Advice-giving systems (AGSs), sometimes also called recommendation agents or recommender systems, are decision aids software that provide users personalized recommendations based on users' unique preferences or needs (Xiao and Benbasat, 2007; 2014). Due to their effectiveness in reducing users' information overload (Komiak and Benbasat, 2007) and facilitating users' decision-making process (Wang and Benbasat, 2008), AGSs have been considered as key influential factors of the success of online shopping websites in facilitating product customization and increasing revenue in ecommerce (Komiak and Benbasat 2006). First-generation AGSs generate advice by asking users to explicitly indicate their product attribute preferences or needs. Such systems are usually labelled as content-filtering recommendation agents (Wang and Benbasat, 2005) and provide users with recommendations that best meet their preferences. Users who rely on such advice-giving systems to make decisions need to have a clear idea about their needs, to spend effort in identifying them, and then expressing or conveying them to the AGS. In recent years, another kind of AGSs, what we will label as second-generation AGSs, have become increasingly popular. Examples of second-generation AGSs include recommendations that appear in the homepages of websites such as Amazon, eBay, and Netflix, and content/ad push in websites like Facebook and Twitter. Unlike first-generation AGSs which directly ask users to provide their inputs of needs, second-generation AGSs implicitly collect and identify users' information, such as users' demographic information, past browsing behaviors, purchase behaviors, relationships with other users (Briggs and Smyth, 2006; Zhou et al., 2012), etc., and use these information as the input for their advicegenerating process. In addition, compared to first-generation AGSs, second-generation AGSs employ more complex techniques to analyze data from a diverse set of input sources and generate advice for their users accordingly. Item-based collaborative filtering, an algorithm that generates advice similar to what users have adopted/bought before, and user-based collaborative filtering, an algorithm that offer users advice liked by other users who are similar to them, are basic techniques that support second-generation AGSs (Konstan and Riedl, 2012; Zhou et al., 2012). Based on these techniques, more advanced AGS models have already been suggested (Briggs and Smyth, 2006; O'Donovan and Smyth, 2005; Walter et al., 2008). For example, some researchers proposed a new kind of users-based collaborative filtering models that take into consideration the trust relationship among users (Zhou et al., 2012) to provide users with advice that are liked by other users whom they trust more. Due to the effective decision aids AGSs bring to website users, it is important for website managers to know how to maximize user adoption of their AGSs in order to attract more users and increase website profits. Trust, as a crucial influential factor in IT adoption, has been shown to have an influence on users' adoption of AGSs (Al-Natour et al., 2008; Komiak and Benbasat, 2006; Wang and Benbasat, 2005; 2008) and product purchase intentions (McKnight et al., 2002; Wang and Benbasat, 2007). UsTrust in Second-generation Advice-giving Systems Workshop on Designing User Assistance in Interactive Intelligent Systems, Portsmouth,UK, 2018 27 ers' trusts in AGSs can be influenced by a number of antecedents (for a summary, see Söllner, Benbasat, Gefen et al., 2016; Söllner and Leimeister, 2013). According to the framework developed by Wang and Benbasat (2008), we summarized the trust antecedents of AGSs, for both firstand secondgeneration ones that have already been studied in the existing literature, into six categories, namely dispositional reasons, institutional reasons, heuristic reasons, calculative reasons, interactive reasons, and knowledge-based reasons. Dispositional reasons include users' general predispositions to trust other parties. Institutional reasons include societal structures (e.g., legislation, rules, and third-party assurances) that people believe will make an environment trustworthy. Heuristic reasons include users' impressions of the website/e-vendor and users' past experiences with the system. Calculative reasons include users' perceived intelligence/efficiency/personalization of systems, users' privacy concerns, and users' perceived possibility/solutions of systems' mistakes/opportunistic behaviors. Interactive reasons include users' perceived control over systems, users' social presence, users' perceived ease of use, users' perceived similarity with systems, users' perceived adaptiveness of systems, users' decision confidence, etc. Knowledge-based reasons include explanations of how advice is generated/why AGSs ask certain questions. Over the past decade, users' trusts in first-generation AGSs have been thoroughly studied (Al‐Natour, et al., 2006; 2008; Komiak and Benbasat, 2006; Wang and Benbasat, 2005; 2007; etc.). However, our understanding of users' trusts in second-generation AGSs is in its infancy. Most of the existing research about second-generation AGSs are conducted from a technical perspective, focusing on how to design better algorithms in order to generate higher quality advice. Very few studies, the topics of which are related to users' perceptions on such systems, only roughly mention the potential trust risks due to the unique features of such systems and stay at the theoretical level. Hardly any empirical studies can be found in the literature. We argue for the necessity of studying users' trusts in secondgeneration AGSs because users may feel second-generation AGSs are less controllable and less transparent than first-generation ones due to the implicit elicitation of user needs and high complexity of advice-generating algorithms in second-generation AGSs. Accordingly, influential factors of users' trusts in second-generation AGSs may also be different from those in first-generation ones. Based on the literature, we picked out trust antecedents that were once studied in the context of second-generation AGSs. We found that researchers who studied trust antecedents of second-generation AGSs mainly focused on calculative reasons, interactive reasons, and know-based reasons. The trust antecedents they studied are either unique to second-generation AGSs or more important in the context of second-generation AGSs than that of first-generation AGSs. Accordingly, we proposed design suggestions for trustworthy second-generation AGSs. In order to increase users' trusts through affecting calculative reasons, we suggest that second-generation AGSs should be designed with intelligence high enough to keep bringing users "pleasant surprise" – recommendations that they have never thought of but will fall in love with at the first glimpse. We also suggest second-generation AGS designers to provide clear instructions about: a) what kind of user information they collect; b) when, how, and why they collect such information from users; and c) how they will use the collected information; and d) structural assurance that can ensure the privacy and security of users' input data. In order to increase users' trusts through affecting calculative reasons, we suggest designers create sufficient opportunities for users to provide feedbacks for previously generated advice to AGSs (e.g. whether users like the advice, why do users like/dislike the advice, etc.). In addition, we suggest designers create interfaces for human intervention when developing second-generation AGSs. In order to increase users' trusts through affecting knowledge-based reasons, we suggest designers indicate the input used for advice-generating process, use plain words to explain the complex advice-generating techniques, and avoid giving non-specific explanations such as "Here are recommendations for you". Our research makes contributions in both academic and practical field. Unlike existing research focusing on the design AGS algorithms, we studied trust, a crucial factor of successful adoptions of such AGS technologies. To the best of our knowledge, our research is one of the first to systematically study trust issues on second-generation AGSs in the IS field. As for practical contributions, this paper helps system designers better develop second-generation AGSs by proposing detailed design suggestions. Trust in Second-generation Advice-giving Systems Workshop on Designing User Assistance in Interactive Intelligent Systems, Portsmouth,UK, 2018 28


Trust, one of the most important elements of economic life, also contributes greatly to the stability of social life. In this respect, the degree of trust people feel towards each other deeply affects both economic and social life. The high perception of trust in society improves relations between individuals, thus contributing to the resolution of problems before they reach the legal and judicial level. However, such a high degree of confidence and perception, as in many societies, also not seen in Turkey. Therefore, disputes arising between individuals are mostly resolved in courts. Sales contracts are an important tool in measuring the perception of trust in the society. In a legal system, the more detailed the sales contracts are and the more detailed regulations are made against the negative situations that will arise as a result of the sales contract, it can be easily stated that the sense of trust in the society where that legal system is applied is also weak. Because the weakness of personal relationships between buyer and seller, and the decline in business and professional ethics show that individuals need the law and the protection provided by the laws rather than "promises". Considering the current legal regulations in Turkey, it is seen that sales contracts are arranged in a very detailed way. In this study, in the context of the responsibility arising from defective goods and the defective goods, which are frequently encountered in practice, the buyer's rights to demand repair and replacement are discussed.


Packaging signals ( pac1 and pac2) of human herpesviruses (HHVs) that contain GC-rich elements are essential for cleavage and packaging of the virus. Here, we report the presence of putative G-quadruplex sequences (PQSs) in the packaging signal ( pac1) of all HHVs. Importantly, the residues critical for the formation of G-quadruplex structures were highly conserved as compared to those not critical for the formation of this DNA secondary structure, indicating that G-quadruplexes are positively selected within pac1 in the evolution of herpesviruses. CD spectroscopy, NMR spectroscopy, native/denaturing gel, and DMS footprinting confirmed the formation of G-quadruplex structures in all pac1 PQS oligonucleotides analyzed; the majority of the PQS had the propensity to form intermolecular structures. The presence of highly conserved G-quadruplex motifs at genomic locations critical for virus packaging has not been previously recognized. Our findings provide a new perspective on the putative functions of G-quadruplexes in virus genomes.


Abstract Background Tumor-devitalized autografts treated with deep freezing, pasteurization, and irradiation are biological reconstruction methods after tumor excision for aggressive or malignant bone or soft tissue tumors that involve a major long bone. Tumor-devitalized autografts do not require a bone bank, they carry no risk of viral or bacterial disease transmission, they are associated with a smaller immunologic response, and they have a better shape and size match to the site in which they are implanted. However, they are associated with disadvantages as well; it is not possible to assess margins and tumor necrosis, the devitalized bone is not normal and has limited healing potential, and the biomechanical strength is decreased owing to processing and tumor-related bone loss. Because this technique is not used in many countries, there are few reports on the results of this procedure such as complications, graft survival, and limb function. Questions/purposes (1) What was the rate of complications such as fracture, nonunion, infection, or recurrence in a tumor-devitalized autograft treated with deep freezing, pasteurization, and irradiation, and what factors were associated with the complication? (2) What were the 5-year and 10-year grafted bone survival (free from graft bone removal) of the three methods used to devitalize a tumor-containing autograft, and what factors were associated with grafted bone survival? (3) What was the proportion of patients with union of the tumor-devitalized autograft and what factors were associated with union of the graft-host bone junction? (4) What was the limb function after the tumor-devitalized autograft, and what factors were related to favorable limb function? Methods This was a retrospective, multicenter, observational study that included data from 26 tertiary sarcoma centers affiliated with the Japanese Musculoskeletal Oncology Group. From January 1993 to December 2018, 494 patients with benign or malignant tumors of the long bones were treated with tumor-devitalized autografts (using deep freezing, pasteurization, or irradiation techniques). Patients who were treated with intercalary or composite (an osteoarticular autograft with a total joint arthroplasty) tumor-devitalized autografts and followed for at least 2 years were considered eligible for inclusion. Accordingly, 7% (37 of 494) of the patients were excluded because they died within 2 years; in 19% (96), an osteoarticular graft was used, and another 10% (51) were lost to follow-up or had incomplete datasets. We did not collect information on those who died or were lost to follow-up. Considering this, 63% of the patients (310 of 494) were included in the analysis. The median follow-up was 92 months (range 24 to 348 months), the median age was 27 years (range 4 to 84), and 48% (148 of 310) were female; freezing was performed for 47% (147) of patients, pasteurization for 29% (89), and irradiation for 24% (74). The primary endpoints of this study were the cumulative incidence rate of complications and the cumulative survival of grafted bone, assessed by the Kaplan-Meier method. We used the classification of complications and graft failures proposed by the International Society of Limb Salvage. Factors relating to complications and grafted autograft removal were analyzed. The secondary endpoints were the proportion of bony union and better limb function, evaluated by the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society score. Factors relating to bony union and limb function were also analyzed. Data were investigated in each center by a record review and transferred to Kanazawa University. Results The cumulative incidence rate of any complication was 42% at 5 years and 51% at 10 years. The most frequent complications were nonunion in 36 patients and infection in 34 patients. Long resection (≥ 15 cm) was associated with an increased risk of any complication based on the multivariate analyses (RR 1.8 [95% CI 1.3 to 2.5]; p < 0.01). There was no difference in the rate of complications among the three devitalizing methods. The cumulative graft survival rates were 87% at 5 years and 81% at 10 years. After controlling for potential confounding variables including sex, resection length, reconstruction type, procedure type, and chemotherapy, we found that long resection (≥ 15 cm) and composite reconstruction were associated with an increased risk of grafted autograft removal (RR 2.5 [95% CI 1.4 to 4.5]; p < 0.01 and RR 2.3 [95% CI 1.3 to 4.1]; p < 0.01). The pedicle freezing procedure showed better graft survival than the extracorporeal devitalizing procedures (94% versus 85% in 5 years; RR 3.1 [95% CI 1.1 to 9.0]; p = 0.03). No difference was observed in graft survival among the three devitalizing methods. Further, 78% (156 of 200 patients) of patients in the intercalary group and 87% (39 of 45 patients) of those in the composite group achieved primary union within 2 years. Male sex and the use of nonvascularized grafts were associated with an increased risk of nonunion (RR 2.8 [95% CI 1.3 to 6.1]; p < 0.01 and 0.28 [95% CI 0.1 to 1.0]; p = 0.04, respectively) in the intercalary group after controlling for confounding variables, including sex, site, chemotherapy, resection length, graft type, operation time, and fixation type. The median Musculoskeletal Tumor Society score was 83% (range 12% to 100%). After controlling for confounding variables including age, site, resection length, event occurrence, and graft removal, age younger than 40 years (RR 2.0 [95% CI 1.1 to 3.7]; p = 0.03), tibia (RR 6.9 [95% CI 2.7 to 17.5]; p < 0.01), femur (RR 4.8 [95% CI 1.9 to 11.7]; p < 0.01), no event (RR 2.2 [95% CI 1.1 to 4.5]; p = 0.03), and no graft removal (RR 2.9 [95% CI 1.2 to 7.3]; p = 0.03) were associated with an increased limb function. The composite graft was associated with decreased limb function (RR 0.4 [95% CI 0.2 to 0.7]; p < 0.01). Conclusion This multicenter study revealed that frozen, irradiated, and pasteurized tumor-bearing autografts had similar rates of complications and graft survival and all resulted in similar limb function. The recurrence rate was 10%; however, no tumor recurred with the devitalized autograft. The pedicle freezing procedure reduces the osteotomy site, which may contribute to better graft survival. Furthermore, tumor-devitalized autografts had reasonable survival and favorable limb function, which are comparable to findings reported for bone allografts. Overall, tumor-devitalized autografts are a useful option for biological reconstruction and are suitable for osteoblastic tumors or osteolytic tumors without severe loss of mechanical bone strength. Tumor-devitalized autografts could be considered when obtaining allografts is difficult and when a patient is unwilling to have a tumor prosthesis and allograft for various reasons such as cost or socioreligious reasons. Level of Evidence Level III, therapeutic study.


1 This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under grant No. 0725914. ABSTRACT The spectrum scarcity problem emerged in recent years. Spectrum access scheduling addresses challenges arising from spectrum sharing by interleaving the channel access among multiple wireless systems in a TDMA fashion. Different from cognitive radio approaches which are opportunistic and non-collaborative in general, spectrum access scheduling proactively structures and interleaves the channel access pattern of heterogeneous wireless systems, using collaborative designs by implementing a crucial architectural component – the base stations on software defined radios (SDRs). We discuss our system design choices for spectrum sharing from multiple perspectives, then present the mechanisms for spectrum sharing and coexistence of GPRS/WiMAX and GPRS/WiFi as use cases, respectively. Simulations were carried out to prove that spectrum access scheduling is an alternative, feasible and promising approach to the spectrum scarcity problem.


We present an analysis of errors contributing to the inaccuracy of aneroid altimeter observations under tropical conditions. Instrumental errors were investigated experimentally, while errors due to meterological factors were analyzed using an autocorrelation analysis of actual pressure observations. For an estimated accuracy of ±1.2 to ±2.5 m, it is recommended that a diurnal pressure variation be eliminated from the altimeter field readings and that measurements be restricted to 0500 to 1400 hours LST in the wet season and from 0500 to 1100 hours LST or 1500 to 1830 hours LST in the dry season.


Eighty-three patients with kyphosis of different etiology underwent operative correction. The results obtained in 65 of these patients after an average follow-up of 5.2 years are reported. The operative treatment produced regression of neurologic deficit in 63%, and most patients were relieved of their disabling preoperative pain. There were 3 cases of pseudoarthrosis and instrumentation failure. The four stages of operative treatment of kyphosis consist of: mobilizing osteotomy, correction, anterior and/or posterior fusion, stabilization without fusion (tumor). The indications for surgery and the choice of surgical technique are discussed. The importance of anterior fusion is emphasized.


Inhalation hazards are associated with potentially injurious exposure and increased risk for lung diseases, within the bauxite mining industry, especially for the smelter workers. Smoking is related to decreased lung function and leads to chronic lung diseases. This study had the objective to evaluate whether smoking is related to functional and radiographic respiratory changes in retired bauxite mining workers. Methods: This was a retrospective and cross-sectional study involving the analysis of database information of 140 retired bauxite mining workers from Poços de Caldas-MG evaluated at Worker's Health Reference Center and at the Social Security Brazilian National Institute, from July 1st, 2015 until June 30th, 2016. The workers were divided into three groups: non-smokers (n = 47), ex-smokers (n = 46), and smokers (n = 47). The data included: age, gender, spirometry results, and the presence or not of pulmonary pleural and/or parenchymal changes in chest radiographs. Chi-Squared test was used (p < 0,05). Results: In the smokers' group, 83% of spirometry tests and 64% of chest x-rays were altered. In the non-smokers' group, 19% of spirometry tests and 13% of chest xrays were altered. In the ex-smokers' group, 35% of spirometry tests and 30% of chest x-rays were altered. Most of the results were statistically significant. Results demonstrated a significant difference between smokers' and non-smokers' groups in regard to spirometric and radiographic pulmonary alterations. Ex-smokers' and nonsmokers' group demonstrated better results when compared to the smokers' group in relation to altered spirometry and radiograph findings. These data may contribute to planning strategies to enhance smoking cessation programs within the bauxite mining industry. Keywords—Bauxite mining, spirometry, chest radiography, smoking.


The experiment was conducted to study the development of ovary in quails' embryos which were incubated for 4 to 17 days and incubated out for 1 day. The quails' embryos or gonads were cut out and HE staining was carried out. The results showed that when embryo was hatched for 4 days, lots of primordial germ cells (PGCs) clustered in the region where gonad would be formed. On the 5th day of hatching, the gonad of the embryo began to be formed and exhibited the feature of ovary or testis. On the 7th hatching day, the right ovary began to degenerate, just a few PGCs began to differentiate into oogonia. On the 10th day, there were many oogonia in the ovary, some of which were surrounded by some other cells distributed like circles. On the 11th day, there were more oogonia, the skinniness became thicker while the medulla was thinner. On the 13th day, the division between skinniness and medulla was obvious and the ovary formed the early original ovum. On the 14th day, more original ovums were seen in the skinniness. On the 17th hatching day and on the 1st day of hatching out, the shape of ovary tended to be mature, also the ovum was clear and more; the medulla was full of vessels. On the 5th hatching day, gonad began to differentiate. On the 7th hatching day and later, the differentiation of gonad was obvious; the right ovary began to degenerate. On the 13th hatching day, early original ovum began to be formed in the skinniness of ovary. The results established groundwork for the research of the development of gonads of quail and other poultry.


The paper describes the formation of students' skills for the optimal development of monologic discourse in a foreign (Russian) language. The relevance of the work is based on the problems associated with the development of monologic discourse by foreign philology students who have a prior learning experience with the use of traditional teaching methods. The novelty of the study consists in the use of cataphoric means in teaching students monologic speech, where these means can indicate the development vector of actualized discourse. The proposed theoretical model has been verified under the conditions of a psycholinguistic laboratory experiment conducted at the A.S. Pushkin State Russian Language Institute, as well as in other universities.


Poor-risk germ-cell tumors are defined by the presence of high serum tumor marker and large tumor burden. The standard treatment of this group of patients is four cycles of a combination of bleomycin, etoposide and cisplatin followed by the surgical exeresis of residual disease. Neither cisplatin dose-intensification nor alternating chemotherapy protocols, high-dose induction protocols and high-dose consolidation regimens have demonstrated better results than the standard chemotherapy regimen. The salvage treatment of germ-cell tumors is a combination of vinblastine, ifosfamide and cisplatin followed by the surgical exeresis of residual disease. The role of high-dose consolidation chemotherapy is studied in an international randomized trial. However high-dose chemotherapy is inactive in refractory disease patients. Innovative trials are developed in this group of patients.


The decomposition mechanism of zinc ammine borohydride ([Zn(NH3)2][BH4]2) has been studied by density functional theory calculation. The release of B2H6 and BH3 is predicted to be kinetically and/or thermodynamically unfavorable for [Zn(NH3)2][BH4]2, in agreement with experimental results that no boranes were detected during decomposition. The climbing image nudged elastic band calculation and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations indicate the formation of NH3BH3 and B2H7– intermediates during decomposition of [Zn(NH3)2][BH4]2, which is different from that observed for other reported ammine metal borohydrides. The dehydrogenation occurs through reaction pathways involving transfer of hydrides from the Zn cation to BH4– or transfer of protons from NH3BH3 to NH3.


Nitric oxide (NO) is one of the most crucial products in the plasma-based nitrogen fixation process. In this work, in situ measurements were performed for quantifying the NO synthesis spatially in a warm air glow discharge, through the method of Mid-infrared quantum cascade laser absorption spectroscopy (QCL-AS). Two ro-vibrational transitions at 1900.076 cm−1 and 1900.517 cm−1 of the ground-state NO(X) were probed sensitively by the help of the wavelength modulation spectroscopy (WMS) approach to increase the signal/noise (S/N) level. The results show a decline trend of NO synthesis rate along the discharge channel from the cathode to the anode. However, from the point of energy efficiency, the cathode region is of significantly low energy efficiency of NO production. Severe disproportionality was found for the high energy consumption but low NO production in the region of cathode area, compared to that in the positive column zone. Further analysis demonstrates the high energy cost of NO production in the cathode region, is ascribed to the extremely high reduced electric field E/N therein not selectively preferable for the processes of vibrational excitation or dissociation of N2 and O2 molecules. This drags down the overall energy efficiency of NO synthesis by this typical warm air glow discharge, particularly for the ones with short electrode gaps. Limitations of further improving the energy cost of NO synthesis by variations of the discharge operation conditions, such as discharge current or airflow rate, imply other effective manners able to tune the energy delivery selectively to the NO formation process, are sorely needed.


To deal with the issue of tubular object segmentation, we propose a new model involving a non-local fitting term, in the Chan-Vese framework. This model aims at detecting objects whose intensities are not necessarily piecewise constant, or even composed of multiple piecewise constant regions. Our problem formulation exploits object sparsity in the image domain and a local ordering relationship between foreground and background. A continuous optimization scheme can then be efficiently considered in this context. This approach is validated on both synthetic and real retinal images. The nonlocal data fitting term is shown to be superior to the classical piecewise-constant model, robust to noise and to low contrast.


The ability of human beings to precisely recognize others intents is a significant mental activity in reasoning about actions, such as, what other people are doing and what they will do next. Recent research has revealed that human intents could be inferred by measuring human cognitive activities through heterogeneous body and brain sensors (e.g., sensors for detecting physiological signals like ECG, brain signals like EEG and IMU sensors like accelerometers and gyros etc.). In this proposal, we aim at developing a computational framework for enabling reliable and precise real-time human intent recognition by measuring human cognitive and physiological activities through the heterogeneous body and brain sensors for improving human machine interactions, and serving intentbased human activity prediction.


With the discovery that CCR5 is the critical protein required for infection by M-tropic HIV, has come huge research efforts, both in academia and industry, to try to exploit this finding. Thus, research advances in the fields of virology, structural protein chemistry, and receptor pharmacology have combined to add a new understanding to the process of HIV fusion and possible mechanisms to prevent HIV entry. This review will approach this field from a receptor pharmacology viewpoint and outline some concepts of receptor allosterism and protein-protein interaction which may be relevant to CCR5 blockade. Many of these ideas may be explored in a practical sense with the advent of new small molecule CCR5 inhibitors currently entering the clinic.


Messages in human conversations inherently convey emotions. The task of detecting emotions in textual conversations leads to a wide range of applications such as opinion mining in social networks. However, enabling machines to analyze emotions in conversations is challenging, partly because humans often rely on the context and commonsense knowledge to express emotions. In this paper, we address these challenges by proposing a Knowledge-Enriched Transformer (KET), where contextual utterances are interpreted using hierarchical self-attention and external commonsense knowledge is dynamically leveraged using a context-aware affective graph attention mechanism. Experiments on multiple textual conversation datasets demonstrate that both context and commonsense knowledge are consistently beneficial to the emotion detection performance. In addition, the experimental results show that our KET model outperforms the state-of-the-art models on most of the tested datasets in F1 score.


It is presented author"s approach to the structure of customer capital with the division of the resource and potential parts. The process of the diagnosis of customer capital based on evaluation of its components and the resource and potential parts is defined. It is proposed the matrix "resourcespotential" of the diagnosis of customer capital, based on it strategies of optimizing of customer capital management are defined.


Traditional knowledge, hereinafter TK, is a broad concept that is deeply rooted in the life of billions of people, especially within the indigenous communities that have developed it either in the North or in the South. TK has multiple manifestations in several fields, from medicinal uses of plants and herbs, to artistic creations. Bio-prospective activities during the 90 have brought the TK problematic to the international fora: the indigenous communities, South Governments, NGO's and some other groups have complained against the everlasting misappropriation of TK. Since genetic resources are scarce in the North, TK has been reaching increasing value for transnational companies and Universities research groups who have turned their interest to it as a critical source of their R+D projects to advance their business and academic agendas. This work addresses the problematic of TK as well as the Access to Genetic Resources and the benefit Sharing derived from it (hereinafter ABS). It intends to contribute to clarify some still obscure issues for Chile and to show some valuable international experiences to advance in the process of drafting a national strategy, policy and legislation to regulate the issues surrounding TK and AGR. The work calls for a collaborative approach between the main stakeholders to better achieve huge humanity challenges as fighting hunger and catastrophic diseases. The first part addresses the main concerns about TK from an international legal perspective, explaining different views and issues, some of them quite controversial. The second part brings up an interesting new approach to align conflicting interest in the international world, the so-called public-private partnership. The third part is an attempt to provide guidance to decision makers in Chile and eventually some other developing countries on how to face such a process having in mind the fulfillment of the principles and objectives surrounding TK and ABS. The work ends with some conclusions and thoughts regarding the matter.


This paper examines the accumulated weight of evidence in audit fee research. Research on factors related to audit fees has become more widespread in recent years, and there was a considerable upsurge in audit fee papers published subsequent to the data used in a recent meta-analysis. In this paper I use meta-analysis to accumulate statistical results from more recent published studies as well as the earlier studies and revisit the overall conclusions about the issues that are examined in audit fee research. The addition of audit fee studies from the more recent period shows that there is now evidence that audit fees are positively associated with internal control and with corporate governance. Evidence from previous studies regarding the audit fee premiums for Big 4 firms and industry specialist auditors, and about the positive relationship between non-audit services and audit fees is reinforced, although in each case there are issues regarding the underlying research that need to be addressed in future studies. The analysis also shows that longer audit tenure is associated with higher fees. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research.


The transcription factor Wilms' tumour gene 1 (WT1) is present in some primitive hematopoietic cells and is highly expressed in the majority of lymphoid and myeloid leukemias, suggesting a role for WT1 in leukemogenesis. Mutations within the WT1 gene are present in 10-15 % of patients with cytogenetically normal acute myeloid leukemias and may be an independent predictor of poor clinical outcome. The mutations are most often heterozygous frameshift mutations leading to premature termination of the reading frame and therefore deletion of the entire DNA-binding zinc-finger domain. We have investigated the cellular effects of mutant WT1 protein lacking all four zinc-fingers, WT1(delZ). We report that expression of WT1(delZ) prolongs the proliferation of human hematopoietic CD34+ progenitor cells in vitro. Moreover, WT1(delZ) transduced cells express erythroid markers, including hemoglobin and elevated STAT5 protein levels, in part independently of addition of erythropoietin. STAT5 was increased by a posttranscriptional mechanism. The erythroid phenotype was also observed at global gene expression level, where WT1(delZ) caused coordinated up-regulation of genes associated with erythroid maturation, as well as genes related to cell division, while monocytic and neutrophil genes were down modulated. Our results indicate that WT1(delZ) promotes cell proliferation and erythroid differentiation at the expense of monocytes and granulocytes. Citation Format: Karina Vidovic. Mutant Wilms9 tumor gene 1 devoid of zinc-fingers promotes proliferation of human hematopoietic progenitor cells in vitro . [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 775. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-775


To more accurately demonstrate how the electronic structure was changed by codoping TiO2 with N–Al and to explain the origin of the enhanced photocatalytic activity by N–Al-codoped TiO2, we investigated the electronic structures and microstructures of N monodoped, Al monodoped, and N–Al codoped anatase TiO2 by theoretical calculation and experiments. It was found that N monodoping and Al monodoping could effectively narrow the band gap. The effect was doubled when TiO2 was codoped with N and Al because the emergence of the N 2p state made the VBM move to a higher energy level and the emergence of the Al 3p state made the CBM move to a lower energy level in the system. Moreover, codoping of N and Al into TiO2 did not change the microstructures of TiO2 catalysts although it was proven that both N and Al atoms were codoped into TiO2. N and Al-codoped TiO2 displayed a higher crystallinity and a higher specific surface area than others. According to the results about the degradation rate and the dynamics of the catalysts, N–Al–TiO2 exhibited the best photocatalytic activity; this suggested that N and Al were combined to enhance the photocatalytic activity of TiO2.


This research was funded by Environment Canterbury, Avon-Heathcote Estuary Ihutai Trust,
Tertiary Education Commission and Lincoln University (as part of the Summer Studentship
Programme).


Diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) is based on the patient history, clinical examination and sleep study. Untreated OSAS increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases, traffic accidents, lost work days and mortality. Weight loss forms the basis of treatment in obese patients. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy is the treatment of choice in moderate/severe cases of OSAS. In selected cases, oral appliances or surgical treatment are of benefit.


Libraries have been long been endless sources of information for users. The face of libraries is changing as content is moving toward a digital platform and internet access is becoming more of human necessity than a privilege, which got influenced by technology. New technology has given rise to a new concept of modernization of academic libraries using digital technology and now going to become a part of daily work culture of under-developed the scenario. This paper also examines some of these challenges and opportunities in context to academic libraries. Digital library is an innovative technology to develop the learning and new required skills for professionals to cope with digital libraries.


The scope of this article is to analyse net neutrality. It starts by contextualizing internet's birth, its purposes, the main principles used on its design and how was the original architecture of that network, specially its modular structure and layers.Next, it describes some recent changes on the internet's structure, highlighting the monitoring and control of data packets, by accessing its headers or using a technology known as DPI (deep packet inspection), which allows the monitoring of the content of each packet, in order to discriminate between them. This part explains how this subject affects the life of billions of people, worldwide.Finally, the paper focuses on net neutrality, as the main legal response to the previously described problems, explaining how it derivate from the original design principles of internet, in order to support a conclusion that reconciles, at one side, free competition and investment strategies, and, at the other side, privacy, freedom of speech, innovation and internet users decision-making autonomy.


Felter offers a brief history of stamp art, from the FLUXUS mail art projects of the early 1960s to N.E. Thing Co.'s 1967 Centennial Project. Includes stamp works by 35 artists and 7 artist groups, categorized by country and year of issue.


An overview of recent theoretical progress to accurately describe non dissociative and dissociative ionization of molecules exposed to synchrotron radiation and ultrashort uv/xuv laser pulses is presented. The success of recent theoretical approaches rely on their ability to account for both the electronic and nuclear degrees of freedom. This is essential to describe the delicate interplay between the electronic motion and the molecule's vibration, especially in those cases where ionization occurs in a time scale comparable to that of the vibrational motion. Some of the most successful applications and the new physics that has emerged by comparing with recent kinematically complete experiments on H2 and D2 will be discussed.


Past studies of the spiral winding of the IMF have revealed an over winding relative to the Parker prediction that is evident in both the omnitape and Pioneer-Venus Orbiter data sets. An asymmetry between the winding of the northern and southern hemispheres is also observed. Both results are seen to be persistent over many years and statistically significant. Both results have implications for cosmic ray propagation in the heliosphere. There has been a suggestion in past analyses that the digression from the Parker prediction is greatest during times of heightened CME activity. We examine the possible role of CMEs in these past analyses by extracting CME observations from the ISEE-3 dataset and analyzing CME and undisturbed periods separately. We use the full ISEE-3 dataset representing the entire L1 mission (1978 1982). This coincides with a period in the solar cycle when CME activity was heightened. Preliminary results are suggestive that CMEs may be responsible for a significant portion of both the spiral angle overwinding and asymmetry. Possible implications for the high latitude fields and cosmic ray propagation will be reviewed in light of this analysis.


All human cultures seem to make music - today and through history. But why they do so, why music can excite deep passions, and how we make sense of musical sound at all are questions that have, until recently, remained profoundly mysterious. Now in "The Music Instinct" Philip Ball provides the first comprehensive, accessible survey of what is known - and what is still unknown - about how music works its magic, and why, as much as eating and sleeping, it seems indispensable to humanity. Even with what appear to be the simplest of tunes, the brain is performing some astonishing gymnastics: finding patterns and regularities, forming interpretations and expectations that create a sense of aesthetic pleasure. Without requiring any specialist knowledge of music or science, "The Music Instinct" explores how the latest research in music psychology and brain science is piecing together the puzzle of how our minds understand and respond to music. Ranging from Bach fugues to Javanese gamelan, from nursery rhymes to heavy rock, Philip Ball interweaves philosophy, mathematics, history and neurology to reveal why music moves us in so many ways. "The Music Instinct" will not only deepen your appreciation of the music you love, but will also guide you into pastures new, opening a window on music that once seemed alien, dull or daunting. And it offers a passionate plea for the importance of music in education and in everyday life, arguing that, whether we know it or not, we can all claim to be musical experts.


Proper generalized decomposition (PGD) is a new model order reduction (MOR) method based on the use of separated representations. In this work, PGD is applied on 3D capacitance extraction of interconnects in IC to reduce its computational complexity. To make the PGD solver feasible, the complex geometries are simplified by a characteristic function technique. 3D singular value decomposition (SVD) of the characteristic functions is avoided by a reformulation of the PGD algorithm. A numerical example is given to verify the method.


This study was conducted at Poultry Farm of Animal Resources Dept., College of Agriculture, University of AL-Qasim Green to investigate the effect of adding Lycopene to the ration in some blood traits of broiler Ross 308 . Use the 90 broiler chicks Ross 308 day-old were randomly assigned to three treatments (by 3 replicates per treatment 10 chicks per replicate),  and treatments were as follows : ( first treatment) without adding lycopene to the diet, add lycopene by 250 mg / kg feed (second treatment)  and add  lycopene by 500 mg / kg feed ( Third treatment) . Blood traits included in this study were red and white blood cell counts, hematocrit, hemoglobin concentration and differential leucocyte count . The results indicated that the addition of lycopene by 250 and 500 mg / kg feed to broiler diet led to a significant improvement) p<0.05( in red and white blood cell counts, hematocrit and  hemoglobin concentration and significant decrease) p<0.05  (in heterophil to lymphocyte ratio .It concluded from this experience, that the addition of lycopene by 250 and 500 mg / kg feed to the ration can lead to improve in some blood traits of the broiler . Keywords : lycopene , blood traits , broiler


Acting according to one's own internal goals is crucial to flexible behaviour. Clinical and lesion studies of patients with frontal lobe damage have demonstrated syndromes potentially resulting from deficits in the cognitive control system for internally-guided behaviours. Some patients can perform well on tasks that are well-constrained by the environment, including standard measures of IQ, yet show impairments in everyday life and laboratory equivalent ill-structured tasks that make planning and self-cueing demands. This thesis is concerned with the executive control of such tasks in the healthy population. Eight experimental studies are reported which consider the role of endogenous and exogenous cueing in prospective memory (PM) and multitasking. Experiments 1-4 integrated the two standard laboratory-based paradigms of task-switching and PM to assess the independence of processes involved in externally-cued task-switching and self-initiated (i.e. internally-generated) PM task switches. These experiments suggested that these two types of task switches are enabled by independent processes. Focusing only on PM, Experiments 5-6 manipulated the degree of internal cueing required by the PM task and analysed the effects on performance of the ongoing task. Participants exhibited poorer ongoing task performance in a time-based PM task without the presence of a clock (internally-cued) compared with PM tasks with stronger external cues (with a clock and event-based). The results support the view that the executive processes recruited for PM tasks reflect the demands made on internal control. In Experiments 7-8, individual * differences in internally-guided control processes were explored after development of an advanced multitasking test (AMT) for the healthy population. AMT performance correlated with some real-life outcome measures. The evidence in this thesis supports the suggestion that different executive processes are employed depending on the demand for internally- generated behaviour. Individual variation in the cognitive control system for internally- guided behaviour may relate to everyday functioning.


Magnetic silica-coated magnetite (Fe(3)O(4)) sub-microspheres with immobilized metal-affinity ligands are prepared for protein adsorption. First, magnetite sub-microspheres were synthesized by a hydrothermal method. Then silica was coated on the surface of Fe(3)O(4) particles using a sol-gel method to obtain magnetic silica sub-microspheres with core-shell morphology. Next, the trichloro(4-chloromethylphenyl) silane was immobilized on them, reacted with iminodiacetic acid (IDA), and charged with Cu(2+). The obtained magnetic silica sub-microspheres with immobilized Cu(2+) were applied for the absorption of bovine hemoglobin (BHb) and the removal of BHb from bovine blood. The size, morphology, and magnetic properties of the resulting magnetic micro(nano) spheres were investigated by using scanning microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The measurements showed that the magnetic sub-microspheres are spherical in shape, very uniform in size with a core-shell, and are almost superparamagnetic. The saturation magnetization of silica-coated magnetite (Fe(3)O(4)) sub-microspheres reached about 33 emu g(-1). Protein adsorption results showed that the sub-microspheres had a high adsorption capacity for BHb (418.6 mg g(-1)), low nonspecific adsorption, and good removal of BHb from bovine blood. This opens a novel route for future applications in removing abundant proteins in proteomic analysis.


Drosophila circadian behavior relies on the network of heterogeneous groups of clock neurons. Short -and long-range signaling within the pacemaker circuit coordinates molecular and neural rhythms of clock neurons to generate coherent behavioral output. The neurochemistry of circadian behavior is complex and remains incompletely understood. Here we demonstrate that the gaseous messenger nitric oxide (NO) is a signaling molecule linking circadian pacemaker to rhythmic locomotor activity. We show that two independent mutants lacking nitric oxide synthase (NOS) have severely disturbed locomotor behavior both in light-dark cycles and constant darkness, although molecular clocks in the main pacemaker neurons are unaffected. Behavioral phenotypes are due in part to the malformation of neurites of the main pacemaker neurons, s-LNvs. Using cell-type selective and stage-specific gain -and loss-of-function of NOS, we demonstrate that NO secreted from diverse cellular clusters non-cell-autonomously affect molecular and behavioral rhythms. We further identify glia as a major source of NO that regulates circadian locomotor output. These results reveal for the first time the critical role of NO signaling in the Drosophila circadian system and highlight the importance of neuro-glial interaction in the neural circuit output. Author summary Circadian rhythms are daily cycles of physiological and behavioral processes found in most plants and animals on our planet from cyanobacteria to humans. Circadian rhythms allow organisms to anticipate routine daily and annual changes of environmental conditions and efficiently adapt to them. Fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is an excellent model to study this phenomenon, as its versatile toolkit enables the study of genetic, molecular and neuronal mechanisms of rhythm generation. Here we report for the first time that gasotransmitter nitric oxide (NO) has a broad, multi-faceted impact on Drosophila circadian rhythms, which takes place both during the development and the adulthood. We also show that one of the important contributors of NO to circadian rhythms are glial cells. The second finding highlights that circadian rhythms of higher organisms are not simply controlled by the small number of pacemaker neurons but are generated by the system that consists of many different players, including glia.


A clinical case of stenosing cancer in the only lung lobe treated with endoscopic photodynamic therapy (PDT) in combination with argon-plasma coagulation (APC) is presented. Material and methods. A patient with central cancer of the left lung (pT2N0M0, st 1b) had a radical extended pneumonectomy on the left. In 28 months, central metachronous endobronchial cancer of the right main bronchus (cT1N0M0 stIA) developed. Histological examination revealed G2 squamous cell carcinoma. Because of bronchial stenosis in the only lung lobe, the patient was treated with endoscopic PDT followed by APC at the site of the tumor. Lakhta-Milon laser (Russia) with wavelength 662 nm, optical fibers having a microlens and a cylindrical diffuser 1.0 cm long were used for the treatment. Radiation power 500 mW, energy density 70 J/cm2. Three hours before PDT, the patient was injected intravenously and dropwise 100 mg of Photoditazine dissolved in 100 ml of physiological solution (ratio 1.2 mg per 1 kg of body weight). Irradiation was made from 3 positions: a flexible light guide with a microlens irradiated the upper lobe spur; then the tumor was irradiated with a light guide having a cylindrical diffuser via residual bronchial lumens. APC of the tumor was performed electrosurgically with device APC ERBE VIO 300D. ForcedCoag mode, power 80 W, argon flow rate 1 liter per minute. Results. One day after the first PDT session, dyspnea became gradually less; on day 6 the patient had the second PDT session by the same technique. After it, his condition improved, vital signs stabilized: shortness of breath and expiratory stridor decreased; respiratory rate – 22 per/min; heart rate – 94 beats/min; sat. O2 = 86%. Later, despite multiple courses of chemotherapy, the tumor was growing which required regular PDT-APC recanalization at 2–6-week intervals. Such a combined endoscopic treatment maintained a satisfactory quality of life in the patient for 1.5 years. Conclusion. PDT combined with APC can be used as an independent effective technique in antitumor therapy in patients with stenosing lung cancer when other surgical and chemoradial options are ineffective. It also significantly prolongs the life of patients.


Abstract:  Recent investigations into Permian aged floras from China have highlighted the widespread occurrence of callistophytalean pteridosperms that challenge previous understanding of their spatial and temporal distribution and diversity. In China, the group spans the Permian period and constitutes a distinctive but rare component in many peat‐forming environments. The stratigraphically earliest callistophytalean occurs in the Asselian‐Sakmarian stages with fossils from the Taiyuan Formation of northern China including ovules of Callospermarion undulatum in coal ball assemblages, and ovulate fronds of Norinosperma shanxiensis and synangiate fronds of Norinotheca shanxiensis in adpression assemblages. More abundant in the fossil records are adpression remains from the Roadian‐Wordian stages with the Lower Shihhotse Formation preserving abundant vegetative and ovulate remains of Emplectopteris triangularis that is now considered to represent a callistophytalean. The youngest callistophytalean recognised is from the Wuchaipingian‐Changhsingian stages with the Xuanwei Formation of southern China containing a single stem of Callistophyton boyssetii that provides indisputable evidence of the group in the lead up to the end‐Permian mass extinction. These accounts are augmented by analysis of pollen records that demonstrate the callistophytalean pollen genus Vesicaspora to be widespread through palynological assemblages from the Permian period in both North and South China, including the Upper Shihhotse Formation, Shihchienfeng Group, Xuanwei Formation, and possibly also in the mid‐Pennsylvanian Benxi Formation. Although macrofossil specimens are uncommon elements in the assemblages that contain them, they demonstrate the continuity of callistophytalean pteridosperms from the Pennsylvanian sub‐period into the early Guadalupian epoch of the Permian in North China and into the Lopingian epoch of the Permian in South China. Of the species present, both Callistophyton boyssetii and Callospermarion undulatum are known from the Pennsylvanian–earliest Permian age floras of Euramerica, whereas Norinosperma, Norinotheca and Emplectopteris appear to represent endemic Cathaysian elements. Results imply that callistophytalean pteridosperms can no longer be excluded from theories of post‐Carboniferous plant evolution and floristics, appearing to have played an important role in both Permian and Carboniferous aged plant communities. The presence of Vesicaspora in several formations from which macro‐remains have not been identified is a hopeful indicator that further callistophytalean pteridosperms are yet to be found.


One study was conducted to analyze the effect of perceived control over one's life on group perception. Participants were presented with abstract and exemplar information regarding a group of 100 lawyers and answered a questionnaire with questions regarding group perception and perceived control. Considering thatlack of control leads to effortful information seeking, it was expected, and found that participants who perceived less control over their lives perceived the group of lawyers in a less stereotypic and more variable way than participants who perceived more control overtheir lives. This result is in line with results showing that lack of control leads to increased perceived group variability. The role of motivation on group perceptionis discussed.


Global warming presents major challenges to the world and especially to hot climatic countries, as global warming-driven increases in outdoor temperatures consequently increase the demand for cooling energy in buildings. A country like Egypt, whose climate is classified as hot and arid, is facing major challenges to meet the required high demand for energy that is mainly consumed for space cooling purposes in buildings, which will worsen due to global warming. The residential sector in Egypt consumes almost 50% of the energy produced compared to other sectors, and the high demand of air-conditioning systems in the Egyptian residential sector contributes the most to this consumption of energy. Residential buildings in Egypt are built with minimal energy efficiency standards which makes vital the need for space cooling. Thus, the idea of enhancing the thermal behaviour of residential buildings in Egypt is essential to reduce the heavy burden on the energy sector due to cooling needs. Due to the country's geographical location, Egypt is considered a rich country in terms of availability of solar radiation, and this can encourage the utilisation of solar thermal energy for cooling purposes as a clean and renewable source of energy instead of using fossil fuels as is currently the case.This thesis addresses the challenge of reducing energy demand for cooling in the residential sector in Egypt alongside meeting that demand through utilisation of solar thermal cooling. A simulation model is developed to evaluate the cooling demand of typical current built dwellings in Egypt as affected by different energy efficiency measures that aim to enhance the thermal behaviour of dwellings and reduce cooling energy consumption. A further simulation model is developed of a solar thermal cooling system for application to Egyptian residences. The simulation models are verified with reference to experimental data gathered and presented in published works from the peer-reviewed literature. The verified models are then used to carry out parametric analyses for investigating the potential of implementing solar absorption cooling systems in typical Egyptian dwellings, the energy performance of which have been enhanced via a range of efficiency measures that include treatmentsII | A b s t r a c tto glazing (double, triple, and use of external shutters) and treatments to fabric (application of roof and wall insulation). Focussing on the two most common residential building types in Egypt (five storey houses and villa types), the most effective energy efficiency measures for cooling energy reduction are identified and recommendations are made for energy efficiency design and policy for dwellings in Egypt. The potential for utilising solar energy to thermally powered absorption cooling systems for Egyptian dwellings is also evaluated.Parametric analyses are conducted to determine suitable sizes of the main components of a solar absorption cooling system (solar collector field area, hot water storage tank volume and hot water flow rate) that is required to deliver cooling demand to a typical villa in Egypt.The results show that the solar absorption cooling system can offer a practical and feasible technical solution for reducing the high share of electricity consumption in the residential sector that arises from conventional air conditioning units. It is also shown that the proposed energy efficiency measures and the components of the solar absorption cooling system can fit within the free provided areas in these dwellings without the need for any extra land area to locate these components, this finding being important for urban design. The results also show that applying external shutters to windows of dwellings in Egypt offers the highest reduction in cooling energy compared to the base case of dwellings without energy efficiency measures.Findings from the thesis can be used to aid development of new sustainable communities that are being envisioned in Egypt (the Golden Triangle, the New Administrative Capital City and the Western Desert) away from the Nile River banks to spread-out the dense population. An example is devised and presented to illustrate how the outcomes in the thesis could be utilised to help inform future policy design by the Egyptian Government.


Ni-doped SnO nanocrystalline powders have been synthesized by the co-precipitation method from 2 SnCl .2H O and NiCl .6H O. Nanoparticles crystallize in lower temperature (350°C) and shorter time (2hours) 2 2 2 2 respect to other methods. The samples have been characterized by various advanced techniques such as, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The X-ray diffraction reveals that all samples are pure rutile-type tetragonal phase and the average particles size was observed to vary from 32 nm to 24 nm as the nickel content was increased, The TEM images confirms the size of tin oxide particles in nanoscale and VSM measurements indicate that Ni-doped samples have superparamagnetic properties and they are single-domain nanoparticles.


BACKGROUND
Hypermetabolic lesions of the striatum are rare. They usually involve autoimmunity and are associated with choreatic disorders such as Sydenham chorea, lupus, and the antiphospholipid antibody syndrome.

PATIENT
A 48-year-old woman was initially seen with a 1-year history of progressive changes in personality and attention. There were minor associated involuntary movements. Negative routine investigation results, including regular autoimmune serologies and magnetic resonance imaging, led to the diagnosis of a frontal dementia. Positron emission tomographic results demonstrated hypermetabolism in the left striatum. Western blot technique results demonstrated plasma antistriatal antibodies. Treatment with corticosteroids induced a resolution of her attentional deficits and a return of her personality to its premorbid state. The repeated positron emission tomographic scan results were near normal, and the titer of antistriatal antibodies was significantly reduced.

CONCLUSION
Autoimmune striatal dysfunction can initially appear with a clinical picture suggestive of a degenerative dementia. Recognition of the underlying etiology and treatment was possible because of abnormalities uncovered on positron emission tomographic images.


Although relatively rare compared to similar latitudes in the Pacific or Indian Oceans, massive coral colonies are present in the Tropical/Equatorial Southwestern Atlantic Ocean. However, detailed geochemical compositions of these corals are still largely unknown. In this work, we present growth rates, Sr/Ca, and U/Ca ratios of the coral colony (Siderastrea stellata) sampled at Rocas Atoll, off the Brazilian coast. These variables are primarily affected by sea surface temperature (SST) at seasonal scale, and by wind stress at interannual scale, these results represent a broad new finding. A lower significance at the interannual time scale between Sr/Ca and U/Ca with respect to SST is attributed to the low SST amplitude closed to Equator. An investigation on the dependence of coral growth rates with respect to the "cloud shading effect" promoted by the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) does not show significant influence. Additionally, rain seems to act on local geochemistry of Sr/Ca ratios and growth rate at the decadal scale.


Mobile cloud computing is an emerging field of research that aims to provide a platform on which intelligent and feature-rich applications are delivered to the user at any time and at anywhere. Computation offload between mobile and cloud plays a key role in this vision and ensures that the integration between mobile and cloud is both seamless and energy-efficient. In this thesis, we develop a suite of energy-aware workload offloading frameworks to accommodate the efficient execution of mobile workflows on a mobile cloud platform. We start by looking at two energy objectives of a mobile cloud platform. While the first objective aims at minimising the overall energy cost of the platform, the second objective aims at the longevity of the platform taking into account the residual battery power of each device. We construct optimisation models for both objectives and develop two efficient algorithms to approximate the optimal solution. According to simulation results, our greedy autonomous offload (GAO) algorithm is able to efficiently produce allocation schemes that are close to optimal. Next, we look at the task allocation problem from a workflow's perspective and develop energy-aware offloading strategies for time-constrained mobile workflows. We demonstrate the effect of software and hardware characteristics have over the offload-efficiency of mobile workflows with a workflow-oriented greedy autonomous offload (WGAO) algorithm, an extension to the GAO algorithm. Thirdly, we propose a novel network I-O model to describe the bandwidth dependencies and allocation problem in mobile networks. This model lays the foundation for further objective developments such as the cost-based and adaptive bandwidth allocation schemes which we also present in this thesis. Lastly, we apply a game theoretical approach to model the non-cooperative behaviour of mobile cloud applications that reside on the same device. Mixed-strategy Nash equilibrium is derived for the offload game which further quantifies the price of anarchy of the system.


The objective of this paper is to recover and highlite the constructive processes and the assembling of Chiloean wooden sea crafts, through the establishment of relationships between the design and digital specification for manufacturing of double curve roof, and traditional construction techniques of boats. The research is based on the exploration of digital constructive techniques, which integrate the design and the manufacturing systems of double curvature surfaces. By means of the reinterpretation of the constructive processes and the structural system of the Chiloean sea crafts.


Ozone depletions associated with solar proton events have now been observed in nine events: November 1969, January and September 1971, August 1972, June and August 1979, October 1981, and July and December 1982. Since the proton fluxes during these events are fairly well known from satellite observations, modelers have been able to compare model predictions with observations of ozone behavior during these events to test the validity of atmospheric photochemical models. Ozone decreases initially follow approximately their theoretically predicted behavior below about 45 km (where NOx is thought to cause the ozone decrease), but after about two weeks the observed decrease appears to be larger than the computed decrease. Above 45 km, where HOx is thought to cause the ozone decrease, the picture of model validity is not as clear. The observed ozone decreases between about 45 and 60 km are substantially more than that predicted by present photochemical models while between about 60 and 85 km the observed ozone decrease is approximately equal to that predicted. Future studies of solar proton events should include observations of both HOx and NOx species as well as ozone. These observations could then be compared to model predictions to verify other aspects of photochemical middle atmosphere models.


Background & objectives: Cancer is a major public health problem in many countries of the world. At the present time, cancer is the third leading cause of death in developing coun tries. The aim of this study was to determine of epidemiologic status and incidence rates of cancers in the patients above 15 years old in East Azerbaijan province , Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 3832 new cancer cases were obtained from cancer registries in East Azerbaijan province in 2012. Characteristics of all registered cancers (including age, sex, and etc) were collected in a special form. Then t he data were summarized and coded using the International Classification of Disease (ICD). Frequency, mean, standard deviation and 95% confidence interval of the study variables were calculated. Age standardized incidence rate was performed by direct method using the world standard population. The data was analyzed by SPSS 16 software. Results: Among 3832 cases, 2047(53.5%) were males and 1782 (46.5%) were females. The mean age and standard deviation of cancer incidence were 58.1 and 15.8 years, respectively. The overall incidence rate of all types of cancer in population was 132.5 in 100000 people per year. Among men, the highest frequency (263) of all cancers occurred in the 65 -69 age group but in women the highest (220) of them occurred in the 50 -54 age group. The highest incidence rate (813.3 per 100000) of cancers had occurred in men who were older than 85 years. While the highest (406.3 per 100000) of them in women had occurred in 70-74 years. The most common cancers among males and females were stomach (11.4%) and breast (30%), respectively. Histopathologically the most common cancers of stomach, breast and skin were adenocarcinoma, infiltrating duct carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma, respectively. Conclusion: According to the results, the most common cancers in East Azerbaijan province were breast and stomach, respectively. Therefore, comprehensive and complementary studies for recognizing relevant factors seem to be essential.


Gary McGraw interviews Virgil Gligor, a professor in Carnegie Mellon University's (CMU) Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He's also codirector of CyLab (www.cylab.cmu.edu). Gligor serves on Microsoft's Trusted Computing Academic Advisory Board and has consulted with Burroughs and IBM. Gligor has served on many government information security study groups and served on the National Research Council's Panel on Information Security.


Abstract The transport sector represents a vital component of national economies and has significant impacts on productivity and social welfare. In 2012, the transport sector in Europe was estimated to account for 3.7% of the European Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 5.1% for employment. Road transport proves to be the predominant mode for moving goods within Europe holding a share of approximately 45.8% in 2012 (in ton-kms). In Greece, the share of road freight transport is significantly higher (98%) indicating the importance of this sector for the Greek economy. To this end and considering the existing needs of road freight transport operators in Greece, the objective of this research is to establish an analytical and documented basis for estimating the operating cost of a truck on specific urban or national freight transport routes. To achieve this goal, an extended literature review has been conducted resulting in the identification of the main components comprising the total truck operating cost, which were then updated and validated through a series of personal interviews with selected road freight transport professionals. An excel-based application tool was also developed in order to facilitate operating cost estimates for different cases, through selection of the proper values of the relevant parameters. The resulting tool was used to analyse four test cases, which demonstrate the tool's usability and applicability. Results from this analysis have been also validated by industry experts and they reflect real-world transport scenarios.


ABSTRACT Fuels, such as diesel oil, can have a substantial impact on the microbial equilibrium of activated sludge and have a negative influence on work of wastewater treatment plant. The primary objective of the research was to examine the possibility of using the surfactants to improve pollutants biodegradation by bacteria from activated sludge. The results showed that the addition of rhamnolipids allows to increase the hydrocarbon biodegradation from 47% up to 75% in the cultures inoculated with the consortium. The saponins increased the degradation of diesel oil by the two isolated strains: from 27% to 43% for Alcaligenes sp. and from 44% to 64% for Pseudomonas sp. The addition of surfactants to the cultures growth with diesel oil caused a significant decrease of the surface charge for Alcaligenes strain in the presence of saponins, but not in other cases. The obtained results revealed the potential of natural surfactants to support hydrocarbon biodegradation in wastewater treatment plants.


Corrosion and erosion effects of cavitation are documented. Many research areas are covered, with the exception of turbines. Studies are presented on marine propellers, pumps, dams, and spillways. Space power systems are included. The discussions refer to bubble and microbubble investigations, concepts and theories of damage, scaling laws, mathematical models, numerical analysis, and computerized simulation. Studies are given of erosion prevention, hydroabrasive wear, metal and elastomeric surface protection, and raindrop resistance. Other topics are vibration, liquid-solid interfaces, viscoelasticity, dissolved and contained gases, and flow fields, such as cryogenic, liquid metal, and multiphase. Test equipment, methods, models, and findings are described. (This updated bibliography contains 144 abstracts, 10 of which are new entries to the previous edition.)


Modeling the isotropic ratios of precipitation in cold regions meets the problem of `switching` from the vapor-liquid transition to the vapor-ice transition at the oneset of snow formation. The one-dimensional model (mixed cloud isotopic model (MCIM)) described in this paper focuses on the fractionation of water isotopes in mixed clouds, where both liquid droplets and ice crystals can coexist for a given range of temperatures. This feature is linked to the existence of specific saturation conditions within the cloud, allowing droplets to evaporate while the water vapor condensates onto ice crystals. The isotopic composition of the different airborne phases and the precipitation is calculated throughout the condensation history of an isolated air mass moving over the Antarctic ice sheet. The results of the MCIM are compared to surface snow data both for the isotopic ratios and the deuterium excesses. The sensitivity of the model is compared to previous one-dimensional models. Our main result is that accounting specifically for the microphysics of mixed stratiform clouds (Bergeron-Findesein process) does not invalidate the results of earlier modeling studies.


Sol-gel derived coating of YBCO film is very attractive for low cost as well as the ease of scalability. Among them, TFA-MOD using metal trifluoroacetates helps avoid the formation of BaCO/sub 3/ in the film. But this process has difficulties in optimizing the humid atmosphere to remove HF from the Y-Ba-Cu-O-F systems. So, in this work, another approach to chemical solution without fluorinated precursor was investigated. To make homogeneous stable solution, at first, YBCO powders were synthesized from organic solution containing Y/sub 2/O/sub 3/, BaCO/sub 3/, and CuO powders followed by calcination in air. Dip coatings were carried out from the solution of calcined YBCO powder dissolved into a mixture of methanol and propionic acid on LaAlO/sub 3/ [100] substrates. The coated film was annealed by reduced oxygen partial pressure. Dense, homogeneous and biepitaxially grown YBCO films were obtained from dip coating with /spl sim/5 mm/s of drawing speed.


Aim: To determine the in vitro bactericidal activity of different chlorhexidine (CHX)-based commercial mouthwash products claiming different chlorhexidine concentrations under conditions similar to their use. Method: Bactericidal assays were performed using four major bacterial species implicated in periodontal disease: Fusobacterium nucleatum CIP101130, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans CIP 52.106T, Prevotella intermedia CIP 103607, and Porphyromonas gingivalis CIP 103683. Seven commercially available mouthwash products were chosen, each containing CHX digluconate (concentrations ranged from 0.1% to 0.2%) as the principle active ingredient. Assays were performed according to European guidelines for antiseptics (with modifications to mimic conditions of use) by exposing bacterial suspensions to the mouthwash solutions for 1 min ± 5 seconds at 32 ± 1°C in the presence of an interfering substance (artificial saliva). The log reduction in bacterial count was determined. Results: Five of the tested mouthwashes were defined as bactericidal to each of the four test strains (log reduction ≥ 5). However, two mouthwashes were not defined as bactericidal to all test strains (log reduction <5). In one case, a 0.12% CHX mouthwash was not bactericidal towards A. actinomycetemcomitans. In the other case, a 0.2% CHX mouthwash was not bactericidal towards two test strains, A. actinomycetemcomitans and P. intermedia. Conclusions: This study emphasizes that antimicrobial activity of CHX-based mouthwash products is not determined lonely by the CHX concentration, but by all the components of the formulation as a whole. Indeed, interactions between CHX and the different components, and not only alcohol, may affect antibacterial activity positively or negatively.


Editor – Chapman's excellent editorial on tuberculosis (TB) drug resistance is a salutary reminder that this is likely to be an increasing problem (Clin Med October 2008 pp 478–9). It does, however, beg the question as to how a clinician is to manage such cases. The problem with drug resistant TB is that it is still relatively uncommon. Individual clinicians will therefore have little experience in managing cases. To help this situation, the Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) Service has been established at the Cardiothoracic Centre in Liverpool and has been operational since 1 January 2008. The service has the support of the relevant professional bodies, including the British Infection Society, the Department of Health and the Health Protection Agency. Funding for this service has been provided by an unrestricted educational grant from Genus Pharmaceuticals. Essentially it is an electronically linked instant reaction expert group, which includes chest physicians, infectious disease physicians, paediatricians, public health specialists and microbiologists, who can give advice and direct management of cases across the country. It has already done so in some 26 cases from across the UK. By helping clinicians in the management of cases of drug resistant TB this national service offers our best hope in overcoming the increasing problem of drug resistance until new drugs become available. The Baltic states have operated a similar system for some years with good success in reducing their cases. The second function of the service is to collect data on all cases of multidrug resistant TB identified in the UK, with a view to developing a consensus on the most effective methods of treatment in this emerging area. The data collection will also help assess patient outcomes. The service can be contacted by email (firstname.lastname@example.com. uk) or by phone (0151 60


The purpose of this study is to predict qualified audit opinions by using discriminant, logit and C5.0 decision tree based on twelve financial ratios. The sample consists of 110 firm-years data that includes 55 qualified opinions firm-year observations and 55 unqualified opinions firm-year observations listed in the industry index of Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) for the period 2010-2013. The results show that the variables X10 (retained earnings to total assets) is the significantly most effective variables to identify audit opinions by all of the models used in the study. Other significant variables in the analysis are found to be X6 (equity to total liabilities), X5 (total liabilities to total assets), X12 (net income to equity), X9 (net income to total assets), X3 (Working capital to total assets), X7 (net sales to total assets). The classification results of the models indicate that C5.0 algorithm of decision tree has the greatest classification accuracy rate for explaining unqulified and qualified opinions of the firms, compared to discriminanat and logit models.


The stability of the zinc-blende structured MgS is studied using a constant pressure ab initio molecular dynamics technique. A phase transition into a rocksalt structure is observed through the simulation. The zinc-blende to rocksalt phase transformation proceeds via two rhombohedral intermediate phases within R3m (No:160) and (No:166) symmetries and does not involve any bond breaking. This mechanism is different from the previously observed mechanism in molecular dynamics simulations.


An integrated circuit for an optical transmitter has been designed in a standard digital 1.5-/spl mu/m CMOS technology. This production chip features a 50-MHz digital data scrambler, a trimmable temperature-compensated output current of between 50 and 80 mA, and switching times of <2 ns. Asynchronous speeds of over 200 Mb/s have been achieved. The design objectives of this integrated circuit as well as a detailed design description are given, followed by measured electrical and optical results.


Real world decision making is rather complicated -either there are not adequate models or the models are too expensive to derive. The paradigm of case-based reasoning (CBR) of matching new problems to "cases" from a historical database and then adapting successful solutions available from the past to current situations seems to be useful. In this paper we propose to apply intuitionistic fuzzy sets in case-based reasoning. We address in details one but very important problem one inevitably meets when coping with the central tasks of CBR -the calculation of distances (that represent in our paper a similarity) between intuitionistic fuzzy sets. Distances are indispensable, e.g., when concluding about the similarity of cases. We give reasons for using an extended definition of distances for intuitionistic fuzzy sets. It means not only a correct approach from the point of view of fulfilling some mathematical properties but also from the point of view of effective and efficient decision making -i.e., the way making it possible to properly use all the relevant information available. We also discuss incorrect approaches leading to jumping to conclusions.


The subject of this thesis is derived from the scientific problem of the encounter between history and politics. The aim is to analyse the Sweden Democrats' use of history which manifests itself in their political rhetoric. Specifically, the importance of their interest in history in their struggle to attain dominance over the interpretation and arrangement of Swedish history as a whole. My primary sources consist of the party's official magazine, election manifestos, and party programs. I approach these sources from a hermeneutic perspective and analyse the structure of their national narrative with the principal aim of understanding the power of attraction the party holds for its members and voters. In the analysis, I show how the Sweden Democrats employ existential, ideological, and political-pedagogical uses of history; how their interpretation of Swedish history is anchored in the works and historical culture of practicing historians during the turn of the twentieth century; how changes in which concepts dominates their narrative over time has led to a shift from emphasis on the grand heroes from the past to references to "Folkhemmet" (Peoples Home), as being the most important symbol of the unicity in Swedish history; how the structure of their narrative creates connections and parallels between past, present and future; and that the Sweden Democrats are conscious of the products within Swedish historical culture which have been, and still are, successfully used to maintain an active historical consciousness. Subsequently, I infer that the conclusion of their narrative is that Sweden is disintegrating into a country divided against itself, due to excessive immigration and the crumbling of the once successful welfare state. The moral of their narrative is that the only way to restore Sweden to glory is to return to the social order which prevailed during the middle of the twentieth century. (Less)


The target ferrocene-labeled dideoxynucleotide compound 5-[N-(beta-ferrocenyl-propanoyl)3-amino-propyn-1-yl]-2',3'-dideoxyuridine 5'-triphosphate, Fc-ddUTP, was synthesized and tested with terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase for enzymatic 3'-redox-active end-labeling of 5'-phosphorylated single-stranded oligodeoxynucleotides. Starting from readily available 5-iodouridine and 3-ferrocenylpropanoic acid, the synthetic strategy elaborated here follows a mild multistep route. Each step involves reliable methods, and all ferrocene intermediates can be easily purified. Enzymatic 3'-ferrocene end-labeling of 5'-phosphorylated oligonucleotides is remarkably efficient, and 3'-ferrocene-labeled oligonucleotides can thus be prepared in sufficient amounts for further use in surface modifications.


An edge detector based on the linear model is developed which utilizes the generalized likelihood ratio for statistical hypothesis testing. The detector is invariant to multiplicative changes in the gray-scale values of the image. Hence, thresholding based histogram segmentation is not required. The performance of this detector is analytically and experimentally compared to that of a gradient operator (Sobel) and is shown to have only a slightly poorer detection rate for a given false alarm rate.


Reaction rates of environmental processes occurring at hydrated mineral surfaces are in part controlled by the electrostatic potential that develops at the interface. This potential depends on the structure of exposed crystal faces as well as the pH and the type of ions and their interactions with these faces. Despite its importance, experimental methods for determining fundamental electrostatic properties of specific crystal faces such as the point of zero charge are few. Here we show that this information may be obtained from simple, cyclic potentiometric titration using a well-characterized single-crystal electrode exposing the face of interest. The method exploits the presence of a hysteresis loop in the titration measurements that allows the extraction of key electrostatic descriptors using the Maxwell construction. The approach is demonstrated for hematite (α-Fe(2)O(3)) (001), and thermodynamic proof is provided for the resulting estimate of its point of zero charge. Insight gained from this method will aid in predicting the fate of migrating contaminants, mineral growth/dissolution processes, and mineral-microbiological interactions and in testing surface complexation theories.


Previous research has described methods for monitoring unique oligosaccharides as indicators of adulteration of pure orange juice with undeclared sweeteners. Modifications are reported here that streamline the method for routine analysis of large numbers of samples. Sample preparation is faster and more efficient, allowing preparation of up to 24 samples at one time. Oligosaccharides are eluted isocratically at 30 degrees C, decreasing retention times and eliminating the need for column reequilibration between injections. Oligosaccharide profiles of commercially available sweeteners and fortified orange juice samples analyzed under the modified conditions demonstrate that the method reduces analysis time by > 50%, while at the same time improving resolution and maintaining established detection limits.


Polyacrylonitrile/lignin sulfonate (PAN/LS) blend fibers were spun via a wet spinning process. The fiber structure, mechanical properties and thermal stability of the precursor fibers were studied by FT-IR, SEM, tensile tester, and TG-DSC. Results indicated that there was no chemical crosslinking between PAN and LS during the process of wet spinning. PAN and LS had good compatibility in the blend fibers. LS could weaken the skin of the blend fibers and reduce the fiber structure defects. The increase of dope concentration could improve the fiber structure and mechanical properties. LS blending with PAN could reduce fiber weight loss in the thermal stabilization process, and most importantly the precursor fibers could be stabilized rapidly without fiber fusion. Through polymer blending and wet spinning, this study provided a promising way to prepare a precursor fiber for carbon fiber.


Sustainable forest management needs to address biodiversity conservation concerns. For that purpose, forest managers need models and indicators that may help evaluate the impact of management options on biodiversity under the uncertainty of climate change scenarios. In this research we explore the potential for designing mosaics of stand-level forest management models to address biodiversity conservation objectives on a broader landscape-level. Our approach integrates (i) an effective stand-level biodiversity indicator that reflect tree species composition, stand age, and understory coverage under divergent climate conditions; and (ii) linear programming optimization techniques to guide forest actors in seeing optimal forest practices to safeguard future biodiversity. Emphasis is on the efficiency and effectiveness of an approach to help assess the impact of forest management planning on biodiversity under scenarios of climate change. Results from a resource capability model are discussed for an application to a large-scale problem encompassing 14,765 ha, extending over a 90-years planning horizon and considering two local-climate scenarios. They highlight the potential of the approach to help assess the impact of both stand and landscape-level forest management models on biodiversity conservation goals. They demonstrate further that the approach provides insights about how climate change, timber demand and wildfire resistance may impact plans that target the optimization of biodiversity values. The set of optimized long-term solutions emphasizes a multifunctional forest that guarantees a desirable local level of biodiversity and resilience to wildfires, while providing a balanced production of wood over time at the landscape scale.


The first part of the Auger Engineering Radio Array, presentl y consisting of 21 radio-detection stations, has been installed in the surface detector array of the Pierre Au ger Observatory and in close proximity to the fluorescence detectors Coihueco and HEAT. In the coming years, the number of detection stations will grow to 160 units covering an area of almost 20 square kilometers. AERA is sensitive to radio emission from air showers with an energy threshold of 10 17 eV and is being used to study in detail the mechanisms responsible for radio emission in the VHF band. The design of AERA is based on results obtained from prototype setups, with which we investigated triggering methods and different hardware concepts. We present the first data from AERA, inclu ding AERA's first hybrid radio / particle detector events.


Androgen‐deprivation therapy (ADT) is prescribed with increasing frequency for men with prostate carcinoma. There is growing concern about the effects of such therapy on the skeleton. In the current review, the authors addressed the current research, diagnostic methods, and treatment recommendations for bone loss and osteoporosis in men with prostate carcinoma who received ADT.


We describe a novel technique of SPLICE (Stereo-based Piecewise Linear Compensation for Environments) for high performance robust speech recognition. It is an efficient noise reduction and channel distortion compensation technique that makes effective use of stereo training data. We present a new version of SPLICE using the minimum-mean-square-error decision, and describe an extension by training clusters of hidden Markov models (HMMs) with SPLICE processing. Comprehensive results using a Wall Street Journal large vocabulary recognition task and with a wide range of noise types demonstrate the superior performance of the SPLICE technique over that under noisy matched conditions (19% word error rate reduction). The new technique is also shown to consistently outperform the spectral-subtraction noise reduction technique, and is currently being integrated into the Microsoft MiPad, a new generation PDA prototype.


In this work, we describe a fast standardized molecular method for DNA sequencing assisted by capillary electrophoresis with a particular emphasis on bioinformatic approaches to avoid sequencing errors due to complex DNA regions. In this case, the method was applied on the human vascular adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM1) gene. VCAM1 sequence, in fact, shows many thermodynamically critical parameters such as very low GC content (30–40%), many nucleotide stack areas, i.e. hairpins, self‐complementary regions. With a traditional primer design approach it was difficult to design correct PCR oligonucleotides, thus sometimes, the chromatogram showed an illegible profile. By a strategy involving various bioinformatic tools (Mfold, Oligo, Highter), we investigated the role of the DNA‐folding analysis in the assistance of primer design for the DNA sequencing of fragments with high −ΔG stem‐loop regions. This new approach allowed us to sequence nine different VCAM1 regions each containing the respective exon. Our results, based on different DNA samples recruited from oral brushes taken from ten different subjects, identified four different SNPs (c.662–7C/T, c.1793–79A>G, c.2079C/T, c.2208A>G) with high reproducibility.


In wireless networks without nodes equipped with multiple antennas, cooperative Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) transmissions may be used to harness diversity gains. In general, diversity gains are larger if more nodes are involved in the transmission. However, a transmission policy that maximizes the diversity gain or throughput need not maximize the stability region, since queues at the nodes may grow while waiting for a sufficient number of nodes to become available. To address this issue, this paper develops a mechanism for maximizing the throughput while reducing the energy consumption and maintaining queue stability. We develop a sufficient condition that ensures the throughput optimality of a stable transmission policy and then use it to design a distributed, dynamic threshold based Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol for cooperative MIMO transmissions. The MAC protocol requires only limited local information for its operation. Simulation results are provided to evaluate the performance of the proposed protocol and compare it against regular point-to-point and existing cooperative MIMO MAC protocols. The results show that the proposed scheme can provide considerable gains in the throughput and energy savings compared to cooperative MIMO based on fixed number of cooperating nodes.


The communal grazing system is generally understood to have a low input, low output type of management. However, the actual inputs and outputs of the farmers are not well known and the farmers are often unaware of their problems. Although the causes of low calving percentage are well understood in commercial beef farming enterprises in South Africa, the same is not true for communal farming systems. The aim of this study was to determine the reproductive performance of beef cattle on a communal farming system in Jericho, North West Province. Ten farmers from five villages with a total of 265 cows and 13 bulls were purposively selected. The selection criteria were that each farmer had to have a minimum of 10 breeding cows and a bull and be willing to participate in the study. This was followed by a 12-month longitudinal study with monthly herd visits where cows were examined rectally and bulls (n = 13) were subjected to a single breeding soundness evaluation. The calving percentage was found to be 37.7%. This is lower than the recorded percentages for commercial beef cattle on extensive grazing. The factors playing a role in low calving percentage were ranked using field data. From this it appeared that failure of cows to become pregnant was the main cause of poor calving percentage as opposed of loss of calves through abortion or resorption. Sub-fertility of the bulls was found to be of great significance and it is proposed that this be included in extension messages and that bulls be fertility tested routinely. Poor body condition score of cows, mainly caused by poor management, was also considered to play a major role in reducing pregnancy rates. Infectious diseases like trichomonosis, campylobacteriosis and brucellosis played a much leser role than anticipated.