This is Part II of the two-part comprehensive survey devoted to a computing framework most commonly known under the names Hyperdimensional Computing and Vector Symbolic Architectures (HDC/VSA). Both names refer to a family of computational models that use high-dimensional distributed representations and rely on the algebraic properties of their key operations to incorporate the advantages of structured symbolic representations and vector distributed representations. Holographic Reduced Representations [321, 326] is an influential HDC/VSA model that is well known in the machine learning domain and often used to refer to the whole family. However, for the sake of consistency, we use HDC/VSA to refer to the field. Part I of this survey [222] covered foundational aspects of the field, such as the historical context leading to the development of HDC/VSA, key elements of any HDC/VSA model, known HDC/VSA models, and the transformation of input data of various types into high-dimensional vectors suitable for HDC/VSA. This second part surveys existing applications, the role of HDC/VSA in cognitive computing and architectures, as well as directions for future work. Most of the applications lie within the Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence domain; however, we also cover other applications to provide a complete picture. The survey is written to be useful for both newcomers and practitioners.


Investigating the hydrological extremes indices at high resolutions describing the whole stream spectrum is essential for the comprehensive assessment of watershed hydrology. The study focuses on a wide-ranging assessment of river discharge in annual mean, peak, and high and low percentiles flow at the Upper Awash River basin, Ethiopia. Statistical tests such as coefficient of variation, flood variability to characterize the flow regime and Tukey's test to detect decadal variability. Modified Mann-Kendall test, Sen's slope estimator, innovative trend analysis and Pettitt's test were applied to see trends, and change points in time series, respectively. Results showed that the basin was characterized by moderate to high variability. Spatially, main tributaries showed a higher variability, almost in all-time step and characterized by higher flood variability. The large discharge receiving rivers resulted in a moderate to high and lower discharge variability. Test statistics resulted in a positive increasing trend dominating most time scales at a 5% significant level and higher magnitude of slope trend in peak flow. A negative trends were also exhibited. Hombole main outlet site experienced decreasing trend in high percentile flow. In comparison, complete trend direction agreements were observed (except in few series). Flow indices showed an upward shift and downward shift mainly in the year 2000s and the significant decadal variation resulted in comparable with change points. The study provides an understanding of water resources variability, which will be necessary to apply operational water resources strategies and management to restrain the potential impacts of variability nature of the streamflow.


in the article, the authors' concept is presented, according to which all planets rotate about their axis due to their satellites. The planet and its satellite are interconnected by a shared gravity, which moves along the surface of the planet as the result of the satellite moving in an orbit. The discussed movement of gravity applies to all planets and the Sun. The shared gravity is at its maximum on the Earth and Sun surface. Particular celestial bodies have their beginning, evolution and end. On the whole, the Universe has always existed and will always exist, and such major formations as galaxies and stars will never cease to exist.


This very brief discussion of the prognostic and diagnostic role of hormone receptors in breast tumors attempts to put into perspective the usefulness of hormone manipulation in treatment of breast cancer. About 60% of breast tumors contain estrogen receptors (ER+); about 75% of breast tumors contain positive progesterone receptors (PR+). Positivity for ER+ is usually considered if estrogen uptake in the receptor assay exceeds 9 fmol per mg of protein, but it is pointed out that some tumors may take up 100 fmol, so the positivity of breast tumors has wide variety. Hormone therapy has been found effective in 60% of ER+ tumors vs. 5% in ER- tumors; when both ER+ and PR+ are present, success rate of hormone therapy increases to 75%; however, this author cautions that by "success" disease eradication is not meant; rather it indicates some degree of tumor regression or perhaps merely alleviation of symptoms. In terms of hormonal management of a patient with metastatic breast cancer, the following schedule, based on a consensus, is offered: ER+ patients who are premenopausal or within 5 years of menopause should undergo ovariectomy; postmenopausal patients should be treated with estrogens or tamoxifen in sequence; adrenalectomy might be considered in the occasional patient with severe metastatic bone pain resistant to estrogens and tamoxifen and unsuitable for localized radiotherapy. Hypophysectomy is never indicated. Biopsy material for ER assay should be the first specimen; a 1-gm quantity is needed; and this author uses the dextran-coated ER assay.


The jelly-like locular (gel) tissue of tomato fruit is made up of large thin-walled and highly vacuolized cells. The development of the gel tissue is characterized by the arrest of mitotic activities, the inhibition of cyclin-dependent kinase A (CDKA) activity, and numerous rounds of nuclear DNA endoreduplication. To decipher the molecular determinants controlling these developmental events, we investigated the putative involvement of CDK inhibitors (p27Kip-related proteins, or KRPs) during the endoreduplication process. Two cDNAs, LeKRP1 and LeKRP2, encoding tomato CDK inhibitors were isolated. The LeKRP1 and LeKRP2 transcript expression was shown to be enhanced in the differentiating cells of the gel undergoing endoreduplication. At the translational level, LeKRP1 was shown to accumulate in the gel tissue and to participate in the inhibition of the CDK-cyclin kinase activities occurring in endoreduplicating cells of the gel tissue. We here propose that LeKRP1 participates in the control of both the cell cycle and the endoreduplication cycle.


Abstract Samples were taken from two southeast Wyoming streams to determine if values of selected benthic macroinvertebrate metrics derived from using a D-net could be related to values derived from using a Surber sampler. Conditions under which samples were collected were variable, ranging from severely polluted to non-polluted over two seasons. Metrics evaluated were the Shannon-Weiner index and the random runs value plus four measures of richness; Ephemeroptera taxa richness, Ephemeroptera/Plecoptera/Trichoptera taxa richness, total taxa richness, and Plecoptera taxa richness. Regression analysis indicated that linear relations existed between average metric values estimated through use of the D-net and Surber sampler. These results indicated that average D-net values for these six metrics can be expressed as average Surber sampler values, and vice versa, in these two streams when using either the D-net or Surber sampler in the manner described. This study presented two ways (i.e., the F test or the model validation technique) to test for transportability of functions (i.e., regression models), which were used to convert the results from one sampling method to results from another, and vice versa.


Pontal do Paranapanema is the only region in Sao Paulo state where a large scale sugarcane expansion can take place. Such expansion is expected and will likely affect the rural family farmers in the region. Without regulations, the expansion might negatively affect the income of family farmers who start to grow sugarcane. Some family farmers already grow sugarcane and it has been shown that their average income from sugarcane is sometimes less than 3 times the average income from sugarcane in the rest of the state. The same is expected to be the case for all family farmers who start to grow sugarcane if no regulations are added. The family farmers have such small properties that it is not profitable for them to buy all necessary equipment for growing sugarcane. They rent some services from the sugarcane industry leading to lower net incomes. The sugarcane expansion can lead to increased socioeconomic benefits for the family farmers if the expansion is done in combination with changed cattle farming. Family farmers can have a combined production system where they grow sugarcane on parts of their property and in exchange for the delivered sugarcane to the sugarcane industry they could receive nutritious cattle feed made from sugarcane residues. If the cattle stock is changed and feed with the cattle feed this can lead to large increases in milk production and hence large income gains. To evaluate the socioeconomic and climate impacts of expanding ethanol sugarcane production in conjunction with this combined production system, two models were created: one for calculating income growth of family farmers when a combined sugarcane and milk production system is introduced and one for calculating energy and emissions from a sugarcane expansion when coupled with the combined production system. The model analyses indicate that income could 10-fold for family farmers if a combined sugarcane and milk production system is introduced. At the same time, the global emissions of greenhouse gases could be significantly reduced if the ethanol from such production replaced gasoline used for transportation in the EU. If a sugarcane industry wants to run in Pontal regulations could state that they then have to produce cattle feed of some of the sugarcane residues in order to promote the combined production system.


Latin American societies were created as pre-industrial colonies, that is, peoples whose cultures and racial makeup were largely determined by having been conquered by Spain or Portugal. In all these societies, a colonial heritage created political and social attitudes that were not conducive to the construction of democratic civil societies. And yet, Latin America has a public life--not merely governments, but citizens who are actively involved in trying to improve the lives and welfare of their populations. Monteon focuses on the relation of people's lifestyles to the evolving pattern of power relations in the region. Much more than a basic description of how people lived, this book melds social history, politics, and economics into one, creating a full picture of Latin American life.
 There are two poles or markers in the narrative about people's lives: the cities and the countryside. Cities have usually been the political and cultural centers of life, from the conquest to the present. Monteon concentrates on cities in each chronological period, allowing the narrative to explain the change from a religiously-centered life to the secular customs of today, from an urban form organized about a central plaza and based on walking, to one dominated by the automobile and its traffic. Each chapter relates the connections between the city and its countryside, and explains the realities of rural life. Also discussed are customs, diets, games and sports, courting and marriage, and how people work.


The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of various degrees of axial midline angulation on the attractiveness of a smile. We explored the influence of age, race, sex, direction of midline deviation, education, occupation, and dominant hand on each evaluator's perception of dental esthetics. Photographs of smiling subjects--one man and one woman--were altered to produce both left and right axial midline angulations in 5 degree increments. Fifty orthodontists and 50 laypeople evaluated these altered photographs by assigning both a numerical attractiveness rating and an acceptable or unacceptable rating to each. The results showed that attractiveness scores and acceptability ratings declined consistently as axial midline angulation increased. Statistical analysis showed that both sex of the subject and occupation of the judge were significant variables (P < .05) in the evaluation of the subjects. Age, race, sex of the judge, education level, direction of midline deviation, and dominant hand were not statistically significant. The mean acceptable midline angulation for the male subject was 6.6 +/- 4.5 degrees for orthodontists and 10.7 +/- 6.2 degrees for laypeople. For the female subject, the mean acceptable threshold was 6.4 +/- 4.0 degrees for orthodontists and 10.0 +/- 6.1 degrees for laypeople (P < .001). Discrepancies of 10 degrees were unacceptable by 68% of orthodontists and 41% of laypeople.


Protein assemblies or misfolded proteins are related to various diseases such as Alzheimer¿s disease, type II diabetes, Parkinson¿s disease and more, and their in-vivo detection is important for understanding these disorders and for developing drugs and treatments for mitigating them. In this study we propose to use photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS) for in-vivo detection and identification of these pathogenic proteins. Since PAS does not require detection of transmitted beam, it is particularly suitable for in-vivo applications. As a preliminary verification of the viability of this approach we have used PAS for in-vitro characterization of the absorption spectra of various protein solutions in both the deep-UV and the near-IR spectral ranges. The results were compared with spectra measured by conventional absorption spectroscopy.


The Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT) is a widely used assay of behavioural alertness sensitive to the effects of sleep loss and circadian misalignment. However, there is currently no accepted PVT composite outcome metric that captures response slowing, attentional lapses and compensatory premature reactions observed typically in sleep‐deprived subjects. We developed a novel likelihood ratio metric (LRM) based on relative frequency distributions in 50 categories of reaction times (RT) and false starts in alert and sleep‐deprived subjects (acute total sleep deprivation: n = 31 subjects). The LRM had the largest effect size both in a 33‐h total sleep deprivation protocol [1.96; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.61–2.44; followed by response speed 1/RT, effect size 1.93, 95% CI: 1.55–2.65] and in a chronic partial sleep restriction protocol (1.22; 95% CI: 0.96–1.59; followed by response speed 1/RT, effect size 1.21, 95% CI: 0.94–1.59; 5 nights at 4 h sleep per night; n = 43 subjects). LRM scores correlated highly with response speed (R2 = 0.986), and less well with five other common PVT outcome metrics (R2 = 0.111–0.886). In conclusion, the new LRM is a sensitive PVT outcome metric with high statistical power that takes subtle sleep loss‐related changes in the distribution of reaction times (including false starts) into account, is not prone to outliers, does not require baseline data and can be calculated and interpreted easily. Congruence between LRM and PVT response speed and their similar effect size rankings support the use of response speed as the primary, most sensitive and most parsimonious standard PVT outcome metric for determining neurobehavioural deficits from sleep loss.


In this paper, we consider the mapping problem of identifying correspondences between a signal in a high-level specification and a net in a lower-level implementation for a given design. Conventional techniques use shared names to associate a signal with a net whenever possible. However, given that a synthesis flow may not preserve names, solutions to the above problem eventually take recourse to expensive alternatives such as formal verification. This paper provides a robust framework for identifying RTL signal to gate-level net correspondences for a given design. Our technique exploits the observation that circuit diagnosis provides a convenient means for locating faults in a gate-level network. Since our problem requires locating gate-level nets corresponding to RTL signals, we formulate the mapping problem as a query whose solution is provided by a circuit diagnosis engine. Our experimental work with industrial designs for many mapping cases shows that our solution to the mapping problem is (i) fast, and (ii) precise in identifying the gate-level equivalents (the number of nets returned by our mapping engine for a query is typically or 2 even for designs with tens of thousands of VHDL lines).


Phosphorus is one of the key elements for growth and development of plants. Soils may contain a number of hundred pounds of phosphate in organic and inorganic forms per acre. Still its availability is limited to the plants due to its poor solubility and precipitation. The uses of phosphate solo bilizing microbes (PSM) as fertilizer have added advantage over chemical fertilizer in terms of cost and pollu-tions. Therefore In present studies we are reporting isolation screening and characterization of novel PSM from its natural habitat and its concurrent effect on agricultural crop and environment. The bacteria isolated from the field of capsicum has shown highest P-solubilisation as well as P-fertilizer potential and was further characterized as Bacillus megatertian by 16s rRNA sequencing technique.


The anti-inflammatory activities of extract of Calotropis gigantea R.Br. and Tridax procumbens Linn., were assessed on carrageenin-induced paw edema along with standard drug, Ibuprofen. The Ibuprofen significantly reduced paw edema at the dose of 200mg/Kg bw orally. The oral administration equi-effective dose (ED 50 ) of C. gigantea (600mg/Kg bw) and T. procumbens (400 mg/Kg bw) individually revealed about 20-35% more activity than the one rendered by administration of 50mg/Kg bw of Ibuprofen. The effect of C. gigantea and T. procumbens along with various dose regimen of Ibuprofen showed greater anti-inflammatory activities than the Ibuprofen alone.


The quantity of knowledge is increasing rapidly. In the quest for excellence, an organisation must know how to both create and use knowledge in all its segments, i.e. it must know how to manage knowledge. Knowledge Management (KM) is the concept of the systematic collection, organisation, archiving and sharing of knowledge aimed at achieving the objectives of the organisation. The increase of the quantity and dynamics of knowledge have opened the need for use of information technology, referred to as the Knowledge Management System (KMS). The fundamental role of KMS is the simple and rapid connection of persons seeking knowledge with the source of the knowledge. Business Process Management System (BPMS) and Business Intelligence System (BIS) make up the key functional segments of KMS.


Bipartite matching problems characterize many situations, ranging from ranking in information retrieval to correspondence in vision. Exact inference in real-world applications of these problems is intractable, making efficient approximation methods essential for learning and inference. In this paper we propose a novel sequential matching sampler based on a generalization of the Plackett-Luce model, which can effectively make large moves in the space of matchings. This allows the sampler to match the difficult target distributions common in these problems: highly multimodal distributions with well separated modes. We present experimental results with bipartite matching problems—ranking and image correspondence—which show that the sequential matching sampler efficiently approximates the target distribution, significantly outperforming other sampling approaches.


A major challenge in the assessment of intersegmental spinal column angles during trunk motion is the inherent error in recording the movement of bony anatomical landmarks caused by soft tissue artifacts (STAs). This study aims to perform an uncertainty analysis and estimate the typical errors induced by STA into the intersegmental angles of a multisegment spinal column model during trunk bending in different directions by modeling the relative displacement between skin-mounted markers and actual bony landmarks during trunk bending. First, we modeled the maximum displacement of markers relative to the bony landmarks with a multivariate Gaussian distribution. In order to estimate the distribution parameters, we measured these relative displacements on five subjects at maximum trunk bending posture. Then, in order to model the error depending on trunk bending angle, we assumed that the error grows linearly as a function of the bending angle. Second, we applied our error model to the trunk motion measurement of 11 subjects to estimate the corrected trajectories of the bony landmarks and investigate the errors induced into the intersegmental angles of a multisegment spinal column model. For this purpose, the trunk was modeled as a seven-segment rigid-body system described using 23 reflective markers placed on various bony landmarks of the spinal column. Eleven seated subjects performed trunk bending in five directions and the three-dimensional (3D) intersegmental angles during trunk bending were calculated before and after error correction. While STA minimally affected the intersegmental angles in the sagittal plane (<16%), it considerably corrupted the intersegmental angles in the coronal (error ranged from 59% to 551%) and transverse (up to 161%) planes. Therefore, we recommend using the proposed error suppression technique for STA-induced error compensation as a tool to achieve more accurate spinal column kinematics measurements. Particularly, for intersegmental rotations in the coronal and transverse planes that have small range and are highly sensitive to measurement errors, the proposed technique makes the measurement more appropriate for use in clinical decision-making processes.


Research Question: The main research question is "Has the fraud examination had any impact on accounting and audit students' attitudes to fraud?" Motivation: The problem of financial statement fraud is still actual. Accountants and auditors need a special education about fraud and ethical values to recognize a situation of fraud. To examine the influence of a correspondent course Nguyen et al. (2008) have examined students' ethical values before and after the course of business ethics, Rennie and Rudland (2003) have researched potential impact of course on students' attitude to academic misconduct. The novelty of the study is a questionnaire built on the basis of Fraud Triangle to find out students' attitude to factors of fraud. Idea: The main idea is to examine whether the course of fraud examination changes accounting and audit students' attitude to fraud? Also, the study tries to find out is there any difference in attitude to fraud conditioned by students' background? Data: 55 postgraduate students of TalTech School of Business and Governance and 70 participants in the professional training programme "Accountant-financial officer" have filled in questionnaires in academic years 2015/2016–2018/2019. Tools: A questionnaire is chosen as a research method. Student's t-test and one-way analysis of variance (one-way ANOVA) are used to answer all research questions. Findings: The course of fraud examination has a slight positive influence on students' perception of fraud. A surprising result was that students without degree in accounting were slightly more optimistic in their ethical attitude to fraud. Younger and less experienced students more than others consider it possible for fraud to be committed. Therefore the course on ethics and fraud should be integral part of continuous education of accounting professionals. Contribution: Researches on topic of how to measure a change of attitude or ethical values have been combined, Fraud Triangle is offered as a basis for questionnaire.


Abstract This study presents the environmental impact of apparel consumption in Australia using life cycle assessment methodology according to ISO14040/14044:2006. Available published references, the Ecoinvent v3 dataset, the Australian life cycle assessment dataset and apparel country-wise import data with the breakdown of apparel type and fibre type were used in this study. The environmental impact assessment results of the functional unit were scaled up to the total apparel consumption. The impact results were also normalized on a per-capita/year basis. The Total Climate Change Potential (CCP) impact from apparel consumption of 2015 was estimated to be 16 607 028 tonnes CO2eq and 698.07 kg CO2eq/per capita-year. This study also assessed the impact of acidification potential (AP), water depletion (WD), abiotic resource depletion potential (ADP) - fossil fuel and agricultural land occupation (ALO) using the same methodology. The market volume of cotton apparel in Australia is 53.97 %, which accounts for 45 %, 96 %, 40 %, 46 % and 79 % of total CCP, WD, ADP, AP and ALO impact, respectively. Apparel broad categories of cotton shirt, cotton trouser, polyester shirt and polyester trouser have a high volume in the apparel market as well as a high environmental impact contribution. These high-volume apparel products can be included in the prioritization list to reduce environmental impact throughout the apparel supply chain. It was estimated that from 2010 to 2018 the per capita apparel consumption and corresponding impact increased by 24 %.


We study the effects of the interaction terms between the inflaton fields on the inflationary dynamics in multi-field models. With power law type potential and interactions, the total number of e-folds may get considerably reduced and can lead to unacceptably short period of inflation. Also we point out that this can place a bound on the characteristic scale of the underlying theory such as string theory. Using a simple multi-field chaotic inflation model from string theory, the string scale is constrained to be larger than the scale of grand unified theory. Allowing post-inflationary generation of perturbation can greatly alleviate this constrain.


This research presents new empirical evidence that country allocation decisions are the determining factor of international equity funds' excess returns, even during a global financial crisis. One hundred equity mutual funds are examined during the turbulent years of 2007–2013, and results show that country allocation is the primary determinant of deviation of an international equity fund's return from a benchmark return. For emerging market funds, country allocation decisions are especially important during this period. This result provides the foundation and motivation for further research into factors that differentiate country-level equity returns.


In this study, possible separation of chromite from serpentine in fine sizes using a magnetic carrier was investigated as a function of pH, dodecylamine (DDA) dosage, and amount of magnetite. First, the zeta potentials of minerals were determined in the absence and presence of DDA, and then magnetic carrier experiments were performed in conditions based upon the zeta potential results. Experiments revealed that chromite could be separated from serpentine with a 96.8% recovery under the experimental conditions of 4 x 10−4 M DDA, 25 mg magnetite, and at pH 12. In the case of artificial mixtures of chromite and serpentine minerals, chromite concentrate containing 49.7% Cr2O3 was obtained with 82.8% recovery from a feed containing 27.00% Cr2O3. As a result of FTIR studies, physical adsorption of DDA on minerals was confirmed. It was also found that DDA adsorption on chromite was higher than those of serpentine and magnetite. FTIR studies performed with chromite+magnetite and serpentine+magnetite mixtures revealed that DDA adsorption on serpentine declined significantly while DDA adsorption on chromite slightly increased.


Selected estimates of the lipid peroxidative capacity were assayed in the red and white skeletal muscles of control and endurance-trained mice. Endurance training decreased the lipid peroxidation rate in vitro in both muscle types. The concentration of lipids susceptible to Fe2+-induced lipid peroxidation was greater in the red than in the white skeletal muscle and increased after endurance training in the red muscle. Endurance training, however, decreased highly significantly the sensitivity of red muscle to in vitro stimulated lipid peroxidation. The activity of catalase and the concentration of vitamin E were considerably higher in the red muscle, whereas the activity of glutathione peroxidase was slightly higher in the white muscle. Endurance training caused no changes in these antioxidants. Endurance training increased the concentrations of reduced and total non-protein glutathione in the red skeletal muscle but not in the white muscle. The total sulfhydryl group contents were unaffected. Our results suggest that endurance training may increase the resistance of skeletal muscle to injuries caused by lipid peroxidation.


Quantum optics is the study of interaction between atoms and photons. In the eight papers of this thesis, we study a number of systems where artificial atoms (here, superconducting circuits emulating the level structure of an atom) enable us to either improve on known concepts or experiments from quantum optics with natural atoms, or to explore entirely new regimes which have not been possible to reach in such experiments. Paper I shows how unwanted measurement back-action in a parity measurement can be avoided by fully using the information in the measurement record. Paper III is a proof-of-principle experiment demonstrating that an artificial atom built from superconducting circuits can mediate a strong photon-photon interaction. In Papers II and V, we theoretically investigate whether this interaction can be used in a setup for detecting propagating microwave photons, making the photon to be detected impart a phase shift on a coherent probe signal. We find that one atom is not enough to overcome the quantum background noise, but it turns out that several atoms cascaded in the right way can do the trick. In Paper IV, we explain experimental results for a driven artificial atom coupled to photons in a resonator. The last three papers all deal with an artificial atom coupled to a bosonic field at several points, which can be wavelengths apart. Paper VI is a ground-breaking experimental demonstration of coupling between an artificial atom and propagating sound in the form of surface acoustic waves (SAWs). The short SAW wavelength makes the atom "giant" in comparison; the effects of this new regime is explored theoretically in Paper VII, where the multiple coupling points are shown to give interference effects affecting both the atom's relaxation rate and its energy levels. In Paper VIII, an artificial atom in front of a mirror is used to probe the mode structure of quantum vacuum fluctuations.


Abstract Pseudocercospora ulei is the causal agent of South American Leaf Blight (SALB), the main disease affecting Hevea brasiliensis rubber tree, a native species to the Amazon. Rubber tree is a major crop in South American countries and SALB disease control strategies would benefit from the availability of genomic resources for the fungal pathogen. Here, we assembled and annotated the P. ulei genome. Shotgun sequencing was performed using second and third generation sequencing technologies. We present the first P. ulei high-quality genome assembly, the largest among Mycosphaerellaceae, with 93.8 Mbp, comprising 215 scaffolds, an N50 of 2.8 Mbp and a BUSCO gene completeness of 97.5%. We identified 12,745 protein-coding gene models in the P. ulei genome with 756 genes encoding secreted proteins and 113 genes encoding effector candidates. Most of the genome (80%) is composed of repetitive elements dominated by retrotransposons of the Gypsy superfamily. P. ulei has the largest genome size among Mycosphaerellaceae, with the highest TE content. In conclusion, we have established essential genomic resources for a wide range of studies on P. ulei and related species.


Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), a technology for growing mathematically secure key encryption keys, is now on the verge of becoming widely commercially available. Due to lack of standardization, multiprotocol QKD receivers are particularly beneficial for satellite QKD, so that an optical ground station is not limited to a sub-set of satellites. Moreover, if both transmitter and receiver can operate with different protocols, they will be able to actively adapt to specific conditions by choosing the most suitable protocol. In this work, we present the design and performance of a multiprotocol reconfigurable free-space QKD receiver. The reconfigurability relies on polarization-based optical routing, which can also be used to optimize the performance of time-bin QKD protocols.


This work considers the problem of transferring causal knowledge between tasks for Individual Treatment Effect (ITE) estimation. To this end, we theoretically assess the feasibility of transferring ITE knowledge and present a practical framework for efficient transfer. A lower bound is introduced on the ITE error of the target task to demonstrate that ITE knowledge transfer is challenging due to the absence of counterfactual information. Nevertheless, we establish generalization upper bounds on the counterfactual loss and ITE error of the target task, demonstrating the feasibility of ITE knowledge transfer. Subsequently, we introduce a framework with a new Causal Inference Task Affinity (CITA) measure for ITE knowledge transfer. Specifically, we use CITA to find the closest source task to the target task and utilize it for ITE knowledge transfer. Empirical studies are provided, demonstrating the efficacy of the proposed method. We observe that ITE knowledge transfer can significantly (up to 95%) reduce the amount of data required for ITE estimation.


There are several available models proposed for predicting the compressive strength and deformability of concrete confined externally with fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites. In this study, the effect of variation of unconfined concrete strength on the predictions of several available models and code equations are investigated by utilizing an extensive experimental database containing test results of more than 600 specimens tested by different researchers. The performances of the models in terms of prediction of compressive strength vary significantly with a change in the compressive strength of unconfined concrete. Particularly the predictions are generally less accurate, when the unconfined concrete strength is relatively low. In addition, the safety margins of the code equations are not consistent for all ranges of unconfined concrete strength. Furthermore, the predictions of the existing models for deformation capacity are much less realistic with respect to their strength predictions.


Work-related respiratory diseases have imperative role in the globular burden of occupational lung diseases throughout the world. These respiratory disorders can be caused by environmental hazards in the workplace and account for 10-20% of all chronic lung diseases. It is surprising that in Pakistan, scarce data is available on the pulmonary health of tannery workers. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the respiratory-specific health status of wet-blue leather tannery workers in Kasur city, Pakistan. A sample of 227 tannery workers engaged in four different tanneries was selected as a sample of convenience. A control group of 112 participants independent from exposure was also selected from the local community. Respiratory health was determined through an adopted symptom-based questionnaire and pulmonary function tests (PFTs). These tests were carried out by using a portable spirometer, during September-December 2019. A multiple Linear regression analysis was performed to analyze the amount of variance in PFTs by demographics and respiratory symptoms. Among tannery workers, the complaints of respiratory symptoms were 27.8% as compared to 21.4% of the control group. While based on the PFTs, total cases of impairedpulmonary function among tannery workers were 34.3% as compared to 19.7% of the control. A statistically significant relationship was found between age, job duration, education, respiratory symptoms, and pulmonary function parameters. This study will contribute to generate baseline data of respiratory health status of the tannery workers. Further studies are recommended to find an association between occupational factors and workplace-related respiratory problems to reduce the burden of occupational diseases.


Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-related protein 1 (IGFBP-rP1) is a potential tumor‑suppressor gene in various cancers. However, its biological role and underlying mechanism has not been well investigated in endometrial cancer yet. The aim of the present study aimed to investigate the role and underlying molecular mechanisms of IGFBP‑rP1 in endometrial cancer cells in vitro. The authors used transfection of IGFBP‑rP1 or small interfering (si)RNA in endometrial cancer HEC‑1A or Ishikawa cells, respectively. Biological functional alterations, such as cell growth and cell cycle were analyzed in endometrial cancer cells, combined with the use of PD98059. A panel of proteins including phospho‑retinoblastoma (p‑RB) and p‑extracellular signal‑regulated kinase (ERK)/ERK were detected by western blot analysis. It was observed that IGFBP‑rP1 transfection inhibited cell growth, and induced G1 phase arrest and cellular senescence in HEC‑1A cells while gene silencing presented the adverse functional changes. Moreover, p‑RB and p‑ERK were significantly downregulated or upregulated in HEC‑1A‑IGFBP‑rP1 cells or Ishikawa‑siRNA (IGFBP‑rP1) compared with control cells, respectively. These observations were reinforced in endometrial cancer cells by PD98059 treatment. The authors conclude that IGFBP‑rP1 acts as a potential tumor suppressor via the suppression of the ERK signaling pathway in endometrial cancer cells. These findings suggested that IGFBP‑rP1 may serve as a potential therapeutic target for cancer intervention in the future.


The urbanization process in China is characterized by excessive development, signifi- cant regional difference, and obvious urban-rural dual structure, resulting in significant eco-envi- ronmental impacts on urban ecosystems. Those impacts include cultivated land loss,water scarcity, energy shortage, environmental pollutions, and increased ecological footprint in urban area, which are the main causes for retrogressive succession of ecosystem structures, processes and functions. Presently, related researches on urbanization process and corresponding eco-environmental effects focus on urban heat island,urban land use/land cover, urban hydrological effects, urban biodiver- sity, and urban water and soil resources, and show specific features and trends such as particular emphasis on single urbanization factor, single city case,and single scale descriptive analysis, especially those lacking of multi-scale researches on dynamical mechanisms of urban spatio-temporal development. Therefore,authors propose some perspective research issues on urban processes and their eco-environmental effects, and they can be concluded to three development directions: (1) analyzing multi-scale dynamical mechanisms of urbanization process in China and spatio-tempo- ral patterns and characteristics; (2) explaining interactional mechanisms between physical and human process under urbanization effects; and (3) predicting future development trends and risk assessment of urbanization in China under different scenarios of the constraints imposed by natural resources and eco-environmental conditions.


Objectives: This study was undertaken to identify stakeholder needs and wants in relation to an Infant and Young Child Feeding, Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) strategy for the 16 Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states during Covid-19 lockdowns and travel restrictions. Design: A rapid-assessment mixed-methods approach using qualitative and quantitative studies was adopted. Secondary data sources supported in-field findings. Setting/Subjects: Qualitative approaches included 17 key informant interviews from 7 SADC member states. Quantitative methods of an online survey elicited feedback from 61 participants from 11 SADC member states. Outcome measures: More strategic, best practice, infant and young child feeding SBCC programmes are recommended in SADC. Results: Programme challenges included increased demands on health systems from Covid-19, poor attitudes and beliefs toward IYCF behaviours, the dual burden of undernutrition and overnutrition, and financial and human resource capacity challenges to implement and evaluate SBCC campaigns at scale. Opportunities were also identified for improved detection, better meeting IYCF nutritional needs from locally sourced foods, training and capacity building for greater engagement of front-line field staff, effective policy development to support parent-friendly hospitals and workplaces, and improved regional integration. Conclusions: The needs assessment demonstrated that priority programme planning can continue while the health sector deals with a pandemic threat. The adaptation to virtual support provided a variety of learnings for research designs, data collection and analysis, albeit over an extended timeframe of six months. A number of innovative approaches were identified in the resultant SBCC strategy for SADC along with opportunities for regional efficiencies in adapting existing, best practice SBCC creative and programming approaches.


The discovery of quantum dots has sparked the research on biological imaging with many in vitro and in vivo applications, due to their incredible photostability and greater luminescence. Recently, the new magic sized quantum dots (MSQD) have surpassed most of the problems related to labeling, especially because ofseveral important characteristics: the ultra-small size (<2 nm) that allows passive absorption into cells, the variable functional surface engineering that permits conjugation to different molecules for selectivity improvement, the highly biocompatible nature due to its colloidal synthesis, the luminescence tuning capability in different wave lengths, and the low complexity of the system, which have led us to a new level of bioimaging. In this review, we demonstrate the potential applications of MSQD conjugated to three novel molecules as theranostic tools for both diagnosis and treatment of triple negative breast cancer.


1. The polyunsaturated fatty acid eicosapentaenoic acid (EP A) plays an important role in aquatic food webs, in particular at the primary producer-consumer interface where keystone species such as daphnids may be constrained by its dietary availability. Such constraints and their seasonal and interannual changes may be detected by continuous measurements of EP A concentrations. However, such EPA measurements became common only during the last two decades, whereas long-term data sets on plankton biomass are available for many well-studied lakes. Here, we test whether it is possible to estimate EPA concentrations from abiotic variables (light and temperature) and the biomass of prey organisms (e.g. ciliates, diatoms and cryptophytes) that potentially provide EP A for consumers. 2. We used multiple linear regression to relate sizeand taxonomically resolved plankton biomass data and measurements of temperature and light intensity to directly measured EPA concentrations in Lake Constance during a whole year. First, we tested the predictability of EPA concentrations from the biomass of EPA-rich organisms (diatoms, cryptophytes and ciliates). Secondly, we included the variables mean temperature and mean light intensity over the sampling depth (0-20 m) and depth (0-8 and 8-20 m) as factors in our model to check for large-scale seasonaland depth-dependent effects on EPA concentrations. In a third step, we included the deviations of light and temperature from mean values in our model to allow for their potential influence on the biochemical composition of plankton organisms. We used the Akaike Information Criterion to determine the best models. 3. All approaches supported our proposition that the biomasses of specific plankton groups are variables from which seston EP A concentrations can be derived. The importance of ciliates as an EPA source in the ses ton was emphasised by their high weight in our models, although ciliates are neglected in most studies that link fatty acids to seston taxonomic composition. The large-scale seasonal variability of light intensity and its interaction with diatom biomass were significant predictors of EPA concentrations. The deviation of temperature from mean values, accounting for a depth-dependent effect on EP A concentrations, and its interaction with ciliate biomass were also variables with high predictive P?wer. 4. The best models from the first and second approaches were validated with measurements of EPA concentrations from another year (1997). The estimation with the best model including only biomass explained 80%, and the best model from the second approach including mean temperature and depth explained 87% of the variability in EPA concentrations in 1997. 5. We show that it is possible to predict EP A concentrations reliably from plankton biomass, while the inclusion of abiotic factors led to results that were only partly consistent with expectations


The Copepoda is a clade of pancrustaceans containing 14,485 species that are extremely varied in their morphology and lifestyle. Not only do copepods dominate marine plankton and sediment communities and make up a sizeable component of the freshwater plankton, but over 6,000 species are symbiotically associated with every major phylum of marine metazoans, mostly as parasites. Unfortunately, our understanding of copepod evolutionary relationships is relatively limited in part because of their extremely divergent morphology, sparse taxon sampling in molecular phylogenetic analyses, a reliance on only a handful of molecular markers, and little taxonomic overlap between phylogenetic studies. Here, a synthesis tree method is used to integrate published phylogenies into a more comprehensive tree of copepods by leveraging phylogenetic and taxonomic data. A literature review in this study finds fewer than 500 species of copepods have been sampled in molecular phylogenetic studies. Using the Open Tree of Life platform, those taxa that have been sampled in previous phylogenetic studies are grafted together and combined with the underlying copepod taxonomic hierarchy from the Open Tree of Life Taxonomy to make a synthesis phylogeny of all copepod species. Taxon sampling with respect to molecular phylogenetic analyses is reviewed for all orders of copepods and shows only 3% of copepod species have been sampled in phylogenetic studies. The resulting synthesis phylogeny reveals copepods have transitioned to a parasitic lifestyle on at least 14 occasions. We examine the underlying phylogenetic, taxonomic, and natural history data supporting these transitions to parasitism; review the species diversity of each parasitic clade; and identify key areas for further phylogenetic investigation.


Eco-criticism is an emerging area of investigation in literary and critical studies aiming at the analysis of the role and representation of nature and environment in literary works. Eco-critics speak for nature which, they believe, is silenced, and oppressed by anthropocentric mindset and human lust for profit and comfort. Critique of modern industrial civilization and celebration of pre-colonial primitive cultures are the important concerns in the contemporary eco-critical discourse. Anarchism aims at the eradication of modern civilization, advocating the restoration of pre-modern and pre-egalitarian primitive mode of existence. Anarcho-primitivism, combining anarchists' distrust for modern civilization and authoritarianism with primitivists' interest in simple and primitive mode of living, involves a critique of modern industrial civilization, advocating a return to non-civilized primitive ways of life. Anarchist and anarcho-primitivist elements are perceptible in Lawrence's post-war fiction which exudes his aversion for modern industrial civilization for its barrenness, decay and sterility, and its unspeakable damage to the natural environment, and his predilection for non- European primitive cultures and societies which, in comparison to dead European existence, present a better alternative with their vitality and healthier mode of existence. This paper, by adopting the qualitative research method and using the key concepts of the representative anarchist, primitivist and ecocritical thinkers as theoretical framework, has attempted to analyse anarcho-primitivism in Lawrence's post-war fiction from ecocritical perspective. Keywords: Eco-criticism, Anarchism, Primitivism, Anarcho-primitivism, Future primitive


Samples of constitutional DNA from 60 unrelated patients with adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) were examined for mutations in the APC gene. Five inactivating mutations were observed among 12 individuals with APC; all were different from the six inactivating mutations previously reported in this panel of patients. The newly discovered mutations included single-nucleotide substitutions leading to stop codons and small deletions leading to frameshifts. Two of the mutations were observed in multiple APC families and in sporadic cases of APC; allele-specific PCR primers were designed for detecting mutations at these common sites. No missense mutations that segregated with the disease were found.


We compute spectra of particles produced during a dilaton-driven kinetic inflation phase within string cosmology models. The resulting spectra depend on the parameters of the model and on the type of particle and are quite varied, some increasing and some decreasing with frequency. We use an approximation scheme in which all spectra can be expressed in a nice symmetric form, perhaps hinting at a deeper symmetry of the underlying physics. Our results may serve as a starting point for detailed studies of relic abundances, dark matter candidates, and possible sources of large scale anisotropy.


A quantitative analysis of the C-band polymorphism in chromosomes 1, 9, 16 and Y was made in 50 phenotypically normal individuals (25 males and 25 females). At an average level of the chromosome spiralization (the mean chromosome size is 2-7 micrometers) mean C-band lengths of chromosomes 1, 9, 16 and Y obtained in the course of the study are 1.09, 0.94, 0.82 and 0.80 micrometers, respectively. A comparative analysis of the mean C-band lengths in chromosomes 1, 9, 16 in the male and female groups has revealed no sex differences. The highest variability of the C-band size is found for chromosome 1 and the lowest--for chromosomes 16 and Y.


he as Assistant Professor He earned his Bachelor of Engineering (Civil Engineering) and Master of Technology (Chemical Engineering) in He joined Texas A&M University and earned his Doctor of Philos-ophy in Civil (Environmental) Engineering. His research efforts are focused on drinking water quality and issues related to treatment of wastewater using physical, chemical, biological and electro-chemical/kinetic processes. His recent research efforts have been in the area of application of geographic information systems to environmental management and sustainability, causes/effects of salinity in soils and corrosion of metal pipes. Dr. Tewari has keen interest in STEM education, improving diversity in STEM areas, inclusion of hands-on and digital tools in curriculum.


Detachment fault systems typically record displacements in the order of 10s of kilometers. The principles that control the growth of smaller magnitude normal faults are not fully applicable to the evolution of detachment fault systems. We use interpretation of 2D and 3D seismic reflection data from the mid‐Norwegian rifted margin to investigate how the structural evolution of a detachment fault interacted with the effects of isostatic footwall rollback to produce complex 3D geometries and control the configuration of associated supradetachment basins. We further investigate the effects of lateral interaction and linkage of extensional detachment faults on the necking domain configuration. In our study area, the domain‐bounding Klakk Fault Complex demonstrates how successive incision may induce a complex structural relief in response to faulting and fault plane folding. We interpret the previously proposed metamorphic core complex within its footwall as an extension‐parallel turtleback‐structure. The now eroded turtleback is flanked by a major supradetachment basin, connecting two main basin segments. We attribute footwall‐ and turtleback exhumation to Middle Jurassic‐Early Cretaceous rifting. The study area further demonstrates how detachment fault geometries can change during rifting and lead to the formation of younger, successively incising fault splays. Lateral linkage between the original detachment fault plane and these fault splays enables displacement along a detachment fault system consisting of fault segments generated at different stages in time. Implicitly, detachment faults are complex 3D systems that change configuration during their evolution, perpetually controlling associated basin formation, footwall configuration, subsidence and uplift patterns.


the mid to late 1800s for his large-scale public productions with a literal "cast of thousands." Potter focuses here on an 1869 Boston concert, billed as the National Peace Jubilee, which involved the construction of an enormous, short-lived concert hall and five days worth of varied musical presentations. It's a satisfyingly humongous do, but the timeline of events is unfortunately often vague, and many of the pertinent details of pulling off so huge an event are relegated to lengthy end matter or overlooked altogether. Tavares faces a challenge in translating the aural blowout into a visual medium, and his most effective spreads are those that convey the immensity of the hall, the custom-made organ, and the crowd; some of the figures, however, are a bit stiff, failing to convey the movement of the music. Still, the audacious scope of the jubilee, precursor and, no doubt, rival to thunderous arena rock, is a natural hook for young listeners, who will be surprised to learn that their staid ancestors also appreciated musical excess. A bibliography is appended. EB


For this assignment, you will gain a basic understanding of the services and resources provided by the MCTC Libraries. To complete the assignment, you will need to read through all the tabs/pages in this tutorial and take the library quiz on the last page


Introduction: Pathogenesis in a subgroup of sarcopenic patients seems to be based on a reduced number of motor neurons. This study aimed at investigating the overlap between sarcopenia and neurodegeneration, as reflected by a low number of motor neurons in patients with Parkinsonian syndromes (PS). Methods: The motor unit number index (MUNIX) of the hypothenar muscle was used to assess the number and size (MUSIX) of motor units (MUs) in patients with idiopathic Parkinson disease (iPD, n = 53), patients with atypical Parkinsonian syndrome (aPS, n = 21), and a control group (n = 30). Mean age of participants was 70.3 years and 54.1% were female. Skeletal muscle mass by bioelectrical impedance analysis, hand-grip strength and gait speed were measured. Based on these assessments, sarcopenia was diagnosed according to the criteria of the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People. Results: Sarcopenia criteria were met by 10 patients with PS (13.5%). The study group had significantly lower MUNIX values than the control group (109 [SD ±39.1] vs. 129 [SD ±45.1]; p = 0.020) even after adjustment for age and sex. Three of the 5 sarcopenic iPD patients (75%) had pathological low MUNIX values (<80). Discussion/Conclusion: Sarcopenia is a frequent comorbidity in PS. The pathologically low MUNIX values found in 75% of our sarcopenic iPD patients provides further support for the existence of a neurodegenerative overlap syndrome with a reduced number of MUs potentially leading to sarcopenia. This finding warrants further evaluation.


The olfactory system faces the difficult task of identifying an enormous variety of odors independent of their intensity. Primacy coding, where the odor identity is encoded by the receptor types that respond earliest, is one possible representation that can facilitate this task. So far, it is unclear whether primacy coding facilitates typical olfactory tasks and what constraints it implies for the olfactory system. In this paper, we develop a simple model of primacy coding, which we simulate numerically and analyze using a statistical description. We show that the encoded information depends strongly on the number of receptor types included in the primacy representation, but only weakly on the size of the receptor repertoire. The representation is independent of the odor intensity and the transmitted information is useful to perform typical olfactory tasks, like detecting a target odor or discriminating similar mixtures, with close to experimentally measured performance. Interestingly, we find situations in which a smaller receptor repertoire is advantageous for identifying a target odor. The model also suggests that overly sensitive receptor types could dominate the entire response and make the whole array useless, which allows us to predict how receptor arrays need to adapt to stay useful during environmental changes. By quantifying the information transmitted using primacy coding, we can thus connect microscopic characteristics of the olfactory system to its overall performance. Author summary Humans can identify odors independent of their intensity. Experimental data suggest that this is accomplished by representing the odor identity by the earliest responding receptor types. Using theoretical modeling, we here show that such a primacy code allows discriminating odors with close to experimentally measured performance. This performance depends strongly on the number of receptors considered in the primacy code, but the receptor repertoire size is less important. The model also suggests a strong evolutionary pressure on the receptor sensitivities, which could explain observed receptor copy number adaptations. Taken together, the model connects detailed molecular measurements to large-scale psycho-physical measurements, which will contribute to our understanding of the olfactory system.


The prevention of skin aging has been one of the main aims of cosmetic products. Propolis and tocopheryl acetate can be promising substances because of their antioxidant properties. In this study, propolis extract was obtained and associated with tocopheryl acetate in a cream formulation, which then underwent stability and sensory assessment. The formulation containing propolis extract and tocopheryl acetate proved to be stable in the preliminary stability study, demonstrating gradual darkening and slight pH decrease when subjected to 60oC for 28 days, but showing stability on rheological study. In the sensory analysis, the formulation containing these two components was preferred by the product testers over the base cream and creams containing propolis extract or tocopheryl acetate alone. In conclusion, given the stability of the formulation and the preference of the product testers for this formulation, this association proved promising for use in cosmetic formulations.


We have determined simultaneously the ADAp and Lp/Ls ratio in 138 pleural effusions: 61 tuberculous; 42 malignant; 14 transudates; five parapneumonic uncomplicated; six empyematous; and ten cases belonging to a miscellaneous group which included two disseminated lupus erythematosus; two posttraumatic; one pancreatitis; one pleuropericarditis by Mycoplasma; one viral pleuropericarditis; and three pulmonary embolisms. This has allowed us to clear the overlapping for the ADAp activity among tuberculous patients (two cases of lupus and three cases of malignant effusions) in our series. The overlap in the Lp/Ls ratio among tuberculous patients, two malignant, and two parapneumonic uncomplicated cases was also cleared. Fixing the ADAp values at 33 U and the Lp/Ls ratio at 1.2, the tuberculous pleural effusion cases were differentiated from the nontuberculous with a sensibility, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and safety diagnosis of 100 percent. It has been proven that there is a good correlation between ADAp and Lp/Ls ratio (r = 0.717) and the ADAp and Lp (r = 0.660).


One of the learning goals for social justice education courses is to prepare students for social action engagement. Teaching students about issues related to social justice is complex. Prior studies have found a positive relationship between student enrollment in social justice education courses and action-oriented outcomes. While these findings are promising, we as social justice educators need to know more about effective teaching strategies used in social justice education courses that prepare students for social action. In this article, the author describes one method she designed using social justice vignettes to help students recognize social oppression in their daily lives and practice interrupting various "isms" in a safe classroom environment.


A very simple and highly efficient C2-symmetric tertiary amine-squaramide organocatalyst for asymmetric Michael reactions has been elaborated. In the presence of only 1 mol % of this catalyst, kojic acid derivatives and β-dicarbonyl compounds reacted with nitroolefins, affording the corresponding adducts in a nearly quantitative yield with an enantioselectivity up to 99% ee. The kojic acid-derived adducts could be efficiently produced under "green" conditions (in 96% EtOH or pure water). Moreover, due to the very low solubility in organic solvents, the developed nonsupported catalyst could be readily recovered and reused in catalytic reactions up to 7 times. Utmost availability (one-step synthesis without chromatographic purification), high level of stereoinduction, low efficient loading, and recyclability make it attractive for industrial application in the pharmaceutical industry.


The Internet created new opportunities for business simulation applications in general and business gaming applications in particular. Two approaches are currently in use for the latter. The First approach comprises devising web-based simulators, both new and converted ones. The second approach encompasses all conversion types of existing simulators. This paper is twofold. First, it proposes a taxonomy to the different types of business games used in distance education, presenting their characterizations, advantages and disadvantages. Second, it presents an example of an Advanced Hybrid Model with applications both in distance education and traditional courses.


The tumulus method of solid low-level waste (LLW) disposal began in 1989 with the Tumulus Disposal Demonstration (TDD) project, conducted on Tumulus I. LLW is contained in 4-ft {times} 4-ft {times} 6-ft boxes which are placed into precast concrete casks. The annular space around the box is grouted with a cementious grout before the lid is installed. The LLW does not contain RCRA materials or liquids. The casks are then stacked two high on the concrete tumulus pad. Prior to filling Tumulus I to capacity Tumulus II was constructed. Tumulus II will be filled to capacity by the end of 1991 at which time the Interim Waste Management Facility (IWMF) will have been constructed and will provide approximately six years of LLW disposal capacity. This project will provide interim closure of the Tumulus I and II by designing and constructing a multilayered cap, with monitoring capabilities, which will be consistent in purpose with the requirements of a Record of Decision (ROD) which will result from the Waste Area Group (WAG) 6 closure and remediation effort. Capping Tumulus I and II has been a part of the overall tumulus disposal plan since inception in the Low Level Waste Disposal, Development and more » Demonstration (LLWDDD) program strategy issued in 1988. This project consists of the design and construction of a low permeability cap over the Tumulus I and II disposal units. The cap shall incorporate a drainage system and be maintainable. The monitoring systems now in place will be modified and be utilized for post-closure monitoring of the pads and groundwater. The capability for performance assessment monitoring will be included in the design. « less


An eyelid closure in response to some stimulus is a blink reflex (BR), which is normally isolated. In humans and primates, the closing is bilateral while in other animals, mostly those with eyes set laterally, the closure is frequently unilateral. In clinical practice, a BR is characteristically provoked by light corneal or eyelash touching or glabellar tapping. The British physician Overrend first elicited the blink reflex by tapping one side of the forehead. Kugelberg analysed the blink reflex electromyographically by electrically stimulating the supraorbital nerve. Since the original description of the blink reflex 100 years ago the study of this reflex has given understanding the central and peripheral mechanisms of the trigeminofacial pathways in normal and different disorder. Stimulation of the supraorbital nerve, a distal branch of the ophtalmic division of the trigeminal nerve , is the common technique in clinical neurophysiology to obtain a BR (Figure 1). Characteristically, an electrical stimulus on the supraorbital nerve induces two recordable responses in the orbicularis oculi muscles: an early one R1, ipsilateral to the stimulated side, and a later one, R2, which is bilaterally expressed. R2 response ipsilateral to the stimulus is frequently cited as R2i, and the R2c is the one obtained on the contralateral side. R1 component of BR has a rather stable latency. R2 typically shows relative variable latencies and larger magnitudes than R1 and its threshold is lower. R2 component is responsible for the eyelid closure of the blink. It has been observed that common motor unit potentials contribute to the buildup of both responses, that is, the same orbicularis oculi motor unit is depolarized after the stimulation at times corresponding to the latencies of R1 and R2 responses, the latter presumably in a repetitive reverberating pattern. Both response are cutaneous and nociceptive in origin. The classical findings, indicative of such a lesion are an afferent defect with prolonged latencies of R1, ipsilateral R2 and contralateral R2. The efferent type pattern occurs also with intraaxial lateral pontine lesions involving the pons at the trigeminal entrance zone. In facial nerve lesions there is a delay in the reflex latency only on the affected side, regardless of the side of stimulation. Such abnormalities were found in Bell's palsy or other lesions of the facial nerve.


The fact to which these books attest, that interest in and respect for the work of Thomas Mann has not abated since his death over thirty years ago, also leads to the conclusion that the appeal of his novels must have had and still has a broad base. Since Buddenbrooks was only recendy transformed into an elaborate and lengthy television series, the popularity of this book, published in October 1901, which was very quickly established among all kinds of readers, has patently persevered, even though the urgency of the historical situation Mann describes has all but been obliterated by the recurring catastrophes that have marked the course of the twentieth century. Therefore, Hugh Ridley's guide to an appreciation of the novel, addressed to readers about to encounter the challenges of the twenty-first century, comes opportunely. It is, it must be noted, a scholarly work, clearly intended for students of literature who are assumed to be knowledgeable in matters of critical terminology. Ridley's study of Buddenbrooks begins with an eight-page "chronology," juxtaposing lists of events in the lives of Mann's ancestry and his life, literary events, and historical events in these eras. There is also a brief "chronology" of Buddenbrooks itself that pertains to the novel's structure and does not constitute a plot summary; nor is one to be found gratuitously elsewhere in the book, which, according to its author, might better be read as a "short introduction" prior to reading the text on which it is based. The overview that Ridley provides on the basis of an intimate acquaintanceship with Buddenbrooks and the literature that has evolved pertaining to it concerns basically the issue of the kind of novel Thomas Mann set about writing, involving characterization, narrative style, genre, and die issue of its reception, together with its relevance as an historical document. Ridley's opinions in these matters tend to concur with those of other critics who have written on the subject, including Mann himself. Only on occasion does the author of this key to Buddenbrooks provide an emphasis to his conclusions that makes them stand apart. Thus, although he does not discredit the standard interpretation of practically each of the characters as a representation of a Mann family member or acquaintance (Mann indeed made a list, pairing the real-life and novelistic counterparts), Ridley begins his study with the assertion that Thomas Buddenbrook, the book's leading character, supposedly modeled on Thomas Mann's father, is just as much "a self-portrait" of Mann. In a later chapter, devoted to an analysis of Thomas Buddenbrook, Ridley underscores his point by posing that Thomas Buddenbrook "stands in a particular relationship to the narrator" (my emphasis), thus doubling the character's autobiographical import. Ridley's analysis of these interrelationships lends support to his reading of the entire novel, which holds that, in accord with its subtitle "Decline of a Family," it is the story of the one Buddenbrook who most plainly represents the self-doubt and general malaise that enervated the bourgeois world in its pursuit of "progress" in the years before World War One. Summarizing these statements on the significance of Buddenbrooks, Ridley contends: "We should think of Thomas Mann as Thomas Buddenbrook freed from the constraints of societal representation and liberated for the work of art." This kind of insight, indicating knowledgeability of both the work and pertinent critical literature, pro-


Rooke, T. 2003. Defences and Responses: Woody species and Large Herbivores in African Savannas. Doctoral dissertation. ISSN 1401-6230, ISBN 91-576-6510-9. Plant-herbivore interactions influence both plant characteristics and feeding patterns of herbivores. In this thesis, I focus on patterns of defence in a wide range of woody species in semi-arid savannas in Botswana, and on responses in woody species to different types of browsing. Methods included both surveys of plant traits relevant to herbivory, and controlled experiments using simulated browsing. On a regional scale gradient, the proportion of spinescent and evergreen species decreased, while fast-growing species increased, with increasing resource availability. On smaller landscape scale gradients, the proportion of spinescent and evergreen species increased, fast-growing species either increased or decreased, while C-based defences generally decreased and nutrients increased, with increasing resource availability. In some species, levels of defence (phenolics) were higher in young trees, compared to mature trees. However, contrary to our predictions, shoots within, compared to above, browsing height on mature trees were less defended (phenolics and tannins). Simulated twig-biting during the dry season (on five species) induced compensatory growth responses in annual shoots during the growth season, and cutting at ground level induced sprouting. Leaf removal late in the growth season (on one species) induced foliage re-growth, although total leaf production during the season did not increase. The application of saliva had a small, but significant, effect on shoot growth following clipping. No evidence was found for a connection between patterns in allocation to defensive traits in shoots of different exposure to browsers, or strength of responses to clipping, and other species characteristics, e.g. leaf fall patterns, growth rate, presence of spines or natural browsing pressure. I suggest further studies focusing on both chemical and structural defences, on different spatial scales and resource gradients. I also conclude that additional studies are needed on potential effects of different traits on different types of herbivores, and stress the advantage of studying a wider range of plant species to obtain more general results.


Summary 1. Rehabilitation of degraded and disturbed landscapes has become critical for counteracting habitat loss. The success of rehabilitation projects, to date, has focused on abiotic and florabased criteria of success, leaving fauna unmonitored. This follows from the common paradigm that if flora recovers, fauna will recover too. However, we know very little about the extent to which this assumption is true. We addressed this issue by examining whether flora criteria used to assess mine rehabilitation reflected patterns in the recovery of an iconic species, the koala Phascolarctos cinereus, in eastern Australia. 2. We used rank tests to search for correlations between current mining flora criteria and fauna presence. We then developed a priori regression models to search for new abiotic and flora criteria that are biologically relevant to Phascolarctos cinereus. In a third step, we investigated correlations between rehabilitation success ranked on the best biologically relevant habitat variables and Phascolarctos cinereus recolonization. 3. We found that rehabilitation success based on current mining flora criteria (calculated at two different scales: rehabilitation blocks and monitoring plots) did not correlate with Phascolarctos cinereus presence. 4. In contrast to the current flora-based criteria, we found that variables that are biologically relevant to Phascolarctos cinereus had more influence on its presence. For instance, species richness in food trees favoured by Phascolarctos cinereus and tree canopy cover had a positive effect on its recolonization. However, correlations between biologically relevant habitat variables and fauna occurrence were still inconsistent. 5. Synthesis and applications. In our study, flora criteria for rehabilitation success did not correlate with fauna recolonization. We also found several additional difficulties in predicting fauna recolonization based on habitat variables, such as the choice of relevant scales and the geographic specificity of relevant variables. The choice between monitoring habitat proxies or fauna will ultimately be based on weighting costs and efficiency and will depend on the fauna species. However, we argue that in general, fauna species should be directly monitored to ensure the recolonization of i) species of interest (e.g. threatened and charismatic) and ii) fauna involved in long-term resilience of ecosystems.


The aims of this study were firstly to investigate the fluoride-releasing characteristics of two composite resins (Tetric and Valux Plus), two polyacid-modified resin composites (Compoglass and Dyract), and conventional glass-ionomer cement (Ceramfil beta). The second aim was to assess the fluoride uptake and subsequent release from the same range of materials. Fifteen discs (6 mm diameter and 1.5 mm height) were prepared for each material. Each disc was immersed in 4 ML of deionized water within a plastic vial. The release of fluoride was measured daily at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 15, 30 and 60 days. After daily fluoride release was measured for 60 days, samples were refluoridated in 1000-ppm sodium fluoride (NaF) solutions (pH 6.6) for 10 min and fluoride release was measured daily for a total of 5 days. The release of fluoride from aesthetic restorative materials was measured by using specific fluoride electrode and an ionanalyser. Results were statistically analysed by two-way repeated measure ANOVA and Duncan's multiple range test. The results revealed that all fluoride-containing materials (Ceramfil beta, Compoglass, Dyract, Tetric) released fluoride initially and the release was greatest at the first day. At any time during the test period Ceramfil beta released the most and Valux Plus did not release any detectable fluoride (P < 0.01). Sample exposures to 1000 ppm NaF solution increased the 24-h fluoride release from all fluoride-containing materials. This difference lasted only 24-48 h after exposure. Ceramfil beta had a tendency to recharge not seen with the other materials (P < 0.05).


Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) have experienced a fast development and are now employed in different research fields. The availability of 2D arrays that provide information of the interaction position in the detector has had a high interest for medical imaging. Continuous crystals combined with segmented photodetectors can provide higher efficiency than pixellated crystals and very high spatial resolution. The IRIS group at IFIC is working on the development of detector heads based on continuous crystals coupled to SiPM arrays for different applications, including a small animal PET scanner in collaboration with the University of Pisa and INFN Pisa, and a Compton telescope for dose monitoring in hadron therapy.


We know the existence of human society civilization development that are pre-history citizen and historical society civilization. One of the difference character from the two civilization is by the text it self. This article born because people who have social status as a lecture or scientist. If we consider that "not writing, an honor as a lecture does decrease even a litter, so it will not apper desire to write". If writing looks as a medium to increase social degree like populalarity or increase the salary like getting honorararium, so writing just as secondary necessity. Thistitude usually will just be valid temporary and because of that, it is not positive enough to increase the text quality it self. But when writing placed as 'precious or not precious" someone in the existence relation of it self status, lecture or scientist, so writing not just necessity but duty. Fardlu'ain. There is no way left that is "effective" force us to write except our swelves.
Key words: self, scientist, duty, need, writing.


The regulation of the cell cycle during the transition from prophase to metaphase I was studied by analysing protein changes and introducing protein blocks during the transition phase. The results show that the progression to metaphase in ovine oocytes is totally dependent on new protein synthesis. By delaying the addition of the inhibitor, cycloheximide, for progressively longer periods after the resumption of meiosis it was established that the required synthesis occurs in the 1-2 h immediately preceding germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD). The action of cycloheximide was fully reversible: removal of the drug resulted in GVBD between 3 and 4 h later. The synthesis and modification of proteins during these first few hours of maturation were studied by short-term radiolabelling of oocytes with [35S]methionine and [32P]phosphate followed by rapid assessment of their precise nuclear configuration. Changes in phosphorylation of two polypeptides were detected 4-5 h after the beginning of culture, but these changes were not dependent upon protein synthesis. The earliest change in synthesis was the appearance of a new polypeptide 6-8 h after explantation, immediately before GVBD. This polypeptide (Mr 47 X 10(3), pI 5.8) was not significantly phosphorylated and was relatively stable. Oocytes released from cycloheximide treatment began to synthesize this molecule 3-4 h later, again coinciding with GVBD. Synthesis of the polypeptide was suppressed by inhibition of transcription with alpha-amanitin.


After fertilization of the mammalian oocyte, the developmental programme leading to the conceptus begins with the early cleavage divisions. Lineage differentation begins after the early and mammal-specific event of compaction and continues throughout development of the blastocyst. This structure, unique to mammals, after implantation will give rise to the various embryonic and extraembryonic tissues of the developing conceptus. Soon after implantation, the orientation of the main body axis becomes apparent with the primitive streak, and the node at its anterior end. Gastrulation through the primitive streak results in the formation and segregation of the three germ layers and the establishment of the basic body plan of the developing fetus. Finally, we compare mammalian early development to other vertebrates.

Key concepts:

Being higher animals, the early development of mammals prepares for and culminates in the generation of three tissue layers by gastrulation.

Many aspects of early mammalian development are shared with fellow amniote animals (reptiles and birds) and even with anamniote vertebrates (e.g. amphibians).

Mammals have however evolved specific adaptations to development in the mother's womb, in particular with regard to early stages of development and the role of the extraembyronic tissues.

Keywords:

blastocyst;
epiblast;
primitive streak;
node;
notochord


This paper aims to analyze the curriculum of the course 'Studies in Mathematics Education (Math Ed. 539)' from indigenous and gender perspectives. For, the curriculum of that course, particularly objectives, contents, textbooks, teaching/learning methods and evaluation are visualized and analyzed. The experiences and insights of two teachers of that course were included and analyzed concerning to IK and gender perspectives, by taking in-depth interviews with the help of semi-structured interview guidelines. The result shows that there are sufficient space and provision of incorporate IK in the curriculum and teachers are trying to implement this course as much as possible from the cultural perspective of mathematics education. The curriculum displays gender friendly and neutral aspects in terms of gender and teachers are using gender friendly methodology while implementing the course. However, the evaluation system is not more flexible as expected by female teacher. Thus, the inclusion of IK with particular local knowledge and making gender friendly curriculum is necessary for the courses of teacher preparation in mathematics education.


The phenomenon that stochastic gradient descent (SGD) favors flat minima has played a critical role in understanding the implicit regularization of SGD. In this paper, we provide an explanation of this striking phenomenon by relating the particular noise structure of SGD to its \emph{linear stability} (Wu et al., 2018). Specifically, we consider training over-parameterized models with square loss. We prove that if a global minimum $\theta^*$ is linearly stable for SGD, then it must satisfy $\|H(\theta^*)\|_F\leq O(\sqrt{B}/\eta)$, where $\|H(\theta^*)\|_F, B,\eta$ denote the Frobenius norm of Hessian at $\theta^*$, batch size, and learning rate, respectively. Otherwise, SGD will escape from that minimum \emph{exponentially} fast. Hence, for minima accessible to SGD, the sharpness -- as measured by the Frobenius norm of the Hessian -- is bounded \emph{independently} of the model size and sample size. The key to obtaining these results is exploiting the particular structure of SGD noise: The noise concentrates in sharp directions of local landscape and the magnitude is proportional to loss value. This alignment property of SGD noise provably holds for linear networks and random feature models (RFMs), and is empirically verified for nonlinear networks. Moreover, the validity and practical relevance of our theoretical findings are also justified by extensive experiments on CIFAR-10 dataset.


Deep learning achieves a high generalization performance in practice, despite the non-convexity of the gradient descent learning problem. Recently, the inductive bias in deep learning has been studied through the characterization of local minima. In this study, we show that the distribution of parameters learned by gradient descent converges to a spectrum of the ridgelet transform based on a ridgelet analysis, which is a wavelet-like analysis developed for neural networks. This convergence is stronger than those shown in previous results, and guarantees the shape of the parameter distribution has been identified with the ridgelet spectrum. In numerical experiments with finite models, we visually confirm the resemblance between the distribution of learned parameters and the ridgelet spectrum. Our study provides a better understanding of the theoretical background of an inductive bias theory based on lazy regimes.


The measurement of the ratio of the repolarization signal to the optical pumping signal of the Rb atoms has been used to determine the ratio χ of the spin rotation coupling constant to the spin exchange coupling constant of the 87Rb129Xe Van der Waals molecule. The value χ=3.4±0.1 is inferred from these studies. The author has also given the magnitudes of the spin rotation and spin exchange interactions.


As Mobility as a Service (MaaS) systems become increasingly popular, travel is changing from unimodal trips to personalized services offered by a market of mobility operators. Traditional traffic assignment models ignore the interaction of different operators. However, a key characteristic of MaaS markets is that urban trip decisions depend on both user route decisions as well as operator service and pricing decisions. We adopt a new paradigm for traffic assignment in a MaaS network of multiple operators using the concept of stable matching to allocate costs and determine prices offered by operators corresponding to user route choices and operator service choices without resorting to nonconvex bilevel programming formulations. Unlike our prior work, the proposed model allows travelers to make multimodal, multi-operator trips, resulting in stable cost allocations between competing network operators to provide MaaS for users. Algorithms are proposed to generate stability conditions for the stable outcome pricing model. Extensive computational experiments demonstrate the use of the model, and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, to handling pricing responses of MaaS operators in technological and capacity changes, government acquisition, consolidation, and firm entry, using the classic Sioux Falls network.


KYLE BAGWELL is Professor of Economics, Columbia University. GENE M. GROSSMAN is Jacob Viner Professor of International Economics, Princeton University. HENRIK HORN is Professor of International Economics, Institute for International Economic Studies, Stockholm University. ROBERT L. HOWSE is Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School. PETROS C. MAVROIDIS is Edwin B. Parker Professor of Foreign and Comparative Law, Columbia Law School, and Professor of Law, University of Neuchâtel. DAMIEN J. NEVEN is Professor of Economics, Graduate Institute for International Studies, University of Geneva. ROBERT W. STAIGER is Professor of Economics, University of Wisconsin. ALAN O. SYKES is Frank and Bernice Greenberg Professor of Law, University of Chicago Law School. JOSEPH H. H. WEILER is Joseph Straus Professor of Law and Jean Monnet Chair, New York University School of Law.


Abstract 266 Neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (NAIT) is caused by maternal antibodies specific for fetal platelet antigens and is the most common cause of intracranial hemorrhage in full term infants. The antigen HPA-1a, carried on beta 3 integrin (GPIIIa), is the most common trigger for NAIT and the 2% of women who are HPA-1a-negative are at risk to produce such antibodies. Most HPA-1a antibodies causing NAIT can be easily detected but it is not rare for an HPA-1a negative mother who lacks detectable antibodies to give birth to an infant with thrombocytopenia. Several recent reports suggest that low avidity HPA-1a antibodies not detected by conventional serologic methods are responsible for some of these cases (Socher 2009, Bakchoul 2011). To examine this question, we retroactively analyzed a cohort of 3478 suspected NAIT cases referred for laboratory diagnosis. Among 677 HPA-1a-negative mothers, we identified 61 in whom HPA-1a-specific antibodies were not detected by conventional methods. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) analysis enables ligand-receptor interaction to be studied in real time without washing the target. Using this approach, we studied reactions of IgG from the 61 archived serum samples against purified GPIIb/IIIa isolated from group O platelets and identified 18 samples that reacted preferentially with the HPA-1a-positive version of the integrin in comparison with HPA-1a-negative integrin. Information defining clinical status was obtained on 13 of these cases by follow-up communication. Seven cases had been referred because of neonatal thrombocytopenia. Platelet nadirs ranged from 8,000/ul to 141,000/ul (median 38,000/ul). Five of the 7 infants had bleeding and were given maternal platelet transfusions and/or IVIgG. Normal platelet counts were achieved after 4 to 70 days (median 7 days). One infant had a normal platelet count, however IVIgG had been given to its mother throughout pregnancy. The remaining 5 cases were referred in mid-pregnancy because an HPA-1a-negative sister previously gave birth to an infant with NAIT. Four of these infants had normal platelets at birth; one had mild TP (platelets 125,000/ul). Only 3 of 12 mothers typed for HLA were positive for HLA-DRB3*0101, a marker found in >95% of women who make "conventional" HPA-1a antibodies during pregnancy (p These findings indicate that low-avidity HPA-1a antibodies not detectable by conventional serologic methods are made by a subset of women exposed to the HPA-1a antigen during pregnancy and that some, but not all of these antibodies are capable of causing NAIT, which is usually mild, but can be severe. Women negative for HLA-DRB3*0101 may be especially prone to produce antibodies of this type. Maternal-fetal incompatibility for platelet antigens other than HPA-1a is very common and many apparent NAIT cases not involving HPA-1a go unresolved. The possibility that low avidity antibodies specific for antigens other than HPA-1a are responsible for some of these cases deserves study. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


This exercise reproduces and assesses the historical time series on the top shares of the wealth distribution for the United States presented by Thomas Piketty in Capital in the Twenty-First Century. Piketty's best-selling book has gained as much attention for its extensive presentation of detailed historical statistics on inequality as for its bold and provocative predictions about a continuing rise in inequality in the twenty-first century. Here I examine Piketty's US data for the period 1810 to 2010 for the top 10 percent and the top 1 percent of the wealth distribution. I conclude that Piketty's data for the wealth share of the top 10 percent for the period 1870 to 1970 are unreliable. The values he reported are manufactured from the observations for the top 1 percent inflated by a constant 36 percentage points. Piketty's data for the top 1 percent of the distribution for the nineteenth century (1810–1910) are also unreliable. They are based on a single mid-century observation that provides no guidance about the antebellum trend and only tenuous information about the trend in inequality during the Gilded Age. The values Piketty reported for the twentieth century (1910–2010) are based on more solid ground, but have the disadvantage of muting the marked rise of inequality during the Roaring Twenties and the decline associated with the Great Depression. This article offers an alternative picture of the trend in inequality based on newly available data and a reanalysis of the 1870 Census of Wealth. This article does not question Piketty's integrity.


The research was conducted in the Green house the Faculty of Agriculture, University of  Tadulako Palu. Time of the study began in May   2014. This study used completely randomized design with 5 treatments namely A : Without Fertilizer (control), B : Manure Fertilizer (20 ton ha -1 ), C : Bokasi Fertilizer (20 ton ha -1 ), D : Biofertilizer (33,3 ton ha -1 ), and E : Inorganic Fertilizer (NPK 350 kg ha -1 ). Each treatment was repeated 4 times resulted to 20 experimental units. Treatment which shows significancy will be further tested with honestly significant difference (HSD) at level of 5%. The results showed that the growth and yield of corn treated with various organic fertilizers positively impacted on plant height, number of leaves, flowering time, cob weight (with husk and without husk) and cob length (with husk and without husk). The application of biofertilizers (microbial from bamboo grove) resulted to better growth and yield.


The objective of this paper is to examine the moderating effect of IT capability on the relationship between Business Continuity Management (BCM) factors and the organizational performance. The constructs of this paper are defined based on a comprehensive review of recent literature on BCM, organizational performance and IT capability. For this study, the data was collected through various methods including self-administered approach and distribution of questionnaires via electronic and conventional mail. The target population of the study is organizations which are certified with ISO 27001 and ISO 22301 as these organizations are selected as they are deemed to possess considerably higher sense of commitment towards embracing BCM best practices to enhance their business resiliency.  The findings of this study indicated that IT capability partially moderated the relationship between BCM factors and organizational performance. The outcome of this study provides important insight to researchers and BCM professionals in understanding on the effects of BCM factors and IT capability on the organizational performance.


This talk will discuss some of the limitations and optimizations relating to solar fuels device. From an experimental standpoint, our work on ultra-low Pt loadings for photocatalytic hydrogen production on silicon photocathodes shows that platinum is potentially even more scalable than non-noble metal catalysts. From a modeling standpoint, our web based model at solarfuelsmodeling.com1 allows users to model and analyze efficiencies of device given various input parameters.  By comparing experimental data to theoretically optimal data, we have quantitatively analyzed how close best in class photoabsorber materials are to reaching their thermodynamic limits.  This approach also shows what the fundamental issues (photocurrent vs. photovoltage) are holding back a particular material.  We have also branched out using this modeling for non-water splitting reactions, such as CO2 reduction and halide production and the potential for these reactions will also be discussed.

A Flexible Web-Based Approach to Modeling Tandem Photocatalytic Devices. Seger B.; Hansen, O.; Vesborg  P.C.K. Solar RRL 2017, 1, 1600013


AIMS
The aim of the study was to assess the extent to which members of the UK general public perceive television alcohol advertisements to comply with the regulatory code governing these: the Advertising Standards Authority Code of Broadcast Advertising (BCAP Code). The Code provides a general principle and 16 rules to prevent such adverts implying, condoning or encouraging immoderate, irresponsible or anti-social drinking.

METHODS
Quota sample of 373 adults, representative of the UK population aged 18-74 years in terms of age and gender, were recruited at a train station. Participants were shown one of seven advertisements that had been broadcast in the previous month on the two leading commercial television channels, and then completed a questionnaire with 40 statements representing the BCAP Code rules.

RESULTS
Overall, 75% of the participants rated the advertisements as breaching at least one rule from the BCAP Code. Breaches were observed for all the seven advertisements, ranging from 49 to 91% non-compliant. Rules regarding alcohol being presented as contributing to popularity or confidence, and implying that alcohol is capable of changing mood, physical condition, behaviour, or as nourishment, were seen as being breached by over 50% of participants.

CONCLUSIONS
A clear majority of the UK general public perceive alcohol advertisements to breach the BCAP Code, suggesting that the current regulatory system for UK television alcohol advertisements is inadequate.