It has become an accepted fact that the issue of, "multidisciplinary practice," is the, "most important issue facing the legal profession today." Study committees have been and will be formed and report diverse conclusions. It now appears that reform and change will proceed in halting steps. In practical terms, however, the revolution in legal services known as, "MDP," is already here, at least as it relates to the corporate practice firm, albeit not in the form of the fully-integrated professional services firm. The real questions relate to how to harness this phenomenon in a manner that protects the public and preserves the core values of the legal profession, including competence, independence of professional judgment, protection of confidential client information, and loyalty to the client through the avoidance of conflicts of interest.As discussed in this article, given the inevitability of some form of multidisciplinary corporate practice, the most basic and important issues in this area concern the ownership and control of MDPs. I suggest that interested legal professionals devote considerable time and energy not merely to continuing discussions and debate over the propriety of multidisciplinary practice, but to actually preparing for and responding to the reality of it. Because multidisciplinary practice is actively being pursued as an alternative to traditional legal practice in the United States, an effective framework or guidelines for regulation and governance of MDPs must be created. The issues surrounding multidisciplinary practice are not intractable; the reaction of certain members and groups within the profession to multidisciplinary practice, however, has been.This article explores the use of several corporate governance concepts, including means of separating ownership from control, the retention of independent directors and the employment of oversight committees, in creating a workable framework for MDPs. In Part II, the article traces the development of the business, legal and regulatory landscape to the present, including the recent activities of the ABA Commission on Multidisciplinary Practice and the House of Delegates, the actions of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the states. In Part III, the article explores the use of corporate governance concepts and devices as a practical, partial solution to the MDP issue.


The velocity of ultrasonic waves has been measured in a number of gases at 25°C and for values of the ratio, ultrasonic frequency/pressure, ranging from 2 x 105 to 2 x 107 c s-1 atm-1. Dispersion, corresponding to a single vibrational relaxation process was shown by acetylene, CD3Br and hexafluoro-ethane; and, to a double relaxation process, by ethane. Incipient dispersion was shown by propane, ethyl chloride, ethyl fluoride and dimethyl ether. No dispersion was shown by 1.1-difluoro-ethane, n-butane, iso-butane, neo-pentane and ammonia. Correlation of these with previous results leads to the conclusion that: (а) For molecules with a distribution of fundamental frequencies, such that there is only a small gap between the lowest and the remaining frequencies, vibrational activation enters via the lowest mode and spreads rapidly to the other modes, giving rise to a single relaxation process involving the whole of the vibrational energy. The chief factors determining the probability of excitation of the lowest mode are its frequency and the presence or absence of hydrogen atoms in the molecule. Molecules containing two or more hydrogen atoms suffer translational-vibrational energy transfer very much more easily than other molecules. Deuterium has almost the same effect as hydrogen. (b) For molecules, in which there is a large gap between the lowest and the remaining fundamental frequencies, a double relaxation process occurs. The complex energy transfer probabilities involved do not fit the same quantitative functional relation with vibrational frequency as in (a) above. (c) Torsional oscillations due to hindered internal rotation behave similarly to other fundamental modes. For molecules in which there is a large gap between the torsional frequency and the other modes (e. g. ethane) a double relaxation process occurs as in (b). Where there is no such gap, vibrational energy enters all modes via the torsional mode as in (a).


An apparatus for consolidating fine grained materials under controlled conditions of total stress, pore fluid pressure and temperature is described and the variation in chemistry of pore fluid expelled during compaction from a montmorillonitic material at 40°C is reported. The decrease in concentration of dissolved salts in the pore fluid is related exponentially to the effective axial pressure.


This paper reviewed and discussed co-occurring medical and substance use disorders in persons with bipolar disorders and the effect of comorbidity in terms of hospitalization, outcomes of treatment, life time expectancy, independent living, and quality of life. Bipolar disorder is common, disabling and severe and persistent mental illness. It is one of the most severe disabling, heterogeneous and economically catastrophic medical disorders. The complexity of bipolar disorder is often caused by the presence of comorbid conditions. Medical and substance use comorbidities are common among patients with bipolar disorder, with an estimated prevalence of 60% and associated with complicated treatment increased time of hospital stay and increase risk of death. The life time expectancy of persons with bipolar disorder is shorter than general populations. Persons with bipolar disorder die roughly 7 years earlier than those without the disorder. Alcohol use disorders are particularly common among persons with bipolar disorder, with a lifetime prevalence of roughly 50%. It is estimated that comorbid medical disorders occurs in 67% of persons with Bipolar disorder, of which most of them remain undetected.


The identification of Glossiphoniidae species is often confusing due to the lack of both morphological and molecular data worldwide. The study aimed to identify the collected leech specimens from two endangered freshwater turtles, Chitra indica and Pangshura sylhetensis from northeast India. We generated DNA barcode sequences and estimated the genetic distances and phylogenetic relationship of the studied taxa with another 14 Glossiphoniidae genera (114 barcode sequences). The high genetic distinctiveness (17.9 to 26.3%) and distinct clustering in Neighbor-Joining (NJ) phylogeny, we identified the studied specimens as Glossiphoniidae sp. We assumed that the studied specimens might be a new member of Glossiphoniidae or an extant species without DNA information. Hence, the study recommends further sampling of leeches from the similar host as well as from same and various localities and also generates the molecular data to perceive the exact diversity. The aimed study is also helpful to encourage the awareness and conservation management of freshwater turtles and other threatened animals.


The thermodynamics and acoustics of a fixed-cycle, bypass ratio 3 supersonic engine with an innovative noise suppression scheme is explored. The silencing method entails installation of variable turning vanes in the bypass exhaust of a separate-flow turbofan engine. During noise-sensitive segments of flight, the vanes impart a slight downward tilt to the bypass plume relative to the core plume, thus thickening the bypass stream on the underside of the jet. This results in a reduction of the convective Mach number of instability waves that produce intense downward sound radiation. Subscale experiments show that, relative to the mixed-flow exhaust, the coaxial separate-flow exhaust with vanes reduces the peak overall sound pressure level by 8 dB and the effective perceived noise level by 7 dB. The noise-equivalent specific thrust on takeoff is reduced from 490 to 390 m/s. Compared to a current-generation low-bypass turbofan engine, the bypass ratio 3 engine is estimated to be 13 dB quieter with the mixed-flow exhaust and 20 dB quieter with the aforementioned suppression scheme. The vane configuration of this study is estimated to cause a thrust loss of 1% at takeoff and 0.25% at supersonic cruise.


This article examines whether individuals' higher moral values stemming from higher religiosity lead to higher institutional quality at the country level. Based on the data from World Values Survey (WVS, 1980-2014) with 343,440 respondents, the results indicate that higher religiosity is associated with lower justifiability of corrupt behavior such as cheating on taxes, receiving false government benefits, and taking bribes. However, at the level of 98 countries from which the respondents in the WVS stem, higher religiosity seems to have an adverse effect on institutional quality as measured in corruption control, executive constraints, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, and the rule of law. Therefore, higher religiosity and moral standards at the respondent level may not translate into higher institutional quality at the country level. We discuss possible reasons for this discrepancy.


We investigate the cascaded emission of photons from low-density InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots grown by metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy that are intentionally redshifted toward telecommunication wavelengths. We observe multiple radiative cascades within a single quantum dot and attribute these to neutral and charged excited configurations. The corresponding transitions are identified by combining microphotoluminescence and photon correlation measurements. Full-configuration interaction calculations further support the identification of the emission lines and provide additional information about the confinement of electron and hole wave functions. We apply a Monte Carlo simulation to estimate the effective spin scattering rates between excited triplet and singlet ground states of the negatively charged trion. These spin-flip processes directly affect the observed radiative cascade.


Non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for 85% of all lung cancers and is the most common cause of lung cancer death. Currently, the epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor gefitinib is widely used for patients with advanced NSCLC. However, drug resistance is a major obstacle. Mig-6 is a feedback inhibitor of EGFR and its down-stream pathway; it has been shown to play a role in gefitinib sensitivity. There is neither systematical research on the relationship between Mig-6 expression and gefitinib sensitivity, nor has the contribution of up-regulated Mig-6 on the gefitinib-resistant cell lines. In the present work, four NSCLC cell lines (H1299, A549, PC-9, and PC-9/AB11) with different sensitivities to gefitinib were subjected to analysis of the expression of Mig-6. We found that Mig-6 is over-expressed in gefitinib-sensitive NSCLC cell lines, but is low in gefitinib-resistant NSCLC cell lines. Further analysis revealed that over-expression of Mig-6 increased cell apoptosis and inhibited proliferation of gefitinib-resistant NSCLC cells treated with gefitinib, whereas lowering the expression of Mig-6 decreased cell apoptosis and promoted cell proliferation after treatment with gefitinib in gefitinib-sensitive NSCLC cell lines. These results suggest that Mig-6 is involved in mediating the response to gefitinib in NSCLC cell lines. Additionally we demonstrated that Mig-6 could reverse gefitinib resistance through inhibition of EGFR/ERK pathway in NSCLC cells. Our work uncovered that Mig-6 may be an effective therapeutic target in gefitinib-resistant lung cancer patients.


This article problematizes the relation between the cultural memory and the Gezi Park protests which took place in 2013 in İstanbul. With this aim, a sample of the literature as the source for the analysis were selected. The selection of the literary productions were made purposively in order to analyze the memory of the Gezi Park protests in connection with the general understanding of the cultural memory. The relevance of the literature to the role of memory in social protest was analyzed on the basis of the three dimensional model of the relation between memory and literature by considering the working of three aspects of mnemonic mimesis: prefiguration, configuration, and reconfiguration. Consequently, literature as the mimesis of memory was connected to the analysis of the cultural memory of social protest. It was argued that the cultural memory of the Gezi Park protests contributes to the repertoire of the memory of the social protests in novel ways.


Author(s): Brown, Hannah Krentler | Advisor(s): Darian-Smith, Eve; Brysk, Alison | Abstract: The central African region is currently experiencing massive conflict, much due to the emergence of violent non-state actors. Anti-state rebel militia groups, predominantly located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Central African Republic (CAR), regularly challenge the state's supposed monopoly of violence and engage in immense human rights abuses against civilian populations. Various efforts to address these atrocities have included global governance responses such as International Criminal Court indictments, United Nations peace accords, African Union treaties, bilateral peace talks, and the involvement of international and local civil society. Additionally, efforts to abate conflict comprise of various forms of intervention including military, economic, legal, and relief intervention. Also, upholding international law, including both human rights law and international humanitarian law, and the introduction of post-conflict management have worked to address militia groups in numerous ways with wide-ranging results. Issues involving sovereignty, weak states, international intervention, and neo-colonialism are all brought to the forefront when looking at rebel militia violence in this region. The questions then that this study seeks to answer are: What are some non-conventional issues present in conflict that must be addressed in order to realize long-term sustainable peace? What role does transitional justice, both at the local and international level, play in conflict resolution and peacebuilding? How can international actors work with local forces to respond in an effectively coordinated way to sexual and gender based violence, war crimes, and forced displacement?


The effect of different concentrations (0-20 LMR) of six pesticides on the aerobic growth of two yeast strains (Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Metschnikowia pulcherrima) was analysed. The penconazole was shown as the most efficient and its effect was then studied under fermentative conditions. Saccharomyces cerevisiae appeared very sensitive under aerobiosis while the fermentative cultures seemed poorly affected. On the opposite, Metschnikowia pulcherrima was poorly affected under aerobiosis but was severely affected under fermentative conditions. The yields as well as the reaction rates decreased when initial concentrations of penconazole were increased. At least, it was shown that both strains were able to adsorb a certain ratio of the pesticide; but the pesticide was not degraded. Also for an initial value greater than 2 LMR, the residual quantity of the pesticide was above the admitted level.


The purpose of the cultural elite members during soviet period was designated for the implementation of soviet indoctrination and legitimization of the regime. This task provided for those cultural elites not only the authority, symbolic capital and prestige among other societal groups, but also the strict mechanisms of control, censorship and public behavior. Even this model was valid for soviet Lithuania, the analysis of their relationship with the system in the late socialism reveals that local intellectuals and other cultural elite's members who were part of soviet cultural establishment transferred to the multi-edge relationship with the system. This article is an attempt to apply socio-political perspective analyzing soviet system. By observing the erosion of the system, the rise of ethnic and local interests and the digress of everyday life from official goals it is importantly to argue that during the period of late socialism local elites of cultural establishments diminished their participation in soviet indoctrination processes and made significant influences mobilizing the national identity. After the Brezhnev gained the power and especially after Prague Spring in 1968, there was a collective disappointment among many intellectuals regarding soviet values. When Brezhnev doctrine was introduced it was clear that ideology cannot be inter preted anymore and the status quo and dogmatism was the most preferable position for the political elite. In this context, the mainstream of local cultural elite responded to the decline of values and has changed their engagement to the soviet system, expanding their focus to ethnic traditions, local history and symbols and sharing their attitudes in informal networks, who often served for intellectuals as analogues of public spheres (concept of V. Klumbys, 2009). This perspective pays attention to the conditions of late socialism, when communist ideology was turned to dogmatic position and everyday life alongside with ideological rituals also reflected informal practices helping to solve shortages, avoiding strict control and gently bringing new ideas. By taking the case of soviet writers, several intellectuals circles could be identified and this deployment could be sustained as a reflection of the rest of cultural elite. These groups not maintained constructed different relationship with the system or national ideology, but also experienced the intensive struggle for the power in local cultural establishments. The group of ideologists gradually lost their influence to the group of conservatist, who in the 70–80 occupied main chairs in cultural institutions and who were more enthusiastic towards ethnic issues, but being a part of cultural nomenclatura they also found consensus with local party apparatchiks. Another part of cultural nomenclatura – ideologists could not also gained the public recognition as conservatists or the famous intellectuals from local intelligentsia circles (moderate writers), who have increased their authority for their talent and deep attachment to local and ethnic issues. Emphasizing the orientation to localism among conservatists and their close relations with the circles of moderate intellectuals under the conditions of late socialism, this article argues that significant part of cultural nomenclatura digressed from soviet indoctrination practices converting to the support of national ideology and accumulating the cultural capital, which has played important role in national revival in 90's.


Using the SPICE program the authors develop a thyristor model whose implementation is primarily based on standard catalogue characteristics of actual devices. The starting point is the two-transistor model, and parameter characterization is supported by analytical expressions derived from the Ebers-Moll integral charge approach of the transistor. It is noted that some limitations of previous models of the same type have been overcome. When included in the simulation of Morgan's converter, the proposed model has been found to agree well with experimental results. >


The results of comparative studies of feline viral rhinotracheitis virus for its culture properties in primary and continuous cell cultures of feline origin (FK, FK (subculture), CrFK, FS, CC-81, FC/Tg) are presented. It was found that viral rhinotracheitis virus replication, irrespective of the route of infection and the culture technique, was consistent and practically equal in susceptible cell cultures. The most pronounced cytopathic effect (more than 75% monolayer degeneration) was observed in all types of cell cultures in 48–72 hours of cultivation. However, the accumulation of feline viral rhinotracheitis virus Grand strain was highest when preliminary adsorption occurred within the specified period of time, monolayer cell cultures were infected with the virus at a dose of 5.5 lg TCID50/ml and roller bottle cultivated, and the рН of the medium was maintained at 7.0–7.4. Single freezing of the virus at a temperature of minus 60 degrees Celsius upon the completion of the cultivation cycle (during 60–72 hours) and its thawing were found to significantly increase the virus titre by 0.5 lg TCID50/ml.


Data regarding the use of corticosteroids for treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are conflicting. As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic progresses, more literature supporting the use of corticosteroids for COVID‐19 and non‐COVID‐19 ARDS have emerged. Glucocorticoids are proposed to attenuate the inflammatory response and prevent progression to the fibroproliferative phase of ARDS through their multiple mechanisms and anti‐inflammatory properties. The purpose of this systematic review was to comprehensively evaluate the literature surrounding corticosteroid use in ARDS (non‐COVID‐19 and COVID‐19) in addition to a narrative review of clinical considerations of corticosteroid use in these patient populations. OVID Medline and EMBASE were searched. Randomized controlled trials evaluating the use of corticosteroids for COVID‐19 and non‐COVID‐19 ARDS in adult patients on mortality outcomes were included. Risk of bias was assessed with the Risk of Bias 2.0 tool. There were 388 studies identified, 15 of which met the inclusion criteria that included a total of 8877 patients. The studies included in our review reported a mortality benefit in 6/15 (40%) studies with benefit being seen at varying time points of mortality follow‐up (ICU survival, hospital, and 28 and 60 days) in the COVID‐19 and non‐COVID‐19 ARDS studies. The two non‐COVID19 trials assessing lung injury score improvements found that corticosteroids led to significant improvements with corticosteroid use. The number of mechanical ventilation‐free days significantly were found to be increased with the use of corticosteroids in all four studies that assessed this outcome. Corticosteroids are associated with improvements in mortality and ventilator‐free days in critically ill patients with both COVID‐19 and non‐COVID‐19 ARDS, and evidence suggests their use should be encouraged in these settings. However, due to substantial differences in the corticosteroid regimens utilized in these trials, questions still remain regarding the optimal corticosteroid agent, dose, and duration in patients with ARDS.


We propose a multilayer medium with semiconductor quantum dot nano-structures as a defect layer for all-optical control of the 1.55 μm probe beam. The effect of the coupling field and incoherent pump on absorption and dispersion properties of the quantum dot defect layer is investigated. Depending on the intensity of the coupling field and rate of the incoherent pump field, the possibility of the absorption cancellation and even amplification are demonstrated. The optimum values of the coupling field intensity and incoherent pump field for complete transmission or amplification are obtained. The dynamical behavior of the structure is investigated, and the estimated switching time scales are about tens of picoseconds.


The Human Proteome Organization, or HUPO, was formed to promote research and large-scale analysis of the human proteome. By consolidating national proteome organizations into an international body, HUPO will coordinate international initiatives, biological resources, protocols, standards and data for studying the human proteome. HUPO has identified five key areas to advance study of the human proteome, specifically in bioinformatics, new technologies, the plasma proteome, cell models, and a public antibody initiative. Consideration of three major issue areas may help develop HUPO's strategy for human proteome study. First is the need to distinguish the value of high throughput platforms from discovery platforms in proteomics. Second is the importance for international planning on integrating both transcriptome and proteome data and databases. Last is that effects of the environment from chemical, physical, and biological exposures alter the expression and structure of the proteome, which become manifest in long-term adverse health effects and disease. Environmental health research stands to greatly benefit from the shared resources, data, and vision of the HUPO organization as a valuable resource in exploiting knowledge of the human proteome toward improving public health.


Abstract The Middle Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos medius is a highly specialised woodpecker inhabiting mature deciduous forests. The presence of large mature oaks Quercus sp. is a very important factor determining the species' presence and distribution. In Slovenia it is more common in the eastern part, where it inhabits mainly lowland flood-plain oak forests. In other parts of the country it is more localised, as is the case in western Slovenia, where small isolated populations were recently discovered. In this paper we present the currently known observations of Middle Spotted Woodpecker in the Karst region (W Slovenia), the results of the first systematic survey and the first documented breeding of the species in this area. The survey was carried out on the 20 of March 2016 in the wooded hills between the villages of Senožeče and Veliko polje. Using playback method we recorded a total of 8 territorial woodpeckers, confirming our initial expectations about the species' abundance in that area. Breeding was also confirmed in the hills of Senožeče, an active nest-hole was found on 23 Apr 2017. On 18 May 2017 at least 3 juveniles successfully left the nest. Middle Spotted Woodpeckers have recently been observed also in other oak woodlands across the Karst and nearby areas, especially outside the breeding season. These areas include Lipica, Bazovica, the Brkini hills and the Gorica Karst. From summer 2016 onwards several observations of Middle Spotted Woodpeckers have been reported from Lipica, involving up to four different individuals. Repeated sightings in this area and the presence of suitable habitat suggest a probable breeding. The increased number of data in western Slovenia during the last decade might be a consequence of more frequent field visits by ornithologists. Moreover, the presence of the Middle Spotted Woodpecker in this part of the country might be linked to the gradual spreading of forests and the maturing of oak stands already present here. In the above-mentioned areas, further investigations and systematic censuses are therefore needed in the coming springs.


The crude rice bran wax was obtained from M/S Bajaj rice mills, Gondia (MS) which was dark brown in color & contains nonwaxy impurities & fixed oil. After purification around 38gm wax obtained which was almost white, light in weight and non-sticky. No instances of skin irritation or sensitization symptoms such as edema / rending of the skin were observed on the skin of Albino rabbits even after 24 hrs. Therefore wax was nontoxic & safe to use in pharmaceutical preparations. In the present study the melting range of rice bran wax was found to be 78–840 which is higher, may reduce the diffusion of drug across the layers of skin. Therefore, in the present study efforts will be made later on to reduce the melting range by addition of low melting point fats like mango kernel fat (M.P. 34.7oC). Solubility studies reveal that the wax is soluble in organic solvents like chloroform & petroleum ether showing typical solubility properties of waxes. Refractive index of a compound gives an idea of purity of the compound & the refractive index of the test sample was found to be 1.44 at 70oc. Sap value of rice bran wax is 68 – 72. The acid value of rice bran wax is 12 – 14. The iodine value of rice bran wax is 9 – 11. From the above data the physicochemical properties of rice bran wax was found to be within the range of other waxes used in topical preparations. Therefore rice bran wax may be utilized as a base in topical preparations. Different topical formulations such as ointments (oleaginous, modified hydrophilic ointment and modified bellers ointment base) were formulated with purified rice bran wax and compared with simple ointment (control) and marketed formulation. All these formulations contain 2% diclofenac sodium. All the formulations were evaluated for p H rheological studies like apparent viscosity, spread ability and diclofenac sodium content. P H of all formulations was found to be 5.98 – 7.30, thus indicating the suitability for application on the skin. Diclofenac sodium content of all the formulations was found to be above 95% indicating the suitability of the method adopted for preparing the formulations. Shelf life and release of diclofenac sodium content in vivo study will be made further.


Posidonia oceanica, the dominant Mediterranean seagrass, has been historically described as a species typically growing on mobile substrates whose development requires precursor communities. During more than 10 years of direct observations, we noticed that P. oceanica seedlings were often firmly anchored to rocky reefs, even at exposed sites. Thus, we analysed the ultrastructural features of seedling root systems to identify specific traits that may represent adaptations for early seedling anchorage on rocky bottoms. Subapical sections of adventitious roots were obtained from 2-3 months old specimens collected in the field and were observed at SEM revealing an extensive coverage of adhesive root hairs with a maximum length of 2400 μm. Hairs were provided with an enlarged tips with a maximum width of 78.3 μm, which extended the contact area between the hair tip and the substrate. To test whether adhesive root hairs may facilitate P. oceanica seedlings establishment on rocky substrates, a manipulative experiment was performed. 360 seedlings were reared for 5 months in a land-based culture facility under simulated natural hydrodynamic conditions to identify suitable substrates for early seedling anchorage. Two main substrate features were investigated: firmness (i.e., sand vs. rock) and complexity (i.e., size of interstitial spaces between rocks). Anchorage was strongly influenced by substrate firmness and occurred only on rocks through adhesion by sticky root hairs. Percentage of anchored seedlings on rocks was as high as 89%. The minimum force required to dislodge plantlets attached to rocky substrates reached 23.8 N, which would potentially allow many plantlets to overcome winter storms in the field. The ability of rocky substrates to retain seedlings increased with their complexity. The interstitial spaces between rocks provided appropriate microsites for seedling settlement, as seeds were successfully retained and a suitable substrate for anchorage was available. Adhesive root hairs allowed fast and strong seedling anchorage to consolidated substrates when the root system was not yet developed. This mechanism could favour plant recruitment on rocky substrates with respect to mobile ones, in contrast with traditional paradigms. Such an adaptation leads to hypothesize a new microsite driven bottleneck in P. oceanica seedling survival linked to substrate features.


Jef Smith, director of social services for Kingston-upon-Thames, has been visiting various parts of the country to talk about joint finance with a range of local authority and health service practitioners. In the first of three articles he reports on issues posed in the London Borough of Lewisham.


At Manchester University medical students (n = 658) had more knowledge than law students (n = 245) about the hazards of smoking, were more convinced by the relevant evidence, and assessed the risk to health more highly. However, there was no significant difference in their smoking behaviour. Among medical students 61% were non-smokers, 10% ex-smokers, and 29% smokers, of whom three-fifths smoked regularly. During their training they were more likely to start smoking than to give it up, and more likely to increase their consumption than decrease it. Expansion of smoking occurred especially in the early years of the course, whereas the main increase in knowledge was in the clinical period. Students' knowledge and their opinion of the evidence were related to their stage of education, whereas their assessment of the risk was linked with their smoking behaviour. Expansion of smoking at medical school may be forestalled by providing information about the hazards as early as possible, although some smokers will continue the habit irrespective of knowledge.


The x-vector based deep neural network (DNN) embedding systems have demonstrated effectiveness for text-independent speaker verification. This paper presents a multi-task learning architecture for training the speaker embedding DNN, with the primary task of classifying the target speakers and the auxiliary task of reconstructing the higher-order statistics of the original input utterance. The proposed training strategy aggregates both the supervised and unsupervised learning into one framework to make the speaker embeddings more discriminative and robust. Experiments are carried out in the NIST SRE16 evaluation dataset and the VOiCES dataset. The results demonstrate that our proposed method outperform the original x-vector approach with very low additional complexity added.


The Comprehensive Assessment of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Processes (CompACT; Francis et al., 2016) is a recently developed measure of psychological flexibility (PF) possessing several advantages over other measures of PF, including multidimensional assessment and relative brevity. Unfortunately, previous psychometric evaluations of the CompACT have been limited by their use of exploratory factor analysis to assess dimensionality, coefficient α to assess reliability, and a lack of attention to measurement equivalence in assessing change over time. The present study used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and item factor analysis (IFA) to examine the dimensionality, factor-specific reliability, longitudinal measurement invariance, and construct validity of the CompACT items in a longitudinal online sample of U.S. adults (N = 523). Converging evidence across CFA and IFA confirmatory latent variable measurement models provides support for the reduction of the 23-item CompACT to a 15-item short form with a more stable factor structure, acceptable reliability over large ranges of its three latent factors, and measurement equivalence of its items in assessing latent change over time. Results also support the construct validity of the CompACT-15 items based on its relations with theoretically relevant measures. Overall, the CompACT-15 appears to be a psychometrically sound instrument with the potential to contribute to research and intervention efforts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).


Background
The experiences of residents who have communication difficulties such as dysphasia are largely absent from the literature.

Aim
To illuminate the everyday experiences of four residents with severe communication difficulties living in a residential care setting in the Netherlands.

Methodology & Methods
A collective case study methodology was used. Seventy-five hours of observation, interview and documentary data was gathered over six weeks. Alternative strategies of communication were developed to enable the co-creation of dialogue between participants and researcher. For example, a participant who could not talk used intentionally created artwork to share her ideas with the researcher.

Findings
Participants' daily experiences were characterised by struggling against the constraints of the residential setting: having to wait, having unmet needs, experiencing vulnerability and uncertainty. Participants' communication difficulties exacerbated these constraints. Their experiences of struggling were sometimes ameliorated by significant social contact with family or particular staff members, and engaging in enjoyable activities. Occasionally the experiences of enjoying the here-and-now, and being 'seen' as a person by the other, would create beautiful moments in which truly person centred engagement would occur. These moments were neither articulated nor recorded, and were thus invisible after they had occurred. Similarly, the experiences of struggling against the constraints were neither acknowledged nor recorded. Significant experiences in the lives of these four residents were therefore invisible to others. The unifying theme representing the participants' daily experiences was: That which goes unsaid.

Discussion
It was necessary to develop communication strategies which would by-pass the researcher's assumptions and enable participants to introduce their own ideas and opinions. This ongoing process of co-creation of dialogue required work from, and trust between, participants and researcher.

What is new?
• Expressly seeking the views of residents with communication difficulties
• Successfully using process consent with participants in this situation
• Using intentionally created artwork during data gathering in this context

What has regional, national or international relevance?
The findings indicate that people with communication difficulties may not receive optimal care in residential settings in the Netherlands. Methods are described which could be used by practitioners in their everyday work, and which show facilitators or practice developers how they can help carers to engage in more effective communication with this kind of resident. Additionally, this research contributes to the international discussion about ethical participation of vulnerable people in research.


A liberal economist friend of ours, for convenience let us call him Mr. L, recently wrote us a letter about various current and prospective problems of the American economy, from which we quote the following passage: Galbraith's new book [The Affluent Society] provides a very good argument which you can use—probably already are using—for socialism. The danger of serious depression is slight, and the question of income distribution is no longer vital for the great majority of people. But the use we make of our resources is raising increasingly acute problems. As Galbraith points out, there is a strong bias in our system toward the production of private consumer goods, no matter how frivolous, and away from public services. I argue that we could solve the problem without socialism in the sense of public ownership; you, of course, argue that we could but we won't. I'm not sure that the difference is very important. The main thing is to convince people that we need a shift to the public sector. I don't think any of us can predict the paths by which we will get there.This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.


Purpose Recently, functional MRI (fMRI) using word generation (WG) tasks has been shown to be effective for mapping the Chinese language–related brain areas. In clinical applications, however, patients' performance cannot be easily monitored during WG tasks. In this study, we evaluated the feasibility of a word choice (WC) paradigm in the clinical setting and compared the results with those from WG tasks. Method Intrasubject comparisons of fMRI with both WG and WC paradigms were performed on six normal human subjects and two tumor patients. Subject responses in the WC paradigm, based on semantic judgments, were recorded. Activation strength, extent, and laterality were evaluated and compared. Results Our results showed that fMRI with the WC paradigm evoked weaker neuronal activation than that with the WG paradigm in Chinese language–related brain areas. It was sufficient to reveal language laterality for clinical use, however. In addition, it resulted in less nonlanguage-specific brain activation. Conclusion Results from the patient data demonstrated strong evidence for the necessity of incorporating response monitoring during fMRI studies, which suggested that fMRI with the WC paradigm is more appropriate to be implemented for the prediction of Chinese language dominance in clinical environments.


SUMMARY: Extracts of Bacillus sphaericus NCTC 9602 catalysed the formation of meso-diaminopimelate from aspartic β-semialdehyde plus pyruvate, or from dihydrodipicolinate, even though no activities of tetrahydrodipicolinate acetylase (or succinylase) nor N-acetyl-(or N-succinyl-)LL-diaminopimelate deacylase nor diaminopimelate epimerase were found. However, meso-diaminopimelate D-dehydrogenase was present, and had very high activity at pH 7.5 in the direction of synthesis of meso-diaminopimelate from tetrahydrodipicolinate. A lysine-requiring mutant of B. sphaericus lacked diaminopimelate dehydrogenase, and this enzyme reappeared in a revertant that grew without lysine. Other lysine-requiring auxotrophs were defective in dihydrodipicolinate synthase or dihydrodipicolinate reductase or diaminopimelate decarboxylase, but had diaminopimelate dehydrogenase. Diaminopimelate dehydrogenase is not important in the assimilation of ammonia. Mutants that lack this enzyme or else cannot make one of its substrates (tetrahydrodipicolinate) still grow rapidly in minimal medium (plus 0.7 mM-L-lysine) containing ammonium chloride (36 mM) as the only major source of nitrogen. The wild-type grew with L-glutamine, but not with glutamate or lysine as sole source of nitrogen.


This paper proposes relational capability as a main driver of constructing inter-organizational collaboration networks. Based on social network theory and relational view li terature, three components of relational capability are constructed and implemented by an agent-based model. The components include organizational capability, structural capability, and trust between a partner and a focal firm. These three components are updated by two micro mecha-nisms: structural mechanism and relational mechanism. Structura l mechanism is a feedback loop in which the rela-tional capability increases structural capability and vice versa. Relational mechanism is a learning-by-doing process in which a focal firm experiences success or failure of collabo ration and the experience increases or decreases cumu-lative trust in a partner firm. Result of agent-based simulatio n shows that a collaboration network emerges through interactions of firm's relational capabilities and the characteristics of emerged networks vary with the contribution of structural capability and trust to relational capability. Specifically, in case structural capability contributes more to relational capability, the average degree centrality and col laboration proportion increases as time passes and enters into an equilibrium state. In that case, almost every firms participated in the network collaborates each other so that the emerged network becomes highly cohesive. In case trust cont ributes more to relational capability, the results are reversed. In an equilibrium state, the balance of contribution between structural capability and trust makes an emerged network larger and maximizes average degree centrality of the network.


Ultra-thin shell foldable and self-deploying composite reflectors are being developed for space antennas to meet low cost, low mass and high surface accuracy. For Ku-band missions a full-scale offset parabolic reflector antenna is designed by considering different concepts of monolithic and nonmonolithic structures, different stiffening schemes, manufacturing ease, and lower cost. The resulting reflector is based on stiffened spring back reflector concept but it provides much simpler design, significantly lower mass and lower cost. It is a simple monolithic structure, and consists of a reflector surface and a flat skirt. The skirt is an integral part of the reflector and is used to stiffen the reflector. The full size version is an offset parabolic reflector with a diameter of 6 m, a focal length of 4.8 m, and an offset of 0.3 m. In order to demonstrate the concept, 1/3-scaled version is designed, manufactured, and tested. Experiments of the demonstrator are conducted for quasi-static folding, dynamic deployment behavior, stiffness measurements, modal analysis, and surface accuracy in deployed configuration; the experimental results are compared with the results of finite elements solutions where applicable.


This is the first report of morphological abnormalities in embryos of Roger's roundray Urotrygon rogersi in the Tropical Eastern Pacific. The embryos of two pregnant females caught in artisanal shrimp trawl nets had incomplete, deformed pectoral fins that were separated from the head along the anterior margin. Moreover, one of the embryos presented a fin-like extension in the dorsal surface. Although the mouths of the embryos were normal and well-formed, the malformations in the pectoral fins could affect their mobility, limiting their capacity to capture preys and escape of predators.


This paper presents an optimization model based on genetic algorithms for designing traction power supply systems. The proposed model is suitable both for planning new lines and for expanding the old ones, resulting in a more efficient operation as well as in lower investment costs. Minimization of fixed installation represents the optimization criterion for searching innovative designs that fulfil certain technical constraints: maximum voltage drops and maximum power consumption in the substations. The variables involved in the optimization problem are: number, type and location of railway overhead lines; and number, size and location of traction substations. Finally, the evaluation of possible designs involves simplified electrical modelling of the studied railway stretch. Thus, electrical simulations and calculations have been also adapted for their implementation in the genetic algorithm. A section of the Madrid-Barcelona high-speed line has been considered as a study case in order to analyze the performance of the proposed model. Results reveal the suitability of the new designs obtained with the presented model and its goodness and robustness.


In this paper we present the File Mover, a data transfer system designed to optimize the transfer of potentially very large files. The File Mover relies on an overlay network architecture, where a set of machines cooperate in the transfer by forwarding among them portions of the files being transferred. Data transfer times are minimized by choosing, for each transfer the set of relays that maximize the expected throughput. Preliminary experiments show that the File Mover is able to profitably exploit existing network paths not chosen by IP routing algorithms, thereby enhancing file transfer performance.


This study was undertaken to construct a preliminary spatial analysis method for building an urban-suburban-rural category in the specific sample area of central California and providing distribution characteristics in each category, based on which, some further studies such as regional manners of residential wood burning emission (PM2.5, the term used for a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air, refers to particulate matter that is 2.5 μm or smaller in size) could be carried out for the project of residential wood combustion. Demographic and infrastructure data with spatial characteristics were processed by integrating both Geographic Information System (GIS) and statistics method (Cluster Analysis), and then output to a category map as the result. It approached the quantitative and multi-variables description on the major characteristics variations among the urban, suburban and rural;and perfected the TIGER's urban-rural classification scheme by adding suburban category. Based on the free public GIS data, the spatial analysis method provides an easy and ideal tool for geographic researchers, environmental planners, urban/regional planners and administrators to delineate different categories of regional function on the specific locations and dig out spatial distribution information they wanted. Furthermore, it allows for future adjustment on some parameters as the spatial analysis method is implemented in the different regions or various eco-social models.


The surface modification of magnesium alloys (AZ31 and AZ91HP) was studied by a high current pulsed electron beam(HCPEB). The results show that the cross-sectional microhardness of treated samples increases not only in the heat affected zone(HAZ), but also beyond HAZ, reaching over 250 μm. This is due to the action of quasi-static thermal stress and the shock thermal stress wave with materials, which result in its fast deformation on the surface layer and so increases microhardness. For the AZ91HP alloy, a nearly complete dissolution of the intermetallic phase Mg17Al12 is observed, and a super-saturated solid solution forms on the re-melted surface, which is due to the solute trapping effect during the fast solidification process. Measurements on sliding wear show that wear resistance is improved by approximately 5.6 and 2.4 times for the AZ31 and AZ91HP respectively, as compared with as-received samples.


Medical devices with embedded highly miniaturized microsystems are used as implants in the human body or as non-invasive devices for sensor applications outside the body. Those devices bear quite a lot of economic opportunities but they also do offer unique challenges compared to consumer or automotive applications. Medical applications need to provide biocompatibility, highest miniaturization, rough treatment, autoclave sterilization and harsh environment e.g. humidity, wax, dust, blood or urine to be applicable. And microelectronics packaging needs to protect the functional elements of the microsystem against these rigid conditions. And, with a different set of media, packaging needs to fulfill the same task for automotive applications, where a growing number of control units and sensor systems under the hood in the transmission oil or petrol can be found. For both markets low cost packaging concepts with high media resistivity is needed. Polymer materials - mainly epoxy resins - are widely used in microelectronics packaging. They are established in microsystem manufacturing, for adhesives as die attach glues or for encapsulants as molding compounds, glob tops or underfill materials. Low cost and mass production capabilities are the main advantages of these materials. But like all polymers they cannot provide a hermetical sealing due to their permeability properties. The susceptibility to diffusion of liquids and gases through the polymer and along the interfaces is a drawback for polymer materials in general, as water or other media inside a microelectronic package might lead to softening of the material and to a decreasing adhesive strength and resulting delaminations close to solder bumps or wire bonds reducing package reliability by decreasing the package structural integrity. Therefore, plastic packaging materials with enhanced humidity resistance allowing the manufacturing of miniaturized microsystems for demanding applications as e.g. medical devices would increase package reliability during assembly and lifetime ideally without cost increase and with no changes in processing. As filler particles have an important influence on the final material properties of microelectronic encapsulants, they are well suited for material modifications. Typically micro-sized silica particles are incorporated into the polymer matrix as the thermo-mechanical properties could be well adapted to reliable packaging demands. However, there are a lot of nano-and micro-sized filler particles with potential to enhance the humidity barrier properties of encapsulants. Working principles of these particles may range from large surface impact of nano-particles, barrier functionality due to stacked layer formation (nano-clays), highly hydrophobic particle surface and molecular water catcher function. Micro- and nano-sized SiO2, bentonite, zeolites, Al2O3, carbon black and carbon nano tubes have been selected for a systematic study. To evaluate the potential of such additives concerning moisture resistance particles are mixed with a microelectronic grade epoxy resin. Neat particles as well as formulations are characterized regarding their water absorption, diffusion and barrier properties. Additionally multi-layer encapsulants with highest humidity barrier properties are introduced. Here, the mechanical or thermo-mechanical functionality is separated from humidity barrier characteristic. Polymer layers are processed wet in wet resulting in a homogeneous encapsulation with gradient material properties. Different methods for characterization of the diffusion properties close to microelectronics application have been developed and applied for material analysis. The pros and cons of simple weight measuring for absorption testing, sorption analysis, TGA desorption measuring, dielectric spectroscopy and encapsulated humidity sensors are presented and discussed along testing results with formulations with the different filler particles. The results of the measurement allow a modeling of the diffusion behavior of the characterized encapsulants and therewith a forecast on the later reliability of the overall system.


In a wireless environment packet loss does not always mean congestion, it can be due to sudden drop in channel quality. TCPs congestion control becomes insufficient in wireless environment, the work of TCP ends in an unnecessary reduction of end-to-end throughput which results in suboptimal performance. Hence the sender has to be made aware that some of the losses occurred is not due to congestion, through some feedback mechanism. The Active Queue Management algorithms(AQM) are used to reduce congestion, Here we analyze two AQM algorithms, Both make use of feedback mechanisms. Queue Management Congestion Control Algorithm(QMCCA) and its advance version Extended Queue Management Congestion Control Algorithm(EQMCCA). QMCCA uses ISQ notification and CE bit when the average queue size crosses minimum threshold value. The reverse ISQ traffic is reduced using EQMCCA, by introducing a configurable intermediate threshold value IntThres between minimum and maximum threshold values. The ISQ signals are generated only if the congestion crosses the intermediate threshold value. The feedback will reach the source with out any loss, since CE bit is also set in the packets once congestion occurs. Here we compare in terms of Gain in Goodput, Loss percentage and ISQ traffic in wireless environment. The performance of EQMCCA is almost equal to that of QMCCA and the ISQ traffic in the reverse direction is reduced.


This article focuses on the animal cruelty, health, psychological and social consequences, as well as environmental consequences of an animal-based diet. Animals are intensively bred and raised in factory farms in the most inhumane ways. By far, the greatest numbers of animals reared and killed by humans every year is for human consumption. The numbers are estimated to be greater than 56 billion animals globally. The cruelty involved in the intensive farming of animals is the most widespread form of cruelty imposed by humans on other species. This has significant implications for who we are as a species. Moreover, the belief that humans need to consume animal products to maintain good health has been seriously questioned over the past few decades. It is also a lifestyle choice that is responsible for significant damage to the environment. In contrast, a strong evidence base exists to show that a plant-based diet is health promoting and sustainable. Thus, by cultivating a culture of compassion toward nonhuman animals, current and future generations will benefit through better physical and psychological health and through markedly reduced damage to the planet and all of its inhabitants.


Objectives We investigated the contribution of major coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors and job strain to occupational class differences in CHD incidence in a pooled-cohort prospective study in northern Italy. Methods 2964 men aged 25–74 from four northern Italian population-based cohorts were investigated at baseline and followed for first fatal or non-fatal CHD event (171 events). Standardised procedures were used for baseline risk factor measurements, follow-up and validation of CHD events. Four occupational classes were derived from the Erikson–Goldthorpe–Portocarero social class scheme: higher and lower professionals and administrators, non-manual workers, skilled and unskilled manual workers, and the self-employed. HRs were estimated with Cox models. Results Among CHD-free subjects, with non-manual workers as the reference group, age-adjusted excess risks were found for professionals and administrators (+84%, p=0.02), the self-employed (+72%, p=0.04) and manual workers (+63%, p=0.04). The relationship was consistent across different CHD diagnostic categories. Adjusting for major risk factors only slightly reduced the reported excess risks. In a sub-sample of currently employed subjects, adjusting for major risk factors, sport physical activity and job strain reduced the excess risk for manual workers (relative change = −71.4%) but did not substantially modify the excess risks of professionals and administrators and the self-employed. Conclusions In our study, we found higher CHD incidence rates for manual workers, professionals and administrators, and the self-employed, compared to non-manual workers. When the entire spectrum of job categories is considered, the job strain model helped explain the CHD excess risk for manual workers but not for other occupational classes.


OBJECTIVE
Evaluation of the Dutch screening programme for congenital hypothyroidism (CH).

DESIGN
Descriptive.

SETTING
Nationwide.

METHODS
Data on the screening were obtained from the administration body for vaccination and screening results, laboratories and paediatricians to whom infants with positive screening values were referred, during the period from January 1st, 1981 to December 31st, 1990.

RESULTS
Of all live births in the Netherlands, 99.5% (1,797,719) were screened for CH. During the study period, 10,165 children (0.57% of all screened infants) were referred. Of the referred children, 529 had primary CH and 53 had congenital thyrotropin deficiency syndrome (CTDS). The prevalences of primary CH and CTDS are 1:3,400 and 1:25,000, respectively. The sensitivity of the programme with respect to detection of primary CH and CTDS was 99% and 74%, respectively. For all forms of CH combined, the specificity of the programme was 99% and the positive predictive value 6%. The positive predictive value was especially low in the group of infants with low T4 and normal thyrotropin values. One of the goals of the programme is to realise the start of treatment in all patients before they reach the age of three weeks. Before the screening programme came into being, the cumulative proportion of patients treated on the 21st day was 6%. After the beginning of the programme, the proportion increased to 54%. In screened patients with a severe form of CH it is currently 72%.

CONCLUSION
The screening programme has made a substantial and important contribution to early and effective identification of patients with CH. A number of measures to decrease the number of false-positive results have been taken and others are at present being investigated. Although patients are now treated much earlier than before the programme started, substantial improvement in this respect is still possible. This can only be achieved by a collective effort of performers of the heel puncture, laboratories, administration body for vaccination and screening results, general practitioners and pediatricians.


As proposed by Herminghaus, a hierarchical structure could render any surface nonwettable as long as the roughness amplitude at small scales is sufficient to suspend a free liquid surface. Recently we reported that the wettability of La0.7Sr0.3MnO3, an intrinsic hydrophilic oxide, can be tuned from superhydrophilicity to superhydrophobicity by hierarchical microstructures generated by annealing the coatings of La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 powder in nanometric scale at different temperatures. Here we further demonstrate the similar phenomenon observed on LaMnO3 coatings, which conforms THAT the surface geometrical structure is a key factor to determine the wettability.


Dynamic control of cell polarity is of critical importance for many aspects of cellular development and motility. In Myxococcus xanthus, a G-protein and its cognate GTPase-activating protein establish a polarity axis that defines the direction of movement of the cell and which can be rapidly inverted by the Frz chemosensory system. Although vital for collective cell behaviours, how Frz triggers this switch has remained unknown. Here, we use genetics, imaging and mathematical modelling to show that Frz controls polarity reversals via a gated relaxation oscillator. FrzX, which we newly identify as the primary Frz output, provides the gating and thus acts as the trigger for reversals. Slow relocalisation of the polarity protein RomR then creates a refractory period during which another switch cannot be triggered. A secondary Frz output, FrzZ, decreases this delay allowing rapid reversals when required. This architecture thus results in a highly tunable switch that allows a wide range of motility responses.


This article reflects on cross-cultural learning in the context of the University of Illinois' East St. Louis Neighborhood Design Workshop and its two-year engagement with the South End New Development Organization to develop a neighborhood plan. Initial descriptions of East St. Louis and the student body suggest the cultural and experiential hurdles to be overcome through engagement techniques. In light of service-learning and participatory design theory and methodology, the design studio provides an opportunity to advance cultural competence through a reflective, interactive design process. Acknowledging that cultural differences between students and residents was initially affecting the ability to produce a useful plan, the faculty revised the course to incorporate new approaches to design and discussion, including quick-paced scenario charrettes and development of alternative neighborhood visions. The ensuing discussions helped community members and students develop a clearer vision of what the residents wanted for their neighborhood's future, which the students could then develop into a plan and related design proposals. The essay concludes with reflections on the meaning of cross-cultural dialogue for landscape architecture education and practice.


Dealing with the metaphysical foundations of modern physical science, this book demonstrates that not only is classical metaphysics not in conflict with the principles of modern experimental science but that, when analogously transferred to the different divisions of modern science, the metaphysical principle of unity makes intelligible all the laws of modern science. This revolutionary book provides the means for reestablishing the unity of science by interpreting the whole of modern experimental science from the perspective of an analogous transfer of the metaphysical principle of unity rather than in terms of efficient causality.


In this work, we propose a new iterative method running on a receiver located at a moving platform for unco-operative radar geolocation. The method uses Doppler-shifted measurements of the stationary radar signals due to the platform motion. The carrier frequency and the position of the radar are estimated jointly in each iteration by solving a semi-definite program. Conducted experiments show that a few iterations are enough for convergence to stable estimates. Hence, the proposed method has a significant computational advantage compared to traditional techniques, which require an extensive grid search on either position or carrier frequency parameter space.


The study by Filipczak and colleagues identified the interplay between mutant p53 proteins and methylcytosine dioxygenase ten-eleven translocation 1 (TET1) in lung cancers. p53 transversion mutations were closely associated with high TET1 expression, which prevented genomic instability-associated cellular senescence. Depletion of TET1 was synergistic with classical antitumor drugs, such as cisplatin or doxorubicin, providing an attractive rationale for targeted therapies against TET1 combined with antitumor drugs in patients with p53-mutant lung cancer.See related article by Filipczak et al., p. 1758.


Whilst there is much discussion about the stringency of environmental regulations and the variability of industrial environmental performance in different countries, there are very few robust evaluations that allow meaningful comparisons to be made. This is partly because data scarcity restricts the ability to make 'like for like' comparisons across countries and over time. This paper combines data on benzene emissions from Pollution Release and Transfer Registers with data on industrial production from oil refineries to generate normalized measures of industrial environmental performance across eight Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries and the EU-15. We find that normalized emissions levels are improving in nearly all countries, and that there is some convergence in emissions performance between countries, but that there are still very significant variations across countries. We find that average emissions levels are lower in Japan and Germany than in the USA and Australia, which in turn are lower than in Canada and the EU-15, but we note that average emissions in the EU-15 are significantly affected by particularly high emissions in the UK. These findings have significant implications for wider debates on the stringency of environmental regulations and the variability of industrial environmental performance in different countries.


It is still unclear whether the Sagittarius spiral arm is a major spiral arm in the Galaxy or whether it just outlines a region of enhanced star formation because of the local compression of gas. The best way to separate these scenarios out is to study the kinematics across the arm to determine the velocity perturbation it induces. A survey of early-type stars in the direction of the Galactic center is performed covering an area of 100 square degrees with the aim of identifying candidates for a radial velocity study. Objective prism plates were obtained with the 4deg prism on the ESO Schmidt telescope using IIaO, 4415, and IIIaJ emulsions. The plates were digitized and more than 100k spectra were extracted down to a limiting magnitude of B = 15m. The spectra were cross-correlated with a template with Balmer lines, which yielded a candidate list of 12675 early-type stars. Magnitudes and equivalent widths of strong lines were calculated from the spectra, which allowed us to estimate the individual extinctions and distances for 11075 stars. The survey identified 9571 candidate stars with a spectral type earlier than A1 and B < 14.5m out to distances of more than 2kpc, which is beyond the Sagittarius arm. This is indicated by the increase of absorption in the plane at distances larger than 0.5kpc.


This book is very disappointing. From the presentation the potential reader might expect to obtain a clear view of the origin of hurricanes, storms, and tornados. Except for some aspects, such as the effect of these phenomena on geological activity, for which some interesting ideas are discussed, the book is a long catalog of destructive weather systems and just describes the different aspects of the phenomena without physical explanations. For example, in the part discussing tornados, it looks like the author put together newspaper clips from some county in Oklahoma, except that the collection is worldwide. The interest lies, maybe, in the large number of illustrations: some of them are reproductions of paintings and drawings dating from the last century. A large number of events are thoroughly described. Another interesting part is the description of tornados that affected the Soviet Union and Europe. Throughout the book there is a large number of duplicate material. Some words are misused: for example, sandstorms originating in the Sahara desert and crossing the Mediterranean Sea are often called hurricanes. A tornado that hit Moscow in May 1937 is referred to as a hurricane. In defense of the author, it must be noted that the book was written in 1969 and only translated in 1983. Another title would be more appropriate.


It is shown that a model of local electronic excitation around impurities is able to explain recent experimental data on impurity-enhanced solid-phase epitaxy of amorphous silicon.


Rationale and objective of the study: In the study of coordination of motor abilities, motor performance tests without examining the internal structure of the movement were used. The objective of this study was to examine the kinesthetic differentiation capacity level and to stimulate muscles during a test among basketball players in intermediate and specialist stages of training. Material and methods: Among ten basketball players from two equal groups at different level of advancement in sport, who play at diffe rent positions on the field, kinesthetic differentiation capacity was assessed by the "Basketball shooting with different balls" test. In order to assess the muscle involvement during the test, they were connected to the EMG amplifier. Results: More advanced basketball players obtained better results in the test, by an average of 7.4 point out of 60. Tested muscle bioelectric tension was lower by 21.8% in advanced players and the difference in the non-dominant hand was as high as 34.6%. Conclusions: The research indicates that advanced players obtain better level of kinesthetic differentiation and their average muscle bioelectric tension during throws is lower compared to beginner players. The difference in bio-electrical muscle tension in the time of throwing different balls was smaller in basketball players who are more advanced in training, and in both groups in the dominant hand. Mean values of EMG signal in a selected time interval show greater variability among the more advanced players.


It were the Russian and Soviet scholars who have begun the studies of Mongolian dialectology and did a considerable work in this field. At the present time as a result of a scientific work carried out in the China`s Peoples Republic a great deal of dialectological materials have been collected there. Comparing the opinions or the scholars who have explared the Mongolian dialects one can easily see that they greatly differentiate each other. Most of the scholars because of the lack of materials not taking into consideration the individual peculiarities of Mongolian dialects had classified them mainly according to the distribution of the ancient Mongolian tribe and the administrative organization of Mongolia. Considering the existing condition of the mongolian dialects though one can still classify them by the above rr~entioned metlwd but it is quite clear that under the historical conditions of the last few hundred years it would be difficult to classify the mongolian dialects only on the basis of administrative organization of the country. It we compare the dialects and sub-dialects of different areas of Outer and Inner Mongolia, Oirat and Buriat one can see that the dialects differ from each other in many aspects such as the area concerned the number of the populations, the mutual influence of different dialects or the influence of a foreign language etc. For instance the main mongolian dialects spoken in IChalkha, Chakhar, Ordos occupy the largest and central part of the territory inhabited by the mongolian speaking peoples. Moreover these dialects having greatly influenced on the nearbouring dialects have produced a number of transitional dialects close to the central dialect. The total number of the people who speak the main dialects and their middle dialects is about one million and a half is 1/2 of the whole Mongolian speaking peoples. It shows that the main mongolian dialects play a dominant among the bother dialects that is they have become the highest common dialect of Mongols. The dialects and sulrdialects of the modern mongolian language should be classified on the linguistic principle that is on the basis of phonology, syntax and vocabulary. In this way the mongolian dialects can be divided into dialects, sub-dialects and local sub-dialects. The tongue of a group of the people who have no serious linguistic differences and can easily understand each other is called here a dialect. The dialect of one area differs from that of the other in its linguistic aspects. The tongue of a group of the people of the certain area within which no linguistic differnnces can be found in speech is called here a sub-dialect. It`ll sub-dialect can slightly differ from each other in phonology, vocabulary. The tongue of a group of the people of a territory slightly differentiating from that of the majority in phonology or vocabulary and which can be included within the sub-dialect is called here a local dialect. On the basis of the rich collection of dialectological materials which is a result of the work carried out in the China`s People s Republic and according to the above mentioned principle the present mongolian dialects can be divided into 4 dialects and a number of sub-dialects: 1) The Central dialect: a) Khalkha sub-dialect, b) Cfiakhar sub-dialect, c) Ordos sub-dialect. 2) The Eastern dialect: a) Khorchin sub-dialect, b) Kharchin sub-dialect. 3) The Western dialect: a) The Oirat sub-dialect of Hsin-kung, b) The Oirat sub-dialect of the Volga river. 4) The Northern dialect: a) The Buriat sub~.~ialect of the eastern part of Baikal, b) The Buriat sub-dialect of the western part of Baikal. Besides there dialect there are the following transitional sub-dialect: 1) The transitional sub-dialects of the Central and Eastern dialects: a) The Aru-khorchin Bagarchen sub-dialect, b) The Ongun Naiman sub-dialect. 2) The middle sub-dialects of the Main and Western dialects: a) The Khukhu-nur Oirat sub-dialect,


Deep level defects in 4H-SiC Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) fabricated on n-type epitaxial 4H-SiC have been identified by thermally stimulated capacitance (TSCAP) spectroscopy prior to and after 60Co-gamma irradiation. The TSCAP measurements on the non-irradiated SBDs reveal two electron traps at Ec-0.63 eV (∼250 K) and Ec-1.13 eV (∼525 K), whereas only one trap at Ec-0.63 eV is identified by conventional thermally stimulated current (TSC) measurements. Hence, TSCAP spectroscopy is more effective in identifying deep level defects in epitaxial 4 H-SiC SBDs as compared to the TSC spectroscopy. Upon exposure to 60Co-gamma rays up to a dose of 100 Mrad, significant changes in the concentration of the traps at Ec-0.63 eV, Ec-1.13 eV, and one new trap at Ec-0.89 eV (∼420 K) are observed. The electrical characteristics of the SBDs are considerably changed after gamma irradiation. The dominant mechanisms responsible for the irradiation induced changes in the SBD electrical characteristics are analyzed by incorpor...


The dynamics of aircraft manoeuvring on the ground is nonlinear due to nonlinearities in tyres, in other landing gear components, and potentially in the aerodynamics of the airframe. Existing linear approaches are efiective in respect of local behaviour around speciflc operating conditions, but in order to evolve a global understanding of the dynamics of an aircraft on the ground other techniques are needed. We demonstrate here that bifurcation analysis and continuation methods can be used for the purpose of building up a global stability diagram in a computationally e‐cient manner. Speciflcally, we perform a continuation study of a nonlinear tricycle model implemented in the SimMechanics environment and then coupled to the continuation software AUTO. Our study yields unexpected phenomena, namely a complicated structure of branches with hysteresis loops and instabilities leading to oscillations and even chaotic dynamics.


Idiopathic membranous nephropathy (MN) is associated with HLA; however, the HLA allele involved remains unknown. To identify the HLA risk alleles associated with phospholipase A2 receptor (PLA2R)-related MN in the Chinese population, we sequenced the entire MHC region in DNA samples from 99 patients with PLA2R-related MN, 50 patients with PLA2R-unrelated MN, and 100 healthy subjects. Two HLA risk alleles, HLA-DRB1*15:01 and HLA-DRB3*02:02, independently and strongly associated with an increased risk of PLA2R-related MN. After adjusting for HLA-DRB1*15:01 and HLA-DRB3*02:02, no other alleles showed significant association with PLA2R-related MN. A replication study in an independent cohort of 293 participants with PLA2R-related MN and 285 healthy controls validated these findings. In a joint analysis, a multivariate logistic regression model confirmed that HLA-DRB1*15:01 (odds ratio [OR], 24.9; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 15.3 to 42.6; P=2.3×10-35) and HLA-DRB3*02:02 (OR, 17.7; 95% CI, 11.0 to 30.3; P=8.0×10-29) independently and strongly associated with PLA2R-related MN. As many as 98.7% of patients with PLA2R-related MN, compared with 43.9% of control subjects, carried at least one HLA risk allele. Subjects with either risk allele had higher odds of developing PLA2R-related MN than those without a risk allele (OR, 98.9; 95% CI, 44.4 to 281.7; P=2.5×10-23). These HLA risk alleles also associated with the age at disease onset in patients with PLA2R-related MN. In conclusion, our findings provide clear evidence that the HLA-DRB1*15:01 and HLA-DRB3*02:02 alleles independently and strongly associate with PLA2R-related MN in the Chinese population.


The thesis considers the trajectories that are used to guide aircraft from en-route flight to an airport. Although there is currently some room to adapt the trajectories to a specific situation, they are usually largely based on published standardised trajectories. In this study the potential of optimising the arrival trajectories using data about the current situation is investigated. A trajectory scheduling algorithm based on a multi-objective genetic optimisation algorithm is developed. Fast-time simulations are carried out for traffic arriving at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. It is shown that optimising the arrival trajectories can increase throughput and has the potential of reducing impact on the environment significantly. Optimising the arrival trajectories may have implications for the pilots and air traffic controllers tasks though. It is studied by means of experiments in a flight simulator how the shape of the trajectory influences the task demand load imposed on the pilot. A number of metrics are proposed to describe the task demand load. Off-line analyses using these metrics indicate that task demand load may increase when optimised arrival trajectories are used instead of standard trajectories. It is shown though that recently proposed displays for the flight deck that give 4-D guidance information may help to reduce the task demand load. In addition, the task demand load imposed on air traffic controllers is assessed with metrics describing airspace complexity. Off-line analyses indicate that task demand load for air traffic controllers may increase in case conventional air traffic control is maintained.


Adverse Drug Reactions associated with drugs are common and impose a serious health related problem, which can limit the treatment options, compliance and even leads to discontinuation of therapy. Hypertension is a chronic disease condition which is considered to be one of the major cardiovascular risk factor. For the treatment of hypertension a wide range of anti-hypertensive agents are available as single or combination therapy to achieve a target blood pressure in individual patient, whereas the combination therapy increases the risk of developing Adverse Drug Reaction. Hypertensive patients often have concomitant disease condition such as hyperlipidemia, impaired glucose metabolism and renal impairment, leading to an increased rate of Cardio Vascular morbidity and mortality. Therefore, a comprehensive management of both hypertension as well as concomitant Cardio Vascular Disease risk factors is critical when treating hypertensive patients. Beta-blockers provoked psoriasis, calcium channel blockers induced gingival hyperplasia, peripheral oedema, Angiotensin Converting Enzyme inhibitors produced ankle oedema and thiazide diuretics produced hyponatremia, hyperglycemia are some of the rare and serious Adverse Drug Reaction occurred in patients treated with these drugs. More often hypertension is asymptomatic and requires a lifelong treatment with antihypertensive agents, predisposing to Adverse Drug Events. Monitoring of adverse drug reactions by healthcare professionals is necessary in the patients taking antihypertensive drugs, in order to improve the treatment outcomes and to reduce the morbidity and mortality related to adverse drug


Galunisertib, a Transforming growth factor-βRI (TGF-βRI) kinase inhibitor, blocks TGF-β-mediated tumor growth in glioblastoma. In a three-arm study of galunisertib (300 mg/day) monotherapy (intermittent dosing; each cycle =14 days on/14 days off), lomustine monotherapy, and galunisertib plus lomustine therapy, baseline tumor tissue was evaluated to identify markers associated with tumor stage (e.g., histopathology, Ki67, glial fibrillary acidic protein) and TGF-β-related signaling (e.g., pSMAD2). Other pharmacodynamic assessments included chemokine, cytokine, and T cell subsets alterations. 158 patients were randomized to galunisertib plus lomustine (n = 79), galunisertib (n = 39) and placebo+lomustine (n = 40). In 127 of these patients, tissue was adequate for central pathology review and biomarker work. Isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH1) negative glioblastoma patients with baseline pSMAD2+ in cytoplasm had median overall survival (OS) 9.5 months vs. 6.9 months for patients with no tumor pSMAD2 expression (p = 0.4574). Eight patients were IDH1 R132H+ and had a median OS of 10.4 months compared to 6.9 months for patients with negative IDH1 R132H (p = 0.5452). IDH1 status was associated with numerically higher plasma macrophage-derived chemokine (MDC/CCL22), higher whole blood FOXP3, and reduced tumor CD3+ T cell counts. Compared to the baseline, treatment with galunisertib monotherapy preserved CD4+ T cell counts, eosinophils, lymphocytes, and the CD4/CD8 ratio. The T-regulatory cell compartment was associated with better OS with MDC/CCL22 as a prominent prognostic marker.


This work explores the allegorical meanings of two narrative series of paintings created by one of Spain's baroque painters, Bartolome Esteban Murillo, in the crucial decade of Spain's spiralling decline, 1660-1670. The six paintings that make up "The Parable of the Prodigal Son" represent Christ's parable recorded in the gospel of Luke. "The Life of Jacob", five canvases that are believed to have been commissioned by Seville's Marquis of Villamanrique, follows the life of the Old Testament patriarch found in Genesis. The allegories of salvation and triumph that structure Murillo's pictorial narratives are substantiated through contemporary Spanish theology, drama and moral philosophy, as well as in popular emblem-book literature. The lives of the prodigal and the patriarch were interpreted symbolically as early as the fourth century by Christian theologians. The Scriptures were also invoked by Spanish dramatists of the Golden Age whose texts form a source for the interpretation of Murillo's painted narratives. The tale of a priveleged youth (the prodigal) who suffers extreme deprivation for displeasing his parent, but is absolved through repentance, conforms to the mood of self-recrimination that swept the Spanish peninsula in the latter half of the 17th century and was commonly seen in Spanish art. The metaphorical triumph expressed in "The Life of Jacob" is directly linked to the decline of the Spanish empire under its Hapsburg monarchy. "Murillo's Allegories of Salvation and Triumph" aims to make an important contribution to our knowledge of Spanish baroque painting and fill a void in the studies of Murillo.


A new apparatus for the determination of vapor permeability of volatile liquid substances through polymer membranes has been described. The permeability of the vapor is calculated from the measurements of the depression rate of the liquid meniscus in a calibrated capillary tube. The conditions of the measurements by means of the described method are very close to those of the average and practical application of foils. The method is characterized by a simple design of the apparatus, easy handling, and simplicity of the determinations, so it may constitute the basis of vapor permeability determination standards. The results obtained by means of the described method were compared with those derived from the partition cell method.


Nowadays fast and successful development of a web application is one of the keys to effective business. However, modern world requirements define the complex approach in definition of access control and user groups' interoperability. The software development process typically involves different responsible members for the application assessment, planning, development, deployment and support, as a consequence, increasing the complexity and information losses between target groups. In order to mitigate possible risks in software development misinterpretation and security violation, teams should use tools that allow fast and accurate interpretation of the web application through a model. Modelling will help with minimization of possible problems and ensure the functionality needs with respect to desired RBAC model. In order to support and simplify the model-driven approach for a web application development with Spring platform, realization of a concept plugin for Eclipse IDE is proposed. This plugin supports the recognition of Spring Security notations with capability to visualize the RBAC model on top of them. The generation of visual model is achieved in two main steps: recognition of Spring Security configuration and generation of representation with SecureUML modeling language. The concept of contributed plugin was validated within case studies that demonstrated the acceptance of this plugin by software developers due to its integrated solution for faster development and help in understanding of RBAC model for the selected web application.


Self-plagiarism is a controversial issue in scientific writing and presentation of research data. Unlike plagiarism, self-plagiarism is difficult to interpret as intellectual theft under the justification that one cannot steal from oneself. However, academics are concerned, as self-plagiarized papers mislead readers, do not contribute to science, and bring undeserved credit to authors. As such, it should be considered a form of scientific misconduct. In this paper, we explain different forms of self-plagiarism in scientific writing and then present good editorial policy toward questionable material. The importance of dealing with self-plagiarism is emphasized by the recently published proposal of Text Recycling Guidelines by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).


There has been a dramatic increase in the number of people with tertiary education in Sweden, partly due to the governmental policy of making higher education more geographically available. In this study, we analyze how educational expansion and the governmental policy of offering tertiary education outside of old academic centers affected segregation patterns in 2012 compared to 1990. We analyze the spatial distribution of those with tertiary education using neighborhoods based on k-nearest neighbors and measure the segregation of residents with tertiary education using a multiscalar method. Additionally, we compare local labor market regions that include old, new, or no institutions of higher education. The results show an overall higher share of tertiary-educated people age twenty-five to sixty-four in all parts of Sweden in 2012 and a decrease in the levels of population-weighted mean segregation at all geographical scales. Segregation was mostly introduced on the city or city district level (for larger cities) and regional level rather than the neighborhood level. Segregation also decreased in all three types of labor market regions. The segregation patterns remained similar between 2012 and 1990, however, and a higher share of the population lived in segregated areas in 2012 compared to that in 1990.


To elucidate the effect of ethanol on the secretion of ACTH and beta-endorphin (BE) as the representatives of the pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) system, as well as cortisol as the hypophyseally regulated peripheral hormone, we measured concentrations of serum ethanol and plasma ACTH, BE, and cortisol at 1- to 4-hr intervals for 12 hr after administration of 0.5 and 1.0 g ethanol/kg of body weight and placebo drinks between 1900-1945 hr to nine healthy volunteers according to a double-blind, cross-over design. Plasma ACTH, BE, and cortisol showed an expected diurnal rhythm with the highest levels at 0700 hr. Intake of ethanol had no statistically significant effects on plasma ACTH up to 0700 hr in the morning. The higher dose caused increased levels of BE at 0100 hr and both doses at 0200 hr. Plasma cortisol at 0400 hr was higher in subjects receiving 1.0 g ethanol/kg than in those receiving placebo (p < 0.05). Our present observation that plasma ACTH was unchanged after ethanol intake, but plasma BE was increased at 0100-0200 hr may be due to the fact that our BE antiserum cross-reacts with beta-lipotropin, which has a considerably longer half-life than ACTH or BE, and also to the long sampling interval. Thus, the POMC system may have been stimulated after ethanol intake. The nocturnal rise of plasma cortisol levels at 0400 hr, 2-3 hr after the peak in plasma BE, may be caused by the increased secretion of POMC. Because the ethanol dose of 1.0 g/kg body weight stimulated the POMC system but the 0.5 g/kg body weight did not, we conclude that higher ethanol doses induce increases in stress hormone secretion.


The article is devoted to the study of the problem of ensuring the safety of aircraft during take-off and landing. Thunderstorm and hail is one of the most dangerous meteorological phenomena in aviation. To prevent accidents associated with these phenomena, it is necessary to clearly understand the patterns of their occurrence and spatial distribution. In connection with the rapid growth of passenger and cargo traffic, it is necessary to be able to receive and provide actual meteorological information in real mode, as well as to be able to receive high-quality and timely weather forecast. To study the spatial-temporal patterns of the distribution of thunderstorms and hail, Belgidromet's meteorological instrumental data for 1989–2016 was processed, synoptic maps were analyzed in comparison with calculated forecasts, including WRF, and maps were made using ArcGIS.


Network Monitoring and Reporting System (NEMORS) is a web-based
network monitoring system. This project development is an industrial attachment
project for a MSc. in Real-Time Software Engineering course in University of
Technology Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. The project was attached in the Department of
Corporate Information Superhighway (COINS) in Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TMB),
supervised by the Head of Value Added Network Services (VANS).
The system is providing a performance analysis data of the selected Streamyx
links used for analysis and planning. The government through the Communication
and Multimedia Commission (CMC) are also benefit with the analyzed date used to
monitor the quality of the Streamyx services given to customer throughout the
country.
NEMORS can measure availability, latency, utilization and packet loss in a
network. It uses RRDtool to maintain a longterm datastore and to draw pretty graphs,
giving up to the minute information on the state of each network connection. It has a
smart alarm system which triggered by latency or loss patterns values. It can also
notify operator by sending e-mail to alert actions when machines become
unavailable, or network response times become too long while all are being recorded
in log files.
During the project, Extreme Programming was applied as the software
methodology throughout the development life cycle. The project adopt the DoD
2167A standard documentation and using the state-of-the-art open source technology
used for the operating system, system application and the database system.


In this paper, a backstepping controller is presented for quadrotor system to follow a predefined trajectory without the knowledge of dynamic parameters in the control algorithms. By dividing the quadrotor systems into several subsystems, the idea of nominal control input is presented to modify the quadrotor input force and torque. Subsequently, the backstepping control technique is developed for the nominal controls with the adaptive laws to estimate unknown dynamic parameters. Both the mass and moment of inertia are coped with by using adaptive laws. Stability and tracking performance of the proposed closed-loop system are proved by using Lyapunov theorem that the tracking errors converge to the origin asymptotically. Numerical examples are presented to show the quadrotor system tracking a desired trajectory efficiently.


Pectinolytic activity is of general importance to the degradation of organic matter in the biosphere and as a biochemical agent of plant spoilage or pathogenesis [1-4]. Certain types of pectinolytic enzymes are vendable and of significance to agricultural and food processing [1,2]. Enzymes from thermophilic bacteria often possess higher catalytic activity and stability than those of mesophilic microorganisms [5]. Nonetheless, only recently has a polygalacturonate lyase (EC 22.214.171.124) been characterized from the caldoacrive bacterium, Bacillus stearothermophilus [6]. We recently isolated and described the properties of Clostridium thermosulfurogenes that was obtained from Yellowstone National Park, U.S.A. [7]. This species was novel because it transformed thiosulfate into elemental sulfur which accumulated in the medium and cells and because it proliferated with a doubling time of 2 h on glucose as well as pectin. However, the general enzymatic features of the pectinolytic activity displayed by this new species were not described. This communication shows that C. thermosulfurogenes produces an active thermostable polygalacturonate hydrolase (EC 184.108.40.206) and pectin methylesterase (EC 188.8.131.52).


Despite evidence that a human immunodeficiency virus—positive (HIV + ) dentist infected several patients, governmental or institutional efforts to discover HIV + professionals and to routinely restrict them from "invasive procedures" arenotjustified. This was the general, although not unanimous, consensus at a recent conference attended by 200 physicians, nurses, dentists, health care attorneys, ethicists, and public health officials from all over America. The conference, entitled "The HIV+ Health Professional: Policy Options for Individuals, Institutions, and States" was held December 7-8, 1990, in New Brunswick, NJ. It was sponsored by the Regional AIDS (AcquiredImmunodeficiencySyndrome) Education and Training Center at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), Newark, UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, and the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners. A distinguished national faculty of 28 speakers and panelists contributed perspectives from epidemiology, surgery, infectious disease, dentistry, nursing, law, and ethics. Other points of widespread


The increasing integration of distributed energy resources (DERs) into power grid makes it significant to forecast solar irradiance for power system planning. With the advent of deep learning techniques, it is possible to forecast solar irradiance accurately for a longer time. In this paper, day-ahead solar irradiance is forecasted using encoder-decoder sequence-to-sequence models with attention mechanism. This study formulates the problem as structured multivariate forecasting and comprehensive experiments are made with the data collected from National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB). Two error metrics are adopted to measure the errors of encoder-decoder sequence-to-sequence model and compared with smart persistence (SP), back propagation neural network (BPNN), recurrent neural network (RNN), long short term memory (LSTM) and encoder-decoder sequence-to-sequence LSTM with attention mechanism (Enc-Dec-LSTM). Compared with SP, BPNN and RNN, Enc-Dec-LSTM is more accurate and has reduced forecast error of 31.1%, 19.3% and 8.5% respectively for day-ahead solar irradiance forecast with 31.07% as forecast skill.


Abstract Motivation Common small-effect genetic variants that contribute to human complex traits and disease are typically identified using traditional fixed-effect (FE) meta-analysis methods. However, the power to detect genetic associations under FE models deteriorates with increasing heterogeneity, so that some small-effect heterogeneous loci might go undetected. A modified random-effects meta-analysis approach (RE2) was previously developed that is more powerful than traditional fixed and random-effects methods at detecting small-effect heterogeneous genetic associations, the method was updated (RE2C) to identify small-effect heterogeneous variants overlooked by traditional fixed-effect meta-analysis. Here, we re-appraise a large-scale meta-analysis of coronary disease with RE2C to search for small-effect genetic signals potentially masked by heterogeneity in a FE meta-analysis. Results Our application of RE2C suggests a high sensitivity but low specificity of this approach for discovering small-effect heterogeneous genetic associations. We recommend that reports of small-effect heterogeneous loci discovered with RE2C are accompanied by forest plots and standardized predicted random-effects statistics to reveal the distribution of genetic effect estimates across component studies of meta-analyses, highlighting overly influential outlier studies with the potential to inflate genetic signals. Availability and implementation Scripts to calculate standardized predicted random-effects statistics and generate forest plots are available in the getspres R package entitled from https://magosil86.github.io/getspres/. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.