We offer an age-related explanation for the process of resource partitioning. We theorize that, as the incumbents within a market category grow older, their ability to undertake structural changes diminishes: coupled with evolving audience preferences, this generates a gap between the incumbents' offerings and their audiences' preferences, creating opportunities for new entrants. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND Aging is a process that every organization undergoes. Researchers have long striven to understand how age affects organizational outcomes. Previous studies suggested that aging plays a role in a variety of organizational phenomena, including adaption (Amburgey, Kelly, and Barnett, 1993; Hannan and Freeman, 1984), strategic positioning (Ruef, 1997; Henderson, 1999), and innovation (Sorenson and Stuart, 2000), as well as firm growth and survival (Barron, West, and Hannan, 1994; Ranger-Moore, 1997). This literature has taught us that old organizations change less frequently and to a lesser extent compared to younger ones (Amburgey et al., 1993, Le Mens, Hannan, and Pólos, 2015b); in addition, they tend to be less innovative (Sorenson and Stuart, 2000), encounter more difficulties when repositioning (Ruef, 1997), experience lower growth rates and, as a result, they are more likely to exit the industry (Barron et al., 1994). The wealth of extant studies about the effects of aging on individual organizations contrasts with the scant research about its effects on macro-level market structures (for an exception, see Barnett, 1997), and particularly on the evolution of markets and industries. Yet age is very likely to affect these higher-level dynamics because industries consist of individual organizations who, much like living beings, inevitably age and experience the implications of this process. This study aims to advance our understanding of the effects of aging on the evolution of markets. We provide an age-related explanation for resource partitioning, i.e., the ecological mechanism whereby the consolidation of mass or "mainstream" producers results in the proliferation of specialists in mature markets (Carroll, 1985; Carroll and Swaminathan, 2000). In its classical formulation, the theory holds that concentration rises as a result of scale-driven


CSR is a form of responsibility towards stakeholders and the environment. When the company is present in the comunity, then they will expect a decent life for coming companies who want to exploit natural resources in the surrounding environment. It is a responsibility for the company to overcome the negative impacts.This study was conducted using a checklist to measure the extent of CSR disclosure in the annual report of the manufacturing company. The study also analyzed using multiple regression to examine the relationship beetwen the extent of CSR disclosure with the firm characteristics and board diversity (foreign directors). The results showed that firm size is significant positively associated with the extent of CSR disclosures and profitability is significant negatively associated with the extent of CSR disclosures. While public ownership and foreign directors didn't have a significant impact on the CSR disclosures.


Lévy robotic systems combine superdiffusive random movement with emergent collective behaviour from local communication and alignment in order to find rare targets or track objects. In this article we derive macroscopic fractional PDE descriptions from the movement strategies of the individual robots. Starting from a kinetic equation which describes the movement of robots based on alignment, collisions and occasional long distance runs according to a Lévy distribution, we obtain a system of evolution equations for the fractional diffusion for long times. We show that the system allows efficient parameter studies for a target search problem, addressing basic questions like the optimal number of robots needed to cover an area in a certain time. For shorter times, in the hyperbolic limit of the kinetic equation, the PDE model is dominated by alignment, irrespective of the long range movement. This is in agreement with previous results in swarming of self-propelled particles. The article indicates the novel and quantitative modeling opportunities which swarm robotic systems provide for the study of both emergent collective behaviour and anomalous diffusion, on the respective time scales.


A method of measuring the rate of synthesis of catecholamines in various tissues takes advantage of the steady state relationship in which the rate of catecholamine formation is equal to the rate of efflux. After tyrosine hydroxylase is blocked with α-methyltyrosine, the brain levels of norepinephrine (NE) and dopamine and the NE levels in various peripheral tissues of rats and rabbits decline exponentially. The rate of synthesis of the catecholamines is calculated from the product of the rate constant of amine decline and the normal catecholamine level. The value for heart NE yielded by this method is almost identical with that obtained from the decline in radioactivity after labeling with dl -H3-NE. The application of this method to studies in the rat shows that the turnover time for NE in heart, salivary gland and iris is about 12 hr, compared to 6 hr for brain NE, 3 hr for brain dopamine and 2 hr for NE in the cervical sympathetic ganglia. In the rabbit hypothalamus, NE is formed five times more rapidly than in the midbrain, though the turnover times are almost identical. This suggests that the rate of synthesis might be similar in each adrenergic unit and that variations in rates of synthesis in different brain areas are a function of the number of neurons per gram of tissue.


One of the important challenges facing the international scientific community at the beginning of the third millennium is how to manage the world's energy resources properly. Superconductivity will provide one of the strategies employed to avoid an energy crisis. Of course the ITER Fusion Tokomak that is to be built in France provides an exciting focus for the whole superconductivity community. In parallel, we can expect that other key technologies for superconductivity such as large capacity transmission cables, energy storage systems, and generators and motors will have a real impact in technologically advanced countries. There is broadly a consensus that the prototype stage for high-current high-field superconducting applications is largely completed, and the required performance has been demonstrated. However, before we move to full industrialization of large-scale superconducting technologies, feasibility studies suggest there are two types of problem that remain. The first is the development of high performance and low cost materials which are fully optimized in terms of critical current, low ac loss and high strength. The second is the establishment of optimal procedures for system design accompanying scale up. As the system design is dependent on material development, there is a critical need to study the key issues for developing high performance superconducting materials. Under the activities of the NEDO Grant Project (Applied Superconductivity), MEM05 was organized by Professor Osamura (Kyoto University), Professor Itoh (NIMS), Professor Hojo (Kyoto University) and Professor Matsumoto (Kyoto University) and held in Kyoto, Japan. The focus for the workshop was the elimination of grain boundary weak links, the creation of strong flux pinning sites, the optimal arrangement of filaments and barriers for reducing ac losses, and the design of high strength strain tolerant composite conductors. Five subsessions were held at MEM05. • Mechanical properties of superconductors including the influence of stress and strain on the critical current of practical conductors such as YBCO and ReBCO coated conductors, BiSCCO tapes, MgB2 wires and Nb3Sn filamentary conductors. • The intrinsic strain effects on the critical current density in Nb3Sn YBCO, BiSCCO and MgB2. • Recent advances in the critical current, mechanical properties and reduction in ac losses of HTS tapes and wires. • The compositional and microstructural dependence of E–J characteristics and its explanation based on flux pinning, grain boundary weak links and other mechanisms. • Standardized test methods: international cooperative research work to establish test methods for assessing the mechano-electromagnetic properties of superconductors based on the activities of IEC/TC90 and VAMAS/TWA-16. More than 70 researchers attended the MEM05 workshop, coming from more than ten countries. In total, more than 50 presentations were made at the workshop. In this special issue of Superconductor Science and Technology selected papers have been included that are concerned with the comprehensive scientific research subjects mentioned above. The aim of this issue is to provide a snapshot of some of the current state-of-the-art research, and to promote further international research into the mechano-electromagnetic properties of composite superconductors. The workshop was organized under the activities of the NEDO Grant Project (Applied Superconductivity, 2004EA004) and VAMAS/TWA-16. We wish to thank the following for their contribution to the success of the workshop: AFOSR/AOARD and IEC/TC90-JNC.


Background and Aim: Premature ejaculation (PE) is the most prevalent sexual dysfunction in every country. There are many types of treatment, but the main limitation of medical treatment for premature ejaculation is recurrence after withdrawal of medicine. The prepuce is a specific erogenous zone that contains a rich and complex network of nerves. Circumcision radically desensitizes the penis, but incomplete circumcision may cause premature ejaculation. We evaluate the effect of removal of foreskin remnants in adults on PE. Materials and Methods: The sensitive area of penile skin and the remaining parts of foreskin in adult men were recognized in 47 selective patients. Under local anesthesia, the remnant parts of foreskin were incised and removed. They were asked to fill the investigating questionnaire about the changes of intravaginal latency ejaculatory time (IVELT), patients and their sexual partners' satisfaction with sexual life, control over ejaculation, and penile sensitivity, before and after treatment. Results: There were no signs of inflammation and no serious adverse reactions in all cases after operation. IVELT significantly increased from 64.25 before surgery to 731.49 sec after surgery (P<0.001). The percentage of postoperative satisfaction in both the patient and his partner significantly increased (P<0.001). After surgery, 95.7% of men had better control over their ejaculation. This surgery significantly decreased sensitivity of penis (P<0.001), but it did not change glans penis insensitivity. Conclusions: These results indicate that removal of foreskin remnants in adults is an effective modality in selective patients of PE.


Th~s paper presents a new PID(Proportiona1, Integral and Differential) control scheme based on the feedback of averaged derivatives to realize a noise-tolerable differential control with its application to the load frequency control in the power system. It is well known that the LFC (Load Frequency Control) is exposed to the quite noisy environment. The noisy environment has rrgde it difficult to adopt the differential feedback loop since the derivatives of the signals deteriorated by high frequency noise causes the system instability. This paper proposed a new PID control scheme adopting averaged derivative of the signal as the differential feedback signal in order to remove the effects of high frequency noises. This study deals with an application of the average differential feedback to the LFC problem in the power systems. The proposed control scheme has been tested for the load frequency control of power systems.


We propose an approach to directly estimate the moments or marginals for a high-dimensional equilibrium distribution in statistical mechanics, via solving the high-dimensional Fokker-Planck equation in terms of low-order cluster moments or marginals. With this approach, we bypass the exponential complexity of estimating the full high-dimensional distribution and directly solve the simplified partial differential equations for low-order moments/marginals. Moreover, the proposed moment/marginal relaxation is fully convex and can be solved via off-the-shelf solvers. We further propose a time-dependent version of the convex programs to study non-equilibrium dynamics. Numerical results are provided to demonstrate the performance of the proposed algorithm for high-dimensional systems.


Symbolic Trajectory Evaluation is an industrial-strength verification method, based on symbolic simulation and abstraction, that has been highly successful in data path verification, especially microprocessor execution units. These correctness results are typically obtained under certain assumptions about how the verified hardware block's inputs are driven, as well as assumptions about the values of these inputs. For correct overall operation, the hardware environment within which the verified block resides is expected to satisfy these assumptions. We describe a translation of these proof assumptions into System Verilog Assertions. These are then used as checkers in dynamic validation of the hardware environment within which blocks verified by Symbolic Trajectory Evaluation operate. The result is a pragmatic assume-guarantee method that increases the quality and confidence in verification results, requires little or no modification to the Symbolic Trajectory Evaluation proofs, and leverages pre-existing dynamic validation infrastructure.


Some octahedral iron(II) complexes assume two spin states low spin (LS, S=0 singlet t2g eg ) at low temperature and high spin (HS, S=2, quintet t2g eg )) at high temperature. Cooperative interactions between spin-active centres will lead to temperature-dependent correlations between spin states in the crystal structure. In order to elucidate the corresponding correlation length, synchrotron diffraction and small-angle scattering experiments have been done for Fe(2-pic)3]Cl2 2-propanol solvate [1]. X-ray diffraction does not reveal any noticeable diffuse scattering. The SANS signal shows no effects other than the dependence of crystal density on temperature. Thus both experiments corroborate the presence of mainly long-range correlations between HS and LS states and support a mean-field scenario of the temperature-induced spin crossover [2, 3].


The digital transformation brought on by 5G is redefining current models of end-to-end (E2E) connectivity and service reliability to include security-by-design principles necessary to enable 5G to achieve its promise. 5G trustworthiness highlights the importance of embedding security capabilities from the very beginning while the 5G architecture is being defined and standardized. Security requirements need to overlay and permeate through the different layers of 5G systems (physical, network, and application) as well as different parts of an E2E 5G architecture within a risk-management framework that takes into account the evolving security-threats landscape. 5G presents a typical use-case of wireless communication and computer networking convergence, where 5G fundamental building blocks include components such as Software Defined Networks (SDN), Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) and the edge cloud. This convergence extends many of the security challenges and opportunities applicable to SDN/NFV and cloud to 5G networks. Thus, 5G security needs to consider additional security requirements (compared to previous generations) such as SDN controller security, hypervisor security, orchestrator security, cloud security, edge security, etc. At the same time, 5G networks offer security improvement opportunities that should be considered. Here, 5G architectural flexibility, programmability and complexity can be harnessed to improve resilience and reliability. The working group scope fundamentally addresses the following: •5G security considerations need to overlay and permeate through the different layers of the 5G systems (physical, network, and application) as well as different parts of an E2E 5G architecture including a risk management framework that takes into account the evolving security threats landscape. •5G exemplifies a use-case of heterogeneous access and computer networking convergence, which extends a unique set of security challenges and opportunities (e.g., related to SDN/NFV and edge cloud, etc.) to 5G networks. Similarly, 5G networks by design offer potential security benefits and opportunities through harnessing the architecture flexibility, programmability and complexity to improve its resilience and reliability. •The IEEE FNI security WG's roadmap framework follows a taxonomic structure, differentiating the 5G functional pillars and corresponding cybersecurity risks. As part of cross collaboration, the security working group will also look into the security issues associated with other roadmap working groups within the IEEE Future Network Initiative.


Coupling a motion aftereffect (MAE) produced by horizontal shearing motion with a lateral head movement yields apparent depth. In experiments 1 and 2, respectively, the magnitude and the decay time of this apparent depth were measured. In experiment 3, it was found that the stimulus that produced an MAE in experiments 1 and 2 failed to do so when it was viewed while the head moved leftward and rightward and depth was seen.


In some individuals a local herpetic lesion precipitates a generalized inflammation of the skin, designated as erythema multiforme (EM). We determined the frequencies of the immune response genes of the HLA system by molecular HLA class II typing in 46 patients with EM and in many of their family members. Allele frequencies were correlated with disease form and disease‐inducing factors. We found that specific complications of HSV infection occur preferentially in patients with certain HLA‐DQB1 alleles. In 21 of the 46 patients EM was induced by recurrent HSV infection. Thirteen of these patients showing only minor or no involvement of mucous membranes had the HLA allele DQB1*0302 (phenotype frequency 61.9% versus 18.8% in controls, p corr = 0.0008) and all three patients with major involvement of mucous membranes had the rare HLA allele DQB1*0402 (phenotype frequency in controls 6,4%, p corr = 0.017).


ObjectiveTo describe death attributed to severe hepatomegaly and macrovesicular steatosis without inflammation or necrosis in HIV-seropositive patients without AIDS. PatientsPatients from the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) Adverse Reactions and the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Spontaneous Report databases. ResultsSix fatal and two non-fatal cases in which no known cause of hepatic steatosis could be found were identified. With one possible exception, none of the six fatal cases had a diagnosis of AIDS and all were in reasonable nutritional status (as indicated by weight and/or serum albumin); the majority were mildly to moderately overweight. All had received at least 6 months of antiretroviral therapy, and all had gastrointestinal complaints without other non-hepatic abdominal pathology. At least three out of the six had no history of progressively abnormal liver function tests until a few weeks prior to the onset of symptoms and subsequent death. Further investigation of the FDA and ACTG databases identified two similar but non-fatal cases in which abnormalities resolved after cessation of antiretroviral therapy. ConclusionsThe cases described represent a degree of hepatic abnormalities that has not been reported previously in HIV-seropositive patients, and are probably an underestimate of actual incidence, since patients with possible etiologies of liver disease were excluded from the clinical history, laboratory, microbiologic, or histologic examination. The etiology of hepatic disease may be associated with antiretroviral therapy, HIV, or an unidentifiable infection, and requires further investigation.


This dissertation is an inquiry into the relationship between political theology and the philosophical effort to establish a secular and autonomous order in which individuals govern themselves through universal laws. I argue that this project fails and explore how political theologies arise in its wake. In chapter 1, I argue that Kant's philosophy stages a 'trial of reason' to establish the authority and autonomy of reason. To succeed, Kant must give an account of judgement as the reconciliation the universal and the individual. However, the trial of reason suffers two fates: Either legal procedure is flouted the new order is established through a violent act, or the verdict is deferred, and reason's laws are legitimised by referring to an ideal of autonomy that never arises. In both cases, something is sacrificed to support rational order. In chapter 2, I show how F.W.J. Schelling responds to an autonomous and secular order by developing a political theology in which only the Church holds the key to a non-violent judgement. I then argue, in chapter 3, that Carl Schmitt develops his political theology in response to a liberal formalism which hides the sacrifices that sustain political and rational order. Here political theology springs out of the realisation that political and rational judgements always demand a sacrifice. In chapter 4, I discuss the work of Giorgio Agamben, who seeks to suspend political and rational judgement altogether. Both the political and the religious is characterised by the same 'sacred' logic which sustains an omnipotent, but unaccountable power of judgement. Finally, in chapter 5, I discuss the work of G.W.F. Hegel to show how the trial of reason depends on two conflicting accounts of secularisation. I end with raising some critical questions about the trial, and the political theologies that arise in its wake.


Adolescence and prenatal cocaine exposure can impact risk-taking. In this study, we evaluated risk-taking and gender-related differences in adolescents with prenatal cocaine exposure in terms of electrophysiological correlates of inhibitory control and sustained attention. No differences related to gender were found within measures of risk-taking, or electrophysiological response relating to risk-taking. Greater responses during inhibition versus attention trials support previous studies, with boys showing the largest responses. Gender-related differences were found when comparing the trials before and after frustration was induced, with greater initial attention indices for girls in both trial types and greater sustained attention for both genders during inhibition trials and for boys during attention trials. These data suggest neural correlates of response inhibition show important gender-related differences in this population. Considering these relationships allows us to further understand underlying processes among adolescents who, as a group, tend to be more inclined toward greater risk behaviors.


A pre-stack migration algorithm for elastic waves in two-dimensional variable-velocity media is developed, implemented, and tested. The algorithm operates in the time-space domain and is based on reverse-time finite-difference extrapolation of elastic waves. The algorithm is explained and demonstrated in the context of imaging of elastic vertical seismic profile data, but is applicable to any source-recorder geometry. Synthetic test examples include a point diffractor, laterally homogeneous layers, and the flank of a salt dome.


A new method that overcomes the disadvantages of the conventional magnetron output power (MOP) control is presented in this paper, The conventional LC single-phase half-wave doubler supply has been modified in order to allow the use of a manually controlled and/or PC-controlled electronic variator. Trains of high-voltage pulses followed by inhibited high-voltage pulses are periodically applied on the magnetron anode yielding a corresponding variation of the average MOP, with programmed steps, maintaining the advantage of peak microwave output power operation. The PC-controlled system provides a practically continuous variation of the magnetron average output power.


Abstract Foreign bodies in the noses of children may often be expelled by simple nose blowing. Success of this manoeuvre depends on how firmly the object is lodged, and on the co-operation and skill of the child. Attempts at direct removal using instruments frequently result in the patient becoming distressed and resort to general anaesthesia is sometimes required. This short communication describes a series of cases in which nebulized adrenaline helped loosen firmly impacted foreign bodies, thereby facilitating removal, minimizing upset for the child, and avoiding anaesthetic risk.


During the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), reports of sexual abuse and exploitation and children fathered by peacekeepers were brought forward to the UN. In 2017, a cross-sectional mixed-methods survey was administered by Haitian research assistants using SenseMaker® (Cognitive Edge, Singapore), a rapid data collection tool that allows participants to share a narrative on a topic of interest. In total, 2541 self-interpreted narratives in relation to the experiences of Haitian women and girls vis-à-vis peacekeepers were collected from a convenience sample of Haitian males and females across Haiti. This exploratory secondary data analysis analyzes whether narratives about sexual misconduct perpetrated by MINUSTAH peacekeepers were associated with rural, semi-urban, or urban locations and investigates the relationship between sharing narratives about sexual misconduct and the desire to engage with the UN/MINUSTAH. After adjustment, narratives addressing sexual misconduct were more likely to be shared in rural locations, compared to urban locations (RRrural: 1.19; 95% CI: 1.03, 1.38). Personal experiences of sexual misconduct were more likely (RRsex: 4.52; 95% CI: 3.34, 6.12) to be associated with rejection of the UN/MINUSTAH, compared to personal narratives of positive/neutral experiences. This research is an empirical steppingstone to understanding the distribution and consequences of peacekeeper-perpetrated sexual abuse and exploitation in Haiti.


The author discusses an interpretation of the Bell-La Padula (BLP) model (1973) for the Trusted Mach (TMach) kernel. The BLP model is reviewed along with specific refinements to the discretionary-security property, /sup */-property, the notion of trusted subjects and activation. A correspondence between the revised BLP model and the abstractions provided by the TMach kernel was demonstrated.<<ETX>>


This study explores a constellation of factors that contribute to the retention of teachers in high poverty, urban schools. It focuses on one cohort of the University of California (UC) at Berkeley's Multicultural Urban Secondary English (MUSE) Credential and MA Program, analyzing qualitative and quantitative data to track the careers of 26 novice teachers through their fifth year after receiving their credential. The authors reconsider the categories traditionally used to determine whether teachers stay or leave and offer ways to track those who stay or leave high-poverty urban schools, including the use of a category of "movers" to describe teachers who leave urban classroom teaching yet remain active in urban education. They conclude with a discussion of factors that seem to contribute to teachers' staying in high-poverty, urban schools and educational settings. Besides a state scholarship program, these include: (a) a sense of mission, which was reinforced and developed by the teacher education program; (b) a disposition for hard work and persistence, which was reinforced and developed by the teacher education program; (c) substantive preparation that included both the practical and the academic and harmony between the two; (d) training in assuming the reflective stance of a teacher researcher; (e) the opportunity, given the high demand for teachers in high poverty schools to be able to change schools or districts, yet still remain in their chosen profession, and (f) ongoing support from members of the cohort as well as other supportive professional networks across the years. In It for the Long Haul 3


The enumeration of shortest paths in cubic grid is presented here. The cubic grid considers three neighborhods--- 6-neighborhood (face connectivity), 18-neighborhood (edge connectivity), and 26-neighborhood (vertex connectivity). The formulation for distance metrics are given here. $L_1$, $D_{18}$, and $L_\infty$ are the three metrics for 6-neighborhood, 18-neighborhood, and 26-neighborhood. The problem is to find the number of shortest paths based on neighborhoods between two given points in 3D cubic grid represented by coordinate triplets. The formulation for the three neighborhoods are presented here. This problem has theoretical importance and practical aspects.


In a manufacturing industry, the quality of product is a main priority to get the best quality products, therefore properly the right selection of materials and a highly skilled workforce must be done. In the process, a highly skilled workforce must be accompanied by an ergonomic work facilities, so the workers will feel comfortable. This condition will lead the maximized productivity of the workers and the product made will have the best quality.This research was done in CV Royaltrack, a company which is specialized in the fashion industry in Indonesia and Malaysia with the products such as t-shirts, polo shirts, shirts, pants, slippers, bags, shoes and belts. The problem in this company is having a not ergonomic work facility at the work station of pressing, which is proven by the results of the Nordic Body Map questionnaire. The questionnaire showing 14,29% of workers' limbs who really do not have complaint of pain, while 85,71% of the workers' limb had complaint of pain to the level of complaints reached on level two (mildly ill) amounted 25% of the limb, level three (ill) amounted 53,57% of the limbs and level four (very ill) amounted to 7,14% of the limb.From the result of the risk level of work identification that used Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) method there are four out of ten work activities that have a risk on high level by reaching the action on level three, so the work facilities must be improved at the work station of pressing. The result of this research suggest a layout of the new ergonomic work desk facility with emphasis on anthropometry workers aspects so that workers feel safe and comfortable.


INTRODUCTION
Descending necrotising mediastinitis (DNM) is a less common form of infection in the mediastinum caused by downward spread from the cervical, oral and pharyngeal regions.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
We retrospectively evaluate a group of patients who underwent surgical management of DNM at our department between 2007 and 2011.

RESULTS
We operated on 7 patients (1 female, 6 males) with the mean age of 56.3 years. In 3 cases the infection was of odontogenic origin and in 4 cases of tonsillar origin. Except for one patient with permanent immunosuppression, after kidney transplantation, swab culture showed the original, inciting pathogen to be Streptococcus in all cases; as for anaerobic organisms it was mostly Fusobacterium. In all cases we performed external cervical drainage and mediastinal drainage through a cervical approach. In 3 cases it was necessary to perform mediastinal drainage through thoracotomy. Mean hospital stay was 45.7 days, 30-day mortality was zero.

CONCLUSION
The results confirm a better prognosis of DNM compared to mediastinitis caused by oesophageal perforation or oesophageal surgery complication.


Composable inductive programming as implemented in the Zoea programming language is a simple declarative approach to software development. At the language level it is evident that Zoea is significantly simpler than all mainstream languages. However, until now we have only had anecdotal evidence that software produced with Zoea is also simpler than equivalent software produced with conventional languages. This paper presents the results of a quantitative comparison of the software complexity of equivalent code implemented in Zoea and also in a conventional programming language. The study uses a varied set of programming tasks from a popular programming language chrestomathy. Results are presented for relative program complexity using two established metrics and also for relative program size. It was found that Zoea programs are approximately 50% the complexity of equivalent programs in a conventional language and on average equal in size. The results suggest that current programming languages (as opposed to software requirements) are the largest contributor to software complexity and that significant complexity could be avoided through an inductive programming approach.


Ozone is one of the pollutants with most negative effects on human health and in general on the biosphere. Many data-acquisition networks collect data about ozone values in both urban and background areas. Usually, these data are incomplete or corrupt and the imputation of the missing values is a priority in order to obtain complete datasets, solving the uncertainty and vagueness of existing problems to manage complexity. In the present paper, multiple-regression techniques and Artificial Neural Network models are applied to approximate the absent ozone values from five explanatory variables containing air-quality information. To compare the different imputation methods, real-life data from six data-acquisition stations from the region of Castilla y Leon (Spain) are gathered in different ways and then analyzed. The results obtained in the estimation of the missing values by applying these techniques and models are compared, analyzing the possible causes of the given response.


-This study analyzed the impact of fiscal approach on Foreign Direct Investment in Nigeria. The objectives of the study were to; examine the impact of government capital expenditure on foreign direct investment in Nigeria; examine the impact of corporate tax on foreign direct investment in Nigeria; and examine the impact of government debt on foreign direct investment in Nigeria. Based on the stated objectives; secondary data were collected from CBN statistical bulletin and empirical model was estimated using Augmented Dickey Fuller unit root test, co-integration test and complemented with ECM test. The results of the unit root test showed that all the variables were stationary at order one. Also there exist three co-integrating equations amongst the variables in the model. Similarly, the ECM results indicated that the speed of adjustment is 169.6%. Also, the R of 63% showed that the model is a good fit. The coefficient of government total debt variable is positively related to FDI. The coefficient of corporate tax is negatively related with Foreign Direct Investment and the coefficient of government capital expenditure is positively related with Foreign Direct Investment. Thus, it could be concluded that a well-articulated and coordinated fiscal policy to attract foreign investment in Nigeria became essential for optimum growth and development of the economy. Therefore, it is recommended that Nigeria government must create enabling environment for foreign investment to thrive. Also, government should increase her capital expenditure and ensure a well combination and coordination of both fiscal and other policies to increase foreign direct investment in Nigeria.


Background & Aim. Acute kidney injury (AKI) after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is common and increases the risk of postoperative complications, morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study is to find out the incidence of AKI following CABG in our institution and the preoperative factors associated with AKI. Methods. Retrospective data from all non-dialysed patients undergoing isolated CABG at our institution were collected for the year 2013 (n1⁄4503). Patient demographics, logistic EuroSCORE, pre and post-operative renal profile, operative urgency, need for haemofiltration, length of stay in ICU and outcome were collected. Postoperative AKI was defined as a rise of 50% or more in baseline serum creatinine. Results. Results are given in table 1.


Density waves in galaxy disks have been proposed over the years, in a variety of specific models, to explain spiral arm structure and its relation to the mass distribution, notably in barred galaxies. An important parameter in dynamical density wave theories is the corotation radius, the galactocentric distance at which the stars and gas rotate at the same speed as the quasi-static propagating density wave. Determining corotation, and the pattern speed of a bar have become relevant to tests of cosmologically based theories of galaxy evolution involving the dynamical braking of bars by interaction with dark matter halos. Here, comparing two methods, one of that measures the pattern speed and another that measures the radius of corotation, using two instruments (an integral field spectrometer and a Fabry–Perot interferometer), and using both the stellar and interstellar velocity fields, we have determined the bar corotation radius, and three further radii of corotation for the SAB(s)b galaxy NGC 3433. The results of both methods, with both instruments, and with both disk components, give excellent agreement. This strengthens our confidence in the value of the two methods, and offers good perspectives for quantitative tests of different theoretical models.


This article presents an agent-based model of an Italian textile district where thousands of small firms specialize in particular phases of fabrics production.
It is an empirical and methodological model that reconstructs the communications between firms when they arrange production chains. In their turn, production chains reflect into road traffic in the geographical areas where the district extends. The reconstructed traffic exhibits a pattern that has been observed, but not foreseen, by policy makers.


Observation of Brønsted acid sites: By enhancing the solid-state NMR signals of 17 O at natural abundance with dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP), Pruski et al. were able to measure oxygen-proton distances accurately with sub-picometer precision. The results give insight into the Brønsted acidity of a range of solid acid catalysts.


Fine needle aspirates and touch imprints of 36 hyperplastic (reactive) lymph nodes were tested for the presence of keratin and desmin. Keratin-positive cells with morphologic characteristics corresponding to extrafollicular (fibroblastic) reticulum cells were found in 18% of the fine needle aspirates and 42% of the touch imprints. The number of keratin-positive reticulum cells varied from 1 to greater than 30 per slide. Desmin-positive cells with similar morphology were found in 23% of fine needle aspirates and 37% of touch imprints, and the number of such cells per slide ranged from 2 to greater than 70. The relatively frequent occurrence of keratin-positive reticulum cells in these preparations from hyperplastic lymph nodes should be taken into account if keratin antibodies are used to search for carcinoma micrometastases.


Objective: The uniqueness of psychiatry calls for a unique ethics. By identifying the features distinguishing psychiatry as medical and social practice, this article seeks to illustrate the methodology by which that ethics can be derived and to determine what kind of a framework and focus such an ethics requires. Method: The author is an analytically trained philosopher and employs the method of conceptual analysis. Results: At least three characteristics are suggested by the features which taken together constitute psychiatry's uniqueness: an ethical framework accommodating character, a rubric for acknowledging boundary violations, and an emphasis on gender. Conclusions: The larger task of formulating the substance and details of that unique ethics is the next step.


In this work we analyse theoretically and numerically the pressure build-up on the cap rock of a saline aquifer during CO2 injection in all flow regimes. Flow regimes are specific regions of the parameter space representing the mathematical spread of the plume. The parameter space is defined in terms of the CO2 -to-brine relative mobility λ and the buoyancy parameter Γ. In addition to the known asymptotic self-similar solutions for low buoyancy regimes, we introduce two novel ones for the high buoyancy regimes via power series solutions. Explicit results for the peak pressure value on the cap, which arises in the vicinity of the well, are derived and discussed for all flow regimes. The analytical results derived are then applied for cap integrity considerations in six test cases of CO2 geological storage from the PCOR partnership, most of which correspond to high buoyancy conditions. The validity of the self-similar solutions which are late time asymptotics, is verified with CFD numerical simulations with a commercial software. The comparison between the self-similar solutions and CFD for the pressure estimations are in excellent agreement and the self-similar solutions are valid for typical injection durations even for early times.


The material in this book was presented in preliminary form by 42 contributors who are or were associated with the Wilmer Retinal Vascular Center, Baltimore, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of this specialty clinic in 1980. Tribute was paid to Arnall Patz, who pioneered many of the studies of retinal vascular disease, including the etiologic importance of oxygen in the production of retrolental fibroplasia in premature infants. This group was active in the clinical Diabetic Retinopathy Study supported by the National Eye Institute to evaluate the effects of photocoagulation, and in the present studies on early treatment of diabetic retinopathy, and the retinal angiogenesis related especially to senile macular degeneration and ocular histoplasmosis. In a summary chapter, Patz presents the evidence supporting the current belief that closure of retinal vessels produces ischemia with liberation of an angiogenic factor. Resulting neovascularization produces edema or hemorrhage, often with secondary glial proliferation. Photocoagulation


Kick off your 2012 Fall Meeting experience today by joining the Fall Meeting Community, an interactive Web-based community. Whether you are attending this year's Fall Meeting or are just interested in learning more, this site can help you connect with colleagues, learn about the groundbreaking research and amazing programming being presented in San Francisco, and plan your trip to the largest Earth and space science conference of the year. Available through the Fall Meeting Web site (http://fallmeeting.agu.org), the Community allows you to share your Fall Meeting experience like never before. You can join groups based on your interests, and each group includes a message board that allows you to ask questions, post comments, discuss presentations, and make plans with colleagues. You can also create your own groups and use the Community's robust search engine to find and connect with friends. And because the Fall Meeting Web site was improved for 2012 to allow for nearly seamless functionality on mobile devices, you can access much of the same Community functionality on the go.


This article examines the relevance of Confucianism to contemporary Chinese politics. While some dismiss Confucianism as irrelevant or even harmful, others emphasize its positive and enduring influence. The study begins by reviewing debates on the relevance of Confucianism, a discussion that has never stopped since China's entry into the modern world system. After some of the weaknesses of previous debates have been identified, an assessment is made of aspects of Confucianism, followed by a brief prediction of a continuing but limited influence for Confucianism in China.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the efficacy and safety of percutaneous transluminal renal angioplasty (PTRA) in children.

METHODS
We performed aortography and attempted PTRA in 35 consecutive children (age 5 to 14 years, mean 10.8 +/- 2.5 years) with severe hypertension having > or = 75% renal artery stenosis (RAS).

RESULTS
The stenosis was caused by aortoarteritis in 31 (88.6%) cases and by juvenile idiopathic fibromuscular disease (FMD) in four (11.4%) cases. Twenty-seven (77.1%) patients, including three having RAS of solitary functioning kidney with total occlusion of contralateral renal artery, had bilateral RAS and eight (22.9%) had unilateral RAS. PTRA was technically successful in 54 (91.5%) of 59 stenotic lesions in 31 (88.6%) of 35 patients. Both aortoarteritis and FMD patients had significant decrease in RAS after PTRA. One patient had acute reocclusion of one renal artery after bilateral PTRA, which could be successfully opened by reangioplasty. Postangioplasty angiographic restudy performed in 18 patients at 4 to 72 months (mean 23.1 +/- 27.9 months) after successful angioplasty showed restenosis in 8 (25.8%) of 31 lesions initially dilated and de novo lesions of aorta in two patients. All seven restenotic renal artery lesions attempted and both stenosis of aorta were successfully dilated. Twenty-nine of 31 patients with successful PTRA have been followed up from 4 to 108 months (mean 41.0 +/- 29.3 months). Mean systolic blood pressure decreased from 185.1 +/- 27.4 to 120.6 +/- 19.2 mm Hg and mean diastolic blood pressure decreased from 118.4 +/- 13.2 to 84.6 +/- 10.4 mm Hg after PTRA. Twenty seven (93.1%) of these 29 patients had benefical blood pressure response. Seventeen (58.6%) patients improved, 10 (34.5%) were cured, although 2 (6.9%) patients failed to respond to PTRA. Blood pressure response was better in FMD as compared to aortoarteritis group. Patients with unilateral RAS, discrete stenosis, and post-PTRA stenosis < or = 20% also identified good blood pressure response.

CONCLUSION
Aortoarteritis is the most common cause of renovascular hypertension in South Asian children. PTRA is safe and highly effective and therefore should be the treatment of choice in pediatric renovascular hypertension.


Importance
Frozen section temporal artery biopsy (TAB) may prevent a contralateral biopsy from being performed.

Objective
To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of TAB frozen vs permanent section pathology results for giant cell arteritis (GCA) and determine the discordance rate of bilateral TABs.

Design, Setting, and Participants
In this retrospective cohort study, medical records were reviewed from 795 patients 40 years or older who underwent TAB from January 1, 2010, to December 1, 2018, treated at a single tertiary care center with the ability to perform both frozen and permanent histologic sections. Data were analyzed from January 2019 to December 2020.

Main Outcomes and Measures
Sensitivity and specificity of frozen section TAB for detecting GCA, and discordance rates of bilateral permanent section TAB.

Results
Of the 795 included participants, 329 (41.4%) were male, and the mean (SD) age was 72 (10) years. From the 795 patients with 1162 TABs, 119 patients (15.0%) and 138 TABs had positive findings on permanent section. Of these 119 patients, 103 (86.6%) also had positive results on the frozen section, with 4 false-positives (0.6%) and 20 false-negatives (16.8%). Frozen section had a specificity of 99.4% (95% CI, 98.5-99.8), sensitivity of 83.2% (95% CI, 75.2-89.4), positive predictive value of 96.1% (95% CI, 90.4-98.9), negative predictive value of 96.6% (95% CI, 94.9-97.8), positive likelihood ratio of 140.6 (95% CI, 72.7-374.8), and a negative likelihood ratio of 0.17 (95% CI, 0.11-0.25). Simultaneous bilateral TABs were performed in 60 patients (7.5%) with a 5% discordance rate on permanent section. In comparison, bilateral frozen section-guided sequential TABs were performed in 307 patients (38.6%) with 5.5% discordance based on permanent section. In multivariate models, there was a greater odds of positive findings with age (odds ratio [OR], 1.04; 95% CI, 1.01-1.07; P = .008), vision loss (OR, 2.72; 95% CI, 1.25-5.75; P = .01), diplopia (OR, 3.33; 95% CI, 1.00-10.29; P = .04), headache (OR, 2.32; 95% CI, 1.25-4.53; P = .01), weight loss (OR, 2.37; 95% CI, 1.26-4.43; P = .007), and anorexia (OR, 5.65; 95% CI, 2.70-11.89; P < .001).

Conclusions and Relevance
These results support the hypothesis that negative findings from frozen sections should not be solely relied on to refute the diagnosis of GCA, whereas positive findings from frozen sections can be reliably used to defer a contralateral biopsy pending the permanent section results.


Hydrogen was introduced in commercial-purity (99%) aluminum by electrochemical charging to study the existing state of hydrogen and its effects on the mechanical properties of aluminum. Electrochemical charging was conducted in an aqueous H2SO4 solution with 0.1% NH4SCN as a hydrogen recombination poison. The potential and pH during the charging were determined from the immune, passive, and corrosive regions in the Pourbaix diagram to determine the optimum conditions for the charging. The maximum amount of hydrogen absorbed was obtained in the immune region. The amount of hydrogen and its existing state were examined using hydrogen desorption curves, which were obtained by thermal desorption spectroscopy. The curves showed distinctive peaks corresponding to trapping sites of hydrogen in the material. One of the peaks was observed at approximately 100 � C, and it corresponds to vacancies and dislocations in the material; another peak was observed at approximately 400 � C and it corresponds to molecular hydrogen in blisters. It was presumed that charged hydrogen diffuses into the bulk of the material to form hydrogen-vacancy pairs, and then these pairs cluster to form blisters. The fracture strain of charged aluminum in the immune region decreased with decreasing strain rate, showing an inverse dependence on the fracture strain of the uncharged material. This phenomenon was considered to be caused by hydrogen transport by dislocations through the interaction between hydrogen and dislocations. The phenomenon was further confirmed by the observation of hydrogen release during tensile deformation, where the amount of hydrogen was high in the strain rate range where the interaction between dislocations and hydrogen was prominent. [doi:10.2320/matertrans.M2011035]


Introduction Achalasia is a severe esophageal motility disorder involving a loss of peristalsis and nonrelaxation of the lower esophageal sphincter (LES), resulting in the primary symptom of dysphagia. Manometry combined with Multichannel intraluminal impedance (MII) demonstrates a severe impairment in esophageal bolus clearance in patients with achalasia. Our purpose is to elucidate if manometry/MII can potentially be used in the assessment of achalasia patients after both surgical and nonsurgical treatment in determining the level of improvement in esophageal bolus clearance. Methods We prospectively performed simultaneous manometry/MII testing on 60 patients referred to the University of Washington Swallowing Center with achalasia between January 2003 and January 2006. Manometric and clinical parameters were used in the diagnosis of achalasia. Esophageal peristalsis and bolus transit rates were compared between patients with primary untreated achalasia, those who had nonsurgical treatment (dilation or botulinum toxin), and a group of patients after Heller myotomy. Results Thirty-five patients were diagnosed with classic achalasia (group 1), not having had any prior treatment. Ten patients were treated with either balloon dilation or botulinum toxin prior to manometry/MII (group 2), and 15 patients were studied post-Heller myotomy (group 3), yielding a total of 60 patients. Peristalsis for group 1 is 0.88%, for group 2 is 17.91%, and for group 3 is 22.85%. Transit of both liquid and viscous boluses as measured by MII was significantly different between these three groups. The mean liquid bolus transit success rate was 5.43% for group 1, 16.2% for group 2, and 21.92% for group 3. Viscous bolus transit success rate was 2.97% for group 1, 10% for group 2, and 15.38% for group 3. As expected, no patients in any of the three groups were found to have normal bolus transit. Conclusions From these data we concluded that patients treated prior to manometry/MII readings show a slight restoration in peristalsis as well as improved bolus transit, although still far below normal values. This improvement may explain the relief in dysphagia felt in the majority of these patients. However, MII readings for these individuals still average far below normal values, indicating that bolus transit (as measured by MII) may not account entirely for the relief of dysphagia. Knowing this, MII may be a useful tool in assessing effectiveness of treatment in restoring bolus clearance from the esophagus; however, further evaluation should be done.


HERSCHEL/PLANCK (double launch in 2007 on ARIANE) and GAIA (launch in 2010 on SOYUZ/FREGAT) are Astronomy missions in the ESA Scientific Program with different objectives but with quite common requirements of a highly stable thermal environment and sky viewing conditions unobstructed by Earth and sun. A class of orbits near the L2 libration point (outside Earth) in the sun-Earth system has been selected for these projects. Not differentiating in the conventional way between Halo or Lissajous orbits, a family of non-escape orbits around L2 has been classified solely by their property of neither falling towards the Earth nor to the sun within the limits of numerical precision of the initial conditions. The stable manifolds of some of the Lissajous orbits in this family (generally with large amplitudes) touch perigee conditions which can be naturally injected into by a launcher, e.g. a low perigee altitude, and specifically for ARIANE a line of apsides near the equator plane. Thus a 'free' transfer to some of these orbits which requires no manoeuvres after perigee, except stochastic orbit corrections, exists. Starting from the free transfers to the large amplitude non-escape orbits, transfers to small amplitude (e.g. maximum sun-spacecraft-earth angle below 10◦) have been constructed combining the linear theory for orbits in the restricted circular three body problem with the numerical algorithm. The linear theory defines directions of escape (e-term) and non-escape in the velocity subspace. Manoeuvres along the non-escape direction which are optimum in the linear theory to change the orbit amplitude, are numerically corrected along the escape direction. By the same approach also optimum eclipse avoidance strategies could be derived, which guarantee a mission of at least 6 years without eclipse with a manoeuvre of typically 15 m/s. The eclipse avoidance manoeuvres are performed during the last revolution before the eclipse occurs near one of the maximum amplitudes, and essentially revert the track of the motion in the plane orthogonal to the sun Earth line. Herschel and Planck will share a launcher, either an ARIANE 5 ESV (upper stage with delayed ignition after coast arc) or an ARIANE 5 ECA (cryogenic upper stage) launched from Kourou. Herschel will remain on the large amplitude orbit to which the launcher naturally delivers, whereas Planck will perform an amplitude reduction manoeuvre. GAIA will be launched by a Soyuz/Fregat launch from Baikonur, with or without lunar gravity assists and the necessary phasing orbits. In all cases the combination of the orbit amplitudes (in ecliptic and orthogonal to it) for a given size (maximum sun-spacecraft-Earth angle) and the initial phase in the orbit will depend on the launch date. Launch windows will be given. Finally the navigation and orbit maintenance aspects of the mission have been studied for the transfer and for the phase in the Lissajous orbit comparing several maintenance strategies. The preferred strategy is using a constant manoeuvre direction (along the escape line in the linear theory) which allows a dedicated spacecraft design.


Different chest deformations are accompanied by appearance of asbestos-like fibrills in pericellular matrix, development of significant lipid and carbohydrate chondrocyte dystrophy, irreversible changes in their majority. Anomalous accumulation of intermediate filaments, lipid and glycogen, may substitute the cytoplasm organells in Marfan's syndrome. Pathologic disturbances of costal cartilage, connected with ultrastructural changes of chondrocytes, intercellular substance and extracellular matrix are morphologic substrate of different chest deformations.


Abstract Background Treatment with glucagon‐like peptide‐2 (GLP‐2) analogs improve intestinal adaptation in patients with short bowel syndrome–associated intestinal failure (SBS‐IF) and may reduce parenteral support requirements. Apraglutide is a novel, long‐acting GLP‐2 analog designed for once‐weekly dosing. This trial investigated the safety and efficacy of apraglutide in patients with SBS‐IF. Methods In this placebo‐controlled, double‐blind, randomized, crossover phase 2 trial, eight adults with SBS‐IF were treated with once‐weekly 5‐mg apraglutide doses and placebo for 4 weeks, followed by once‐weekly 10‐mg apraglutide doses for 4 weeks, with a washout period of 6–10 weeks between treatments. Safety was the primary end point. Secondary end points included changes from baseline in urine volume output compared with placebo, collected for 48 h before and after each treatment period. Results Common treatment‐related adverse events (AEs) were mild to moderate and included polyuria, decreased stoma output, stoma complications, decreased thirst, and edema. No serious AEs were considered to be related to apraglutide treatment. The safety profile was comparable for the lower and higher doses. Treatment with once‐weekly 5‐ and 10‐mg apraglutide doses significantly increased urine volume output by an adjusted mean of 714 ml/day (95% CI, 490–939; P < .05) and 795 ml/day (95% CI, 195–1394; P < .05), respectively, compared with placebo, with no significant differences between doses. Conclusions Once‐weekly apraglutide was well tolerated at both tested doses and significantly increased urine volume output, providing evidence for increased intestinal fluid absorption. A phase 3 trial is underway in adults with SBS‐IF.


The ABET process and purpose is very often one of the most misinterpreted notions in academia. While many people know the vision of ABET is to provide leadership in assuring quality and in stimulating innovation in the areas of applied science, computing, engineering, and technology education, they occasionally lose sight of the fact that this assurance resides within the quality of your own program. A common dilemma arises in how to properly showcase the quality of a program. Many programs have sailed successfully through previous ABET visits, but they find the newer process of outcomes-based accreditation somewhat overwhelming and do not know how to proceed. In addition, programs are uncertain of the best methods or tools to evaluate the level of achievement of expected outcomes for graduates. Information available on assessment methods will likely include terminology, such as direct and indirect methods, but the exact definition or implementation of these methods frequently causes great strife. Common questions include, "What is the best assessment method?", "How many assessment methods does an ABET evaluator want to see?", or even "How do you incorporate assessment methods?" The most common assessment method utilized by departments to gather data for ABET purposes would probably be the survey mechanism. Although easy to assemble and distribute, it is not always the best means for assessment in every particular case. The purpose of this paper is to assist both established and newer programs with determining methods to successfully navigate through the ABET process. Development and implementation factors will also be discussed. The authors are both from an established ABET department but are in the process of incorporating newer methods for their accreditation process. Both experienced and new personnel working with ABET programs will hopefully learn more about utilizing assessment methods effectively in their individual program.


Character recognition in scene images is one of the most fascinating and challenging areas of pattern recognition with various practical application potentials. It can contribute immensely to the advancement of an automation process and can improve the interface between man and machine in many applications. Some practical application potentials of character recognition system are: reading aid for the blind, traffic guidance systems, tour guide systems, location aware systems and many more. In this work, a novel method for recognizing basic Kannada characters in natural scene images is proposed. The proposed method uses zone wise horizontal and vertical profile based features of character images. The method works in two phases. During training, zone wise vertical and horizontal profile based features are extracted from training samples and neural network is trained. During testing, the test image is processed to obtain features and recognized using neural network classifier. The method has been evaluated on 490 Kannada character images captured from 2 Mega Pixels cameras on mobile phones at various sizes 240x320, 600x800 and 900x1200, which contains samples of different sizes, styles and with different degradations, and achieves an average recognition accuracy of 92%. The system is efficient and insensitive to the variations in size and font, noise, blur and other degradations.


Abstract At EN VII.6 1149a24-b3, Aristotle offers an argument for the conclusion that akrasia due to thumos is less shameful than akrasia due to epithumia. The reasoning in this argument is obscure, for Aristotle makes two claims in particular that are difficult to understand; first, that in some way thumos "hears" reason when it leads to akrasia, and second, that thumos responds to what it hears "as if having syllogized" to a conclusion about how to act. This paper argues that previous attempts to understand these two points have failed. It offers an account of the first difficult claim, but concludes there is not enough material in the text to determine what Aristotle means when he says thumos responds "as if having syllogized". Nevertheless, the paper ends by offering an account of this remark that is Aristotelian in inspiration, even though it admittedly goes beyond anything that can be gleaned from the text.


The research included trends in water temperature of the Danube River at
 Bogojevo gauge and surface air temperature at the nearby meteorological
 station Sombor, as well as an analysis of the results obtained in relation
 to the claims of the existence of the hiatus in global air temperature
 increase in the period 1998-2012. In the period 1961-2013, there was a
 statistically significant increase in the mean annual water temperature
 (0.039°C/year), as well as all the average monthly values. However, with
 annual values for the period 1998-2013, there was a decrease. The longest
 periods of negative trend (27 years) were recorded for January and February.
 A high correlation was found between the surface air temperature and water
 temperature for all monthly and seasonal values. In the mean annual air
 temperature the presence of the hiatus is not observed, but a negative trend
 is recorded in March (32 years), December (43 years) and February (49
 years). The highest correlations between water temperature and North
 Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), Arctic Oscillation (AO) and Atlantic
 Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) were obtained for the NAO in January (0.60),
 the AMO in autumn (0.52) and the NAO in winter (0.51). For surface air
 temperature, the highest correlations were registered for the AMO in summer
 (0.49) and the NAO in winter (0.42). The results indicate the dominant role
 of natural factors in the decrease of winter air temperature and water
 temperature of the Danube. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije,
 br. III47007]


Background: Plantar fasciitis is a common cause of heel pain, which often results in significant morbidity. There have been several treatment options that are used for plantar fasciitis, including nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, orthoses, physical therapy, and steroid injections. Objectives: The aim of this meta-analysis was to compare the effects of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and other treatments in patients with plantar fasciitis. Search methods: Medline, Web of Science, and Embase were systematically searched to identify relevant trials. Selection criteria: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared the effects of PRP and other treatments on plantar fasciitis were included. Data collection and analysis: The main outcomes included changes from baseline in visual analog scale (VAS) score, American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society Score (AOFAS), and Roles–Maudsley score (RMS). Results were expressed as weight mean difference (WMD) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI). The meta-analysis was performed using a fixed-effects or random-effects model according to heterogeneity. Main results: Ten RCTs involving a total of 445 patients with plantar fasciitis were included. Among these studies, 9 compared PRP with steroid, and 1 compared PRP with whole blood. Four studies were categorized as being at low risk of bias, and the remaining 6 as being at unclear risk of bias. Pooled estimates suggested that PRP had greater changes in VAS and AOFAS scores than other treatments. However, it had no benefit effect in the RMS. Subgroup analysis for VAS and AOFAS showed that PRP had superior effect than other treatments at 12 months, but not at the 1, 3, 6 months. Subgroup analysis based on treatment regimens demonstrated that PRP was more effective than steroid in the change from baseline in AOFAS, but not in VAS and RMS scores. Authors' conclusion: PRP was as effective as other treatments in reducing pain and improving function in patients with plantar fasciitis. Subgroup analysis indicated that PRP had better effect than steroid in AOFAS Score and its effect was durable in a long term. However, considering the potential limitations in this study, more large-scale RCTs are needed to confirm the current findings.


The initial training of secondary school teachers in Uruguay includes activities of observation and didactic analysis of classrooms in educational centers of this level, in face-to-face and mainly individual modalities. With the objective of enhancing and diversifying this training, the ongoing research proposed to make visible the perceptions of teachers and students, and to analyze the levels of reflection achieved, through the observation of lessons filmed in 360°, as well as the incorporation of class works that are asynchronous, virtual, interdisciplinary and in groups. The methodology was based on a qualitative design. It included six quasi-experimental instances where students (n = 61) were distributed in six groups, oriented by one or several teaching trainers (n = 8), and performed observation and didactic analysis of the film units in 360°. Data were collected through non-participant observation of quasi-experimental instances, content analysis of forums, e-mails and documents with student productions, as well as 39 surveys and 8 in-depth interviews to students and trainers. Both trainers and students that participated in this research favorably valued the resource as a complement to the current training modality, and expressed that it promotes didactic analysis and reflection. The film units fit the trainers' targets, the various work modalities and the diverse ways of learning. They found that both flexibility of training time and collaboration were fostered. Various levels of reflection were reached, although the deepest level was not attained. It is necessary to complete the study to understand the reasons for it. A website with an open repository with the film units (http://recyreap.cfe.edu.uy) was created, and a number of protocols designed by the team, which could serve as a guide for didactic analysis and reflection, are also offered.


Our aim is to rationally formulate a proper variational principle for dissipative (viscoplastic) solids in the presence of inertia forces. As a first step, a consistent linearization of the governing nonlinear partial differential equations (PDEs) is carried out. An additional set of complementary (adjoint) equations is then formed to recover an underlying variational structure for the augmented system of linearized balance laws. This makes it possible to introduce an incremental Lagrangian such that the linearized PDEs, including the complementary equations, become the Euler–Lagrange equations. Continuous groups of symmetries of the linearized PDEs are computed and an analysis is undertaken to identify the variational groups of symmetries of the linearized dissipative system. Application of Noether's theorem leads to the conservation laws (conserved currents) of motion corresponding to the variational symmetries. As a specific outcome, we exploit translational symmetries of the functional in the material space and recover, via Noether's theorem, an incremental J-integral for viscoplastic solids in the presence of inertia forces. Numerical demonstrations are provided through a two-dimensional plane strain numerical simulation of a compact tension specimen of annealed mild steel under dynamic loading.


As mankind continues to progress, a logical next step is the expansion into space. Independent space enterprises are developing capabilities to support: space tourism, space debris collection, low earth orbit (LEO) habitats, lunar visits, and temporary/permanent lunar habitats. The structure of the space market has created an industry structure such that activities are independent, are not coordinated, and do not consider leveraging adjacent capabilities. For example, insurance costs are determined based on individual capabilities and do not take into account synergies and liability mitigation to reduce risk from adjacent capabilities. This project evaluates the return on investment from coordination of activities to create "capability stepping-stones" from the five independent capabilities listed above to develop a lunar habitat. A decision support tool that utilizes discrete-event simulation was developed to estimate the ROI from alternate investment, direct operating, indirect costs, and revenues to determine cost, time, and risk thresholds to achieve ROI financial targets. This model is based on data from peer-reviewed government and industry sources such as DARPA, NASA, and the ESA and includes quarterly computation of Net Present Value (NPV). Data and inputs for the decision support tool were used where available. Trade-off analysis indicates the necessity of debris collection, and the importance of lowering launch costs on the development of space. One of the major factors achieved through capability stepping-stones is lowering of launch costs, insurance costs and reversal of the declining trend of LEO conditions. These results indicate an important role for international governance and collaboration between capability stepping-stones of the space-market place to maximize the


This is a position paper which discusses the concept of feedback, related theories and the application of feedback to library operations. It enumerates some specific strategies, by which feedback can be applied to library operations such as in collection development, library management/ administration, user satisfaction evaluation and the many benefits accruable from this application. It recommends the conscious adoption of feedback as a veritable evaluation strategy for libraries to enhance their performance in terms of resources and services. The paper is focused on academic libraries although its significance may have implications for other types of libraries.


Around 2016, the pixel detector of the CMS experiment will be upgraded. The amount of current that has to be provided to the front-end electronics is expected to increase by a factor of two. Since the space available for cables is limited, this would imply unacceptable power losses in the currently installed supply cables. Therefore it is foreseen to place DC-DC converters close to the front-end electronics, allowing the provision of power at higher voltages, thereby facilitating the supply of the required currents with the present cable plant. This conference report introduces the foreseen powering scheme of the pixel upgrade. For the first time, system tests have been conducted with pixel barrel sensor modules, radiation tolerant DC-DC converters and the full power supply chain of the pixel detector. In addition, studies of the stability of different powering schemes under various conditions are summarized. In particular the impact of large and fast load variations, which are related to the bunch structure of the LHC beam, has been studied.


Mobile phone data have been increasingly used over the past decade or more as a pretty reliable indicator of human mobility to measure population movements and the associated changes in terms of population presence and density at multiple spatial and temporal scales. However, given the fact mobile phone data are not available everywhere and are generally difficult to access and share, mostly because of commercial restrictions and privacy concerns, more readily available data with global coverage, such as night-time light (NTL) imagery, have been alternatively used as a proxy for population density changes due to population movements. This study further explores the potential to use NTL brightness as a short-term mobility metric by analysing the relationship between NTL and smartphone-based Google Aggregated Mobility Research Dataset (GAMRD) data across twelve African countries over two periods: 2018–2019 and 2020. The data were stratified by a measure of the degree of urbanisation, whereby the administrative units of each country were assigned to one of eight classes ranging from low-density rural to high-density urban. Results from the correlation analysis, between the NTL Sum of Lights (SoL) radiance values and three different GAMRD-based flow metrics calculated at the administrative unit level, showed significant differences in NTL-GAMRD correlation values across the eight rural/urban classes. The highest correlations were typically found in predominantly rural areas, suggesting that the use of NTL data as a mobility metric may be less reliable in predominantly urban settings. This is likely due to the brightness saturation and higher brightness stability within the latter, showing less of an effect than in rural or peri-urban areas of changes in brightness due to people leaving or arriving. Human mobility in 2020 (during COVID-19-related restrictions) was observed to be significantly different than in 2018–2019, resulting in a reduced NTL-GAMRD correlation strength, especially in urban settings, most probably because of the monthly NTL SoL radiance values remaining relatively similar in 2018–2019 and 2020 and the human mobility, especially in urban settings, significantly decreasing in 2020 with respect to the previous considered period. The use of NTL data on its own to assess monthly mobility and the associated fluctuations in population density was therefore shown to be promising in rural and peri-urban areas but problematic in urban settings.


Golf courses in coastal regions of northern California are often faced with severe injury caused by pacific shoot-gall nematodes (Anguina pacificae) on their annual bluegrass (Poa annua) host in putting greens. For years, fenamiphos was used for mitigating disease outbreaks until its registration was withdrawn in 2008. An alternative product containing azadirachtin was intended for nematode suppression. Still, it required repeated applications throughout the year with questionable efficacy, making attempts to lessen the impact of the pathogen costly. This study evaluated fluopyram as a novel nematicide for control of pacific shoot-gall disease. Various application frequencies and rates were tested at several golf courses affected by the nematode. Results revealed that fluopyram applied once at 0.22 lb/acre reduced the number of new shoot-galls and improved annual bluegrass appearance for several months. Increased rates and application frequency occasionally improved the efficacy further. Although the visual quality of turf treated with this plant protection compound was tremendously enhanced, and the number of new shoot-galls was reduced, rarely a significant effect was observed on the population density of several soil-dwelling plant-parasitic nematodes, including pacific shoot-gall nematode. It is hypothesized that fluopyram did not move significantly past the thatch layer and into the soil. However, it effectively reduced the ability of pacific shoot-gall nematode juveniles to induce new shoot galls. Due to its long half-life, it likely protected against both new nematode infections and dissemination of pacific shoot-gall nematode when the shoot-galls decomposed.


In the life cycle of a (+)-strand RNA plant virus the processes of template RNA recognition and initiation of the synthesis of a complementary strand by the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) are crucial early steps. Using a template-dependent in vitro RNA synthesizing system of alfalfa mosaic virus (AIMV) we were able to study the effect of small chemical modifications of the 3' end of the template RNAs on product formation. After oxidation of the 3'-terminal nucleoside of the template no products could be detected. Presumably, RNA synthesis was blocked at the stage of initiation, since the promoter of the RdRp is internal (A. C. Van der Kuyl et al., Virology 176, 346-354, 1990). Blocking was probably due to an irreversible binding of the enzyme to the 3' end of the modified RNA. Using this system it was shown that in template competition experiments the RdRp of AIMV displays a high specificity for its cognate template, either before or after the oxidation of the 3'-terminal nucleoside. From this it was concluded that periodate modification of the 3'-terminal nucleoside has little or no effect on template recognition. Furthermore, we showed that the viral coat protein, which forms a part of the viral polymerase (R. Quadt et al., Virology 182, 309-315, 1991), was not the main target involved in the inhibition of RNA synthesis.


Ionic self-assembled monolayers (ISAM) are a recently developed, revolutionary class of materials that allows detailed structural control at the molecular level combined with ease of manufacturing and low cost. The ISAM method involves the alternate dipping of a charged substrate into an aqueous solution of a cation followed by dipping in an aqueous solution of an anion at room temperature. Because the adsorption is based on the electrostatic attraction of interlayer charges, each layer is self-limiting in thickness and uniform at the molecular level. We have recently demonstrated through second-harmonic generation (SHG) measurements with fundamental wavelengths of 1064 and 1200 nm that the ISAM technique can produce a noncentrosymmetric arrangement of NLO chromophores to yield thin films with /spl chi//sup (2)/ values at least four times larger than that of quartz. The development of ISAM /spl chi//sup (2)/ thin films provides significant advantages over the production of organic /spl chi//sup (2)/ thin films by alternative methods. For example, ISAM films can exhibit long-term stability of /spl chi//sup (2)/ in contrast to electric field poling of glassy polymers, can provide thicker films (upwards of 10 /spl mu/m) than the Langmuir-Blodgett technique, and can be fabricated much more rapidly than covalent self-assembly methods.


Robison, in 1923 (22), suggested that phosphatase plays an important role in the formation of bone in the human body. He found a very active phosphatase in preparatory areas of ossification, and held that this enzyme hydrolyzed the phosphoric esters in the blood to bring about a local increase in the concentration of the phosphate ions. It was his theory that the solubility product of tertiary calcium phosphate was thereby exceeded, and that deposition of this salt therefore occurred in the ossifying zone.

Evidence has since accumulated, chiefly through the work of Robison and Kay and their associates, to strengthen this hypothesis and to make it the most satisfactory modern theory of the deposition of calcium salts in zones of ossification. It has been demonstrated: ( a ) that, in bones, deposition of calcium salts occurs in vitro in zones of preparatory ossification, in the periosteum, and in the regions occupied by the enlarged cartilage cells (23); ( b ) that small amounts of phosphoric esters, hydrolyzable by bone phosphatase, are present both in red blood corpuscles (15) and in blood plasma (18); ( c ) that membrane-bone as well as cartilage-bone synthesizes phosphatase while growing in tissue culture (7); ( d ) that phosphatase is not present in any cartilage prior to the appearance of a center of ossification (17); ( e ) that it fails to appear in non-ossifying cartilages such as Meckel's cartilage, rib cartilage, and tracheal cartilage (6, 7); ( f ) that the enzyme is found wherever active ossification is taking place, and is present in greatest amounts in bone at the time when the deposition of calcium salts is most active (17); ( g ) that the periosteum and the enlarged cartilage cells of the metaphysis of embryo and infant bones are very rich in phosphatase, while the epiphysis beyond the zone of active ossification is comparatively deficient in the enzyme (16, 17, 19).


Being typologically different, Russian and Bulgarian due to analytism and synthetism demonstrate differences in the functions of preposition used with noun forms and in case forms as well. If Russian prepositions reveal multiple meanings of a case form, whereas the basic meaning is carried by inflexion, in Bulgarian prepositions are indeed playing the major role in expressing case form meaning.


A country like Nigeria has a vast resource of untapped renewable energy potential. It has wind speed ranging up to 13.8 m/s in Jos (the best among the most promising wind potential locations). Unfortunately, these wind speeds are considered quite low when compared to an international market which designs for turbine rated speed far higher than Nigeria's average wind speeds, and the significant variance of the average wind speeds decreases their useful potential. The efficiency of the horizontal axis wind turbine decreases when it is not operating under design conditions, which indicate the need for the technology specific to the low wind speed conditions of Nigeria. Modification of wind turbine blade leading edge is one of the best ways known for boosting the operating angle of the blade for better performance at low wind speed. This research work involved Three-dimensional flow simulation of three-bladed wind turbine rotor at low wind speed by modifying the blades' leading edges (introducing sinusoidal bumps) using the Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model and pseudo transient for solution stability. The coefficients of performance investigated for the rotating wind turbine blades with leading-edge bumps and those with the smooth leading edge. The results show that the bumpy blade can perform better than the smooth one in the low wind speed condition even at a lower angle of attack (6 0 ); the bumps act as passive flow control devices.


This work reports the use of an Integrated-Computer Aided Software Engineering-Environment (I-CASE-E) tailored for real time applications modeling and preliminary code development of satellite flight software as a safety-critical system. The UML modeling of satellite flight software has been addressed by basic functions. An incremental software development, based in the 4+1 architectural views, can be effectively attained even at high-level models. This tends to contribute to a higher software quality and shorter and more predictable delivery cycles. A model-driven approach was taken, which supports round-trip engineering enabling model consistency and risk mitigation. To keep the approach general, the satellite under consideration has a 3-axis stabilized bus with a generic payload.


Many reversible watermarking solutions have been proposed since 1996: spread-spectrum approaches, circular interpretation on histogram approaches, lossless compression approaches, expansion approaches and histogram approaches. In this paper, we propose a solution whose embedding capacity goes beyond all those reversible schemes. For certain images, the reach payload of the proposed method is over 2 bpp. This solution is an improvement of the Coltuc reversible watermarking approach published in ICIP'2007.


This article presents a data distribution algorithm for data storage in a P2P storage system, named Us. One of the Us aims is data durability. For scalability, data are distributing on thin peers using the well known Rabin dispersal technique. Unlike other systems such as OceanStore, where data are distributed on server peers, data are distributed on end user peers. In Us, when a peer fails, a reconstruction process rebuilds lost data with help from others peers. In a previous works, we showed thatfor data durability such system has to face a continuous large number of reconstructions to insure data durability. To minimize end user traffic due to the reconstruction process, distribution strategies must take into account a new measure: the maximum disturbance cost ofa peer during the reconstruction process. The disturbance cost is indicated by the number of data communications which are requested from a single peerfor rebuilding lost data. The main goal ofthis article is to define algorithm able to dilute the reconstruction process in the system. We show that this problem is similar to an open mathematical problem. Hence a algorithm is defined in order to distribute data and minimize the maximum disturbance costfor each peer. Finally, we show that our distribution algorithm is close to the non-constructive theoretical optimal distribution.


We introduce the Partial View Heat Kernel (PVHK) descriptor, for the purpose of 3D object representation and recognition from partial views, assumed to be partial object surfaces under self occlusion. PVHK describes partial views in a geometrically meaningful way, i.e., by establishing a unique relation between the shape of the view and the descriptor. PVHK is also stable with respect to sensor noise and therefore adequate for sensors, such as the current active 3D cameras. Furthermore, PVHK takes full advantage of the dual 3D/RGB nature of current sensors and seamlessly incorporates appearance information onto the 3D information. We formally define the PVHK descriptor, discuss related work, provide evidence of the PVHK properties and validate them in three purposefully diverse datasets, and demonstrate its potential for recognition tasks.


The geometric structures, electronic and magnetic properties of the 3d transition metal doped clusters Pd12M (M = Sc—Ni) are studied using the semi-core pseudopots density functional theory. The groundstate geometric structure of the Pd12M cluster is probably of pseudoicosahedron. The Ih-Pd12M cluster has the most thermodynamic stability in five different symmetric isomers. The energy gap shows that Pd12M cluster is partly metallic. Both the absolutely predominant metal bond and very weak covalent bond might exist in the Pd12M cluster. The magnetic moment of Pd12M varies from 0 to 5 μB, implying that it has a potential application in new nanomaterials with tunable magnetic properties.


Radiotherapy is one of major cancer treatment, but radiation treatment could evoke resistance or side effects such as fibrosis. To overcome these obstacles against radiation treatment, many researchers are developing effective radiosensitizer. To develop a new radiosensitizer, we test whether luteolin has functions as a radiosensitizer candidate because previous studies already demonstrated luteolin could promote cancer cell death by reactive oxygen species (ROS) induction, and this phenomenon is one of main effects of radiation-induced cell death. Luteolin is 3′,4′,5,7-tetrahydroxyflavone, which could induce cell death of various cancer cells. We observed luteolin treatment could induce cell death of non-small cell lung cancer cells with independent manner of p53 and PTEN status, and combination treatment of radiation and luteolin enhance more cell death than those of radiation only or luteolin only treatment condition. Dose enhancement ratios of luteolin and radiation combination are 1.54 and 1.31 in NCI-H460 and NCI-H1299, respectively. Combined treatment with luteolin and radiation down-regulate Bcl-2 level and induce the phosphorylation of JNK and activation of caspase-3/9. ROS accumulation also was induced in combined condition of luteolin and radiations. In a xenograft assay, the combined luteolin and radiation group showed 27.2 days of growth delay versus the control in terms of tumor growth. The enhancement factor of this combined treatment was determined to be 3.2. Taken together, we conclude that luteolin contain role of radiosensitizer via promotion of cell death and ROS accumulation. Citation Format: Kwang-Chul Ahn, Jae Yeon Choi, Sang-Gu Hwang, Hong-Duck Um, Jong Kuk Park. Luteolin9s role as a radiosensitizer by promoting cell death and ROS modulation. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 4903. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-4903


This paper tests the pricing accuracy and the hedging performance of the stochastic volatility with random jumps model in markets extended to contain swap contracts whose payoffs depend on the realized higher moments of the state variable. Using a two-step iterative approach, latent model variables are first filtered and then used to estimate the model parameters. The tests on European options and variance swaps written on the S&P 500 index show superior pricing accuracies in-sample and out-of-sample and jump risk is priced. Hedging strategies involving higher-order moment swaps perform better across all moneyness and maturity classes.


This is the sixth in a series of articles (1) describing how to identify, assess, diagnose and strategically manage key medical group practice (MGP) stakeholders and (2) interpreting the results from the Facing the Uncertain Future (FUF) study. This article continues (from the previous article in this series) the discussion of the vital strategic stakeholder management process of choosing the most effective strategies for key stake holders based on two strategic priorities: reducing stakeholders potential for threat and enhancing their potential for cooperation. From this critical strategic priority-setting process. strategies are classified as either involving, collaborating, defending, or monitoring. Using data from the FUF project, four medical group practice (MCP) stakeholders are analyzed. These are the integrated delivery system/network (lDS/N) itself as well as its components: physicians, hospitals and managed care organizations (MCOs). The FUF project's MGP executive respondents believe these four stakeholders will be some of the most important MGP stakeholders in the year 2000. The FUF study was conducted jointly between the Center for Research in Ambulatory Health Care Administration (CRAHCA), the research and development arm of the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), Englewood. Colo., and The Institute for Management and Leadership Research (IMLR). College of Business Administration at Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas. MGMA s American College of Medical Practice Executives (ACMPE), faculty of Texas Tech University's Ph.D. and M.BA programs in Health Organization Management (HOM), and faculty from the University of Alabama at Birmingham collaborated on the project. Abbott Laboratories. Abbott Park. Ill., provided funding for the FUF project The administration of Round One was completed in the fall of 1994. The administration of Round Two was completed in the summer of 1995. Selected Round One (i.e.. health care experts) and Round Two (i.e., MGP executives) results have previously been presented in educational programs and publications.


Background Retro-hepatic inferior vena cava (RHIVC) injuries resulting from blunt or penetrating abdominal trauma are rare but devastating events that remain a considerable challenge to even the most experienced doctors, which continue to carry a considerable mortality. Aim To establish a better understanding of the management of RHIVC injuries and to identify any adjuncts or operative methods that were associated with an increased survival. Methods A systematic review of the MEDLINE database was conducted using Medical Search Headings and exploded keywords and phrases. Studies were screened and subjected to inclusion/exclusion criteria. Data were extracted in a methodical manner collecting population demographics, morbidity, mortality and operative intervention, where provided. Operative strategies were compared and discussed. Results An initial search identified 483 articles. Following duplicate removal and abstract screening, 85 full-text articles were assessed with 25 meeting the desired criteria and were, therefore, included in the systematic review. Key operative strategies and complications were identified and discussed. Conclusion The wide variety of operative interventions in the management of RHIVC liver injuries described attest to the increased efforts to improve outcomes. The overall improvement in mortality can be noted since the earlier descriptions reported mortality approaching 100% compared to the 52% reported in this review. An algorithm has been proposed based on these findings and our experiences for the management of RHIVC injuries.


The image processing is emerging discipline in several branches of science in this age of advanced and cheap computing facilities. Researchers in astronomy, electrical engineering, health andmedicine and also in statistics utilize image processing and its data analysis. This book is an excellent beginning place for such researchers to start. This is extremely well written book. The readers need to have some amount of background in mathematics to appreciate or understand the contents of the book. The book can be used in a graduate level one-semester course but the instructor has to develop exercise problems since the book contains none. The cogency, flow of concepts, readability, and illustrations are excellent. The theme of this book is illustrate how the theory is applied in real life applications. Statisticians ought to definitely read this book. There are nine chapters dealing the topics: wavelet transformation, multiresolution support with filtering, deconvolution, signals and data analysis, geometric registration, disparity analysis in remote sensing, image compression, object detection and point clustering, and multiscale vision models. There are three appendices with the title: variance stabilization, software information, and acronyms. The bibliography contains an excellent list of articles and books in image processing. In specific, the book describes well several basics such as data classification method, splitand-merge approaches, scale-space filtering, zero-crossing, several wavelet functions, pyramidal algorithms, erosion, dilation, opening, and noise modeling. In describing the noise in the images, the authors have used Gaussian, Poisson, Gaussian-Poisson mixture models. In my opinion, other noise models such as non-uniform, multiplicative types are illustrated enough. The sections on filtering is very good. The illustration of filtering noise includes Wiener-like filters, hierarchical filters, and adaptive filters. The entire chapter about deconvolution is thorough and well done. The statistical community will like the Chapter 4 describing signals and data analyses. In this chapter, a heavy use of time series techniques, simulations, estimation, multivariate statistics, regression, and neural networks takes place. In another interesting chapter about geometric registration, the authors well describe basic ideas of distortions, image correction, and pyramidal algorithms. I enjoyed reading this well written book. I strongly recommend this book for computational minded statisticians.


The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that a construction and use of an IT infrastructure based in a Data Warehouse and OLAP Technology can provide of a mechanism for data recuperation and data analysis faster and more reliable than current technology applied, and as fast and reliable as any other technology used for the same purpose. This IT infrastructure leads to immediate action taking and supports the decision making processes of company for continuous improvement.


Biological systems that can capture and store solar energy are rich in a variety of chemical functionalities, incorporating light-harvesting components, electron-transfer cofactors, and redox-active catalysts into one supramolecule. Any artificial mimic of such systems designed for solar fuels production will require the integration of complex subunits into a larger architecture. We present porous chalcogenide frameworks that can contain both immobilized redox-active Fe(4)S(4) clusters and light-harvesting photoredox dye molecules in close proximity. These multifunctional gels are shown to electrocatalytically reduce protons and carbon disulfide. In addition, incorporation of a photoredox agent into the chalcogels is shown to photochemically produce hydrogen. The gels have a high degree of synthetic flexibility, which should allow for a wide range of light-driven processes relevant to the production of solar fuels.