OBJECTIVE We examined the role of Rictor/mammalian target of rapamycin complex 2 (mTORC2), a key component of the phosphotidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/mTORC2/AKT signaling pathway, in regulating both β-cell mass and function. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Mice with β-cell–specific deletions of Rictor or Pten were studied to determine the effects of deleting either or both genes on β-cell mass and glucose homeostasis. RESULTS Rictor null mice exhibited mild hyperglycemia and glucose intolerance caused by a reduction in β-cell mass, β-cell proliferation, pancreatic insulin content, and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. Islets from these mice exhibited decreased AKT-S473 phosphorylation and increased abundance of FoxO1 and p27 proteins. Conversely, Pten null (βPtenKO) mice exhibited an increase in β-cell mass caused by increased cellular proliferation and size. Although β-cell mass was normal in mice lacking both Rictor and Pten (βDKO), their β-cells were larger than those in the βPtenKO mice. Even though the β-cell proliferation rate in the βDKO mice was lower than in the βPtenKO mice, there was a 12-fold increase the phosphorylation of AKT-T308. CONCLUSIONS PI3K/AKT signaling through mTORC2/pAKT-S473 plays a key role in maintaining normal β-cell mass. The phosphorylation of AKT-S473, by negatively regulating that of AKT-T308, is essential for maintaining a balance between β-cell proliferation and cell size in response to proliferative stimuli.


In this paper, corporate-feed circularly polarized microstrip array antennas are studied. The antenna element is a series-feed slot-coupled structure. Series feeding causes sequential rotation effect at the element level. Antenna elements are then used to form the subarray by applying sequential rotation to their feeding. Arrays having 4, 16, and 64 elements were made. The maximum achieved gains are 15.3, 21, and 25.4 dBic, respectively. All arrays have less than 15 dB return loss and 3 dB axial ratio from 10 to 13 GHz. The patterns are all quite symmetrical.


The development of new anti-Leishmania compounds and the study of the mode of action of existing drugs has long been hampered by the difficulties of obtaining sufficient numbers of intracellular amastigotes or to culture in the laboratory well-defined parasites representative of intracellular amastigote stages. Most of the early studies have been carried out on promastigotes, of which the metabolism is not necessarily identical to that of amastigotes. Also reseach has been complicated by the fact that amastigotes hide away inside the phagosome of the host cell, the macrophage, which imposes additional diffusion barriers and the possibility of metabolizing or degrading drugs before they reach the target. Only a limited number of drugs is available for the treatment of leishmaniasis and hardly anything is known about their mode of action. The recent completion of the Leishmania major genome sequencing project now provides a more complete insight in the metabolic capacities of this and related parasites. Important differences between Leishmania and trypanosomes have been identified, and these differences could be related to the special adaptations required for the viability of Leishmania inside the macrophage's phagosomal compartment and for its virulence. Differences that exist between parasite and host could be exploited as potential targets for drugs with high selectivity. Despite the fact that glycolysis is not an essential pathway in the intracellular amastigote, its overall functionality is of vital importance, by the fact that many of its enzymes are involved in the reverse process of gluconeogenesis. Also enzymes responsible for mannan synthesis from either hexoses or gluconeogenic substrates are validated drug targets. Glucose transporters and fructose-bisphosphatase, as an exclusive gluconeogenic enzyme, have been validated as drug target. By virtue of the distinctive structural properties exhibited by the enzymes shared by the glycolytic and gluconeogenic pathways and the fact that the majority of them is ensconced inside glycosomes, organelles which require a complete machinery for their biosynthesis and for which the individual peroxin proteins differ considerably from their mammalian counterparts, both glycolytic enzymes and peroxins are interesting drug targets. The methylglyoxal bypass, although not yet validated as a target, certainly deserves further study. Folate transporters have not yet been exploited and three haem biosynthetic enzymes which are all conserved within Leismania and for which there is no obvious function, deserve further investigation. Other interesting drug targets are NADPdependent fumarate reductase, acetate:succinate CoA transferase, dihydroorotate dehydrogenase and arginase. Finally genomic information has provided a possible explanation for the mode of action of the newly introduced anti-leishmanial drug Miltefosine.


MUltiple SIgnal Classification (MUSIC) is well known for direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation techniques due to its super-resolution property. However, it often fails to find DOA in severe environments like low SNR of incident waves form closely-spaced angles. To resolve this problem, we propose a new DOA estimation algorithm by the first-order differential of pseudo-spectrum from the fact that the differential of the spectrum has each local max-min values around the original DOAs. The simulation results show that reliability of the proposed algorithm in detecting DOA is better than that of the previous algorithms.


This paper presents the first embedded health monitoring system able to analyze network/harness health using OMTDR (Orthogonal Multi-tone Time Domain Reflectometry) technology. OMTDR is a suitable candidate for on-line diagnosis as it permits interference avoidance by bandwidth control. Thanks to OMTDR's communication capability, network analysis as well as sensors intelligence can be easily distributed without any impact on network traffic. Complex network can be analyzed and fault location ambiguity can be solved thanks to distributed analysis. This enables to aggregate diagnosis information from several sensors and make a high level decision. Even for a simple network, OMTDR obtains a better fault location accuracy by combining different location data. In this paper, we analyze the benefit of integrating OMTDR into the harness. The demonstrator embeds both real time distributed wire diagnosis and sensor communication in 2 standard aerospace connectors. Thanks to this intelligence and capability added into commercial connectors, we call this innovative proposed solution: SmartCo for Smart-Connector. Hardware, software and demonstrator interface are presented in details.


In this paper the author analyzes basic differences between the two main periods of Croatian modernization. The first is limited to the period between Croatian-Hungarian deal and The First World War (1868-1914), and the second to the period of the socialist system in Croatia (1946-1990). The author shows that the first modernization (bureaucratization) is reduced to the process of developing institutions. In the relation towards environment this period has not produced especially drastic disturbances. On the contrary, in the city planning and landscape cultivation it is oriented by the idea on environment as a natural homeland. The second modernization is based upon industrialism that is a consequence of the necessity to create social situation in which it will be possible for the existing social system to be legitimized as a historically founded and selfunderstandable. The industrial structure that is being established is not, nor it cannot be, a consequence of market rationality but particular coding of industrial sector that this sector defines as another nature, precisely, social super-nature. All main institutions strive to be shaped according to the model of main industrial institution, a factory, and a social totality is being presented as a technical community. This period has been characterized by drastic damages to the environment; but environmental endangering has not broken the framework of local disturbances in large Croatian cities. In the period after 1990 there are tendencies to stabilize blind environmental practice from the former period. The author points to some critical points of delegitimizing these tendencies


Diagnosis is a basic issue of any fault-tolerance policy. Fault localization within the neural architecture is necessary to provide information for hardware reconfiguration in order to achieve system survival (possibly with reduced computational capabilities). In this paper, a concurrent approach and distributed schemes for signature compression are proposed and evaluated.


Summary The time-course of respiratory C14O2 has been followed after intraperitoneal and intravenous dosage of NaHC14O3 into anesthetized and non-anesthetized rats. Nembutal has been shown to affect the turnover of injected bicarbonate through its depression of respiration. The anesthetic did not slow peritoneal absorption. The multiple bicarbonate dosage used did not lead to appreciable labeling in tissue lipids, and the contribution of C14O2 to secondary labeling reactions can under these conditions be ignored. Liver glycogen "fixed" a small but measurable amount of the C14 label.


The Internet has known an impressive success in the three last decades. Nonetheless, due to its size and scope, this large network has become victim of its own success. Innovative approaches are required to overcome the shortfalls of current systems and to design Next Generation Internet. In this context, network virtualization presents a viable solution to deal with the current Internet impasse. It provides a promising way to deploy different network architectures and protocols over a shared physical infrastructure. However, in spite of its multiple advantages, network virtualization adds more complexity on network systems. A promising solution to address this huge complexity consists on developing systems which are capable of managing themselves, called autonomic computing systems or self-* systems. This paper proposes an agent-based autonomic framework which is able to self manage virtual resources. We provide a detail description of the proposed autonomic architecture and we focus on a real testbed implementation and testing of our framework. Experiment results show the ability of our system to self-configure its resources in order to maintain a required QoS level.


In the "Industry 4.0" era, blockchain as well as related distributed ledger technologies has been an unmissable trend for both academy and industry recently. Blockchain technology has become famous as the innovative technology that underlies cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum platform. It also has been spreading with multiple industries exploring their capabilities and new blockchain use cases springing up on a daily basis. Its emergence has brought a great deal of impact on how the information will be stored and processed securely. Furthermore, almost of advocates say that blockchain will disrupt and change everything from education to financial payments, insurance, intellectual property, healthcare,... in the years to come. However, a comprehensive survey on potential and issues of blockchain adoption in academy and industry has not been yet accomplished. This paper tries to conduct a comprehensive survey on the blockchain technology adoption by discussing its influences as well as the opportunities and challenges when utilizing it in the real-world scenarios.


UNLABELLED
Hematotoxicity and its complication are the prominent limiting factors for rational treatment of malignancies. Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) is used to increase granulocyte production. It has been shown previously that enterosorption causes prominent myeloprotective activity also. Still, no trial was performed to combine both of them.

AIM
To study the influence of combination of enterosorption and pharmaceutical analogue of naturally occurring G-CSF (filgrastim) on bone marrow protection and the growth of grafted tumor in a case of injection of melphalan (Mel).

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Mel injections were used for promotion of bone marrow suppression in rats. Carbon granulated enterosorbent C2 (IEPOR) was used for providing of enteral sorption detoxifying therapy. Filgrastim was used to increase white blood cells (WBC) count.

RESULTS
The simultaneous usage of enterosorption and filgrastim had maximum effectiveness for restoring of all types of blood cells. WBC count was higher by 138.3% compared with the Mel group. The increase of platelets count by 98.5% was also observed. In the group (Mel + C2 + filgrastim) the absolute neutrophils count was twofold higher, in comparison with rats of Mel group.

CONCLUSION
Simultaneous administration of G-CSF-analogue and carbonic enterosorbent C2 is a perspective approach for bone marrow protection, when the cytostatic drug melphalan is used. Such combination demonstrates prominent positive impact on restoring of all types of blood cells and had no influence on the antitumor efficacy.


The purpose of this experimental study was to assess the effects of cognitive style, problem complexity, and hypothesis generation on the problem solving ability of school-based agricultural education students. Problem solving ability was defined as time to solution. Kirton's AdaptionInnovation Inventory was employed to assess students' cognitive style as either more adaptive or more innovative. Students were assigned randomly, by cognitive style, to solve either a simple or complex problem in small gasoline engines. A three-way independent analysis of variance revealed that a statistically significant interaction effect between the independent variables did not exist. Additionally, the two-way interactions between cognitive style and problem complexity, and cognitive style and hypothesis generation were not statistically significant. A statistically significant interaction effect did exist, however, between problem complexity and hypothesis generation. A simple main effects test revealed the students who hypothesized their problem correctly were the most efficient at solving the problem. Future research should require students who generate an initial incorrect hypothesis to re-hypothesize prior to attempting to solve the problem. Educators should encourage students to engage in metacognitive activities, such as hypothesizing, prior to engaging in problem solving activities.


One important question facing shareholder-employees of small, closely-held C corporations is how to pay themselves for working in and/or running their corporations. Traditionally, C corporation shareholder-employees have been advised to pay themselves compensation instead of dividends, because compensation is generally deductible by the corporation, whereas dividends are not. The payment of compensation has been viewed as one way to mitigate the double taxation of C corporation net income. The combined amount of individual and corporate income taxes and employment taxes if the payment is in the form of compensation was typically smaller than if the payment were made in the form of qualified dividends. Thus, there has been a tendency for corporations to pay compensation rather than dividends to shareholder-employees.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) has changed all that beginning in 2018. The reduction in the marginal tax rate for C corporations to 21 percent (down from 35 percent), the reduction in individual tax rates, and the retention of special low tax rates on qualified dividends substantially reduce the combined amount of taxes on qualified dividends relative to that on the same amount of compensation. We found that the combined amount of taxes on qualified dividends is less than that on compensation in many instances, especially when the amount of the payment to the shareholder-employee is $150,000 or less. This finding is significant because most small business owners take a yearly salary of less than $100,000.


The atom fidelity is investigated in a system consisting of Mtwo-level atoms and M single-mode fields by use of complete quantum theory and numerical evaluation method. The influences of various system parameters on the evolution of atomic fidelity are studied. The results show that the atomic fidelity evolves in a Rabi oscillation manner. The oscillation frequency is mainly modulated by the coupling strength between atoms and light field, the atomic transition probabilities and the average photon numbers. Other factors hardly impact on the atomic fidelity. The present results may provide a useful approach to the maintenance of the atomic fidelity in the atom cavity field systems.


Blooming, the lateral spreading of charge from an intensely illuminated area of an image sensor, can be present in an especially objectionable form in charge-coupled devices. Bright lines are formed in the display, owing to a charge propagation along the transfer channels. The introduction of overflow drains, i.e., stripes of a reverse-biased p-n junction placed between the transfer channels, provides a well-defined leakage path for excess carriers from saturated potential wells. An implanted threshold barrier between these drains and the integrating potential wells determines the saturation potential of the integration sites and prevents the total collapse of the associated depletion region. Therefore, the lateral diffusion of minority carriers is also greatly reduced. An existing design of a charge-coupled area image sensor with 64 × 106 resolution elements and frame transfer organization has been modified to study these methods of blooming suppression. The lateral distance of charge spreading has been reduced by a factor of seven at overload conditions of 20 dB. For stronger overloads the booming suppression becomes even more striking, but the performance of the device iS limited by frame transfer smearing. Furthermore, lens flare limits most optical systems at overloads above 30 dB. However, by using an optical fiber, well-localized overloads of 50 dB could be generated. Although, in our particular test device, the addition of blooming suppression reduced the light sensitivity by a factor of four, other geometries for overflow drain structures that should result in only a negligible loss in sensitivity are discussed.


This study aimed to calibrate existing models and develop a new model for estimating global solar radiation data using commonly and available measured meteorological records such as precipitation or temperature. Fifteen empirical global radiation models based on meteorological variables were generated and validated using daily data in 2003-2008 at the Aranjuez station (Community of Madrid, Spain). Validation criteria included coefficient of determination, root mean square error, mean bias error, mean absolute bias error, mean percentage error, and mean absolute percentage error. The best result was derived from the model proposed, which uses extraterrestrial solar radiation, saturation vapor pressures, transformed rainfall data and daily minimum relative humidity as predictors. The new multiple regression relation giving accurate estimates of daily global solar radiation was suggested. It has a high coefficient of determination R2 = 0.92. The results showed that the suggested model can estimate the global solar radiation acceptable values of RMSE, MBE and MABE (2.378, 0.09767, 1.744 MJ m-2 day-1, respectively); and MPE and MAPE (-6.478%, 19.30%). Temperature based models provided less accurate results, of which the best one is the Bristow and Campbell model (R2 = 0.892). The Hargreaves and Samani model is simple and are recommended to estimate the daily global radiation when only temperature data are available and when the coefficients cannot be determined. Based on overall results it was concluded that the meteorological based method provides reasonably accurate estimates of global solar radiation, for the site where coefficients of the model were developed.


Glycan-to-glycan binding was shown by biochemical and biophysical measurements to mediate xenogeneic self-recognition and adhesion in sponges, stage-specific cell compaction in mice embryos, and in vitro tumor cell adhesion in mammals. This intermolecular recognition process is accepted as the new paradigm accompanying high-affinity and low valent protein-to-protein and protein-to-glycan binding in cellular interactions. Glycan structures in sponges have novel species-specific sequences. Their common features are the large size >100 kD, polyvalency >100 repeats of the specific self-binding oligosaccharide, the presence of fucose, and sulfated and/or pyruvylated hexoses. These structural and functional properties, different from glycosaminoglycans, inspired their classification under the glyconectin name. The molecular mechanism underlying homophilic glyconectin-to-glyconectin binding relies on highly polyvalent, strong, and structure-specific interactions of small oligosaccharide motifs, possessing ultra-weak self-binding strength and affinity. Glyconectin localization at the glycocalyx outermost cell surface layer suggests their role in the initial recognition and adhesion event during the complex and multistep process. In mammals, Lex-to-Lex homophilic binding is structure-specific and has ultra-weak affinity. Cell adhesion is achieved through highly polyvalent interactions, enabled by clustering of small low valent structure in plasma membranes.


Since 1979, we have treated patients suffering from bilateral vocal cord paralysis with laterofixation of one vocal cord, a simple and comparatively atraumatic method. To evaluate the long‐term results of this method of laterofixation, 11 consecutive patients were examined at least 5 years postoperatively regarding breathing capacity, voice function, and swallowing ability. Breathing capacity was assessed by determination of orolaryngeal (upper) airway resistance and spirometry. Voice function was judged by two listening panels. Swallowing ability was studied by barium contrast radiography. Postoperative improvement of breathing capacity was, in most cases, found to be long lasting. Furthermore, there was no deterioration of voice function, nor were there aspiration problems during the postoperative follow‐up period. We suggest this method of laterofixation as the treatment of choice in patients suffering from breathing difficulties due to bilateral vocal cord paralysis.


In the modern day's Oral and Maxillofacial surgical practice different esthetic and surgical procedures are carried out, with increased risk of infective complications. Hence, infection control practices need to be established to minimize the risk of exogenous infections and for the successful outcome of the procedures. These practices include hand washing, cleaning, sterilization, disinfection, operation theater sterilization and specifications. Proper hand washing after examination of each patient and prior to any surgery with a formulation containing alcohol alone or as a combination with other agents reduces the chances of transferring infections to and from patients. Sterilization and disinfection constitute the most important aspect of infection control. Proper knowledge of the operation theater decorum and disinfection of Operation theater is essential. The waste generated during practice is a potential source of nosocomial infections and should be treated as per the proper protocol and guidelines. This article reviews the minimum standards and practices that need to be established and followed during surgical procedures and to understand the basic protocols in Operation theater and learn the clinical application of these protocols for reduction of the postoperative complications. Surgeries conducted with adequate protocols and checklists have resulted in reduction of postoperative events and complications.


In this paper we take an empirical asset pricing perspective and investigate the dominant view (possibly, an instinctive reflection of the media hype surrounding the surge of Bitcoin valuations) that cryptocurrencies represent a new asset class, spanning risks and payoffs sufficiently different from the traditional ones. Methodologically, we rely on a flexible dynamic econometric model that allows not only time-varying coefficients, but also allow that the entire forecasting model be changing over time. We estimate such model by looking at the time variation in the exposures of major cryptocurrencies to stock market risk factors (namely, the six Fama French factors), to precious metal commodity returns, and to cryptocurrency-specific risk-factors (namely, crypto-momentum, a sentiment index based on Google searches, and supply factors, i.e., electricity and computer power). The main empirical results suggest that cryptocurrencies are not systematically exposed to stock market factors, precious metal commodities or supply factors with the exception of some occasional spikes of the coecients during our sample. On the contrary, crypto assets are characterized by a time-varying but significant exposure to a sentiment index and to crypto-momentum. Despite the lack of predictability compared to traditional asset classes, cryptocurrencies display considerable diversification power in a portfolio perspective and as such they can lead to a moderate improvement in the realized Sharpe ratios and certainty equivalent returns within the context of a typical portfolio problem.


In this paper we propose and analyse a new unbiased stochastic method for solving a class of integral equations, namely the second kind Fredholm integral equations. We study and compare three possible approaches to compute linear functionals of the integral under consideration: i) biased Monte Carlo method based on evaluation of truncated Liouville-Neumann series, ii) transformation of this problem into the problem of computing a finite number of integrals, and iii) unbiased stochastic approach. Five Monte Carlo algorithms for numerical integration have been applied for approach (ii). Error balancing of both stochastic and systematic errors has been discussed and applied during the numerical implementation of the biased algorithms. Extensive numerical experiments have been performed to support the theoretical studies regarding the convergence rate of Monte Carlo methods for numerical integration done in our previous studies. We compare the results obtained by some of the best biased stochastic approaches with the results obtained by the proposed unbiased approach. Conclusions about the applicability and efficiency of the algorithms have been drawn.


Poly(diiododiacetylene) (PIDA) is a conjugated polymer containing an all-carbon backbone and only iodine atom substituents. Adding a Lewis base to the blue PIDA suspension at room temperature leads first to rapid disappearance of the absorption peaks attributed to PIDA, followed more slowly by release of free iodine. The resulting solid material gives a Raman scattering spectrum consistent with graphitic carbon, and it has a much higher conductivity than PIDA itself. Further investigation has led to the discovery of a previously unreported transformation, the reaction of a Lewis base such as pyrrolidine with a trans-diiodoalkene to form the corresponding alkyne. The generality of this iodine elimination further suggests that reaction of PIDA with Lewis bases dehalogenates the polymer, presenting a new method to prepare carbon nanomaterials at room temperature under very mild conditions.


Good morning. My name is Tim Heidmann and I'd like to welcome you all to this panel, which is entitled Future Directions in Desktop Video, and I'd especially like to thank all you people who stayed up a little late on Thursday night to come to this panel. It's really good to see you all out there. I've gotten word that this panel is being transcribed. They're putting together a booklet, so they're taking the slides and the stills from the videos and all the things that we're saying. So I'd just like to take this opportunity to say hi to the person who's transcribing this and sorry you couldn't be here today, and I wanted to let you know that the word of the day is Neopraseodymium, and I hope you've got your scientific dictionary close by. When we first started putting this panel together, I talked to my friends who were involved in a number of different areas in video, and the question that came to the forefront very quickly is what exactly desktop video is. There's been a lot of talk about it, a lot of magazine articles. It's a good buzz word. But we all felt it incorporated a whole bunch of different areas that weren't easily put into one category. We did agree that the name of desktop video came from the field of desktop publishing. In desktop publishing, which has been a rapidly growing field in the past few years, the whole point is that we've got a computer bringing together elements from the outside world, creating elements inside the computer, putting them all together and coming up with a final product. The point is it's all done inside the computer. Again, it does the things that computers do really well -- like text editing and graphics design and layout. And it was made possible by the fact that these high quality printers -- laser printers -- had come out that you could produce a very high quality output from it. Well, on the video side, there is a similar development. That is, it's possible now to make video animation completely within the computer. There are software packages for modeling objects, for creating animation, for rendering very high quality images and outputting them directly to tape. And I guess you could call that desktop video. You're doing the same thing as you're doing in desktop publishing, but now you're producing videotape and animation. But really what's happening in video is a lot bigger than that. I've kind of come up with this map. If you look at the entire video process, you can split it into four parts. The first being creating the elements, which I've called Source here. Now that would include such applications as computer graphics, generated completely inside the computer, but also things like pointing a camera at someone or something, things like medical imaging. Basically the creation of the images. The second step would be assembling those images and probably some audio into a master video production. Just about everything you do in video involves some sort editing to it, even if it's just putting a title on the beginning. The third area is the distribution. How do these images get out to the outside world? A lot of times it's just making lots of VHS copies and mailing them to your friends. And the final part is how do you look at this videotape? How do you use video in your application? What we're going to talk about today, when we talk about desktop video, is actually all these areas. The speakers today have a number of different backgrounds. We'll be addressing this in a number of different ways. Basically the reason we're doing this panel today and why it's important now is because there are a lot of developments that are bringing video into the reach of more application areas. People are interested in what can be done with video, want to know what's happening and what the developments are. Specifically the things that we're seeing are the appearance of higher quality consumer formats. That is, videotape recorders, players, that are available at consumer affordable prices, but give you enough quality to let you duplicate and edit a little better than VHS or just plain 8 millimeter. Computer graphics hardware and software is becoming less expensive and more accessible. The fact that you can buy editing equipment for these new consumer formats and do a really good job of putting together a final videotape without going to a postproduction house. New distribution methods and integrated video applications like DVI, which allow much broader use of video. So there's more incentive to produce these things. These are the areas we're going to be talking about today, and just keep in mind this map, and I think if we can reference the different things we'll be talking about to this map, maybe it will all make sense. I'd like to introduce the first speaker today who is Michael MacKay, currently of the Sony Advanced Video Technology Center, formerly of Diaquest; before that with Atari Research. Michael brings a strong background in computer graphics, in video production, interactive video applications, and without further adieu, Michael.


An inherent characteristic of the many imaging modalities such as fluorescence microscopy and other microscopic modalities is the presence of intrinsic Poisson noise that may lead to degradation of the captured image during its formation. A nonlinear complex diffusion-based filter adapted to Poisson noise is proposed in this paper to restore and enhance the degraded microscopic images captured by imaging devices having photon limited light detectors. The proposed filter is based on a maximum a posterior approach to the image reconstruction problem. The formulation of the filtering problem as maximisation of a posterior is useful because it allows one to incorporate the Poisson likelihood term as a data attachment which can be added to an image prior model. Here, the Gibb's image prior model-based on energy functional defined in terms of gradient norm of the image is used. The performance of the proposed scheme has been compared with other standard techniques available in literature such as Wiener filter, regularised filter, Lucy-Richardson filter and another proposed nonlinear anisotropic diffusion-based filter in terms of mean square error, peak signal-to-noise ratio, correlation parameter and mean structure similarity index map.The results shows that the proposed complex diffusion-based filter adapted to Poisson noise performs better in comparison to other filters and is better choice for reduction of intrinsic Poisson noise from the digital microscopic images and it is also well capable of preserving edges and radiometric information such as luminance and contrast of the restored image. Defence Science Journal, 2011, 61(5), pp.452-461 , DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.61.1181


This paper develops a new approach for learning a STRIPS-like model of a non-stationary blackbox autonomous agent that can plan and act. In this approach, the user may ask an autonomous agent a series of questions, which the agent answers truthfully. Our main contribution is an algorithm that generates an interrogation policy in the form of a contingent sequence of questions to be posed to the agent. Answers to these questions are used to learn a minimal, functionally indistinguishable class of agent models. This approach requires a minimal query-answering capability from the agent. Empirical evaluation of our approach shows that despite the intractable space of possible models, our approach can learn interpretable agent models for a class of black-box autonomous agents in a scalable manner.


Writing has been a troublesome skill for Iranian EFL learners as it needs accurate planning and acceptable coherence. The current study aimed as investigating the comparative effect of visual and auditory input enhancement on the use of cohesive devices in the writing of Iranian EFL learners. Participants of the study were 60 field dependent and 60 field independent language learners at intermediate level of language proficiency. The study adopted a pretest posttest design and data were analyzed through employing statistical test of ANCOVA. Results of statistical analysis showed that visual input enhancement was significantly more effective than auditory input enhancement in terms of their effects on the use of cohesive devices in both field dependent and field independent language learners. Results were discussed and implications of study were also presented.


Abstract Given the benefits and effectiveness of consumer online brand engagement, influencer advertising and marketing have become increasingly popular on social media. Consumer online brand engagement, including consuming, contributing, and creating brand-related content, is closely related to a brand's reputation and image. This study determines how the two aspects related to influencer endorsement—namely, influencer–follower parasocial interaction (PSI) and influencer–brand congruence (congruence)—affect the three levels of consumer online brand-related activities (COBRAs) on Sina Weibo. We also examined the mediation effect of consumers' personal identification (PI) and social identification (SI) with brands in this process. The data were collected from 390 Weibo users in China, and valid data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results show that PSI and congruence have a direct positive effect on consuming brand-related content; PSI has an indirect influence on contributing brand-related content through SI's mediation effect; and both PSI and congruence contributed to creating brand-related content, with the mediating effect of PI and SI. This study extends the literature on the motivation of consumer–brand engagement (engagement) on social media and discusses the roles of PI and SI in influencer marketing, filling a gap in the research and bringing new perspectives for brands and corporates.


A multi-notch ultra-wideband (UWB) planar antenna designed as a circular metallic patch fed by a coplanar waveguide (CPW) is of high interest. The antenna provides a stable radiation pattern and impedance bandwidth of the wideband response in the frequency range 2.5 - 12 GHz. To achieve the band-notched characteristics of the planar UWB antenna, the multi-mode electric ring resonator (ERR) is used. The ERR is placed beneath the CPW structure of the antenna. Each of the notched frequency band is tuned by proper changing the dimensions of the ERR structure. The UWB antenna exhibits multi-notch characteristics in the 2.5–12 GHz frequency band at 3.5, 5.8, and 7.5 GHz. Reconfigurability of the notched band is provided by using variable capacitors instead of ERR quasi-lumped capacitances. As an alternative approach a circular metallic patch antenna fed by a microstrip transmission line may be used. In this case, the notch is provided by a complementary inductance-capacitance (C-ELC) resonator in the ground plane of the microstrip line. The notch frequency depends on the dimensions of the C-ELC resonator.


Popularity of social networks is growing rapidly and secure publishing is an important implementation tool for these networks. At the same time, recent implementations of access control policies (ACPs) for sharing fragments of XML documents have moved from distributing to users numerous sanitized sub-documents to disseminating a single document multi-encrypted with multiple cryptographic keys, in such a way that the stated ACPs are enforced. Any application that uses this implementation of ACPs will incur a high cost of generating keys separately for each document. However, most such applications, such as secure publishing, use similar documents, i.e. documents based on a selected schema. This paper describes RBAC defined at the schema level, (SRBAC), and generation of the minimum number of keys at the schema level. The main advantage of our approach is that for any application that uses a fixed number of schemas, keys can be generated (or even pre-generated) only once, and then reused in all documents valid for the given schema. While in general, key generation at the schema level has to be pessimistic, our approach tries to minimize the number of generated keys. Incoming XML documents are efficiently encrypted using single-pass SAX parsing in such a way that the original structure of these documents is completely hidden. We also describe distributing to each user only keys needed for decrypting accessible nodes, and for applying the minimal number of encryption operations to an XML document required to satisfy the protection requirements of the policy. Table of


A semi-infinite crack grows at a constant subcritical speed along the interface of rigidly bonded, dissimilar transversely isotropic, coupled thermoelastic half-spaces. Shear and normal loads that move on the crack faces drive the process. A dynamic steady state of plane strain is considered. Robust asymptotic full-field solutions for the related problem of translating interface disturbances are first obtained. These lead to coupled singular integral equations for the crack problem that are solved analytically. Expressions for the crack opening components and discontinuity in temperature between crack faces, the traction and temperature change ahead of the crack, and debonding energy rate are presented. These show that the critical crack speed is the minimum of the two Rayleigh speeds and, if it exists, the Stoneley speed. The case of zinc bonded to a thermally inert rigid solid is examined, and calculations for interface temperature change and debonding energy rate given. Apart from any fracture criterion, these parameters show sensitivity to crack speed and to the extent which compressive crack face loading dominates shear loading. Indeed, interface temperature change may decrease in magnitude with crack speed when shear loading dominates.


This study examines the relationships between the decisions to outsource the company's recruiting and training activities and the effectiveness of these decisions. This study also argues that the decisions in outsourcing human resource management activities should align with the company's strategy. Collecting data with time lag from multiple respondents in 125 representative Taiwanese firms, we find that outsourcing recruiting is positively related to line managers' perceived human resource function effectiveness. However, we fail to find any relationship between outsourcing training and human resource effectiveness. The prospector strategy is also found to positively moderate the relationship between outsourcing recruiting and human resource effectiveness. However, the prospector strategy does not significantly moderate the relationship between outsourcing training and human resource effectiveness. Possible reasons for our findings are discussed.


Background Vasculitis as a complication of lymphoproliferative diseases is relatively uncommon. Some cases of primary central nervous system vasculitis (PCNSV) have been described in association with lymphoma, particularly Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL). Objectives The aim of this study is to report the presenting clinical, laboratory, and imaging features of patients with PCNSV associated with lymphoma and compare them with the characteristics of patients with PCNSV without lymphoma. Methods We reviewed all patients diagnosed with vasculitis and lymphoma seen at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN over the 32 year period of 1982–2014. 10 patients had PCNSV in association with lymphoma. We also used our updated cohort of 158 consecutive patients with PCNSV without lymphoma who were examined at Mayo Clinic over a 29-year period from 1983 to 2011. The diagnosis of PCNSV was based on brain/spinal cord biopsy or cerebral angiography, or both. Clinical data were collected. Results 10/168 (5.9%) patients had PCNSV associated with lymphoma: 6 with HL and 4 with non-HL. PCNSV diagnosis was established by cerebral biopsy in 8 patients, and by cerebral arteriogram in 2. Two patients had spinal cord involvement. A granulomatous inflammatory histologic pattern was found in all 8 patients, accompanied by vascular deposits of β-amyloid peptide in 2. In 7 patients (5HL and 2NHL) neurologic symptoms preceded lymphoma diagnosis and subsequent medical workup revealed lymphoma.The 10 patients with lymphoma were compared with the 158 patients with PCNSV without lymphoma. The patients with lymphoma were more frequently males (80% vs 44%, p=0.04). No significant differences in the clinical manifestations at presentation and CSF findings were observed in the two groups, although cognitive dysfunction was more frequent in patients with lymphoma (80% vs 53%), while visual field deficit and intracranial hemorrhage less frequent (0% vs 19%, and 0% vs 10%, respectively). Systemic manifestations were infrequent in both groups (10% vs 9.5%). More patients with lymphoma showed meningeal gadolinium enhancing lesions at MRI (50% vs 19%, p=0.03). The frequencies of PCNSV relapse (20% vs 28.4%) and patients not requiring therapy at last follow-up (30% vs 25.5%) were similar in both groups. Patients with lymphoma had a higher frequency of poor outcome (modified Rankin disability score ≥4) at last followup (60% vs 21.5%, p=0.01). Considering all 168 patients, univariate Cox proportional hazards modeling showed an increased mortality rate in those with increasing age [hazard ratio (HR) 1.3], lymphoma (HR 3.9), cerebral infarction on MRI (HR 3.4), and angiographic large vessel involvement (HR 3.9), while mortality rate was lower in those with gadolinium–enhanced lesions on MRI (HR 0.3). Conclusions PCNSV is associated with a diagnosis of lymphoma in 5.9% of PCNSV cases. Neurological manifestations of PCNSV may precede the diagnosis of lymphoma. Clinical characteristics of those with lymphoma were similar to those without lymphoma, however they had a more severe cerebral vasculitis with increased neurological disability and mortality. Disclosure of Interest None declared


The main purpose of this article is to understand how Bulgarian economists interpreted the Great Depression, by reviewing the theoretical models they used and the solutions they advocated. In particular, this means: (i) clarifying what made them gradually realise the structural characteristics of the crisis and (ii) identifying the main channels and the main theories underlying the analysis of crises and depressions. The paper comprises six sections. The first section offers a brief survey of the Bulgarian economy and political developments prior to the Depression. Section two presents Bulgarian economic thought on the eve of the Depression according to five intellectual currents. Section three identifies and discusses the two main models of interpretation of the Great Depression—a cyclical and a structural model. The next two sections explain the evolution of economic thinking following the main phases of the crisis (deflation/agrarian crisis and monetary/banking crisis). Section six focuses on Marxist interpretations of the crisis. The last section offers a few concluding observations.


Interaction-enhanced carrier masses are central to the phenomenology of iron-based superconductors. Quantum oscillation measurements in the new unconventional superconductor YFe_{2}Ge_{2} resolve all four Fermi surface pockets expected from band structure calculations, which predict an electron pocket in the Brillouin zone corner and three hole pockets enveloping the centers of the top and bottom of the Brillouin zone. Carrier masses reach up to 20 times the bare electron mass and are among the highest ever observed in any iron-based material, accounting for the enhanced heat capacity Sommerfeld coefficient ≃100  mJ/mol K^{2}. Mass renormalization is uniform across reciprocal space, suggesting predominantly local correlations, as in the Hund's metal scenario.


SUMMARY: Regulation of the cross-pathway type was found in Aspergillus nidulans. Ornithine carbamoyltransferase, a biosynthetic enzyme of the arginine pathway, is derepressed as a result of deprivation not only of arginine but also of histidine, proline and tryptophan. Cross-pathway regulation operates in the mutant suD19 in which the ornithine carbamoyl-transferase level is insensitive to arginine. The spectrum of the amino acids involved in this type of regulation seems to be different from those described for other fungi.


Background: Hyperglycemia-associated inflammation contributes to adverse remodeling and fibrosis in diabetic heart. MyD88 is an adapter protein of many Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and is recruited to TLRs to initiate inflammatory signalling pathway in endotoxin-activated innate immunity. However, the role of MyD88 in diabetic cardiomyopathy is unknown. Methods: For genetic deficiency, cardiomyocyte-specific MyD88 knockout and littermate control mice were induced type 1 diabetes (T1D) by intraperitoneal injection of 50 mg/kg/day streptozotocin for five days consecutive and then fed for 4 moths. For pharmacological inhibition, MyD88 inhibitor LM8 were administered daily for 8 weeks by oral gavage in T1D and T2D (db/db) mice. The effect of genetic and pharmacological inhibition MyD88 to myocardial injure which were induced by 33 mM glucose in vivo.Results: In this study, we first found that MyD88 expression was increased in cardiomyocytes of diabetic mouse hearts. Cardiomyocyte-specific MyD88 knockout protected mice against hyperglycemia-induced cardiac inflammation, injury, hypertrophy, and fibrosis in T1D model. In cultured cardiomyocytes, MyD88 inhibition either by siRNA or by small-molecular inhibitor LM8 markedly blocked TLR4-MyD88 complex formation, reduced pro-inflammatory MAPKs/NF-κB cascade activation and decreased pro-inflammatory cytokine expression under high glucose condition. Moreover, pharmacologic inhibition of MyD88 by LM8 showed significantly anti-inflammatory, anti-hypertrophic and anti-fibrotic effects in the hearts of both T1D and T2D mice. These beneficial effects of MyD88 inhibition were correlated to the reduced activation of TLR4-MyD88-MAPKs/NF-κB signaling pathways in the hearts.Conclusion: Taken together, MyD88 in cardiomyocytes mediates diabetes-induced cardiac inflammatory injuries and genetic or pharmacologic inhibition of MyD88 shows significantly cardioprotective effects, indicating MyD88 as a potential therapeutic target for diabetic cardiomyopathy.


BACKGROUND
Growing evidence from animal studies suggests an interaction between antioxidants and apolipoprotein E (APOE) alleles on cognitive functioning. We used data from a 7-year cohort study of high-functioning older persons to explore whether the associations between serum beta-carotene level and subsequent decline of cognitive function differed by APOE 4 genotype.

METHODS
Baseline information on sociodemographic characteristics, serum beta-carotene level, inflammation markers, APOE genotype, and cognitive functioning measured by a 9-item Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire (SPMSQ) was obtained in 455 survivors. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to examine the relation between high serum beta-carotene level and risk of SPMSQ score decline in participants with or without APOE 4 alleles, while adjusting for age, sex, race, baseline SPMSQ score, and other covariates.

RESULTS
Nine (2%) study participants had homozygous and 97 (21%) had heterozygous APOE 4 alleles. Two hundred forty-nine (55%) had decline of SPMSQ scores during the follow-up. The presence of an APOE 4 allele was associated with higher risk and larger magnitude of SPMSQ score decline. The adjusted odds ratio of high beta-carotene level for cognitive decline was 0.11 (95% confidence interval, 0.02-0.57) in participants with at least one APOE 4 allele and 0.89 (95% confidence interval, 0.54-1.47) among those who were APOE 4 negative.

CONCLUSION
Among high-functioning older persons, antioxidants and beta-carotene in particular may offer protection from cognitive decline in persons with greater genetic susceptibility as evidenced by the presence of the APOE 4 allele.


Most preventable deaths after trauma are related to hemorrhage and occur early after injury. Timely hemostatic treatment is essential to minimize blood loss and improve survival. Among the various treatment methods, the most economical and effective is to use a hemostatic agent. A powdered hemostatic agent can be used for wounds of any shape or depth with high compactness and excellent accumulation effect. Herein, we chose the natural, hydrophilic polymer poly(γ-glutamic acid) (γ-PGA) to form composite hemostatic microspheres with sodium alginate (SA), which show good biocompatibility, water absorptivity, and viscosity. The morphology and structure of the hemostatic microspheres were determined using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The overall safety, hemolysis, pyrogenic, and intradermal irritation tests were examined. The relationship between hemostatic pressure and hemostatic time during microsphere use was also measured. The hemostatic effect was analyzed with a liver, spleen, and femoral artery bleeding model. The composite microspheres were well tolerated in vivo and exhibited better hemostatic effects in animal experiments than a microporous polysaccharide powder compound. Research results showed that SA/γ-PGA microspheres are materials with good hemostatic effect, high safety, and great potential in clinical applications.


Background: Globally the proportion of medical doctors to population in rural areas in low- and middle-income countries remains insufficient to address their health care needs. Therefore, it is imperative to design strategies that attract medical doctors to rural areas to reduce health inequalities and achieve universal health coverage. Methods: This study assessed preferences of medical students for rural internships using a discrete choice experiment. Attributes of rural job were identified through literature and focus group discussions. A D-efficient design was generated with 15 choice sets, each with forced binary, unlabelled, rural hospital alternatives. An online survey was conducted, and data analysed using mixed logit models of main effects only and main effects plus interaction terms. Results: Majority of the respondents were females (130/66.33%) and had urban origin (176/89.80%). The main effects only model showed advanced practical experience, hospital safety, correctly fitting personal protective equipment, and availability of basic resources as the most important attributes influencing take up of rural internship, respectively. Respondents were willing to pay ZAR 2645.92 monthly (95%CI: 1345.90; 3945.94) to gain advanced practical experience (equivalent to 66.15% of current rural allowance). In contrast, increases in rural allowance and the provision of housing were the least important attributes. Based on the interaction model, female respondents and those intending general practise associated higher weight for hospital safety over advanced practical experience. Conclusion: In the context of limited budgets and resource constraints, policy makers and rural health facility managers are advised to prioritise meaningful internship practise environments that offer supervised learning environment, safety from physical and occupational hazards and the provision of basic resources for healthcare system-wide benefits to both staff and rural health facility users alike.


A detailed study of the benthic foraminiferal assemblages at the Bajocian Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP—
Murtinheira section, Lusitanian Basin, western Portugal)
presented herein increases the correlation potential of this relevant global geological time reference. The recorded assemblages are relatively abundant and diverse, and are composed of wellpreserved taxa typical of the Boreal Realm. The most abundant suborders are Lagenina and Spirillinina. Representatives of the Suborder Textulariina are also abundant in some assemblages, while those of the suborders Robertinina and Rotaliina are scarce. Lenticulina specimens are the most abundant in all assemblages, but at the specific level, there are differences between Aalenian and Bajocian assemblages, with Lenticulina muensteri being most abundant in the former and Spirillina orbicula in the latter. Two biozones, based on calcareous foraminifers, have been established and calibrated to the standard ammonite zonation: 1) the Lenticulina quenstedti Zone, ranging from the upper part of the Gigantea Subzone, Bradfordensis Biozone, upper Aalenian, to the lower part of the Discites Biozone, lower Bajocian, and 2) the Ramulina spandeli Zone, beginning at the top of the preceeding zone and having an undefined upper boundary. In addition, 11 bioevents are defined on first occurrences, last occurrences, changes in abundances of some taxa, or changes in assemblage diversity. After a severe impoverishment at the Aalenian–Bajocian transition, an important foraminiferal turnover takes
place in the early Bajocian, where some Lower Jurassic and
Aalenian forms are replaced by typical Middle Jurassic taxa


This thesis examines the medical culture of the Greek world between 1700 and the period leading to the eve of the Greek rising of 1821. It is a study of medical pluralism as it surveys the variety of healers and forms of healing. It identifies healing customs, and assesses traditional healing practices alongside academic medicine and religious healing traditions and ideas. It explores and contrasts the influences of different modes of civic administration and Orthodox religion on the local therapeutic landscape and evaluates the impact of Western Europe on the practice and evolution of medicine in Greek society. Central to the themes of this investigation are the intellectual and practical interrelationships between the three sources of healing, academic medical ideas, religious and traditional healing. The thesis is based on analysis of archival material from the Academy of Athens, the Gennadius Library, the National Library of Greece, the Centre for Neohellenic Research, the Historical and Palaeographic Archive of the Cultural Foundation of the National Bank of Greece, the Ethnological Society of Greece, the Historical archives of Corfu, the Corfu Reading Society, the British Library, and the Wellcome Library. Broadly speaking, existing studies of the history of Greek medicine for the early modern and Enlightenment periods are relatively rare and treat the subject in contrasting ways. Most authors engage with the topic from the focus of a history of academic medicine. On other occasions, the subject forms a small part of a history of the exact sciences, or of religion or its material is used in modern anthropological studies. In the context of this investigation, the views of ordinary people are considered alongside the learned community to offer a wide-ranging view of medical ideas and practices in Greek society for the period leading to the formation of the modern Greek state.


Here we introduce the class of neural controllers called Integrable Basis Function Neural Controllers (IBFNCs) consisting of a fixed neural network architecture employing a fixed integrable basis function in the nodes of the single hidden layer. Our main result shows the existence of arbitrarilx precise IBFNC approximations of a class of robustly stabilizing controllers for a certain large and important class of nonlinear, uncertain plants. It should be emphasized that a fixed IBFNC architecture (defined by the width and the centers of the basis function) is used to obtain a controller for any plant belonging to the given class, with the same error bound. The only parameters that need to be recomputed for the new plant are the weights from the hidden nodes to the output, but this computational problem is linear. These results show that IBFNCs are powerful and efficient for robust control. being linearly reconfigurable neural controllers that are universal for the class of plants under consideration. An interesting practical implication bearing on the problem of parameter determination of the IBFNCs is the following. Concerning the usual practice of splitting the parameter determination problem into a nonlinear part of determining the width and the centers and the linear part of estimating the output weights. the results obtained here show that the computationally expensive. nonlinear part needs to be solved only once for a given class of equicontinuous controllers. The remaining part arising due to a change in the controller is computationally easy, being linear.


Kinetic parameters for the reduction of copper(II) complexes in atom transfer radical addition (ATRA) in the presence of free-radical diazo initiator (AIBN) were determined using both experimental and kinetic modeling techniques. The rate constant of decomposition of AIBN (k(dc)) in various solvents was determined at 60 degrees C using UV-vis spectroscopy. Rate constants of deactivation (k(d,AIBN)) of [Cu(II)(TPMA)Cl][Cl] (TPMA = tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine), [Cu(II)(Me(6)TREN)Cl][Cl] (Me(6)TREN = tris[2-(N,N-dimethylamino)ethyl]amine), [Cu(II)(PMDETA)Cl(2)] (PMDETA = N,N,N',N'',N''-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine), and [Cu(II)(bpy)(2)Cl][Cl] (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine) complexes by radicals generated from the decomposition of AIBN were measured using the TEMPO-trapping method in a competitive clock reaction. Activation rate constants (k(a,AIBN)) were finally estimated from kinetic modeling utilizing the experimentally determined rate constants of decomposition of AIBN and deactivation. The effect of k(a,AIBN), k(d,AIBN), k(dc) and initial AIBN concentration on the overall copper(I) and copper(II) concentrations in the initiation step of the ATRA process was also evaluated through kinetic modeling.


The remarkable Upper Palæozoic fossil Edestus has already been proved to represent a row of symphysial teeth of an Elasmobranch fish, but it has hitherto been found only once in direct association with portions of jaws. A second specimen, still more instructive, has now been obtained by the Geological Survey from the upper part of the Millstone Grit at Brockholes, near Huddersfield, and I am indebted to Dr. Aubrey Strahan and Dr. F. L. Kitchin for the opportunity of studying it. The circumstances of its discovery are described in the Appendix by Mr. John Pringle. The new fossil, shown of two-thirds the natural size in Pl I, fig. 1, displays a single example of Edestus, with a detached dental crown and another fragment of the same form, near the tapering ends of a symmetrical pair of cartilages (c) which evidently represent a jaw. Whether they are upper or lower is uncertain, on account of the shortness of the portions preserved; but, as the anterior ends suddenly begin to taper and eventually become very slender, they are probably the pterygo-quadrates of the upper jaw. The cartilage is well calcified in very small tesseræ, and, as shown both by the portions of jaws themselves and by remains in front of the fossil, the calcification penetrates more deeply than is usual in recent Elasmobranchs. The best-preserved outer surface of the cartilage, on the side of the specimen not shown in the figure, is slightly marked with scattered fine pittings, such as have already


For cervical cancer (CC), circulating cell-free HPV DNA (ccfHPV) may establish disease severity. Furthermore, HPV integration has been correlated to viral load and survival. In this study, pre-treatment plasma from 139 CC cases (50 primary surgery patients, 22 primary surgery+adjuvant oncological therapy patients, and 67 primary oncological therapy patients) was collected (2018-2020). Furthermore, plasma from 25 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3 (CIN3) patients and 15 healthy women (negative controls) were collected. Two next-generation sequencing (NGS) panels were used to establish ccfHPV presence and human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16) integration status. ccfHPV was detected in four primary surgery (8.0%), eight primary surgery+adjuvant oncology (36.4%), and 54 primary oncology (80.6%) patients. For primary oncology patients with HPV16-related cancer (n=37), more ccfHPVneg than ccfHPVpos patients had HPV16 integration (p=0.04), and, in patients with HPV16 integration (n=13), ccfHPVpos patients had higher disease stages than ccfHPVneg patients (p=0.05). In summary, ccfHPV presence is related to disease severity and may add to the debated Sedlis criteria used for identifying patients for adjuvant oncological therapy. However, ccfHPV detection is influenced by HPV integration status and disease stage, and these factors need to be considered in ccfHPVneg patients.


As an intermediary institution based on sharia principle, sharia banks are required to performing two compliance namely compliance syariah principle and law compliance, as for th application of two compliance is it not only in  good corporate governance and the kind of product sharia bank, but also on financing deed made by a notary. Therefore financing deed in sharia banks must reflect sharia compliance principle besides the law compliance, special concern about sharia compliance, has become scope authority from the Sharia Supervisory Board, in this term Sharia Supervisory Board not only ensure the application of sharia compliance but also every deeds which was built by by a notary sharia bankmust to be in accordance with the sharia principle. Failure on the fulfillment of the shariah principle on a sharia bank financing deed can led to such deed null and void, so that in this case application of sharia principle should be given to the aspect of protection sharia banks and consumer protection which took the form of the superintendence of the Sharia Supervisory Board to every sharia bank financing deed.


Summary Abstract: Lack of grammatical accuracy has been often seen as a common issue in non-native English background students. With changing views on teaching English throughout ESL history, researchers and practitioners have argued about the best ways to teach grammar and whether teaching grammar was necessary at all. CLT was often perceived as a licence to abandon grammar teaching altogether. To explore this issue further a project was initiated in which classroom observations were conducted to see how much time and effort was spent on grammar in a typical 50-minute lesson. The conclusion was that teachers either avoid any grammar instructions, or have an explicit, systematic approach to specific grammar items, e.g. teaching passive voice. In addition, a number of observed teachers were interviewed to gain insight into their beliefs about teaching grammar. The presentation will also look at some methods to promote accuracy in production of English.


This article re-examines Sylvester 'Pat' Weaver's plans for cultural uplift via NBC television in the 1950s. His ambitions have been the subject of much scholarly research, which often notes his 'Operation Frontal Lobes' as influential, citing academic articles published in the 1990s as authoritative. However, contemporary documents show that the 'Frontal Lobes' project never succeeded and the effort became an embarrassment to the network. Taking advantage of searchable, digitized newspapers, magazines, and trade publications and reviewing materials in the NBC archives in Wisconsin, this article attempts a more nuanced understanding of Weaver's influence on NBC programming.


Since the establishment of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)) in 1981, its Member States (the Kingdom of Bahrain, the State of Kuwait, the Sultanate of Oman, the State of Qatar, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) have pursued economic and monetary integration further to the constituent aim of the Charter of the GCC for regional cooperation. With that aim, the Economic Agreement of 1981 established a Free Trade Area, operational since 1983, in the expectation that it would promote regional trade creation and, in turn, greater economic and monetary integration among the Member States. However, most of its provisions for an Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) never took effect. Thus, twenty years after its entry into force, the GCC Supreme Council agreed to revise the terms of the Economic Agreement. The Economic Agreement of 2001 now regulates the economic programme of the GCC.A timetable for the establishment of a Monetary Union was approved at the same time with a proposal to introduce a single currency by 1 January 2010. However, only four of the six Member States (Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia) have concluded the Monetary Union Agreement of 2008 and, to date, the single currency remains a proposal only. The GCC has failed to achieve any significant level of economic and monetary integration: ultimately, the EMU and single currency are yet to materialize. On that premise, the article critiques the scope and effect of implementation of the Economic Agreements of 1981 and 2001 as it examines the origins and development of economic and monetary integration in the GCC.


Clinical features and hearing recovery were compared between three types of perilymphatic fistula groups; surgically confirmed (PLF-conf, n = 16), suspected (PLF-susp, n = 24) and traumatic (trauma-PLF, n = 11). Initial average hearing level was best in the PLF-susp group (50.9 dBHL), followed by the trauma-PLF (55.7 dBHL) and PLF-conf (59.7 dBHL) groups, though the difference was not significant (ANOVA, p > 0.05). Of 51 patients, 27 cases were operated on and fistula was confirmed in 19 ears (70.4%). Conservative treatment, including bed rest and medication, was given to all patients. After the treatment, meaningful hearing recovery was obtained only at 1 kHz in the PLF-conf group (paired t-test, p < 0.05). However, significant recovery was seen at all frequency ranges (0.125-8 kHz) in the PLF-susp group (average, 16.8 dB; p < 0.01), while hearing improvement was intermediate for the trauma-PLF group. The initial hearing level and the period until the start of treatment strongly correlated with the final hearing level. Although 27 patients (47%) complained of dizziness, the prognosis for vertigo is excellent as noted by other authors. It was concluded that if conservative treatment is started early for PLF patients with mild hearing loss, hearing recovery can be ensured.


Transverse white nail banding can be inherited or caused by a variety of diseases and medications, including cancer chemotherapeutic agents. We report three cases in which patients with cancer had antineoplastic therapy-induced transverse leukonychia and summarize previously published reports. There is no specific cancer chemotherapeutic drug, combination of drugs, or drug class that causes transverse leukonychia; however, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and vincristine are the therapeutic agents most frequently involved. For patients receiving cancer chemotherapy, white transverse nail banding is a side effect of the medication rather than a consequence of underlying malignancy.


Myasthenia gravis, a disease characterized by paralysis of skeletal muscles, is of considerable ophthalmologic interest because the initial symptoms usually are found in the extraocular muscles and, in the late stages of the disease, practically all patients show involvement of the extraocular muscles. The ophthalmologist is one of the first to encounter the evidences of this disease and must therefore be familiar with the means of differential diagnosis and therapy. Diagnosis is usually established in a suspected case by finding dramatic improvement following the subcutaneous injection of neostigmine or the intravenous injection of edrophonium (Tensilon). Aggravation of symptoms may occur with the administration of quinine or curare. Quinine and curare are usually utilized only if the results of tests with neostigmine or edrophonium are inconclusive. Therapy of this condition, once the diagnosis has been established, is largely dependent upon the use of neostigmine (Prostigmin). The dosage which is required usually


Background: Cuproptosis is a recently discovered form of programmed cell death. Ferredoxin 1 (FDX1) is a key gene that mediates this process. However, the role of FDX1 in human tumors is not clear. Methods: We comprehensively analyzed the differential expression and genetic alterations of FDX1 using multiomics data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) database. Subsequently, we explored the association between FDX1 and tumor parameters such as genomic instability, RNA methylation modifications, immune infiltration and pathway activity. In addition, we performed functional enrichment analysis and assessed the sensitivity potential of FDX1-related drugs. Finally, we experimentally verified the functional effects of FDX1. Results: The analysis revealed differential expression of FDX1 in a variety of tumors. By analyzing the association of FDX1 expression with genomic instability, immune cell infiltration, signaling pathway etc. We explored the role of FDX1 in regulating cell activity. Also, we evaluated the function of FDX1 in biologic process and drug sensitivity. Our experimental results demonstrated that FDX1 exerts its antitumor effects through cuproptosis in liver hepatocellular carcinoma and non-small cell lung cancer cell lines. Conclusion: Our study reveals the functional effects of FDX1 in tumors and deepens the understanding of the effects of FDX1. We validated the inhibitory effect of FDX1 in copper induced cell-death, confirming the role of FDX1 as a cuproptosis biomarker.


In this paper "Generalized Sampled-Data Hold Functions" (GSHF) are used in the Constrained Structure Control (CSC) of periodic systems. For clarity, we first consider the case of a single system. An algorithm for finding a generalized sampled-data hold function to achieve pole assignment or optimal noise rejection is proposed. The solution is nonunique. The freedom is used for simultaneous pole assignment or optimal noise rejection in several systems. Some examples are given.


In this paper, the construction of secondary reaction plate is analyzed by 3-D Finite Element Method(3-D FEM) to consider the influence of its variation on the transverse edge effect of LIM. The effective 3-D analysis model for considering the transverse edge effect caused by the finite widths of the primary and the secondary is proposed. The simple method measuring the transverse edge effect by using the patterns of currents induced in the secondary reaction plate is also proposed. With this effective analysis method, various models of secondary reaction plate with overhang and cap has been analyzed to consider the relationship between the construction of secondary reaction plate and the transverse edge effect of LIM.


With the continuous evolution of collaborative environments, the needs of automatic analyses and assessment of participants in instant messenger conferences (chat) have become essential. For these aims, on one hand, a series of factors based on natural language processing (including lexical analysis and Latent Semantic Analysis) and data-mining have been taken into consideration. On the other hand, in order to thoroughly assess participants, measures as Page's essay grading, readability and social networks analysis metrics were computed. The weights of each factor in the overall grading system are optimized using a genetic algorithm whose entries are provided by a perceptron in order to ensure numerical stability. A gold standard has been used for evaluating the system's performance.


Author(s): Kolozvari, Kristijan | Advisor(s): Wallace, John W | Abstract: A study was conducted to develop a modeling approach that integrates flexure and shear interaction under cyclic loading conditions to obtain reliable predictions of inelastic responses of reinforced concrete (RC) structural walls. The proposed modeling approach incorporates cyclic RC panel constitutive behavior based on an interpretation of the fixed-strut-angle approach into a two-dimensional fiber-based macroscopic model. Coupling of axial and shear responses under cyclic loading is achieved at the fiber (panel) level, which further allows coupling of flexural and shear responses at the element level. The sensitivity of model results to various modeling parameters (e.g., material constitutive parameters and modeling parameters), wall configuration parameters (e.g., aspect ratio, boundary and web reinforcement ratios), and response parameters (levels of wall axial load and shear) was investigated to demonstrate the ability of the model to predict the behavior or RC walls for a broad range of conditions. The proposed analytical model was validated and calibrated against experimental results obtained from six large-scale, heavily instrumented, cantilever structural wall specimens characterized with different aspect ratios (1.5, 2.0 and 3.0), axial load levels (0.0025 Agf'c, 0.07 Agf'c and 0.10 Agf'c) and wall shear stress levels (between approximately 4 and 8 √("f'c" ) psi) tested under combined constant axial load and reversed cyclic lateral loading applied at the top of the wall.Comparisons of experimental and analytical model results for moderately slender RC walls (aspect ratio 1.5 and 2.0) revealed that the model successfully captures experimentally observed interaction between nonlinear shear and flexural deformations under cyclic loading and predicts lateral strength and stiffness that is within 10% of experimentally measured values. In addition, the magnitudes and relative contributions of shear and flexural deformations along the wall height were predicted closely at low and moderate drift levels, whereas at drift levels larger than 2.0%, model results were within 25% of experimentally measured deformation components. As well, localized nonlinear responses such as vertical tensile and compressive strains and wall rotations at the wall base were well predicted by the model. The model results were less accurate for the slender (aspect ratio 3.0) RC wall specimen in terms of relative contributions of shear and flexural deformations and magnitudes of compressive strains. Demonstrated model sensitivity to parameters of the implemented RC panel behavior suggested the need for calibration of these parameters for reliable predictions of nonlinear wall behavior. Given the limited model calibration performed in this study, additional work is needed, particularly for slender RC walls where preliminary results were less accurate. Finally, the implementation of the model into a publicly available computational platform is required to enable more detailed system level studies and future model development.


Early seed development of sexually reproducing plants requires both maternal and paternal genomes but is prominently maternally influenced. A novel gametophytic maternal-effect mutant defective in early embryo and endosperm development, glauce (glc), has been isolated from a population of Arabidopsis Ds transposon insertion lines. The glc mutation results from a deletion at the Ds insertion site, and the molecular identity of GLC is not known. glc embryos can develop up to the globular stage in the absence of endosperm and glc central cells appear to be unfertilized. glc suppresses autonomous endosperm development observed in the fertilization-independent seed (fis) class mutants. glc is also epistatic to mea, one of the fis class mutants, in fertilized seeds, and is essential for the biparental embryonic expression of PHE1, a repressed downstream target of MEA. In addition, maternal GLC function is required for the paternal embryonic expression of the ribosome protein gene RPS5a and the AMP deaminase gene FAC1, both of which are essential for early embryo and endosperm development. These results indicate that factors derived from the female gametophyte activate a subset of the paternal genome of fertilized seeds.


Assessing the life-cycle impacts of operations and maintenance decisions made for new or aging systems requires an accurate ability to measure and respond to uncertainty. Maintenance and parts requirements forecasts for fielded military systems are traditionally performed through historical repair and supply demand models. These models work well once several years of steady state weapon system operation has been accomplished, but tend to depend on a stable and somewhat regular operations and support structure. Predictions based on data that capture the cyclic trends that tend to occur as the fleet endures standard operations, scheduled maintenance, and average component failure rates work best when components are relatively new. Aging systems comprised of component populations of varying ages can be adversely affected by change or the failure to change the traditional maintenance and support concepts. The right action for a new system may result in adverse impacts when considering older systems.


One of the inputs required by daily decision support tools for scheduling irrigation is the amount of water supplied by rainfall. In-field measurements of daily precipitation are expensive or laborious, while measurements from gauges within a few kilometers are frequently not representative due to the high spatiotemporal variability of precipitation. Online radarbased precipitation analyses from NOAA's National Weather Service (NWS) have obvious potential to provide the needed data, but are known to have varying degrees of accuracy with location and conditions. The NWS precipitation analysis is computed on a 4 km × 4 km grid, so differences should also be expected between the product and individual gauge measurements under each grid cell. In order to test the utility of the NWS precipitation analysis in a daily irrigation scheduler, daily data were gathered in July 2012 from 18 weather stations under 2 NWS precapitation analysis grid cells across instrumented research and production fields in the Mississippi Delta. Differences between individual station measurements and the NWS precipitation analysis are examined, and root-zone daily soil water deficits computed using both station data and the NWS precipitation analysis. Sub-grid spatial variability between gauge locations, and differences in precipitation between gauges and the gridded NWS analysis, are found to be similar to those reported elsewhere. Differences between time series of soil water deficit computed using the two different precipitation data sources are noted, but prove to be of limited impact on the decision to irrigate or not to irrigate. It is also noted that profile-filling rainfalls limit the impact of accumulating error, resetting the modeled soil water to "full". Given the Delta-local practice of irrigating to replace full evapotranspirational water used, use of the NWS daily precipitation analysis data as input for a daily irrigation scheduler is judged not only acceptable, but also preferable to other sources of daily precipitation data.


We studied total systemic autoregulation in closed-chest, chloralose-anesthetized dogs. Cardiac out-put (previously implanted electromagnetic flow probe on ascending aorta) and aortic pressure were varied by reducing venous return using a balloon catheter in the vena cava. Compensatory action of the baroreflex was prevented by bilateral vagotomy and isolation of both carotid sinuses. To avoid high vessel tone carotid sinus pressure was set at the original baseline value using a pressurized blood reservoir. With each balloon inflation aortic flow and aortic pressure decreased and stabilized in about 1 min. Pressure and flow were allowed to return to base-line values after each balloon inflation in an attempt to minimize the activation of slower regulatory mechanisms. The steady-state pressure-flow relations could be fitted with a sigmoidal curve. The mean quality (0 less than Q less than 1) of autoregulation in eight dogs was 0.41 +/- 0.08 (SD). Autoregulation was found in the pressure range from 42 to 140 mmHg. The early appearance of total systemic autoregulation suggests that, in the intact animal, it may counteract baroreflex control.


Double-binary turbo code has been adopted as an error control code of various future communication systems including wireless metropolitan area networks(WMAN) due to its powerful error correction capability. One of the components affecting the performance of turbo code is internal interleaver. In 802.16 d/e system, an almost regular permutation(ARP) interleaver has been included as a part of specification, however it seems that the interleaver is not optimized in terms of decoding performance. In this paper, we propose three optimization methods for the interleaver based on spatial distance, spread and minimum distance between original and interleaved sequence. We find optimized interleaving parameters for each optimization method and evaluate the performances of the proposed methods by computer simulation under additive white Gaussian noise(AWGN) channel. Optimized parameters can provide up to 1.0 dB power gain over the conventional method and furthermore the obtainable gain does not require any additional hardware complexity.


The hypothesis that norepinephrine (NE) plays a facilitatory role in controlling the pulsatile release of LHRH was tested with a modified push-pull perfusion technique in conscious rhesus monkeys. The in vivo LHRH release in perfusate samples collected from the stalk-median eminence of ovariectomized females was pulsatile and synchronous with pulsatile LH release. Catecholamines measured in aliquots of perfusate samples revealed that in vivo NE release was also pulsatile and was synchronous with LHRH release. Local infusion of NE or methoxamine (an alpha 1-adrenergic stimulant) through a push cannula stimulated LHRH release, while iv injection of prazosin (an alpha 1-adrenergic blocker) suppressed LHRH release. It is concluded that NE is a possible neurotransmitter stimulating pulsatile LHRH release.


In this paper some scenarios dealing with power distribution will be presented and evaluated. Special attention is paid to reliability parameters, such as failure rate and outage costs. With assumptions of some set of scenarios long term planning case studies have been carried out using an advanced IT-tool. The studies show that profitability of investments to more reliable network depends strongly on the reliability parameters used.


The influence of an acute treatment with cytidine diphosphate choline (CDP-choline, citicoline, Somazina) by intraduodenal route on cardiovascular and respiratory parameters in anesthetized rats is studied. No differences as compared with controls were observed in heart and respiratory rates. The values in arterial pressure and respiratory flow for CDP-choline groups were observed to be near the basal values. The inspiratory flow shows a statistically significant difference (approaching basal values) as compared with the decrease in controls.


We investigate how utilization of primary care, specialist care, and emergency department (ED) care (and the mix across the three) changes in response to a change in health need. We determine whether any changes in utilization are impacted by socio-economic status. The use of a unique Australian data set that consists of a large survey linked to multiple years of detailed administrative records enables us to better control for individual heterogeneity and allows us to exploit changes in health that are related to the onset of two health shocks: a new diagnosis of diabetes and heart disease. We extend the analysis by also examining changes to patient out-of-pocket costs. We find significant differences in the mix between primary and specialist care use according to income and type of health shock but no evidence of using ED as a substitute for other care. Our results indicate that low- and high-income patients navigate very different pathways for their care following the onset of diabetes and to a lesser extent heart disease. These pathways appear to be chosen on the basis of ability to pay, rather than the most effective or efficient bundle of care delivered through a combination of GP and specialist care.


Introduction As no previous studies have characterised the sleep of school-age children in Shaqra Province, Saudia Arabia, the aim of the current research was to assess the frequency of behaviours associated with common paediatric sleep difficulties in this population using the Arabic version of the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire. Methods The Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire was used to measure self-reported and parent-reported bedtime resistance, sleep onset delay, sleep duration, sleep anxiety, night wakings, parasomnias, sleep disordered breathing and daytime sleepiness.3 Families were recruited through six schools and parents were asked to complete the questionnaire on behalf of children aged 7–12 years old, whereas adolescents completed the self-reported version. Results 150 females and 139 males aged between 7–17 years old were recruited (see table 1). 92% of the children and adolescents had a score of 41 or above indicating that they have a clinically significant sleep problem (89% of males and 95% of females). Results also indicated that there was a significant difference between males and females in secondary school in total score of CSHQ and sub score (sleep duration, sleep anxiety and sleep parasomnia). In addition, there was a significant difference between males and females in intermediate school in sub score of CSHQ in bedtime resistance, sleep anxiety and sleep disorder breathing (see table 2). Discussion The current study highlights the high prevalence of clinically significant sleep problems in this population. The results are consistent with previous research which suggests that children from Saudi Arabia sleep less than children in other countries,1 that males have longer sleep durations compared to females and that females report more daytime sleepiness compared to males.2 The results suggest that increasing awareness of the importance of sleep and how to develop healthy sleep habits would be beneficial in this population. References BaHammam A, Bin Saeed A, Al-Faris E, Shaikh S. Sleep duration and its correlates in a sample of Saudi elementary school children. Singapore medical journal ( 2006);47(10):875. Lee KA, Mcenany G, Weekes D. Gender differences in sleep patterns for early adolescents. Journal of adolescent health;24(1):16–20. Owens JA, Spirito A, McGuinn M ( 2000). The Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ): psychometric properties of a survey instrument for school-aged children. Sleep-New York;23(8), 1043–1052.


CXC chemokine receptors 1 (CXCR1) and 2 (CXCR2) have high sequence similarity and overlapping chemokine ligand profiles. Residue positions 3.32 and 7.39 are critical for signal transduction in the related CXCR4, and in these positions CXCR1 and CXCR2 contain oppositely charged residues (Lys3.32 and Glu7.39). Experimental and computed receptor structures reveal the possible formation of a salt bridge between transmembrane (TM) helices 3 and 7 via these two residues. To investigate the functional importance of Lys1173.32 and Glu2917.39 in CXCR1, along with the flanking Glu1183.33, we performed a signaling study on 16 CXCR1 mutants using two different CXCL8 isoforms. While single Ala-mutation (K1173.32A, E2917.39A) and charge reversal (K1173.32E, E2917.39K) resulted in nonfunctional receptors, double (K1173.32E-E2917.39K) and triple (K1173.32E-E1183.33A-E2917.39K) mutants rescued CXCR1 function. In contrast, the corresponding mutations did not affect the CXCR2 function to the same extent. Our findings show that the Lys3.32-Glu7.39 salt bridge between TM3 and -7 is functionally important for CXCR1 but not for CXCR2, meaning that signal transduction for these highly homologous receptors is not conserved.


The biological behavior of Leishmania amazonensis in the mammalian host is highly variable, resulting in local to diffuse cutaneous lesions that sometimes metastasize. Inflammation and, more specifically, CD4+ T cells have been shown to enhance metastases in mice infected with L. amazonensis, suggesting that the process may be lymphocyte mediated. However, we document, in this study, the development of multiple cutaneous metastases in C3H SCID mice infected with L. amazonensis. This shows that functional T and B cells are not required for metastases to occur.


Melting at convergent plate boundaries

At divergent plate boundaries hot mantle upwelling is associated with abundant melt generation and volcanism. At convergent plate boundaries such as subduction zones and continental collision zones thick and cold plates feed mantle downwellings. Yet these "cold" regions also show abundant volcanic activity with mean volcanic output rates of almost similar order of magnitudes (White et al., 2006, G-cubed). Responsible melt generation mechanisms are addressed including a) volatile driven decrease of the solidus temperature, b) decompressional melting in the mantle wedge or in shallow asthenosphere associated with delamination, or c) increased radiogenic heating within thickened continental crust.

Melt transport mechanisms

The above processes form partially molten regions. By which mechanism(s) does the melt segregate out of the melt source region and rise through the mantle or crust. The basic mechanism is two-phase flow, i.e. a liquid phase percolates through a solid, viscously deforming matrix. The corresponding equations and related issues such as compaction or effective matrix rheology are addressed. Beside simple Darcy flow, special solutions of the equations are addressed such as solitary porosity waves. Depending on the bulk to shear viscosity ratio of the matrix and the non-dimensional size of these waves, they show a variety of features: they may transport melt over large distances, or they show transitions from rising porosity waves to diapiric rise or to fingering. Other solutions of the equations lead to channeling, either mechanically or chemically driven. One open question is how do such channels transform into dykes which have the potential of rising through sub-solidus overburden. A recent hypothesis addresses the possibility that rapid melt percolation may reach the thermal non-equilibrium regime, i.e. the local temperature of matrix and melt may evolve differently.  Once dykes have been formed they may propagate upwards driven by melt buoyancy and controlled by the ambient stress field. As another magma ascent mechanism diapirism is addressed.

Modelling magmatic systems in thickened continental crust

Once basaltic melts rise from subducting slabs, they may underplate continental crust and generate silicic melts. Early dynamic models (Bittner and Schmeling, 1995, Geophys. J. Int.) showed that such silicic magma bodies may rise to mid-crustal depth by diapirism. More recent approaches (e.g. Blundy and Annan, 2016, Elements) emplace sill intrusions into the crust at various levels and calculate the thermal and melting effects responsible for the formation of mush zones. Recently Schmeling et al. (2019, Geophys. J. Int.) self-consistently modelled the formation of crustal magmatic systems, mush zones and magma bodies by including two-phase flow, melting/solidification and effective power-law rheology. In these models melt is found to rise to mid-crustal depths by a combination of compaction/decompaction assisted two-phase flow, sometimes including solitary porosity waves, and diapirism. An open question in these models is whether or how dykes may self-consistently form to transport the melts to shallower depth. First models which combine the two-phase flow crustal models with elastic dyke-propagations models (Maccaferri et al., 2019, G-cubed) are promising.


The ultimate goal of environmental impact assessment is to guarantee
that benefits generated by a development project will not cause highly negative
effects on the environment or public health. The fulfillment of this goal
depends on the willingness of proponents and society to cooperate. The
information management, its accessibility to community and the educational
level of participants are of great relevancy too. Cooperation is not always
attainable due to conflicts between individual and community interests. Conflict
leads to a variety of cooperative and non-cooperative responses, depending on
the information available to the actors. In order to capture the tendency in
which a community perceives the proposals, we introduced an information index.
We prove that computer models have a direct impact on this information index.
This computer-based approach, leads the EIA to the paradigm of adaptive
environmental assessment and management. To implement this, a system based on
artificial intelligence and game theory was used to resolve a study case of
conflict in groundwater management.


In the design process of energy harvesting systems based on piezoelectric elements, achievable energy output is the most interesting factor. To estimate this amount a priori manufacturing of prototypes a mathematical model is very helpful. Within this contribution we will introduce a model based on electro-mechanical circuit theory. Its parameters are identified by measurements and the model is validated by comparison to experimental results. The model is designed to support the development-engineer in the dimensioning of energy harvesting units to specific application demands. Two main challenges in device design are investigated with the mathematical model: influence of the ambient excitation frequency, and influence of the load impedance. Typically, the equivalent model approach delivers models for piezoelectric elements that are driven in resonance by electrical excitation. In the case of energy harvesting the piezoelectric elements are excited mechanically and most often non-resonant. Thus, we first set up a mechanical equivalent model for base excited systems. In first approximation it represents an energy harvesting unit around one resonance frequency. The model is expandable for a wider frequency range using the superpositioning of multiple circuits. From the viewpoint of optimum energy transformation between mechanical and electrical energy it is favorable to drive piezoelectric elements at resonance or anti-resonance. Thus, an energy harvesting system should be tuned to the excitation frequency.