Until today the structuring of different types of fruit walls has been used only as an inspiration for packaging when seen from a biomimetic perspective. However, by a detailed investigation of the Macadamia nut with its tough testa, Citrus maxima, possessing a large spongy mesocarp and Cocos nucifera, having a combination of a fi brous mesocarp and a tough endocarp, it becomes evident that those structures also provide excellent biological role models for impactand puncture-resistant materials. Both Citrus maxima and Cocos nucifera are relatively heavy, lack any aerodynamic adaptation and share the same challenge of having to withstand the impact from heights of >10 m. Conducting high-speed camera-controlled free fall experiments of Citrus maxima from 6 m height, we could demonstrate a deceleration of the fruits of 3100 m/s2, which corresponds to 316 g, without any visible damage of the fruit. An analysis using cyclic quasi-static compression tests of the pericarp of Citrus maxima revealed that the material behaves constant in good approximation after the fi rst loading cycle. During the fi rst cycle, almost 75% of the energy is dissipated. The pericarp of Citrus maxima is highly visco-elastic, which causes the samples within 1 min to recover 30% of their initial deformation caused by loading to 40% strain. The mesocarp of Citrus maxima is best described as an open-pore foam with a gradual increase in the pore size. Understanding the principles of as to how combining the structure and material in biological constructions yields a fully functional protection layer will allow us to construct new lightweight bio-inspired materials of high impact and puncture resistance with a combination of high energy dissipation, benign failure and almost complete recovery from large deformations.


Growth activity in different areas of human septal cartilage was measured by in vitro incorporation of 35 S-labelled sulfate and 3 H-labelled thymidine in 6 acromegalic patients. Septal cartilage was obtained during transnasal hypophysectomy. The growth activities in the posterior area, which is situated anterior to the septo-ethmoidal junction were significantly enhanced compared to a control group of hormonally normal adults. Growth activities of the septal cartilage in the anterior free end and the suprapremaxillary area were not different in both groups. This indicates that growth hormone excess in acromegaly enhances human septal growth by stimulation of growth activities in the posterior area and not at the anterior free end and suprapremaxillary area.


A new type of wavelength dispersion system for use with a multichannel detector has been developed for simultaneous multielement analysis. The system employs a monochromator with fixed grating position, and incident angle varied by horizontal displacement of the entrance slits. The overlapping spectral windows which result can be arranged to produce a composite spectrum having minimal interference from emissions by other sample constituents. Entrance slits may also be displaced vertically to create a two-dimensional system in which spectra are stacked one above the other and scanned by use of a multi-raster scanning pattern. A number of optical and performance characteristics of the system are evaluated in both the one- and two-dimensional modes, and the system is applied to the determination of Ca, Na and K in blood serum and to the determination of the exchangeable cations Ca, Na, Li and K in clay. The advantages of this system for simultaneous multielement analysis are discussed.


An analysis was conducted to determine approximate limitations on the specific impulse (/Sp) of advanced nuclear rocket engines due to hydrogen transpiration coolant flows in the exhaust nozzle. Included in the investigation were analyses to determine the effects of changes in the following: nozzle stagnation pressure, the enthalpy rise of the transpiration coolant fluid, the Stanton number reduction due to transpiration cooling, the technique employed for calculating radiant heat transfer, and the amount of mixing between the transpiration coolant flow and the primary flow. The results indicate that coolant flow requirements will be governed primarily by convective heat transfer at low values of /sp and by radiant heat transfer at high values of /sp. The latter appears to limit the maximum 7sp of a hydrogeri-propellant nuclear rocket engine to values between approximately 2500 and 5000 sec.


Abstract The physical characteristics of sediments were measured from transects in the Minho, Lima, Cávado, and Ave estuaries in the northern part of Portugal. The variables investigated were: chemical composition, particle size, water content, salinity, temperature, and pH. In a miniflume used to measure erodibility, erosion tests were filmed with a high speed camera and the rheological characteristics of overlaying fluid layer were measured using a rheometer. Because the physical sediment characteristics are related to its erosion, the physical characterization and the erodability were correlated. The influence of the season and sampling site on the sediment properties were assessed for the Cávado estuary. Large differences were found in the physical characterization between the four estuaries, namely in particle size, water content, and chemical composition, and these were important in determining the stability of sediments. Short-term changes in weather conditions prior to sampling and site-to-site variability were found to have more significant effects on the sediment physical properties than seasonal changes.


The biological consequences of constitutive fibroblast growth factor-4 (fgf4) expression have been analysed during anterior CNS development of mouse chimeric embryos. Severe mutant embryos exhibit exencephaly, absence of eye development and anomalous differentiation of the neuroepithelium. These embryos also show ectopic limb buds resembling the early phases of limb development. Because our results show that anterior CNS in those chimeric embryos does not express shh ectopically, we suggest that malfor- mations may be due to interference between the ectopic expression of fgf4 in the cephalic area and the recep- tors for the members of the FGF family that regulate brain and eye development, namely fgf8. If this is correct, the results indirectly support the crucial role of fgf8 in patterning the anterior CNS.


The effects of a single injection of hemin on murine marrow BFU-E and CFU-S were assessed to determine whether hemin is as effective in augmenting primitive (day 7) BFU-E levels in situ as it is in vitro and to assess hemin's action on transplantable pluripotent stem cells (CFU-S). The results show that hemin exerts a cell-specific enhancement of both BFU-E marrow levels and cell cycling within 6 h of its administration in vivo. No such effect on CFU-S was observed.


Modern science and technology are becoming an important part of our daily lives, and so is the world of criminal investigation. When investigating any crime, the evidence collected from the crime scene plays a crucial role in the attempt to put all the pieces together and solve the mystery. Our thesis will focus on the complexity in investigating crime scenes involving bloodshed and on the significance of bloodstain patterns resulting from violent actions.
It is of great importance that crime scene technicians, when collecting and insuring physical or biological evidence, take extra precautions to ensure proper handling, storage, identification, and last but not least, the chain of custody. All these measures play a decisive role in later stages of the process when forensic practitioners perform different laboratory tests on the evidence collected, providing for clues leading to gathering more detailed information that would point to the persons present at the crime scene at the time of crime, and, finally, to obtaining such added-value evidence that would be admissible in the court of law. An answer to ''what actually happened'' usually lies in crime scene reconstruction that focuses on leads, visible and latent bloodstain patterns, and all other pointers that indicate what went on at the time of a struggle. It is unbelievable how much a blood trail can tell us about past events: from a few blood droplets or bloodstain patterns, it is possible to determine the exact movements of the victim, the spot and the direction a blood droplet has originated from, the area of origin, and the position of the victim. It is even possible to determine the number of blows received by a blunt object, etc.
A combination of the information and the measures listed above may reveal a clear picture of past events, but the case does not end here. On the contrary, this is where it begins, for the most important part of the process is to present all the collected evidence in a criminal trial. Therefore, the evidence needs to be admissible, credible and irrefutable, which is not always easy to achieve. In Slovenian courts, judges are not under any obligation to pursue any formal standards of evaluation of forensic evidence; however, they are obligated to respect certain rules governing submission of the evidence. Actually, the entire procedure of submission and evaluation of the evidence is at the complete discretion of the court, which rules over which evidence submitted by prosecutor and the defense is or is not to be admitted.
Further, we discuss standards of evidence and the importance of the forensic expert testimony, preparation of the evidence, and the dilemmas related to different interpretations thereof in criminal procedures, either by the prosecutor or the defense. Dr. Katja Drobnic, a forensic expert for DNA and biological traces, shares her opinion about this topic with us, discussing the difficulties encountered at all stages of the process of preparing an expert opinion, as well as the challenges faced with when testifying.
What follows is a closer look at evaluation of forensic evidence of bloodstain patterns from a practical point of view. We discuss this topic with Andrej Baraga, judge for criminal offences at Ljubljana District Court, who shares his practical experiences with different interpretations and the dilemmas in evaluating such evidence.
Last but not least, we talk to Dr. Darko Maver, professor of Criminalistics and PhD in law, who shares his findings and directions about Slovenian court proceedings and dilemmas in evaluation of forensic evidence of bloodstain patterns.

Throughout the whole thesis we pursue the answers to the questions of whether or not are there any unwritten standards or guidelines for evaluation of such evidence, since there are no formal ones in our Criminal law, and if yes, whether or not, are they being taken into a consideration in practice. We also explore the former dilemma of forensic experts of the National Forensic Laboratory taking stand as expert witnesses in criminal tri


Niobium membrane flexure suspensions have been proved to be able to achieve high pendulum Q-factors, whereas niobium cantilever suspensions have been proved to give high internal Q-factors in sapphire test masses. Here we present the proposed sapphire test mass suspension systems based on the use of niobium flexures. This suspension system has the advantage of being robust while maintaining the high Q of the sapphire test mass. We show that it is also advantageous to use Nb flexures in future cryogenic detectors.


Most state-of-the-art facial recognition systems (FRS:s) use face embeddings. In this paper, we present the IdDecoder framework, capable of effectively synthesizing realistic-neutralized face images from face embeddings, and two effective attacks on state-of-the-art facial recognition models using embeddings. The first attack is a black-box version of a model inversion attack that allows the attacker to reconstruct a realistic face image that is both visually and numerically (as determined by the FRS:s) recognized as the same identity as the original face used to create a given face embedding. This attack raises significant privacy concerns regarding the membership of the gallery dataset of these systems and highlights the importance of both the people designing and deploying FRS:s paying greater attention to the protection of the face embeddings than currently done. The second attack is a novel attack that performs the model inversion, so to instead create the face of an alternative identity that is visually different from the original identity but has close identity distance (ensuring that it is recognized as being of the same identity). This attack increases the attacked system's false acceptance rate and raises significant security concerns. Finally, we use IdDecoder to visualize, evaluate, and provide insights into differences between three state-of-the-art facial embedding models.


Osteosarcoma is the most common primary bone malignancy that affects adolescents. Around 30% of patients with localized osteosarcoma and 70% of patients with metastasis will experience treatment failure within 5 years of diagnosis. The complex biology of osteosarcoma and astounding genetic heterogeneity has made it challenging to identify effective new gene targets and therapeutic agents. Our studies found an overall overexpression of a microRNA cluster, miR-17-92 microRNAs in human primary osteosarcoma compared to normal bone. We learned that upregulation of this miR-17-92 cluster simultaneously silences a suite of key tumor suppressors. Using data from a novel spontaneous osteosarcoma mouse model and genetic screen, we discovered miR-17-92 targets, such as PTEN, PTRPD and SRGAP2, which are potential tumor suppressor genes. Specifically blocking miR-17-92 function in osteosarcoma cells reduced their migration and ability to grow larger tumors in immunodeficient mice compared to the controls. Also, knockdown of miR-17-92 cluster microRNAs led to increase in the levels of PTPRD and SRGAP2 in cells as well as tumors; further suggesting that miR-17-92 is targeting these genes. We also performed gain-of-function of miR-17-92 studies in a poorly aggressive osteosarcoma cell line and found that overexpression of miR-17-92 leads to ability to grow in an anchorage independent manner and form tumors in immunodeficient mice, both features that are lacking in the parental line. Ongoing RNA sequencing studies on miR-17-92 target transcripts in osteosarcoma cells, and functional analyses of miR-17-92 deletion mutants, will be presented. In an attempt to target miR-17-92 miRNA expression, we have tested small molecules. Our data suggests that triptolide, a diterpenoid epoxide, inhibits MYC expression and downregulates miR-17-92 miRNAs resulting in upregulation of several tumor suppressor driver proteins including PTEN, PTPRD, and SRGAP2. Together, our data suggests that upregulation of miR-17-92 miRNAs contributes to osteosarcoma progression and triptolide inhibits miR-17-92 expression. These data have implications for how sarcomas develop in general and suggest a new way to treat cancer by targeting microRNAs using small molecules. Citation Format: Jyotika Varshney, Nicholas J. Slipek, John Osborne, Adrian Chang, Anne E. Sarver, Ingrid Cornax, Gerry M. O' Sullivan, Subbaya Subramanian, David A. Largaespada. The miR-17-92 microRNA cluster plays a crucial role in osteosarcoma progression. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 1097.


One hundred and twenty six reported cases of ovarian tumors located in the hilus (OTLH) are analyzed. They represent a special sub group of ovarian steroid cell tumors (former "lipid cell tumors"). A number of these neoplasms are Leydig-Berger cell tumors (LBCT), which are characterized by the presence of the crystal of Reinke, a specific proteinaceous inclusion, whose detection may be improved by new available methods. Crystal-free steroid cell tumors located in the hilus are in most cases true leydigoma of the ovary whose features are indiscernible from LBCT's. They are revealed after years of evolution by signs of hyperandrogeny or post menopausal bleeding. Plasma testosterone levels are always elevated while urinary 17 keto steroid cytoplasmic values are normal in 50% of cases. Three main features distinguish ovarian tumors located in the hilus from others ovarian steroid cell tumors: the occurrence in aged women, the small size of the tumors, and the excellent prognosis.


This paper proposes to use border training patterns in order to improve Support Vector Machine (SVM) classification accuracy of hyperspectral images. In the proposed approach, border training patterns which are close to the separating hyperplane, are obtained in two consecutive steps and considered as final training set. In the first step, clustering is performed to the full initial training data of each class. Then, cluster centers of each class are taken as the reduced size training data and forwarded to the second step. In the second step, this reduced size training data is used in the training of SVM and cluster centers which are obtained as support vectors at this step are regarded to be located close to the hyperplane border. Finally, cluster centers which are found as support vectors and original training samples contained in these clusters only are assigned as border training patterns. Experimental results are presented to show that the proposed approach improves SVM classification accuracy.


BACKGROUND Peliosis hepatis (PH) is a rare benign lesion of vascular origin with a pathological characteristic of multiple blood-filled cavities in the liver parenchyma. It is commonly misdiagnosed due to its lack of specificity in clinical presentation and laboratory test results. Herein, a case of a patient with PH who was misdiagnosed with hepatic echinococcosis before operation to remove the lesions was analyzed, with an emphasis on the computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging characteristics of PH. CASE SUMMARY We outline the case of a 40-year-old Chinese female who was admitted with aggravated abdominal pain with fever for 1 wk. Ultrasound examination at the local hospital indicated hepatic echinococcosis. However, discordance between imaging diagnosis, clinical history and laboratory examinations in our hospital. Subsequently, the patient was pathologically confirmed as having PH-like changes, which recurred 1 year after operation removal of the lesion. CONCLUSION Our objective is to highlight the imaging diagnostic value of PH.


This paper addresses the topic of heterogeneous video transcoding from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4. A new motion vector resampling/refinement method is proposed based on a variability measure, with which fast transcoding is achieved with no deterioration of video quality. The effectiveness of the new method was verified in a computational experiment. The experimental results obtained show that the total SAD (sum of absolute difference) calculation involved in the motion vector refinement is reduced by about 90% when a full-search algorithm is adopted. Moreover, even when the fast algorithm HAVS (horizontal and vertical search) is adopted for the motion vector search, the SAD calculation is reduced by 10-15%.


One of the sustainable agriculture management components is the allelopathic potential of crops in weed and soil seed bank control. Because of prevalence and importance redroot pigweed in most fields, a factorial experiment with three replicates was conducted to evaluate the effect of wheat extract and residual of different parts in growth stages and different level of wheat on pigweed in field and greenhouse of Agricultural Faculty of Islamic Azad Uniersity, Tabriz branch during 2008- 2009. The examined factors were extract and residual of different parts of wheat in 5 levels (residual as 0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 g.m -2 or extract as 1:20, 1:15, 1:10 and 1:5) and residual of different growth stages of wheat in three levels including vegetative, inflorescence and seed filling. Results showed that leaf extract in vegetative and inflorescence stages had the most reduction effect on seedling length, germination percent and root/shoot ratio. Field and greenhouse results indicate that the effect of extract and residual of different parts of wheat decreased significantly plant height, leaf area, root, leaf, stem and shoot dry weight, 1000 kernel weight and seed yield of pigweed. Increasing wheat residuals in soil decreased all characters of pigweed. Decreasing in leaf area, leaf and stem dry weight, 1000 kernel weight and seed yield of pigweed by adding 50 g.m -2 were 25.31, 22.25, 51.13 and 28.03% respectively, comparing with control. Increasing wheat residuals to 200 g per m 2 increased these reductions to 53.08, 39.27, 89.68 and 67.38%, respectively. So, stem dry weight and seed yield of pigweed were the most susceptible attributes of pigweed. Seed bank of pigweed decreased from 7 to 68%. as a result of wheat residuals. Residuals of wheat leaf in inflorescence stage had the highest reduction effect on most attributes and especially on soil seed bank. Therefore the wheat allelopathic potential can reduced pigweed population in fields, herbicides over application and environment pollution.


To clarify whether apoptosis is involved in the injury processes induced by autoantibody against cardiac beta1-adrenoceptor, we investigated the biological and apoptotic effects of antibodies on cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes. Wistar rats were immunized with peptides corresponding to the second extracellular loop of the beta1-adrenoceptor to induce the production of anti-beta1-adrenoceptor antibodies in the sera. Immunoglobulin (Ig) G in the sera was detected using synthetic antigen enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and purified using the diethylaminoethyl cellulose ion exchange technique. Apoptosis of cardiomyocytes was evaluated using agarose gel electrophoresis and flow cytometry. Our results showed that the positive serum IgG greatly increased the beating rates of cardiomyocytes and showed an agonist-like activity. Furthermore, positive serum IgG induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis after treatment with beta1-adrenoceptor overstimulation for 48 h. The effects of monoclonal antibody against beta1-adrenoceptor were also found to be similar to those of positive serum IgG. It was suggested that the autoantibody could induce cardiomyocyte apoptosis by excessive stimulation of beta1-adrenoceptor.


This paper modeled the proximate determinants of rice outputs and groundwater depths in 27 Indian states during 1980–2010. Dynamic random effects models were estimated by maximum likelihood at state and well levels. The main findings from models for rice outputs were that temperatures and rainfall levels were significant predictors, and the relationships were quadratic with respect to rainfall. Moreover, nonlinearities with respect to population changes indicated greater rice production with population increases. Second, groundwater depths were positively associated with temperatures and negatively with rainfall levels and there were nonlinear effects of population changes. Third, dynamic models for in situ groundwater depths in 11 795 wells in mainly unconfined aquifers, accounting for latitudes, longitudes and altitudes, showed steady depletion. Overall, the results indicated that population pressures on food production and environment need to be tackled via long-term healthcare, agricultural, and groundwater recharge policies in India.


Location information about a high frequency RFID tag is currently limited to the location information associated with the position of the RFID reader. The distance of a tag from the
 reader remains unknown. However, more precise location information of objects provided at low cost is critical to create smart spaces. In this paper, we present a distance-sensitive RFID
 system that accurately resolves a tag's distance from the reader. In contrast to other distance sensing systems that operate on the emission of electromagnetic waves, high frequency RFID
 systems make use of magnetic coupling for data transmission. The paper details the system design and implementation with discrete components, presents the distance measurement procedure, and
 evaluates the accuracy of the measurements.


Human resource management is a process of bringing people and organizations together so that the goals of each other are met. Nowadays it is not possible to show a good financial or operating report unless your personnel relations are in order. In today's competitive world it is becoming very important to build on the competitive activities of the business, particularly regarding what competencies a business needs to have in order to compete in a specific environment Over the years, highly skilled and knowledge based jobs are increasing while low skilled jobs are decreasing. skill development identifies an individual's strengths and Sicknesses in order to help them understand themselves and to show them where career development efforts need to be directed. skill development is not only done for Confirmed employees of an organization and it can also be done for contract workers or for those seeking employment to emphasize the specific skills which would make them valuable to a potential employer. The main aim of this study was to know the process of skill development in organizations, to identify the components that are offered in the bank industries operating at Kadapa region of Andhra


Synchronous-asynchronous encounter probability analysis of high-low runoff, which requires a description of the probabilistic properties of hydrological variables, is important in regional water resources management. This study aims to investigate this encounter probability for Jinsha River and its tributary Yalong River in southwest China. A bivariate distribution is used to model the runoff variables of the two rivers based on Copula theory. The Copula is a function that links the univariate marginal distributions to form the bivariate distribution. The bivariate distribution is then employed to determine joint and conditional probabilities. The study results indicate the encounter probability of mainstream runoff and tributary runoff in different periods, also illustrate the mainstream runoff distribution under the condition of knowing the tributary runoff distribution.


Fortunately, the CBRN threat is only a minor segment of the spectrum of challenges that Defense and Security organizations have to be prepared for. Although not neglected, CBRN is not high on political agendas. This means that maintaining adequate CBRN defense, as well as the research needed to enable it, acquire only relatively moderate financial resources. Unfortunately, the nature of the CBRN threat is highly dynamic and extremely difficult to predict. Therefore, existing preventive and protective solutions not necessarily cope with the actual threat. This, however, puts severe pressure on scarce research funding. The contradistinction between moderate political attention on the one hand and an urgent need for adaptive solutions on the other, inspire nations to seek international collaboration as a cost-sharing mechanism. This is neither new nor specific for CBRN. Many, even ancient, memoranda of understanding have been the formal basis of excellent scientific collaborative achievements. The presentation will provide some examples of hi- and trilateral CBRN research projects. The main driving force thus far has been to create a multiplier for existing research efforts. Another, more innovative, approach for international research collaboration, would be based on mutual willingness and preparedness to allow a certain level of interdependence between participating nations. The foundation would be to come to an agreement on defining, building and maintaining a shared knowledge base on a domain of common interest. That knowledge base would consist of competences and resources of research institutes of both nations. Those competences could have common grounds, but would rather be complementary in order to broaden the overall pool. That knowledge base should be readily accessible for both defense organizations and should be mutually guaranteed for an agreed upon term. In 2015, the Ministers of Defense of the Netherlands and Norway have signed an agreement to come to a Strategic Mutual Assistance in Research & Technology (SMART). As a first domain to discover the feasibility of SMART, they have tasked their national defense research establishments, TNO and FFI, respectively, to build a mutually shared knowledge base on CBRN. For that purpose, TNO and FFI have compared their CBRN portfolios, made a long term plan to achieve a shared knowledge base and have started research projects to fill it. The presentation will explain the SMART concept in more depth and will share the earliest experiences.


The biology of two African sweetpotato weevil species, Cylas pitncticollis and C. bninnens (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Apionidae), was studied in laboratory experiments carried out at 27 ±1°C, 45 ±5% RH, and a 12 h photophase. Cylns pinicticollis females lived longer than C. brunneus (141 ±10 and 92 ±12 days respectively), developed faster (egg to adult 20-28 days, and 32-41 days respectively) and had a lower oviposition rate (1.10±0.04 and 1.53 ±0.06 eggs per female per day respectively). The total egg production per female (average 101), sex ratio (1:1) and proportion of eggs surviving to adulthood (average 89%) were similar for both species. The intrinsic rate of increase was higher for C. pnncticoUis (0.553 per 10-day period compared to 0.521 for C. brunneus). Under field conditions C. bhmneiis will benefit from its higher oviposition rate during periods of favourable conditions for sweet potato weevils, like dry spells which expose tubers for egg laying. Cylns pitncticollis will benefit from its longer longevity during less favourable conditions, as females can survive extended periods when no oviposition sites are available and then resume egg laying when conditions improve. Key Words: sweetpotato weevil, Cylas pnncticollis, Cylas brunneus, Ipomoca batatas, biology, Kenya


The state-of-the-art of borehole plugging of abandoned oil wells and the tools and materials used are discussed. Special problems encountered are considered and several case studies are outlined. The special procedures which must be followed if the plugged borehole is to be considered as a repository for radioactive wastes are discussed and special recommendations are made. A state-by-state summary is given of the regulatory requirements for borehole plugging. (JSR)


Thinking about and addressing the issue of death as a natural consequence of life is often a situation that is difficult to handle and that involves a level of difficulty. This difficulty is amplified substantially when the specific topic one addresses with respect to death is suicide. It is difficult to understand and explain why some people decide to commit suicide, while others in a similar or worse situation do not. This behavior undoubtedly results from a complex interaction of biological, psychological, social, cultural and environmental factors. Therefore, studies about this issue are clearly important and relevant as Werlang et al. emphasize, suicidal behavior includes a central aspect related to suffering, regardless of the point of view according to which it is analyzed. One can think about the suffering that leads an individual to a suicidal act, of the suffering endured by the family who have seen one of their members commit suicide, as well as the social consequences of that act. In that direction, it is believed that the basic predominant idea among healthcare professionals is that one should do whatever possible or even what is impossible to help people who are suffering, with an objective to preserve the well being of every human. It is my understanding that certainly this is what motivates Fatima Cavalcante and Maria Cecilia Minayo to get involved with the issue of suicide and to coordinate a multi-center study aiming to identify and understand the variables that interact and feed the association between the suicide event and elderly. The article Psychological and Psychosocial Autopsies of Individuals who Died by Suicide in Brazil describes a study that is scientifically, clinically and socially relevant. The text provides very important information related to risk and protection factors that may enable implementing actions to prevent suicide among the elderly. Several aspects of the article are worth commenting; however, I will address only some of them. It is my understanding that the article's main point is the strategy used to collect data. I have been studying problems related with suicide for over a decade and I use psychological autopsies because I believe that this retrospective examination resource enables us to obtain important elements to comprehend suicide. This type of evaluation has been making it possible to identify direct or indirect clues related to this deadly behavior, 1955


An inadequate supply of fresh tissue is a major limitation of three-dimensional patient-derived gastric organoid research. We propose that tissue procurement for organoid culture could be increased by developing a cold storage shipment protocol for fresh surgical tissues. Sixty stomach specimens from C57BL/6J mice were resected, of which forty-five were stored in Hank's Balanced Salt (HBSS), University of Wisconsin (UW), or Histidine-Tryptophan-Ketoglutarate (HTK) solutions for subsequent organoid culture. Stomachs were dissociated and processed into gastric organoids as fresh tissue or after transport at 4 °C for 24 or 48 h. All gastric organoid cultures were established and maintained for 10 passages. Cold storage for 24 or 48 h did not significantly affect organoid viability. Although cold storage was associated with decreased organoid growth rate, there were no differences in viability, cytotoxic dose response, or LGR5 and TROY stem cell gene expression compared to organoids prepared from fresh tissue. As a proof of concept, six human gastric cancer organoids were established after 24 or 48 h of storage. Patient-derived gastric organoids from mouse and human gastric tissue can be established after 48 h of cold ischemia. Our method, which only requires ice packs, standard shipping containers, and HBSS is feasible and reliable. This method does not affect the reliability of downstream dose–response assays and maintains organoid viability for at least 10 passages. The shipment of fresh tissue for organoid procurement could serve to enhance multicenter collaboration and achieve more elaborate or controlled organoid experimentation.


Identifying the structure of our Galaxy has always been fraught with difficulties, and while modern surveys continue to make progress building a map of the Milky Way, there is still much to understand. The arm and bar features are important drivers in shaping the interstellar medium, but their exact nature and influence still require attention. We present results of smoothed particle hydrodynamic simulations of gas in the Milky Way including star formation, stellar feedback, and ISM cooling, when exposed to different arm and bar features, with the aim of better understanding how well newly formed stars trace out the underlying structure of the Galaxy. The bar is given a faster pattern speed than the arms, resulting in a complex, time-dependent morphology and star formation. Inter-arm branches and spurs are easily influenced by the bar, especially in the two-armed spiral models where there is a wide region of resonance overlap in the disc. As the bar over-takes the spiral arms it induces small boosts in star formation and enhances spiral features, which occur at regularly spaced beat-like intervals. The locations of star formation events are similar to those seen in observational data, and do not show a perfect 1:1 correspondence with the underlying spiral potential, though arm tangencies are generally well traced by young stars. Stellar velocity fields from the newly formed stars are compared to data from Gaia DR2, showing that the spiral and bar features can reproduce many of the non-axisymmetric features seen in the data. A simple analytical model is used to show many of these feature are a natural response of gas to rigidly rotating spiral and bar potentials.


The Squid Giant Synapse A Model for Chemical Transmission. Rodolfo R. Llinás. Oxford University Press, New York, 1999. 332 pp. + CD-ROM. $85, £49.95. ISBN 0-19-511652-6. The squid giant synapse has provided a model system for investigating how synapses allow communication among nerve cells. Llinás has contributed much to our understanding of the system, and his personal perspective provides a valuable background for synaptic physiologists.


Objective: To compare efficacy of interferon β-1a, 22 μg or 44 μg weekly, with placebo in relapsing MS. Background: Uncertainty exists concerning the optimal dose regimen for interferon β in relapsing-remitting MS. Many patients and physicians prefer the convenience and lesser side effects of an injection given once weekly (qw) as opposed to three times weekly. Pharmacokinetic data and information on biologic markers suggest that this frequency may be suboptimal. Methods: Randomized, double-blind study of interferon β-1a 22 μg, 44 μg, or placebo administered by weekly subcutaneous injection for 48 weeks. Proton density (PD)/T2-weighted and T1-weighted–gadolinium MRI scans during 24 weeks of therapy were analyzed for the number of combined unique (CU) lesions (primary outcome). Biannual PD/T2 scans were analyzed for T2 activity and burden of disease (BOD). Results: CU lesions at 24 weeks had a median of 0.71/scan with placebo, 0.5/scan with 22 μg (not significant), and 0.33/scan with 44 μg (p = 0.002). T2 new lesion count/scan (mean/median) at 48 weeks was 3.2/1.5 for placebo, 2.4/1.0 for 22 μg (p = 0.03), and 1.5/1.0 for 44 μg (p = 0.0005). BOD at 48 weeks showed a median increase of 5.9% for placebo compared with a decrease of 1.4% in the 44 μg group (p = 0.0058) and 2% in the 22 μg group (p = 0.0018). No clinical variable, apart from steroid use in the 44 μg qw group (p = 0.014), showed significance. Conclusions: These data confirm an MRI benefit of interferon β-1a at low dose in MS, but highlight the limited clinical effect. Taken together with other studies, the data demonstrate a dose–effect relationship for both clinical and MRI variables.


Physiological data suggest that the direct effect of spinal opiates as well as the activation of adrenergic bulbospinal pathways each results in a reduction in the gain of the stimulus response function in dorsal horn neurons. In its simplest form, this suggests the hypothesis that co-activation of spinal alpha2 and opioid receptors should be manifested as a synergistic interaction in which in its simplest form the net effect would be a product of the effect produced by either drug alone. To assess this hypothesis, rats were prepared with chronically implanted intrathecal (IT) catheters. Dose-response curves for IT morphine were obtained in the presence of fixed doses (0.01 nmol, 0.03 nmol, 0.1 nmol, 0.3 nmol) of 2-[2,6-dimethylphenylamino]-2-imidazoline (ST-91), an alpha 2 agonist. Such concurrent administration of ST-91 resulted in highly significant leftward shifts in the effect of morphine on the hot plate (52.5 degrees C) measure with a significant increase in dose-response curve slopes. To minimize the effects of the cut-off time necessary in an antinociceptive measure, a "Cox proportional hazard" analysis was used. The (log) Hazard function log[h(t)] is expressed as a linear function of the effects resulting from the action of morphine, the action of ST-91 and as a function of an interaction of morphine and ST-91, e.g., the general form is: log[h(t)] = alpha o(t) + beta 1.log doseM + beta 2.log doseST + beta 12.log doseM.log doseST Estimates of the principal coefficients beta 1, beta 2 and beta 12 corresponding to the overall effect of morphine alone, ST-91 alone and the interaction between the two were calculated: beta 1, beta 2 and beta 12. A statistical test of the interaction coefficient revealed that beta 12 was significantly (p less than .001) different from zero, indicating the powerful synergy between IT ST-91 and morphine. Confirmation of the synergistic nature of spinal opioid alpha 2 receptors was provided by the fact that IT injection of naloxone (90 nmol) or phentolamine (100 nmol) after IT injection of various combinations of morphine and ST-91 immediately and completely abolished the potentiating effect of the combination. The clearance of IT [3H]morphine from the thoracic and lumbar spinal cord was not changed in the presence of ST-91. These observations suggest a potent synergistic interaction between spinal mu and alpha 2 adrenergic receptor systems.


Parametric four-wave mixing (FWM) based wavelength conversion with multimode fibers [1] has shown to be a power scalable platform with large degrees of freedom owing to the plethora of phase matching possibilities on offer. Similar nonlinear-optical control with light carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) has not yet been studied extensively, although the fiber OAM platform offers several inherent advantages such as naturally polarisation-maintaining behaviour [2], km-length interaction lengths [3], and the ability to tailor dispersion [4].


Product branching ratios and thermal rate coefficients for the dissociative recombination of C3D(+)7 and C4D(+)9 have been measured in the ion storage ring CRYRING. The results for C3D(+)7 are believed to be slightly more accurate than those obtained earlier for C3H(+)7. Only the C-C bond breaking channels could be measured for C4D(+)9 and were found to be in excellent agreement with earlier data.


Four cases of "myospherulosis" are presented with a review of the thirty cases previously reported in the litterature. The disease is characterized by clusters of spherules, surrounded by a thin membranous bag, within a multicystic reaction of muscular and subcutaneous tissue or of paranasal sinuses. The actual nature of these spherules still remains unknown. Several pathogenic hypothesis are suggested.


We propose a novel ECGAN for the challenging semantic image synthesis task. Although considerable improvement has been achieved, the quality of synthesized images is far from satisfactory due to three largely unresolved challenges. 1) The semantic labels do not provide detailed structural information, making it difficult to synthesize local details and structures. 2) The widely adopted CNN operations such as convolution, down-sampling, and normalization usually cause spatial resolution loss and thus cannot fully preserve the original semantic information, leading to semantically inconsistent results. 3) Existing semantic image synthesis methods focus on modeling local semantic information from a single input semantic layout. However, they ignore global semantic information of multiple input semantic layouts, i.e., semantic cross-relations between pixels across different input layouts. To tackle 1), we propose to use edge as an intermediate representation which is further adopted to guide image generation via a proposed attention guided edge transfer module. Edge information is produced by a convolutional generator and introduces detailed structure information. To tackle 2), we design an effective module to selectively highlight class-dependent feature maps according to the original semantic layout to preserve the semantic information. To tackle 3), inspired by current methods in contrastive learning, we propose a novel contrastive learning method, which aims to enforce pixel embeddings belonging to the same semantic class to generate more similar image content than those from different classes. Doing so can capture more semantic relations by explicitly exploring the structures of labeled pixels from multiple input semantic layouts. Experiments on three challenging datasets show that our ECGAN achieves significantly better results than state-of-the-art methods.


It is known that B(' p ) is not amenable for p = 1;2;1, but whether or notB(' p ) is amenable for p2 (1;1)nf2g is an open problem. We show that, ifB(' p ) is amenable for p2 (1;1), then so are ' 1 (B(' p )) and ' 1 (K(' p )). Moreover, if ' 1 (K(' p )) is amenable so is ' 1 (I;K(E)) for any index set I and for any infinite-dimensionalL p -space E; in particular, if ' 1 (K(' p )) is amenable for p2 (1;1), then so is ' 1 (K(' p ' 2 )). We show that ' 1 (K(' p ' 2 )) is not amenable for p = 1;1, but also that our methods fail us if p2 (1;1). Finally, for p2 (1;2) and a free ultrafilterU over N, we exhibit a closed left ideal of (K(' p ))U lacking a right approximate identity, but enjoying a certain very weak complementation property.


Background New-onset diabetes after transplant (NODAT) is one of the metabolic complications of kidney transplant surgery. The incident of NODAT varies highly, from 5% up to 53%. Some factors increase the risk for NODAT, such as age, gender, immunosuppressant drugs, among others. The progressivity of NODAT leads to increased cardiovascular risks, making the identification of risk factors crucial.
Method Medical records of 56 patients who have undergone kidney transplant throughout 1998 - 2015 were evaluated. Data obtained from the records include age, gender, history of hypertension, dyslipidemia, the use of calcineurin inhibitors (CNI), and familial history of diabetes. Bivariate analysis with crosstabs (for nominal data) was used to analyze the data, with a threshold of p < 0.25 and followed up with multivariate analysis using logistic regression.
Result The mean age of subjects was 53.85±12.92 years, with 80.4% of the subjects were male. Pre-transplant hypertension was 46.4%. The CNI used were tacrolimus in 46.4% and cyclosporine in 53.6% of patients. Around 25% of patients have a familial history of diabetes and the mean triglyceride level was 165.83±77.5 mg/dl. NODAT occurred in 18 patients and the majority of occurrence happened in the first year post-transplant. Bivariate analysis shows no significant risk factors, however clinically significant risk factors were gender (male), the CNI drug used (tacrolimus), and familial history of diabetes. Further multivariate analysis showed OR for gender (male) with OR 6.532 (0.735- 58.051), age with OR 5.249 (0.658-41.853)}, and the use of tacrolimus with OR 3.217 (0.895-11.571).
Conclusion In this study, the clinically significant risk factors for NODAT were male gender, age, and the use of tacrolimus. However, these risk factors did not show statistical significance. Further study with bigger sample size is needed.


Stratigraphical relationships, facies and petrographical evidences define a rocky shoreline in the Late Wenlock of Gotland. The major facies-elements forming the rocky shoreline are 1) several subaerially exposed reefs, which were eroded during falling base-level and which form the topography, and 2), onlap of oolite grainstones which were deposited during the subsequent rise of the base-level. Five localities along the rocky shoreline are discussed in detail here, viz., Svalings 1 where the unconformable boundary is accessible, and Bara 1-4 where the petrography of the onlapping oolite has been studied. A regression at the end of the latest Cyrtograptus lundgreni Biozone resulted in emersion of parts of the Gotland carbonate platform. Erosion during the short time interval of maximum lowstand (top C. lundgreni Biozone) caused the topography of this rocky shoreline and resulted in truncations, corrosion and vadose silt in the exposed reefs. The following parvus-nassa Biozone starts with the transgressive Bara Oolite Member (lowermost Halla Formation) which onlaps the southern flanks of the youngest reef generation of the Slite Group. The rocky shoreline can be traced for 11 km striking SW-NE. Calculated base-level for the erosion is situated more than 16 metres below the top of the highest preserved part of one Slite reef, indicating the probable minimum magnitude of the sea-level drop. Detailed petrographic work on the onlapping oolite is consistent with the interpretation that it was formed in the tidal zone of the shores bordering the palaeocoast. The Slite Rocky Shoreline Unconformity (SRSU) is herein considered as the platform-proximal equivalent to the sequence boundary separating the regressive Frojel Formation and the transgressive Bara Oolite Member (lowermost Halla Formation) in the Klintehamn area on western Gotland. The rocky shoreline development is taken as the most reliable evidence of a rapid regressive-transgressive cycle in the mid-Homerian of Gotland. (Less)


This paper attempts to explain the distribution of actual stock index returns using a mixture of the normal distributions model. This paper first defines the concept of structural breaks and derives a special form of structural breaks under the normality framework. It then applies the derived methodology to the monthly returns of the Swiss stock index to confirm whether the observed non-normality of stock returns can be explained with the derived model. Empirical results provide evidence that the entire period consists of three or four sub-periods in which different normal distributions exist. To check the statistical power of the model, this study generates random data from the normal distributions. Simulation results support the statistical power of the new methodology, and indicate the possibility that, despite being a seemingly non-normal test statistic for the entire data set, the underlying distribution is made up of a mixture of normal distributions.


P-type undoped freestanding diamond (FSD) films were grown by the microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD) method. The effects of the hydrogen plasma treatment and annealing process on the p-type behavior of FSD films were investigated by the Hall effect method. The results revealed that the sheet carrier concentration increased and the sheet resistivity decreased with the treating time and a stable value was achieved after a period of time. Up to an annealing temperature of 250°C, the sheet resistivity and sheet carrier concentration remained in a relatively stable range but changed dramatically after annealing at 300°C. A heterojunction was also fabricated by the growth of an n-type ZnO film on the p-type FSD film. Current-voltage (I-V) characterization of the heterojunction at room temperature indicated that this structure was rectifying in nature with a turn-on voltage of about 0.6 V.


Auralization of traffic noise can be of great value for city planners and in the communication to citizens. In inner city environments, auralization of traffic noise based on predictions might require a wave-based method for the low frequencies. In this paper, a method to auralize a car pass-by using binaural impulse responses (BIRs) computed with the wave-based pseudospectral time-domain method (PSTD) in two dimensions is presented. A dry synthesized car signal is convolved with the BIRs for different locations in the street, and cross-fade windows are used in order to create a smooth transition between the source positions. Auralizations were performed for the simplified scenarios where buildings are absent, and for an environment where a long flat wall is located behind the car, opposite from the receiver. A same-different listening test was carried out in order to investigate whether increasing the angular spacing between the discrete source positions affects the perception of the car pass-by auralizations. Signal detection theory (SDT) was used for the design and analysis of the listening test. Results showed that differences exist, although they are difficult to notice. On average, 52.3% of the subjects found it almost impossible to spot any difference between auralizations with larger angular spacing (up to 10°) compared to the reference auralization (2° angular spacing).


In this paper, we present a comparison of two implementations of our proposed MDA approach for managing variability in a software product line. The implementations correspond to two representative frameworks based on the Model Driven Engineering (MDE) principles. These frameworks are the Graphical Modeling Framework (GMF) and the Generic Model Environment (GME). We built the core assets of the product line and we generated applications using the two different frameworks. The core assets that we built are: feature models, metamodels, mapping models, and three different types of transformation rules. We built the transformation rules using two different languages: the ATLAS Transformation Language (ATL) in the context of GMF and, the Embedded Constraint Language (ECL) in GME.


We present a candid reflection on the issues surrounding virtual environment design and implementation (VEDI) in order to: (1) motivate the topic as a researchworthy undertaking, and (2) attempt a comprehensive listing of impeding VEDI issues so they can be addressed. In order to structure this reflection, an idealized model of VEDI is presented. This model, investigated using mixed methods, resulted in 67 distinct issues along the model's transitions and pathways. These were clustered into 11 themes and used to support five VEDI research challenges.


Aim To examine the attitude of the obstetricians and the perinatal outcome of pregnancies complicated by premature rupture of the amniotic membranes (PROM) with associated borderline oligohydramnios. Borderline oligohydramnios was defined as an AFI between 5 and 10. Methods Over 6 months the authors reviewed all singleton pregnancies who were admitted because of PROM in the antenatal ward. Initial assessment of the pregnancy with ultrasound happened shortly after admission. Cases with borderline oligohydramnios were included in the study. The fetal-placental circulation as assessed with umbilical artery Doppler was normal in all cases. Pregnancies with congenital fetal malformations or in labour were excluded. The authors collected data relevant to the mode of delivery and the perinatal outcome. Results 28 cases of PROM and borderline oligohydramnios were identified. 15 women (54%) delivered by Caesarean section. In nine cases this was an elective or semielective procedure. 11 women achieved spontaneous vaginal delivery, two had an operative vaginal delivery. Gestational age at delivery ranged from 24+2 until 38+5. The birth weight ranged from 560 to 3290 g. Apgar score less than 7 at 1 min was noted in four cases. These neonates were admitted to neonatal intensive care unit. There was one neonatal death but no other cases of severe perinatal morbidity. Conclusion The authors conclude that cases of PROM and borderline oligohydramnios are managed aggressively in our unit with high rates of Caesarean section.


The task of physically assisting humans requires from robots the ability to adapt in many different ways: to changes in space of the human movement, to changes in the speed of the human, to changes in the environment, etc. This paper presents recent research on teaching robots how to interact with humans and to adapt to different circumstances. The approach presented here is based on Imitation Learning and Probabilistic Movement Representations. In particular, this paper explains the concept of a Mixture of Interaction Primitives to learn interactions from multiple unlabeled demonstrations and to deal with nonlinear correlations between the interacting partners. Furthermore, a method to compute reactions to human movements executed at different speeds is presented. A number of experiments with a lightweight robotic arm illustrate applications of the presented methods.


Nurses' patient advocacy can influence patient outcomes. There is a lack of reliable and valid instruments on patient advocacy. The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument to measure nurses' attitudes toward patient advocacy. Bu and Jezewski's theory of patient advocacy and Fishbein and Ajzen's definition of attitude were used to guide the development and evaluation of the scale. Seven experts evaluated scale content validity. Two samples (N = 200; N = 2,500) were randomly selected from the Oncology Nursing Society membership to allow us to examine psychometric properties of the scale. The scale possessed satisfactory psychometric properties.


We describe XEL-Group Learning, a socio-technical framework for socially oriented e-learning. The aim of the presented framework is to address the lack of holistic pedagogical solutions that take into account motivational theories, socio–technical factors, and cultural elements in social learning networks. The presented framework provides initiatives for collaboration by providing a dynamic psycho-pedagogical recommendation mechanism with validation properties. In this paper, we begin by highlighting the sociotechnical concept associated with socially-oriented e-learning. Next, we describe XEL-GL's main mechanisms such as group formation and the semantic matching framework. Moreover, through semantic similarity measurements, we show how cultural elements, such as the learning subject, can enhance the quality of recommendations by allowing for more accurate predictions of friends networks.


We present a scalable scheme to design optimized soft pulses and pulse sequences for coherent control of interacting quantum many-body systems. The scheme is based on the cluster expansion and the time-dependent perturbation theory implemented numerically. This approach offers a dramatic advantage in numerical efficiency, and it is also more convenient than the commonly used Magnus expansion, especially when dealing with higher-order terms. We illustrate the scheme by designing 2nd-order self-refocusing pi pulses and a 6th-order 8-pulse refocusing sequence for a chain of qubits with nearest-neighbor couplings. We also discuss the performance of soft-pulse refocusing sequences in suppressing decoherence due to low-frequency environment.


Background: In Iran, there is a significant increase in women living with HIV+/AIDS. In a cultural, social, and political context, educational and empowerment needs are still considered a challenging issue among these women. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the experience of living with HIV+/AIDS from the perspective of women in Ahvaz, Iran, focusing on educational needs and empowerment.
Methods: The present qualitative study was a descriptive phenomenology conducted in 2020. The research context included all educational, therapeutic, counseling, and support centers, governmental and non-governmental HIV/AIDS associations and institutions located in Ahvaz. The statistical population of the study included all women with HIV and AIDS. The study participants were selected using purposeful and snowball sampling method. Semi-structured open interviews (individual and face-to-face) were selected as the primary and central approach to data collection.
Results: The findings showed that the 5 identified themes of understanding the experience of focusing on educational needs and empowerment in women were severe suffering (shock, anger, resentment of the family and friends, and feelings of isolation), disapproval (prejudices, stereotypes, and taboos related to HIV in society, and feeling of lack of social support), insecurity in social and economic life (lack of readiness for cultural and social participation, equality or inequality in empowerment, assessing relationships based on economic criteria, and doubts about improving health), disrespect (disrespect for unique characteristics, and insult and slander), and hardship in protection (continuing to control health status information).
Conclusion: It can be concluded that the educational and empowerment needs of patients with AIDS/HIV+ should be taken into consideration. Mobilizing individuals, specialists, and providers of counseling and care services in different sectors to gain a better understanding of the complex nature of the phenomenon of non-compliance with the right to empowerment will be useful.


Increased public health risk caused by pathogen contamination in streams is a serious issue, and mitigating the risk requires improvement in existing microbial monitoring of streams. To improve understanding of microbial contamination in streams, we monitored in stream water columns and streambed sediment. Two distinct streams and their subwatersheds were studied: (i) a mountain stream (Merced River, California), which represents pristine and wild conditions, and (ii) an agricultural stream (Squaw Creek, Iowa), which represents an agricultural setting (i.e., crop, manure application, cattle access). Stream water column and sediment samples were collected in multiple locations in the Merced River and Squaw Creek watersheds. Compared with the mountain stream, water column concentrations in the agricultural stream were considerably higher. In both mountain and agricultural streams, concentrations in bed sediment were higher than the water column, and principal component analysis indicates that land use affected water column levels significantly ( < 0.05). The cluster analysis showed grouping of subwatersheds for each basin, indicating unique land use features of each watershed. In general, water column levels in the mountain stream were lower than the USEPA's existing water quality criteria for bacteria. However, the levels in the agricultural stream exceeded the USEPA's microbial water quality criteria by several fold, which substantiated that increased agricultural activities, use of animal waste as fertilizers, and combined effect of rainfall and temperature may act as potential determining factors behind the elevated levels in agriculture streams.


Aspergillus fumigatus, a medically important fungal opportunist and respiratory allergen, was isolated from woodchips and sewage sludge used in the production of compost at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's composting research facility in Beltsville, Md. It was also regularly isolated as a dominant fungus during forced aeration composting and after 30 days in an unaerated stationary curing pile; in both cases, the fungus was found in pile zones with temperatures less than 60 degrees C. Compost stored outdoors in stationary unaerated piles from 1 to 4 months after screening out of woodchips contained easily detectable amounts of A. fumigatus in the exterior pile zones (0- to 25-cm depths). Semiquantitative studies of the airspora at the composting site revealed that A. fumigatus constituted 75% of the total viable mycoflora captured. At locations 320 m to 8 km from the compost site, the fungus constituted only 2% of the total viable mycoflora in the air. Of 21 samples of commercially available potting soil, one had levels of A. fumigatus nearly equivalent to those of 1-month-old storage compost; 15 others had lower but detectable levels.


Synthetic approaches for the preparation of macromolecular conjugates of the antifibrotic agent cis-4-hydroxy-L-proline (cHyp) were explored, and the efficacy of the conjugates in inhibiting collagen accumulation was investigated in vitro and in vivo. In one approach, poly(PEG-Lys), an alternating copolymer of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and lysine, was used as the carrier. To prepare pendent chain systems, cHyp was attached to poly(PEG-Lys) through an amide linkage [poly(PEG-Lys-cHyp amide)] or through an ester linkage [poly(PEG-Lys-cHyp ester)]. In an alternative approach, cHyp was incorporated into the backbone of a linear copolymer consisting of PEG, succinic acid, and cHyp units [poly(PEG-succinate-cHyp)]. Bioactivity in vitro was assessed by the ability of the cHyp conjugates to inhibit growth of cultured smooth muscle cells (SMC) and rat lung fibroblasts (RLF). Cell numbers were compared to control experiments in the presence of biologically inactive trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline (tHyp). After a 5 day period, the presence of 8 micrograms/mL of cHyp delivered by poly(PEG-Lys-cHyp amide) resulted in a 47% reduction in the number of SMC (p < 0.05), the presence of 36 micrograms/mL of cHyp delivered by poly(PEG-Lys-cHyp ester) resulted in a 38% reduction in the number of SMC (p < 0.05), while the presence of 118 micrograms/mL of cHyp delivered by poly(PEG-succinate-cHyp) resulted in a 31% reduction in the number of cells (p < 0.05). An identical trend was observed for the inhibition of RLF growth. In general, poly(PEG-Lys-cHyp amide) was most active, followed by poly(PEG-Lys-cHyp ester) and the backbone system, poly(PEG-succinate-cHyp). Specifically, poly(PEG-Lys-cHyp amide) was over 100-fold more active in inhibiting cell growth than free cHyp. Bioactivity in vivo was evaluated by measuring collagen accumulation in subcutaneously implanted poly(vinyl alcohol) sponges in rats. Among the tested conjugates, poly(PEG-Lys-cHyp amide) was most active, reducing collagen accumulation in the sponge by 33% after 14 days relative to controls (p < 0.05). This result indicates that the covalent attachment of cHyp to poly(PEG-Lys) carries may be a useful strategy for the local inhibition of collagen accumulation in tissues.


The diet of the short-toed eagle ( Circaetus gallicus ) was studied during the breeding season by analysing pellets and remains generated by adults and nestlings. The raptor proved to be a specialist feeder, as snake prey comprised almost 95% of the diet, in both frequency and biomass. We gathered information on prey availability and prey size availability (1499 specimens of nine different species) by searching for snakes in the study area. Regressions of vertebra centrum length and dorsal-scale length on snout–vent length (SVL) of the snakes were used to calculate prey size. The taxonomic diet composition differed depending on the sample analysed – remains or pellets – but we failed to find between-year diet differences. Most of the snakes identified (140 out of 141) belonged to only three species, Malpolon monspessulanus , Elaphe scalaris , and Coluber hippocrepis . Other prey included Lacerta lepida , Natrix maura , Bufo bufo , and Alectoris rufa , and many secondary prey (prey from stomach of the prey) were also detected in the pellets. The three main prey species were consumed according to their availability in the study area, but the eagles selected on the basis of prey size. Large snakes within 700–1000 mm SVL were positively selected, whereas snakes under 600 mm SVL were negatively selected. Adult eagles consumed the same prey species as those carried to the nest to feed their single nestling, although prey given to nestlings proved larger in size and biomass, suggesting that adults consumed the smallest prey, reserving the largest for nestlings.


Approximately 5% of spinal cord-injured individuals suffer from respiratory muscle paralysis and require chronic mechanical ventilation. Unfortunately, this form of life support is associated with a number of undesirable side effects and discomforts. The only available alternative to mechanical ventilation is diaphragm pacing via bilateral phrenic nerve stimulation. This technique can provide patients with marked improvements in life quality and offers significant advantages compared to mechanical ventilation. Many patients, however, do not have bilateral phrenic function or are not willing to accept the risks inherent with phrenic nerve pacing and therefore are not candidates for this technique. Two alternative methods to ventilate patients with ventilator-dependent tetraplegia are reviewed in this paper. In patients with only a single functional phrenic nerve who are therefore not candidates for phrenic nerve pacing, combined intercostal muscle and unilateral phrenic nerve stimulation has recently been shown to maintain ventilatory support. In patients with bilateral phrenic nerve function, on-going studies suggest that intramuscular diaphragm pacing may be a useful alternative to direct phrenic nerve pacing. With the electrodes placed into the diaphragm laparoscopically, this method allows for the diaphragm to be activated without manipulation of the phrenic nerve, need for thoracotomy, or hospitalization. Both techniques provide benefits similar to that derived from bilateral phrenic nerve pacing and hold promise as alternative methods of ventilatory support in selected populations groups.


Large potential oscillations were detected in JIPPT-IIU tokamak plasmas in a wide range of plasma cross-sections in measurements using a multi-sample-volume heavy ion beam probe. These oscillations have large amplitudes reaching a few hundreds of volts and their frequencies are in the range of the geodesic acoustic mode (GAM). They are found over a wide range of plasma cross-sections and commonly have m = 0 structures. As they were Fourier analysed, it was found that the central frequency is higher in the core of the plasma and lower in the edge of the plasma. These observations agree with the properties of theoretically predicted GAM oscillations. It was also found that the frequency spectrum is peaked in the core and broad in the edge, which may have something to do with damping mechanisms of the GAM. The phase relation between the density and the electric field fluctuations was studied extensively in terms of the cross-correlation function. The level of the density fluctuation was low as it should be, and the expected 90° phase difference was found in a limited radial domain.


Whole transcriptome analysis is a key method in biology that allows researchers to determine the effect a condition has on gene regulation. One difficulty in RNA sequencing of muscle is that traditional methods are performed on the whole muscle, but this captures non-myogenic cells that are part of the muscle. In order to analyze only the transcriptome of myofibers we combine single myofiber isolation with SMART-Seq to provide high resolution genome wide expression of a single myofiber.


We introduce a novel concept of discretely tunable semiconductor lasers with on-chip filtered optical feedback. The integrated device is based on a semiconductor ring laser that can sustain two counter-propagating modes. By means of a directional coupler, part of the light emitted by the laser is coupled out to a feedback section integrated on the same chip. The feedback section contains two arrayed waveguide gratings and a set of semiconductor optical amplifiers to provide filtering of particular longitudinal modes sustained by the ring cavity. By controlling the current injected into the semiconductor optical amplifiers, single mode operation in both directions is achieved. In this paper, the design, characterization, and modeling of the device is presented.


As the mobile handheld devices equipped with fingerprint sensors are produced, it becomes important to protect the private information of a user (i.e., fingerprint image) in the remote applications. In this paper, we consider the possible scenarios to transmit fingerprint images from the handheld device to a server securely using both encryption and watermarking. Moreover, to transmit the large-sized fingerprint images via a restricted bandwidth, the image compression should be considered. Based on the experimental results, we compare and analyze three factors(i.e., the energy consumption, the watermark detection rate, and the fingerprint recognition rate) of the possible compression standard techniques (i.e., the JPEG2000 and the WSQ).


Physician assistants (PAs) have been integrated into primary care settings to reduce wait times and to optimize continuity of care. Though previous studies suggest that PA utilization leads to improved healthcare access, few studies have investigated patient experience with primary care PAs in Canada. The objective of this study is to explore patient perspectives on primary care PAs in Ontario. A patient survey was developed and distributed to patients seen by PAs in 4 family medicine practices across Ontario, Canada. Results demonstrate that many patients are highly satisfied with their experience including the PA's ability to address their medical needs, establish rapport, and provide fast access to care (including same-day and after-hours appointments). Despite preferring to see a physician for more complex concerns, participants felt that PAs demonstrate similar medical knowledge, competencies, and scope of practice as family physicians. Patients demonstrated a solid understanding of the PA role and recognized the collaborative PA–physician relationship. These findings describe successful patient awareness and acceptance of the PA profession, largely due to positive PA–patient interactions in family medicine settings.


Background International scientific networks have raised concerns about inadequate reporting of safety outcomes in randomised trials and systematic reviews. Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) has previously developed an adaptation of the US National Cancer Institute (US NCI) Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE), the RCTC (Rheumatology Common Toxicity Criteria) to collect adverse events in rheumatology clinical trials. To respond to the need to also report safety outcomes from the patient perspective, the Safety Working Group is developing a core outcome set, followed by a core outcome measurement set. A scoping review of available instruments for measuring safety outcomes is needed to inform this work. Objectives To identify candidate measurement instruments for safety outcomes in rheumatology clinical trials. Methods A systematic search was performed in the MEDLINE database (via PubMed) in January 2017 using MeSH terms covering synonyms for adverse events, rheumatology and measurement instruments and the Boolean operator AND to combine them. Full-text articles about the development or evaluation of instruments for measuring safety in rheumatology were eligible. One reviewer (LK) screened for eligibility based on title and abstracts. Two reviewers (LK and RC) screened the full text articles. Results Of 434 unique references identified, 19 were read in full-text, and 8 were included (see figure). The instruments identified were: Glucocorticoid Toxicity Index (GTI), Patient Reported Experiences and Outcomes of Safety in Primary Care (PREOS-PC), Safety of Estrogens in Lupus Erythematosus National Assessment (SELENA)-SLEDAI flare index (cSFI), the BioSecure questionnaire, Rheumatology Common Toxicity Criteria (RCTC), OMERACT 3x3, and the Stanford Toxicity Index (STI). These instruments were specific for substance (GTI, BioSecure questionnaire), setting (PREOS-PC), condition (cSFI), or not fully validated (RCTC, OMERACT 3x3, STI).Figure 1 Conclusions The instruments identified are either too specific, or require further development/evaluation, for the purpose of standardizing measurement of safety in rheumatology clinical trials. Thus, we will proceed to gain consensus on the domains that must be measured to develop a core outcome set. Disclosure of Interest None declared


Although the 'normal' range of platelet count in a healthy person is quite broad (150 to 400 ×10 9 /L), an individual's platelet count is maintained within a much narrower range, constantly balanced between thrombopoiesis and senescence. Platelet counts within the normal range have been shown to be largely determined by genetic factors with heritability estimates from twin studies ranging from 0.57 to 0.80. A genome-wide linkage analysis was carried out in a large Asian Indian kindred with β thalassemia to search for genes influencing variation in normal platelet count. Significant linkage is shown at two locations on chromosome 3q with age, sex and β thalassemia adjusted platelet counts. Linkage analysis showed one marker (D3S1309) on chromosome 3q with a lod score of 3.26 and another marker (D3S1282) approximately 30 cM centromeric, with a lod score of 2.52. Multipoint linkage analysis across 90 cM of chromosome 3q identified two peaks across the region with maximum multipoint lod scores of 3.52 and 4.11 under markers D3S1309 and D3S1282, respectively. Two strong candidate genes for platelet variation were identified in the linked region; thrombopoietin ( THPO ) and glycoprotein IX ( GPIX ). Resequencing of four individuals revealed five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in THPO and one mutation in the transmembrane region of GPIX . Analysis of variance showed that the GPIX mutation and one THPO SNP accounted for 6% and 4% of the variation in platelet count in the kindred, respectively. The THPO SNP lies in the 3′ untranslated region (3′ UTR) of the gene and has not been previously reported. Although no function could be attributed to the THPO SNP it could potentially influence post-transcriptional control of gene expression. The G to A transition in nucleotide 653 (Ref seq NM_000174) resulted in an Ala 156 (GCC) to Thr (ACC) replacement in the GPIX protein. The GPIX mutation was recently identified in a Chinese patient with Bernard-Soulier syndrome (BSS), a rare bleeding disorder characterized by severe thrombocytopenia and giant platelets. The Chinese patient was homozygous for the mutation; however, heterozygous relatives did not show the characteristic BSS symptoms, leading the authors to conclude that the mutation acted under a recessive model of inheritance. Transient transfection studies by the same group confirmed that the mutation prevents GP Ib/IX complex insertion in the cytoplasmic membrane of platelets, and suppresses GPIbα and GPIX expression, but does not cause its intracellular degradation. One copy of the GPIX mutation was found in 300 European individuals with platelet counts within the normal clinical range. Conclusion: Although the genetic determinants of many thrombocythemias and congenital thrombocytopenias have been identified, very little is known about the genetic determinants of normal platelet count variation. The results suggest that two QTLs on chromosome 3q influence platelet count variation in the Asian Indian kindred, with the GPIX transmembrane mutation and the 3′ UTR SNP in THPO , being strong candidates.


As the international standards OHSAS 18001 and ISO 31000 bear witness, interest in safety management is growing worldwide. At the same time, it is becoming more and more complex, which has led to increasing reliance on procedures. On the one hand, control procedures are embodied in inspection services, who are gaining in knowledge and experience and creating frameworks and tools. These changes have provided a better understanding and definition of the role and responsibilities of inspectors in compliance control. On the other hand, industries need to adapt to cultural and technical changes resulting from economic needs. The complexity of the situation has led industries to adopt management tools; amongst them new, but promising software packages. Decision support systems are growing in popularity with safety stakeholders. Feedback, indicators, monitoring: the toolbox continues to expand. At the same time, the information that is shared is expanding. Our work relates to the regulation process: do enhanced legal powers lead to improved control? Improvements in safety require a virtuous relationship between stakeholders and improved communication. This article looks in detail at the role of occupational health and safety inspectors in France and their relationships with industrial partners.


The existing ISIS Penning H(-) source is unable to produce the beam parameters required for the front end test stand and so a new, high duty factor, high brightness scaled source is being developed. This paper details first the development of an electrically biased aperture plate for the existing ISIS source and second, the design, simulation, and development of a prototype scaled source.


Foamed fracturing fluids offer an attractive alternative over conventional stimulation fluids, particularly in water-sensitive formations, to shorten the flowback period and energize the created fracture geometry. The thermal stability of foam at high temperatures is one of the main challenges. The gas-liquid interface of foam tends to collapse with temperature. In this paper, CO2 foam stability is enhanced by nanoparticles structurally supporting foaming agents at high temperature.
 Nanoparticles (NPs) have a tendency to stabilize foam formulations under harsh conditions of temperature and salinity. In this study, different sizes of SiO2 NPs (7 nm, 30 nm) were utilized to enhance the stability of CO2 foam. The NPs were characterized by various techniques such as XRD, TEM, DLS, and BET surface area measurements. The foaming characteristics of various formulations were analyzed by a dynamic foam analyzer (DFA-100), respectively. Rheological properties of CO2-based foams were measured by circulating flow loop foam rheometer at high temperature (250 °F) and shear rate up to 500 1/s.
 CO2 foam stability is enhanced by optimizing the concentrations of CTAB surfactant and silica nanoparticles at high temperature. According to XRD findings, CS-7 and CS-30 are amorphous materials with hexagonal crystal structure. The average diameter of CS-7 and CS-30 silica NPs, as shown by FETEM images, is 12 nm and 25 nm, respectively. CS-7 has a surface area (SBET) that is 2.27 times more than CS-30 sample. CS-7 silica NPs were confirmed to have a more uniform shape, a smaller particle size, and a larger surface area based on these findings. Both CS-7 NPs and the CS-7+CTAB formulation have zeta potential values of -36.9 and 42.1 mV, which support the stability of the foamed colloidal suspension and the development of a densely packed particle arrangement at the liquid/gas interface, respectively. The foam analysis results demonstrate that adding CS-7 silica nanoparticles (0.005 weight percent) to a CO2-based formulation increases foam stability by up to 12%, demonstrating the ability of nanoparticles to stabilize foam formulations. The NPs stabilized CO2 foamed fluids' rheological characteristics exhibited 12 cp at 100 1/s utilizing water as the external phase at 2000 pressure and 250°F.
 Maintaining the stability of CO2 foam was a challenging task, especially at high temperatures. The stability of CO2 foam greatly depends upon the optimum hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) of surfactants. This was achieved by optimizing various formulations using suitable CTAB surfactant and silica NPs to overcome water drainage, CO2 gas diffusion rate, and rupturing of foam at high temperatures.


Issues related to Ethics and Privacy have become a major stumbling block in application of Learning Analytics technologies on a large scale. Recently, the learning analytics community at large has more actively addressed the EP4LA issues, and we are now starting to see learning analytics solutions that are designed not only as an afterthought, but also with these issues in mind. The 2nd EP4LA@LAK16 workshop will bring the discussion on ethics and privacy for learning analytics to a the next level, helping to build an agenda for organizational and technical design of LA solutions, addressing the different processes of a learning analytics workflow.


Recent studies suggest that the helium content of multiple stellar populations in globular clusters (GCs) is not uniform. The range of helium varies from cluster to cluster with more massive GCs having, preferentially, large helium spread. GCs with large helium variations also show extended-blue horizontal branch (HB). I exploit Hubble Space Telescope photometry to investigate multiple stellar populations in NGC6266 and infer their relative helium abundance. This cluster is an ideal target to investigate the possible connection between helium, cluster mass, and HB morphology, as it exhibits an extended HB and is among the ten more luminous GCs in the Milky Way. The analysis of color-magnitude diagrams from multi-wavelength photometry reveals that also NGC6266, similarly to other massive GCs, hosts a double main sequence (MS), with the red and the blue component made up of the 79+-1% and the 21+-1% of stars, respectively. The red MS is consistent with a stellar population with primordial helium while the blue MS is highly helium-enhanced by Delta Y=0.08+-0.01. Furthermore, the red MS exhibits an intrinsic broadening that can not be attributed to photometric errors only and is consistent with a spread in helium of ~0.025 dex. The comparison between NGC6266 and other GCs hosting helium-enriched stellar populations supports the presence of a correlation among helium variations, cluster mass, and HB extension.


Breast cancer in men is a rare disease, representing less than 1% of all breast cancers. Recently, scintimammography with 99mTc-methylene diphosphonate (MDP) has been proposed as an effective method in the differential diagnosis of breast masses. A 67-yr-old man with breast cancer that showed avid accumulation of 99mTc-MDP is presented in this article. Infiltrative ductal carcinoma was demonstrated histopathologically.


A number of trajectory planning algorithms exist for calculating the joint positions, velocities, and torques which will drive a robotic manipulator along a given geometric path. This paper presents a learning method for optimal trajectory planning of robotic manipulators of which all joints are rotational. When the start and end points of end effector are given in the Cartesian coordinates, the Fourier coefficients representing each joint velocity and interval of motion which specify the optimal trajectory in joint coordinates are searched by using the method of steepest descent. In the searching process, a learning algorithm based on the idea of linear approximation and utilization of the information on the known optimal trajectories is introduced. As numerical examples, the trajectories of two-link manipulator are simulated and the learning effect is confirmed.


To investigate the effect of chain mobility and functional group exposure on friction, the tribological properties of one-component (pure) and two-component (mixed) alkylsilane monolayers on silicon, with variance in the ratios of long- and short-chain molecules, are presented. The tribological properties of these monolayers were measured with a ball-on-flat tribometer at 9.8 mN load and a speed of 0.1 mm/s. The molecular precursors investigated were n-hexyltrichlorosilane (C6), n-dodecyltrichlorosilane (C12), n-hexadecyltrichlorosilane (C16), n-octadecyltrichlorosilane (C18), and n-docosyltrichlorosilane (C22). Created from these molecules were the following four mixed monolayers: C6/C18, C12/C18, C16/C18, and C12/C22 in which the ratio of long- and short-chain molecules was varied in order to create different levels of mobility and average chain cant in the upper liquidlike region of the film. For the two-component monolayers, once a critical thickness is reached, the tribological properties were indistinguishable from the pure monolayers although the oleophilicity was much higher for the mixed films. Altering the terminal group of the monolayer to a hydroxyl, however, resulted in an increased coefficient of friction and significant adhesive forces between the monolayer and the stainless steel probe of the microtribometer. This tribological behavior can be explained by the low surface energies of the methyl and methylene groups and the increased adhesion that occurs with hydroxyl-terminated monolayers due to stronger interfacial interactions. Collectively, the results indicate that monolayer thickness and surface energy greatly affect the tribological properties of a monolayer but that molecular mobility within the film and interfacial oleophilicity are less important at these loads and speeds.


A sensitive in situ assay for the plasminogen activator of transformed cells is described; it uses the fluorogenic molecule 3',6'-bis(4-guanidinobenzoyloxy)-5-(N'-4-carboxylphenyl)thioureidospiro[isobenz ofuran-1(3H),9'-[9H]xanthen]-3-one. This fluorescein derivative is an excellent active-site titrant of the esterase activity of plasmin. When transformed cells are incubated with purified plasminogen and the resulting plasmin is titrated with the fluorogenic substrate, the amount of plasmin formed is linearly proportional to time and cell number. The assay is sensitive enough to detect quantitatively the plasminogen activator activity of as few as 250 transformed cells. This substrate should be useful in studying quantitatively the correlation between increased levels of plasminogen activator activity and cellular transformation and as a general active site titrant of serine proteases.


Monitoring of blood lead levels (BLL) in children started in Hungary only in the 80's. A study on exposed areas of Budapest and Szolnok indicated a mean BLL higher than 20 micrograms/dl. Data from studies show a strong relationship between the BLLs of children and traffic. As a result of reduction of the lead content of gasoline, the BLLs of children decreased steeply in the early 90's. In 1994 a 6.9 micrograms/dl mean BLL was found in school children living in provincial towns, and 7.9% of the data exceeded the limit of 10 micrograms/dl. Recently a representative survey in preschool children (n = 1401, age 0-4 years) showed a mean BLL of 5.7 micrograms/dl, and only 4.7% exceeded the limit of 10 micrograms/dl. Despite this improvement nation-wide the condition is not satisfactory. Children are exposed to risk because of socioeconomic problems, carelessness, lack of public awareness. Such dangerous situations were created in the last two years by contamination of paprika powder, and battery dismantling without permission.


Background Despite considerable advances in falls prevention research and practice, the rate of falls-related hospitalisations continues to increase. Yet, there is some evidence that hip fracture rates, a major cause of fall-related morbidity, are declining. An examination of trends in types of injuries that contribute to the overall fall injury rate is required to understand these conflicting trends. Aim To examine the trends in fall-related hospital admissions by injury type in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Method A retrospective review of fall-related injury hospitalisations in NSW among individuals aged 65+ years, by injury type, was conducted from 1 July 1998 to 30 June 2009. Incident cases were identified using the referral source field and direct age standardised admission rates were calculated. Negative binomial regression was used to examine the statistical significance of changes in the trend over time of hospitalised fall-related injuries by injury type. Results The overall fall-related hospitalisation rate increased by 1.7% each year (p<0.0001; 95%CI 1.3 to 2.1). However, the fracture rate declined by −0.4% (p<0.03; 95%CI −0.8 to 0) and the rate of non-fractures increased by 6.1% (p<0.0001; 95%CI 5.5 to 6.7) each year. In particular, severe head injuries, rib(s) and pelvic fracture rates are increasing while hip and forearm fracture rates are declining. Conclusion It appears that, while falls prevention efforts in NSW are not yet affecting hospitalised falls injury rates, efforts in relation to bone health may be having an effect in preventing fractures. It is likely that the increase in severe head injuries is due to improvements in diagnosis.


Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have been recently used in many civilian application areas such as environmental monitoring and emergency services. WSNs are considered to be energy constrained. In this paper, we propose a novel clustering algorithm called Limiting member node Clustering (LmC) algorithm to limit the number of member nodes for each cluster head by using a threshold value. The proposed clustering approach selects a cluster head based on a new cost function which considers the residual battery level, energy consumption and distance to the base station. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can efficiently achieve high number of successfully delivered packets as well as the longest network lifetime while give the shortest delay time when compared with different existing algorithms.


The main purpose of this article is to provide an introduction to audio
description (AD) and to approach the question of the AD of humour. AD is
defined, the current situation of this practice is briefly discussed, and some of
the most significant works on AD are mentioned. A case study is then
presented, the main objective of which was to analyse (from a descriptive
perspective and focusing on visual jokes) the AD of the British comedy film I
want Candy (several examples are given to illustrate the way humour was dealt
with by the AD agent). Among others, some of the main findings discussed are
that 1), although some marginal and punctual instances of description over
dialogue were found, the general rule of using the gaps or silences between
dialogues to insert the descriptions was observed (this sometimes meant losing
potentially humorous elements) and 2) almost two fifths of the visual
humorous fragments were not described, most likely due to time restrictions.
Finally, some further research is suggested.


A geomorphological description of the tectonic troughs behind the volcanic arc is provided from data gathered in the New Hebrides island arc. From bathymetry and seismic reflection profiles, a representative plan of these troughs is made. From front to rear, the arc sequence is generally a small depression, followed by a wide, deep depression with a narrow ridge along either side. Stratigraphy and tectonics clearly show that the troughs were induced by crustal stretching; sedimentary formations observed are thought to be Plio-Quaternary. Magnetic anomalies on several profiles, and some gravimetric data, show information on the deep structure and genesis of the troughs. We conclude from the data that these recently faulted basins are symmetrical about the longitudinal axis where rising magma is causing uplift.Three possible mechanisms are suggested for the formation of the troughs. The most likely is that transcurrent faults occurred in the curved parts of the arcs, after which convection cells appeared in...


To maintain availability and responsiveness, mobile applications sharing data often work on their own copy and transmit their local changes to other participants. Existing systems for recording, transmitting and reconciling concurrent changes are usually ad-hoc and specific to particular applications. In contrast, we present Joyce, a general application programming framework for creating highly dynamic mobile, collaborative applications. The framework abstracts application semantics using an action-constraint formal model and provides communication and consistency services based on this model. The framework exposes an interface that allows application programmers to concentrate on core functionality without worrying about these issues. Applications made with the framework can run seamlessly across changing combinations of devices, users and synchrony. We discuss the principles behind the framework, its implementation and evaluate its utility by implementing a complex, shared application.


In this work, optical propagation through turbid media is analyzed by FDTD simulation. In particular, the method is applied to biological tissues. Continuous light propagation in turbid media has been widely studied, but pulsed light propagation has received less interest due to its complexity. Therefore, in this work we focus on pulsed light. FDTD method is applied to several media with optical parameters in the typical range of those observed in biological tissues. We perform an analysis of the variations of pulsed light propagation as a function of the scatterers characteristics (namely size, concentration, and optical contrast). The results are compared with those obtained by the use of the diffusion approximation. The potential of the FDTD method over the diffusion model is given by its high accuracy, its capacity to perform time-resolved simulations, and the fact that it carries all the information about the phase and coherence of the wavefront. The results of this work can be applied to a wide range of areas of interest like the time-resolved study of ultrashort light pulses propagation, the optimization of optical penetration depth, the coherence properties of pulsed light, and the effect of modified wavefronts in light propagation.


Trace atmospheric gases in the biosphere, such as ozone (O3), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs), can affect the carbon cycle as well as the climate. Vertical profiles of nitric oxide (NO), O3, and volatile organic compound (VOC) concentrations were measured at a Japanese larch (Larix kaempferi) forest in the foothills of Mt. Fuji in Japan over an 11-day period in July 2012. The concentrations of NO and O3 during the day were highest above the canopy and decreased with proximity to the forest floor, but those of the VOCs had minimum and maximum points at different levels within the canopy depending on the species. Inverse multilayer models were applied to identify vertical sink and source distribution of these gases within the canopy. The model estimated that there was higher O3 deposition and absorption at the forest floor than in the canopy layer; therefore, the understory was an important O3 sink within the forest. A strong NO sink was simulated in the trunk space, where loss by reaction with O3 is expected. The sinks and sources of BVOC as well as their oxidized products are simulated in the canopy layer and the forest floor. The sink and source distribution suggested that VOC transportation from the neighboring forest also affected the vertical sink and source distribution within the canopy.