A musical instrument, the plastic hormonica, is defined here as a birthday present for Dennis Sullivan, who pioneered and helped popularize the hyperbolic geometry underlying its construction. This plastic hormonica is based upon the Farey tesselation of the Poincare disk decorated by its standard osculating horocycles centered at the rationals. In effect, one taps or holds points of another tesselation tau with the same decorating horocycles to produce sounds depending on the fact that the lambda length of e in tau with this decoration is always an integer. Explicitly, tapping a decorated edge e in tau with lambda length lambda produces a tone of frequency 440 xi^{lambda-12N}, where xi^{12}=2 and N is some positive integer shift of octave. Another type of tap on edges of tau is employed to apply flips, which may be equivariant for a Fuchsian group preserving tau. Sounding the frequency for the edge after an equivariant flip, one can thereby audibly experience paths in Riemann moduli spaces and listen to mapping classes. The resulting chords, which arise from an ideal triangle complementary to tau by sounding the frequency of its frontier edges, correspond to a generalization of the classical Markoff triples, which are precisely the chords that arise from the once-punctured torus. In the other direction, one can query the genera of specified musical pieces.


The claim has often been made over the centuries that the presence of the spirit of God, seen especially in saintly people, is an anticipation of immortality. My purpose in this paper is to see why this claim is made and to lay bare the structure of the argument which underlies it. Although there has been a renewed interest in the question of immortality, both among philosophers and theologians in recent years, this particular aspect of it has been neglected. The claim being discussed is not, as we shall see, restricted to Christianity; and even within the Christian religion it is expressed in many different ways. John Wesley, for instance, says in his sermon On the Holy Spirit:


The purpose of electric power brokerage systems, such as the one established in Florida, is to reduce the aggregate cost of generating electricity by making short-term transfers of electric power between utilities (economy energy exchanges). However, the methods currently used to determine the buyers and sellers, and the quantities exchanged, can be improved to increase the savings. Two new algorithms are presented that result in greater savings to the utilities--a network flow algorithm applicable to the Florida system, and a more general algorithm using a version of dynamic programming. The effects of several methods of dividing the savings among the utilities are discussed. Finally, some initial ideas are presented on how an energy broker can be extended to longer time periods.


Introduction: You can't build the brand without building the business Part One: Why is branding so strategic? 1. Brand equity in question What is a brand? Differentiating between brand assets, strength and value Tracking brand equity Goodwill: the convergence of finance and marketing How brands create value for the customer How brands create value for the company Corporate reputation and the corporate brand 2. Strategic implications of branding What does branding really mean? Permanently nurturing the difference What you do first is most important The brand is really a contract The product and the brand Each brand needs a flagship product Advertising products through the brand prism Brands and other signs of quality Obstacles to the implications of branding Service brands 3. Brand and business building Are brands for all companies? Building a market leader without advertising Brand building: from product to values, and vice versa Are leading brands the best products? Understanding the value curve of the target Breaking the rule and acting fast Comparing brand and business models: cola drinks Two different approaches to luxury brand building Part Two: The challenges of modern markets 4. The new rules of brand management The new challenges of modern markets Key principles of competitive branding The enlarged scope of brand management Licensing: a strategic lever The logic of co-branding 5. Brand identity and positioning Brand identity: a necessary concept Identity and positioning Why brands need identity and positioning The six facets of brand identity Sources of identity Brand essence 6. The logic of retail brands The changing nature of retail brands Why have a retail brand? The business logic of retail brands How retail brands grow Success factors of retail brands Optimising the retail brand marketing mix Changing the brand and business model: Decathlon How manufacturers compete against retail brands Defending against imitation by retail brands Facing the low cost revolution Part Three: Creating and sustaining brand equity 7. Launching the brand Launching a brand and launching a product are not the same Defining the brand's platform The process of brand positioning Determining the flagship product Brand campaign or product campaign? Brand language and territory of communication Choosing a name for a strong brand Overcoming thresholds in brand awareness Making creative advertising work for the brand Building brand foundations through opinion leaders Taking distributors into account 8. The challenge of growth in mature markets Growth through existing customers Line extensions: necessity and limits Growth through innovation Disrupting markets through value innovation Managing fragmented markets Growth through cross-selling between brands Growth through internationalisation 9. Sustaining a brand long term Is there a brand life cycle? The fragile equilibrium of added value Recreating a perceived difference Investing in communication No one is free from price comparisons Image is an art at retail Creating entry barriers Defending against brand counterfeiting From brand equity to customer equity Sustaining proximity with influencers The necessity of dual management 10. Adapting to the market: identity and change The necessity of change Brand identity versus brand diversity Consistency is not mere repetition The three layers of a brand: kernel, codes and promises Respecting the brand contract Managing two levels of branding Checking the value of one's identity Reinventing the brand: Salomon 11. Growth through brand extensions What is new about brand extensions? Brand or line extensions? The limits of the classical conception of a brand Why are brand extensions necessary? Building the brand through systematic extensions Extending the brand to internationalise it Identifying potential extensions The economics of brand extension What research tells us about brand extensions How extensions impact the brand: a typology Avoiding the risk of dilution What does brand coherence really mean? Balancing identity and change Assessing what should not change: the brand kernel Preparing the brand for remote extensions Keys to successful brand extensions Is the market is really attractive? A few classic implementation errors An extension-based business model: Virgin 12. Brand architecture: managing brand and product relationships Branding strategies Choosing the appropriate branding strategy Retailers' branding strategies New trends in branding strategies Internationalising the architecture of the brand Group and corporate brands Corporate brands and product brands 13. Multi-brand portfolios Inherited complex portfolios From single to multiple brands: Michelin The benefits of multiple entries Linking the portfolio to segmentation Global portfolio strategy The case of industrial brand portfolios Linking the brand portfolio to the corporate strategy Key rules to manage a multi-brand portfolio Design and portfolio management Does the brand portfolio match the organisation? Auditing the portfolio strategically A local and global portfolio - Nestle 14. Handling name changes and brand transfers Brand transfers are more than a name change Reasons for brand transfers The challenge of brand transfers When one should not switch When brand transfer fails Analysing best practices Transferring a service brand Which brand to retain after a merger Managing resistance to change Factors of successful brand transfers Changing the corporate brand 15 Ageing, decline and revitalisation The decay of brand equity The factors of decline When the brand becomes generic The ageing of brands Rejuvenating a brand Growing older but not ageing 16. Managing global brands The latest on globalisation A classification of global brands Patterns of brand globalisation Why globalise? The benefits of a global image Conditions favouring global brands The excess of globalisation Barriers to globalisation Coping with local diversity Building the brand in emerging countries Naming problems Achieving the delicate local-global balance Being perceived as local: the new ideal of global brands? Local brands make a comeback? The process of brand globalization Globalising communications: processes and problems Making local brands converge Part Four: Brand valuation 17. Financial brand valuation Accounting for brands: the debate What is financial brand equity? Evaluating brand valuation methods The nine steps to brand valuation The evaluation of complex cases What about the brand values published annually in the press?


Squamous cell carcinoma is one of the most common malignancy in the oral cavity. Currently, cancer treatment using surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and combination. New strategy for cancer therapy is by inducing apoptosis using herbal medicine. Pholyphenol is one of a potential anticancer agent that can induce apoptosis. Pomegranate is one of a potential herbal medicine because of its pholyphenol enzyme content. The aim of study was to investigate to relation between pomegranate ethanol extract and apoptosis of oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma cell line (SP-C1). The true experimental method was conducted in the present study. Oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma cell line (SP-C1)was treated with three concentration under and upper IC50 and upper of pomegranate ethanol extract, including 25, 50, 75, 100, 150, 200, 250μg/ml. In apoptosis test, cell stained with fluorochrome ethidiun bromide and acridine orange after 24 hours incubation. Fluorescence microscope was use for counting the cell. Viable cell would be stained green and apoptotic cell would be stained yellow. Data was analyzed by Saphiro-Wilk test and Levene test to determine normality and homogeneity of data. If data distribution was normal and homogen, analyze were continue by Parametric test: Pearson correlation, linier regression and One Way ANOVA.The result showed that there was a strong positive correlation between concentration of pomegranate ethanol extract and apoptotic cell (r = 0,984, p< 0,05). Pomegranate concentration was a predictor of apoptosis induction 98,6 %. One Way ANOVA test revealed there were a statistically significant difference between each group treated with different concentration (p<0,05). In conclusion, pomegranate ethanol extract treatment induced apoptosis of oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma and the increases of pomegranate ethanol extract concentration followed by the increase of apoptosis


Forkhead box K1 (FOXK1) has been identified to have a crucial function in development and oncogenesis. However, its role in glioblastoma has remained largely elusive and was therefore assessed in the present study. In human glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) tissue samples, FOXK1 was determined to be highly expressed compared with adjacent normal tissue samples. In addition, high levels of FOXK1 were detected in the T98G and LN18 GBM cell lines as compare with those in normal human astrocytes. Of note, high expression of FOXK1 was revealed to be associated with metastasis and tumor size. Loss- and gain-of-function experiments were then performed to determine whether FOXK1 regulates epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and cell proliferation. Knockdown of FOXK1 significantly suppressed EMT and metastasis of GBM cells, while ectopic expression of FOXK1 promoted them. A luciferase reporter assay and a chromatin immunoprecipitation assay revealed that FOXK1 activated the transcription of Snail. In addition, as the results indicated that FOXK1 promotes GBM cell proliferation, the potential effect of FOXK1 on the cell cycle and apoptosis were further assessed. While FOXK1 had no effect on apoptosis, it promoted cell proliferation via enhancing the S-phase population. In brief, the present study indicated that FOXK1 acts as an oncogene with a key function in glioblastoma cell proliferation and EMT.


Neutral proteinase activity in subcellular fractions of rat liver was measured with heat-denatured casein as a substrate before and after repeated freezing and thawing, followed by extraction of each fraction with 1 M KC1. By this treatment, most of the proteinase activity in each fraction was solubilized except for that in the microsomal fraction. More than 50% of the neutral proteinase activity in the microsomal fraction remained insoluble, which indicated that the 1 M KCI-insoluble neutral proteinase activity was predominantly localized in the microsomal fraction. The activity was present in both the rough and smooth microsomes. The neutral proteinase(s) was largely solubilized from the 1 M KG-washed microsomal fraction by 0.5 M NaCl containing 0.5 % deoxycholate and 0.25 % cholate. The solubilized proteinase(s) was eluted from a Sepharose CL-6B column as a single but rather broad peak, giving a molecular weight of about 84,000. It showed maximal activity at pH 8.0 toward heat-denatured casein as a substrate. It was markedly inhibited by diisopropyl phosphorofiuoridate, but was not significantly inhibited by chymostatin, soybean trypsin inhibitor, p-chloromercuribenzoate or EDTA. o-Phenanthroline was somewhat inhibitory. Among urea-denatured proteins tested as substrates, calf thymus histone was hydrolyzed most rapidly, followed by casein and hemoglobin, whereas ovalbumin, bovine serum albumin, and 7"-globulin were not hydrolyzed to any significant extent. These results demonstrate that rat liver microsomes contain a unique serine proteinase(s) firmly bound to their membranes.


BACKGROUND
Intussusception is the leading cause of intestinal obstruction in young children. Antibiotics are the most frequently prescribed medication in the pediatric population and have common adverse effects on the gastrointestinal tract.

OBJECTIVE
To determine whether a relationship exists between primary idiopathic intussusception and antibiotic drug use.

DESIGN
Case-control study.

PARTICIPANTS
Ninety-three case patients with intussusception and 353 injury controls younger than 4 years who were seen at the emergency department of the Children's Hospital of Alabama between January 1, 1996, and April 30, 2001, were included. Controls were matched to cases by quarter and year of time of diagnosis, age, and sex.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Odds ratios and 2-sided 95% confidence intervals were estimated using conditional logistic regression. Prevalence of antibiotic use in an age-standardized, representative sample of US children from NHANES III (Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) was used for external comparisons.

RESULTS
Antibiotic use within 48 hours of diagnosis was found in 23 cases (25%) and 33 controls (9%) (odds ratio, 4.15; 95% confidence interval, 2.17-7.92; attributable risk, 18.7%). Antibiotic use among US children according to NHANES III was 10.7%. In cases, the beta-lactam class accounted for 78% of all medications used. Cephalosporin use was associated with more than a 20-fold increased risk of intussusception.

CONCLUSION
An association between antibiotic drug use and intussusception was identified.


This paper presents an analysis of a nozzle-to-spherical-shell attachment and explores the applicability of simplified ratchetting and creep-fatigue rules to this attachment. A five-cycle inelastic analysis and creep-fatigue damage evaluation was carried out. Ten lines, or critical sections, were chosen for postprocessing to determine the ratchetting strain and creep-fatigue damage at both the inside and outside surfaces. At many of the 20 surface points analyzed, the inelastic analysis results did not develop a constant or decreasing pattern for the incremental strain or damage even after 5 cycles were analyzed. Failure to develop a constant or decreasing pattern was especially prevalent for creep damage. The results of the detailed inelastic analyses at the ten critical sections are compared with the results of elastic evaluations of ratchetting and creep-fatigue damage calculated results of elastic evaluations of ratchetting and creep-fatigue damage calculated according to ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Case N-47-13. The elastic ratchetting procedures were found to be conservative for all ten sections. The elastically calculated creep damage was nonconservative for two sections. A new technique for simulating a two-dimensional inelastic structure by a series of one-dimensional inelastic membrane shell analyses was also developed.


Abstract. Three shallow lakes from the southeastern pampas, which are different in their physicochemical characteristics, were studied with the aim of comparing live/dead fidelity and preservation of mollusk shells. The studied lakes were Las Mostazas, Los Carpinchos and Nahuel Rucá, which proved different in terms of their specific richness, abundance, compositional fidelity and taphonomic alteration. The lake that presented the higher values of conductivity (3.34±0.72), hardness (286±83 mgl-1) and carbonates saturation index (SIcalcite;= 1.95±0.21) was the one for which lower specific richness in living assemblages was recorded and differences in richness and diversity between the living and the dead assemblages became apparent. It was also the lake where the number of species was higher in death assemblages (R= 5) than in living communities (R= 2). Such characteristics suggest a higher residence time in the taphonomically active zone. On the other hand, the lakes featuring lower values of the same characteristics (conductivity= 2.2±1.2; 0.8±0.5; hardness= 157±55; 250±127 mgl-1; saturation index of calcite= 0.35±0.15; 0.43+0.36, for LC and NR respectively) presented a higher species richness, lower numbers of species in death assemblages (R= 8) than in living communities (R= 10) and taphonomic attributes that suggested recently dead and deposited individuals. All these results indicate that water conditions in these lakes result in the decrease of the preservation of carbonate remains in comparison with the previously mentioned lake. Even though the lakes are located close to each other and are of similar shape and depth, such differences in water characteristics may be affecting shell preservation.


Molecular weight and thermal stability measurements on the presumed polymers of aminoborane, H2BNH2, and aminodifluoroborane, F2BNH2, were explored using a laser light scattering technique for the molecular weight measurements and both differential thermal analyses and thermogravimetric analyses for the thermal stability studies. Weight-average molecular weight of polymeric aminodifluoroborane in water was determined as 23,000 g/mole, whereas the molecular weight of polymeric aminoborane could not be determined since a suitable solvent was not found. Both DTA and TGA observations showed partial decomposition of polymeric aminoborane between 135° and 200°C, and the vaporization of polymeric aminodifluoroborane between 250° and 360°C.


The author investigates yield differentials from a different perspective. To account for the still non-negligible differences in long-term government bond yields of EMU members relative to Germany, the literature has placed much attention on the relative importance of liquidity and credit risk factors. In this article, the author argues that the main driver of spreads is the U.S. long-term rate. Results qualify earlier evidence and document an additional and independent role for the international risk factor. This article also shows that working on spreads relative to the German rate is a frustrating exercise while the use of the U.S. rate as external reference allows for sharper results.


In this piece, I reflect upon my experiences of masculinities in different teaching and learning spaces. I draw upon existing literature concerned with laddism and compare how masculinity is performed differently in different spaces.


We consider the problem of implementation in models of independent private values in which the valuation an agent attributes to a particular alternative is a function from a multidimensional Euclidean space to the real line. We first consider implementation by standard mechanisms, that include a decision rule and a profile of personal transfers. We present impossibility results on the implementation of decision rules that assign different outcomes to profiles of signals that result in the same profile of valuations. We then consider implementation by extended mechanisms that include, in addition to a decision rule and a profile of personal transfers, a profile of functions that affect the arguments of the valuation functions. We show that decision rules that assign different outcomes to profiles of signals that result in the same profile of valuations can be implemented by such mechanisms.


In an age where autoimmune rheumatic diseases are successfully managed with biologics, their discontinuation in pregnancy is inadvisable without careful forethought; maternal disease activity is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, which has long-term implications for both mother and offspring. We aim to provide clinicians with the necessary tools to facilitate decision-making – when a biologic should be used, when it can be discontinued in pregnancy if appropriate. The pathophysiology of these biologic molecules and their effect on fertility, pregnancy and parturition are discussed. A summary of the 2016 international guidelines (European League Against Rheumatism and British Society in Rheumatology) on biologics in pregnancy has been tabulated; more recent publications are discussed in depth. Data on transplacental-transfer ratios and breastmilk excretion rates are also included. Biologic effects on organogenesis, their implications for the exposed infant in terms of infection risks and vaccination requirements are included, and future directions for research proposed.


Eruptive Grzybowski-type keratoacanthoma is a rare variant of multiple keratoacanthoma and is not accompanied by internal malignancies. Up to now only 16 cases of eruptive Grzybowski-type keratoacanthoma have been described in the literature. Eruptive and solitary keratoacanthomas cannot be distinguished histologically. The multiplicity of skin lesions may be due to a genetic background. Our patient presented with multiple eruptive keratoacanthomas, ectropion and a mask-like face. Conservative treatment, e.g. with etretinate, did not lead to any improvement of symptoms in this case. Therefore surgical therapy was recommended for the patient's ectropion.


In designing a recurrent neural network, it is usually of prime importance to guarantee the convergence in the dynamics of the network. We propose to modify this picture: if the brain remembers by converging to the state representing familiar patterns, it should also diverge from such states when presented with an unknown encoded representation of a visual image. We propose to capture this behavior using a nonlinear line attractor network. This model encapsulates attractive fixed points scattered in the state space representing patterns with similar characteristics as an attractive curved line. The dynamics of the nonlinear line attractor network is designed such that when the network is able to reach equilibrium (stable), the input is considered as one of the stored patterns. Conversely, when the network is unable to reach equilibrium (unstable), the input is considered to be dissimilar to the stored patterns and therefore is considered as pattern of another class. Several experiments on benchmark problems have shown that the proposed model can be very useful for discriminating patterns.


We investigate the global convergence, boundedness, and periodicity of solutions of the recursive sequence , where the parameters and are positive real numbers, and the initial conditions and are positive real numbers where .


A novel single and small molecular theranostic agent (1a) based on a naphthalimide dye has been developed and characterized. The agent (1a) displays excellent fluorescence for cell imaging (fluorescent quantum yields of 0.81) and photodynamic effects for therapeutic effectiveness (micromolar inhibition efficacy in vitro towards a broad spectrum of tumor models and anticancer treatment in vivo on A375 tumor xenograft models). This provides a new approach for simultaneous improvement in two directions using a small molecule as theranostic agent, which usually are in conflict with each other for most traditional theranostic agents.


This work presents CLTune, an auto-tuner for OpenCL kernels. It evaluates and tunes kernel performance of a generic, user-defined search space of possible parameter-value combinations. Example parameters include the OpenCL workgroup size, vector data-types, tile sizes, and loop unrolling factors. CLTune can be used in the following scenarios: 1) when there are too many tunable parameters to explore manually, 2) when performance portability across OpenCL devices is desired, or 3) when the optimal parameters change based on input argument values (e.g. matrix dimensions). The auto-tuner is generic, easy to use, open-source, and supports multiple search strategies including simulated annealing and particle swarm optimisation. CLTune is evaluated on two GPU case-studies inspired by the recent successes in deep learning: 2D convolution and matrix-multiplication (GEMM). For 2D convolution, we demonstrate the need for auto-tuning by optimizing for different filter sizes, achieving performance on-par or better than the state-of-the-art. For matrix-multiplication, we use CLTune to explore a parameter space of more than two-hundred thousand configurations, we show the need for device-specific tuning, and outperform the clBLAS library on NVIDIA, AMD and Intel GPUs.


Objectives: to identify association between knowledge of pregnant women about anemia and the adherence to consume iron tablets in BPM Titik Suharti, Surabaya, IndonesiaMaterials and Methods: Observational analysis cross sectional study. Population consisted of 55 trimester pregnant women in BPM Titik Suharti, Surabaya, in March-April 2017. Samples were recruited using consecutive sampling. The number of sample was 35 respondents. Data were analyzed using chi-square test.Results: This research showed that all of the less knowledgeable women on anemia (100.00%) were non-adherent to consume iron tablets, almost all moderately knowledgeable women (92.9%) were adherent, and all of the fully knowledgeable women (100.00%) were adherent. Fisher exact test in significance level of 0.05 revealed p value equal to 0.0001, indicating association between knowledge about anemia and adherence to consume iron tablets at BPM Titik Suharti, Surabaya, Indonesia.Conclusion: There is an association between knowledge of pregnant women about anemia with adherence to iron tablets.


Background There are few studies in the literature about the effect of obturation techniques on postoperative pain. Besides, GuttaFlow2 was used for the first time in this study regarding postoperative pain. This study aimed to compare the postoperative pain levels and incidence following single-visit root canal treatment with different canal filling techniques; cold lateral compaction (CLC), thermoplasticised solid-core carrier (GuttaCore) based filling and cold free-flow compaction (GuttaFlow2) technique. Methods The patients (n = 93) having single-rooted teeth with a single canal diagnosed with asymptomatic irreversible pulpitis or single-rooted vital teeth with a single canal requiring endodontic treatment because of prosthetic reasons were enrolled in this study. Patients were randomized into three groups (n = 31) according to the obturation technique. A single operator performed all the treatments in a single visit. Data on obturation levels, postoperative pain and analgesic intake frequency were recorded at postoperative 6, 12 and 24 h and daily afterward until the 7th day. Postoperative pain was measured by visual analogue scale (VAS). The date were statistically analyzed with chi-squared tests (for the analyses of the categorical data), the nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis test (for the comparisons of VAS score) and with the Friedman test (for the assessments of the changes in VAS scores over time). Results The GuttaCore group recorded the higher pain levels, except first 12 h, on the other hand, the GuttaFlow2 group recorded the lower pain levels at all time periods. Significant differences occurred among the groups during the first 4 days (p < 0.05), except at 12 h (p = 0.054). The patients in the CLC and GuttaFlow2 groups did not need to use the prescribed analgesic; however, one patient in the GuttaCore group used it once. Conclusions Postoperative pain levels following root canal therapy were affected by the obturation technique especially first 4 days following obturation.


SETTING
Health facilities in The Gambia, West Africa.

OBJECTIVES
Oxygen treatment is vital in pneumonia, the leading cause of death in children globally. There are shortages of oxygen in developing countries, but little information is available on the extent of the problem. We assessed national oxygen availability and use in The Gambia, a sub-Saharan African country.

METHODS
A government-led team visited 12 health facilities in The Gambia. A modified World Health Organization assessment tool was used to determine oxygen requirements, current provision and capacity to support effective oxygen use.

RESULTS
Eleven of the 12 facilities managed severe pneumonia. Oxygen was reliable in three facilities. Requirement and supply were often mismatched. Both oxygen concentrators and oxygen cylinders were used. Suboptimal electricity and maintenance made using concentrators difficult, while logistical problems and cost hampered cylinder use. Children were usually triaged by trained nurses who reported lack of training in oxygen use. Oxygen was given typically by nasal prongs; pulse oximetry was available in two facilities.

CONCLUSIONS
National data showed that oxygen availability did not meet needs in most Gambian health facilities. Remedial options must be carefully assessed for real costs, reliability and site-by-site usability. Training is needed to support oxygen use and equipment maintenance.


Abstract. This paper shows high-fidelity Fluid Structure Interaction (FSI) studies applied on the research wind turbine of the WINSENT project. In this project, two research wind turbines are going to be erected in the South of Germany in the WindForS complex terrain test field. The FSI is obtained by coupling the CFD URANS/DES code FLOWer and the multiphysics FEM solver Kratos, in which both beam and shell structural elements can be chosen to model the turbine. The two codes are coupled in both an explicit and an implicit way. The different modelling approaches strongly differ with respect to computational resources and therefore the advantages of their higher accuracy must be correlated with the respective additional computational costs. The presented FSI coupling method has been applied firstly to a single blade model of the turbine under standard uniform inflow conditions. It could be concluded that for such a small turbine, in uniform conditions a beam model is sufficient to correctly build the blade deformations. Afterwards, the aerodynamic complexity has been increased considering the full turbine with turbulent inflow conditions generated from real field data, in both a flat and complex terrains. It is shown that in these cases a higher structural fidelity is necessary. The effects of aeroelasticity are then shown on the phase-averaged blade loads, showing that using the same inflow turbulence, a flat terrain is mostly influenced by the shear, while the complex terrain is mostly affected by low velocity structures generated by the forest. Finally, the impact of aeroelasticity and turbulence on the Damage Equivalent Loading (DEL) is discussed, showing that flexibility is reducing the DEL in case of turbulent inflow, acting as a damper breaking larger cycles into smaller ones.


Abstract Clear-sky albedos and outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) determined from Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) scanners on board the earth radiation budget satellite and NOAA-9 spacecraft were analyzed for three target sites for the months February 1985–January 1987. The targets were oceans, deserts, and a multiscene site covering half the earth's surface. Year-to-year ratios of the monthly albedos and OLR were within the 0.98–1.02 range with a standard error of about 1%. The data indicate that ERBE scanner measurements were stable to within a few tenths of a percent for the two-year period.


The distribution of the permafrost in the Tibetan Plateau has dramatically changed due to climate change, expressed as increasing permafrost degradation, thawing depth deepening and disappearance of island permafrost. These changes have serious impacts on the local ecological environment and the stability of engineering infrastructures. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is used to detect permafrost active layer depth, the upper limit of permafrost and the thawing of permafrost with the season's changes. Due to the influence of complex structure in the permafrost layer, it is difficult to effectively characterize the accurate structure within the permafrost on the radar profile. In order to get the high resolution GPR profile in the Tibetan Plateau, the reverse time migration (RTM) imaging method was applied to GPR real data. In this paper, RTM algorithm is proven to be correct through the groove's model of forward modeling data. In the Beiluhe region, the imaging result of GPR RTM profiles show that the RTM of GPR makes use of diffracted energy to properly position the reflections caused by the gravels, pebbles, cobbles and small discontinuities. It can accurately determine the depth of the active layer bottom interface in the migration section. In order to prove the accuracy of interpretation results of real data RTM section, we set up the three dielectric constant models based on the real data RTM profiles and geological information, and obtained the model data RTM profiles, which can prove the accuracy of interpretation results of three-line RTM profiles. The results of three-line RTM bears great significance for the study of complex structure and freezing and thawing process of permafrost at the Beiluhe region on the Tibetan Plateau.


This paper considers the numerical stability of null-space methods for Karush--Kuhn--Tucker (KKT) systems, particularly in the context of quadratic programming. The methods we consider are based on the direct elimination of variables, which is attractive for solving large sparse systems. Ill-conditioning in a certain submatrix A in the system is shown to adversely affect the method insofar as it is commonly implemented. In particular, it can cause growth in the residual error of the solution, which would not normally occur if Gaussian elimination or related methods were used. The mechanism of this error growth is studied and is not due to growth in the null-space basis matrix Z, as might have been expected, but to the indeterminacy of this matrix. When LU factors of A are available it is shown that an alternative form of the method is available which avoids this residual error growth. These conclusions are supported by error analysis and Matlab experiments on some extremely ill-conditioned test problems. These indicate that the alternative method is very robust in regard to residual error growth and is unlikely to be significantly inferior to the methods based on an orthogonal basis matrix. The paper concludes with some discussion of what needs to be done when LU factors are not available.


The lifetimes of some P II levels belonging to the 4p or 4f configurations have been determined from Hanle signals and compared with lifetimes obtained by means of the beam-foil technique. The necessary degree of coherence was obtained using high-frequency discharge excitation in a hollow-cathode discharge.


ABSTRACT This paper examines the backpacker market in Hong Kong, in terms of profile, motivation, preferences, and contribution to sustainable tourism development. The purpose is to provide an understanding of this market to help in marketing and promoting services and products that meet backpackers' needs as part of expanding Hong Kong's target market. Currently, Hong Kong relies on tourists from mainland China and recent reports reveal the issue of social conflicts between mainland tourists and Hong Kong residents. Based on a survey of backpackers in youth hostels and hiking trails in Hong Kong, this study revealed that backpackers are pushed by the search for new ideas and pulled by the uniquefood culture of Hong Kong, preferring to experience such a unique food culture in a traditional setting. Moreover, they are less likely to spend on international brands in Hong Kong as part of promoting sustainable tourism development.


We have devised a single pot, low-cost method to modify RNA with sulfinate salts that can directly add almost any desired functional group to nucleobases under mild aqueous conditions. This chemistry modifies the Hoogsteen edge of RNA and DNA nucleobases. It can be applied to RNA or DNA of any size, as well as to individual nucleotides. Existing methods of RNA modification have relatively limited applicability due to constraints on the size of the RNA and the lack of diversity of possible modifications. We have been able to add azide groups for click reactions directly onto the nucleobases of RNA utilizing sulfinate salts. C-H bonds on the nucleobase aromatic rings serve as the sites of attachment, with C-H being replaced with C-R, where R is the azide-containing linker. With the addition of azide functional groups, the modified RNA can easily be reacted with any alkyne-labeled compound of interest, including fluorescent dyes as shown in this work. This methodology enables the exploration of diverse chemical groups on RNA that can potentially confer protection from nucleases, allow for efficient delivery of nucleic acids into cells, or act as new tools for the investigation of nucleic acid structure and function.


Introduction: Atezolizumab and bevacizumab (Ate/Bev) combination has become the new first-line systemic therapy for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Although several studies reported thyroid dysfunction after treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors, the clinical and immunological significance of thyroid dysfunction in patients treated with Ate/Bev has not been comprehensively addressed. We aimed to comprehensively evaluate the clinical and immunological implications of thyroid dysfunction in unresectable HCC patients treated with Ate/Bev. Methods: We enrolled 208 patients with unresectable HCC treated with Ate/Bev from three Korean cancer centers. Thyroid adverse events (AEs) were reviewed, and cytokines and T cells in the blood samples were analyzed at baseline. For external validation, we analyzed clinical outcomes according to thyroid AEs in patients treated with Ate/Bev in the IMbrave150 study. Results: Forty-one (19.7%) out of 208 patients experienced thyroid dysfunction (hypothyroidism [17.3%] and thyrotoxicosis [5.8%]) after Ate/Bev treatment. Median time to onset of hypothyroidism and thyrotoxicosis after Ate/Bev treatment was 3.5 and 1.3 months, respectively. Patients with thyroid AEs demonstrated significantly better progression-free survival, overall survival, and objective response rate than those without thyroid AEs. These findings were still consistent even after adjusting for confounding factors. Furthermore, favorable survival outcomes in patients with thyroid AEs were also validated in a cohort of IMbrave150 patients. While patients with thyrotoxicosis showed a significantly lower level of baseline IL-6, those with hypothyroidism did not show significant differences in circulating cytokine levels and CD8+ T-cell fractions. Conclusions: A fraction of patients with HCC treated with Ate/Bev experienced thyroid dysfunction, and the development of thyroid AEs was associated with favorable clinical outcomes.


This paper solves the problem of runtime verification for signal temporal logic in distributed cyber-physical systems (CPS). We assume a partially synchronous setting, where a clock synchronization algorithm guarantees a bound on clock drifts among all signals. We introduce a formula progression and a signal retiming technique that allow reasoning about the correctness of formulas among continuous-time and continuous-valued signals that do not share a global view of time. The resulting problem is encoded as a satisfiability modulo theory (SMT) solving problem, and we introduce techniques to solve the SMT encoding efficiently. We also conduct two case studies on monitoring a network of aerial vehicles and a water distribution system.


The tasks I have been assigned as a discussant are, first, to discuss results of my current experimentation that extends my earlier blood-brain barrier work as it bears upon the work presented by the panelists. Second, I am to comment on the work presented by the various panelists.

I will briefly sketch three of my current experiments. One concerns the effect of microwave energy on the blood-vitreous barrier of the eye. Another is concerned with the possibility of passage of dye through the placental barrier to the fetus. The third is concerned with the possibility of low-intensity microwave energy enhancing the passage of cancer chemotherapeutic substances through the blood-brain barrier.


There are a growing number of disasters in Hungary, and throughout the world, that have had devastating effects, and the activities related to prevention, protection and damage cleanup last for a long time. The defence activities are accomplished by professional organizations responsible for remedial actions, namely the National Directorate General for Disaster Management, Ministry of the Interior (NDGDM) and the Hungarian Defence Forces (HDF). Working for a long period of time at the site of damage cleanup works is a heavy burden and effort. Therefore, maintenance of the appropriate physical condition of the official staff intervening in disasters and carrying out demanding physical duties is essential for effective work activities. Catering, providing food and drink supply for organizations carrying out intervention is one of the basic responsibilities of the professional organizations. With the aid and application of the methods of modern food science the energy need of the human body accomplishing demanding activities can be determined by taking body weight and parameters of weather into account. In this work, we aim to analyse the impacts physical workers' bodies are exposed to. We also define and through examples present the amount, quality and form of the required nutrient and fluid intakes. Through our research, we would like to assist medical and logistic professionals responsible for catering the intervening organization.


This first description of behavioural interactions between benthic pyjama sharks Poroderma africanum (Chondrichthyes: Scyliorhinidae) and spawning squids Loligo vulgaris reynaudii (Cephalopoda: Loliginidae) was made from underwater video recordings. The behaviours are described and illustrated to show that the sharks searched for squids in egg beds, then rested there partially hidden and immobile. The pyjama sharks at-tempted to ambush the squids when they approached to lay their eggs after they had apparently habituated to the predators. Although normally nocturnal, the pyjama sharks had emerged by day from caves and cracks in the rocky reef to attack the spawning squids, thereby benefiting from an occasionally available resource.


It has been shown recently on TEXTOR that it is possible to obtain stable discharges with good thermal confinement under quasi-stationary conditions with a cold radiative boundary, by injecting the impurities Ne and/or Si. In the first part the main experimental results are summarized. In the second part a first attempt is presented for the modelling of the basic transport processes in these discharges. This is done by using the codes TRANSP for interpretative simulations and RITM for predictive simulations. We find that the bulk confinement is favorably influenced by the application of edge cooling and a satisfactory agreement is obtained between the predictions of RITM and the experimental results.


During the past five years, fusion operations for the relief of low back and sciatic pain have been performed in twenty-nine cases in the orthopedic service of Dr. E. W. Ryerson at St. Luke's Hospital, Chicago. This group of cases has been closely followed and their analysis, here presented, has been made in the hope of revealing some of the etiologic factors as well as the result of surgical treatment. In many respects the study of this group of cases presenting symptoms of low back disability parallels the recent study made by Hibbs and Swift of the New York Orthopaedic Hospital.1 All of the cases in this series were chronic in nature and treatment was directed along the more conservative lines of removal of foci of infection, manipulation, the use of external supports and, in several instances, prolonged rest in bed with traction applied to the pelvis. The persistent


Sudden cardiac death is one of the more frequent causes of death in patients with heart failure. Thus, identification of patients at risk is a major clinical problem not only for the unpredictability of the event but also for the continuous growth of patients' number. The most widely used parameter for risk stratification is ejection fraction. Unfortunately, its predictive accuracy is limited and often it is impossible to distinguish patients with an increased arrhythmic mortality from those with an increased mortality due to pump failure. Heart rate variability and baroreflex sensitivity analysis has been largely utilized to obtain information on autonomic modulation of sinus node as well as to identify patients at risk. However, at variance with results observed in post-myocardial infarction patients, lower values of both parameters have been reported in patients with either an increased total or arrhythmic mortality. More recently, T wave alternans analysis has been found effective in identifying patients with an increased arrhythmic risk. Ongoing studies will provide evidence to support the use of this non-invasive technique in patients with cardiac insufficiency. Finally, the role of programmed electrical stimulation in heart failure patients appears limited. Inducibility of monomorphic sustained ventricular tachycardia seems to correlate better with the presenting clinical arrhythmia than with patient outcome. In conclusion, our capability of identifying heart failure patients at risk for arrhythmic death is far from being satisfactory. It is possible that the combination of results of multiple non-invasive tests such as reduction in ejection fraction and positivity for T wave alternans may not only provide general prognostic information but also facilitate the appropriate identification of patients at risk who may benefit from antiarrhythmic therapy.


Transcriptomics and metabolomics are methodologies being increasingly chosen to perform molecular studies in grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.), focusing either on plant and fruit development or on interaction with abiotic or biotic factors. Currently, the integration of these approaches has become of utmost relevance when studying key plant physiological and metabolic processes. The results from these analyses can undoubtedly be incorporated in breeding programs whereby genes associated with better fruit quality (e.g., those enhancing the accumulation of health-promoting compounds) or with stress resistance (e.g., those regulating beneficial responses to environmental transition) can be used as selection markers in crop improvement programs. Despite the vast amount of data being generated, integrative transcriptome/metabolome meta-analyses (i.e., the joint analysis of several studies) have not yet been fully accomplished in this species, mainly due to particular specificities of metabolomic studies, such as differences in data acquisition (i.e., different compounds being investigated), unappropriated and unstandardized metadata, or simply no deposition of data in public repositories. These meta-analyses require a high computational capacity for data mining a priori, but they also need appropriate tools to explore and visualize the integrated results. This perspective article explores the universe of omics studies conducted in V. vinifera, focusing on fruit-transcriptome and metabolome analyses as leading approaches to understand berry physiology, secondary metabolism, and quality. Moreover, we show how omics data can be integrated in a simple format and offered to the research community as a web resource, giving the chance to inspect potential gene-to-gene and gene-to-metabolite relationships that can later be tested in hypothesis-driven research. In the frame of the activities promoted by the COST Action CA17111 INTEGRAPE, we present the first grapevine transcriptomic and metabolomic integrated database (TransMetaDb) developed within the Vitis Visualization (VitViz) platform (https://tomsbiolab.com/vitviz). This tool also enables the user to conduct and explore meta-analyses utilizing different experiments, therefore hopefully motivating the community to generate Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (F.A.I.R.) data to be included in the future.


The difficuities in assessing the Central Nervous System (CNS) in the course of Systemic Nervous System (SLE) are weli known. A battery of Neurophysiological tests, including EEG and Multimodal Evoked Potencials was used in order to evaluate CNS disfuntion. Two SLE populations were studied (one with previous neurological symptoms (N = 10) and another without any of the these symptoms (N = 10) and compared with normal controls (N = 14). Tests included Routine EEG, Visual Evoked Potencials (VEP), Flash Evoked Responses (FEP), Auditory P300 (P300) and a Reitan B Test. Both SLE populations showed rather high incidences of abnormalities in FEP and VEP; EEG and P300 had smaller percentages of abnormal records. In spite of stronger and more frequent abnormalities in patient with major symptoms in their past the two SLE could not be differentiated in terms of incidence of abnormal Evoked Potencials Records. Visual Evoked Potencials seem a promising method for the assessment of CNS system disfunction SLE patients.


Collaborative robots (i.e., "cobots") and machine learning-based virtual agents are increasingly entering the human workspace with the aim of increasing productivity, enhancing safety, and improving the quality of our lives. These agents will dynamically interact with a wide variety of people in dynamic and novel contexts, increasing the prevalence of human-machine teams in healthcare, manufacturing, and search-and-rescue. In this research, we enhance the mutual understanding within a human-machine team by enabling cobots to understand heterogeneous teammates via person-specific embeddings, identifying contexts in which xAI methods can help improve team mental model alignment, and enabling cobots to effectively communicate information that supports high-performance human-machine teaming.


Parkinsons disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder where dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra (SNc) in the mesencephalon are progressively eliminated. The ensuing loss of dopaminergic innervation of the basal ganglia manifests itself as severe motor deficits in PD patients. Clinical trials have shown that cell replacement therapy, where dopaminergic neuroblasts derived from fetal ventral mesencephalon (VM) are transplanted to the striatum, may be an alternative to pharmacological treatment of PD patients. The limited access and ethical concerns with using fetal tissue have prompted the use of stem cells as a renewable and limitless source of dopaminergic neurons. However, the mechanisms of specification of mesDA neurons in vivo need to be elucidated for identification and generation of mesencephalic dopaminergic (mesDA) neurons from stem cells in vitro.

In this thesis I have identified expression of the proneural gene Neurogenin2 (Ngn2) in a restricted pattern in the embryonic VM during mesDA neurogenesis. The protein was expressed in the progenitor population in the ventricular zone but not in mature neurons in the mantle zone. When isolating the Ngn2-expressing cells and their direct descendants by FACS from an Ngn2-GFP-KI mouse, I found that the Ngn2-GFP-positive cell fraction contained dopaminergic neurons, in contrast to Ngn2-GFP-negative cells. This shows that Ngn2 label early mesDA neuron precursors. Furthermore, when I analysed the Ngn2 knockout mutants, I found that they displayed an early loss of mesDA neurons that was partially maintained at postnatal stages, showing that Ngn2 has a role in the generation of the mesDA neurons. No other neuronal subtype in the VM was affected suggesting that this role for Ngn2 is specific for the mesDA neurons.

Using embryonic mouse tissue obtained at the stage of mesDA genesis, I was able to generate cultures of neural stem and progenitor cells, so called neurosphere cultures, that were neurogenic and maintained a ventral midbrain character over several passages. Although the neurospheres did not spontaneously give rise to dopaminergic neurons when differentiated, TH-positive cells were detected when Nurr1 was over-expressed in the cultures. The frequency with which this occurred, and the morphology of the TH-positive cells, differed from the results obtained when over-expressing Nurr1 in forebrain-derived expanded cells. This suggests that neurosphere expanded cells derived from VM specifically contain progenitors that can generate dopaminergic neurons under certain conditions. When over- expressing Ngn2 together with Nurr1 TH-positive cells were generated that displayed a mature neuronal morphology. Furthermore, I found that they expressed other dopaminergic markers which were not seen when either Nurr1 or Ngn2 were over-expressed alone. This suggests that Nurr1 and Ngn2 interact to specify a more mature dopaminergic phenotype.

The results in this thesis have identified a new cellular marker of mesDA progenitors in the developing embryo and also provided new insight into the development of mesDA neurons.


The glutathione-containing leukotriene C4 (LTC4) is a major mediator of smooth muscle contraction and is released by mast cells when antigen interacts with cell-bound IgE. Antigen-stimulated mast cells undergo phospholipase activation. We report a pathway of LTC4 production by mast cells that does not require phospholipase activation but depends on the interaction of activated neutrophils with unstimulated mast cells, using as an intermediate extracellular leukotriene A4 (LTA4). The epoxide LTA4 is released by neutrophils and, together with leukotriene B4 and 5-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid, constitutes the major lipoxygenase metabolites found in supernatants of stimulated neutrophils. Five minutes after activation of neutrophils by calcium ionophore A23187 we measured 136 pmol of extracellular LTA4 per 10(7) neutrophils (range 40-300, n = 7) by trapping the epoxide with alcohols. Therefore, we conclude that LTA4 is not just an intracellular leukotriene precursor but is released as a lipoxygenase metabolite. LTA4 is known to be stabilized by albumin and is efficiently converted by mast cells into LTC4 even at low LTA4 concentrations. The LTA4 complexed to albumin is converted into LTC4 rapidly and completely within 10-15 min. More than 50% of the LTA4 presented to mast cells is metabolized to LTC4 at concentrations of LTA4 between 0.2 and 2 nmol of LTA4 per 10(7) mast cells. This observation establishes a potential physiologic role for extracellular LTA4. Therefore, interactions between various cell types that release or utilize LTA4 may provide an important metabolic pathway for the production of leukotrienes.


Planktonic foraminiferal trends across the Miocene-Pliocene boundary in the Philippines suggest that sections of eight deep-sea cores reported to be Pliocene are actually latest Miocene, and that a marked extinction of discoasters in the deep-sea cores is due to an unconformity, separating Miocene and Pleisto-cene sediments, representing a time gap of some 10 million years of Pliocene time.


By using the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and linear discriminant analysis (LDA), logistic discriminant analysis (Logistic-DA), principal component analysis-linear discriminant analysis (PCA-LDA), partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), infrared spectra of 60 kinds of plant extract of Chinese traditional medicine were analyzed and the identification and evaluation of characteristics of the regional markers associated with cold and heat nature were studied. Results indicated that LDA and SVM are suitable for the recognition model of water extract infrared spectral data, LDA is suitable for the identification model of anhydrous ethanol extract infrared spectral data, SVM is suitable for the identification model of chloroform extract infrared spectral data, while petroleum ether extract group recognition effect is not ideal. According to the suitable characteristic parameters identification model, data were analyzed by infrared spectroscopy, and parameters and resistance characteristics of the traditional Chinese drug composition can be obtained. Regional characteristics of these two parameters can be used to identify drug ingredients, and can also be used to indicate different degrees of resistance characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine. Component parameter is model identification coefficient corresponding to the position of spectrum and infrared, with a value greater than zero it is cold nature marker, while with a value less than zero it is heat nature marker; model identification score is a parameter reflecting the degree of cold and heat nature, the greater the score (positive), the more it is cold, while the smaller the score, the more it is hot. a parameter reflecting the degree of cold and heat,the greater the score (positive) is cold more strong, the score is small (negative) heat stronger.


This paper describes the testing and analysis performed under EPRI sponsorship on a 645 MVA synchronous generator to determine the suitability for dynamic simulations of a generator model derived from standstill frequency response tests. Transmission line switching tests were performed as a basis for model evaluation. Models based on standstill frequency response tests and standard design data were used in simulations of these switching events. Although the standstill frequency response model resulted in suitable simulation results, no improvement was achieved over that using the standard design data.


RÉSUMÉ Even though the anthology Jewish Names, often called the beginning of Czech alternative culture, was published in 1995, several central questions concerning this seminal collection from the early 1950s remain unclear: Who initiated it, when was it assembled, and what is its connection with the causa of the 'Trotzkyites' in Prague and later anti-semitic show trials? Answers can be found if one appreciates the pivotal role of Honza Krejcarová in this unique project. The article connects dots between Czech history during the Protectorate when young Honza witnessed her mother Milena Jesenská's resistance activities, and the late 1940s of Stalinist Czechoslovakia when the State Security started surveilling and persecuting Krejcarová. Based on archival studies the article argues for the parallelism between secret service practices (interrogation, the revealing of names in the form of denunciation) and automatic surrealist writing techniques. Drawing on the example of the name of the Author it analyses the paratextual structure of the anthology connected to its literary models, mainly from France. Jewish Names is a rich collection of fictitious 'Jewish' pseudonyms attributed to real Czech writers, stressing the vulnerability of the literary intelligentsia, their mineurité. And it is this paratextual construction which can be considered as the most daring and auto-referential aspect of this illegal publishing project. The article reveals problematic aspects of the chosen path of pseudonymy and anonymity. Changing or omitting one's name is a common trait of female biographies, complicating the attribution of authorship. The article shows how pseudonymy takes its toll on an existential, gender, political, and historical level — precluding until today the proper names from entering Czech literary history.


Egg is a food product of high nutritional quality, extensively consumed worldwide. The objectives of this study were the determination of the elemental profile in eggs (egg white, yolk, and eggshell), the estimation of the non-carcinogenic health risk associated with the presence of heavy metals in investigated egg samples, and the development of statistical models to identify the best predictors for the differentiation of egg components. The assessments were carried out in a total set of 210 samples, comprising home-produced and commercial eggs, using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The results suggested measurable differences amongst hen eggs coming from different husbandry systems. The statistical models employed in this study identified several elemental markers that can be used for discriminating between market and local producer samples. The non-carcinogenic risk related to the consumption of the analyzed egg samples was generally in the safe range for the consumers, below the maximum permitted levels set by Romanian and European legislation. Food contamination is a public health problem worldwide, and the risk associated with exposure to trace metals from food products has aroused widespread concern in human health, so assessing the heavy metal content in food products is mandatory to evaluate the health risk.


Medicine advances ever faster, and with it not just a capacity to overcome sickness, but to transform the very nature of life. Starting in ancient antiquity, this text charts how this health revolution came about and how life for human beings in the West has ceased, in Hobbes' memorable phrase, to be "nasty, brutish and short." Porter plots the growth of medical specialisms - pharmacology, physiology, anatomy, neurology, bacteriology - and the institutions of medicine - the hospital and asylum - to show how medical advances have often created as many problems as they have solved. The book also shows how the ancient Egyptians treated incipient baldness with a mixture of hippopotamus, lion, crocodile, goose, snake and ibex fat; how a mystery epidemic devastated ancient Athens and brought to an end the domination of that great city; and how lemons did as much as Nelson to defeat Napolean.


Single crystal dielectric materials such as sapphire demonstrate remarkably low values for the dielectric loss tangent, even at rather modest cryogenic temperatures (40-80 K) which are readily achieved using closed cycle coolers. We have taken our previously reported novel design for a composite dielectric resonator incorporating both sapphire and rutile single crystal elements and further improved the Q value while raising the frequency versus temperature compensation point to greater than 60 K. At the same time the geometrical size of the dielectric pucks has been increased while still using the same closed cycle cooler so that a compact loop-oscillator system is realised at a frequency close to the Cs atomic clock hyperfine frequency (/spl sim/10 GHz) and an operating temperature of 63.5 K. Unloaded Q values as high as 10/sup 7/ have been achieved under these operating conditions for this composite resonator. In addition we have investigated a compensated sapphire/rutile whispering gallery mode system at 17 GHz with a view to reducing the phase noise of oscillator based on this technology. Such oscillators can be used both as low phase noise sources and as long term stable frequency standards. The following sections describe some of the issues to be addressed to optimise performance.


Background: Nowadays, the cerebrovascular event is the second cause of death and the third cause of disability worldwide. In the last few decades, stem cell-based approaches are widely analyzed as a potential treatment for this disease. One of these types of cells are bone marrow-derived mononuclear cells (BMMNCs). In this review, we analyzed 9 completed clinical trials with the use of BMMNCs in patients with ischemic stroke, which we found in the clinicaltrials. gov and PubMed databases, using the keywords "stroke" and "bone marrow mononuclear cells". Our goal was to analyze the safety and efficiency of this therapeutic approach, as well as the optimal therapeutic time window, transplantation route and cell dose used. The best stroke phase to apply this therapy is the subacute stage. Higher numbers of CD34+ cells, derived from BMMNCs were correlated with a trend toward a better outcome. All the clinical trials support the idea that BMMNCs transplantation is a safe therapy. Conclusions: In conclusion the author points out that the autologous transplantation of BMMNCs is harmless and not associated with severe complications. Although some clinical studies stated a better outcome in patients treated with BMMNCs, further clinical trials are needed to establish their therapeutic efficiency.


The co-existence of primary temporomandibular disorders and cervical spine dysfunction is well documented. This paper reviews the anatomy and function of the temporomandibular joint and its primary disorders with particular reference to their possible effects an the cervical spine.


The construction method of one kind of one-way hash function based on 1-D Logistic map is analyzed. The design problem and some collision problems are pointed out. By using the dictionary attack, the collision probability of the arithmetic realized with signal floating point numbers is 2-23, and the collision probability of the arithmetic realized with double floating point numbers is 2-55. The reasons for these design problems are discussed, and some key problems are pointed out which should be taken care of while constructing one-way hash function based on a digital chaotic map.


Image retrieval continues to hold an important place in today's extremely fast growing technology. In this field, the accurate image retrieval with high speed is critical. In this study, to achieve this important issue we developed a novel method with the help of High Dimensional Model Representation (HDMR) philosophy. HDMR is a decomposition method used to solve different scientific problems. To test the performance of the new method we used Columbia Object Image Library (COIL100) and obtained the encouraging results. These results are given in the findings section.


We investigate the effect of time-dependent noise on the shape of a morphogen gradient in a developing embryo. Perturbation theory is used to calculate the deviations from deterministic behavior in a simple reaction-diffusion model of robust gradient formation, and the results are confirmed by numerical simulation. It is shown that such deviations can disrupt robustness for sufficiently high noise levels, and the implications of these findings for more complex models of gradient-shaping pathways are discussed.


Metacarpal fractures are frequently encountered in calves especially due to dystocia. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate metacarpus fractures in calves from many aspects especially the causes of the fracture, the location and classification of the fracture and to determine the most appropriate treatment option. 72 calves diagnosed with metacarpus fracture, aged between 1 and 15 days, regardless of gender and breed, were included in the study. Calves were classified according to fracture types and treatment method. In the treatment, external fixation with Steinman pins, polyvinylchloride-fiberglass plaster supported closed or windowed bandage methods were preferred. According to the radiological examination findings, it was determined that the fractures were distal diaphyseal in 40 (55%) cases, epiphyseal in 20 (27%) cases, and middle diaphyseal in 12 (18%) cases. It was learned that 46 of 51 cases with closed fractures and bandages healed without any problem, and 5 cases died due to comorbidities (calf diarrhea, aspiration pneumonia). 5 out of 7 patients which had external fixation using Steinmann pins had an recovery without complication, meanwhile 2 patients died due to infection. Full recovery was observed in 12 of 14 patients who underwent window bandage, meanwhile it was learned that 2 patients died due to secondary infection. As a result, subtantial data that will contribute to clinical practice and literature knowledge in the causes, location, classification, and treatment of metacarpal fractures, which are frequently encountered in calves and cause loss in terms of both economic and productivity, have been revealed.


A masculinized female infant was born to a mother who had virilizing signs dating from the fourth month of pregnancy. Serum 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone, dehydroepiandrosterone, and testosterone levels were all normal in the infant. Maternal testosterone level was markedly elevated one week post partum. Dexamethasone phosphate suppression was normal. Human chorionic gonadotropin stimulation five weeks post partum revealed further elevation of high baseline free and total testosterone levels. Free and total testosterone levels 30 weeks post partum were normal, and all maternal virilizing signs had regressed with the exception of her deepened voice. The child has had no progression of masculinization. The mother is believed to have had a luteoma of pregnancy.


No general approach has been established for the diagnoses of the various types of electrocardiograms of limb lead misplacement not involving the right leg (ground) lead. We have developed a 3-step algorithm for such differential diagnosis that can be applied without having to rely on the comparison with a reference electrocardiogram. It is based on the observation that the frontal plane sinus P vector loop is almost invariably inscribed counterclockwise. The 5 types of electrocardiograms of limb lead misplacement can be differentiated according to the P wave axis, the location of the lead aVR in the electrocardiogram, and specifically any apparent reversal of the direction of inscription of the frontal plane P vector loop due to lead misplacement. Characteristic limb lead P wave patterns provide 6 signs capable of inferring from the electrocardiogram alone the direction of inscription about 94% of the time. P wave axis itself is diagnostic in an additional 4%.


but comprehensive and is written by world experts. It is provided with a wealth of apposite and readily understood graphs, tables and references. It has four chapters on measles, five on rubella and five on general immunisation policy issues with a foreword by Gruenberg who has been a very good editor of a multiauthor book; but I wondered who wrote chapter 1 on the Epidemiology of Measles and its Complications which has 20 pages one quarter of which are taken up by diagrams and tables but has eight authors! I can heartily recommend this book to all health workers and to administrators and politicians who will be given a clear exposition of the problems relating to the control of measles and rubella and of the interaction between clinicians, laboratory workers, epidemiologists, other health workers and the politicians which is necessary to make immunisation for all children in the world at least an aim, if not a reality, by the year 1990.


New Zealand has a history of deadly earthquakes, the most recent of which in Christchurch (2010–2011) has had major consequences for the tourism sector. Tourism destinations affected by major natural disasters face significant challenges during the response and recovery phases. Christchurch lost a large proportion of its lifelines infrastructure and accommodation capacity, and experienced an unprecedented drop in domestic and international visitor arrivals. The theoretical frameworks informing this paper come from the fields of tourism disaster planning, knowledge management and recovery marketing. They inform an empirical study that draws upon qualitative expert interviews with national and regional destination management organizations regarding their experience of the Christchurch earthquakes. The findings of this research highlight the critical importance of knowledge management and effective inter-agency collaboration and communication in the immediate disaster response, as well as during the development and implementation of (de)marketing strategies, in order to expedite medium- to long-term tourism recovery.


The limited driving range has been pointed out as one of the main technical factors affecting the acceptance of electric vehicles. Offering the driver accurate information about the remaining driving range (RDR) reduces the range anxiety and increases the acceptance of the driver. The integration of electric vehicles into future transportation systems demands advanced driving assistance systems that offer reliable information regarding the RDR. Unfortunately the RDR is, due to many sources of uncertainty, difficult to predict. The driving style, the road conditions or the traffic situation are some of these uncertain factors. A model-based approach for predicting the RDR by combining unscented filtering and Markov chains is introduced in this paper. Detailed models are implemented for representing the electric vehicle and its energy storage system. The RDR prediction is validated by a set of simulation based experiments for different driving scenarios. Whereas traditional approaches consider the RDR as a deterministic quantity, to our knowledge, this approach is the first to represent the RDR by a probability density function. We aim to provide initial steps towards a solution for generating reliable information regarding the RDR which can be used by driving assistance systems in electric vehicles.


Abstract We present a theoretical study that quantifies the effect of dust on the derived Sérsic indexes of disks and bulges. The changes in the derived parameters from their intrinsic values (as seen in the absence of dust) were obtained by fitting Sérsic distributions on simulated images of disks and bulges produced using radiative transfer calculations and the model of Popescu et al. (2011). We found that dust has the effect of lowering the measured Sérsic index in most cases, with stronger effects for disks and bulges seen through more optically thick lines of sight.


Abstract This study investigated the rhetorical move pattern of PhD dissertation abstracts (DA) in educationaladministration (EA). The corpus was made up of 100 abstracts, retrieved from Dissertations InternationalAbstract and ProQuest via Thailis e-database sources, published during 1977-2007. The method adopted was amove analysis of textual organization, using Santos (1996)us five-move model and Paltridge & Strafield (2007)proposed framework. The results indicated that rhetorical move pattern followed the prototype abstract. Thedistribution of obligatory moves were found at rates 98%, 96%, 92% and 72% , which were closely correlatedwith those found in the guideline model. The rhetorical move pattern of PhD DA is describing the study/statingthe purpose of the study, describing the methodology, presenting the results and concluding. Keywords: PhD DA, Rhetorical Move, Move analysis.


We develop an enhanced interval tree data structure that is suitable for the representation of dynamic IP router tables. Several refinements of this enhanced structure are proposed for a variety of IP router tables. For example, the data structure called BOB (binary tree on binary tree) is developed for dynamic router tables in which the rule filters are nonintersecting ranges and in which ties are broken by selecting the highest-priority rule that matches a destination address. Prefix filters are a special case of nonintersecting ranges and the commonly used longest-prefix tie breaker is a special case of the highest-priority tie breaker. When an n-rule router table is represented using BOB, the highest-priority rule that matches a destination address may be found in O(log/sup 2/n) time; a new rule may be inserted and an old one deleted in O(logn) time. For general ranges, the data structure CBOB (compact BOB) is proposed. For the case when all rule filters are prefixes, the data structure PBOB (prefix BOB) permits highest-priority matching as well as rule insertion and deletion in O(W) time, where W is the length of the longest prefix, each. When all rule filters are prefixes and longest-prefix matching is to be done, the data structure LMPBOB (longest matching-prefix BOB) permits longest-prefix matching in O(W) time; rule insertion and deletion each take O(logn) time. On practical rule tables, BOB and PBOB perform each of the three dynamic-table operations in O(logn) time and with O(logn) cache misses. The number of cache misses incurred by LMPBOB is also O(logn). Experimental results also are presented.


The objective of the study was to verify the granulometric composition of bottom sediments along the longitudinal profile of the Paraguay River between the outfall of the Cabacal River and the city of Caceres, Mato Grosso, comprised by the geographic coordinates 15o58'00'' and 16o50'00'' South Latitude and 57o40'00'' and 57o44'00'' West Longitude. Work activity was conducted to characterize the sites and sediments collection with Van Veen sediment sampler (seven samples); textural analysis of the sediments by the pipetting and sieving method (the method uses a combination of sieving and sedimentation). The Paraguay River exhibits a meandering style with two distinct periods (periodic flooding regime and drought) that associated with of bottom sediments alternate processes of erosion, transport and deposition from the discernible changes in the complex landscaping. Thus, the concentration of sand in the bed load transported in the channel (five samples) is related to environmental elements and land use. The fine sediments are transferred to the features (bays and ponds) and flood plain; the intense fluvial dynamics and the course (alluvial deposition areas) contribute to changes in channel and morphologic features (capacity transport and sediment depositions).


Conventional fault seal methods derive transmissibility properties of faults by calculating the shale gouge ratio along the fault. Fault thickness is a key parameter. However, the method does not consider intrinsic fault complexities, such as lenses, varying fault rocks and diagenetic elements. In this study we present a characterization of fault cores in carbonates, based on an analysis of fault composition with respect to the displacement/thickness relationship (D/T). Using a Fault Facies type description of rocks we have compiled and analysed the dimensions and composition of 100 faults cores from Sinai, Oman and Svalbard. These areas display thick succession of sedimentary carbonates truncated by extensional faults. Common volumetric elements of the cores (core facies) include fault rocks such as breccias, calcareous gouge and shale gouge (smear) and layers of calcite precipitated on the walls of slip-surfaces. The overall increase in thickness relative to displacement, showing a lower increase of fault thickness for large scale faults than for small scale faults, fits a power law distribution with an exponent lower than one. The individual fault core facies display different D/T than the overall D/T relationship, indicating that protolith, diagenetic effects and tectonic environment influence the observed thickness increase.


A mult i-agent system (MAS) is formed by a number of agents connected together to achieve the desired goals specified by the design. Usually in a mu lti agent system, agents work on behalf of a user to accomplish given goals. In MAS co-ordination, co-operation, negotiation and communication are important aspects to achieve fault tolerance in MAS. The mu lti-agent system is likely to fail in a distributed environment and as an outcome o f such, the resources for MAS may not be available due to the failure of an agent, mach ine crashes, process failure, software failure, communicat ion failure and/or hardware failure. Therefore, many researchers have proposed fault tolerance approaches to overcome the failure in MAS. So we have surveyed these approaches in this paper, whereby our contribution is threefold. Firstly, we have provided taxono my of faults and techniques in MAS. Secondly, we have provided a qualitative comparison of existing fault tolerance approaches. Thirdly, we have provided an evaluation of existing fau lt tolerance techniques. Results show that most of the existing schemes are not very efficient, due to various reasons like high computation costs, costly replication and large co mmunicat ion overheads.


Bias is a hard word to take, and I do not think that its use is justified in Professor Ralph W. Jones's review of my book, The History of Education (History of Education Quarterly, March, 1965, page 70). The instance he quotes is: "It is pertinent therefore to assert that Dewey rejects any such thing as a spiritual soul and a personal God. His notion of self-realization consequently must be assessed in this context." This is a statement of fact, not a biased interpretation. The fact is of importance and deserves inclusion in the narration.


The practical development of a process exploiting aqueous two-phase partition in PEG/phosphate systems is described for the recovery and partial purification of a bulk protein fraction from waste Brewer's yeast. Inadequacies in current assumptions concerning de novo process design of such systems necessitated the empirical establishment of conditions for the two-step extraction of protein from wet-milled yeast suspensions. Experiments with homogeneous proteins and yeast extracts are presented to illustrate the true influence of phase volume upon primary protein extraction, and of added salts and modified system pH upon selective back extraction. A mechanistic description of physical and chemical factors influential upon selective phase partition in PEG/phosphate systems is discussed.


The thermal decomposition of nickel dimethylglyoxime has been studied in air using DTA-TG measurements. The kinetics of the thermal de composition were studied using isothermal and nonisothermal thermo gravimetric techniques. The results were discussed using various reaction in terface models and different techniques of computational analysis of nonisothermal data. The activation parameters, calculated using a composite method of integral analysis of nonisothermal data, showed in addition to their independence on the heating rate and fractional reaction, better correlation and agreement with the results obtained under isothermal conditions.


Background: In Uganda, national tuberculosis (TB) treatment guidelines were revised to include the newer generation fluoroquinolones among the second-line treatment options for multidrug-resistant TB. This study was designed to analyze if the prescription of these quinolones is compliant with country recommendations. Methods: This was an observational retrospective study of consumption data for 2017 and 2018 across four selected regional referral hospitals. The sources of consumption data were hospital pharmacy stock cards and the dispensing register. The medical files of patients who had been prescribed fluoroquinolones were also assessed to study compliance with the Uganda Clinical Guidelines and the British National Formulary (BNF). Results: None of the 371 levofloxacin prescriptions analyzed complied with the Uganda Clinical Guidelines, although 250 (67.3%) were prescribed for indications included in the BNF. According to WHO prescription indicators, only 220 (59.3%) prescriptions were appropriate. Conclusion: The prescription of levofloxacin and moxifloxacin increased in the hospitals studied, but in a high proportion of cases, they were not compliant with country recommendations. The findings call for the strengthening of national antimicrobial stewardship programs.


A review is made concerning the treatment of malignant melanoma. Medical therapies are at present applied with metastatic disease, and also in surgically operated cases with high risk of recurrence.


Classification is presented as a pre-processing step in this study. The state of the subject is classified as the unmoving state with normal breathing (normal breathing class), unmoving state with no breathing (stop breathing class) or the state when the subject is moving (erratic signal class) before breathing estimation algorithms are applied. Estimation algorithms may be applied to obtain breathing rate if normal breathing class is detected or alarms may be generated if stop breathing is detected, and fine-grained classification of activities may be pursued if the erratic signal is detected. Experiments were performed using a single-channel pulse-modulated continuous wave radar with three subjects for a total of 135 min. In each experiment, the subject was continuously monitored for 15 min and the subject performed activities that resulted in a signal that belonged to one of the three classes. Besides extracting a feature that assessed the distribution of energy of the signal in the frequency domain, a novel nonlinear time series feature extraction method based on the higher-dimensional embedding technique was applied to ascertain periodicity of the reflected signal. Bayes classifier was used to classify each 5-s segment of radar returns. A 30-fold cross validation resulted in 97% of overall classification accuracy.


Yochelson, E. L., Flower, R. H. & Webers, G. F.: The hearing of the new Late Cambrian monoplacophoran genus Knightoconus upon the origin of the Cephalopoda.

Knightoconus, a new genus of the Hypseloconidae (Mollusca: Monoplacophora) from rocks of early Franconian age in Antarctica, is multiseptate. The multiple septa are a critical feature to be expected in a form ancestral to cephalopods. Fossil cephalopods, however, invariably have a siphuncle as well as septa; some gastropods, some hyolithids, and some monoplacophorans also have septa but lack a siphuncle. Therefore, only the siphuncle can be considered a unique and particularly significant feature of the cephalopod shell. Hypothetical reconstructions of molluscan anatomy support the notion that cephalopods may have been derived directly from a hypseloconid having a high, slightly curved, multiseptate, bilaterally symmetrical shell, by the subsequent development of a siphuncle.


Seasonal and interannual variability in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations was simulated using fluxes from fossil fuel, ocean and terrestrial biogeochemical models, and a tracer transport model with time-varying winds. The atmospheric CO2 variability resulting from these surface fluxes was compared to observations from 89 GLOBALVIEW monitoring stations. At northern hemisphere stations, the model simulations captured most of the observed seasonal cycle in atmospheric CO2, with the land tracer accounting for the majority of the signal. The ocean tracer was 3–6 months out of phase with the observed cycle at these stations and had a seasonal amplitude only ∼10% on average of observed. Model and observed interannual CO2 growth anomalies were only moderately well correlated in the northern hemisphere (R ∼ 0.4–0.8), and more poorly correlated in the southern hemisphere (R < 0.6). Land dominated the interannual variability (IAV) in the northern hemisphere, and biomass burning in particular accounted for much of the strong positive CO2 growth anomaly observed during the 1997–1998 El Nino event. The signals in atmospheric CO2 from the terrestrial biosphere extended throughout the southern hemisphere, but oceanic fluxes also exerted a strong influence there, accounting for roughly half of the IAV at many extratropical stations. However, the modeled ocean tracer was generally uncorrelated with observations in either hemisphere from 1979–2004, except during the weak El Nino/post-Pinatubo period of the early 1990s. During that time, model results suggested that the ocean may have accounted for 20–25% of the observed slowdown in the atmospheric CO2 growth rate


Usually, Halymenia and Cryptonemia species have been reported as associated with rhodolith beds, but based on surveys of rhodolith beds and rocky areas along the Gulf of California (60 localities), in five localities we found the range extension (5 localities) of three other blade-like species, Kallymenia norrisii and K. oblongifructa previously reported on the North Pacific coast of California State (USA) and K. pertusa previously reported in the northern Gulf of California. The present study reports for the first time the presence of K. norrisii, K. oblongifructa and K. pertusa associated with rodolith beds. This suggests that the understanding of biodiversity of marine plants from the Gulf of California still needs attention, especially in deeper areas and habitats such as rhodolith beds.


A rectangular coördinate potentiometer circuit is described in this paper, the chief features of which are the elimination of the usual phase shifting transformer and the slide-wire type of potentiometer resistor. Although not yet available in commercial form this potentiometer has been in use in the laboratory for several years with good results, particularly in magnetic measurements at low and medium inductions and in measurements of the power factor of capacitors.


Colonic stents have been used as a method of relieving colonic obstruction since 1991. They are classically inserted in a retrograde fashion via the rectum and are deployed under a combination of endoscopic and fluoroscopic guidance. A unique case is presented where the colonic stent was passed in an anterograde fashion through a recently created cecostomy tube site as a method of palliation to relieve an obstructing hepatic flexure tumour.


Electroconvection in a thin, sheared fluid film displays a rich sequence of bifurcations between different flow states as the driving voltage is increased. We present a numerical study of an annular film in which a radial potential difference acts on induced surface charges to drive convection. The film is also sheared by independently rotating the inner edge of the annulus. This simulation models laboratory experiments on electroconvection in sheared smectic liquid crystal films. The applied shear competes with the electrical forces, resulting in oscillatory and strongly subcritical bifurcations between localized vortex states close to onset. At higher forcing, the flow becomes chaotic via a Ruelle-Takens-Newhouse scenario. The simulation allows flow visualization not available in the physical experiments, and sheds light on previously observed transitions in the current-voltage characteristics of electroconvecting smectic films.


A method of constructing a "tree of problem solving" is suggested to work out viable and economical strategies of clinical therapy of tumors. The algorithm is illustrated by solving a hypothetical problem. A clinico-economic index is used to compare different modalities of tumor therapy, its lowest value representing the best regimen.


The mechanical characteristics of a fibre-resin composite depend primarily on the mechanical properties of the combined materials, the surface of the fibre, the nature of the fibre-resin bonding as well as the mode of stress transfer at the interface. These two last points are related to the surface properties of the fibres. The various types of bonding that may occur between fibrous materials (carbon, glass and organic fibres) and organic polymers, including the relevant theories, are briefly reviewed. In order to optimize the fibre-resin interactions, it is often essential that the interface should be chemically modified. The various possible treatments may be classified under three headings: chemical surface modification of the fibre, sizing and polymer fixation (grafting). The major factors that influence the interactions between high-performance fibres and organic resins will be established and discussed, as illustrated in a few selected examples.


This chapter presents an overview of health and human rights advocacy and describes a broad framework and the diverse strategies used by human rights advocates to advance their goals. Based upon documenting abuses, raising awareness, building coalitions, and engaging communities, human rights advocacy seeks to ensure that government laws, policies, and practices respect, protect, and fulfill the right to health of all. These rights arguments and advocacy strategies, first developed in response to the HIV epidemic, have become the basis for broader right to health campaigns. Health-related human rights advocacy, beyond specific strategies, seeks to elevate the voices of people affected by human rights violations, analyze structural barriers, and identify obligations and responsibilities. Focusing on the strategies and tools that human rights advocates use in documenting rights abuses, raising awareness, and seeking change, it is necessary to examine new advocacy partnerships and approaches for evaluating advocacy efforts.


How the brain modifies synapses to improve the performance of complicated networks remains one of the biggest mysteries in neuroscience. Canonical models suppose synaptic weights change according to pre- and post-synaptic activities (i.e., local plasticity rules), implementing gradient-descent algorithms. However, the lack of experimental evidence to confirm these models suggests that there may be important ingredients neglected by these models. For example, heterosynaptic plasticity, non-local rules mediated by inter-cellular signaling pathways, and the biological implementation of evolutionary algorithms (EA), another machine-learning paradigm that successfully trains large-scale neural networks, are seldom explored. Here we propose and systematically investigate an EA model of brain learning with non-local rules alone. Specifically, a population of agents are represented by different information routes in the brain, whose task performances are evaluated through gating on individual routes alternatively. The selection and reproduction of agents are realized by dopamine-guided heterosynaptic plasticity. Our EA model provides a framework to re-interpret the biological functions of dopamine, meta-plasticity of dendritic spines, memory replay, and the cooperative plasticity between the synapses within a dendritic neighborhood from a new and coherent aspect. Neural networks trained with the model exhibit analogous dynamics to the brain in cognitive tasks. Our EA model manifests broad competence to train spiking or analog neural networks with recurrent or feedforward architecture. Our EA model also demonstrates its powerful capability to train deep networks with biologically plausible binary weights in MNIST classification and Atari-game playing tasks with performance comparable with continuous-weight networks trained by gradient-based methods. Overall, our work leads to a fresh understanding of the brain learning mechanism unexplored by local rules and gradient-based algorithms.


U.S. officials who explain the current administration's distrust of the International Criminal Court (ICC) routinely describe the Court's "unaccountable" prosecutor as one of the Court's principal defects. They frequently assert that the ICC prosecutor bears more than a passing resemblance to a largely discredited institution from recent U.S. political history: the independent counsel. This Article probes the validity of the assumption that the ICC reproduces the weakness of the independent counsel regime on a global scale. I argue that the comparison between these two institutions is overstated and the fears unwarranted. The treaty creating the ICC places far more checks and restraints on its prosecutor than the Ethics in Government Act imposed on the independent counsel. In addition, unlike the ad hoc nature of the independent counsel, the permanence of the ICC promises the development of an institutional culture. This wide-angle lens stands in stark contrast to the relentlessly myopic focus that characterized the U.S. model. Furthermore, the broad scope of the ICC's jurisdiction and the concomitant restraint imposed by limited financial and other prosecutorial resources will provide a potent brake on an overzealous prosecutor. Nevertheless, the U.S. experience with the independent counsel scheme provides a useful cautionary tale for the ICC. It reveals the difficulty of investigating criminal allegations against powerful political leaders. It also illustrates the importance of prosecutorial independence, as well as the fragility of prosecutorial legitimacy. The appropriate lesson to be drawn from the demise of the independent counsel regime is not to abandon all hope of independent mechanisms for the enforcement of international criminal law. Rather, that experience underscores the need for adequate enforcement of laws against the politically powerful, with sufficient limits on the prosecutor's power to prevent these prosecutions from running amok.


Two siblings with an unusual disease of the bones were recently observed: Case1.—J. H., a white boy of Irish-American parentage, was admitted to the Bellevue Hospital in October 1933 and again in January 1936 because of knock knee. He was born Oct. 10, 1926. Labor was normal, and the weight at birth was 3,380 Gm. He was artificially fed after the second month of life and received cod liver oil and orange juice at an early age. Development was normal; the child teethed, walked and talked at about the normal age. There were no illnesses except pertussis, at the age of 6 years. The father and mother were well. Roentgenograms of their long bones were normal. The condition of the sister, 6 years old, was similar to that of the patient. There was no history of deformity of the bones in any of the relatives. The chief complaint was