of education and the loss of career prestige (Mihály, 2002). Despite the fact that, unlike in many European countries, there is no shortage of teachers in the absolute sense in Hungary, the first signs of this are also visible also in our country (Ság-Ercsei, 2012a and 2012b). However, the problem of teacher shortages and career abandonment is mostly not a quantitative issue, but a structural one. It is therefore important to understand the characteristics of the career leavers and the reasons for leaving the field. In this study, we formulate the theoretical basics of our study done among vocational teachers.


Wetlands are one of the most important natural areas of the world, since they provide habitats to various kinds of animals and plants, some of which are endemic and perform vital ecosystem services, including carbon sequestration, water quality protection, and flood mitigation. Unfortunately, wetlands are destroyed by human-induced effects such as urbanization and pollution. Turkey has several wetlands, and nine of these areas are defined as "A" type-wetlands according to the RAMSAR agreement, which was signed by Turkey in 1994. The Izmir Bird Paradise is one of the most valuable wetlands. However, this area has been threatened by the drying out of marshes, unplanned urbanization, agricultural facilities, and water pollution for years. A significant ecological disaster had been experienced leading up to the year 2002, when the area was selected as a first-degree nature protection zone. The aim of this study is to determine the dimensions of the continuing human-induced ecological disaster at the Izmir Bird Paradise. For this purpose, integration and classification techniques are used to measure the changes in this Bird Paradise by using Landsat data acquired in 2000, 2003, and 2006. The results obtained in this study clearly show that urbanization seriously affected the study area during the 6-year period. During this period, the urban areas have been expanded from 1626.66 ha to 3439.35 ha, and the wetland areas have been reduced from 701.55 ha to 585.63 ha. A considerable amount of area loss has occurred in the agricultural lands. The results show that the study area is still under the threat of human-induced damage.


Ibuprofen (an anti-inflammatory drug) has been loaded onto two different surfactant-templated silicas (SBA-15 and MCM-48). To evaluate the effect of the drug-solvent combination on the loading capacity of the silica, we have performed ibuprofen adsorption experiments using 10 different solvents; we have interpreted our experimental results assuming a chemical equilibrium between the ibuprofen adsorbed on the silica and that remaining in solution. To estimate the equilibrium constant for different solvents, we have calculated the free energy in solution for the ibuprofen molecule using the polarizable continuum model (PCM) to take the solvent into account. The results have been analyzed statistically to eliminate the effects of the dispersion of experimental data; results reveal a statistically significant (95-99%) linear relationship between the ibuprofen loading capacity and its free energy in solution calculated with the PCM solvation model. In addition, useful relationships between loading capacity and dielectric constant and molecular size of the solvents are established.


The scheme of a semiconductor quantum-well laser is proposed for the simultaneous generation of TE0 and TM0 modes with different frequencies in the near-IR region. The possibility of efficient terahertz difference-frequency generation by this laser is considered. It is shown that for the 100-μm-wide active region of the laser and for the 1-W near-IR modes, the laser power at the difference frequency in the 1–8-THz region can achieve ∼1 μmW at room temperature.


If an individual's education level provides socioeconomic advantages (or disadvantages), and if it is possible to reallocate resources in such a way as to alter the distribution of education in a given population, then it is necessary to devise criteria to evaluate how just are different distributions of education and to define how resources could be assigned in order to conduct to a as-just-as-possible distribution. This paper attempts at systematizing the task of defining justice in education. As for theoretical frameworks to undertake normative analyses, refinements to standard welfare economics are emphasized, especially those offered by the theories of functionings and capabilities, and equality of opportunities. Practical implications for the Brazilian context are discussed, and open questions are unveiled. We argue that reflecting about justice in education is an important task, with plenty of consequences, but also an elusive endeavor.


Objective: Lubricin is the principal boundary lubricant on articular cartilage. We aimed to describe the distribution of lubricin in the other articulating structures in the human knee and hip—menisci and labra—and to relate this distribution to the degree of tissue degeneration. Methods: Eighteen menisci and 6 labra were obtained from patients with osteoarthritis undergoing total knee and total hip replacements, respectively. Macroscopically intact specimens were fixed in formalin and processed for H&E staining and immunohistochemical evaluation with an antilubricin monoclonal antibody. Results: Lubricin was found in all tissues as a discrete layer on the tissue surface, within the extracellular matrix, and intracellularly, indicating that it plays a role in the tribology of these tissues in human subjects, and can be synthesized by cells within the tissues. While none of the samples displayed macroscopic tears, approximately 40% of the surface of the menisci and 80% of the surface of the labra displayed microscopic fibrillations and slight fraying. There was no effect of the degenerative changes on the distribution of lubricin. Conclusions: Lubricin coats nearly the entirety of the surfaces of menisci and labra, including microfibrillations and tears, with possible implications towards the tribology of the tissues and healing of tissue damage.


This article outlines a new method for surveys to study elections and voter attitudes. Pre-election surveys often suffer from an inability to identify and survey the likely electorate for the upcoming election. We propose a new and inexpensive method to conduct representative surveys of the electorate. We demonstrate the performance of our method in producing a representative sample of the future electorate that can be used to study campaign dynamics and many other issues. We compare pre-election outcome forecasts to election outcomes in seven primary and general election surveys conducted prior to the 2008 and 2010 primary and general elections in three states. The results indicate that the methodology produces representative samples, including in low-turnout elections such as primaries where traditional methods have difficulty consistently sampling the electorate. This new methodology combines Probability Proportional to Size (PPS) sampling, mailed invitation letters, and online administration of the questionnaire. The PPS sample is drawn based on a model employing variables from the publicly available voter file to produce a probability of voting score for each individual voter. The proposed method provides researchers a valuable tool to study the attitudes of the voting public.


One of the key challenges in human health is the identification of disease-causing genes like AIDS (Acquired ImmunoDeficiency Syndrome). Numerous studies have addressed this challenge through gene expression analysis. Due to the amount of data available, processing DNA microarrays in a way that makes biomedical sense is still a major issue.
Statistical methods and data mining techniques play a key role in discovering previously unknown knowledge. However, applying such techniques in this context is difficult because the number of measurement points (i.e., gene expression levels) is much higher than the number of samples resulting in the well-known curse of dimensionality problem also called the high feature-to-sample ratio.
We propose a combination of data mining and visual analytics methods to identify and render groups of genes implied in HIV infections and sharing common behaviors.