Abstract. The simulations were forced using data from the High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) and the Global Forecast System (GFS) obtained from the National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Central Operations (NCO). The nested WRF configuration used in this study featured a large-eddy-permitting, 111-m grid spacing mesh for the inner-most domain. Output from the WRF forecasts were processed on-the-fly using the Unified Post Processor (UPP). A THREDDS data server was coupled with a web-viewer to provide real-time graphics that were used to support UAS flight planning and decision making. The simulations ran in under six hours on the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Cheyenne supercomputer using 59 cores (2124 processors). The simulations were run twice per day (12 runs total during the experiment) to support both next-day mission planning and day-of tactical guidance. The simulations provided a high-resolution depiction of the four-dimensional variability of weather conditions across the northern half of the San Luis Valley, Colorado, where UAS operations took place. The simulations were used to assess the possibility of a number of small UAS weather hazards including wind shift boundaries, vertical shear, strong thermals, turbulence intensity, fog, low ceilings, and thunderstorms. Details of the model configuration used to perform the simulations and the data processing steps used to produce the final grids of state variables and other sensible weather products (e.g., ceiling and visibility, turbulence) are given. A few examples of predictive capabilities of the modeling system are provided to illustrate the skill of the model at predicting fine-scale boundary layer structures and turbulence associated with drainage winds, up-valley flows, and convective storm outflows. A subset of the at data is available at the Zenodo data archive ( https://zenodo.org/communities/lapse-rate/ ) while full dataset (see Pinto et al. 2020a) is archived on the NCAR Digital Asset Services Hub (DASH) and may be obtained at https://doi.org/10.5065/83r2-0579 .


Dynamic re-wiring of signaling networks is a prominent mechanism responsible for the development of resistance to many molecular-targeted anti-cancer agents. Here we show how this same dynamic re-wiring process can be used therapeutically to enhance the response of tumors to cytotoxic anti-cancer agents. Using cell lines and murine tumor models of triple-negative breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, and head and neck cancer, we show that chronic inhibition of EGFR and/or FGFR driver oncogenes dramatically enhances cell death in response to topoisomerase inhibitors and platinum DNA crosslinking drugs. In marked contrast, no such sensitization is observed when the growth factor receptor inhibitors are co-administered with the cytotoxic agents. The molecular mechanism responsible for this time-dependent growth factor inhibitor-induced tumor cell sensitization was explored using a systems biology-based model of DNA damage signaling in which protein kinase activities, substrate phosphorylation, and phosphoprotein-binding events for multiple signaling pathways were quantitatively measured at densely sampled points in time, and mathematically correlated with tumor cell responses including cell cycle arrest, cytokine production, autophagy, and apoptosis. This analysis revealed that sustained EGFR/FGFR suppression unmasks an apoptotic network involving Caspase-8 that is normally suppressed by oncogene addiction, resulting in an enhanced apoptotic response to equivalent amounts of DNA damage. This discovery demonstrates that the timing interval between administration of different drugs in combination chemotherapy can have profound effects on the tumor response through the dynamic re-wiring of cell signaling pathways in real time. Finally, we take advantage of this dynamic re-wiring process by developing tumor-targeted time-staggered release nanoparticles that deliver EGFR inhibitors at early times followed by the delayed release of doxorubicin. We show that these nanoparticles cause dramatic regression of murine NSCLC and TNBC tumor xenografts in vivo, substantiating the utility of therapeutic network re-wiring for anti-cancer therapy in the clinic. Citation Format: Michael J. Lee, Yogesh Dayma, Anne-Margriet Heijinks, Stephen W. Morton, Erik C. Dreaden, Paula T. Hammond, Michael B. Yaffe. Therapeutic network re-wiring of the DNA damage response can be used to enhance tumor killing by cytotoxic chemotherapy. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr SY19-01. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-SY19-01


An economist with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is mailing checks for up to $500 to anglers in Massachusetts as part of an unusual study to assess the value of saltwater fisheries. But the research has sparked a fierce public backlash, with some bloggers warning that it hides a government effort to end recreational fishing. One member of Congress has labeled it "irresponsible" and "insane." NOAA and Massachusetts officials quickly disputed those claims, calling the study a valuable "scientific endeavor."


Automotive idle speed control is a critical issue in engine control fields. Essentially it is a highly nonlinear and time-varying problem. Its performance has a significant impact on fuel economy and emission levels. In this paper, the authors present a complete and coherent engine model, aimed at the challenging purpose of the analysis of the interaction between the idle speed control and variable valve actuation system. The model is based on an innovative approach for engine dynamics conceived mainly on the analogy with electric systems. Firstly, the behavior of a relatively simple and well known control, named Mid-Ranging scheme has been tested on a complete "in-cylinder" engine model, after a modified control is proposed, in order to test the modern engine performances improvement due to the synergy between variable valve actuation devices and idle speed control strategy.


The rate of charging of supercapacitors depends on how quickly ions can reach and accommodate the surface of electrodes. Diffusivity, a parameter reflecting the speed of ions' migration, is believed to be crucial in designing supercapacitor electrodes. Herein, this belief is questioned, shedding light on a puzzling and potentially critical feature of ionic dynamics denoted as confinement‐induced ion–solvent separation. This effect can lead to a strong slowdown of the ion mobility inside hierarchical pore networks. Explanations for when such an effect occurs and how it can be circumvented are provided. Furthermore, this microscopic picture of diffusion seen by NMR is bridged with the macroscopic charging behavior of supercapacitors investigated by impedance spectroscopy. Quantifying the average residence time of ions within carbon particles shows that the nanopore environment may not be the rate‐limiting factor for the overall ion mobility and thus performance of a cell—as commonly expected. Combining direct diffusion studies performed with neat and solvated ionic liquids and those on organic electrolytes, the so far lacking criteria for the rational selection of electrolyte–carbon systems is developed and recommendations for the preparation of transport‐optimized materials for supercapacitors to minimize ionic diffusion limitations are given.


Distribution automation has improved significantly in distribution network information and interactive, it has been applied in a wide range of our country at present, it has to meet the distribution network rapid demand for high-quality development. However, due to its construction cycle longer (it normally takes several years), does not obtain the scale benefits immediately, it is need to monitor distribution automation construction and operation need to monitor and evaluate regularly, which can either summarize the experience of distribution automation construction, and provide guidance for distribution automation development. This paper, according to the different types of distribution automation system, puts forward a set of index system to distribution automation operation, the aim is to improve the distribution automation operation efficiency. The index system mainly includes remote control, communication, remote signal, master station and other categories of indexes. The index system not only can real, comprehensive, dynamic response of the actual operation situation of distribution automation system, but also adapt to different systems, which could solve the problems of basic information lack and human modify indexes. The index system has been recognition by State Grid Corporation of China, and has been used in many cities. Finally, in order to validate the index system, selected five typical cities to use the index system, the test result showing that the index system is easy to use, and has provided the powerful technical support operation analysis of distribution automation.


In this paper we present a tutorial introduction to two important senses for biological and robotic systems — inertial and visual perception. We discuss the fundamentals of these two sensing modalities from a biological and an engineering perspective. Digital camera chips and micro-machined accelerometers and gyroscopes are now commodities, and when combined with today's available computing can provide robust estimates of self-motion as well 3D scene structure, without external infrastructure. We discuss the complementarity of these sensors, describe some fundamental approaches to fusing their outputs and survey the field.


We report the imaging findings in an infarcted phyllodes tumor of the breast. A 40-year-old woman presented ten months after surgery for a benign phyllodes tumour with a palpable lump under the scar. We performed clinical examination, mammography, sonography, and MRI. The radiological diagnosis was a postoperative hematoma with granulation tissue. Surgery was performed. Histological diagnosis revealed an infarcted phyllodes tumour. This case illustrates the radiological presentation of a completely infarcted phyllodes tumour. As far as we know, imaging findings of an infarcted phyllodes tumour have not been reported yet.


OBJECTIVE
To provide a topical review of the literature on the use of medical-legal partnerships (MLPs) to address social determinants of health (SDH) needs as a means to reduce health disparities, and to make recommendations for the implementation of MLPs within pediatric psychologists' clinical work, research, and training.

METHODS
We conducted a topical review of the research on the intersection of MLPs, SDH needs, and health disparities among pediatric populations. Given the scarcity of literature available, both empirical and theoretical articles were included in the review.

RESULTS
Though limited, the extant literature suggests that use of MLPs may help address the SDH needs that perpetuate disparities among pediatric populations. To date, MLPs are not as frequently incorporated in the training and work of pediatric psychologists as they may be in other related fields (e.g., medicine).

CONCLUSIONS
MLPs provide an opportunity for psychologists to broaden their interdisciplinary collaborations, to more aptly meet the social and legal needs of their patients to assist in reducing inequities among underserved pediatric populations. The systematic incorporation of MLPs into pediatric psychology training may help to increase the utilization of these services moving forward.


The next generation of mobile networks supports not just the simple mobile connectivity but also the access in the evolving smart space environments. It is expected that these systems utilise multiple radio access technologies, seamlessly integrated to form a heterogeneous wireless access network, thus enabling total ubiquitous computing. On the arrival of a service request from a smart space user or device, the network operator must assign one of the available access networks. Selecting the network that has the highest probability of providing the best quality of service (QoS) for a particular service type is an important consideration for overall network stability and QoS provisioning. In this paper, we present the aspects of intelligent radio resource management based on policy based call admission control to select the best available network and fuzzy logic based inter-system handover control. The admission controller admits a new user based on the current load and service mix in each available network. The fuzzy logic controller focuses on inter-system handover initiation so as to maintain satisfactory QoS to the end user, while limiting excessive inter-system handover attempts.


We present a quadratic programming based placement method for cell based designs. The approach is performance oriented and addresses constraints like area, timing, and clock-skew. While area and timing has been addressed in quite a few recent studies, clock skew is being addressed in this paper for the first time. These an quite important issues in VLSI design as it is always desirable to optimize and realize as many constraints early on in the design cycle. This also provides tight integration with high level synthesis based designs. The quadratic programming based placement incorporates mechanisms for incorporating many constraints. The method has been experimentally tested on several medium sized benchmarks. It has resulted in layouts which on comparable or better than tools like TimberWolf in a time that is a small fraction of TimberWolf.


A toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 (TSST-1) antibody-binding protein produced by an ovine-associated strain of Staphylococcus aureus was examined. The protein showed total identity to TSST-1 by immunodiffusion analysis. Western blots (immunoblots) of proteins separated by isoelectric focusing revealed that the TSST-1 antibody-binding protein had a pI of 8.6 rather than 7.0, the pI of standard TSST-1.


Teacher as one of the important key factors in education must enhance the quality of their knowledge both theoretical, skills, and expertise. For this reason, the community service program held by Department of Biology, FMIPA, Mulawarman University, Samarinda aimed to improve the practical skills of high school teachers. This program was attended by 16 teachers from various high schools from the Samarinda region and Tenggarong. The community service program consisted of 25% theory and 75% practice in one day. The theory about DNA isolation, polymerase chain reaction, and electrophoresis was done in the classroom. Meanwhile, in laboratory, the use of molecular biology equipment, electrophoresis, interpretation results of electrophoretic DNA bands, and NCBI was done by the teachers which is assisted by the laboratory assistant. In the end of the program, the skill of laboratory practice of teachers was improve, indicating by the increasing percentage of understanding about biology molecular skills.


Background: Geriatric is an important sub specialty of physical therapy and fall is a key health issue associated with old age. Objective: To find out the role of sensory and acute medical problems causing fall in elderly population of Pakistan. Materials and methods: A Cross sectional survey was conducted at Ghurki teaching trust hospital Lahore, for the period of three months from October to December 2010.Total number of people included was 100. Purposive sampling technique was used. Elders above 60 years having recent history of at least one fall were included regardless of gender. The data were entered and analyzed using SPSS 11.5. Results: Out of 100 there were 83 who had vision problems, 63 % had decreased feeling and numbness or tingling in their feet, 32 % were unsure of footing and trouble on even ground or inline. There were 26% people who had flu like symptoms and 30% people had health problems that limited the activities (heart or breathing problem). Conclusion: The study demonstrates that majority of elderly have sensory and significant medical conditions that can increase the risk of falling.


Growing concerns about climate change and energy security have led to a strong focus on
energy efficiency within UK energy policy. At the same time, information and communication
technologies (ICTs) have become pervasive in society and this has brought with it new policy options
which use them as enabling technologies. One such policy option planned for implementation in the
UK is the use of smart meters and real-time displays to encourage people to become more aware of
their energy consumption and possibly change their energy-related behaviours. Smart meters and
displays by definition link individuals, technologies and society, and their effectiveness is influenced
by a range of factors. This paper aims to identify which factors are most likely to contribute to the
effectiveness of smart meters and real-time displays in reducing household energy consumption by
analysing: a number of perspectives on behavioural change, particularly as they relate to household
electricity use; the role of smart meters in the UK energy efficiency policy, including the role of ICTs
in energy demand reduction more generally; and the views of a range of key stakeholders.


Speech datasets for identifying Alzheimer's disease (AD) are generally restricted to participants performing a single task, e.g. describing an image shown to them. As a result, models trained on linguistic features derived from such datasets may not be generalizable across tasks. Building on prior work demonstrating that same-task data of healthy participants helps improve AD detection on a single-task dataset of pathological speech, we augment an AD-specific dataset consisting of subjects describing a picture with multi-task healthy data. We demonstrate that normative data from multiple speech-based tasks helps improve AD detection by up to 9%. Visualization of decision boundaries reveals that models trained on a combination of structured picture descriptions and unstructured conversational speech have the least out-of-task error and show the most potential to generalize to multiple tasks. We analyze the impact of age of the added samples and if they affect fairness in classification. We also provide explanations for a possible inductive bias effect across tasks using model-agnostic feature anchors. This work highlights the need for heterogeneous datasets for encoding changes in multiple facets of cognition and for developing a task-independent AD detection model.


For many of today's youth, online social platforms are their main form of communication and for staying informed. I built my project around that fact to take full advantage of the untapped power of social media. My project was to promote overall scientific literacy and improve awareness of STEM opportunities through the innovative use of all existing social media accounts for the Stem-o-sphere website which consist of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. In addition, I took the initiative to create an additional social media account to represent Stem-O-Sphere on the social media apps known as Snapchat and Tumblr. I focused on producing content through Snapchat and the other social media accounts for the students in the University of Iowa as my main audience to highlight information about STEM research both inside and outside of the university. Ultimately, I maintained all social media accounts and used them to endorse STEM research, other Latham fellows' projects, and promoted STEM majors by spotlighting certain current faculty and students.


This dissertation investigated the quality of service delivery at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) Pietermaritzburg campuses. According to du Toit (2004:182) student satisfaction is important in the Higher Education sector due to its role in effective enrolment management. It is essential for student perceptions of service quality to be evaluated and managed by the university. Iacobucci, et al (1995:277) emphasized that service quality and customer satisfaction are important concepts to academic researchers studying consumer evaluations as a means of creating competitive advantages and customer loyalty. According to the South African Department of Education (2004:3), the creation of a new merged institution must ultimately be accompanied by standardised service levels. Hence this study attempted to investigate the service levels of the merged institution in Pietermaritzburg. The research set out to measure service expectations of higher education as well as measure service perceptions at the DUT. The research also set out to establish the SERVQUAL gap, which causes unsuccessful service delivery (Gap 5) and examine the dimensions which contribute to Gap 5. A SERVQUAL analysis was undertaken on the two Pietermaritzburg campus, viz. Riverside and Indumiso campus. The study found that on average customers had high expectations in tangibles, reliability and assurance dimensions and their highest perceptions were found in the assurance dimension. The study also found that management of DUT need to apply a varying degree of attention to the dimensions between the two campuses. The key recommendation to management of DUT was to introduce a Total Quality Management (TQM) system and a service marketing management plan. In addition to implementing this, management also needs to develop a service-minded workforce.


Technology has changed the way we approach medical care: health data is constantly being generated, medical discoveries are progressing more rapidly, and individuals are more connected across the world than ever before. Backpack Health is a global personal health record platform that harnesses the power of technology to connect users to their primary health data sources, the medical community, and researchers. By syncing with existing patient portals, health data can be stored on the Backpack Health platform and easily accessed and controlled by users in one connected interface. Individuals manage and collate their current and past conditions, genetic test results, symptoms, medications, procedures, labs, and other health data. Users are empowered to disseminate their information to clinicians, researchers, foundations, and pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies they connect with through the Backpack Health application. Here, we describe how two rare disease advocacy groups, The Marfan Foundation and Project Alive, utilize Backpack Health to connect with their target populations. Through secure transfer of pseudonymized data, groups can query their members to improve understanding of clinical features and to facilitate meaningful research. Responses to the groups' surveys show strong member engagement with high completion rates and increases in new Backpack Health users when surveys are deployed. Data from these surveys have been published and used to better inform clinical outcomes for treatment trials. By connecting users directly to the foundations, clinicians, researchers, and industry partners working on their condition, Backpack Health is instrumental in fast‐tracking medical discoveries and treatment for rare diseases.


Objectives: Low cholesterol has been linked with violent and suicidal behaviour in people with schizophrenia. This association, if consistently present, may be a promising biological marker that could assist clinicians in decision making regarding risk and treatment. We conducted a systematic review to assess whether there is a reliable association between lipid profile (total cholesterol, high- and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides) and aggression, self-harm or suicide in people with schizophrenia, and whether effects are similar in males and females. Method: Relevant databases were searched to identify primary research studies (up to November 2020) that (1) involved adults (some samples also included 16- to 18-year olds) with a confirmed diagnosis of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder or psychosis; and (2) included a standardised assessment of verbal aggression, physical aggression against objects, physical aggression against self (including suicide) or others. The search yielded 23 studies eligible for inclusion following a quality appraisal. Results: Suicidality was the most commonly assessed subtype of aggression (20 studies). For suicidality, about half the studies, including the study with the largest sample size, found a link with total cholesterol. An association between low total cholesterol and violence towards others was found in six of nine studies that investigated this. The evidence for a link with violence was the strongest for total cholesterol, followed by low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and the weakest for triglycerides. Only a few studies investigated sex differences and yielded mixed evidence. Studies focussed on self-harm as well as involving females in forensic settings were lacking. Conclusion: There is encouraging evidence of an association between low total cholesterol and aggression towards others as well as suicidality in schizophrenia. Future studies should systematically explore this association in people with schizophrenia who have a significant history of violence, suicidality and self-harm, both inpatients and community, and also investigate underlying mechanisms.


Summary One hundred strains of aerobic and facultative bacteria were isolated from fecal specimens from one healthy human being (HBI); 99 similar strains were isolated from a second healthy human being (HBII). Eighty-six of the 100 strains from HBI and all of the strains from HBII belonged in the coliform group. Of the 86 coliform strains isolated from HBI, 61 typical Escherichia strains and 1 strain that resembled Bacterium coli-mutabile were agglutinated when combined with HBI serum in dilutions ranging from 1:640 to 1:1,280, and 10 strains (3 typical Escherichia cultures and 7 slow-lactose-fermenters) were agglutinated to titres of 1:160 or 1:320. Fourteen of the coliform organisms (1 typical Escherichia and 13 Escherichia -like forms that produced orange-brown pigment) and 11 of the non-coliform types failed to react with serum dilutions higher than 1:40. Three gram-negative, non-lactose-fermenting rods were agglutinated to a titre of 1:80. Positive precipitin tests were obtained with HBI serum and a coliform strain that was agglutinated by HBI serum diluted 1:1,280. Ninety-two of the 99 coliform strains from HBII were agglutinated when combined with HBII serum in dilutions ranging from 1:80 to 1:160; 2 strains were agglutinated by serum dilutions of 1:320; 5 failed to be agglutinated by serum dilutions higher than 1:40. At the beginning of this investigation the agglutinin concentrations in serum from HBI, HBII, and HBIV for Salmonella typhosa H and O, S. paratyphi , and S. schottmulleri antigens were, in general, too low to be considered significant. Following the ingestion of typhoid-paratyphoid vaccine, the agglutinin titres for certain typhoid-paratyphoid antigens increased slightly in the serum of each of the 3 human beings. HBI, whose serum contained unusually high anticoliform antibody concentrations, did not respond to ingested typhoid-paratyphoid antigens as actively as did HBII and HBIV. The ingestion of killed suspensions of 2 native coliform strains for which HBI had not naturally produced high concentrations of antibodies failed to elicit a demonstrable antibody response in HBI. Although living Lactobacillus acidophilus cells were maintained in large numbers in the intestinal tract of HBI for a period of 14 months by feeding acidophilus milk, no antibodies for them could be demonstrated in serum from their host. The high antibody concentrations for particular coliform strains in serum from HBI remained practically constant over a period of 4 years.


This report was produced by a scientific committee of eight members, chaired by Richard C. McCall. It is a reference manual dealing with the problem of neutron production that results from the operation of high-energy electron linear accelerators used in radiation therapy. As radiation therapy becomes more sophisticated, in many hospitals in the United States and abroad the trend is to higher energy machines. Accelerators operated below 10 meV do not represent a major hazard; however, as accelerators operate in the 10 to 50 meV range, neutron production may be seen. The source of neutron production in the treatment machine and the methods of protection and measurement are exquisitely detailed in this book. There is an extensive reference list to the source information. This pamphlet goes into details concerning facilities design, including wall thickness, shielding requirements, machine placement, and maze design. Information on hazards, patient risks, and operating personnel risks


This paper describes a multichip module technology based on highly impermeable liquid crystal polymers (LCPs) to interconnect and package monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs). Because of the low moisture permeability of the LCPs, the packages can be made hermetic without heavy expensive housings can be two to four times lighter and one-fifth the cost of conventional ceramic based transmit/receive (T/R) modules. The LCP material has a low dielectric constant (2.65) and low-loss tangent and is manufacturable using high volume, large-area processing methods that provide very reliable high-performance circuits at low cost. Using flip-chip bonded MMICs attached to a high thermal conductivity, low coefficient of thermal expansion substrate, this innovative technology can meet a variety of commercial, military, and NASA requirements. >


The results of the environmental monitoring program conducted at Site A/Plot M in the Palos Park area for CY 1985 are presented. The monitoring program is the ongoing remedial action that resulted from the radiological characterization of the site. The current program consists of sample collection and analysis of air, surface and subsurface water, and bottom sediment to determine the migration pathway of water from the burial ground (Plot M) to the wells, establish if other buried radionuclides have migrated, and otherwise characterize the radiological environment of the area. Earlier studies had determined that hydrogen-3 (as tritiated water) migrated from the burial ground and was detected in two nearby hand-pumped picnic wells. Hydrogen-3 in the Red Gate Woods picnic well continued to show the same pattern of elevated levels in the winter and low concentrations in the summer, but the magnitude of the winter peak (2.5 nCi/L) was significantly less than in earlier years. Tritiated water continues to be monitored at a number of wells, boreholes, and surface streams where it has been detected in the past. For many years it was the only radionuclide found to have migrated until recent measurements indicated the presence of strontium-90 in borehole watermore » next to Plot M. The presence of the strontium-90 is an indicator of migration of radionuclides other than tritiated water from the Plot. However, the results of the program indicates that the radioactivity remaining at Site A/Plot M does not endanger the health or safety of the public visiting the site or those living in the vicinity.« less


In order to address the difficult issue of parameter setting within a diversity-based Multi-objective Evolutionary Algorithm (MOEA), we recently proposed a hybrid control scheme based on both Fuzzy Logic Controllers (FLCs) and Hyper-heuristics (HHs). The method simultaneously adapts both symbolic and numeric parameters and was shown to be effective when controlling a diversity-based MOEA applied to a range of benchmark problems. Here, we show that the hybrid control scheme generalises to other meta-heuristics by using it to adapt several parameters of a diversity-based multi-objective Memetic Algorithm (MA) applied to a Frequency Assignment Problem (FAP). Using real-world instances of the FAP, we demonstrate that our proposed parameter control method outperforms parameter tuning of the MA. The results provide new evidence that the method can be successfully applied to significantly more complex problems than the benchmarks previously tested.


Internet of Things (IoT) is considered as the enabling platform for a variety of promising applications, such as smart transportation and smart city, where massive devices are interconnected for data collection and processing. These IoT applications pose a high demand on storage and computing capacity, while the IoT devices are usually resource constrained. As a potential solution, mobile edge computing (MEC) deploys cloud resources in the proximity of IoT devices so that their requests can be better served locally. In this work, we investigate computation offloading in a dynamic MEC system with multiple edge servers, where computational tasks with various requirements are dynamically generated by IoT devices and offloaded to MEC servers in a time-varying operating environment (e.g., channel condition changes over time). The objective of this work is to maximize the completed tasks before their respective deadlines and minimize energy consumption. To this end, we propose an end-to-end Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) approach to select the best edge server for offloading and allocate the optimal computational resource such that the expected long-term utility is maximized. The simulation results are provided to demonstrate that the proposed approach outperforms the existing methods.


Abstract Solanum section Petota is taxonomically difficult, partly because of interspecific hybridization at both the diploid and polyploid levels. There is much disagreement regarding species boundaries and affiliation of species to series. Elucidating the phylogenetic relationships within the polyploids is crucial for an effective taxonomic treatment of the section and for the utilization of wild potato germplasm in breeding programs. We here infer relationships among the potato diploids and polyploids using nitrate reductase (NIA) sequence data in comparison to prior plastid phylogenies and: 1) examine genome types within section Petota, 2) show species in the polyploid series Conicibaccata, Longipedicellata, and in the Iopetalum group to be derived from allopolyploidization, 3) support an earlier hypothesis by confirming S. verrucosum as the maternal genome donor for the polyploid species S. demissum as well as species in the Iopetalum Group, 4) demonstrate that S. verrucosum is the closest relative to the maternal genome donor for species in ser. Longipedicellata, 5) support the close relationship between S. acaule and diploid species from series Megistacroloba and Tuberosa, and 6) show the North and Central American B genome species to be well distinguished from the A genome species of South America.


Simulations concerning the distributional assumptions of coefficient alpha are contradictory. To provide a more principled theoretical framework, this article relies on the Fréchet–Hoeffding bounds, in order to showcase that the distribution of the items play a role on the estimation of correlations and covariances. More specifically, these bounds restrict the theoretical correlation range [−1, 1] such that certain correlation structures may be unfeasible. The direct implication of this result is that coefficient alpha is bounded above depending on the shape of the distributions. A general form of the Fréchet–Hoeffding bounds is derived for discrete random variables. R code and a user-friendly shiny web application are also provided so that researchers can calculate the bounds on their data.


The study was carried out on station and on farm in three districts of Wolayta and Hadiya Zones, south region, Ethiopia, to evaluate the chick pea varieties for yield performance and adaptability under researcher and farmer managed conditions and assess farmer's preferences during 2004 Meher Season. Both on station and on farm trials were laid in randomized complete block design with four replications .Five varieties Arerti, Shasho, habru, chefe and Dz-10-4 were planted on 4.8m 2 plots at spacing of 0.1m*0.3m. Twenty farmers from three districts at four villages'were participated in conducting on farm trials with each farmer as a replicate. The varieties Arerti and Habru were selected both by Researchers and farmers because of its large seed size, long pod length, number of pod per plant, earliness in maturity and high yield. Those varieties were superior overall to the standard check across three districtsof four villages'and on stations. The top yielding varieties Arerti and Habru produced 1358.85 kgha-1, 1326.84kgha-1 of grain, 39.2 % and 35.9% more than the standard check (Dz-10-4), respectively at on farm trials. Similarly over two stations 1630.75 kgha-1, 1542.2kgha-1 of grain, 45.6 % and 37.7% more than Dz-10-4 was recorded by those two top yielding varieties. Hence, both on station and on farm trials revealed Arerti and Habru out yielding other varieties which were also ranked by farmers and Researchers as the most preferred varieties'. It is therefore recommended that Arerti and Habru which had higher yields be adapted for cultivation in the study area and similar agro ecological zones of the south Ethiopia. Keywords : adaptation, chickpea varieties, Kabuli, on farm evaluation, yield performance


The reported -4-month ''season'' for observation of Jovian electron events at 1 a.u. is shown to be a plausible consequence of field-line random walk in the solar wind. Values of the field-line random-walk coefficient deduced earlier in connection with observations of solar protons, photospheric supergranulation and the interplanetary magnetic-field power spectrum, lead to an approximate value for the spread of Jovian electrons at 1 a.u. which corresponds to a -4-month duration of events. This model is consistent with a point source at Jupiter. (AIP)


A comprehensive assessment of the multiple benefits of mangrove ecosystems and their restoration efforts in Gujarat is made. The study is important and contextual as there are very limited empirical evidences as regards the impacts/ outcomes of mangrove restoration activities on the local communities in Gujarat.


Abstract Introduction : Mounting evidence suggests that impaired wound healing is a well-defined consequence in obstructive jaundice and, as redox-regulated processes are relevant to wound healing, it is not unreasonable to suppose that oxidative stress associated with lipid peroxidation in cholestasis might be a systemic phenomenon probably comprising all tissues and organs, including wounds. The aim of the present investigation was to analyse the lipid peroxidation status of surgical wounds, in terms of oxidized low-density-lipoprotein (oxLDL) accumulation in experimental obstructive jaundice. Methods : Sixteen Wistar-Albino rats weighing 200–230 gr were randomly divided into two groups. Group I (n = 8) was designed as the prolonged obstructive jaundice group and was subjected to bile duct ligation. Group II (Sham-control, n = 8) rats underwent laparotomy alone and bile duct was just dissected from the surrounding tissue. Histopathological evaluation, immunohistochemical screening and immunoflourescent staining of the surgical wound was conducted to the bile-duct ligated rats and control group on the 21st postoperative day. Results : Wound healing was found to be impaired in jaundiced rats histopathologically. When compared with the control group, significant positive oxLDL staining and intracellular accumulation of TNF-a, IL-2 and iL-6 was detected in the wound sections of the prolonged obstructive jaundice group. Conclusion : Our present data is the first in the literature, indicating significant oxLDL accumulation in surgical wounds of cholestatic rats, which might be one of the results of systemic oxidative stress leading to deficient healing capacity as a consequence of persistent inflammation.


We introduce a fast technique for the robust computation of image similarity. It builds on a re-interpretation of the recent exemplar-based SVM approach, where a linear SVM is trained at a query point and distance is computed as the dot product with the normal to the separating hyperplane. Although exemplar-based SVM is slow because it requires a new training for each exemplar, the latter approach has shown robustness for image retrieval and object classification, yielding state-ofthe-art performance on the PASCAL VOC 2007 detection task despite its simplicity. We re-interpret it by viewing the SVM between a single point and the set of negative examples as the computation of the tangent to the manifold of images at the query. We show that, in a high-dimensional space such as that of image features, all points tend to lie at the periphery and that they are usually separable from the rest of the set. We then use a simple Gaussian approximation to the set of all images in feature space, and fit it by computing the covariance matrix on a large training set. Given the covariance matrix, the computation of the tangent or normal at a point is straightforward and is a simple multiplication by the inverse covariance. This allows us to dramatically speed up image retrieval tasks, going from more than ten minutes to a single second. We further show that our approach is equivalent to feature-space whitening and has links to image saliency.


The changes brought about by the Tax Reform Act of 1986 are the most significant to occur in more than 25 years. Because of these changes, buyers and sellers must carefully negotiate any mergers or acquisitions to ensure each party's tax status remains intact. For-profit as well as not-for-profit institutions must carefully consider the new tax rules involved with a change in ownership. This article is the second in a series on merger and acquisition. Other articles in the series will discuss legal issues, purchase investigations, and capital planning.


The launch of The Big South Norfolk Litter pick, orqanised in response to feedback from last year's "Your Neighbourhood Your Choice", gave community groups in South Norfolk the chance to win £250 by completing litter picks in their local area.


Introduction: Ankle fractures are usually frequent in emergency departments worldwide, with an incidence of 187/100,000 inhabitants per year. Especially the type B fracture according to Webers classification, which may lead to long-term osteoarthritis in approximately 14%. It is essential to recognize that stability in the ankle joint is the fundamental pillar in the correct treatment strategies in ankle trauma.
Objective: to describe current information related to ankle bone fractures, etiology, anatomy, epidemiology, mechanism of action, presentation, classification, evaluation, prognosis, treatment and complications of ankle fractures.
Methodology: a total of 38 articles were analyzed in this review, including review and original articles, as well as clinical cases, of which 26 bibliographies were used because the other articles were not relevant to this study. The sources of information were PubMed, Google Scholar and Cochrane; the terms used to search for information in Spanish, Portuguese and English were: ankle fracture, fractura do tornozelo, ankle, tibia, fibula, ankle fracture.
Results: Bimalleolar ankle fractures occur in a quarter of the patients and trimalleolar fractures in the remaining 5% to 10%. The incidence of ankle fractures is close to 187 per 100,000 inhabitants per year. Open fractures are infrequent, representing only 2 % of all fractures of the ankle joint. In children, these injuries are also frequent, occupying the second place after hand and wrist injuries, especially in those between 10 and 15 years of age. Likewise, pediatric ankle fractures occur in a 2:1 male to female ratio, representing 5% of all fractures in children and approximately 9% to 18% of all fissure injuries.
Conclusions: the ankle joint is complex, in gynglimus, formed by the fibula, the tibia and the talus and also deeply related to the ligamentous complexes. The bony anatomy that provides stability is formed by the distal part of the tibia and fibula, its articulation with the talus and with each other. Generally ankle fractures are caused by different trauma mechanisms such as impact, twisting and crushing injuries. Ankle injury depends on several factors such as mechanism, chronicity, bone quality, patients age, magnitude, direction, impact velocity and foot position. A complete and comprehensive medical history is essential in the medical evaluation. X-rays are the first-line adjunctive tests that aid in the evaluation of an injury that impacts the ankle. The classification system is important for the treatment decision. The treatment of fractures of the ankle bones can be performed conservatively or surgically, depending on certain criteria, and immobilization should be performed afterwards to reduce the risk of complications. It is essential to follow the ATLS scheme in order to define and manage any alteration that may be life-threatening for the patient. Ankle fracture-dislocation requires urgent manipulation to recover the ankle mortise.
KEY WORDS: fracture, ankle, tibia, fibula, bones.


Privacy rights can surely be waived. But can they also be forfeited? If so, why and under what conditions? This article takes up these questions by developing a novel theory of privacy rights forfeiture that draws inspiration from Judith Thomson's canonical work on privacy. The paper identifies two species of forfeiture rooted in modes of negligent and reckless conduct and argues that both self-directed and other-regarding considerations play a role in grounding forfeiture. The paper also contributes to the literature by proposing a new taxonomy of how Hohfeldian entitlements can be divested generally. It likewise engages at length with a recent article by Benedict Rumbold and James Wilson in which the authors criticize Thomson's work and appear to reject the very idea of privacy forfeiture. In response, I make the case that Rumbold and Wilson's forfeiture-free model of privacy is unconvincing on substantive moral grounds.


The case of a 20-year-old female patient is which ileo-colic Crohns disease developed after repeated attempts at contraceptive treatment (no rgestrel-ethinyl estradiol) had resulted in periods of diarrhea which ceased after stopping treatment is reported. As a consequence of the severity of the disease after the 3rd attempt at using oral contraceptives (OCs) a partial removal of the ileum and colon had to be performed. The relation between Crohns disease and other acute ulcerative colitis in patinets receiving OCs and the role of these drugs as a triggering factor in Crohns disease are discussed. It is conclude d that while their causative role is unproven in view of studies on th e relation between pregnancy and this disease OCs may favor the development of the disease and intestinal disorders during OC treatment should be carefully monitored.(AUTHORS MODIFIED)


With a few exceptions, the biomedical industry, and the informatics field in particular, have not been affected by the standards litigation that has plagued the ICT sector. But with the increasing adoption of standards by informatics researchers and vendors, the issues faced by ICT standards groups will become increasingly relevant. This chapter summarizes general legal issues associated with standards development, then surveys standardization efforts in the informatics space and reviews the policies and procedures adopted by SDOs operating in the informatics area. It concludes with recommendations regarding prudent policy adoption by SDOs developing standards for informatics applications.


AIMS
This study sought to explore right (RV) and left ventricular (LV) mechanics and ventricular-ventricular interaction in adolescents and young adults late after percutaneous balloon pulmonary valvoplasty (PBPV) for valvar pulmonary stenosis (PS).

METHODS AND RESULTS
Potential late effects of PS despite PBPV on cardiac mechanics have not been well defined. Thirty-one patients aged 20.2 ± 7.6 years were studied at 18 ± 6 years after PBPV. Ventricular myocardial deformation was determined using speckle tracking echocardiography, while RV and LV volumes and ejection fraction as well as LV systolic dyssynchrony index were assessed by three-dimensional echocardiography. The results were compared with those of 30 controls. Pulmonary regurgitation, mostly trivial to mild, was present in 90% (28/31) of patients. Compared with controls, patients had significantly greater RV end-diastolic (P < 0.001), RV end-systolic (P < 0.001), and LV end-systolic (P = 0.04) volumes as well as lower LV ejection fraction (P < 0.001). For deformation, patients had significantly reduced RV longitudinal systolic strain (P = 0.004), decreased LV circumferential systolic strain (P < 0.001), and strain rate (P = 0.001) as well as greater LV mechanical dyssynchrony (P < 0.001). In patients, RV end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes correlated with LV circumferential strain (r = -0.47, P = 0.008 and r = -0.36, P = 0.049, respectively) and dyssynchrony (r = 0.53, P = 0.002 and r = 0.49, P = 0.005, respectively). Patients who had PBPV at age ≤1 year had ventricular deformation indices similar to those who had interventions beyond 1 year.

CONCLUSION
Impaired RV and LV mechanics and adverse ventricular-ventricular interaction occur in adolescents and young adults late after balloon valvoplasty for isolated valvar PS.


An x-ray grating interferometer was employed for in situ optimization of an x-ray bimorph mirror. Unlike many other at-wavelength techniques, only a single interferogram image, captured out of the focal plane, is required, enabling the optical surface to be quickly optimized. Moiré fringe analysis was used to calculate the wavefront slope error, which is proportional to the mirror's slope error. Using feedback from grating interferometry, the slope error of a bimorph mirror was reduced to <200  nrad (rms) in only two iterations. This technique has the potential to create photon beams with spatially homogeneous intensities for use in synchrotron and free electron laser beam lines.


In the last decade, the accelerated advancements in manufacturing techniques and material science enabled the automotive industry to manufacture commercial vehicles at more affordable rates. This, however, brought about roadways having to accommodate an ever-increasing number of vehicles every day. However, some roadways, during specific hours of the day, had already been on the brink of reaching their capacity to withstand the number of vehicles travelling on them. Hence, overcrowded roadways create slow traffic, and sometimes, bottlenecks. In this paper, a Dynamic Speed Harmonization (DSH) algorithm that regulates the speed of a vehicle to prevent it from being affected by bottlenecks has been presented. First, co-simulations were run between MATLAB Simulink and CarSim to test different deceleration profiles. Then, Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) simulations were run with a Road Side Unit (RSU), which emulated a roadside detector that spotted bottlenecks and sent information to the Connected Vehicle about the position of the queue and the average speed of the vehicles at the queue. The DSH algorithm was also tested on a track to compare the performance of the different deceleration profiles in terms of ride comfort.


Should surgeons offer uterus transplants to women who want to become pregnant but do not have a functioning uterus? The debate reminds us that society often neglects the interests of the infertile.

Only a handful of uterus transplants have been reported worldwide—including two this past September—but advances in technique may make the transplants available more widely. Some women are born without a functioning uterus; others have hysterectomies for cancer, postpartum hemorrhage, or other reasons. Many of these women want to become mothers and carry their own pregnancies. However, the prospect of uterus transplantation has elicited sharp criticism. According to ethics professor Rebecca Kukla, the surgery is not, "in any traditional sense, therapeutic."


Deformities of the maxillofacial region following trauma and ablative surgery are devastating and not uncommon. Reconstruction of such defects is a surgically challenging procedure. Conventionally, reconstruction of the jaw defects lacks pre-operative customized planning and relies heavily on surgeons' experiences to ensure optimum surgical outcomes. The restoration of jaw shape and function has taken precedence after an extensive tumor resection surgery, especially in the current age of technological advancement. Thus, personalized and accurate reconstruction of jaw defects has become a new goal. Computer-assisted surgery especially navigation-assisted surgery has gained popularity of late, in reconstructing deformities and restoring facial symmetry, appearance and function in the maxillofacial region. This technology provides a clearer three-dimensional visualization of the area of interest and its relationship with the adjacent vital structures. With pre-operative virtual surgical planning, it allows more specific and accurate osteotomies, thus reducing the ischemia and total operating times substantially. The risk of complications is also minimized whilst improving the final surgical outcomes. The use of intra-operative navigation system and other computer-assisted surgical techniques in the surgery can significantly improve the precision of the reconstruction of jaw deformities and achieve personalized and functional reconstructive goals while enhancing the patients' quality of life post-operatively. The Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Chinese Stomatological Association provides this professional perspective and present treatment protocol for navigation-guided reconstruction of jaw defect to allow standardization of the techniques while promoting its application among the oral and maxillofacial surgeons.


Abstract The member states of the United Nations General Assembly in 2005 unanimously adopted the resolution on Responsibility to Protect (R2P) to save citizens from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity. Since adoption, the norm has been invoked in Libya, South Sudan, Yemen, and Syria, nonetheless, the UN refrains to respond to the genocide committed in the Jammu & Kashmir and triggering a greater sense of anxiety. In this context, the present paper elucidates the factors behind the UN failure. It asks why the UN failed to call R2P despite systematic crimes against humanity in Kashmir. What factors or forces preclude the UN to invoke R2P? The paper argues that the inability of the UN to invoke R2P is a consequence of systemic and domestic factors. The Indo-US strategic partnership, materialism, and New Delhi's influence in the international system are obstructing the UN's ability to play a decisive role. Meanwhile, the economic and military potential of India and its regional influence forbid the international community to dissuade India not to commit genocide in Jammu & Kashmir. So the high politics of materialism and national interests override the norm of human rights and humanity.


A rack-mounted prototype of a broadcast-and-select (B and S) photonic ATM switch is fabricated. This switch has an optical output buffer utilizing wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) signals. The WDM technology solves. The cell-collision problem in a broadcast-and-select network and leads to a simple network architecture and the broadcast/multicast function. The prototype can handle 10-Gb/s nonreturn-to-zero (NRZ) coded cells and 5-Gb/s Manchester-coded cells and has a switch size of four. In this prototype, the level and timing design are key issues. Cell-by-cell level fluctuation is overcome by minimizing the loss difference between the optical paths and adopting a differential receiver capable of auto-thresholding. The temperature control of delay lines was successful in maintaining the phase synchronization. Using these techniques, we are able to provide a WDM highway with a bit error rate of less than 10/sup -12/. Fundamental photonic ATM switching functions, such as optical buffering and fast wavelength-channel selection, are achieved. We show our experimental results and demonstrate the high performance and stable operation of a photonic ATM switch for use in high-speed optical switching systems as an interconnect switch for a modular ATM switch and an ATM cross-connect switch.


the body, that we have dire need of Plato'. Dramatic Platonism appears, finally, as an 'anti dote' to our complacent materialist and rela tivist culture with its 'insurmountable differ ences'. The effects of truth on the body may well be disorien ting, but this can be productive, argues Puchner, if it aims at a reorientation and alliance of differ ences; in short, if differences are assimilated into the content-less (i.e. Platonist for mal) categories of identity: 'truth, the universal, the idea'. In effect, dramatic Platonism, despite its ready defence and incorporation of the 'material, scenic, and corporeal' into its system of thought, returns to the category of abstraction and remains a philosophy of essence: undoubtedly this is moti vated by a truth-seeking desire for foun dations and more stability in this unstable modern world. karoline gritzner


In this paper, we propose a Hybrid Ant Colony Optimization algorithm (HACO) for Next Release Problem (NRP). NRP, a NP-hard problem in requirement engineering, is to balance customer requests, resource constraints, and requirement dependencies by requirement selection. Inspired by the successes of Ant Colony Optimization algorithms (ACO) for solving NP-hard problems, we design our HACO to approximately solve NRP. Similar to traditional ACO algorithms, multiple artificial ants are employed to construct new solutions. During the solution construction phase, both pheromone trails and neighborhood information will be taken to determine the choices of every ant. In addition, a local search (first found hill climbing) is incorporated into HACO to improve the solution quality. Extensively wide experiments on typical NRP test instances show that HACO outperforms the existing algorithms (GRASP and simulated annealing) in terms of both solution quality and running time.


The community digital library has emerged as a recent evolution in the development of digital libraries. A community digital library is distinct through having a community of potential users define and guide the development of the library. In this article, we present how the geoscience community has worked to develop The Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE) in the light of recent work in the area of meta-design, the design of the design process. The development of DLESE is described utilizing a conceptual framework developed from the analysis of a variety of open source projects.


Active queue management (AQM) has two main objectives. One is to achieve high throughput and low average queueing delay simultaneously. The other is to achieve fair bandwidth allocation among competing flows. Although many algorithms have been proposed and investigated in an effort to fulfil the goal of AQM, there are few studies on AQM with per-flow scheduling. This is because longest queue drop (LQD), which is commonly used as a queue management discipline with per-flow scheduling, has good performance in terms of throughput and fairness. However, LQD suffers from long queueing delays. In addition, it cannot support explicit congestion notification (ECN). Accordingly, for AQM with per-flow scheduling, the following requirements can be specified: it achieves simultaneously lower average queueing delays than LQD and the same throughput as LQD, it achieves the same degree of fairness as LQD and it achieves lower packet loss ratios than LQD when flows are ECN-capable. A new AQM is proposed that fulfils these requirements. In the mechanism, packets are dropped probabilistically before the buffer is full. The probability is maintained for each active flow. The probability of the flow with the longest queue length is increased when the network is congested. Simulations confirm that the mechanism achieves the requirements set for AQM with per-flow scheduling.


The aim of this study is to investigate the internal determinants of the export performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam. Building upon the Resource-Based Theory, hypotheses on the internal determinants of export performance of SMEs in Vietnam are proposed. A sample of 569 SMEs with export activities in Vietnam during the year 2018 is collected to carry out this research. To ensure the reliability of data, this study excludes joint venture companies due to ambiguous participation between the government and the foreign element. A linear regression approach is applied along with the Robust standard errors method to test the proposed hypotheses of the research model. In addition, this study also examines several control variables in the model, including cultural distance, geographic distance, economic distance, and institutional distance. Estimation results reveal that firm size, firm industry, and research and development (R&D) have a positive and statistically significant impact on the export performance of SMEs in Vietnam, while the manager's gender has a negative and statistically significant influence on the export performance of these firms. Based on the empirical findings, several governance implications are provided for managers to improve the export performance of their SMEs in Vietnam.


This work presents estimates and middle-term projections of incidence and prevalence levels in Italy for cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx, of the stomach, and of colon and rectum. The estimation procedure was previously validated using incidence data observed by Italian cancer registries operating in limited geographical areas. Projections up to the year 2000 of mortality, incidence, and prevalence rates and estimated cohort effects are reported for stomach and colorectal cancers only. For both cancer sites, cohort effects, rather than period effects, result to be responsible for mortality and incidence dynamics. Incidence levels show a general decreasing trend for stomach cancer and an increasing one for colorectal cancer. Cumulative risk trend tends, however, to level-off for the youngest cohorts. Moreover, the well known geographical differences between the North and the South of the country seem to be progressively reducing.


This dissertation is focused on the development of the optimal design and analysis for cluster randomized trials. Specifically, we tackle three common questions: whether or not to pair-match clusters, which causal parameter best captures the intervention effect, and how to select the adjustment set for the analysis. We begin by introducing a formal framework for causal inference in Chapter 1. Throughout, the Sustainable East Africa Research in Community Health (SEARCH) trial serves as the motivating example (NCT01864603). SEARCH is an ongoing community randomized trial to evaluate the impact of immediate and streamlined antiretroviral therapy on HIV incidence in rural East Africa.In Chapter 2, we consider pair-matching, an intuitive design strategy to protect study validity and to potentially increase power in randomized trials. In a common design, candidate units are identified, and their baseline characteristics are used to create the best n/2 matched pairs. Within the resulting pairs, the intervention is randomized, and the outcomes are measured at the end of follow-up. We consider this design to be adaptive, because the construction of the matched pairs depends on the baseline covariates of all candidate units. As a consequence, the observed data cannot be considered as n/2 independent, identically distributed (i.i.d.) pairs of units, as common practice assumes. Instead, the observed data consist of n dependent units. Chapter 2 explores the consequences of adaptive pair-matching in randomized trials for estimation of the conditional average treatment effect (CATE): the intervention effect, given the measured covariates of the n study units. We contrast the unadjusted estimator with TMLE and show substantial efficiency gains from matching and further gains with adjustment.In Chapter 3, we compare three causal parameters: the population, conditional and sample average treatment effects. Using a structural causal model, we explicitly define each parameter, discuss interpretation, and formally examine identifiability. To the best of our knowledge, Chapter 3 is the first to propose using TMLE for estimation and inference of the sample effect. In most settings, the sample parameter will be estimated more efficiently than the conditional parameter, which will, in turn, be estimated more efficiently than the population parameter. Finite sample simulations illustrate the potential gains in precision and power from selecting the sample effect as the target of inference.Finally in Chapter 4, we discuss adjustment for measured covariates during the analysis to reduce variance and increase power in randomized trials. To avoid misleading inference, the analysis plan must be pre-specified. However, it is often unclear a priori which baseline covariates (if any) should be included in the analysis. In the SEARCH trial, for example, there are 16 matched pairs of communities and many potential adjustment variables, including region, HIV prevalence, male circumcision coverage and measures of community-level viral load. In Chapter 4, we propose a rigorous procedure to data-adaptively select the adjustment set, which maximizes the efficiency of the analysis. Specifically, we use cross-validation to select from a pre-specified library the candidate TMLE that minimizes the estimated variance. For further gains in precision, we also propose a collaborative procedure for estimating the known exposure mechanism. Our small sample simulations demonstrate the promise of the methodology to maximize study power, while maintaining nominal confidence interval coverage. Our procedure is tailored to the scientific question (sample vs. population treatment effect) and study design (pair-matched or not) and alleviates many of the common concerns.


OBJECTIVE
Nowadays, quality of life is considered to be important both in clinical investigation and patient care. Migraine is a particularly disabling illness, with a pronounced effect on general health and on the ability to take part in social activities. We review the instruments used for measuring quality of life and the published studies in which the relationship between migraine and quality of life is analyzed.

MATERIAL AND METHOD
In spite of increasing interest in quality of life and the means by which this is measured, there are many problems involved in studying this correctly since there is no agreement as to its definition or how to measure it. In recent years, most of the studies carried out have assessed the socio-economic cost of headache. However, at present, studies tend to focus on the human cost of the quality of life when suffering from headache. Migraine patients have a poorer quality of life than the general population and other populations with chronic illnesses which have always been considered to be severely disabling.

CONCLUSION
Research should be aimed at finding the specific and/or generic measures necessary to improve quality of life while suffering from headache. In the future, the aim of new treatments should be to eliminate the pain of the acute crisis and restore functional capacity, reduce the period of disability and improve quality of life.


A strong interaction between double stranded calf-thymus DNA (ds-DNA) and adrenaline in solution, but no interaction between single stranded calf-thymus DNA (ss-DNA) and adrenaline was observed by the use of UV-visible spectroscopy and voltammetric techniques. It is suggested that the interaction leads to an intercalation of adrenaline molecules into the groove of ds-DNA and the formation of ds-DNA (adrenallne)n complex. The binding site size of the interaction of adrenaline with CT-DNA in nucleotide phosphate [ NP] has been determined as 25. The interaction of different concentration adrenaline with DNA modified GCE shows that the DNA modified GCE can be a good tool to detect lower concentration adrenaline.


Clinical training for optometry students is a gateway for exposure in eye care management. Understanding patient experience and satisfaction of being examined by students is essential to improve clinical competency and education. A survey was done to determine patient experience and perspective among 228 adults who had eye examinations at the UiTM Vision Care clinic. Overall, the majority of the patients rated the care as good (96%) and believed it is vital for students to examine patients (93%). Patients of the fourth-year students were reportedly more happy for future student involvement. Concerns on lengthy examination recommend necessary measures.


As a material, soft clay poses many challenges to geotechnical engineers. The
material responds in a spectacular manner to stress changes. The paper describes
the behaviour of five embankments constructed on lightly over consolidated soft Malaysian marine clays. The main finding is that the clay response to
construction is not truly undrained. Significant consolidation develops initially in the over consolidated clay, which becomes normally consolidated during
construction. Undrained behaviour develops only in the normally consolidated clay during the initial stages of construction.


The EPSPEX system is a distribution system for district heat with media pipes of cross-linked polyethylene (PEX) insulated by blocks of expanded polystyrene (EPS). In this low-pressure distribution system two pipes are used for a space heating circuit, having layers of EVAL to hinder oxygen diffusion, whereas two pipes without diffusion barrier are used for delivery of hot tap water and warm water circulation. The four pipes are placed in the insulating blocks of EPS.

Environmental impacts from production, laying and use of an EPSPEX district heat distribution system have been investigated using life cycle methodology. The distribution system is a secondary system developed specially for areas with low heat density. The case studied is the installation and use of an EPSPEX system in Vraen, Varnamo, Sweden. The environmental impacts are described in four categories:
climate change, acidification, eutrophication and use of finite resources. Four weighting methods have also been used in the evaluation: EPS2000, Ecoscarcity, ExternE and EcoIndicator99. While carefully considering the precise circumstances of this study, the findings can be adapted for using the EPSPEX district heat distribution systems in other areas.

During this study the question was raised of how this district heat delivery system compares with systems that use conventional district heating pipes. This has been
further investigated and is reported in the second part of this report: Miljobelastning fran EPSPEX-systemet. Del 2: Konventionella twinror eller EPSPEX – vad ar bast ur
miljosynpunkt. In the second part the environmental impacts from the EPSPEX system have been compared with the impacts from conventional twin pipes (polyurethane insulated steel media pipes) used in a comparable setting. A discussion on the environmental choice between media pipes of PEX and steel can also be found in the second part. It should be noted that the two systems for district heat distribution are not fully comparable in function. The EPSPEX system has stricter limitations regarding pressure and temperature compared with the conventional system. The EPSPEX system is also limited in use for well drained ground conditions above the water table. Conventional district heating pipes do not have this limitation.

The most important possibility to decrease the environmental impacts from the EPSPEX system is to increase the insulation, this even though the distribution system
is comparably well insulated to start with. The environmental life cycle impacts of the distribution pipe system – production, laying and use – are predominated by the extra heat that has to be generated to cover the heat losses from the system. When this report was written, measurements from systems in use to confirm the model calculation of heat losses are still lacking. More fine-tuned results can be achieved when studies of the EPSPEX system in use have been concluded.

Among different components in the EPSPEX system the impacts from production and transport of EPS-blocks make the major impact. Thus, it is important to utilize the polystyrene material as efficiently as possible, minimizing spillage, and to ensure that unavoidable spillage is recycled as material. However, the environmental impacts from production of the insulating blocks are well outweighed by the decreased environmental impacts gained by using the insulation. In product development it is thus important to ensure that the insulating capacity of the EPSPEX system is never decreased.

Machines used for excavating the pipe trenches combust diesel oil, and the production and use of this diesel oil generates a substantial part of the environmental impacts by
several of the assessment methods used. If possible, it is desirable to further minimize the excavation work and to use 'mini excavators' and low emitting machines (especially regarding nitrous oxides). The brass swaged coupling used to connect the PEX-pipes, gives a strong impact regarding acidification and the two weighting methods EPS2000 and Ecoscarcity, especially when compared to the very small volume fraction these devices constitute. It would be advisable to study if the devices could be made from other material or from recycled material.


In the S.-central Adirondacks, garnet porphyroblasts are found in rocks of various compositions and origins. However, they are abundant only in basic rocks. Their shape, habit, size, and composition depend on the nature of the host rock. They are commonly surrounded by rims or shells whose composition also depends on the nature of the host rock. On the other hand, garnet porphyroblasts are not found in basic rocks that have kept relics of their magmatic texture and mineralogy. Such rocks contain garnet only as coronas. These observations show that garnet porphyroblasts have grown in situ after a period of intense componental movements. The available chemical data suggest that the formation of the Barton mines dark ore results from a process of metamorphic differentiation taking place during a period of rising temperature. There is no reason to suppose that metasomatic changes have been important.


With the increasing importance of data privacy protection, various privacy-preserving machine learning methods have been proposed. In the clustering domain, various algorithms with a federated learning framework (i.e., federated clustering) have been actively studied and showed high clustering performance while preserving data privacy. However, most of the base clusterers (i.e., clustering algorithms) used in existing federated clustering algorithms need to specify the number of clusters in advance. These algorithms, therefore, are unable to deal with data whose distributions are unknown or continually changing. To tackle this problem, this paper proposes a privacy-preserving continual federated clustering algorithm. In the proposed algorithm, an adaptive resonance theory-based clustering algorithm capable of continual learning is used as a base clusterer. Therefore, the proposed algorithm inherits the ability of continual learning. Experimental results with synthetic and real-world datasets show that the proposed algorithm has superior clustering performance to state-of-the-art federated clustering algorithms while realizing data privacy protection and continual learning ability. The source code is available at \url{https://github.com/Masuyama-lab/FCAC}.


A formalization of the centralized French Academic Labour Market in terms of Multi-Agent System is presented. Extensive simulations are used to investigate typical and possible regimes of the system, supporting a sensitivity analysis of the main parameters of the model, such as the applicative pressure and the preference bias towards local candidates. Based on the calibration of the parameters of the abstract model after the information disclosed from o±cial sources, some positive and normative results are presented. Three prototypical settings are distinguished: the equilibrium setting corresponds to the perfect market case, where each candidate interacts with each University; the Humanities and Sciences setting; and the Law and Management setting. The differences between the last two settings concern both the applicative pressure (number of candidate per academic position) and the scope of each candidate (interacting with few or many Universities). Counter-intuitive findings, related in particular to the role of the preference biases, are presented and discussed.


Probiotics (PB) are living microorganisms that act as a commensal population in normal intestines and confer numerous beneficial effects on the host. The introduction of probiotics in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) prolongs remission. The aim of this study was to investigate the intestinal and hepatic effects of PB supplementation in an experimental IBD model in mice induced by 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS). In the first step of the experimental procedure, CD-1 male mice, 5 to 6 weeks old, were randomly divided into 3 groups and inoculated intrarectally with, respectively, saline, alcohol, or TNBS to assess the experimental IBD model. In the second step, mice treated, or not, with TNBS inoculation, were treated with PB (Lactobacillus Casei, Bifidobacterum Lactis) for 1, 2 or 3 weeks, on a daily basis. Large bowel (colon and rectum) and liver were processed for histological alterations, according to a scoring system. Large bowel was also assessed for apoptosis by TUNEL assay. TNBS induced, as expected, severe damage and inflammation in the large bowel, including nuclear alterations and apoptosis, and, to a lesser extent, to the liver. Administration of PB determined significant reduction of both histological alterations and apoptosis. PB administration in advance protects from inflammation. In conclusion, supplementation with Lactobacillus casei, Bifidobacterum lactis PB is able to ameliorate the colitis by reversing the histological changes caused by TNBS in mice. Experimentation in human subjects in needed to prove their efficacy in reducing histological alterations that may be present in subjects with IBD.


Accurate global estimates of recreational catches are missing, as most countries do not have the mandate to report catches from recreational activities. Increasing awareness of the impact of recreational fisheries, which in some cases can surpass that from commercial fisheries, has led some countries to collect information on recreational catches. Such a system is still lacking in countries such as Brazil. Recreational fisheries in northeastern Brazil are mainly shore-based and structured around fishing clubs, which promote more than 100 fishing tournaments annually. These tournaments are run year-round, but are less frequent during the rainy, windy season (July to September) and the local holiday season (December to January). Catches from these tournaments amounted to a peak of three tonnes in 1998, which added to the previously estimated 1,147 tonnes caught outside tournaments, are much lower than those from commercial fisheries (131 thousand tonnes). There is no detailed information on catches per species. These estimates of tournament catches are preliminary, as they do not include all States and oceanic fisheries.


This study documents and compares patterns of temporal variation in egg size in three populations of the fire-bellied toad (Bombina orientalis) from the Republic of Korea. Data were taken from an eight-year field study and a concomitant four-year laboratory study of repeated breedings of wild caught females. We provide evidence that egg size is a plastic trait in this species by describing the extent and changes of variation in two traits: mean egg size per clutch and intraclutch egg size variation. We show that in the field there was substantial variation among populations, among individuals within populations, and among eggs within the clutches of single individuals. In addition, there were significant differences among years as well as significant pop- ulation by year interactions. Yearly shifts in egg size were positively associated with environmentally induced shifts in body mass. Similarly, the amount of variation in egg size within a clutch shifted among years. These field results imply that substantial amounts of variation in egg size among individuals may not be directly genetic. The laboratory studies further support this view. There were significant differences in the degree of plasticity exhibited by individual females in each of the three populations as measured by the coefficients of variation of mean egg size and intraclutch egg size variation among females based on repeated breedings of individuals. In addition, repeat- ability values for individual populations ranged from 0.14-0.27 for mean egg size but were not significantly different from zero for the variation in intraclutch egg size variation. Our field and laboratory results demonstrate that egg size variation is highly subject to non-genetic sources of variation. We discuss the implications of these observations for an understanding of the importance of plasticity and maternal effects on the evolution of reproductive traits in amphibians.


Larynx cancer is the second most common type of cancer among all head and neck cancers. Deregulation of epigenetic effectors, including altered expression of histone methyltransferases from the MLL (mixed lineage leukemia) family, have been reported in many cancer types, yet little is known concerning their involvement in larynx cancer. Our objective was to determine the expression profile of MLL genes in larynx carcinoma and normal adjacent tissues and correlate this profile to tumor characteristics. We analyzed the expression profile of 5 MLL genes in 13 cases of larynx carcinoma and their adjacent non-tumor tissues using quantitative real-time PCR. MLL3 was significantly downregulated in tumor samples compared to their normal counterparts, and all MLL genes showed decreased expression in advanced tumors compared to tumors in the initial stage. Altered expression in a single MLL gene was associated with a similar alteration in the other MLL genes, revealing a strong correlation of expression in each individual patient. In conclusion, MLL genes may have similar transcriptional control, and decreased expression of these genes may contribute to larynx cancer progression.


We describe sensing techniques motivated by unique aspects of human-computer interaction with handheld devices in mobile settings. Special features of mobile interaction include changing orientation and position, changing venues, the use of computing as auxiliary to ongoing, real-world activities like talking to a colleague, and the general intimacy of use for such devices. We introduce and integrate a set of sensors into a handheld device, and demonstrate several new functionalities engendered by the sensors, such as recording memos when the device is held like a cell phone, switching between portrait and landscape display modes by holding the device in the desired orientation, automatically powering up the device when the user picks it up the device to start using it, and scrolling the display using tilt. We present an informal experiment, initial usability testing results, and user reactions to these techniques.


Abstract The objective of this paper is to present the element connectivity parameterization (ECP) for three dimensional problems. In the ECP method, a continuum structure is viewed as discretized finite elements connected by zero-length elastic links whose stiffness values control the degree of inter-element connectivity. The ECP method can effectively avoid the formation of the low-density unstable elements. These elements appear when the standard element density method is used for geometrical nonlinear problems. In this paper, this ECP method developed for two-dimensional problems is expanded to the design of three-dimensional geometrical nonlinear structures. Among others, the automatic procedure converting standard finite element models to the models suitable for the ECP approach is developed and applied for optimization problems defined on general three-dimensional design domains. 1. 서 론 위상최적화 기법은 유한요소에 정의된 설계 변수를 통해 구속조건을 만족시키고 성능을 최대화 하는 위상을 찾는 방법이다. (1,2) 위상 최적 설계는 80 년대 개발된 이후 계속 발전되어 왔으며 현재 복합 물리계 시스템 (Multiphysics system)설계, 비선형 구조물 설계, 전자기장에서의 최적 설계 등 적용 분야가 점차 넓어지고 있다.


Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 November 2003 on the regulations governing political parties at European level and the rules regarding their funding authorises the European Parliament to grant technical assistance to European political parties. This assistance is based on the principle of equal treatment and is granted on conditions no less favourable than those granted to other external organisations and associations that may be accorded similar facilities. It is supplied against invoice and payment.


Zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8)-coated Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticle clusters (MNCs) were synthesized and used to detect pathogenic bacteria in milk. Hydrothermally synthesized MNCs were encapsulated with ZIF-8 via sonochemical reactions. Half fragments of monoclonal Staphylococcus antibodies were conjugated to the low-coordinated Zn sites located on the outer layer of ZIF-8 via Zn–S bonding, which allows one-step immobilization of antibodies with favorable orientations on ZIF-8. Furthermore, ZIF-8 encapsulation improved the stability of MNCs in water by suppressing the Fe3O4 oxidation. After the capture and magnetic separation of Staphylococcus in milk using hybrid nanoparticles, bacteria concentration was determined with a portable ATP luminometer and the detection limit was found to be 300 cfu mL .


Communication between myriad cell types during organ formation underlies proper morphogenesis1. In cardiac development, reciprocal signaling between mesoderm progenitors and neural crest cells is essential, and its disruption leads to congenital heart malformations, the most common human birth defect. However, mechanistic interrogation of temporal gene networks and cis regulatory elements in this crosstalk is limited2,3. Here, we integrated single cell chromatin accessibility and transcriptomics to establish an unbiased and temporal epigenomic map of the embryonic mouse heart over multiple stages and developed machine learning models to predict enhancers for heart and neural crest. We leveraged these advances to determine the consequences of dysregulated signaling at single cell resolution caused by deletion of TBX1, a transcription factor that causes morphogenetic defects of the cardiac outflow tract in humans and functions non-cell autonomously in cardiac mesodermal progenitors to direct pharyngeal neural crest differentiation4–6. Loss of Tbx1 in mice led to broad closure of chromatin regions enriched in cardiac progenitor transcription factor motifs within a narrow subset of cardiac mesodermal progenitors and correlated with diminished expression of numerous members of the fibroblast growth factor, retinoic acid, Notch and Semaphorin pathways. In affected progenitors, ectopic accessibility and expression of posterior heart field factors in the anterior heart field suggested impaired axial patterning. In response, a subset of cardiac neural crest cells displayed epigenomic and transcriptional defects, indicating a failure of differentiation corresponding to dysregulation of the anterior-posterior gradient of pharyngeal Hox gene expression. This study demonstrates that single-cell genomics and machine learning can generate a mechanistic model for how disruptions in cell communication selectively affect spatiotemporally dynamic regulatory networks in cardiogenesis.


The dynamics of a Hall thruster is investigated numerically in the presence of a plasma–wall interaction. The plasma–wall interaction is a function of the wall potential, which in turn is determined by the secondary electron emission and sputtering yield. In the present work, the effect of secondary electron emission and sputter yield have been considered simultaneously. Owing to disparate temporal scales, ions and neutrals have been described by a set of time-dependent equations while electrons are considered in a steady state. Based on the experimental observations, a third-order polynomial in electron temperature is used to calculate the ionization rate. The changes in the plasma density, potential and azimuthal electron velocity due to the sputter yield are significant in the acceleration region. The change in ion and electron velocity and temperature is small. The neutral velocity, which decreases initially, starts increasing towards the exit consistent with the computed neutral density profile. The results are qualitatively compared with the experiments.


This research aims to investigate how much the influence of principal's leadership, teacher professional allowance and school climate affects teachers' performance by addressing these five points: 1) how principals exercise their leadership skills; 2) how the teacher professional allowance works; 3) how the school climate is; 4) how teachers perform; 5) how much the aspect of principal's leadership, teacher professional allowance, and school climate contribute to teachers' overall performance. This research uses qualitative method and utilizes survey as the design. To explain the issue, it employs methodological approach with positivistic perspective and scientific approach through pedagogical and psychological perspectives. Total of 85 participants were selected from 610 population using accidental sampling technique. The data were collected using survey and documentations, then analyzed using Multiple Linear Regression Testing with three predictors. The data analysis in this research suggests some key findings: First, the principal's leadership skill is on low range with score of 40%. Second, the teacher professional allowance is on moderate range with score of 48.2%. Third, the school climate is reported to be moderate with score of 32.9%. Fourth, the teachers' performance is considered moderate with score of 40%. Fifth, the Multiple Linear Regression Testing reveals the influence rate of principal's leadership, teacher professional allowance, and school climate on teachers' performance is as follows: regression equation Ŷ=100.629+0.022X1+0.083X2+0.256X3, with Fcount of 4.661. The fact that Fcount is bigger than Ftable (2.72), and its sig value is smaller than 0.05 (0.005 < 0.05), it indicates that there is a significant influence of principal's leadership, teacher professional allowance, and school climate on teachers' performance are R = 0,384 and R2 = 0,116.


E-64-d (ethyl (2S, 3S)-3-[(S)-3-methyl-1-(3-methylbutylcarbamoyl) butylcarbamoyl]oxirane-2-carboxylate), a membrane-permeant derivative of the thiol protease-specific inhibitor E-64, was found to arrest human epidermoid carcinoma A431 cells at mitotic metaphase. This effect was dose-dependent with a threshold of 20 micrograms/ml in chemically defined culture medium. Cell cycle analysis by flow cytometry showed that the relative proportion of the G2/M population increased 2.5-fold after treatment of the cells with E-64 (100 micrograms/ml) for 5 hr. In addition, time-lapse video analysis showed that E-64-treated cells remained at metaphase for an extended period after rounding-up, whereas untreated cells completed mitosis within 42.0 +/- 5.7 min. Some treated cells were able to complete mitosis, while others did not do so within the limits of our observation. As an approach to the molecular basis of this phenomenon, we have shown that several cellular proteins can be labeled by incubation of cells with radioactive E-64-d.


Malaria is the most common reason that people seek medical care in Ghana. This situation is taken for granted by the people, and there is no organized prevention effort. A World Health Organization-sponsored pilot malaria eradication program (1958-64) was abandoned after a peak period of activity in 1963 when vector control included indoor spraying with DDT. Recently there has been an upward trend in the incidence of malaria, with 15% of all cases becoming complicated. The main vector species are A. gambiae, A. melas, and A. funestus, and the predominant parasite species is Plasmodium falciparum. Treatment of choice is chloroquine phosphate, and although drug resistance has been suspected, it has not been documented. All health facilities are stretched to the limit with regard to the diagnosis and treatment of malaria. Field research is needed to provide a more accurate picture of the current situation. The clinical ability to deliver prompt diagnoses and treatment must be strengthened, and public health education must be instituted. The regional health management system must be improved, and personnel must be taught to use collected data. The use of bed nets, which is common in the south, should be encouraged, and impregnated nets should be introduced.


Objectives Extended-release (ER) carbidopa-levodopa (CD-LD) (IPX066/RYTARY/NUMIENT) produces improvements in "off" time, "on" time without troublesome dyskinesia, and Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale scores compared with immediate-release (IR) CD-LD or IR CD-LD plus entacapone (CLE). Post hoc analyses of 2 ER CD-LD phase 3 trials evaluated whether the efficacy and safety of ER CD-LD relative to the respective active comparators were altered by concomitant medications (dopaminergic agonists, monoamine oxidase B [MAO-B] inhibitors, or amantadine). Methods ADVANCE-PD (n = 393) assessed safety and efficacy of ER CD-LD versus IR CD-LD. ASCEND-PD (n = 91) evaluated ER CD-LD versus CLE. In both studies, IR- and CLE-experienced patients underwent a 6-week, open-label dose-conversion period to ER CD-LD prior to randomization. For analysis, the randomized population was divided into 3 subgroups: dopaminergic agonists, rasagiline or selegiline, and amantadine. For each subgroup, changes from baseline in PD diary measures ("off" time and "on" time with and without troublesome dyskinesia), Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale Parts II + III scores, and adverse events were analyzed, comparing ER CD-LD with the active comparator. Results and Conclusions Concomitant dopaminergic agonist or MAO-B inhibitor use did not diminish the efficacy (improvement in "off" time and "on" time without troublesome dyskinesia) of ER CD-LD compared with IR CD-LD or CLE, whereas the improvement with concomitant amantadine failed to reach significance. Safety and tolerability were similar among the subgroups, and ER CD-LD did not increase troublesome dyskinesia. For patients on oral LD regimens and taking a dopaminergic agonist, and/or a MAO-B inhibitor, changing from an IR to an ER CD-LD formulation provides approximately an additional hour of "good" on time.


It's hot. It's cool. It's controversial. It's talk TV . . . and for Nancy Drew it's turning deadly serious! Everybody's talking about "Marcy, " Chicago's hip new teen TV talk show, and Nancy has tickets to see it live. When host Marcy Robbins grabs the mike and goes on the air there's sure to be plenty of fast talk and shock-filled fireworks. But the biggest surprise of all is directed straight at Marcy: an anonymous threat on her life! Professional rivalry . . . personal jealousy . . . crazy love . . . relationships out of control. . . . They're not the topics of Marcy's show, they're just a small sample of the secret intrigue churning and burning behind the scenes. Nancy's digging up all the dirt, searching for the single obsession powerful enough to incite a passion for murder!


There has been a long tradition in making ice structures, but the development of technical improvements for making ice buildings is a new field with just a handful of researchers. Most of the projects were realized by professors in cooperation with their students as part of their education in architecture and civil engineering. The following professors have realized ice projects in this setting: Heinz Isler realized some experiments since the 1950s; Tsutomu Kokawa created in the past three decades several ice domes in the north of Japan with a span up to 25 m; Lancelot Coar realized a number of fabric formed ice shell structures including fiberglass bars and hanging fabric as a mold for an ice shell in 2011 and in 2015 he produced an fabric-formed ice origami structure in cooperation with MIT (Caitlin Mueller) and VUB (Lars de Laet). Arno Pronk realized several ice projects such as the 2004 artificially cooled igloo, in 2014 and 2015 dome structures with an inflatable mold in Finland and in 2016–2019, an ice dome, several ice towers and a 3D printed gridshell of ice in Harbin (China) as a cooperation between the Universities of Eindhoven & Leuven (Pronk) and Harbin (Wu and Luo). In cooperation between the University of Alberta and Eindhoven two ice beams were realized during a workshop in 2020. In this paper we will present the motivation and learning experiences of students involved in learning-by-doing by realizing one large project in ice. The 2014–2016 projects were evaluated by Sanders and Overtoom; using questionnaires among the participants by mixed cultural teams under extreme conditions. By comparing the results in different situations and cultures we have found common rules for the success of those kinds of educational projects. In this paper we suggest that the synergy among students participating in one main project without a clear individual goal can be very large. The paper will present the success factors for projects to be perceived as a good learning experience.