Multifunctional composite structures offer unique features such as the ability to sense and respond to external stimuli that can be force, pressure or temperature. Knitted preforms are popular due their excellent properties like flexibility and impact resistance. So far, most of the research is focused on mechanical properties of rigid knitted composites structures. In this research, a preform for a composite is produced having a knitted functional sensing layer constructed using stainless steel yarn. The flexible knitted composite is developed by treating the knitted preform with a flexible resin via vacuum infusion process. The characteristics of the functional layer are investigated at the preform stage by carrying out tensile and cyclic tests. The results from these experiments show that the design of the knitted sensing preform has a substantial effect on the sensor sensitivity under different extension regions.


The histories and futures of Indigenous peoples and salmon are inextricably bound across the vast ocean expanse and rugged coastlines of the North Pacific. Keystone Nations addresses this enmeshment and the marriage of the biological and social sciences that have led to the research discussed in this book. Salmon stocks and Indigenous peoples across the northern Pacific region represent a significance beyond their size in maintaining the viability and legitimacy of ecological and political systems. Both species' futures are simultaneously a matter of the conservation concerns of natural scientists and the political agenda of Indigenous sovereignty movements that arc across the northern hemisphere. If wild salmon vanish in the North Pacific, as they largely have in the North Atlantic, their absence will herald the cascading failure of a complete marine system. If Indigenous peoples vanish from the North Pacific, as they largely have in the North Atlantic, their absence will sound the failure of the world's dominant political powers to recognise the human right to cultural expression and survival.


Recent years concerns related with ambient air quality is prominent due to increments in the entropy and ozone layer depletion. Green house gas emission from the industries is the key contributing factor in the increase in carbon foot prints. The accurate prediction of hazardous gases in the environment can be beneficial information to initiate the corrective strategies for reduction in carbon foot prints. This paper presents a supervised learning based prediction engine for prediction of Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter (RSPM). "Supervised learning" takes a known set of input data and known responses to the data, and seeks to build a predictor model that generates reasonable predictions for the response of new data. Data of 2012,2013 and 2014 of an industrial area of Kota city is employed to train, test and validate four different topologies of the neural networks namely Feed Forward Neural Network (FFNN), Layer Recurrent Neural Network (LRNN),Nonlinear autoregressive Exogenous (NARX) and Radial Basis Function Neural Network (RBFN). A meaningful comparison between these topologies revealed that RBFN is a suitable topology for prediction engine. PM10 constitutes solid and liquid suspended particles having an aerodynamic diameter up to 10 μm (micro meter). It is a common pollutant among all sectors namely transports domestic, industries and manufacturing so it is the major common pollutant need to be taken under consideration in terms of air pollution. Most of the cities of India exceed PM10 levels according to the National ambient air quality standard (NAAQS). PM10 is responsible for heart and lungs diseases. To decrease the mortality rate due to these pollutant Effective countermeasures need to be taken. The precise prediction of pollutant needed to alert the population.


Background/Aims: Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are key players in the development and progression of human cancers. The lncRNA XIST (X-inactive specific transcript) has been shown to be upregulated in human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC); however, its role and molecular mechanisms in NSCLC cell progression remain unclear. Methods: qRT-PCR was conducted to assess the expression of XIST and miR-186. Cell proliferation was detected using MTT assay. Cell invasion and migration were evaluated using transwell assay. Cell cycle distribution and apoptosis rates were analyzed by flow cytometry. Luciferase reporter assay was used to identify the direct regulation of XIST and miR-186. A RNA immunoprecipitation was used to analyze whether XIST was associated with the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC). Results: We confirmed that XIST was upregulated in NSCLC cell lines and tissues. Functionally, XIST knockdown inhibited cancer cell proliferation and invasion, and induced apoptosis in vitro, and suppressed subcutaneous tumor growth in vivo. Mechanistic investigations revealed a reciprocal repressive interaction between XIST and miR-186-5p. Furthermore, we showed that miR-186-5p has a binding site for XIST. Our data also indicated that XIST and miR-1865p are likely in the same RNA induced silencing complex. Conclusion: Together, our data revealed that XIST knockdown confers suppressive function in NSCLC and XIST may be a novel therapeutic marker in this disease.


Report and posters completed by students enrolled in PA 5253: Planning and Participation Processes, taught by Dan Milz in fall 2017.


In the framework of antenna array synthesis and control, this thesis focus on the development and analysis of techniques based on the Bayesian Compressive Sensing (BCS) for the design of sparse antenna arrays and for the estimation of the direction of arrival (DoA) of signals impinging on an antenna array. After formulating the sparse-array synthesis problem in a probabilistic fashion, the single-task BCS (ST-BCS) is applied to the synthesis of symmetrical antenna arrays with real weights. In order to deal with the synthesis of sparse arrays with complex weights, the multitask version of the BCS (MT-BCS) is employed to correlate the real and imaginary part of the resulting excitation distribution. Concerning the DoA estimation problem, starting from the observation that the signals impinging on the antenna array are sparse in the spatial domain, a single-snapshot ST-BCS -based technique is proposed. Moreover, the MT-BCS -based extension of this technique is introduced in order to enhance the quality of the estimations through the exploitation of the correlation among different snapshots. In the numerical validation, an exhaustive analysis has been performed to assess effectiveness, reliability, but also limitations of the proposed methodologies. Comparisons with state-of-the-art are reported and discussed, as well.


This extended abstract provides an overview of the environmental liabilities of oil and gas assets, asset retirement obligations (AROs) and environmental reporting requirements under the regulatory regimes in Alberta, in Canada and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Lifecycle asset liability and environmental management processes are associated with abandonment, remediation and reclamation, decommissioning and closure.
Alberta's production of conventional oil and gas and oil sands projects has resulted in increased concerns related to climate changes and environmental liabilities of oilfield assets. More stringent regulatory compliance and standards have been developed and are likely to continue. Operators are responsible for the costs to comply with environmental regulations and take sufficient social responsibilities. The industrial experience of discharging liabilities has indicated that planning at early stages of the operation and managing asset liability bring a reduced cost and risk. Full lifecycle cost-effective and efficient environmental management begins with planning and successful acquisition. The best estimate calculation can be based on internal or external costs, depending on which is most likely.


Aims: This study tries to know the socio-economic condition of the fisherman of the Hoar area of Bangladesh. Study Design: This is a cross-sectional study and both descriptive and analytical in nature. Methodology: To conduct this study 236 sample were selected from three villages adjacent to ShanirHaor and collect primary data through a constructed questionnaire survey. The socioeconomic condition of the fisherman is very poor compared to the other professionals. Results: This study reveals that joint family is much more (93%) than single family and most of the people lives in kacha house. There is a severe problem for pure drinking water, educational Original Research Article Rahman et al.; ARJASS, 7(2): 1-16, 2018; Article no.ARJASS.42982 2 facilities, lack of loan facilities, and lack of essential instruments for fishing. Most of the fishermen are illiterate (49%) and the rate of dropout children from school is high. Most of them are unaffordable in having personal net and boat which is an essential instrument for fishing because of poverty. About 69% of the respondents have to borrow money from local money lenders with high interest when they are in crisis. Conclusion: This study also reveals that there is a significant relationship between income and education, use of net, ownership of boat, sanitation system, housing type etc. The high income of the respondent the standard of livelihood pattern is high. The fishermen expect from the Government to arrange certain facilities like short period loans, transportation, set up of more fish markets and processing units open for marketing of fish.


Background Alkylating agents such as melphalan and bendamustine are commonly used in the treatments of tumors, especially hematologic malignancies. However, the exact mechanisms of their actions to B cells have not been fully clarified. Objectives To investigate the effects of these alkylating agents on B cell functions, and to explore a possible clinical application of the agents to autoimmune diseases. Methods We used two alkylating agents, melphalan and bendamustine, which are inhibitors of DNA replication. We also used methotrexate (MTX), which is another inhibitor of DNA replication and commonly used in rheumatoid arthritis therapies. A human B cell line, Ramos, was cultured in the presence of various concentrations of melphalan, bendamustine or MTX for four days. The proliferation of the cells was analyzed by XTT assay and the secretions of IgM and cytokines by the cells were measured by ELISA. The cells and cellular mRNA were collected for FACS analysis and quantitative RT-PCR, respectively. Nuclear extracts were prepared from the cells and Electrophoresis Mobility Shift Assay (EMSA) was employed for detection of DNA-binding capacity. Results The proliferation of Ramos cells was significantly inhibited by melphalan (2.5-20 μM), bendamustine (25-100 μM) or MTX (0.1-20 μM) in a dose-dependent manner. Concordantly, IgM secretion from Ramos cells was significantly inhibited at these concentrations by up to 70%. Interestingly, however, the production and secretion of interleukin-10 (IL-10) from Ramos were dramatically (>10-fold) increased upon treatment with these drugs. Melphalan and bendamustine induced higher levels of IL-10 than MTX. Moreover, we found that both melphalan and bendamustine enhanced the activation of p38 MAP kinase. Inhibition of p38 MAP kinase by its specific inhibitor led to the abrogation of drug-induced IL-10 production. EMSA revealed that Sp1 was the downstream transcription factor involved in p38 MAP kinase activation by all three drugs (Fig. 1). Figure 1 Conclusions P38 MAP kinase-Sp1 pathway plays a crucial role in IL-10 production from B cells induced by alkylating agents. Our results suggest that cessation of cell division via inhibition of DNA replication induces IL-10 production. MTX may exert its therapeutic effects partly via immunosuppressive effects of IL-10. Our results also suggest that alkylating agents provide a therapeutic tool for autoimmune diseases through anti-inflammatory effects of IL-10. Disclosure of Interest None declared DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.3144


In this paper we describe the mix of text-oriented and data-oriented materials that have arisen during the process of conceptualising the Durham Liber Vitae (DLV) project. We have found a mixing of text- and data-orientedmaterials common in our projects, and that some aspects of SGML and XML markup's conceptual orientation-particularly the strong preference for asserting associations between elements by hierarchy and containment (the OHCO model)-have often obscured the presence of data-oriented (non-hierarchical) elements in the materials, and or encouraged inadequate ways to represent them. Although discussion of XML and its modelling abilities within the Computing Humanities community have tended to focus on issues arising in the OHCO model, the OHCO model itself is not the only modelling approach that XML markup provides. This paper demonstrates a way of taking conventional data modelling diagrams (inherently not OHCO in orientation) and modelling them for XML markup in a way that uses XML's preferred OCHO/containment approach where-ever possible, and XML's link-oriented association (e.g. ID/IDREF) approach between different hierarchies when essential. It then touches on aspects of ownership and reference that seem to lie behind XML's containment and linking association strategies. Finally, it describes some of the difficulties that standard XML tools such as XSLT and XPath (obviously primarily designed with the OHCO model in mind) have when dealing with links in XML, and shows an example of where XQuery's syntax-born out of work with relational databases-better handles queries based around linking.


Cat scratch disease is a zoonotic infectious disease caused by Bartonella henselae. It is usually observed in children and young adults who have a history of contact with cats. It is an important cause of infectious lymphadenopathies and the most common involvement sites are axillary, cervical and inguinal lymph nodes. In this report, we present two male adult cases who complained of axillary and inguinal lymphadenopathy, respectively. Both have a history of contact with cats. The excisional biopsies of the lymphadenopathies were performed. The histopathological examination revealed the granulomatous lymphadenitis, which is consistent with cat scratch disease. Investigation of the patients' serum samples for the presence of specific B. henselae antibodies by indirect immunofluorescence assay revealed B. henselae IgM type antibodies at a titer of 1/40 and 1/320, respectively. The patients were successfully treated with azithromycin. Since, cat scratch disease is a rare infection of adults, it should be taken into consideration in the patients suffering from regional lymphadenopathy with history of direct contact with cats. Klimik Dergisi 2014; 27(2): 78-81.


A. N. SCHOFIELD (2006).Ge´otechnique56, No. 5, 357–358J. B. Burland, Imperial College London, UKProfessor Schofield discusses two issues: (a) the peakstrength of remoulded overconsolidated fine-grained soil andits post-peak behaviour; and (b) the inclusion of interlocking(dilatancy) in plastic design strength. The critical stateframework embraces the state boundary surfaces on the'wet' and 'dry' side, with the critical state line acting as a'watershed' between the two. It has brought a most valuablecoherence to the understanding of the mechanical behaviourof soils. Its practical value is enhanced if its limitations areunderstood as well as its many advantages.Professor Schofield argues that the Hvorslev cohesiveintercept for remoulded overconsolidated fine-grained soilsresults from interlocking, or the rate of dilation, rather thanfrom cohesion between the soil particles. While this inter-pretation seems reasonable, it still requires experimentalverification. Also, an explanation is needed as to why, priorto the formation of slip surfaces, undrained (constant vo-lume) stress paths rise to the same Hvorslev boundingsurface as drained tests that are dilating (see Fig. 8.13 ofSchofield & Wroth, 1968).The uniqueness of the critical state line for a given soilis a concept that is based on the results of experiments ongranular soils and on remoulded clay soils (Roscoe et al.,1958). A close study of the 1958 paper reveals howcircumspect the authors were in putting forward thishypothesis for heavily overconsolidated clay soils. Theystressed the inconclusiveness of the experimental evidence,which was due to the limitations of the triaxial test, therelative magnitude of the corrections that had to be appliedat the low stresses involved, and the difficulty of determin-ing the moisture content in a localised thin region ofconcentrated shearing—a point emphasised by ProfessorSchofield in his letter. The discussion that followed thepublication of the 1958 paper concentrated on the interpre-tation of the experimental evidence for critical states forclay soils on the 'dry' side.In the time since the publication of the 1958 paper theinfluence of the structure and fabric of clay soils has beenstudied extensively. For remoulded fine-grained soils there isevidence to suggest that, within a localised thin layer, pro-gressive orientation of clay particles can take place, resultingin stress ratios that fall below critical state values andculminating in residual strengths. For example, the discusserpresents experimental and microscopic evidence for theformation of thin slip surfaces in an undrained test onremoulded normally consolidated kaolin in which a signifi-cant reduction in stress ratio takes place subsequent to theformation of the slip surface (Burland, 1990, Figs 45–47).The fact that clay particles can orientate progressively duringshearing is undeniable, and the possibility of this occurringwithin a thin layer of gouge cannot be overlooked. It is notobvious that a soil element within such a thin slip surfacemust pass through a critical state (in p9, q, e space) prior tothe particles within it commencing progressive orientation.Thus the critical state line appears to form a useful target,but the discusser believes that it would be wise to retain thecaution that was evident in the original 1958 paper, in thelight of recent understanding of the influences of structureand fabric.The influences of structure become particularly significantin natural soils that have both bonding and fabric. Thecritical state framework for reconstituted samples of the soilprovides a valuable frame of reference for understanding andinterpreting the effects of structure for the natural soil(Burland, 1990).Can dilatancy be included in plastic design strength?Professor Schofield argues that it cannot, and recommendsusing CS friction in limiting equilibrium design methods.The logical conclusion seems to be that, for granular materi-als, we should ignore the very significant increases in thepeak angle of shearing resistance that increases of densitygive. Geotechnical engineers and clients would need muchconvincing if this suggestion was implemented for the de-sign of foundations, retaining walls, tunnels and—to a lesserextent—slopes, as the cost would be significant. An impor-tant factor that seems to have been largely ignored in thedebate about the use of critical state strengths in design isthe rate at which strength reduces beyond peak, and hencethe assessment of the potential in a given problem forprogressive local failure to take place during or subsequentto loading. Such an assessment is problem and soil depen-dent, and the writer urges caution in the use of blanketassertions about the use of critical state strengths in design.There is also a need for guidance as to how precisely thecritical state line and critical strengths should be determinedin natural structured soils.E. T. R. Dean, University of the West Indies, Trinidad andTobagoProfessor Schofield raises interesting questions on thenature of the strength of fine-grained soils, and on theselection of strength parameters for design. In this contribu-tion I should like to add some practical considerations, andone further question.Professor Schofield's question (a) refers to remoulded,reconstituted soil. In practice we often deal with soils thatare 'undisturbed', in the sense that they have not beenremoulded or reconstituted. Examples would include thefoundations of many structures, which essentially rest ononly undisturbed, in situ material. In other cases we dealwith material that is partially disturbed, such as when stiff orhard clay is trucked to a site and compacted as a foundationmaterial or an embankment. For some of these materials a20% shear strain may perhaps not be sufficient to achievethe same kind of remoulding, but might well constitute'failure' in an engineering sense. In Trinidad and othertropical regions there are highly structured clays formed bythe weathering of rock. Offshore, worldwide, it is commonto find ductile clays whose remoulded strengths may be onehalf of their undisturbed strengths: the undisturbed strengthsare typically used in offshore pile design. Tailingsdams retain fine-grained materials formed from mechanical-chemical processes. They may be very different from inert,remoulded, reconstituted 'laboratory'soils.It would be very interesting to this reader if the following


Recommendation systems are pervasive in the digital economy. An important assumption in many deployed systems is that user consumption reflects user preferences in a static sense: users consume the content they like with no other considerations in mind. However, as we document in a large-scale online survey, users do choose content strategically to influence the types of content they get recommended in the future. We model this user behavior as a two-stage noisy signalling game between the recommendation system and users: the recommendation system initially commits to a recommendation policy, presents content to the users during a cold start phase which the users choose to strategically consume in order to affect the types of content they will be recommended in a recommendation phase. We show that in equilibrium, users engage in behaviors that accentuate their differences to users of different preference profiles. In addition, (statistical) minorities out of fear of losing their minority content exposition may not consume content that is liked by mainstream users. We next propose three interventions that may improve recommendation quality (both on average and for minorities) when taking into account strategic consumption: (1) Adopting a recommendation system policy that uses preferences from a prior, (2) Communicating to users that universally liked ("mainstream") content will not be used as basis of recommendation, and (3) Serving content that is personalized-enough yet expected to be liked in the beginning. Finally, we describe a methodology to inform applied theory modeling with survey results.


Two new benzoquinones, citriquinone A (1) and B (2), were isolated from the methanol extract of a soil fungus, Penicillium citrinum. The structures of the new compounds were determined on the basis of detailed spectroscopic analysis. Citriquinone A (1) exhibited antibacterial activity against Bacillus sp. and cell migration inhibitory activity (CMIA) against human cancer cell line HEp 2.


Competitive adsorption of malachite green (MG) in single and binary system on microwave activated epicarp of Ricinus communis (MRC) and microwave assisted zinc chloride activated epicarp of Ricinus communis (ZRC) were analyzed. The preparation of ZRC from Ricinus communis was investigated in this paper. Orthogonal array experimental design method was used to optimize the preparation of ZRC. Optimized parameters were radiation power of 100 W, radiation time of 4 min, concentration of zinc chloride of 30% by volume and impregnation time of 16 h, respectively. The MRC and ZRC were characterized by pHzpc, SEM-EDAX and FTIR analysis. The effect of the presence of one dye solution on the adsorption of the other dye solution was investigated in terms of equilibrium isotherm and adsorption yield. Experimental results indicated that the uptake capacities of one dye were reduced by the presence of the other dye. The adsorption equilibrium data fits the Langmuir model well and follows pseudo second-order kinetics for the bio-sorption process. Among MRC and ZRC, ZRC shows most adsorption ability than MRC in single and binary system.


The psychotomimetic properties of NMDA glutamate receptor antagonists suggest there may be disease related changes of this receptor in schizophrenia. Using in situ hybridisation histochemistry (ISHH), we measured mRNA for the obligatory NMDAR1 subunit of the NMDA glutamate receptor in post-mortem samples of hippocampus from schizophrenics, depressives, bipolar patients and normal controls. A significant main effect of diagnosis was observed in the dentate gyrus (ANOVA, p = 0.004) and a trend in the CA3 region (ANOVA, p = 0.06), with all psychiatric groups having reduced NMDAR1 mRNA levels compared to normal controls. In contrast to the affectively ill groups, the reductions in schizophrenics were more pronounced in the left side compared to the right. Expression of poly A mRNA also showed left-sided losses in the dentate gyrus in schizophrenia but reductions in NMDAR1 remained significant when expressed as a ratio of poly A. The findings confirm a recent report of reduced hippocampal NMDAR1 mRNA in schizophrenia. However, our new evidence suggests that this is a feature of both affective and schizophrenic disorders and that schizophrenia is distinguished from the others by left-sided reductions in hippocampal NMDAR1 gene expression.


As the only water drinking resource in Beijing, the Miyun Reservoir is still suffered over ten thousand tons of sediment input from its upper catchment. Explicating sediment sources of the catchment upstream of the reservoir is urgently required to further implement soil conservation measures. In this paper, the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) and Sediment Delivery (SEDD) models were combined to explicate the major sediment source of the catchment through exploring the spatial distributions of soil erosion and sediment delivery as well as their relations with land use and topography, and sediment source areas were then identified. The catchment average soil erosion intensity (SEI) of 4.08 t ha− 1 yr− 1 was two times the soil loss tolerance (T = 2.00 t ha− 1 yr− 1) of the study region. The values of cell sediment delivery ratio (SDR) showed a network distribution pattern, ranging from zero to unit, with an average of 1.65%. Cell specific sediment yield (SSY) presented a similar spatial pattern to SDR, ranging from 0 to 902 t ha− 1 yr− 1, with an average of 0.04 t ha− 1 yr− 1. Bare land suffered the highest SEI of 39.01 t ha− 1 yr− 1, followed by shrub land and orchard field. Nearly 70% of the sediment came from grass land. Farmland was the second sediment contributor. Grass land and farmland are the two major sediment source areas. Soil conservation practices should be further implemented on these lands, especially on the 3–5°slopes with elevations less than 500 m a.s.l.


Student performance at university is a strong determinant of individual decisions and future outcomes, most notably labour opportunities. Although published studies have found gender differences in student performance in response to pressure, little is known about such differences when university students are exposed to test pressure. Based on field data, this study aims to examine gender differences in student academic performance in response to different levels of pressure when sitting multiple choice tests, a frequently employed exam format at university. To do so, the introduction of continuous assessment in the evaluation system of a university course allows us to exploit a unique quasi-experimental set up in which the same students take similar tests throughout the course but under different levels of pressure. Exploiting two data structures—namely, pooled cross-sections and panel data—we find that male students outperform their female counterparts when under high pressure. However, in low test pressure scenarios the gender gap is narrowed and even reversed in favour of female students. Finally, we analyse the mechanisms responsible for the gender gap by studying how each gender responds to test pressure, and by studying gender differences when omitting test items on multiple choice formats.


By characterizing organic molecules of extra-terrestrial origin included in the Sołtmany meteorite, we also present the first results of the non-targeted chemical analysis of the methanol soluble organic matter present in an L6 ordinary chondrite. The structural characterization by means of ultrahigh resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron mass spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS) with electrospray ionization (ESI) in negative and positive modes demonstrated an unexpected and astonishing chemical diversity with several thousand mass peaks that could be converted into C, H, N, O, S, and P elemental compositions. Molecular signatures were typically those of considerably oxygenated CHO and CHOS molecular series of primarily aliphatic character. 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy confirmed the prevalent existence of pure and functionalized aliphatic spin systems of intermediate chain length (C3-4 units), oxygenated aliphatics and a considerable diversity of oxygenated aromatics in the proton-based abundance ratio near 24 : 2 : 1. Although only residual organic matter allegedly survives in highly thermally altered L6 chondrites, the physical protection of organic matter in microcavities and traps between mineral surfaces might have supported and governed the chemistry with an apparent recalcitrance of extraterrestrial organic matter (EOM). Future studies of the organic matter in ordinary chondrites and its composition and structure in various regimes of (e.g.) temperature, radiation, pressure, and water content could shed light on these meteorites' formation and evolution.


The calibration of complex computer codes using uncertainty quantification (UQ) methods is a rich area of statistical methodological development. When applying these techniques to simulators with spatio-temporal output, it is now standard to use principal component decomposition to reduce the dimensions of the outputs in order to allow Gaussian process emulators to predict the output for calibration. We outline the `terminal case', in which the model cannot reproduce observations to within model discrepancy, and for which standard calibration methods in UQ fail to give sensible results. We show that even when there is no such issue with the model, the standard decomposition on the outputs can and usually does lead to a terminal case analysis. We present a simple test to allow a practitioner to establish whether their experiment will result in a terminal case analysis and a methodology for defining calibration-optimal bases that avoid this whenever it is not inevitable. We apply these ideas to the CanAM4 model to demonstrate the terminal case issue arising for climate models. We discuss climate model tuning and the estimation of model discrepancy within this context, and show how the optimal rotation algorithm can be used in developing practical climate model tuning tools.


This article focuses on the use of multiple banking relationships by SMEs, a key issue given their strong dependence on bank financing in a context of increasing financial constraints and higher risk of credit rationing since the crisis. We investigate whether the use of multiple banking relationships is explained by firms' characteristics or by the quality of the banking relationship. We exploit the results of an original survey conducted on a sample of French SMEs in December 2012. According to the traditional theoretical framework of multiple banking, we find that older, bigger, and betterperforming firms are more likely to access multiple banking relationships. We further find that innovative firms are more likely to engage in multiple banking relationships. We also highlight the explanatory power of an alternative model based on the quality of banking relationship: when the manager trusts its main bank, or when he is closer to his loan officer, the firm will be less likely to engage in multiple banking relationships.


This thesis explores the tensions between the underpinnings of Normative Power Europe (NPE) and the use of the military as a way of norm diffusion, with a focus on Somalia. It is specifically concerned with the impact of the European External Action Service (EEAS), as part of the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), on the evolution of the EU as a 'normative power'. By focusing on this particular interrelation of normative and military power, this project will illustrate the importance of actorness as a constructive element of the EU's normative identity in its external action.
This thesis' contribution stems from critiques of NPE, particularly with reference to its discursive nature. Simultaneously, it emphasises symbolic manifestation as key in addressing the tension between "military" and "normative" power. Whilst it contributes to the literature on CSDP, this thesis is concerned with demonstrating the catalytic role of the establishment of the EEAS in the evolution of the EU's normative identity.
 Through the exploration of the EU's military operations in Somalia - EUTM and EUNAVFOR - this research establishes the compatibility between normative power and military means. This is achieved through content analysis and subsequent critical frame analysis of official EU documentation. The critical frames of 'comprehensive approach', 'effective multilateralism' and 'partnership-ownership' are applied to the strategic documentation, sub-strategies and EU documents relating to Somalia and the Horn of Africa in order to demonstrate the normative elements of the EU's external action as well as how they have altered since the establishment of the EEAS. By examining the consistent operationalisation of the EU's demonstrated intents and subsequent impact in Somalia, this thesis ultimately provides an evaluation of the Union's overall power in normative terms. Most importantly, it makes the case for NPE's pertinence in the study of external action.


Background Osteosarcoma (OS) is a primary malignant bone tumor with a high fatality rate. Many circRNAs have been proved to play important roles in the pathogenesis of some diseases. However, the occurrence of circRNAs in OS remains little known. Methods The circular RNA (circRNA) expression file GSE96964 dataset, which included seven osteosarcoma cell lines and one control sample (osteoblast cell line), was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database to explore the potential function of circRNAs in osteosarcoma by competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) analysis. Three gene expression profiles of OS were downloaded from GEO database and then used for the pathway enrichment analysis, Venn analysis and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis. Real-time qPCR validation and RNA interference were conducted to verify our prediction. Results Differentially expressed circRNAs between OS and control, including 8 up-regulated and 102 down-regulated circRNAs, were generated and ceRNA analysis for 5 most up-regulated or 5 most down-regulated circRNAs in OS were then performed. The pathway enrichment analysis of gene expression profiles indicated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of three gene profiles significantly enriched in cell cycle pathway, cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) pathway, oxidative phosphorylation pathway, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction pathway, p53 signaling pathway and proteoglycans in cancer pathway, which were critical important pathways in the pathogenesis of OS. The Venn analysis showed that 2 (one is a pseudogene) up-regulated and 39 down-regulated DEGs were co-expressed in all three gene profiles. Then PPI networks of 41 co-expressed DEGs (up- and down-regulated DEGs) were constructed to predict their functions using the GeneMANIA. The expression levels of these related RNAs also matched our predictions really well. Conclusion Ultimately, we found cell adhesion molecule 1 (CADM1) gene was not only a co-expression mRNA of the three mRNA expression profiles of OS, but also are predicted to be regulated by hsa_circ_0032462, hsa_circ_0028173, hsa_circ_0005909 by functioning as miRNAs 'Sponge' in human osteosarcoma. These over-expressed circRNAs may result in the over expression of CADM1 which promote the development of OS. We envision this discovery of these important moleculars, incuding hsa_circ_0032462, hsa_circ_0028173, hsa_circ_0005909 and CADM1 may lead to further development of new concepts, thus allowing for more opportunities in diagnosis and therapy of OS.


The elliptic systems method (ESM) developed by the authors is applied to the numerical solution of an inverse problem for the parabolic equation with incomplete data collection. Several cases of data collection are considered, with focus on the scenario of back-reflected data. The principal idea consists of the introduction of a weight function into the elliptic differential operator resulting from the ESM. This function reduces the influence of parts of the boundary where data are not available. A theoretical estimate of the difference between solution with the incomplete data alone and one with `almost complete' data collection is obtained using Carleman estimates. Applications to laser imaging of small abnormalities in human organs, the atmosphere and the ocean are discussed.


The expansion of Hospitality and Tourism Management (HTM) higher education in China and abroad has increased choices for Chinese students, but also brought along fierce competition among HTM institutions. To achieve sustainable competitive advantages in the global educational market, HTM institutions need to clearly understand the decision-making process of prospective students. A better grasp of the motives for opting for an HTM program and choice criteria considered will facilitate the planning of effective marketing strategies. A vast majority of the previous research on students' decision-making was conducted in the West and it was found that only little of it focused exclusively on HTM students in China. This latter point is precisely what prompted this study. Its purpose is thus (1) to investigate Chinese students' motives for studying HTM after high school, (2) identify the choice criteria Chinese students applied when selecting HTM higher educational institutions, and (3) explore Chinese students' desire to study abroad, their preferred countries as well as the factors influencing this choice. 390 freshly-enrolled Chinese HTM undergraduates at Fujian Normal University, Minjiang University, and Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University were selected as the sample. Based on the findings, managerial suggestions are provided to HTM educational institutions.


Complexant organic agents can effectively chelate metal ions with varying ionic sizes. They also serve as reductant being oxidized by nitrate ions, thus working as fuel in a synthetic method named auto combustion sol-gel. However, citric acid (C6H8O7) is most frequently used in producing in large variety of ferrites. It is inexpensive and is a more effective complexing agent than other complexant producing fine ferrite powder with smaller particle size. The spinel ferrites are unique materials exhibiting ferrimagnetic and semiconductor properties and can be considered as magnetic semiconductors. Among different ferrite materials, Co0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 with a spinel structure are attractive for the biomedical application as a result of suitable Curie temperature, magneto crystalline anisotropy, moderate saturation magnetization and super paramagnetic behavior at room temperature. The interactions between the ions, when they are substituted with various metal cations allows some tunable changes in the electrical and magnetic properties of nanoferrites. In current work, citric acid as a complexant/fuel agent was used for the synthesis of Co0.5Zn0.5Ce0.05Fe1.95O4 ferrite sample based on the sol–gel auto combustion method. It is important to select appropriate complexant additives for phase formation by the auto-combustion method. The elemental analysis of the sample was carried out by using energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDAX).The XRD and FT-IR studies show the formation of one spinel phase, the SEM showed the spherical nanoparticles. The magnetic properties have been measured at room temperature by a Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM).


The transcriptional repressor protein BCL6 regulates T cell differentiation by repressing Th2 responses and promoting follicular Th cell responses. However, little is known about the role of BCL6 in Th17 responses. We found that memory T cells from BCL6-deficient mice had increased IL-17 production. Additionally, BCL6 expression is upregulated in CD4 T cells cultured under Th17 conditions. T cells from BCL6-deficient mice showed defective Th17 differentiation and enhanced IL-4 production in vitro; however, normal Th17 differentiation was obtained with BCL6-deficient T cells under culture conditions when highly pure naive CD4 T cells were used, when IL-4 production was inhibited, or when TGF-β levels were increased. Retrovirus-mediated expression of BCL6 in CD4 T cells repressed IL-4 and augmented basal IL-17 mRNA expression. These data support the idea that BCL6 promotes Th17 differentiation through suppression of Th2 differentiation. BCL6-deficient T cells transplanted into Rag1−/− mice produced wild-type levels of IL-17, indicating that, in vivo, BCL6-deficient T cells develop relatively normal Th17 responses. Macrophages from BCL6-deficient mice showed strikingly increased expression of the Th17-promoting cytokines IL-6, IL-23, and TGF-β, and conditioned media from BCL6-deficient macrophages promoted augmented IL-17 expression by T cells. We propose that the increased Th17 activity in BCL6-deficient mice is due, in part, to BCL6-deficient macrophages promoting increased Th17 differentiation in vivo. T cells may require BCL6 for optimal Th17 differentiation; however, BCL6 function in macrophages critically regulates Th17 differentiation in vivo. We hypothesize that increased Th17 differentiation aggravates the severe Th2-type inflammatory disease in BCL6-deficient mice.


The acousto-optic interaction in the Raman-Nath regime was used to study sound waves propagating in the principal planes of piezoelectric lithium niobate. Complete cuts of the inverse phase velocity surfaces were obtained for surface waves on reflection and for three bulk waves and one surface wave on transmission through the surface acoustic wave (SAW) propagation surface. It is also shown how simple diffraction can be used to measure the group velocity direction and the electro-mechanical coupling coefficient for surface waves. A modified schlieren technique was used to visualize bulk waves generated by a finite transducer and to observe shear waves reflecting and mode converting to longitudinal waves at an interface.


When a one dimensional (1D) ring-stub system is coupled to an electron reservoir, the states acquire a width (or broadening characterized by poles in the complex energy plane) due to finite life time effects. We show that this broadening is limited by anti-resonances due to the stub. The differences in level broadening in presence and absence of anti-resonance is exemplified by comparison to a 1D ring coupled to an infinite reservoir. We also show that the anti-resonances due to the stub has an anchoring effect on the poles when a magnetic flux through the ring is varied. This will have implication on change in distribution of the poles in disordered multichannel situation as magnetic flux is varied.


Proceedings: AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011‐‐ Apr 2‐6, 2011; Orlando, FL

Smoking is an established risk factor for pancreatic cancer. More than 95% of all pancreatic cancers are pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDACs). Our data has earlier established that nicotine contributes to the progression of smoking associated PDAC by increasing the systemic levels of the stress neurotransmitters adrenaline and noradrenaline in pancreatic cancer xenografts. These findings suggested that development and progression of PDAC is subject to significant modulation by stimulatory stress neurotransmitters. Here we demonstrate that nicotine abrogates the apoptotic activity of gemcitabine, gefitinib, and meloxicam, which are standard therapy for PDAC, in a variety of human PDAC cell lines. We first evaluated the effect of gemcitabine, gefitinib and meloxicam on cell proliferation using a varied range of concentrations and timepoints on pancreatic cancer cell lines PANC-1 and BXPC-3. The results demonstrated that all the three anti-cancer drugs significantly inhibited the proliferation of pancreatic cancer cells PANC-1 and BXPC-3. The IC50 values were determined for optimal concentration and timepoint. It was next examined whether chronic nicotine could confer protection against apoptosis induced by gemcitabine, gefitinib, and meloxicam, which are widely used to treat PDAC. Cells were stimulated with 1 µM nicotine (pre-determined concentration) in the presence or absence of the IC50 concentrations of the indicated drugs. Our results indicated that nicotine suppresses apoptosis induced by gemcitabine, gefitinib, and meloxicam in pancreatic cancer cells, as measured by TUNEL assays, viability assays and western blotting of apoptosis associated proteins. In conclusion, the antiapoptotic effects of nicotine, negatively impacts the chemosensitivity of PDAC cells against anticancer drugs. These findings suggest that continued exposure to nicotine during cancer therapy may significantly reduce the responsiveness to anti-cancer agents.

This work is supported by grants RO1CA130888 and RO1CA042829 with the National Cancer Institute.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1010. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-1010


The basic ingredients that made early home care a cornerstone in American healthcare are still the foundations for home health/visiting nurse/public health in the 1990s. Once overshadowed by the centralization of patient care in the hospital, home care has stepped into the place of cooperative healthcare with the hospital. This article highlights that cooperation and those basic ingredients.


Species of the Australian Graphidaceae have been re-allocated to the genera proposed in a recent revision of the family. Forty-one new combinations are made, a new name, Graphis elixiana, is published, and the following synonymies are proposed: Diorygma erythrellum replaces Graphina atramontana; Graphis leucoparypha replaces G. turgidula var. norstictica; Hemithecium chlorocarpoides replaces Graphina repleta var. monospora; Hemithecium chrysenteron replaces Graphina repleta; Leiorreuma hypomelaenum replaces Phaeographis necopinata; Phaeographis lindigiana replaces Phaeographis pseudomelana, and Platygramme pudica replaces Phaeographina echinocarpica. Keys to the genera and species in Australia are given.


The study of the specific features of recognition of ownership of newly created real estate is conditioned by its purpose, which is to determine the grounds for application of remedy upon recognising ownership of newly created construction object, stipulated by Article 392 of the Civil Code of Ukraine. The purpose of the study also includes identification of gaps and discrepancies in the legislation of Ukraine and judicial practice, which arise during application of the appropriate remedy for a substantive right, and the development of proposals for their elimination. In this regard, the main method of this study was comparative law, which allowed to identify and analyse different approaches to the legislative consolidation and application of such a remedy as the recognition of property rights. Upon concluding an agreement on sale and purchase of property rights to immovable property, the buyer receives a limited real right, under which it is endowed with certain, but not all rights of the property owner. Nevertheless, in recognising the ownership of newly created real estate, the study proves the feasibility of applying the method of protection stipulated in Article 392 of the Civil Code of Ukraine. It is substantiated that the buyer, who has performed its monetary obligations under the agreement on sale and purchase of real property rights, having fully paid the contractual value, is considered to have committed actions aimed at the occurrence of legal facts necessary and sufficient to obtain the legal claim for the transfer of ownership of the construction object. In this regard, it has been proved that the effectiveness of the remedy stipulated by Article 392 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, which is applied upon recognising the ownership of newly created immovable property, is aimed at levelling the possibility of further unlawful actions of third parties in relation to such property, and is achieved through the enforcement of judgement by recognition of ownership of a specific object, and in case of its destruction – by obtaining appropriate compensation. The practical significance of the study of the application of Article 392 of the Civil Code of Ukraine upon recognising the ownership of newly created real estate is that its results are designed to promote further research, to improve the legal regulation of relations, the object of which is newly created real estate, to optimise the implementation of property rights and law enforcement in this area


Herein, we examined if acute or chronic resistance exercise affected markers of skeletal muscle long interspersed nuclear element-1 (LINE-1) retrotransposon activity. In study 1, 10 resistance-trained college-aged men performed three consecutive daily back squat sessions, and vastus lateralis biopsies were taken before (Pre), 2 h following session 1 (Post1), and 3 days following session 3 (Post2). In study 2, 13 untrained college-aged men performed a full-body resistance training program (3 days/wk), and vastus lateralis biopsies were taken before ( week 0) and ~72 h following training cessation ( week 12). In study 1, LINE-1 mRNA decreased 42-48% at Post1 and 2 ( P < 0.05), and reverse transcriptase (RT) activity trended downward at Post2 (-37%, P = 0.067). In study 2, LINE-1 mRNA trended downward at week 12 (-17%, P = 0.056) while LINE-1 promoter methylation increased (+142%, P = 0.041). Open reading frame (ORF)2p protein expression (-24%, P = 0.059) and RT activity (-26%, P = 0.063) also trended downward by week 12. Additionally, changes in RT activity versus satellite cell number were inversely associated ( r = -0.725, P = 0.008). Follow-up in vitro experiments demonstrated that 48-h treatments with lower doses (1 μM and 10 μM) of efavirenz and nevirapine (non-nucleoside RT inhibitors) increased myoblast proliferation ( P < 0.05). However, we observed a paradoxical decrease in myoblast proliferation with higher doses (50 μM) of efavirenz and delavirdine. This is the first report suggesting that resistance exercise downregulates markers of skeletal muscle LINE-1 activity. Given our discordant in vitro findings, future research is needed to thoroughly assess whether LINE-1-mediated RT activity enhances or blunts myoblast, or primary satellite cell, proliferative capacity.


Recently, with the rapid development of sensor technologies, it is important to manage the large amounts of traffic data and predict the traffic condition from them. To satisfy the demand of traffic flow estimation, this paper studies the method of real-time traffic flow prediction based on Bayesian classifier and support vector regression (SVR). We first model the traffic flow and its relations on the roads using 3D Markov random field in spatiotemporal domain. Based on their relations, we define cliques as combination of current cone-zone and its neighbors. The dependencies on the defined cliques are estimated by using multiple linear regression and SVR. Finally, the traffic flow at next time stamp is predicted by finding the speed level with decreasing the energy function. To evaluate the performance of the proposed method, it was tested on traffic data obtained from Gyeongbu expressway. The experimental results showed that the approach using SVR-based estimation showed superior accuracy than linear-based regression.


As the technology used in electric vehicles continues to advance, there is an increased demand for urban-appropriate electric charging stations emphasizing a modern user interface, robust design, and reliable functionality. Publicly shared transportation systems provide electric vehicles with further synergies by allowing for less energy consumption per capita and decreased car congestion. Unfortunately, existing charging platforms are not designed for proper adoption in a public setting and tend to be vulnerable to potential safety hazards and vandalism. Our product, smartCharge, addresses the need for electric charging in a Mobility-on-Demand transportation system. The connector interface design proposed allows for a modular approach for charging various publicly shared electric vehicles, while using a current-controlled locking mechanism with up to 250 pounds of force. Additionally, the connector is linked to the charging post through a stainless steel retractable arm, which is composed of a spring-loaded pulley mechanism. This paper discusses the design and manufacturing processes for the charging connector and retractable arm, while elaborating on the overall functionality of smartCharge. Finally, the implementation strategy and key considerations for deploying this technology are briefly discussed. Thesis Supervisor: Warren Seering Title: Professor


The purpose of this study was to investigate intra-rater reliability and determine the validity of electromyography (EMG) measurements to represent muscle activity and ultrasonography (US) to represent muscle thickness during manual muscle testing (MMT) to external abdominal oblique (EO) and lumbar multifidus (MF). Twenty healthy subjects were recruited for this study and asked to perform MMT at differing levels. The subjects` muscle activity using EMG was measured by a ratio to maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) and root mean square (RMS) methods. The subjects` muscle thickness using US was measured by raw muscle thickness and change ratio of thickness to maximum (MVC) or resting condition. In three trials, measurements were performed on each subject by one examiner. The intra-rater reliability of measurements of EMG and US to EO and MF was calculated using intra-class coefficients. The intra-rater reliability of all measurements was excellent (ICC=.75~98) in EMG and US. The conduct validity was calculated by one-way ANOVA with repeated measurements to compare whether the EMG and US measurements were different between MMT at different levels. There was only a significant difference between all grades at %MVC thickness measurement of US. These results suggest that a %MVC thickness measurement of US was a more sensitive and discriminate in all manual muscle testing grades. This information will be useful for the selection of US measurement and analysis methods in clinics.


The adjacent line open working is very dangerous work unlike the general construction. When the safety regulations are respected, It is expected that significant loss of life and property. Although the safety management activity is periodically performed in now, the risk element of accident is remaining. So the system improvement and safety technical development of adjacent line open working are required. As this study, to suggest the enhancement plans of safety management in adjacent line open working that is suitable for domestic environment, the management, procedure and etc. of domestic adjacent line open working were investigated. The performances of cooperative project that is enhancement of ALO safety management were analyzed. Also, the safety management of foreign country (United Kingdom, France) were analyzed through benchmarking, the comparison with domestic and managerial implication were deducted on the basis of analysis data.


Abstract Stauffer, F., L. Ramella, E. Ferreira & L. Noblick (2016). Lectotypification of names proposed by J. Barbosa Rodrigues in the publication "Palmae novae Paraguayenses". Candollea 71: 105–115. In Spanish, English and Spanish abstracts. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15553/c2016v711a13 In the frame of the treatment of the family Palmae to be published in the Flora del Paraguay, lectotypes are designated for the following names described by J. Barbosa Rodrigues in the publication "Palmae novae Paraguayenses": Attalea guaranitica Barb. Rodr., Bactris anisitsii Barb. Rodr., Cocos paraguayensis Barb. Rodr. and Cocos sapida Barb. Rodr. The latter is here proposed as a new synonym of the widely distributed South-eastern Brazil - Southern Cone palm Syagrus romanzoffiana (Cham.) Glassman. The fate of the important palm collection gathered by Barbosa Rodrigues is here discussed and notes on the palms described in the publication are added in order to better define their taxonomic identity.


Coal burst proneness of coal mass is a leading factor of coal burst which is influenced by fissures. In this paper, the elastic strain energy (ESE) and residual energy index (REI) were used as coal burst proneness indicators. The calibrated PFC2D models of coal specimens with various fissure configurations were established, and uniaxial compression tests were conducted. It was found that the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), ESE, and REI for three types of fissured coal specimen were similar. The aforementioned three parameters decrease as the inclination angle increases from 0° to 30°. On the other hand, these parameters increase as the inclination angle increases from 30° to 90°. Through the coal burst proneness comparison of various fissure configurations, it was found that the coal burst proneness in the condition of two coplanar-parallel fissures was greater than that in the condition of a single fissure, whereas the coal burst proneness in the condition of two non-coplanar-parallel fissures was the lowest. The crack initiation stress, crack initiation stress level, and elastic strain energy distribution could explain the influence mechanism of fissures on the coal burst proneness. These results can be used as a guideline for forecasting and preventing coal burst.


DNA stability and thiol-disulphide status of rat sperm nuclei was observed in vivo during maturation in the epididymis and penetration of oocytes. When spermatids and spermatozoa were stained with acridine orange after fixation with acetic alcohol, the red/green fluorescence ratio observed under a confocal microscope was not different between spermatids (3.81 ± 0.16) and testicular spermatozoa (4.03 ± 0.34), and then decreased sharply (p < 0.01) as the spermatozoa descended the epidymis to the caput epididymis (1.13 ± 0.03). However, the ratio was not different among corpus (0.69 ± 0.01), cauda epididymis (0.68 ± 0.11) and ejaculated spermatozoa (0.63 ± 0.01). On the other hand, when spermatozoa were labelled with monobromobimane (mBBr), the fluorescence intensities gradually decreased (p < 0.01) during passage of spermatozoa from testis (4.74 ± 0.16) through epididymis (caput, 2.72 ± 0.08; corpus, 1.07 ± 0.03; cauda, −0.05 ± 0.05; ejaculated, 0.08 ± 0.03). The acridine orange red/green fluorescence ratio increased (p < 0.01) during zona penetration (binding sperm, 0.52 ± 0.09; perivitelline sperm, 0.64 ± 0.16) and sperm decondensation (decondensed sperm, 0.69 ± 0.12). When spermatozoa in the perivitelline space were labelled with mBBr, the fluorescence was detected. These results demonstrate that DNA stability against acid appears to be ahead of the oxidation of protamine during sperm maturation in the epididymis and is an initial event of the unpackaging process in rat genome occurring during or just after zona penetration but before ooplasm penetration.


With the increase in global mean surface temperature predicted for the near future, stream water temperature will also increase. Simultaneously, water quality is likely to decrease (e.g., due to increases in nutrient and pollutant concentrations). The objective of this study was to evaluate the individual and combined effects of increases in water temperature and nutrients concentration on periphyton respiration, as a surrogate for stream metabolism. Stones naturally colonized with periphyton in an unpolluted mountain stream in Central Portugal were sampled seasonally over a year, and incubated in the laboratory under two water temperatures (ambient and 4°C elevated) and two nutrients concentration levels (ambient and ∼6× higher inorganic dissolved nitrogen, ∼2× higher soluble reactive phosphorous concentrations). Overall, increases in water temperature stimulated periphyton respiration to a larger extent than did increases in nutrients concentration. In spring, the simultaneous increase in water temperature and nutrients concentration stimulated periphyton respiration beyond expected from the individual effect of each factor. These results indicate that synergistic interactions between factors might occur under certain environmental conditions, suggesting that care should be taken when predicting the combined effect of changes in multiple factors from their individual effects. The observed stimulation of periphyton respiration promoted by increased temperature and nutrients concentration can lead to changes in streams carbon budgets, with a positive feedback for global warming, as more CO2 might be released to the atmosphere.


In the beginning, that is from the 1960's, when a link between menopause and osteoporosis was first identified; estrogen treatment was the standard for preventing bone loss, however there was no fracture data, even though it was thought to be effective. This continued until the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study in 2001 that published data on 6 years of treatment with hormone therapy that showed an increase in heart attacks and breast cancer. Even though the risks were small, 1 per 1500 users annually, patients were worried and there was a large drop off in estrogen use. In later analyses the WHI study showed that estrogen reduced fractures and actually prevented heart attacks in the 50-60 year age group. Estrogen alone appeared to be safer to use than estrogen + the progestin medroxyprogesterone acetate and actually reduced breast cancer.


Universal control of multiple qubits-the ability to entangle qubits and to perform arbitrary individual qubit operations-is a fundamental resource for quantum computation, simulation, and networking. We implement a new scheme for universal control of trapped ion qubits based on microwave magnetic fields and rf magnetic field gradients instead of laser beams, and create entangled states whose fidelity is statistically indistinguishable from the highest-fidelity laser-beam-generated entangled states reported to date. We describe the rf and microwave electronics used, and discuss avenues for using this scheme in a large-scale trapped ion quantum processor.


Several years ago during the investigation of neolithic chambered tombs in Galloway a fragment of green jade polished on two opposite flat faces was found in the floor of the ante-chamber to Tomb I at Cairnholy in Kirkcudbrightshire. It was only about 3 centimetres square and 1.5 centimetres thick but, nevertheless, Professor Stuart Piggott and Mr T. G. E. Powell recognized that it had once formed part of a flat triangular axe of a type already known from several places in Scotland. A fine collection of such axes in jade existed in the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland in Edinburgh. In an appendix to their paper on the chambered tombs Piggott and Powell listed the jade axes recorded from British and Irish sites and republished the map compiled by Miss L. F. Chitty and published by Sir Cyril Fox in 1933. This appendix also contained brief notes supplied by me on thin microscope sections of the Cairnholy fragment and of five other British axes reported to be made in jade. Some of these identifications were only partly correct, and have now been revised (see below, pp. 145, 158, 159 and footnote 2, p. 153). Some years later the question of the identification of the material of reputed British jade axes arose again and it was decided to examine as many of the axes in Piggott and Powell's list as could be borrowed and to utilize in their examination determinations of density and refractive index, and, where possible, to obtain X-ray powder photographs and to have thin sections prepared.


DDART is a valid web-based visual acuity test not only for the near and intermediate vision assessment but also for distance vision and can provide reliable measurements in telemedical settings. Purpose: To validate the Democritus Digital Acuity and Reading Test (DDART) as a distance VA (dVA) test against a series of prevalent conventional distance vision charts. Setting: Ophthalmology Department, University Hospital of Alexandroupolis, Alexandroupolis, Greece; Ophthalmology Department, AHEPA University Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece; and Ophthalmica Institute of Ophthalmology & Microsurgery, Thessaloniki, Greece. Design: Prospective multicenter validation study. Methods: The distance best spectacle-corrected visual acuity (dBSCVA) was compared in normal (NVG) and low (LVG) vision participants against 4 prevalent conventional distance vision charts (ETDRS, Snellen, Landolt C, and Tumbling E) by a predefined 2.5-symbol noninferiority margin and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). DDART's test–retest (TRT) reliability was assessed with ICCs. Results: 534 participants (471 and 63 with normal and low vision, respectively) were included in the study. The mean difference between dBSCVA measured with DDART and conventional charts ranged between −0.84 and +0.85 symbols, without exceeding the 2.5-symbol noninferiority margin. ICCs indicated an excellent level of agreement for all patient groups (from 0.848 to 0.985). TRT reliability indicated differences below 1 symbol both for the NVG and LVG, with ICCs ranging between 0.912 and 0.964 for the 4 DDARTs. Conclusions: DDART was a valid web-based dVA test that provided reliable measurements in clinical and telemedical settings, both for normal and low vision patients.


ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To determine the key factors influencing intraoperative-acquired pressure injury (IAPI). METHODS Researchers assessed 413 surgical patients in a Shanghai tertiary hospital using an information collection form and an IAPI occurrence record form. Analysis took place using the classification and regression tree algorithm and multiple logistic regression. RESULTS A total of 43 surgical patients (10.4%) had IAPI, including 32 stage 1 cases (74.4%), and 11 stage 2 cases (25.6%). The multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that operation duration, surgical position, preoperative hypertension, and preoperative Braden Scale risk score were independently associated with IAPI development. The decision tree showed that preoperative Braden Scale score, surgical position, operation grade, operation duration, age, prealbumin level, and body mass index were important factors and that preoperative Braden Scale score was the most critical decision variable. The cross-validation method was used to indicate a model accuracy of 91.8%. CONCLUSIONS The decision tree effectively identified key factors for IAPI, complementing the logistic regression analysis and providing a scientific basis for the further development of structural risk assessment, prevention, and treatment strategies for IAPI.


Abstract Reef encrusting calcifiers (non-scleractinian species) constitute assemblages that participate in the carbon cycle at coral reefs. Despite their apparent secondary role in building the reef framework, they contribute to the reef consolidation binding sediments and inducing larval recruitment from other epilithic invertebrates. The contribution of encrusting calcifiers on reef accretion was examined by the assessment of their rate of carbonate deposition on four different simulated reef microhabitats using calcification accretion units (CAUs) during 12 months at Playa Las Gatas and Islote Zacatoso, two coral communities from the coast of the Mexican Pacific. Encrusting calcifiers from Playa Las Gatas, the most impacted site, showed a rate of carbonate deposition (mean ± SD) four times higher than at Islote Zacatoso (10.02 ± 3.22 g CaCO3 m−2 d−1 vs 2.48 ± 1.01 g CaCO3 m−2 d−1). Overall, the rate of carbonate deposition on surfaces protected from sedimentation and light was up to 1.8 times higher than on exposed ones (11.40 ± 4.35 g CaCO3 m−2 d−1 vs 6.18 ± 3.13 g CaCO3 m−2 d−1). Carbonate deposition by calcareous algae was higher on the well-lit exposed surfaces while filter-feeding invertebrates showed the major contribution on the shaded cryptic surfaces. Although rate of carbonate deposition by encrusting calcifiers seems to be lower than hermatypic corals, it seems to be relevant on coral reefs affected by anthropogenic impacts where coral calcification is low. Under global demise of coral reefs by environmental degradation and climate change, encrusting calcifiers may become relevant for the process of carbonate deposition.


Production operations and optimization strategic competencies are critical for effective business performance in operating companies that are transitioning from primary/secondary recovery to tertiary recovery or when the number of field development projects for non-conventional oil, become a significant percentage of their future oil production targets.
 This paper presents a practical approach for identification, definition and measurement of ten strategic competencies required to meet requirements of operations and optimization of heavy oil assets. The competency development model uses a fast track on the job learning approach that takes between 6 months to 1 year to reach a minimum level of performance.
 The identification of competencies is activity-based considering analog heavy oil fields undergoing improved oil recovery operations. Model is organized into 8 phases: 1) Data review to assess uncertainty, 2) integral reservoir review, 3) integral well review and nodal analysis, 4) identification of opportunities in drainage area, completion, production methods and surface, 5) selection of integrated solutions combining technology options, 6) economic analysis within exploitation plan 7) production optimization project definition, 8) production optimization execution and evaluation. Each phase undergoes activities with relative duration followed by decision gates with relative contribution of disciplines grouped in 10 functions (well productivity, production methods, surface processes, reservoir, geology, well construction and maintenance, integrated automation, health, safety & environment, reliability and activity based project and costing). Ranges of weights in percentages and duration are calibrated using analog fields or typical projects, as input for stochastic modeling to account for uncertainty.
 The application of this approach in heavy oil fields in Kuwait, allowed identification of technical competencies classified under 10 functional competency groups under four major categories: Subsurface-reservoir, subsurface-well, surface facilities & production operations and asset integration & planning. These technical competencies were mapped with three scenarios for intensity of work: minimum (low), medium (likely) and maximum (full) to conduct critical activities on annual basis during the heavy oil field life cycle. Worldwide heavy oil analogs provide foundation to validate and calibrate the model, and then used as planning tool. The model allows stochastic modeling of person-hours and cost of work force, including the competency development and assurance, included in Capital and Operational Expenditures as part of the economic model for evaluation of heavy oil optimization opportunities.
 The presented approach is a practical tool for mapping required competencies and intensity of work force for more reliable subsurface-surface integrated production operations of heavy oil fields. The phased model allows easier planning and flexibility to conduct exercises with estimates of work force for a range of potential business scenarios.


BACKGROUND
Infection with different genotypes of virulent Helicobacter pylori strains (cytotoxin-associated gene A [CagA]- and/or vacuolating cytotoxin A [VacA]-positive) can play a role in the development of atrophic gastritis, duodenal ulcer (DU) and gastric cancer (GC).

OBJECTIVE
To determine whether patients with GC and H pylori-negative histological staining had previously been infected with H pylori CagA- and/or VacA-positive virulent strains.

METHODS
Twenty-three GC patients with a mean (+/- SD) age of 68.14+/-9.8 years who tested H pylori-negative on histological staining took part in the study. Three control groups were included. The first group comprised 19 patients with past H pylori infection and DUs eradicated 10 years earlier, with a mean age of 58+/-18.2 years. H pylori-negative status for this group was determined every year with Giemsa staining, and follow-up testing occured 120+/-32 months (mean +/- SD) after therapy. The subsequent control groups included 20 asymptomatic children, with a mean age of 7+/-4.47 years, and with H pylori-negative fecal tests; the final group contained 30 patients without clinical symptoms of H pylori infection, with a mean age of 68+/-11.6 years, who tested H pylori-negative by histological staining.

RESULTS
Prevalence of CagA and VacA seropositivity, respectively was 82.6% and 73.91% in GC patients; 84.2% and 84.2% in H pylori-negative DU patients; 25% and 5% in H pylori-negative children; and 36.6% and 16.6% in the patients without clinical symptoms on histological staining. CagA and VacA antibody positivity was not significantly different between GC patients and patients with DUs that had been eradicated 10 years earlier. Significant positivity was found between the children's group and the H pylori-negative (with past DUs) group (P<0.001). A statistically significant difference was found in age between groups (P<0.03).

CONCLUSIONS
Patients with GC, even when H pylori-negative at the time of the present study, may have been infected by H pylori before the onset of the disease, as confirmed by CagA and VacA seropositivity. These data reinforce the hypothesis that H pylori may be a direct carcinogenic agent of GC.


This paper discusses the topic of urban and spatial planning in Italy where decision-making is left almost exclusively to the innumerable, small municipalities present in the country and totaling almost 8000 in number. Projects and actions to transform built areas, infrastructure, and welfare services of all sorts and purposes in a national territory of over 300,000 km2 are supervised by countless mayors, municipal councils, and boards that govern plots of land corresponding to polygons of a few kilometers per side. This is generally achieved by means of town plans developed outside of any general rule or protocol, the contents of which are often ignored as a result of national legislation that weakens them and sometimes makes them uninfluential essentially. This is a European example of urban planning mismanagement that deserves to be brought to the broader attention of the European technical and scientific community, also because the debate developed so far on this topic—even by eminent and authoritative urban planners—has been published almost entirely in Italian only. Public and political attention towards this issue is extremely limited, although the severe effects of "molecular planning" are beginning to be perceived: unjustified overurbanization and highly patchy, energy-intensive, urban patterns that are destructive for ecosystems and at odds with public interests regarding environmental and urban quality. In this paper, we make some comparisons with other European countries and outline some directions—certainly very difficult to follow—to reconsider and recover from the adverse effects produced to date.


Introduction In phenylketonuria an enzymatic defect in the liver results in a failure of conversion of phenylalanine to tyrosine. The alternative metabolic pathways followed by the accumulating phenylalanine have been clarified. However, the exact mechanism by which the metabolic error in turn produces mental deficiency in untreated phenylketonurics has not been established. One possible explanation for the mental deficiency was advanced in 1957 by Pare et al 1 who first noted a defect in the 5-hydroxyindole pathway of tryptophan metabolism in phenylketonurics. The presence of serotonin in brain, and the mental abnormalities produced by some serotonin antagonists, have suggested a possible role for this amine in mental function. Pare et al 1 suggested that a failure in serotonin production might play some part in the pathogenesis of the mental defect in phenylketonuria. Since then it has been demonstrated 2-4 that rats rendered artificially phenylketonuric by the administration of large amounts


Biographies make a promising application case of Linked Data: they can be used, e.g., as a basis for Digital Humanities research in prosopography and as a key data and linking resource in semantic Cultural Heritage (CH) portals. In both use cases, a semantic data model for harmonizing and interlinking heterogeneous data from different sources is needed. This paper presents such a data model, Bio CRM, with the following key ideas: 1) The model is a domain specific extension of CIDOC CRM, making it applicable to not only biographical data but to other CH data, too. 2) The model makes a distinction between enduring unary roles of actors, their enduring binary relationships, and perduing events, where the participants can take different roles modeled as a role concept hierarchy. 3) The model can be used as a basis for semantic data validation and enrichment by reasoning. 4) The enriched data conforming to Bio CRM is targeted to be used by SPARQL queries in a flexible ways using a hierarchy of roles in which participants can be involved in events.


This study consists in a three dimensional cephalometric approach of the pterygoid process and its relationships with the neighbouring cranio-facial structures, using biostatistical analysis. The authors present the results of this method comparing the variations of the pterygoid process in relation to the variations of the basi-cranium and the face.


Zooplankton community constitutes one of the keystone organisms that are crucial in understanding aquatic ecosystem responses to environmental distresses. The objective of this study was to contribute to the understanding of zooplankton ecological conservation status and assessment of potential impacts of the proposed Hydropower plant on the zooplankton community in River Aswa, Nwoya District, in Uganda. Baseline information on aquatic micro-invertebrate diversity, abundance and distribution along the affected river section was generated. Two copepods and four species of rotifers were recorded. The Intake site had the highest diversity (six species) while Powerhouse had four species. Of the species encountered, Keratella tropica registered the highest abundance—1,025 and 732 individuals m-2 at the Powerhouse and Intake sites, respectively. Total zooplankton densities were comparable with Intake (2,773 individuals m-2) and Powerhouse (2,311 individuals m-2). The zooplankton taxa do not appear in the IUCN Red List in the Catalogue of Life. Therefore, the proposed construction of a hydropower plant may not pose zooplankton conservation problems.


High current discharge channels are an option for the transport of intense ion beams. The current inside the channel creates a azimuthal magnetic field, which accelerates the beam via the Lorentz force towards the axis. The ions therefore move in betatron oscillations inside the channel. Even moderate currents can create large magnetic fields, provided the diameter of the discharge is small enough. For example, a 60kA discharge with a diameter of 1 cm creates a magnetic field of 2.4T at the border of the channel. Another important property of discharge channels is their ability to partly neutralize space charge effects, which becomes important for high beam currents. These properties make channel transport, combined with an adiabatic plasma lens for focusing, an promising option for the final transport of future high current ion beams, as they are for instance required in heavy ion fusion[1]. The beam transport in plasma channels is studied at GSI in collaboration with the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories. We focus on the channel formation and the the transport of low current ion beams provided by the UNILAC facility. The transport of high current beams is so far limited to simulations with a hybrid MHD/PIC code at LBNL.


Indigenous Latinx children and youth are a growing population that has been largely invisible in U.S. society and in the scholarly literature (Barillas-Chón, 2010; Machado-Casas, 2009). Indigenous Latinx youth are often assumed to be part of a larger homogenous grouping, usually Hispanic or Latinx, and yet their cultural and linguistic backgrounds do not always converge with dominant racial narratives about what it means to be "Mexican" or "Latinx." Bonfil Batalla (1987) argued that Indigenous Mexicans are a población negada—or negated population—whose existence has been systematically denied as part of a centuries-long colonial project of indigenismo (indigenism) in Mexico and other Latin American countries. This systematic denial in countries of origin often continues once Indigenous people migrate to the U.S., as they are actively rendered invisible in U.S. schools through the semiotic process of erasure (Alberto, 2017; Urrieta, 2017). Indigenous Latinx families are often also overlooked as they are grouped into general categories such as Mexican, Guatemalan, Latinx, and/or immigrants. In this issue, we seek to examine the intersections of Latinx Indigeneities and education to better understand how Indigenous Latinx communities define and constitute Indigeneity across multiple and overlapping colonialities and racial geographies, and, especially, how these experiences overlap with, and shape their educational experiences.


The software gap - the discrepancy between the need for new software and the aggregate capacity of the workforce to produce it - is a serious problem for scientific software. Although users appreciate the convenience (and, thus, improved productivity) of using relatively high-level scripting languages, the slow execution speeds of these languages remain a problem. Lower level languages, such as C and Fortran, provide better performance for production applications, but at the cost of tedious programming and optimization by experts. If applications written in scripting languages could be routinely compiled into highly optimized machine code, a huge productivity advantage would be possible. It is not enough, however, to simply develop excellent compiler technologies for scripting languages (as a number of projects have succeeded in doing for MATLAB). In practice, scientists typically extend these languages with their own domain-centric components, such as the MATLAB signal processing toolbox. Doing so effectively defines a new domain-specific language. If we are to address efficiency problems for such extended languages, we must develop a framework for automatically generating optimizing compilers for them. To accomplish this goal, we have been pursuing an innovative strategy that we call telescoping languages. Our approach calls for using a library-preprocessing phase to extensively analyze and optimize collections of libraries that define an extended language. Results of this analysis are collected into annotated libraries and used to generate a library-aware optimizer. The generated library-aware optimizer uses the knowledge gathered during preprocessing to carry out fast and effective optimization of high-level scripts. This enables script optimization to benefit from the intense analysis performed during preprocessing without repaying its price. Since library preprocessing is performed only at infrequent "language-generation" times, its cost is amortized over many


Working in night shifts influences human health, mood, and cognitive functions. Anesthesia residents and consultants work in long shifts that include the night. Changes of cognitive functions may diminish the quality of anesthesiologist's work, increase the number of errors, and endanger the patient. Changes of biological rhythms can influence health of the anesthesiologist himself. The alterations in circulation, metabolism, memory, fine motor control, mood and attention have been recorded. After night work, the possibility of car accident for an anesthesiologist is higher. Attempts have been made to reduce negative influences of night work by shortening the number of working hours during the week. The debate about this step is vivid and still present. From this viewpoint, the most interesting aspects are the quality of educational process, the number of errors in practical work, and the quality of health care. After shortening of working hours, there are no clear indicators of the positive effects in any of these fields. Shortening of the working week is part of 'the culture of safety' in anesthesiology.


The demand for implementing arbitrary N-variable logic functions on perceptron-like structures arises quite often in practice. It is well known, that only the linearly separable class of Boolean functions can be implemented in a single step on these structures. This class however, constitutes only a small (and with the increasing N exponentially decreasing) part of all logic functions. All Boolean functions can be trivially decomposed into at most 2N−1 sub-functions by implementing the minterm or maxterm formulation of the function. This approach, however, becomes rather impractical with the increasing number of variables. In this paper an algorithm is proposed for decomposing arbitrary, linearly non-separable Boolean functions into a series of separable functions, which can be then efficiently implemented as a program for the CNN Universal Machine assuming the simplest and most robust hardware architecture. The decomposition is achieved by finding the closest linearly separable compact functions. Robustness issues of the implementation are also addressed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The molecular mobility in poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) in bulk was studied in the temperature interval from 20 to 90°C by EPR using stable nitroxyl radicals 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy (Tempo) and 4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-piperidinyloxy (Tempol) as spin probes. Two series of PHB samples, prepared by different methods, possessed isotropic and textured morphologies. The noncrystalline phase of PHB contain regions of two types with markedly different molecular mobilities. It is suggested that more dense regions, characterized by a comparatively low mobility of chains, are located near the surface of crystalline grains, while the loose (amorphous) regions with a higher mobility of chains are more distant from the surface of grains. Molecular mobility in the dense regions was virtually the same for both isotropic and textured PHB samples, whereas the mobility in the loose regions was lower in the isotropic samples than in the textured ones. Saturation of the polymer with water vapor affected both the mobility of polymer chains and the relative content of loose and dense regions in the samples.


In the present paper, we report two rare cases of Down syndrome (DS); mosaic Down-Turner syndrome and DS with rob (13;14). Patient 1 karyotype is mos 45,X[41] / 47, XX,+21[59] and patient 2 karyotype is 46, XY, rob (13;14)(q10;q10),+21. With these two unusual cases, we aimed to look at the most common numerical and structural chromosome anomalies from a different window and evaluate the phenotypic effect in the presence of different chromosomal anomalies. Our main goal is to evaluate the phenotypic characteristics of these two rare variants in the light of literature.


PURPOSE
This study assessed the role of spectro-temporal modulation cues in the discrimination of 2 phonetic contrasts (voicing and place) for young infants.

METHOD
A visual-habituation procedure was used to assess the ability of French-learning 6-month-old infants with normal hearing to discriminate voiced versus unvoiced (/aba/-/apa/) and labial versus dental (/aba/-/ada/) stop consonants. The stimuli were processed by tone-excited vocoders to degrade frequency-modulation cues while preserving: (a) amplitude-modulation (AM) cues within 32 analysis frequency bands, (b) slow AM cues only (<16 Hz) within 32 bands, and (c) AM cues within 8 bands.

RESULTS
Infants exhibited discrimination responses for both phonetic contrasts in each processing condition. However, when fast AM cues were degraded, infants required a longer exposure to vocoded stimuli to reach the habituation criterion.

CONCLUSIONS
Altogether, these results indicate that the processing of modulation cues conveying phonetic information on voicing and place is "functional" at 6 months. The data also suggest that the perceptual weight of fast AM speech cues may change during development.


The critical current density of grain boundaries in YBa2Cu3O7 − δ films is increased beyond the hitherto established limit by overdoping the superconductor. Using Ca-doping, values for the critical current density are obtained, that exceed the highest values reported ever for the undoped material by more than a factor of seven. Further, it is found that the overdoping strongly reduces the grain boundary normal-state resistivity. This systematic improvement of the grain boundary transport properties by doping is of great importance for applications of the high-Tc cuprates and gives insight into the mechanisms controlling the grain boundary behavior.


BACKGROUND
A common challenge in improving performance measures regarding heart failure (HF) is identifying patients early in the course of their hospitalization so that multidisciplinary education and clinical interventions can be implemented. We describe the accuracy of using an electronic pharmacy-based strategy to identify hospitalized patients likely to have a principal diagnosis of HF at discharge.

METHODS
We evaluated 2 strategies. The first used the receipt of an intravenous loop diuretic as a single predictor; the second incorporated additional lab, pharmacy, and demographic information in a multivariable general estimating equation.

RESULTS
Receipt of an intravenous diuretic predicted a discharge diagnosis of heart failure with a sensitivity of 0.89 and a specificity of 0.87. Adding age, B-type natriuretic peptide level, previous hospitalizations, attending physician specialty, and receipt of spironolactone into the predictor improved the sensitivity to 0.91 and the specificity to 0.89.

CONCLUSIONS
The receipt of intravenous loop diuretics is a reasonable and easily implemented screening test to identify patients likely to have a principal diagnosis of heart failure at discharge. The accuracy is improved by incorporating other electronically available variables.


Trait emotional intelligence concerns people's perceptions of their emotional world. Our aims for this study are to examine (a) the trait emotional intelligence (EI) profiles across different professions in Kuwait; (b) the incremental validity of trait EI in predicting job performance; and (c) the relationship between trait EI, job attitudes, and job performance. The sample comprised 314 professionals in Kuwait in seven different professions: Bankers, Engineers, Healthcare providers, Lawyers, Military, Policemen, and Teachers. Firstly, the results showed that the Military scored the lowest global trait emotional intelligence and three of four factors. Secondly, the results showed that global trait EI incrementally predicted job performance over job attitudes in Policemen and Engineers but not in other professions. Lastly, the results showed that job attitudes partially mediated the relationship between trait EI and job performance. These findings call for the importance of trait emotional intelligence trainings for professionals in Kuwait as it affects important job-related variables. The limitations of this study and the directions for future studies have been discussed.


The importance of uncertain data is growing quickly in many essential applications such as environmental surveillance, mobile object tracking and data integration. Recently, storing, collecting, processing, and analyzing uncertain data has attracted increasing attention from both academia and industry.

Analyzing and mining uncertain data needs collaboration and joint effort from multiple research communities including reasoning under uncertainty, uncertain databases and mining uncertain data. For example, statistics and probabilistic reasoning can provide support with models for representing uncertainty. The uncertain database community can provide methods for storing and managing uncertain data, while research in mining uncertain data can provide data analysis tasks and methods. It is important to build connections among those communities to tackle the overall problem of analyzing and mining uncertain data.

There are many common challenges among the communities. One is to understand the different modeling assumptions made, and how they impact the methods, both in terms of accuracy and efficiency. Different researchers hold different assumptions and this is one of the major obstacles in the research of mining uncertain data. Another is the scalability of proposed management and analysis methods. Finally, to make analysis and mining useful and practical, we need real data sets for testing. Unfortunately, uncertain data sets are often hard to get.

The goal of the First ACM SIGKDD Workshop on Knowledge Discovery from Uncertain Data (U'09) is to discuss in depth the challenges, opportunities and techniques on the topic of analyzing and mining uncertain data. The theme of this workshop is to make connections among the research areas of uncertain databases, probabilistic reasoning, and data mining, as well as to build bridges among the aspects of models, data, applications, novel mining tasks and effective solutions. By making connections among different communities, we aim at understanding each other in terms of scientific foundation as well as commonality and differences in research methodology.

The workshop program is very stimulating and exciting. We are pleased to feature two invited talks by pioneers in mining uncertain data. Christopher Jermaine will give an invited talk titled "Managing and Mining Uncertain Data: What Might We Do Better?" Matthias Renz will address the topic "Querying and Mining Uncertain Data: Methods, Applications, and Challenges". Moreover, 8 accepted papers in 4 full presentations and 4 concise presentations will cover a bunch of interesting topics and on-going research projects about uncertain data mining.


The purpose of this study was to improve the effects of 8 weeks integrated strength resistance exercise program has on functional ability and isokinetic muscular functional of functional injury person of knee joint. For this study, 25 subjects were measured functional capabilities by YBT (Y balance test) with isokinetic muscular strength test of the 60o/sec, 180o/sec, and 240o/sec for knee joint. The results as follows: functional abilities using a YBT according to the 8-weeks strength resistance training program participation for improving muscle function of the knee joint is improved statistical significance appears this strength in all directions except the left anterior was found to maintain a stable support plane. Changes in isokinetic strength of the knee joint 60o/sec indicated significance at peak torque and peak torque per body weight of the right flexors, 180o/sec and 240o/sec, the peak torque strength and peak torque per body weight of the left and right extensors strength in this significance was showed, 180o/sec of strength were also statistically significant. As the above results, a stable support achieved through improved strength was found to help improve performance and recovery instability. It will also contribute to the improved strength and stability over a coordination function of the ankle joint.


We report a case of mucocutaneous leishmaniasis in an otherwise fit Caucasian man who had traveled in an endemic area. Initial tissue microscopy failed to identify the causative organism, which was only determined by subsequent culture as Leishmania braziliensis. This case illustrates the variability in the presence of Leishman‐Donovan (LD) bodies in histopathological studies and emphasizes the need for culture in suspected cases of leishmaniasis, particularly given the ability, of certain Leishmania, species such as L. braziliensis to cause recalcitrant and destructive infections of the nose and mouth.


Industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) uses of the electro-magnetic spectrum can cause serious interference to communications. Agreements on control of these devices are being forged by several international bodies. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is considering whether to adopt these much more stringent radiation limits, which would have a severely adverse impact on US industry. The names of these bodies are delineated and the status of present work being done is discussed. Recent FCC actions are also reviewed.