The glutathione S transferase (GST) family of enzymes play a vital role in the phase II biotransformation of environmental carcinogens, pollutants, drugs and other xenobiotics. GSTs are polymorphic and the polymorphisms in GST genes have been associated with cancer susceptibility and prognosis. Moreover, distinct ethnic differences have been observed in the type and frequency of GST gene polymorphisms. Hence, the present study was aimed to determine the frequencies of GSTM1, GSTT1 and GSTP1 polymorphisms in 255 healthy random volunteers from South India. The GSTM1 and GSTT1 genotypes were determined by PCR and GSTP1 by PCR-RFLP using peripheral blood DNA. The GSTM1 and GSTT1 null genotype frequencies were found to be 22.4% and 17.6% respectively. The GSTP1 allelic frequency was 0.78 for the Ile allele and 0.22 for the Val allele and the genotype frequency was 58.4% for Ile/Ile, 38.4% for Ile/Val, and 3.1% for Val/Val. Comparison of the frequencies of GST polymorphisms observed in the present study with other Indian and world populations revealed a distinctive nature of the South Indian population with respect to polymorphims at the GST gene loci. A better understanding of carcinogen metabolizing gene distribution should contribute to risk assessment of humans exposed to environmental carcinogens.


Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and Fas ligand (FasL) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), which is a major complication after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. We examined here the ameliorating effect of a metalloproteinase inhibitor (KB-R7785) that inhibits TNF-alpha and FasL release in a lethal acute GVHD model in mice. Administration of KB-R7785 into (BALB/c x C57BL/6) F1 that received C57BL/6 spleen cells markedly reduced the mortality and weight loss in association with minimal signs of GVHD pathology in the liver, intestine, and hematopoietic tissues. The ameliorating effect of KB-R7785 was superior to that of anti-TNF-alpha antibody. Our results suggest that KB-R7785 could be a potent therapeutic agent for GVHD.


The following is a listing of several process generators implemented in PL/I. These were adopted from similar programs implemented in SIMSCRIPT II and published in the SIMSCRIPT II implementation manual. The Assembly Language version of the pseudo random number generator was adopted from a listing published in CACM, Feb. 1969. All programs raise a CONDITION (@ERR), if improper arguments are passed. The error conditions and the calling arguments are self explanatory. These routines allow for ten separate streams of random numbers. The seed values are initialized in the routine RANDOM.


It has been successfully shown that X-ray CTR scattering measurement is a good tool to study the formation process of the InP/GaInAs interfaces grown by OMVPE even when the measurement is conducted after the growth. Using the X-ray CTR scattering measurement, the contributions of effects, i.e., surface roughness, adsorption of atoms, and exchange of atoms, on the formation process of InP/GaInAs interface were able to be discussed. The adsorption of As atoms on the GaInAs surface was shown to have the largest contribution on the abruptness of the interface.


A novel isomeric polyimide/SiO2 hybrid material was successfully prepared through sol–gel technique, and its structure, thermal properties and nanoindenter properties were investigated. The researches on solubility and thermal properties of PEIPTES show that it can be used for modifying nano-SiO2 precursor. Then the PEIPTES solution and the nano-SiO2 precursor were mixed for 6 h to let the PEIPTES molecules react with the nano-SiO2 precursor, and modified nano-SiO2 precursor was obtained. Thermo gravimetric analyzer, dynamic mechanical thermal analyzer and nanoindenter XP was employed to detect the properties of the materials, the results demonstrated that isomeric polyimide/SiO2 hybrid material has much better thermal properties and nanoindenter properties than those of isomeric polyimide. The discussion covers solubility, thermal and dielectric properties, permeability and perm selectivity for gas separation, and rheology of isomeric polyimides. Several useful general rules have been found: i.e. the glass transition temperature of polyimides based on isomeric dianhydrides with a given diamine decreases in the order 3,3′->3,4′->4,4′-dianhydride if the polymers are of comparable molecular weight, whereas the thermal stability and the Tβ/Tg ratio (in absolute temperatures) increase in the order of 3,3′- <3,4′- <4,4′-dianhydride. Polyimides from 3,3′- or 3,4′-dianhydride have higher solubility than those from 4,4′-dianhydride. Polyimides from 3,4′-dianhydrides exhibit much lower melt viscosity than those from the other isomeric anhydrides. The dielectric constants of polyimides derived from m,m′- diamines are lower than those from p,p′-diamines. Polyimides based on 3,3′- or 3,4′-dianhydrides have higher permeability and slightly lower perm selectivity than polyimides based on 4,4′-dianhydrides.


A novel retention analysis method for ferroelectric random access memory (FeRAM) has been developed, in which read signal voltages from memory cells are measured. It employs on-chip sample/hold circuits, an off-chip A/D converter, and memory LSI testing equipment. FeRAM chip reliability is estimated on the basis of FeRAM read signal voltages after retention periods of 1 day and longer. When used as a tool to estimate long-term data retention in FeRAM chips, and when used to analyze fluctuations in FeRAM cell characteristics, this method can be of significant help in improving the reliability of FeRAM chips.


Background: Resistance training has become a mainstay of exercise training in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, it remains controversial whether hypertrophy resistance training (HRT) is superior to endurance resistance training (ERT) with regard to its effects on glycaemic control, muscle mass and strength. Methods: Thirty-two patients with T2DM (13 men and 19 women; 64.8 ± 7.8 years) were randomly assigned to either eight weeks of HRT (n = 16; 2 sets, 10–12 repetitions, 70% of the one-repetition maximum (1-RM)) or ERT (n = 16; 2 sets, 25–30 repetitions, 40% 1-RM). In addition, all patients participated in aerobic exercise training (AET; 1 hour/day on 2 non-consecutive days/week; cycle ergometer; 70% of heart rate reserve). Results: After eight weeks of intervention, there were time but not group effects for reduced glucose and fructosamine levels, weight, BMI, waist circumference, subcutaneous abdominal fat, resting heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure; muscle mass of the arms and physical exercise capacity increased significantly. Significant time and group effects were documented for maximum strength of the chest, with a greater increase for HRT than ERT (p = 0.01). Conclusions: Specific maximal resistance training of the chest muscles led to superior gain in strength as compared to endurance resistance training. This, however, did not translate into superior values of glycaemic control, weight, waist circumference, muscle mass and physical work capacity, which all improved significantly by a similar magnitude in both groups. Since overall effects of both protocols were comparable, both may be offered to patients according to their personal preference.


The vertebrate immune system uses an impressive arsenal of mechanisms to combat harmful cellular states such as infection. One way is via cells delivering real-time snapshots of their protein content to the cell surface in the form of short peptides. Specialized immune cells (T cells) sample these peptides and assess whether they are foreign, warranting an action such as destruction of the infected cell. The delivery of peptides to the cell surface is termed antigen processing and presentation, and decades of research have provided unprecedented understanding of this process. However, predicting the capacity for a given peptide to be immunogenic-to elicit a T cell response-has remained both enigmatic and a long sought-after goal. In the era of big data, a point is being approached where the steps of antigen processing and presentation can be quantified and assessed against peptide immunogenicity in order to build predictive models. This review presents new findings in this area and contemplates challenges ahead.


Referring to the work by Louise Revell, a lecturer in Roman History at the University of Southampton, the author examines the peculiarities of interpretation of Roman imperialism, and issues of cultural and political identity in the 1 st –2 nd Century AD Roman Empire in modern foreign historiography. The author analyzes Revell's methods of research and the heuristic potential of the concept of "Roman-ness" that the scholar uses instead of the traditional concept of "Romanization". The reviewer examines the historical sources (archaeological and epigraphic materials from eight Roman towns of Spain and Britain), the basic propositions of the monograph (the ideology and the practical implementation of urbanism in the Roman world, an image and cult of the Roman emperor in the cities of the Empire, as well as the provincial practice of religious rites) and also the author's arguments. The review demonstrates how the author of the monograph reconstructs the social image and relations in the Roman provincial society, and the interaction between the provincial and imperial elites.


The issues of elderly drivers in aging societies are growing as an area of interest not only in South Korea but also internationally. However, the current 「Road Traffic Act」, including 「Passenger Transport Service Act」 and 「Trucking Transport Business Act」 regarding company vehicle laws, do not have a legislative system that allows for the early recognition and prevention of accidents due to elderly drivers' abilities. As many elderly drivers are behind the wheel without adequate testing of their physical and mental capacity to drive, it is crucial to review the drivers' license system to solve the issues of elderly drivers before the expected increase in elderly driver's problems with the aging of the baby boomer generation. It is important to carefully approach the issue of modifying driving restrictions on elderly drivers. The need for caution in approaching the issues of elderly drivers comes from the various aspects of the problem. While there is a need to maintain and strengthen driving restrictions of elderly drivers to secure road traffic safety, on the other hand, the restriction of elderly drivers may prevent the freedom of movement amongst the aging population and thus bring about issues regarding aging population problems. This research distinctly clarifies that as strong driving restrictions are not placed on the elderly as a direct response to their age, driving restrictions on elderly drivers should not only maintain a fundamental perspective of restricting high-risk drivers but also aim to establish rational restrictive criteria based on the age of the elderly driver. Through this approach, it can be consider socially acceptable. This paper aims to draw legislative measures for future modifications of driving restrictions on elderly drivers through reviewing and establishing the problems with current legislations and legal implementations of driving restrictions on the elderly. Research includes discussions on, the constitutional legitimacy of applying stronger restrictions on elderly drivers as compared to general drivers, and methods of restrictions and how the settings of restrictions should be established for elder drivers in the future. In addition, examples of legislation in other countries have been reviewed and proposals for methods of legislative improvement for the modification of elderly driver's driving license system are given.


A uniform geometrical theory of diffraction (UTD) solution is obtained for the field exterior to a two-dimensional circular cylinder with a thin lossy dielectric coating. The solution is convenient for engineering applications due to its simple ray format. In the lit region, the geometrical optics (GO) solution consists of the direct incident ray and the reflected ray. In the shadow region, the geometrical theory of diffraction (GTD) uses the creeping-wave format to calculate the diffracted field. In the transition regions adjacent to the shadow boundaries, where the pure ray optical solution fails, a 'universal' transition integral is used for the UTD solution to calculate the field. Numerical values for the essential transition integral are deduced, by a heuristic approach, from alternative representations of the Green's function for a circular cylinder with coating. Numerical results obtained from the UTD solution show excellent agreement with the eigenfunction results for cylinders with thin dielectric coatings. >


Direct
methane to methanol (MTM) conversion over heterogeneous catalysts is a
promising route for valorization of methane. The methane C-H bond activation is
considered as the key step of the MTM and is the focus of considerable research
activity. However, the formed methanol typically suffers from overoxidation largely
due to the cleavage of a methanol C-H bond, whose bond dissociation energy is
ca. 0.5 eV lower than that of the methane C-H bond, which usually translates to
a transition state energy of the methanol C-H bond cleavage that is ca. 0.55 eV
lower than that of methane whenever the reactions proceed through a radical
mechanism. Here, we propose a general approach for decreasing the transition
state energy difference between the CH4 and CH3OH C-H bond dissociation. When a
metal-oxide supported cationic transition metal atom and a neighboring oxygen
on the oxide surface serve as the active site, the transition state energy
difference through a surface-stabilized pathway can be noticeably narrowed as
compared with that of a radical pathway.


In this paper the perturbation-analysis-Robbins-Monro-single-run algorithm is applied to estimating the optimal parameter of a performance measure for the GI/G/1 queueing systems, where the algorithm is updated after every fixed-length observation period. Our aim is to analyze the limiting behavior of the algorithm. The almost sure convergence rate of the algorithm is established. It is shown that the convergence rate depends on the second derivative of the performance measure at the optimal point.


Based on a diverse set of sources, the authors argue that since the end of the cold war the SDF has begun to use a complex set of strategies to actively address its problematic status in contemporary Japanese society and to manage its connection to organized violence in new ways. These strategies range from details of language and uniforms to aspects of body comportment; the control, regulation, and aestheticization of information about the SDF for public consumption; policies related to recruitment; the creation of an organizational history; activities that project intimacy and similarity with civil society by consciously adopting roles that do not pertain to the use of organized violence; attempts at linking the SDF to international efforts of goodwill; and the cultivation of multiple ties to the U.S. Armed Forces.


Seasonal influenza virus epidemics result in severe illness, and occasionally influenza pandemics cause significant morbidity and mortality, although vaccines and anti-influenza virus drugs are available. By screening an in-house library, we identified methylthio-formycin (SMeFM), an adenosine analog, as a potent inhibitor of influenza virus propagation. SMeFM inhibited the propagation of influenza A and B viruses (IC50: 34.1 and 37.9 nM, respectively) and viruses showing reduced susceptibility to baloxavir and neuraminidase inhibitors but not T-705 (Favipiravir). However, the combination of T-705 and SMeFM inhibited the propagation of the influenza virus not in an antagonistic but in a slightly synergistic manner, suggesting that SMeFM has targets distinct from that of T-705. SMeFM induced A-to-C transversion mutations in virus genome RNA, and SMeFM triphosphate did not inhibit in vitro viral RNA synthesis. Our results show that SMeFM inhibits the propagation of the influenza virus by a mechanism different from that of T-705 and is a potential drug candidate to develop for anti-influenza drug.


Shape description is one of the key parts of image content description in MPEG-7. Most existing shape descriptors are usually either application dependent or non-robust, making them undesirable for generic shape description. A generic Fourier descriptor (GFD) is proposed to overcome the drawbacks of existing shape representation techniques. The proposed shape descriptor is derived by applying a 2D Fourier transform on a polar raster sampled shape image. The acquired shape descriptor is application independent and robust. Experimental results show the GFD outperforms the Zernike moment descriptor (ZMD) which has been proposed as the shape descriptor for MPEG-7.


Citation for pulished version (APA): Latzel, M., Wagener, K. C., Vormann, M., & Neher, T. (2020). Benefit from different beamforming schemes in bilateral hearing aid users: Do binaural hearing abilities matter? In A. A. Kressner, J. Regev, J. ChristensenDalsgaard, L. Tranebjærg, S. Santurette, & T. Dau (Eds.), Proceedings of the International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research: Auditory Learning in Biological and Artificial Systems (Vol. 7, pp. 325-332). Danavox Jubilee Foundation. The ISAAR proceedings


Learning science should start with hands on experiences that the child is familiar with and not with abstract definitions about what science is. Low cost apparatus from locally available materials believed to enrich the capacity to observe, explain and do real science in primary schools and increases the quality of learning. Hence the purposes of this action research were twofold: i) to design and produce appropriate low cost apparatus from locally available materials that can be used in teaching-learning science in primary schools, and ii) to compare cost and efficiency of the apparatus constructed using the low cost locally available materials with standard factory produced ones. Comparatively the low cost materials offered an alternative solution to do science in classrooms under difficult financial constraints.


This essay examines why Richard Henry Dana III and other Boston reformers supported the Massachusetts civil service law of 1884, an even stronger measure than the federal Pendleton Act of 1883. Historians have uncovered two purposes behind civil service reform. First, reform limited the "spoils system" and curtailed the power of political parties. Second, reform increased efficiency in government. This essay argues that restricting the suffrage of Irish laborers was another purpose. Therefore, the essay runs counter to prevailing historical opinion by demonstrating that support for suffrage restriction remained an undercurrent in the 1880s, even after the failure of the Tilden Commission to implement property qualifications in New York City in the late 1870s. This exploration of a neglected topic also reminds urban historians of the deep ethnic conflict that gripped Boston in the 1880s and of the crucial role of patronage and bossism in Boston and other cities, a reality that historians since the 1980s have tended to downplay.


accounts of: tumours, head injury, strokes, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, peripheral neuropathy, muscle disease, infections and so forth. The text is to the point and lucid. It abounds with useful tables and diagrams which the student will not find easily elsewhere, for example types of nystagmus, features of epilepsy and syncope, causes of cerebellar impairment, ophthalmoplegias, neuropsychological deficits, the mini-mental state examination and the Glasgow coma scale. There are good quality clinical photographs of retinopathies and of clinical testing of muscles, and there are flow charts for headache, dementia and vertigo which are fashionable if of over-rated value in teaching. The book is clearly printed in twocolumn format and the illustrations and tables are excellent. My only criticism apart from a few typesetting errors (for example the plantar response is described as "exterior" for exten-


Light emission profiles from AlGaInP LEDs are compared with those obtained via Monte-Carlo simulation and a lossy transmission line model. Results show good agreement for devices with thin current spreading layers. However, for thicker layers, geometric effects dominate the output profile, resulting in discrepancies between experimental data and the transmission line model. The simulation of emission profiles confirms this discrepancy, caused by light escaping from below the p-contact.


Abstract : This thesis lays the foundation for the dynamic stall investigation being conducted at the Fluid Mechanics Laboratory at NASA-Ames Research Center. Using existing optical and electrical equipment, a new dedicated Micro-VAX computer and Labstar software, an Indraft transonic wind tunnel and able technicians to make the proper interface hardware, the project came together in a new test facility at the Fluid Mechanics Laboratory. The goal of the thesis was to obtain both qualitative and quantitative information about the wake profiles of an airfoil in steady state operations at varying angles of attack and tunnel conditions. To accomplish this task, schlieren photography was used to obtain a qualitative picture of the flow field. With this information, a two component Laser Doppler Velocimeter was set up to accurately measure the velocity profiles that correspond to the schlieren photographs. Once this preliminary work is completed, the same apparatus will be used to further investigate the unsteady dynamic stall phenomenon.


Background: Urinary symptoms and urinary tract infections (UTIs) are common complaints for which women seek health care. Evolving modalities of care delivery have shifted management of these complaints from in-person face-to-face (F2F) visits, to nurse phone protocol management, and recently to online assessment via eVisit. While research has vetted the use of nurse phone protocol management, eVisit management outcomes have not been thoroughly studied. Purpose: To compare antibiotic prescribing, follow-up rates, and clinical outcomes between F2F visits at a retail clinic, nurse phone protocol encounters, and eVisits for the assessment and management of urinary symptoms and UTIs. Methods: A retrospective chart review of primary care empaneled patients at Mayo Clinic Rochester was conducted of females, 18 to 65 years old, who sought care for urinary symptoms via phone, eVisit, or F2F visit from August 1, 2016, through May 1, 2017. A total of 450 encounters, 150 from each of the 3 encounter types, were manually reviewed and compared for antibiotic prescribing rates, clinical outcomes, and 30-day follow-up rates. Results: Antibiotic prescribing rates for all three encounter types were similar. Referral for follow-up at initial encounter was more likely to be recommended from phone and eVisit encounters than F2F. No significant differences in follow-up rates or clinical outcomes were noted between the three encounter types. Conclusions: eVisits for urinary symptoms and UTI offer patients a convenient option for care without an increased use of antimicrobials, follow-up, or adverse clinical outcomes when compared with F2F visits or nurse-administered phone protocols.


This study proposes an innovative design method for functional optical film microstructures used in displays and applies this design to LCD backlighting to replace multi-layer optical film functional integration with composite optical film. We design a novel optical film microstructure based on light uniformity and wide-angle lumination distribution and determine the optimal optical microstructure parameters by combining the global optimization of a genetic algorithm with ray tracing. The purpose of this study is to develop substitutes for traditional multi-layer prism brightness enhancers and light-diffusing film stacks and to examine the structural changes during calculations and summarize the characteristics. In this study, we focus on determining the optimal light uniformity of new optical film microstructures. The seven-inch LED backlight module of the method proposed in this study achieved 94.59% uniformity and 168° lumination distribution while reducing thickness by 66% to 82% compared to a traditional multi-layer optical film stack.


Refugee studies scholars have emphasised that refugee law has become immigration law in the North/Western world. This shift in perspective emphasises borders rather than the protection of people. Comparatively little analytical work, however, has been done on the implications these legal and political changes have had on individual refugees. This article addresses some of these effects by comparing asylum, residence, and socio-economic problems of Bosnian refugees in Austria and the USA. It explores the underlying rationale of reception policies and the settlement support schemes primarily responsible for determining refugees' status and eligibility for benefits. Though the two countries' refugee relief schemes, the Austrian Bund-La¨nder Aktion and the American public-private partnership of refugee resettlement, were significantly different (the former restricted legal employment, the latter promoted early economic self-sufficiency), the Bosnian refugees in my sample actually adapted in quite a similar way in both countries. Individual initiative was found to have a much stronger impact than state policy.


Lectin-like oxidized low-density lipoprotein (Ox-LDL) receptor-1 (LOX-1) is a novel cell-surface receptor for Ox-LDL, which can be expressed by vascular endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells, and macrophages. On the other hand, transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta(1), which plays crucial roles in vascular remodeling and the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, has been shown to inhibit expression of class A scavenger receptors and CD36 in macrophages. Here we provide the evidence that TGF-beta(1) (0.1-10 ng/mL) induces LOX-1 protein and mRNA expression in both bovine aortic endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells in a dose- and time-dependent fashion, probably at the transcriptional level. TGF-beta(1) also upregulates LOX-1 mRNA expression in murine peritoneal macrophages. Thus TGF-beta(1) can highly induce LOX-1 expression in vascular endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells, and macrophages, suggesting that TGF-beta(1) appears one of the key regulators that modulates expression of scavenger receptors.


This article explains a creative way in which lessons from history may in future be presented to a new generation. This will be made possible by utilising new technology and ingenuity to make history educational and entertaining at the same time. Outside the classroom the SADFA Project also intends to create jobs for communities throughout South Africa. Military veterans with a passion to preserve the past and pass on a legacy to future generations will be invited to mentor the programme, together with historians and history enthusiasts. The aim is to present South Africa's joint history in a new and exciting way to contribute to the knowledge of future generations about how this country came about. Different cultures should gain respect for each other's history in the process.


This paper addresses -gain analysis and robust control of nonlinear sampled-data systems described by a polynomial linear parameter varying (PLPV) model. First, conditions for -gain analysis of sampled-data PLPV systems are derived using a modified Krasovskii functional in which the distance between the real and measured parameters are considered as uncertainties. The resulting conditions are formulated in terms of parameterised linear matrix inequalities (PLMI). Second, a solution approach for satisfying PLMI conditions over the set of whole parameters and uncertainties is proposed using the sum-of-squares decomposition method. Third, conditions for robust sampled-data controller synthesis for nonlinear systems described by PLPV models are derived in terms of parameterised bilinear matrix inequalities (PBMI) with the maximum allowable sampling period as the parameter. To make the resulting bilinear matrix inequality (BMI) problems tractable, an iterative algorithm is developed and utilised to solve the problem. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed approach is verified using several real-world examples.


Additive manufacturing is currently receiving significant attention in the field of tissue engineering and biomaterial science. The development of precise, affordable 3D printing technologies has provided a new platform for novel research to be undertaken in 3D scaffold design and fabrication. In the past, a number of 3D scaffold designs have been fabricated to investigate the potential of a 3D printed scaffold as a construct which could support cellular life. These studies have shown promising results; however, few studies have utilized a low-cost desktop 3D printing technology as a potential rapid manufacturing route for different scaffold designs. Here six scaffold designs were manufactured using a Fused deposition modeling, a "bottom-up" solid freeform fabrication approach, to determine optimal scaffold architecture for three-dimensional cell growth. The scaffolds, produced from PLA, are coated using pullulan and hyaluronic acid to assess the coating influence on cell proliferation and metabolic rate. Scaffolds are characterized both pre- and postprocessing using water uptake analysis, mechanical testing, and morphological evaluation to study the inter-relationships between the printing process, scaffold design, and scaffold properties. It was found that there were key differences between each scaffold design in terms of porosity, diffusivity, swellability, and compressive strength. An optimal design was chosen based on these physical measurements which were then weighted in accordance to design importance based on literature and utilizing a design matrix technique. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 106B: 533-545, 2018.


Over the past decades, many synchrophasor applications have been developed but the performance under various PMU errors has not been explored and is unknown for most applications. This paper discusses the impact of PMU measurement errors and limitations originated from hardware implementation of various phasor estimation algorithms on the accuracy of the synchrophasor-based fault location application, in particular on the fault location algorithm that uses synchronized phasors at both line terminals. The application test procedure is implemented on a simple two-bus system modeled in ATP-EMTP with different types of fault scenarios simulated and various real PMUs exposed to the fault signals through hardware-in-the-loop testing. Results acquired from such evaluations provide invaluable knowledge about limitations and vulnerabilities of synchrophasor end-use applications.


Urban planning historically considers soils as a support for infrastructures. Hopefully, awareness is increasing on the fact that soils offer many more services than just this one, thanks to their various functions. It is therefore necessary to develop methodologies and tools that allow the urban planners to take into account the opportunities and constraints associated to soils. Considering the existing quality indexes already developed by the researchers, we faced within the MUSE project various difficulties and in particular the lack of knowledge on urban soils in France. We therefore developed a methodology to deal with limited knowledge on urban soils and tested it first on the Nantes metropolis territory (France). Our aim was to map each soil function as well as a soil multifunctionality in such a way that urban planning documents may refer to them.

The aim of the multifunction map is to help protecting soils that show various functions, including patrimonial functions. We therefore considered the following functions: carbon storage, water storage and infiltration, storage and filtration of contaminants, agronomic potential, biodiversity reservoir. We did not consider the support and natural resources provision functions. According to the level of knowledge on soils (local/regional/national scales, direct/indirect), we considered three mapping approaches (statistical, global, and calculation) to build function maps, and interpreted them in terms of soil function index (SFI) map. To build the soil multifunctionality quality index (SMQI) map, we crossed the various function index maps using a ponderation according to the territorial issues. These issues derive from discussions with the urban planners of the local authority and the number of functions assessed on each part of the territory (some functions not mapped in the city center). We carried out discussions with the urban planners all along the methodological development process to ensure applicability of the index map produced.

The results obtained are very satisfying considering the level of knowledge on soils. The urban planners of the local authority clearly imagine how to use both the soil function maps as well as the soil multifunctionality quality index map. We are nevertheless aware of the limits due to the use of data with different scales of validity (eg. 1 / 250 000 for pedological map; 1/10 000 for soil land-use model; statistical data on C and biodiversity at pedoclimatic scale vs national scale). The comparison with local punctual data helps verifying the degree of confidence of the maps. The methodological development is currently being adjusted and tested on other cities (in particular Marseilles and Châteauroux, France) and further discussed with urban planners at national scale. Efforts are necessary to build a wider and more precise knowledge on urban soils by gathering and sharing existing data. This implies building reference knowledge and by defining the most useful properties to acquire in a systematic way to characterize soils so as to optimise urban planning and development.


This article explores the extent to which colour functions as an independent mode in a particular context and explores the culturally produced regularities in the uses of colour in this context. Drawing on a Hallidayan metafunctional view of text, we look at how colour instantiated systems of knowledge and belief (ideational function) and social relations and identities (interpersonal function) in South Africa during the last decade of the apartheid government. In this type of repressive socio-political context, colour was a less policed mode, and thus had different affordances to images and the verbal modes. We argue that colour can function as an independent mode under certain conditions, such as stringent press restrictions, where the use of colour in a range of media (clothing, flags, posters) can play a crucial role in communicating.


Nanostructured calcium phosphate porous microspheres are of great potential in drug delivery and bone regeneration due to their large specific surface area, biocompatibility, and similarity to inorganic component of osseous tissue. In this work, strontium (Sr)-doped amorphous calcium phosphate porous microspheres (SrAPMs) were synthesized through a microwave-hydrothermal method using fructose 1,6-bisphosphate trisodium salt as the source of phosphate ions. The SrAPMs showed a mesoporous structure and a relatively high specific area. Compared with the hydroxyapatite nanorods prepared by using Na2HPO4·12H2O as the phosphorus source, the SrAPMs with a higher specific surface area were more effective in drug loading using vancomycin as the antiobiotics of choice and consequently having a higher antibacterial efficiency both on agar plates and in broths. Furthermore, to assess the potential application of SrAPMs in bone defect repair, a novel biomimetic bone tissue-engineering scaffold consisting of collagen (Coll) and SrAPMs was constructed using a freeze-drying fabrication process. Incorporation of the SrAPMs not only improved the mechanical properties, but also enhanced the osteogenesis of rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. The in vivo experiments demonstrated that the SrAPMs/Coll scaffolds remarkably enhanced new bone formation compared with the Coll and APMs/Coll scaffolds in a rat critical-sized calvarial defect model at 8 weeks postimplantation. In summary, SrAPMs developed in this work are promising as antibiotic carriers and may encourage bone formation when combined with collagen.


Constrained general linear models (CGLMs) have wide applications in practice. Similar to other data analysis, the identification of influential obser- vations that may be potential outliers is an important step beyond in CGLMs. We develop local influence approach for detecting influential observations in CGLMs. The procedure makes use of the normal curvature and the direction achieving the maximum curvature to assess the local influences of minor perturbation of CGLMs. An illustrative example with a real data set is also reported.


Deltas are important climate change hot spots that provide critical locations for human populations, agriculture, and aquaculture, as well as ecosystems and the services they provide. However, they are vulnerable systems as the sediment inputs which have historically offset relative sea level rise in undisturbed deltas appear to be threatened by anthropogenic activities. This thesis contributes to the understanding of future delta sustainability by projecting sediment delivery to a set of 47 significant deltas worldwide. This is the first study of future sediment fluxes to such a large group of major deltas, and for some of these individual deltas the projection of future sediment flux has never been done before. The hydrological model WBMsed was chosen after a review of possible models to project fluvial sediment delivery to each delta annually up to the year 2100. The model was forced by scenarios of climate change (RCPs 2.6, 4.5, 6.0, and 8.5), socioeconomic change (population and GDP data derived from SSPs 1, 2, and 3), and projected dam construction. On average, across all 47 deltas, fluvial sediment delivery is predicted to decrease by 36-41%, dependent on scenario, during the 21st century. The largest overall contributor to decreasing sediment delivery is reservoir construction. However, for some individual deltas socioeconomic changes can cause a larger decline in the supply of fluvial sediment than dam construction. In comparison, climate changes have a much smaller effect than both dam construction and socioeconomic changes, but the influence of climate change is generally of opposing sign (for 39 of 47 rivers), thereby increasing future sediment supply. There are large differences between the sediment flux changes projected between individual deltas, with some increases, but the majority of deltas (32 of 47) display decreases in sediment flux on average. The significance of the sediment delivery changes for each river was assessed by developing a new Sediment Starvation Risk Index (SSRI), which considers absolute sediment flux change versus delta area. The SSRI highlights those deltas most at risk from sediment delivery losses over the 21st century and also shows a correlation between the dominant drivers of sediment flux change for each delta and the degree of sediment starvation risk. Those deltas with sediment flux changes driven by socioeconomic change are likely to be at greater risk of sediment starvation, whereas those driven by climate change are likely to be at less risk. This research assesses projected changes in sediment load to deltas, the key drivers of these changes, and the potential significance of these changes for individual deltas using globally consistent methods. The research suggests widespread challenges for delta management and sustainability due to reduced sediment inputs over the 21st century.


Background: Despite the rapidly changing concept of gastric ulcer management from conventional vagotomy, H2 receptor antagonists and antacids to proton pump inhibitors, gastrointestinal toxicity remains an impediment to their application in clinical practice. Combined administration of two or more plant extracts with therapeutic efficacy may proffer solution to this menace. This study investigated the combined gastroprotective effects of Spondias mombin and Ficus exasperata leaf extracts against indomethacin-induced gastric ulcer in rats.
Materials and Methods: Thirty rats were randomized into six groups of five animals each and ulceration was induced by a single oral administration of indomethacin (30 mg/kg body weight). Ulcerated rats were orally administered with Spondias mombin, Ficus exasperata at 200 mg/kg body weight and esomeprazole (a reference drug) at a dose of 20 mg/kg body weight once daily for 21 days after ulcer induction. At the end of the experiment, gastric secretions and antioxidant parameters were evaluated.
Results: We observed that the significantly increased (P < 0.05) ulcer index, gastric acidity, malondialdehyde level and pepsin activity were markedly reduced following co-administration of S. mombin and F. exasperata. The extracts also effectively attenuated the reduced activities of superoxide dismutase and catalase as well as pH, mucin content and reduced glutathione level in the ulcerated rats.
Discussion and Conclusion: These findings are indicative of gastroprotective and antioxidative attributes of the two extracts which is also evident in the % protective index value obtained. The available evidences in this study suggest that the complementary effects of S. mombin and F. exasperata proved to be capable of ameliorating indomethacin-mediated gastric ulceration and the probable mechanisms are via antioxidative and proton pump inhibition.


Last week, President Donald Trump issued an executive order barring the entry of any citizen from seven mostly Muslim nations for 90 days while procedures for more-rigorous vetting of visa applicants are put in place. The order sparked chaos at airports in the United States and abroad, as dozens of academics and others with valid U.S. entry documents were not allowed to board U.S.-bound flights or were turned back after arriving. It provoked angst in scientists and students from the target countries—Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Sudan, and Yemen—who had secured a visa to come to the United States, and in those already living there. And it raised broader questions about whether the country can continue to benefit from the flow of scientific and engineering talent from overseas.


Currently, the area of polymeric drug delivery is one of intense international and interdisciplinary research. Many of the applications of materials derived from this research are focussed on therapeutic applications ultimately to be used in whole body systems. Herein, the research described focuses on a novel application of multicomponent glycopolymers. The majority of pig breading is conducted via artificial insemination. Whilst this offers many advantages, one of the major drawbacks is the adverse effect of oxidation on the spermatozoa during storage (which can be several days) prior to use. The supplementation of vitamin E is highly desirable, however due to its lypophilic character it cannot be added directly to the largely aqueous boar ejaculate mixture. Polymethacrylate derivatives were synthesised carrying carbohydrate residues, vitamin E residues and solubility enhancing amino residues. These vitamin E bearing glycopolymers were found to be soluble in aqueous media. The interactions of these materials with boar spermatozoa were thoroughly investigated. It was demonstrated that supplementation with these glycopolymers significantly reduced cellular oxidation under induced oxidative conditions. Analogous polymers were also synthesised containing a fluorescent dye. Confocal microscopy images were obtained of boar spermatozoa incubated with dye-labelled polymers with and without carbohydrate moieties in order to demonstrate that the internalisation of the polymers was enhanced by carbohydrate-lectin interactions.


Abstract : The sensitivity of numerical solutions of systems of nonlinear flow equations (Navier-Stokes equations) to the grid used is investigated through the use of the South China Sea (SCS) numerical ocean model. Traditionally, rectangular coordinate grids are used in environmental modeling. The advantage of rectangular coordinate grids is their simplicity in the generation process. However, rectangular coordinate grids are not well suited for regions with complex terrain (coastlines and topography) and occasionally lead to poor accuracy in numerical solutions. The grid generation techniques are being introduced to coastal ocean modeling to study the sensitivity of numerical solutions to the grid used and to investigate the enhancement of the modeling process. Grid generation techniques are broadly used in aeronautical engineering community for solving CFD problems. One orthogonal (l2lxl9l) and two curvilinear nearly-orthogonal grids (l2lxl9l and lSlx24l) are designed to couple with the SCS numerical ocean model. The grids are designed using the EAGLEView grid generation code developed by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering Research Center (ERC) of Mississippi State University. EAGLEView implements a grid generation technique using mainly elliptic and algebraic generation systems. The designed grids are processed with the SOS numerical ocean model for 200 days to study the sensitivity of numerical solutions to the grid used. The solutions of the temperature and salinity fields are presented and analyzed. The advantages of curvilinear nearly- orthogonal grids are also discussed. (MM)


Nitrous oxide (N2O), which contributes to global climate change and stratospheric ozone destruction, can be produced during denitrification. Although the N2O ratio, a measure of denitrification completion, is influenced by various properties, studies have largely been limited to site- or treatment-specific conclusions. The primary objective of this study was to identify important factors driving N2O ratios and their relationships in soils by systematically reviewing and quantitatively evaluating results from published laboratory denitrification studies. A database with 60 studies (657 observations) was compiled, including studies meeting the minimum criteria: (i) laboratory experiments on soils, (ii) nutrient (carbon and/or nitrogen) addition, and (iii) N2O and dinitrogen gas measurements. Of these, 14 studies (100 observations) had sufficient data for inclusion in the meta-analysis to assess the effect of added nutrients on the N2O ratio. Furthermore, we modeled the effect of moderators on treatment effect by fitting a meta-regression model with both quantitative and categorical variables. Close review of studies in the database identified soil pH, carbon addition, and nitrogen addition as important variables for the N2O ratio, but trends varied across studies. Correlation analysis of all studies clarified that soil pH was significantly correlated with the N2O ratio, where soils with higher pH had lower N2O ratios. The meta-analysis further revealed that nutrient addition had an overall significant, positive treatment effect (0.30 ± 0.03, P<.0001), indicating that experimentally adding nutrients increased the N2O ratio. The model was most significantly improved when soil texture was used as a moderator. The significance of soil texture for the N2O ratio was a major finding of this study, especially since the assays were usually conducted with soil slurries. Overall, this study highlights the importance of field soil properties (i.e., pH, texture) and laboratory conditions (i.e., nutrient addition) in driving the N2O ratio and N2O production from denitrification in soils.


In recent years, the need for sealants in rigid pavement joints has become debatable, partly because of the unpredictable field performance of joint sealants. This inability to predict sealant performance stems from the fact that there is no laboratory evaluation method that accurately simulates field traffic and environmental loading conditions. A laboratory testing method was developed to predict the performance of rigid-pavement joint sealants. A research team at Virginia Tech designed a fixture that allows the evaluation of joint sealants under cyclic shear and static horizontal deflections. Shear deflection simulates vehicular loading, and horizontal deflection simulates expansion and contraction of concrete slabs due to temperature variation. Concrete specimens were prepared at a typical water-to-cement ratio of 0.45. Two aggregate types were used in the concrete mixes to evaluate the effect of aggregate type on sealant performance. Two commercially available sealants were investigated in the study. Sealant performance was evaluated for different joint widths and joint expansion. Specimens were loaded cyclically to failure; a 20 percent cohesive or adhesive debonding was considered a failure. A limited number of specimens were exposed to freezing and thawing cycles. The study showed quantitatively the effects of joint width, joint expansion, concrete aggregate type, and freezing and thawing cycles on sealant performance. Statistical models were developed to predict the number of loading cycles to failure for each sealant.


Prolonged cholestasis is a rare complication of hepatitis A infection, characterized by a protracted, indolent course with persistent symptoms of pruritus and malabsorption lasting for several months. A 14-year-old girl, previously treated for acute hepatitis A, presented with yellowing of the eyes. An evaluation of her liver function revealed conjugated hyperbilirubinemia, and a liver biopsy confirmed hepatitis with cholestasis. Fortunately, she responded well to conservative treatment and recovered successfully.


Hydatid disease is a zoonotic infection caused by larval stages of dog tapeworms belonging to the genus Echinococcus (family taeniidae) and is also referred to as echinococcosis. Human cystic echinococcosis caused by E. granulosus is the most common presentation and probably accounts for more than 95% of the estimated 2-3 million annual worldwide cases. The liver (70–80%) and lungs (15–25%) are the most frequent locations for echinococcal cysts. The diagnosis is made through the combined assessment of clinical, radiological, and laboratory findings. The treatment is mainly surgical, and, with appropriate diagnosis and treatment, prognosis is good. With advances and increasing experience in laparoscopic surgery, many more attempts have been made to offer the advantage of such a procedure to these patients (Chowbey et al. (2003)).


An important group of genes for the development of neoplastic diseases are, in addition to tumour suppressor genes, protooncogenes. The latter are highly preserved genes present in a similar sequence in the cell genomes of different species (yeasts - man). They encode components of biochemical signalling pathways by which external mitotic signals stimulate cell proliferation and products which inhibit cell differentiation. The result of activation of protooncogenes into oncogenes (mutations, chromosomal rearrangements, amplifications, viral insertions, insertion mutagenesis) is in particular hyperstimulation of cells resulting in uncontrolled proliferation. Mutations are of the dominant type, elimination of one allele leads to the transformation of a protooncogene into an oncogene. Oncogenes are classified with regard to the transmission level of the mitogenic signal on which they act. Originally they were detected in the genome of oncogenic viruses. However, they do not form their constant and specific constituent, the virus acts as a vector which transmits cellular protooncogenes (or oncogenes) during the reproductive cycle from one cell to another. The activity of various types of oncogenes is the necessary prerequisite for the genesis and development of various neoplastic diseases. Detection of oncogene alterations provides in some instances important diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic findings.


This paper is concerned about the performance of UWB system in the multiuser environment. The existence of several multiuser access can cause a significant performance degradation and hence the transmission rate. In this paper, an adaptive least bit error rate (LBER) Rake receiver used for synchronous CDMA UWB system for SUI channel modelling to mitigate multiple access interference and inter symbol interference. Combining weights of Rake receiver is adapted based on the LBER criteria and calculate the cumulative results.BER performance of the conventional MRC,MMSE and LBER Rake receiver can be studied by varying the number of fingers for different number of users and also compare with SUI channel. The conditional probability density function for the output signal is generated to analyze the effect of MAI and ISI at the receiver side. The proposed LBER Rake receiver with SUI channel shows that receiver can suppress MAI and ISI more effectively and also have the lowest path loss in the multiuser environment hence increases the number of active user and transmission rate.


In this paper we study post-model selection estimators which apply ordinary least squares (ols) to the model selected by first-step penalized estimators, typically lasso. It is well known that lasso can estimate the non-parametric regression function at nearly the oracle rate, and is thus hard to improve upon. We show that ols post lasso estimator performs at least as well as lasso in terms of the rate of convergence, and has the advantage of a smaller bias. Remarkably, this performance occurs even if the lasso-based model selection "fails" in the sense of missing some components of the "true" regression model. By the "true" model we mean here the best s-dimensional approximation to the nonparametric regression function chosen by the oracle. Furthermore, ols post lasso estimator can perform strictly better than lasso, in the sense of a strictly faster rate of convergence, if the lasso-based model selection correctly includes all components of the "true" model as a subset and also achieves sufficient sparsity. In the extreme case, when lasso perfectly selects the "true" model, the ols post lasso estimator becomes the oracle estimator. An important ingredient in our analysis is a new sparsity bound on the dimension of the model selected by lasso which guarantees that this dimension is at most of the same order as the dimension of the "true" model. Our rate results are non-asymptotic and hold in both parametric and nonparametric models. Moreover, our analysis is not limited to the lasso estimator acting as selector in the first step, but also applies to any other estimator, for example various forms of thresholded lasso, with good rates and good sparsity properties. Our analysis covers both traditional thresholding and a new practical, data-driven thresholding scheme that induces maximal sparsity subject to maintaining a certain goodness-of-fit. The latter scheme has theoretical guarantees similar to those of lasso or ols post lasso, but it dominates these procedures as well as traditional thresholding in a wide variety of experiments. First arXiv version: December 2009.


James Merrill's The Changing Light at Sandover is the outstanding visionary long poem of late twentieth-century American literature. Despite its somewhat unusual mode of composition and the rather eccentric heavenly pantheon with which Merrill claims to have communicated, Sandover is presented as the transmission of an authentic prophetic message and the narrative of the manner in which that message was received. One of the more intriguing aspects of the text is its self-reflexive nature. A substantial amount of the poem's dialogue and a number of narrative manipulations interrogate the technologies of the poem's composition and the relation of Merrill's medium and method to his task as the author of a sacred text in a skeptical age. These internal tests ultimately confirm his efforts by celebrating the most basic element of any author's craft—language—as not only the medium for the message but also the mechanism of humankind's redemption.


Abstract There are three types of results in this paper. The first, extending a representation theorem on a conformal mapping that omits two values of equal modulus. This was due to Brickman and Wilken. They constructed a representation as a convex combination with two terms. Our representation constructs convex combinations with unlimited number of terms. In the limit one can think of it as an integration over a probability space with the uniform distribution. The second result determines the sign of ℜ L(z0(f(z))2) up to a remainder term which is expressed using a certain integral that involves the Löwner chain induced by f(z), for a support point f(z) which maximizes ℜ L. Here L is a continuous linear functional on H(U), the topological vector space of the holomorphic functions in the unit disk U = {z ∈ ℂ | |z| < 1}. Such a support point is known to be a slit mapping and f(z0) is the tip of the slit ℂ − f(U). The third demonstrates some properties of support points of the subspace Sn of S. Sn contains all the polynomials in S of degree n or less. For instance such a support point p(z) has a zero of its derivative p′(z) on ∂U.


Background:
In general, habits such as bruxism are contributory factors for temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders and its etiology is still controversial.
Methods: Three-dimensional models of maxilla and mandible and teeth of 37 patients and 36 control subject were made using in-vivo image data. The maximum values of stress and deformation were calculated in 21 patients six months after using a splint and compared with the initial conditions.
Results: The maximum stresses in the jaw bone and head of mandible in patients were 4.4 and 4.1 times higher than those in control subjects, respectively. Similar values for deformation were 5.8 and 4.9, respectively. Six months after splint application, the maximum stress in the jaw bone and head of mandible decreased by up to 71.0% and 72.8%, respectively. Similar values for the maximum deformation were 80.7% and 78.7%, respectively. With occlusal splint therapy, the approximation of the maximum deformation to the relevant values in control subjects was about 2.6 times the approximation of maximum stress to the relevant values in control subjects. The maximum stress and maximum deformation occurred in all cases in the head of the mandible and the splint had the highest effectiveness in jaw bone adjacent to the molar teeth.
Conclusions: Splint acts as a stress relaxer and dissipates the extra generated stresses and especially the deformation and deviations of TMJ due to bruxism. The splint also makes the bilateral and simultaneous loading possible and helps with the treatment of this disorder through regulation of bruxism by creating a biomechanical equilibrium between the physiological loading and the generated stress.


Salinity stress impacts crop growth as well as production. The need for increased food production to feed the increasing population and the limited resources, i.e. optimal quality land and water, require developing strategies to mitigate marginal stresses, including salinity stress, for reasonable expectation of crop production. A pot experiment was conducted in a greenhouse at the National Research Centre, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt in the summer season of 2005 to evaluate the effects of foliar application of ascorbic acid alone or in combination with zinc sulfate on the growth and photosynthetic pigments of millet plants irrigated by tap water (250 ppm, 0.39 dS·m-1) or moderate to high salinity irrigation water [2500 ppm (3.9 dS·m-1) and 5000 ppm (7.8 dS·m-1)]. Increased salinity in the irrigation water decreased the plant growth, biomass, and carotenoid content. Foliar application of ascorbic acid alone increased number of leaves and leaf area, while in combination with zinc sulfate increased the plant height and total plant biomass. However, these treatments had no significant effects on the photosynthetic pigments. This study demonstrates that exogenous application of ascorbic acid can enhance foliar growth which may contribute to increased plant biomass and yield.


Call it the American disease. The symptoms: unchecked health care spending and too many uninsured. The remedy: introducing more marketplace logic into the system.


mation does not result in a decision by the patient to forego drug therapy; thus it does not interfere with the physician-patient relationship. See, Brushwood & Sinionsmeier, Drug Information for Patients: Duties of the Manufacturer, Pharmacist, Physician, and Hospital, JOURNAL OF LEGAL MEDICINE 7: 279 ( 1 986). 16. Ramirez u. Richardson Merrell, Inc., 628 F.Supp. 85 (E.D.Pa. 1986); Eldridge u. Eli Lilly Co., 485 N.E.2d 551 (I1I.App. 1985);Jones u. Irwin. 602 F.Supp. 399 (S.D.111. 1985); Pysz u. Henry's Drug Store, 457 So.2d 561 (F1a.Dist.Cr.App. 1984). 17. Hand u. Krahowski, 453 N.Y.S.2d 121 (App.Div. 1982); Perkins u. MTndsor Hospital Corp., 455 A.2d 810 (Vt. 1982); Kirk u. Michael Reese Hospital U Med. Center, 483 N.E.2d 906 (IILApp. 1985) (case discussed hospital liability only, but recognized pharmacists as practitioners within the hospital).


The aim of the paper is to prove in the case of the Fano threefolds and Golyshev's conjecture on the modularity of the equations for smooth Fano threefolds with Picard group . More precisely, the counting matrices of prime two-pointed invariants of and are found with the help of a method allowing one to find the Gromov-Witten invariants of complete intersections in varieties for which these invariants are (partially) known. Bibliography: 33 titles.


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence of the relationship between end-user computing satisfaction (EUCS) and radical innovation, using organizational learning as an explanatory variable.

Design/methodology/approach
An empirical study was conducted in a population of 402 Spanish companies. A sample of 251 valid questionnaires was obtained. Structural equations were used to validate the proposed hypotheses.

Findings
Organizational learning capability fully mediates the relationship between EUCS and radical innovation.

Research limitations/implications
The sample of companies is heterogeneous in terms of size, sector, age and market share. The study uses single informants.

Practical implications
Results highlight the need to implement adequate information systems to promote radical innovation. In addition, it is necessary to facilitate organizational contexts that encourage dialogue, experimentation, risk-taking, participative decision-making and openness to the external environment.

Originality/value
This research contributes to the study of alternative antecedents of radical innovation by highlighting the importance of EUCS.


In this paper, we first give a brief background on artificial curiosity and intrinsic motivation as it is studied in the developmental robotics research community. We then introduce some theoretical improvements for mechanisms related to intrinsically motivational living algorithms as introduced by SAGG-RIAC algorithm. Finally we conclude by drawing the way for our future experimental results using these new improvements.


Coronary heart disease (CHD) has become one of the most serious public health issues due to its high morbidity and mortality rates. Most of the existing coronary heart disease risk prediction models manually extract features based on shallow machine learning methods. It only focuses on the differences between local patient features and ignores the interaction modeling between global patients. Its accuracy is still insufficient for individualized patient management strategies. In this paper, we propose CHD prediction as a graph node classification task for the first time, where nodes can represent individuals in potentially diseased populations and graphs intuitively represent associations between populations. We used an adaptive multi-channel graph convolutional neural network (AM-GCN) model to extract graph embeddings from topology, node features, and their combinations through graph convolution. Then, the adaptive importance weights of the extracted embeddings are learned by using an attention mechanism. For different situations, we model the relationship of the CHD population with the population graph and the K-nearest neighbor graph method. Our experimental evaluation explored the impact of the independent components of the model on the CHD disease prediction performance and compared it to different baselines. The experimental results show that our new model exhibits the best experimental results on the CHD dataset, with a 1.3% improvement in accuracy, a 5.1% improvement in AUC, and a 4.6% improvement in F1-score compared to the nongraph model.


The Cretaceous period is often regarded as one of "greenhouse" warmth, with perhaps its acme occurring in the late Albian stage (100 Ma ago). However, it is now apparent that, even at this time, there were significant meridional temperature gradients and distinct temperate biotas in the highest latitude regions. This is particularly so in the Southern Hemisphere, where an extensive Albian fossil record from Antarctica, Australia and New Zealand has revealed the presence of austral floras and faunas. With the recent improvements in stratigraphical correlations, it has become possible to trace the later Cretaceous palaeoenvironmental record in the Antarctic Peninsula region. Unfortunately, resolution of the early Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian–Coniacian stages) is still imprecise; there are some indications of strongly differentiated palynological assemblages, but studies of both macrofaunas and palaeotemperature estimates are incomplete. By the Santonian–Campanian, high-latitude biotas are well developed in the James Ross Island region and their enhancement through the final stages of the Cretaceous can be linked to a phase of global cooling. The persistence of low diversity temperate communities in high latitude regions may be of considerable ecological and evolutionary significance. For example, there is evidence to suggest that these communities may have been more resistant to mass extinction events; they may also have been important source regions for replacement taxa that arose after such events.


Purpose: International service-learning (ISL) is popular in higher education, and many physical therapy educational programs are adding ISL opportunities to their curricula because doing so aligns with student interest and the increasingly global nature of the profession. The faculty leading these experiences have not been studied. Nearly all faculty in physical therapy programs are educated as therapists and not as teachers. Most do not have any background in pedagogical practice or educational theory. The purpose of this study was to describe faculty leading ISL experiences in physical therapy educational programs and compare them to faculty who do not participate in ISL. Of specific interest were demographic variables, teaching style, and educational theoretical frames. Method: Data were collected using an online Faculty Survey. Responses from 205 physical therapy faculty subjects from across the United States were used for analysis. Forty seven (23%) of these subjects reported having participated in international service-learning. Data from faculty who participate in ISL (Y-ISL) were compared to those of faculty who do not participate in ISL (N-ISL). Analysis/Results: When comparing the Y-ISL and the N-ISL groups in terms of their demographics using descriptive statistics, t-test analysis, or chi-square analysis differences were found only in age and years of practice. In terms of teaching style type (TST) Expert/Formal Authority; Personal Model/Formal Authority/Delegator; Formal Authority/Delegator; Formal Authority/ Facilitator/Delegator; Delegator/ Facilitator, chi-square analysis results indicate that there is no significant association between TST and Y-ISL and N-ISL. When exploring the theoretical frame types (TFT); progressive, critical, and professional chi-square analysis indicated that there is a significant association between TFT and Y-ISL and N-ISL. Y-ISL faculty are more likely than N-ISL faculty to come from a critical theory frame. Regression analysis resulted in a model that is unable to predict Y-ISL or N-ISL group membership based on faculty demographics, TST, and TFT. Discussion: The relevance of the study findings in relation to institutions of higher education, the field of physical therapy in general, physical therapy educational programs both with and without ISL programs and individual faculty are addressed.


My subject for this TePoel lecture arises from a difficulty I have had in my current work, which is the preparation of a casebook on comparative law and, specifically, that part of the casebook which deals with the continental European civil law systems. My difficulty was not unlike what those of you who are firstyear law students may be experiencing-how does one grasp and present a legal system as a whole? How do we penetrate its formal structures and technical apparatus so as to fully understand it and-if it is a foreign legal system-usefully compare it with our own? In trying to deal with this difficulty, I encountered another problem which was this: the widely accepted categories of legal thought in civil law systems (the way most legal scholars understand and explain their own system to themselves and others) did not seem to correspond to the actual predominance of the various materials of legal reasoning in those systems. But then I had to ask myself whether the American situation is really any different in this respect. Have not the conceptual tools which are now generally in use in American law schools become increasingly obsolete over the past sixty or so years? If I am able to persuade you today that they have, this does not mean that law as a discipline is especially retarded. I ask you to consider in this connection the fact that Charles Darwin's essay On the Origin of Species was published in 1859, but it was not until the 1940's that the classification systems used in the life sciences were adjusted to reflect the changes brought about by Darwin's theories.' Obviously, it takes a long time for a new outlook to enter the mainstream of a field, and the changes that have taken place in law in our century, I will argue, are comparable in magnitude to the effect of evolutionary theory on biology.


Summary Objective: The aim of this study is to gain a better understanding of the risk factors influencing the success of clinical information system projects. Methods: This study addresses this issue by first reviewing the extant literature on information technology project risks, and second conducting a Delphi survey among 21 experts highly involved in clinical information system projects in Québec, Canada, a region where government have invested heavily in health information technologies in recent years. Results: Twenty-three risk factors were identified. The absence of a project champion was the factor that experts felt most deserves their attention. Lack of commitment from upper management was ranked second. Our panel of experts also confirmed the importance of a variable that has been extensively studied in information systems, namely, perceived usefulness that ranked third. Respondents ranked project ambiguity fourth. The fifth-ranked risk was associated with poor alignment between the clinical information systems' characteristics and the organization of clinical work. The large majority of risk factors associated with the technology itself were considered less important. This finding supports the idea that technology-associated factors rarely figure among the main reasons for a project failure. Conclusions: In addition to providing a comprehensive list of risk factors and their relative importance, the study presents a major contribution by unifying the literature on information systems and medical infor - matics. Our checklist provides a basis for further research that may help practitioners identify the effective countermeasures for mitigating risks associated with the implementation of clinical information systems.


Identifiability of a single module in a network of transfer functions is determined by whether a particular transfer function in the network can be uniquely distinguished within a network model set, on the basis of data. Whereas previous research has focused on the situations that all network signals are either excited or measured, we develop generalized analysis results for the situation of partial measurement and partial excitation. As identifiability conditions typically require a sufficient number of external excitation signals, this article introduces a novel network model structure such that excitation from unmeasured noise signals is included, which leads to less conservative identifiability conditions than relying on measured excitation signals only. More importantly, graphical conditions are developed to verify global and generic identifiability of a single module based on the topology of the dynamic network. Depending on whether the input or the output of the module can be measured, we present four identifiability conditions which cover all possible situations in single module identification. These conditions further lead to synthesis approaches for allocating excitation signals and selecting measured signals, to warrant single module identifiability. In addition, if the identifiability conditions are satisfied for a sufficient number of external excitation signals only, indirect identification methods are developed to provide a consistent estimate of the module. All the obtained results are also extended to identifiability of multiple modules in the network.


Using cDNA microarrays coupled with bioinformatics tools, we elucidated a signaling cascade regulating cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), a pivotal pro-inflammatory enzyme expressed in rheumatic and osteoarthritic, but not normal, cartilage. Exposure of T/C-28a2 chondrocytic cells to fluid shear results in co-regulation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase2 (JNK2), c-Jun, and COX-2 as well as concomitant downstream expression of prostaglandin receptors EP2 and EP3a1. JNK2 transcript inhibition abrogated shear-induced COX-2, EP2, and EP3a1 mRNA up-regulation as well as c-Jun phosphorylation. Functional knock-out experiments using an antisense c-Jun oligonucleotide revealed the abolition of shear-induced COX-2, EP2, and EP3a1, but not JNK2, transcripts. Moreover, inhibition of COX-2 activity eliminated mRNA upregulation of EP2 and EP3a1 induced by shear. Hence, a biochemical pathway exists wherein fluid shear activates COX-2, via a JNK2/c-Jun-dependent pathway, which in turn elicits downstream EP2 and EP3a1 mRNA synthesis.


Aim. To elucidate the prevalence of delayed gastroduodenal transit in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM1) compared with controls having unaffected carbohydrate metabolism. Materials and methods. The study included 159 DM1 patients and 128 ones with symptoms of dyspepsia and normal carbohydrate metabolism. The presence of food remains in the stomach after the 12-hour fast (detected by oesophagogastroduodenoscopy) was regarded as a delay of gastroduodenal transit. Results. In a group of DM1 patients, 13.70% of the cases had endoscopically confirmed delay of food evacuation from the stomach. No signs of gastroparesis were documented in the control group. Conclusion. Certain patients with DM1 suffer a marked impairment of gastroduodenal transit (13.7% of the cases in the present study). This disorder affects the time of onset of carbohydrate absorption. Therefore, such patients need their mealtimes to be chosen on an individual basis.


The existence of competition between the increasingly stringent product
today requires every company to provide the best for consumers. Quality
assurance is one that must be administered and fulfilled by the company to
customers. Including the quality of the product. Because the quality of a product
is one of the important criteria to be considered when consumers select products.
Therefore, the required improvements and a continuous quality improvement -
going from a company in accordance with specifications and customer needs.
Problems on the concrete roof tiles are still there are many different types
of defects such as cracked tiles, tile gumpil, broken roof tiles, roof tiles and
porous tiles overflow. this indicates that the quality of concrete roof tiles are still a
lot of companies have a shortage. Quality management system only emphasizes
the continuous improvement efforts based on self-awareness of management
without providing the right solution in terms of breakthroughs to be done to
improve quality.
The purpose of this study was to measure the level of capability (ability)
and the factors that influence disability and determine corrective actions to
improve the quality of concrete tile products. The method used to analyze the
quality of concrete tile products are (in this study to focus only on the type of
concrete tile archipelago) is a continuous improvement cycle of DMAIC. By this
method will be obtained by the DPMO and sigma level of quality products.
The results showed that the performance of the process during the month
of August 2011 - January 2012 generating level 6687 and level DPMO = sigma =
4.0 with a total of 10 318 examinations and 345 defects. Factors - factors affecting
these results is due to lack of maintenance and engine lubricants, employees make
mistakes, poor-quality material, dirty work environments, so as to determine
methods of repair used FMEA (Failure Mode and Effect Analysis).


These guidelines draws on the experiences gained during the construction of suspension footbridges in both Zimbabwe and Nepal. They cover the following aspects: site investigation; estimation of quantities; tendering of contractor; construction procedures; resource management; and maintenance of the structure once built. It is intended as a complement to the standard procedures and drawings for bridge development by the Department of Roads in Zimbabw


We use pretrained transformer-based language models in SemEval-2020 Task 7: Assessing the Funniness of Edited News Headlines. Inspired by the incongruity theory of humor, we use a contrastive approach to capture the surprise in the edited headlines. In the official evaluation, our system gets 0.531 RMSE in Subtask 1, 11th among 49 submissions. In Subtask 2, our system gets 0.632 accuracy, 9th among 32 submissions.


Introduction: Geological investigations of planetary surfaces are based on the exploitation of orbital data and often acquired with different remote sensing instruments. For Mars, for instance, the number of missions and instruments and the size of the datasets are so important that even at the scale of a single scientific team, an information system to manage data is more and more required. The creation and exploitation of a database of Mars surface is part of the e-Mars project funded by the European Research Council (ERC), the aim of which is to decipher the geological evolution of the planet from the combination of Martian orbital data. We have designed a distributed information system called MarsSIpulami to manage data from the four following Martian orbiters: Mars Global Surveyor (MGS), Mars Odyssey (ODY), Mars Express (MEX), and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). MarsSIpulami allows the user to select footprints of the data from a web-GIS interface and download them to a storage server. Then the user can process raw data via automatic calibrations and finally acquire "ready-to-use" data of Mars surface. "Ready-to-use" means that the data are ready to be visualized under Geographic Information System (GIS) or remote sensing softwares. An automatic stereo-restitution pipeline producing high resolution Digital Terrain Models (DTM) is also available.


The Impact Factor of a journal reflects the frequency with which the journal's articles are cited in the scientific literature. It provides a quantitative tool for ranking, evaluating, categorizing and comparing journals worldwide. Along with the impact factor, another term citation index rates the journal articles. It counts for an individual article, an author and a journal altogether. In our country, ranking, rating of pharmacy and scientific journals is lagging far behind as compared to international journals. The main reasons are comparatively low content value and low economic status in our country. Therefore, we need to increase the research work and publicity of our journals and make them available online which reduces the cost as well.


The first example of a sequential heterocycle formation/multicomponent reaction using an automated continuous flow microreactor assembly is reported. Consecutive Hantzsch thiazole synthesis, deketalization, and Biginelli multicomponent reaction provides rapid and efficient access to highly functionalized, pharmacologically significant 5-(thiazol-2-yl)-3,4-dihydropyrimidin-2(1H)-ones without isolation of intermediates. These complex small molecules are generated in reaction times less than 15 min and in high yields (39–46%) over three continuous chemical steps.


We develop a new general equilibrium model of asset pricing and asset trading volume in which agents? motivations to trade arise due to uninsurable idiosyncratic shocks to agents? risk tolerance. In response to these shocks, agents trade to rebalance their portfolios between risky and riskless assets. We study a positive question ? When does trade volume become a pricing factor? ? and a normative question ? What is the impact of Tobin taxes on asset trading on welfare? In our model, economies in which marketwide risk tolerance is negatively correlated with trade volume have a higher risk premium for aggregate risk. Likewise, for a given economy, we ?nd that assets whose cash ?ows are concentrated on states with high trading volume have higher prices and lower risk premia. We then show that Tobin taxes on asset trade have a ?rst-order negative impact on ex-ante welfare, i.e., a small subsidy to trade leads to an improvement in ex-ante welfare. Finally, we develop an alternative version of our model in which asset trade arises from uninsurable idiosyncratic shocks to agents? hedging needs rather than shocks to their risk tolerance. We show that our positive results regarding the relationship between trade volume and asset prices carry through. In contrast, the normative implications of this speci?cation of our model for Tobin taxes or subsidies depend on the speci?cation of agents? preferences and non-traded endowments.


The resonance of the relaxed wrist for flexion‐extension movements in the horizontal plane has been investigated by using rhythmic torques generated by a printed motor. In the normal subject the resonant frequency of the wrist is ca. 2 Hz unless the torque is reduced below a certain critical value when the system is no longer linear and the resonant frequency rises. This critical torque level, and the damping are both less in women than men. The resonant frequency is uninfluenced by surgical anaesthesia. With added bias the increase of resonant frequency at low torques still occurs although the hand is now oscillating about a displaced mean position. It follows that the stiffening implied by this elevation of resonant frequency for small movements is neither the result of pre‐stressing of the muscles nor of reflex activity. With velocity feed‐back of appropriate polarity the system will oscillate spontaneously at its resonant frequency. If the peak driving torque is progressively reduced the resonant frequency increases abruptly, indicating that the system has stiffened. Perturbations delivered to the wrist may reduce its stiffness. The postural system is thixotropic with a 'memory time' of 1‐2 s. The resonant frequency is elevated in voluntary stiffening.


Thiazolidinones present a wide range of useful applications especially in the biological aspect. Based on these facts, the compound of interest 2-(α-naphthyl)-3-(α-pyridinyl)-1,3-thiazolidine-4-one (C18H14N2OS), was synthesized via multi-component reaction with the aim of obtaining a compound that would show activity against fungi and bacteria. The synthesis of 2-(α-naphthyl)-3-(α-pyridinyl)-1,3-thiazolidine-4-one, was carried out from the respective α-aminopyridine with α-naphthylaldehyde and α-mercaptoacetic acid, under reflux in dry toluene for 8 h, obtaining a solid compound. Molecular characterization of the compound was carried out by infrared spectrometry, mass spectrometry, and nuclear magnetic resonance. The study of the crystallization and the calculation of the unit-cell constants were determined by the technique of X-ray diffraction of polycrystalline samples. It was determined that the compound crystallizes in a monoclinic system with space group P21/c [No. 14] and the constants of the unit cell a = 11.958 (3), b = 9.675 (4), c = 12.661 (4) Å, β = 96.960° (2), V = 1454.01 (Å3).


The rearrangement reactions of 1-methoxybenzobicyclo-[2,2,2]-octatriene derivatives in strong acid have been studied. In particular 1-methoxytetrafluoro-, 1-methoxytetrachloro-, and 1-methoxybenzobarrelene
have been prepared labelled with 14C at C-4. Rearrangement of these
compounds, in strong acid, leads in each case, to three isomeric ketones.
The major product in each rearrangement was the corresponding benzobarrelenone,
formed, in each case, by two distinct pathways. The 14C
label in each benzobarrelenone was scrambled between C-4 and C-5
as a result of the two different mechanisms. A suitable degradation
procedure has been devised which allows the 14C activity in C-4 and
C-5 of each ketone to be determined, and hence an evaluation of the
percentage rearrangement which proceeds by the two mechanistic pathways
previously suggested. [Continues.]


Objectives Women and men have been shown to have different prevalence, clinical presentations, and outcomes of coronary artery disease. It is unclear whether atheroma burden and characteristics of coronary plaques differ between genders. Methods We performed IVUS assessments in 81 patients with ACS. IVUS analysis included qualitative and quantitative measurements. Clinical parameters and coronary imaging parameters obtained by IVUS were compared between men and women. Results Men had more smoking than women (80% vs 4.8%, P < 0.01). Other clinical characteristics were not significantly different between men and women. Number of diseased vessels and culprit lesion locations were statistically similar between men and women. Minimal lumen area (3.45 ± 1.39 vs 3.85 ± 2.55mm2), external elastic membrane (13.73 ± 5.00 vs 15.28 ± 6.53mm2), plaque area (10.27 ± 4.86 vs 12.01 ± 5.21mm2), and plaque burden (0.73 ± 0.11 vs 0.81 ± 0.11) were not significantly different between men and women. Women had less plaque rupture compared with men (23.8% vs 51.7%, P < 0.05). In 32 patients without smoking, women still had less plaque rupture compared with men (20% vs 50%, P < 0.05). Conclusions Men and women had similar plaque burden, and women had less plaque rupture compared with men in ACS patients.


In the past, public sector organizations have been used as examples of service atrocities – but in light of unstable overall customer satisfaction levels across countries and industries the purpose of this research note is to investigate whether their private counterparts fare much better in terms of service performance. A quantitative, quasi-experimental study was carried out with 200 respondents. The survey tool was based on the SERVQUAL framework to compare recipients' service expectations and perceptions in private and public service settings. The results reveal no significant differences between expectations towards and perceptions of private and public services. The traditional SERVQUAL dimensions explain 74% of overall satisfaction in the public, and 87% in the private sector. As this is a cross-sectional study more research is necessary to understand whether the results are due to an amelioration in the public and a deterioration in the private sector, or vice versa, or neither. The study stimulates debate and further research into the underlying reasons for customers' similar expectations and perceptions across sectors. Is actual service performance across sectors assimilating? Or do perceptions in one sector setting impact on expectations and perceptions in another?


We consider the framework of a set of recently proposed two-timescale actor-critic algorithms for reinforcement-learning (RL) using the long-run average-reward criterion and linear feature-based value-function approximation. The actor and critic updates are based on stochastic policy-gradient ascent and temporal-difference algorithms, respectively. Unlike conventional RL algorithms, policy-gradient-based algorithms guarantee convergence even with value-function approximation but suffer due to high variance of the policy-gradient estimator. To minimize this variance for an existing algorithm, we derive a stochastic-gradient-based novel critic update. We propose a novel baseline structure for variance minimization of an estimator and derive an optimal baseline which makes the covariance matrix a zero matrix - the best achievable. We derive a novel actor update based on the optimal baseline deduced for an existing algorithm. We derive another novel actor update using the optimal baseline for an unbiased policy-gradient estimator which we deduce from the Policy-Gradient Theorem with Function Approximation. We obtain a novel variance-minimization-based interpretation for an existing algorithm. The computational results demonstrate that the proposed algorithms outperform the state-of-the-art on Garnet problems.


Viruses becoming day by day dominate over humans, as a covid-19 pandemic is not jet over, new monkeypox virus infection cases emerged in the month of May 2020. On 13th May 2020 WHO reported monkeypox virus cases from 12 member states that are epidemic for this virus. In the past monkeypox virus are rarely seen outside of west and central Africa. Investigations are going to establish a travel link between reported cases and epidemic areas. There are very little data regarding viral mechanism or time of shading and still, we have no licensed treatment. Two smallpox-approved drugs brincidofovir and tecovirimat have efficacy against monkeypox shown in animals. Now two smallpox-recommended vaccinations JYNNEOS and ACAM2000 are also available and are efficient to prevent the monkeypox virus. Two second- and third-generation Vaccinations are recommended by WHO for people that are immunocompromised and children's MVA-BN, LC16. This article aims to raise awareness of virus spread, providing information regarding virus detail, severity, precautions, and detection.


We present a complete theoretical protocol to split infrared intensity in terms owing to individual atoms in two different but related approaches: the Atomic Contributions (AC's) how how the entire molecule motion is noticed by the electronic structure of a single atom, and therefore reflected on the intensity. On the other hand, the Dynamic Contributions (DC's) show how the displacement of a single atom is noticed by the electronic structure of the entire molecule, and reflected on the IR intensity. The two analyses are complementary ways of partitioning the same total intensity, and conserve most of the features of the total intensity itself. Combined they are called the AC/DC analysis. These can be further partitioned following the CCTDP (or CCT) models regarding the population analysis chosen by the researcher. The main conceptual features of the equations are highlighted and representative numerical results are shown to support the interpretation of the equations. The results are invariant to rotation and translation and can readily be extended to molecules of any size, shape or symmetry. A fully automated protocol managed by Placzek program is made available, free of charge.


Background/Context Given our current anti-immigrant context, it is pertinent that we understand how (un)documented parents who are members of a parent-organized and parent-initiated group come to develop a collectivist Latinx identity within oppressive and marginalizing structures and policies. Purpose/Objectives This study analyzes the processes and actions of a Latinx parent group that led to the establishment of a collectivist identity and the activation of a collective conscientizacao/critical consciousness amid an anti-immigrant climate. Research Design Based on a 2.5-year critical ethnography, we analyzed data that included in-depth interviews, participant observations, photographs, and documents. In doing so, we were able to center the experiences of a parent organizing group in an elementary school in the Midwest during a period of heightened immigrant surveillance and anti-immigrant legislation. Findings/Results Our research suggests that critical consciousness was activated among this group in three stages: (1) Stage 1 describes the actions/strategies FUV took to develop a collective critical consciousness; (2) Stage 2 details the ways in which FUV members activated (i.e., enacted) their collective critical consciousness; and (3) Stage 3 discusses FUV's ongoing efforts to nurture a collective critical consciousness. Conclusions/Recommendations This study combats oppressive, marginalizing, and prevailing academic and public parental involvement discourse, thus having direct implications for how school officials center and support (un)documented Latinx parents and families in schools.


Protection against physical attacks is a major requirement for cryptographic implementations on devices which can be accessed by attackers. Side-channel and fault injection attacks are the most common types of physical attacks. In this work we present a novel generic solution for simultaneous protection against side-channel and fault attacks with arbitrary order. We combine domain oriented masking and repetition codes in an orthogonal way and call this approach DOMREP. The resistance against side-channel attacks and fault attacks can be scaled independently of each other, for the protection against higher-order side-channel analysis and the injection of multiple faults including SIFA. We develop the generic concept of orthogonal protection, and implement the DOMREP concept on GIMLI, a round two NIST LWC competition candidate, on a Xilinx Artix-7 FPGA. Our implementation of GIMLI is verified to be resistant against univariate first-order side-channel attacks by TVLA. The resistance against SIFA is verified by means of fault emulation of single as well as multiple bit faults. Our implementation of GIMLI achieves the expected security level according to these measurements. We also provide numbers for the area overhead for our protected implementation of GIMLI.


Abstract English is the most common foreign language in the Chinese curriculum. However, even though a great deal of class time is devoted to acquiring English, the results have not been universally good. Studies to address the issue have suggested various reasons for this: large classes and the subsequent difficulty of implementing interactive teaching; traditional examinations, which favour grammar/translation pedagogy; the difficulty of recruiting fluent teachers, which makes communicative methodology hard to implement; low motivation in parts of the population where the chance of interacting with native speakers is highly unlikely. In addition, there may be other – new – reasons developing which put a brake on the spread of good foreign language skills among the Chinese population. The general problems reported in the foreign language classroom could be compounded by the growing influence of China in the world. The experience of groups whose economic and political weight were/are significant has shown that when others learn your language and it becomes a lingua franca of power, instrumental motivation for foreign language acquisition diminishes within the population. Can we expect to see the Chinese developing the same attitudes to foreign language learning, as Anglophones, for example, if/as Chinese spreads as a lingua franca?


Rethinking the Photographic Image (22.04.06 – 25.06.06) was a major survey of photographic work from the collection of George Eastman House (GEH) Museum of Photography, NY. The show was curated by James Wyman in association with GEH and featured twelve images from Andy Lock's Orchard Park series, alongside the work of major practitioners from the 19th and 20th centuries. Orchard Park continued Lock's photographic exploration of the psychological legacies of previously inhabited spaces; taking as its subject dispossessed domestic interiors and the artefacts left behind by past occupants. Orchard Park made use of a unique process for creating unfixed images and engaged with notions of entropy, decay, loss and memory in relation to the photographic image. The University Of Michigan Museum Of Art's show was the first showing of this completed work, in its entirety. Work from Orchard Park had previously been exhibited, while in development at Focal Point Gallery, Southend (08.05.04 – 19.06.04). This show, 20 Shadows, was curated by Lesley Farrell. It was reviewed by Source magazine (issue 39), a-n (20.07.04) and by The Guardian website (02.06.04). Orchard Park is held in the collection of The V&A, London as well as by George Eastman House. Work from Orchard Park was also exhibited at Stephen Cohen Gallery, CA (12.01.06 – 25.02.06). Orchard Park has been reproduced in Portfolio magazine (Issue 43, ISSN 1354 4446) & in EXIT magazine (Madrid, issue 26, ISSN 1577 272 1). A book, Orchard Park (with an essay by Alison Nordstrom, Curator of Photography at GEH) was published by Impressions Gallery, UK, in 2006 (ed. Anne McNeill, ISBN 0 906361 91 5). The work is also reproduced in the V&A's Twilight catalogue, (M. Barnes & K. Best, Merrell, 2006, ISBN 1858943531) and in Ball and Naylor, Form Follows Idea, (Black Dog, 2005 (ISBN 1904772218).