In this communication, we investigate the effect of spatial dimension in a Gaussian multiple access system and study its impact on the physical layer capacity and the end to end delay from a queueing theory perspective. For a multiple-input, single- output (MISO) multiple access channel, we derive conditions on the transmit power and number of transmit antennas for which additional users increase or decrease the capacity. The capacity as a function of the number of users is used for calculating the end- to-end delay. Numerical analysis on the end-to-end delay for a Rayleigh fading MISO channel with no channel state information at transmitter (CSIT) indicates that increasing the number of transmit antennas can actually increase the delay! Index terms- MIMO, MAC, Queueing theory I. INTRODUCTION


Radiographic evaluation of hallux abducto valgus frequently involves the measurement of the metatarsus adductus angle, first-second intermetatarsal angle, hallux abductus angle, and proximal articular set angle. While the concept that there is a relationship between untreated metatarsus adductus and hallux abducto valgus deformity is not new, a quantifiable relationship between the metatarsus adductus angle and intermetatarsal angle, hallux abductus angle, and the proximal articular set angle in normal feet is relatively undocumented. The purpose of this study is to document relationships between the metatarsus adductus angle and the other three measurements, and to establish normal values for the intermetatarsal angle, hallux abductus angle, and proximal articular set angle within metatarsus adductus angle subgroups.


We study learning in periodic Markov Decision Process (MDP), a special type of non-stationary MDP where both the state transition probabilities and reward functions vary periodically, under the average reward maximization setting. We formulate the problem as a stationary MDP by augmenting the state space with the period index, and propose a periodic upper confidence bound reinforcement learning-2 (PUCRL2) algorithm. We show that the regret of PUCRL2 varies linearly with the period $N$ and as $\mathcal{O}(\sqrt{Tlog T})$ with the horizon length $T$. Utilizing the information about the sparsity of transition matrix of augmented MDP, we propose another algorithm PUCRLB which enhances upon PUCRL2, both in terms of regret ($O(\sqrt{N})$ dependency on period) and empirical performance. Finally, we propose two other algorithms U-PUCRL2 and U-PUCRLB for extended uncertainty in the environment in which the period is unknown but a set of candidate periods are known. Numerical results demonstrate the efficacy of all the algorithms.


This retrospective study analyzes overall survival and relapse-free survival after mastectomy and survival after recurrence of 302 patients with metastatic breast cancer. In the whole group the median survival after mastectomy is 99 months: 5-year survival rate is 68.4% and 10-year survival rate is 38.5%. The median survival from relapse was 36 months: 5-year and 10-year survival rates were respectively 26.8 and 18.9%. Various subsets of patients divided according to several prognostic factors have been analyzed.


Equilibrium structures, chemical ordering and thermal properties of Pt–Ni nanoalloys are investigated by using basin hopping-based global optimization, Monte Carlo (MC) and molecular dynamics (MD) methods, based on the second-moment approximation of the tight-binding potentials (TB-SMA). The TB-SMA potential parameters for Pt–Ni nanoalloys are fitted to reproduce the results of density functional theory calculations for small clusters. The chemical ordering in cuboctahedral (CO) Pt–Ni nanoalloys with 561 and 923 atoms is obtained from the so called semi-grand-canonical ensemble MC simulation at 100 K. Two ordered phases of L12 (PtNi3) and L10 (PtNi) are found for the CO561 and CO923 Pt–Ni nanoalloys, which is in good agreement with the experimental phase diagram of the Pt–Ni bulk alloy. In addition, the order–disorder transition and thermal properties of these nanoalloys are studied by using MC and MD methods, respectively. It is shown that the typical perfect L10 PtNi structure is relatively stable, showing high order–disorder transition temperature and melting point among these CO561 and CO923 Pt–Ni nanoalloys.


Several evidence suggest that pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptides (PACAP‐38 and ‐27) could function as hypophysiotropic factors. Both peptides interact with either the type I receptor, which preferentially binds the two PACAPs and has a much lower affinity for vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) or the type II receptor, which binds the two PACAPs and VIP with a nearly equal affinity. In addition to the stimulation of adenylyl cyclase (AC) activity, in different cell types PACAP causes an increase of cytosolic calcium levels ([Ca2+]i), consequent to phospholipase‐C activation. In the present study, we investigated the effect of PACAP on cAMP formation and [Ca2+]i levels in 16 human nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas (NFPA). PACAP‐38 increased cAMP formation in all tumors; the peptide stimulated either AC activity in membrane preparations from 26 ± 10 to 214 ± 179 pmol/mg prot/min (P < 0.01) or cAMP efflux from 12 ± 5.4 to 73.2 ± 32 pmol/well (P < 0.01) in cultured cells. The effect, detectable at concentrations higher than 1‐10 pM, was maximal at 0.1‐10 nM. While PACAP‐38 and PACAP‐27 were nearly equally effective and potent, 100‐fold higher concentrations of VIP were required to obtain similar AC activation. GHRH and CRH were ineffective in any NFPA. The PACAP effect was not antagonized by a VIP antagonist, while PACAP fragment 6–27 amide partially reduced the stimulatory effects of both PACAP‐27 and VIP in 2 out of 3 tumors tested. PACAP‐38 caused a [Ca2+]i rise in cells obtained from 7 NFPA (from 110 ± 34 to 151 ± 40 nM [Ca2+]i, P < 0.05) while in the remaining 7 the peptide was ineffective at any concentrations tested (from 1 nM to 10 μM). In the responsive tumors, PACAP‐38 effect was not consequence of phospholipase‐C activation since removal of extracellular Ca2+ as well as blockade of L‐type Ca2+ channels by dihydropyridine antagonists abolished [Ca2+]i increase triggered by the peptide. These data indicate that PACAP is by far the most potent activator of cAMP formation in NFPA and suggest a possible modulatory action of this peptide on cell growth.


Introduction Possessing a suite of unusual and interesting features, Pitheciids are at the extremes of many of primatology's ecological and sociological continua (see Norconk 2011). Pitheciids should provide acute tests of many primatological models; however, this is frequently thwarted by the lack of even the most basic quantitative information concerning ecology, behavior and social organization. Such gaps are due not only to the small number of studies, but also to difficulties in obtaining data. This chapter considers why, given that these primates possess such aesthetic and intellectual appeal and high conservation value, they have been so little studied. The peculiarities of pitheciids, combined with their native habitats' inherent challenges, have often undermined potentially successful fieldwork. Some researchers who began working with species of Callicebus or Chiropotes, for example, simply gave up because of problems habituating the animals or because the study was so difficult that the quality and quantity of gained data would not be worth the effort. Several researchers who persisted were either unable to obtain the expected volume of data or were incapable of answering many of their initial research questions, sometimes both. Using field experiences from a variety of research projects across a range of habitat types and pitheciid taxa, this chapter reports on the problems that arose during these studies and presents suggestions to minimize similar difficulties in the future.


Introduction The combination of virtual reality (VR) with an omnidirectional walking platform (ODWP) may have potential in rehabilitation settings. However, its use, acceptance, safety, and effectiveness are unclear. This preliminary study aims to understand the feasibility, safety, and user experience (including investigating the onset of cybersickness) while walking on the ODWP with fully immersive VR. Methods Participants engaged with eight immersive VR walking scenarios. The scenarios were created using 360-degree videos and were programmed to run with the ODWP. Safety modifications for the ODWP were made, with the addition of parallel bars. Quantitative feedback on the perceived safety and acceptance of using VR with an ODWP for rehabilitation was collected. Cybersickness was evaluated using the Simulation Symptoms Questionnaire (SSQ). Results Thirty-five participants (n = 8 physiotherapists, n = 27 healthy adults) were recruited for this study. The mean perceived safety score was 78.9/100 and acceptance was 64.5/100. Seventy-one percent of participants experienced mild to moderate symptoms of cybersickness as reported on the SSQ. The SSQ scores were not correlated to participant age or simulation exposure time. Conclusion VR while using ODWP has the potential for rehabilitation, however, more consideration is needed to address acceptance and cybersickness.


Knowledge about failures and failure propagation paths in early design can benefit Prognostics and Health Management (PHM) system development by identifying expected system failures, determining adequate system monitoring, and improving system reliability through hardware configurational changes. Function-based failure analysis provides a means for early system representation that can provide meaningful results for failure analysis. Function-based failure analysis methods model failures propagating between components based on shared energy, material, and signal (EMS) flows. Limiting these connections to the designed system representation limits the scope of failure impact and propagation analysis. This paper presents a method of defining and reasoning on flow states for designed and potential EMS flows and using this information to determine impact and propagation behavior for failures based on early design information. To demonstrate the value of this approach, an electrical power system design is developed and analyzed as a case study. The initial results presented in this paper specifically benefit the development of PHM by providing simulated system behavior for a wide scope of propagation paths and by identifying the impact of failures with respect to system functions.


In this work, mathematical models were developed to simulate the thermal behaviour of a cutting tool insert in three-dimensional dry machining. Models to determine the temperature rise at the shear plane and tool insert in orthogonal cutting were developed, simulated and validated. The effects of various machining parameters/variables such as specific heat of material of 4400J/kg, Depth of cut (t) of 0.0003m, Density of 7870kg/m3, Width of cut (b) of 0.005m, Chip thickness ratio (rt) of 0.42, Tool rake angle of 100, Cutting Velocity (V) of 35m/min and Shear force (Fs) of 1257.6N on temperature rise were well analyzed.


Developing new efficient catalytic systems to convert abundant and renewable feedstocks into valuable products in a compact, flexible, and target-specific manner is of high importance in modern synthetic chemistry. Here, we describe a versatile set of mild catalytic conditions utilizing a single gold-based solid catalyst that enables the direct and additive-free preparation of four distinct and important amine derivatives (amines, formamides, benzimidazoles, and dimethlyated amines) from readily available formic acid (FA) and nitro starting materials with high level of chemoselectivity. By controlling the stoichiometry of the employed FA, which has attracted considerable interest in the area of sustainable chemistry because of its potential as an entirely renewable hydrogen carrier and as a versatile C1 source, a facile atom- and step-efficient transformation of nitro compounds can be realized in a modular fashion.


The Saccharomyces cerevisiae Start repressor Whi5, the functional analogue of mammalian pRB, shuttles between the nucleus and the cytoplasm throughout the cell cycle: Enters into the nucleus at the end of mitosis and remains nuclear until Start. We studied the mechanisms involved in this spatial regulation. The nuclear import depends on the β-karyopherins of the classical import pathway Kap95 and Cse1. Whi5 contains a monopartite and a bipartite classical NLS localized in its N-terminal region which are functionally redundant. A fragment of Whi5 containing these NLSs is able to constitutively accumulate a GFP4 protein inside the nucleus throughout the cell cycle, which suggests that the Whi5 nuclear import is not cell cycle-regulated. The nuclear export of Whi5 is assisted by β-karyopherin Msn5. A two-hybrid assay indicates a physical interaction between Whi5 and Msn5. We identified a fragment of Whi5 with export activity from amino acids 51 to 167. Interestingly, this region drives the export of a chimeric nuclear protein in a cell cycle-regulated pattern similarly to that observed for Whi5. Moreover, the nuclear export driven by Whi5 depends on the phosphorylation of specific Ser residues. Finally, we identified Cdc14 as the phosphatase required for the nuclear accumulation of Whi5.


Cathodoluminescence (CL) spectroscopy has been employed to study the electronic and optical properties of well-aligned ZnO nanorods with diameters ranging from 50to180nm. Single-nanorod CL studies reveal that the emission peak moves toward higher energy as the diameter of the ZnO nanorod decreases, despite that their sizes are far beyond the quantum confinement regime. Blueshift of several tens of meV in the CL peak of these nanorods has been observed. Moreover, this anomalous energy shift shows a linear relation with the inverse of the rod diameter. Possible existence of a surface resonance band is suggested and an empirical formula for this surface effect is proposed to explain the size dependence of the CL data.


A one-step coprecipitation process is designed to synthesize zinc hexacyanoferrate (ZnHCF) cathodes in aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs). The morphology of the cathode is influenced by the concentration of the precursor solution and valence of iron ions. The rhombohedral ZnHCF sample exhibits high crystallinity on the microscale in the cut-angle cubic structure, whereas Na-rich NaZnHCF contains many interstitial water molecules in the rhombic nanoplates. Both samples show effective insertion of Zn ions in the aqueous ZnSO4 solution. ZnHCF shows a specific capacity of 66.7 mA h g–1, a redox voltage of 1.73 V, and fast decline in a few cycles. On the other hand, NaZnHCF has a lower specific capacity of 48.2 mA h g–1, showing two voltage platforms and robust cycling stability. However, owing to serious side reactions, both samples have low Columbic efficiency. To improve the properties such as Coulombic efficiency, specific capacity, and cycling stability, Ni ions are introduced by adding 10 wt % NiSO4 to the ZnSO4 electrolyte. The ZnHCF cathode in the Ni-containing electrolyte has the best properties such as a high specific capacity of 71.2 mA h g–1 at a current density of 100 mA g–1, 93% retention of the Coulombic efficiency, and a good rate performance manifested by a reversible capacity of 58.2 mA h g–1 at 1 A g–1. The results reveal a strategy to improve the electrochemical properties of aqueous ZIBs by modifying the electrolytes.


Although several prior studies have examined associations between firm social capital and environmental sustainability, the links between relational resources (i.e., relational capital and ties strength), environmental knowledge integration, and environmental performance have yet to be well established at the micro-level. This study, therefore, aims to determine (1) how environmental knowledge integration serves as a mediating mechanism for the relationship between relational capital and environmental performance and (2) how this impact differs at different levels of ties strength. A quantitative approach has been adopted to examine the main hypotheses using a structural equation model (SEM) technique. Two groups of actors were surveyed, including chief executive officers (CEOs) and financial officers of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. In total, 216 survey responses were gathered, suggesting a response rate of 73.22%. Our findings suggest that environmental knowledge integration is a vital mediating mechanism for the relationship between relational capital and SMEs' environmental performance. Also, we find that ties strength moderates the indirect effect of relational capital on SMEs' environmental performance via environmental knowledge integration. Our empirical evidence provides recommendations for SMEs' managers and policymakers to promote environmental sustainability in the emerging market context.


Preventing ice formation during cryopreservation by vitrification has led to the successful storage and banking of numerous cellular- and tissue-based biomaterials. In their breakthrough work, Peter Mazur's group achieved over 90% survival by using a laser warming technique for 100 μm mice oocytes that were cooled in 0.1 μL droplets with 2.3 M CPA and extracellularly loaded India ink (laser absorber). Laser warming can provide rapid and uniform warming rates to "outrun" damaging ice crystal growth. Here we generalize Mazur's technique for microliter-sized droplets using laser nanowarming to rewarm millimeter-scale biomaterials when loaded extracellularly and/or intracellularly with biocompatible 1064 nm resonant gold nanoparticles. First, we show that droplets containing low-concentration cryoprotectants (such as 2 M propylene glycol ± 1 M trehalose) can be rapidly cooled at rates up to 90 000 °C/min by plunging into liquid nitrogen to achieve either a visually transparent state (i.e., vitrified) or a cloudy with ice (i.e., nonvitrified) state. Both modeling and experiments were then used to characterize the laser nanowarming process for different laser energy (2-6 J), pulse length (1-20 ms), droplet volume (0.2-1.8 μL), cryoprotectant (2-3 M), and gold concentration (0.77 × 1017-4.8 × 1017 nps/m3) values to assess physical and biological success. Physical success was achieved by finding conditions that minimize cloudiness and white spots within the droplets during cooling and warming as signs of damaging ice formation and ice crystallization, respectively. Biological success was achieved using human dermal fibroblasts to find conditions that achieve ≥90% cell viability normalized to controls postwarming. Thus, physical and biological success can be achieved using this platform cryopreservation approach of rapid cooling and laser gold nanowarming in millimeter-scale systems.


Nowadays plant monitoring and control of renewable energy sources can take advantage of the use of unmanned aerial technologies. This manuscript aims to develop an image post-processing tool for remote aerial images able to help operation and maintenance operators in photovoltaic (PV) defects detection using light unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). In particular, PV systems deployed in the field in the last ten years show often critical behaviour with a range of failures able to compromise the performance and energy yield of the power plants, thus they can greatly benefit of such novel technologies and tools. The described procedures are here tested on real plant data, with different kind of sensors, in order to find out potential advantages in fast fault detection tasks, using an automatic system for PV plants' mapping. The results of this research will be reported in order to provide an understanding of potential impact of image processing techniques based on UAV in the renewable energy sector.


Abstract A liquid–gas interface (LGI) on submerged microstructure surfaces has the potential to achieve large slip velocities, which is significant for underwater applications such as drag reduction. However, surfactants adsorbing on the LGI can cause surface tension gradient against the mainstream, which weakens the flow near the LGI and severely limits drag reduction. The mechanism of the effect of surfactants on two-dimensional flows has already been proposed, while the effect of surfactants on the three-dimensional flow near the LGI is still not clear. In our study, we specifically design an experimental system to directly observe a three-dimensional backflow at the LGI. The formation as well as the behaviour of the backflow are demonstrated to be significantly influenced by the surfactant. Combining experimental measurements, theoretical analyses and numerical simulations, we reveal the underlying mechanism of the backflow, which is a competition between the mainstream and the Marangoni flows generated by the interfacial concentration gradients of surfactant simultaneously in streamwise and spanwise directions, reflecting the three-dimensional feature of the backflow. In addition, a kinematic similarity is obtained to characterize the backflow. The current work provides a model system for investigating the three-dimensional backflow at the LGI with surfactants, which is significant for practical applications such as drag reduction and superhydrophobicity.


Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been a global health problem and, according to the recent report, more than 71 million people (which equals to almost 1% of population) have HCV infection. Onset of HCV infection is often acute and asymptomatic. In majority of cases, especially in underdeveloped countries, HCV infection remains undiagnosed for a long time. HCV has eight different genotypes, named from one to eight, which differ from each other at 31%-33% of nucleotides. Each genotype is further classified into several subtypes. Collectively, 86 subtypes have been recognized which differ from each other at<15% nucleotide sequence. Determination of genotype of pathogen has been proven an effective means from the aspect of epidemiology. It is an important stage in the processes of decision-making and selecting appropriate therapeutic regimen. Studies have indicated that certain genotypes are found in countries or regions where direct acting antivirals are available against HCV infections. Developing awareness programs via extended approaches can prove useful in controlling the prevalence of HCV as well as other infectious diseases.


This article seeks to assess the leading force in developing anti-doping policy in sport; the World Anti-Doping Agency. This article will analyse the 2009 World Anti Doping Agency Code, which came into force on 1 January 2009. The 2009 Code represents the latest effort to fight doping in sport, and contains a considerable number of new provisions from that which was previously in place. The main question this article poses is whether the changes made in the 2009 Code are justifiable as being proportionate in order to take forward the fight against doping whilst at the same time respecting athletes' rights. The article goes on to detail the new provisions of the 2009 Code and assesses the proportionality of each in the light of standard principles of justice and specific sporting jurisprudence on the matter, particularly the judgments of the European Court of Justice on this issue. The conclusion reached is that several of the provisions contained in the 2009 Code are in breach of the proportionality principle by violating the personal rights of athletes, particularly those relating to economic livelihood, privacy and procedural fairness. Accordingly, aggrieved athletes will inevitably bring legal disputes.


Min-max optimization problems arise in several key machine learning setups, including adversarial learning and generative modeling. In their general form, in absence of convexity/concavity assumptions, finding pure equilibria of the underlying two-player zero-sum game is computationally hard [Daskalakis et al., 2021b]. In this work we focus instead in finding mixed equilibria, and consider the associated lifted problem in the space of probability measures. By adding entropic regularization, our main result establishes global convergence towards the global equilibrium by using simultaneous gradient ascent-descent with respect to the Wasserstein metric – a dynamics that admits efficient particle discretization in high-dimensions, as opposed to entropic mirror descent. We complement this positive result with a related entropy-regularized loss which is not bilinear but still convex-concave in the Wasserstein geometry, and for which simultaneous dynamics do not converge yet timescale separation does. Taken together, these results showcase the benign geometry of bilinear games in the space of measures, enabling particle dynamics with global qualitative convergence guarantees.


Historically, the development of railguns was stymied by the lack of suitable power supplies to drive them. In the last decade or so, that situation has changed and successful railguns have been powered by homopolar generators, explosively driven magnetic flux compression generators, and capacitors. Each of these energy storage/generator devices is suitable for various railgun applications, but for railgun systems capable of launching large masses ballistically from the earth's surface into space, something better is required. Therefore, the requirement for a reusable flux compressor capable of charging a 50MJ inductor with a current of 4MA, and one possible design, are examined.


The analytical or numerical determination of the stress intensity factor (SIF) in cracked bodies usually assumes the body to be isolated. However, in fibre-reinforced composites, the fibre, which is the main load-carrying component, is embedded in a matrix. To clarify the effect the embedding matrix has on the SIF of the fibre, we propose a 3D computational model of an orthotropic fibre embedded in an isotropic matrix, and compute the SIF using the J-integral method. A parametric analysis based on dimensionless variables explores the effect of the fibre–matrix stiffness ratio as well as the effect of the degree of elastic orthotropy of the fibre. The results show that the SIF is strongly influenced by both factors, and that the matrix reduces the SIF by limiting the crack opening.


Autofluorescence properties of tissues have been widely used to diagnose various types of malignancies. In this study, we measured the autofluorescence properties of H-ras transfected murine fibroblasts and the counterpart control cells. The pair of cells is genetically identical except for the transfected H-ras gene. We applied Monte Carlo simulations to evaluate the relative contributions of Rayleigh and Mie scattering effects towards fluorescence in an in vitro model system of normal and H-ras transfected fibroblasts. The experimental results showed that fluorescence emission intensity was higher for normal cells than the malignant counterpart cells by about 30%. In normal cells, linearity in emission intensity was observed for cell densities of up to 1.0 x 10(6) cells/ml whereas for transformed cells it was up to 1.4 x 10(6) cells/ml. Nuclear volume changes give good account for the differences in the intrinsic fluorescence between normal and malignant cells. The Monte Carlo (MC) code, newly developed for this study, explains both predominant experimental features: the large fluorescence intensity differences between the transfected and the corresponding control cells as well as the phenomena of the red shift in the excitation spectra as a function of cell density. The contribution of Rayleigh scattering was found to be predominant compared to Mie scattering.


GNE-317 is a dual PI3K/mTOR inhibitor with excellent blood-brain barrier penetration. In this study, the efficacy of GNE-317 was evaluated in the Mayo panel of primary glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) xenografts. Based on the concept of oncogene addiction, we hypothesized that GNE-317 would be most efficacious in EGFR-hyper-activated and/or PTEN-deficient lines. In a CyQUANT cell proliferation assay, the inhibitory concentration of 50% cell number (IC50) for GBM6, 10, 22, and 84 were 0.59±0.50, 0.72±0.40, 0.26±0.14, and 3.49±1.64 microM, respectively. In these selected lines, there was a poor correlation between EGFR or PTEN status and in vitro response. The efficacy of GNE-317 also was evaluated in 10 lines in an orthotopic xenograft model. Mice with established tumors were randomized to daily dosing with GNE-317 (30 mg/kg) or placebo until moribund. Similar to in vitro data, there was a spectrum of response to GNE-317 (Table 1). The survival benefit ratio (ratio of median survival) did not correlate with EGFR amplification (P=0.78), EGFR mutation (P=0.25), or PTEN (P=0.55) status when analyzed singly. However, GNE-317 did extend survival in 4 of 5 lines in which either EGFR or PTEN were deregulated. To evaluate potentially clinically relevant combinations, the efficacy of GNE-317 combined with bevacizumab (BEV) was tested in the same orthotopic model in GBM8, 10, and 59. In GBM10, GNE-317/BEV provided a significant increase in survival compared to the most effective single agent (P Note: This abstract was not presented at the meeting. Citation Format: Terence T. Sio, Jenny L. Pokorny, Ann C. Mladek, Brett L. Carlson, Mark A. Schroeder, Dennis O. Iyekegbe, Katrina Bakken, Laurent Salphati, Heidi Phillips, Jann N. Sarkaria. Preclinical efficacy of GNE-317, a dual PI3K/mTOR inhibitor, with or without bevacizumab in EGFR and/or PTEN-mutated glioblastoma multiforme. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 2617. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-2617


The development of improved methods of islet isolation from the pancreas is hampered by difficulty in identification of islets. A method described by Bensley in 1911 uses neutral red to stain the islets selectively. In the present study the method has been simplified and selective staining of islets in the rat, dog and pig demonstrated by use of light and electron microscopy. Staining of islets with neutral red does not appear to affect their viability as judged by insulin secretion and transplantation in rats.


Abstract This study described the behavior of the swamp-dwelling African cyprinid Barbus neumayeri in response to laboratory acclimation to normoxic and hypoxic conditions to detect costs associated with hypoxia exposure. Behavioral observations were conducted every two weeks over a four-week acclimation period in both normoxic and hypoxic conditions, and feeding trials were conducted after six weeks of acclimation. Gill ventilations were shallower in normoxia-acclimated fish than in hypoxia-acclimated individuals, and gill ventilation rate declined over the hypoxia acclimation. There was no effect of hypoxia acclimation on routine activity; however, individuals acclimated to hypoxia showed a depression in feeding rate relative to normoxia acclimation. This decline in feeding activity under hypoxia acclimation may account, at least in part, for the lower condition of the hypoxia-acclimated fish. These findings suggest that hypoxia exposure does not significantly impact routine activity levels of these swamp-adapted fishes, but seems to depress higher energy activities such as feeding rate.


The legend of the Siete Infantes de Lara , which had proven its popularity in chronicles and ballads, was adapted for the Golden Age comedia first by Juan de la Cueva, and later by Lope de Vega. Cueva must receive full credit for introducing the cronicas and the Romancero as material for the Golden Age stage; however, his version of the play is weakened by his exclusion of important elements of the original legend. Lope, on the other hand, adheres closely to the Siete Infantes legend as it appears in ballads and fourteenth-century chronicles, and adds only elements which increase the legend's popular appeal, such as the amorous subplot. Stylistically, in contrast with Cueva's elevated and sometimes ponderous tone, Lope incorporates dramatic techniques which enhance rather than hinder the effectiveness of his play. (SDC)


Automatic formation of Al interconnects and ring electrodes, fully encapsulated by alumina, in planar arrays of Al2O3/Al/Al2O3 microcavity plasma devices has been accomplished by electrochemical processing of Al foil. Following the fabrication of cylindrical microcavities (50–350 µm in diameter) in 127 µm thick Al foil, virtually complete anodization of the foil yields azimuthally symmetric Al electrodes surrounding each cavity and interconnects between adjacent microcavities that are produced and simultaneously buried within a transparent Al2O3 film without the need for conventional patterning techniques. The diameter and pitch of the microcavities prior to anodization, as well as the anodization process parameters, determine which of the microcavity plasma devices in a one- or two-dimensional array are connected electrically. Data presented for 200 µm diameter cavities with a pitch of 150–225 µm illustrate the patterning of the interconnects and electrode connectivity after 4–10 h of anodization in oxalic acid. Self-patterned, linear arrays comprising 25 dielectric barrier devices have been excited by a sinusoidal or bipolar pulse voltage waveform and operated in 400–700 Torr of rare gas. Owing to the electrochemical conversion of most of the Al foil into Al2O3, the self-formed arrays exhibit an areal capacitance ∼82% lower than that characteristic of previous Al/Al2O3 device arrays (Park et al 2006 J. Appl. Phys. 99 026107).


The assembly of type I collagen molecules into native fibrils can be accomplished in vitro in solutions at physiological ionic strength and pH by raising the temperature above 30 degrees C. The thermal self-assembly reaction exhibits a distinct lag phase. This lag phase has been proposed to be evidence for a conformational transition in the monomer. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIRS) is a very sensitive probe of the H-bonded states within the triple helix. The carbonyl group spectrum (amide I, 1700-1600 cm-1) has been investigated in collagen/H2O solutions at 1 mg/mL under self-assembly conditions from 4 to 34 degrees C and, in the same range, at a higher ionic strength where self-assembly does not occur. The deconvoluted spectra show three very clear bands at approximately 1660, 1644, and 1630 cm-1. These bands vary in both frequency maxima and relative intensity over the temperature range examined. Spectra were also obtained in the amide II and III regions. Spectral changes were evident in the 22-26 degrees C range, under fibril-forming conditions, which lead to the hypothesis that the triple helix of the semiflexible collagen molecule is actually perfected during the lag phase, facilitating nucleation and intermolecular interaction. Further spectral changes after fibrils do form show that the molecules are once again distorted as they are bent to fit within the fibrils.


With a continuous increase in the number of Earth Observation satellites, leading to the development of satellitar image time series (SITS), the number of algorithms for land cover analysis and monitoring has greatly expanded. This paper offers a new perspective in dynamic classification for SITS. Four similarity measures (correlation coefficient, Kullback-Leibler (KL) divergence, conditional information, normalized compression distance (NCD)) based on image pairs from the data are employed, resulting in a series of maps describing different types of changes observed in the original series. The proposed algorithm performs a classification of the newly developed time series using a Latent Dirichlet Allocation model (LDA). This statistical method was originally used for text classification, thus requiring a word, document, corpus analogy with the elements inside the image. The experimental results were computed using 11 Landsat images over the city of Bucharest and surrounding areas.


2012 was a tumultuous year for international investment banks, not least because of the emergence of the LIBOR scandal, just as the world's largest banks were emerging from the turmoil of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). For two banks that had survived the GFC fairly well, Barclays and Deutsche Bank, the year was momentous as both experienced significant changes to the composition of their Boards and top management. In 2012, with some fanfare, both banks announced new Corporate Strategies: Barclays with its so-called 'Go To' strategy and Deutsche with its 'Deutsche 2015 ' strategy. Following the failure of a number of high profile banks during the GFC as a direct result of their flawed strategies, banking regulators around the world have recognized the risks to the financial system that can arise from a 'too big to fail' bank embarking on a significant new strategy. These so-called 'strategic risks' can be considerable but the process of managing such risks is not well-developed. This paper compares and contrasts the way in which these two banks disclosed how they developed their different strategies and how strategic risks were identified and managed. The paper concludes that for Deutsche, strategic risks were identified as part of the development process and an attempt was made to measure, and to set capital to offset, potential losses due to strategic risks. On the other hand, the Barclay's strategy is little more than an aspirational vision with few strategic objectives that can be independently monitored and, from their shareholder disclosures, no apparent attempt was made to assess and manage the not inconsiderable risks in the strategy that the bank was committing to.


Since the mid-1970s, the reform of the Brazilian health care system had been proposed by social and political leaders, who wanted to democratize and decentralize it, and in 1986 a health care reform project was accepted at the 8th National Conference on Health. A commission created to this end suggested the formation of health districts, as local units of the health care system. Their objectives included universal care, and the assurance of equal access to health care. The remuneration of different categories of recruited human resources within the districts posed a major problem: how to set up a system that would consider different levels of professional skills and education as well as retain incentives for lower echelon workers. The work regime which included repetitive, tedious, and alienating forms of activity presented another obstacle. Appropriate equipment was needed for biomedical professionals, for dentists, psychologists, nutritionists, and physiotherapists. The concept of general practitioner emerged, although the Cuban practice of assigning 1 physician for every 60 families could not be replicated in Brazil because of the lack of physicians. The maintenance of specialized services (internal medicine, pediatrics, surgery, odontology) in urban districts of cities with 150,000-300,000 inhabitants also confronted proponents of the reorganization. Thus, a new model uniquely suited to local and national realities had to be devised that would effectively satisfy the health care needs of the Brazilian population.


A case of immature teratoma of the testicle metastasizing as completely mature teratoma is presented. A 23-year-old man underwent right inguinal orchiectomy for an immature teratoma of the testicle on September 14, 1982. At retroperitoneal lymph node dissection, 12 lymph nodes were removed, all of which were negative for cancer. He was well until March 1983, when bloody sputum and left chest pain occurred. Since full lung tomography revealed two pulmonary nodules, he was treated with a course of VP-16 and three courses of vinblastine, bleomycin and CDDP. In September 1983, after completion of the combination chemo-therapy, the two pulmonary nodules were noticed to be slightly enlarging. A thoracotomy was scheduled to remove these nodules, since they were believed to be his only remaining tumors. Pathologic examination of the extirpated nodules disclosed completely benign teratoma. Mediastinal lymph nodes had no metastatic involvement histologically. It is our intention in this paper to emphasize, by means of several case reports, the frequently benign nature of these residual lesions and also to emphasize a recently recognized phenomenon--the apparent induction of benign teratomas by this intensive chemotherapy.


A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of camel trypanosomosis and assess associated potential risk factors in four localities of Babile district, eastern Hararghe zone, Oromia Regional State, eastern Ethiopia from November 2014 to April 2015. Randomly selected camels were blood-sampled and examined for T. evansiinfection by Wet film, Giemsa-stained thick/thin smears and Buffy coat technique. Out of 384 examined camels, 31(8.1%) were positive for Trypanosome evansi. There was statistically significant difference between the prevalence of camel trypanosome and study site (peasant association), sex and age of the animals (P<0.05). The highest prevalence of the disease was observed in Erer-ibada (12.3%) whereas the lowestprevlance value was recorded in Rahmata site (3.3%) during the study period. The prevalence was higher in female (8.9%) than male (5.5%) camels. Adult camels (10.5%) were infected more than young camels (4.9%). The mean PCV was lower (23.1%) in parasitemicanimal as compared to aparasatemic animals (28.1%). There was no statistically significant difference observed between infection and PCV. The result of the current study revealed that camel trypanosomosis was highly prevalent in the study area. Thus, there is need of designing control and prevention strategies as well as identifying risk factors.


Abstract We have designed a four-channel wavelength demultiplexer based on photonic crystal ring resonators (PCRR), which can be used for photonic integrated circuits. Dropping efficiency and Q factor of single improved ring are 100% and 650, respectively. In order to achieve the structure of demultiplexer, three improved rings have been used, that every ring has an individual inner rod radius; it means that each ring has a varying resonant wavelength. By changing the radius of inner rods, various wavelengths can be chosen, therefore this device is tunable. The results of simulation using finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method in our proposed structure reveals an average transmitted power higher than 90% for each output port. Channel spacing is about 7.5 nm and bandwidth for each individual channel is about 2.8 nm. The mean value of the crosstalk between output channels is about −27.11 dB. The area of the proposed structure is about 315 μm2.


With the increasing popularity of data-centric XML, data warehousing and mining applications are being developed for rapidly burgeoning XML data repositories. Data quality will no doubt be a critical factor for the success of such applications. Data cleaning, which refers to the processes used to improve data quality, has been well researched in the context of traditional databases. In earlier work we developed a knowledge-based framework for data cleaning relational databases. In this work, we present a novel attempt to apply this framework to XML databases. Our experimental dataset is the DBLP database, a popular online XML bibliography database used by many researchers.


The main aim of this work is to give a stochastic extension of the Brane Calculus, along the lines of recent work by Cardelli and Mardare [12]. In this approach, the semantics of a process is a measure of the stochastic distribution of possible derivations. To this end, we first introduce a compositional, finitely branching labelled transition system for Brane Calculus; interestingly, the associated strong bisimulation is a congruence. Then, we give a stochastic semantics to Brane systems by defining them as Markov processes over the measurable space generated by terms up-to syntactic congruence, and where the measures are indexed by the actions of this new LTS. Finally, we provide an SOS presentation of this stochastic semantics, which is compositional and syntax-driven, and moreover the induced rate bisimilarity is a congruence.


Bladder cancer recurrence screening is typically managed with a combination of urine cytology and cystoscopy, each with its inherent caveats. Cystoscopy is generally considered the gold standard for diagnosing bladder cancer and can yield a valuable biopsy, but is too invasive and expensive for routine screening and surveillance. Voided urine cytology is inexpensive and readily available, but lacks the desired level of sensitivity. Furthermore, up to 20% of urine cytology specimens fall into one of two indeterminate categories that require follow-up testing, typically in the form of an invasive cystoscopy procedure. With the goal of developing a urine-based molecular test for bladder cancer recurrence surveillance, we examined gene expression biomarkers in urine cytopathology specimens. 90 patient urine samples were analyzed: 45 high-grade urothelial carcinoma (HG-UC) and 45 benign samples. All patient samples were submitted to the Johns Hopkins Cytopathology Department for evaluation for bladder cancer via urine cytology. The samples represent patients undergoing bladder cancer recurrence screening and patients without a prior history of bladder cancer presenting with hematuria. The urine sediments were stored in liquid based cytology solution at 4°C for a period of 7 - 10 days, during which time the cytopathology diagnosis was determined from a portion of the sample. Post-diagnosis, the pathology sample "leftover" was analyzed for gene expression. RNA was extracted, amplified and microarray analysis was performed and a panel of molecular biomarkers was identified. Individual genes in this panel discriminate between HG-UC and benign in this training set with an average ROC of 0.86 (p Citation Format: Karen B. Chapman, Liqun Qiu, Jennifer Kidd, Aparna Baxi, Markus D. Lachter, Joseph Wagner, Dorothy L. Rosenthal, Matthew T. Olson. Identification of gene-expression biomarkers in urine pathology specimens for the detection of bladder cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 551. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-551


This research study is focused on one social media that starts as an instant messaging app called ABC. ABC is an app originally from Southeast Asia that started to enter the Indonesian market in 2013. It has been struggling to maintain its monthly active user (MAU) during the past few months and wishes to get back on its feet as soon as possible. The problem occurred when it was unable to reach its MAU target which is 92 million in 2017. According to the control chart, it hasn't quite made a significant improvement since the beginning of 2017. It is also incapable to meet the target. Several projects have been done just as usual to increase the number of MAU, but nothing happens. The number of MAU is going up and down without ever reaching the target. Based on 5 Whys Analysis, the root cause of the problem lies in two factors, the projects are held too often, and the company cannot specialize in each project based on specific target market criteria. The possible solution to implement is that the company should appoint someone to be the project planning coordinator. He or she will manage all executed projects so that they will align together to support company's mission. Hence, increase the number of MAU as well. In conclusion, this study is aimed to improve the number of Monthly Active Users. This study will use Six Sigma approach to analyze deeply the problem being faced and come up with proposal solution for ABC App to implement in order to increase MAU. This study uses DMAIC method because the method is suitable to improve existing processes. The control phase will also be implemented by using FMEA Table. FMEA Table helps project planning coordinator to control each project so that further risks can be prevented in the beginning.


Author(s): Zhu, Yinchu | Advisor(s): Timmermann, Allan | Abstract: Economic modeling in a data-rich environment is often challenging. To allow for enough flexibility and to model heterogeneity, models might have parameters with dimensionality growing with (or even much larger than) the sample size of the data. Learning these high-dimensional parameters requires new methodologies and theories. We consider three important high-dimensional models and propose novel methods for estimation and inference. Empirical applications in economics and finance are also studied. In Chapter 1, we consider high-dimensional panel data models (large cross sections and long time horizons) with interactive fixed effects and allow the covariate/slope coefficients to vary over time without any restrictions. The parameter of interest is the vector that contains all the covariate effects across time. This vector has dimensionality tending to infinity, potentially much faster than the cross-sectional sample size. We develop methods for the estimation and inference of this high-dimensional vector, i.e., the entire trajectory of time variation in covariate effects. We show that both the consistency of our estimator and the asymptotic accuracy of the proposed inference procedure hold uniformly in time. Our methodology can be applied to several important issues in econometrics, such as constructing confidence bands for the entire path of covariate coefficients across time, testing the time-invariance of slope coefficients and estimation and inference of patterns of time variations, including structural breaks and regime switching. An important feature of our method is that it provides inference procedures for the time variation in pre-specified components of slope coefficients while allowing for arbitrary time variation in other components. Computationally, our procedures do not require any numerical optimization and are very simple to implement. Monte Carlo simulations demonstrate favorable properties of our methods in finite samples. We illustrate our methods through empirical applications in finance and economics. In Chapter 2, we consider large factor models with unobserved factors. We formalize the notion of common factors between different groups of variables and propose to use it as a general approach to study the structure of factors, i.e., which factors drive which variables. The spanning hypothesis, which states that factors driving one group are spanned by those driving another group, can be studied as a special case under our framework. We develop a statistical procedure for testing the number of common factors. Our inference procedure is built upon recent results on high-dimensional bootstrap and is shown to be valid under the asymptotic framework of large $n$ and large $T$. In Monte Carlo simulations, our procedure performs well in finite samples. As an empirical application, we construct confidence sets for the number of common factors between the macroeconomy and the financial markets. Chapter 3 is joint work with Jelena Bradic. We propose a methodology for testing linear hypothesis in high-dimensional linear models. The proposed test does not impose any restriction on the size of the model, i.e. model sparsity or the loading vector representing the hypothesis. Providing asymptotically valid methods for testing general linear functions of the regression parameters in high-dimensions is extremely challenging -- especially without making restrictive or unverifiable assumptions on the number of non-zero elements. We propose to test the moment conditions related to the newly designed restructured regression, where the inputs are transformed and augmented features. These new features incorporate the structure of the null hypothesis directly. The test statistics are constructed in such a way that lack of sparsity in the original model parameter does not present a problem for the theoretical justification of our procedures. We establish asymptotically exact control on Type I error without imposing any sparsity assumptions on model parameter or the vector representing the linear hypothesis. Our method is also shown to achieve certain optimality in detecting deviations from the null hypothesis. We demonstrate the favorable finite-sample performance of the proposed methods, via a number of numerical and a real data example.


Commercial regenerative amplifiers for modelocked Ti:sapphire lasers are optimized for either high repetition rate or high pulse energy, so application needs govern choice.


To achieve higher performance in a distorted and unbalanced medium-voltage large-current system, a new shunt compensator is presented based on half-bridge cascaded converters (HBCC). Then, the transformerless HBCC based STATCOM can be controlled for various purposes such as reactive power of STATCOM, simultaneous harmonic cancellation and load balancing procedure. Compared to the conventional modular multilevel converters, the HBCC based STATCOM introduces lower ratings both for active and passive elements, improving the overall efficiency of the converter. A control strategy is proposed to ensure the source-end three phase currents are sinusoidal and balanced. At the same time, the DC capacitors voltages are controlled to operate under balanced condition. One interesting application for the HBCC based STATCOM could be electric traction system. Both power circuit and the proposed control strategy are simulated with PSIM and MATLAB, confirming the pre-defined objectives.


Hybrid electric propulsion is a promising new technology to reduce emissions and fuel consumption of an aircraft. In this study a parallel hybrid electric configuration is considered. Since electric motors supply power in the most demanding take-off and climb phases to achieve the required thrust, the turbofan can be redesigned. It was found that the cruise thrust specific fuel consumption could be improved, even though no electric power is supplied in that phase. The hybrid-electric aircraft shows potential to save fuel over a complete mission. Most of these savings are however achieved due to fully electric taxiing. The weight of the electrical system largely offsets the efficiency improvements of the gas turbine during flight. Given that optimistic technology levels are used for these results, parallel hybrid electric propulsion is not expected to be used in the coming decade on short haul flights with narrow-body aircraft.


Herein, we have developed nanohybrids (nHs) to remotely activate a therapeutic enzyme for its use in Directed Enzyme Prodrug Therapy (DEPT). The coencapsulation of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) using biomimetic silica as an entrapment matrix was optimized to obtain nanosized hybrids (∼150 nm) for remote activation of the therapeutic enzyme. HRP converts indole-3-acetic acid (3IAA) into peroxylated radicals, whereas MNPs respond to alternating magnetic fields (AMFs) becoming local hotspots. The AMF application triggered an increase in the bioconversion rate of HRP matching the activity displayed at the optimal temperature of the nHs (Topt = 50 °C) without altering the temperature of the reaction media. This showed that enzyme nanoactuation is possible with MNPs even if they are not covalently bound. After an extensive physicochemical/magnetic characterization, the spatial location of each component of the nH was deciphered, and an insulating role of the silica matrix was suggested as critical for introducing remote control over HRP. In vitro assays, using a human pancreatic cancer cell line (MIA PaCa-2), showed that only upon exposure to AMF and in the presence of the prodrug, the enzyme-loaded nHs triggered cell death. Moreover, in vivo experiments showed higher reductions in the tumor volume growth in those animals treated with nHs in the presence of 3IAA when exposed to AMF. Thus, this work demonstrates the feasibility of developing a spatiotemporally controlled DEPT strategy to overcome unwanted off-target effects.


We observe that the Taylor-Frank method for making kin selection models when fitness w is a nonlinear function of a continuous actor's phenotype y and the average phenotype z in its social environment requires w(y, z) to be differentiable (as a function of two variables, i.e., jointly in y and z). This means that even if w(y, z) is non-linear globally, locally it must be close to linear, meaning that its graph must be well approximated by a plane. When more than two individuals interact, this assumption is only satisfied when the marginal fitness of the actor is a linear function of the fraction of individuals in its social environment that share its phenotype. This assumption sometimes fails for biologically important fitness functions, for instance in microbial data and the theory of repeated n-person games. In these cases, the Taylor-Frank methodology cannot be used, and a more general form of direct fitness must replace it, to decide when a social mutant allele can invade a monomorphic population.


Large-scale cloud computing systems have served as the fundamental supporting platform for big data, Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence applications for the past decade. With the scale and complexity of these systems increasing dramatically, various hardware and software failures will inevitably occur and may not be detected and repaired in a timely manner. Besides, sophisticated architectural features of cloud computing may also have an adverse impact on system reliability. In response to these challenges, this paper proposes a simulation-driven framework based on real cloud computing system operation logs for improving failure tolerance in large-scale cloud computing systems. For a given cloud computing system, we first conduct a systematic analysis of its structure and operation characteristics. A Markov-based model is used to examine the system's potential failures, assess their severities, and suggest quick recoveries. During this process, the proposed reliability-aware resource scheduling algorithm is adopted to optimize resources so that the system's reliability can be improved cost-effectively. We also report a case study to demonstrate the application of our algorithm in improving failure tolerance of a large-scale cloud computing system.


authors rightly sound a warning against too literal an interpretation of words in the Act which appear to sanction post-mortem examination to establish the cause of death when this is not known, which would clearly be an infringement of the coroner's jurisdiction. On pages 55 and 63 the importance of seeing a body after death before giving a certificate of cause of death is stressed; thousands of certificates every year are signed without the doctor satisfying himself that death has occurred. Those who are strangers to The Disposal of the Dead will find it encyclopredic in its information on the law and practice of burial, cremation, exhumation, funeral rites of different religious sects and transport of bodies at home and abroad. There is a long section on the technique of embalming. It is of interest to note the rise in the percentage of cremations in England and Wales from 17% in 1952 to 34% in 1960. There is also an interesting description of the removal of a volume of Rosetti's poems from his wife's coffin. This book is of inestimable value to coroners, funeral directors and those who have to deal with the dead. Doctors in general practice will find an answer to many questions which may confront them. It is accurate, carefully written and revised and must now be regarded as a classic. GAVIN THURSTON.


Numerous space-borne X-band Synthetic Aperture Radars (X-SAR) systems will be launched by European agencies in the coming decade commencing this year. Those X-SARs can measure precipitation over land, thereby significantly augmenting the sensors that comprise the Global Precipitation Mission (GPM). This will incur relatively little incremental cost because they have already been funded. X-SAR measurements are especially beneficial over land where rainfall is difficult to measure by means of microwave radiometers that depend on scattering by frozen hydrometeors associated with that rain. The improved horizontal resolution of the retrievals will match the higher spatial resolution of mesoscale and general circulation models that will become available in the coming decade.


The existing nuclear power plants in the United States (U.S.) have a vital role in providing carbon-free electricity. However, these existing plants are being economically challenged due to changes in the U.S. energy market. In order for the existing nuclear power plant fleet to remain economically viable, a significant digital transformation that fundamentally changes the way in which these plants are operated, maintained, and supported ought to be seriously considered. Adopting advanced digital technologies is an important element of the digital transformation, and includes adding new automation capabilities like control automation, computer-based procedures (CBPs), advanced alarms, decision support, and digital human-system interfaces (HSIs). Moreover, safe and effective adoption of automation requires addressing human and technology integration considerations that come along with making significant changes to the existing plants' concept of operation. For example, task responsibilities are likely to change for control room operators to a more supervisory role; crew coordination may be impacted from the use of automation, digital HSIs, and associated capabilities that are available from a modern control system. This work describes important considerations and challenges that come with function allocation for the adoption of new automation at existing nuclear power plants, based on continuing research from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program. Specifically, this work reviews the state-of-the-art in function allocation guidance within the U.S. nuclear industry along, identifies current challenges in interpreting and applying this guidance within the context of making significant modifications to existing plants, and identifies emerging methods that may support function allocation for these cases based on a review of the literature combined with ongoing discussions with a utility partner. An objective of this work is to raise awareness of these current challenges and proposed approaches to the human factors community to support future research and development that ultimately supports the effective use of function allocation in the digital transformation of existing nuclear power plants.


Adaptive threshold estimation procedures sample close to a subject's perceptual threshold by dynamically adapting the stimulation based on the subject's performance. Yet, perceptual thresholds not only depend on the observers' sensory capabilities but also on any bias in terms of their expectations and response preferences, thus distorting the precision of the threshold estimates. Using the framework of signal detection theory (SDT), independent estimates of both, an observer's sensitivity and internal processing bias can be delineated from threshold estimates. While this approach is commonly available for estimation procedures engaging the method of constant stimuli (MCS), correction procedures for adaptive methods (AM) are only scarcely applied. In this article, we introduce a new AM that takes individual biases into account, and that allows for a bias-corrected assessment of subjects' sensitivity. This novel AM is validated with simulations and compared to a typical MCS-procedure, for which the implementation of bias correction has been previously demonstrated. Comparing AM and MCS demonstrates the viability of the presented AM. Besides its feasibility, the results of the simulation reveal both, advantages, and limitations of the proposed AM. The procedure has considerable practical implications, in particular for the design of shaping procedures in sensory training experiments, in which task difficulty has to be constantly adapted to an observer's performance, to improve training efficiency.


Multihop time reservation using adaptive control for energy efficiency (MH-TRACE) is a distributed MAC protocol for energy efficient real-time packet broadcasting in a multihop radio network. In MH-TRACE, the network is dynamically partitioned into clusters without using any global information except global clock synchronization. The clustering algorithm is simple and robust enough to ensure that the gain from clustering is much higher than the clustering overhead, even in the presence of node mobility. In MH-TRACE, time is organized into superframes, which consist of several time frames. Each cluster chooses a frame for transmitting control packets and for the transmission of data from nodes in the cluster. However, each node in the network can receive all the desired packets in its receive range without any restriction based on the formed clusters. Each node learns about future data transmissions in its receive range from information summarization (IS) packets sent prior to data transmission by each transmitting node. Therefore, each node creates its own listening cluster and receives the packets it wants. By avoiding energy dissipation for receiving unwanted data packets or for waiting in idle mode, MH-TRACE guarantees the network to be highly energy efficient. Furthermore, since data transmission is contention free, the throughput of MH-TRACE is better than the throughput of CSMA type protocols under high traffic loads.


Knowledge-Intensive Visual Question Answering (KI-VQA) refers to answering a question about an image whose answer does not lie in the image. This paper presents a new pipeline for KI-VQA tasks, consisting of a retriever and a reader. First, we introduce DEDR, a symmetric dual encoding dense retrieval framework in which documents and queries are encoded into a shared embedding space using uni-modal (textual) and multi-modal encoders. We introduce an iterative knowledge distillation approach that bridges the gap between the representation spaces in these two encoders. Extensive evaluation on two well-established KI-VQA datasets, i.e., OK-VQA and FVQA, suggests that DEDR outperforms state-of-the-art baselines by 11.6% and 30.9% on OK-VQA and FVQA, respectively. Utilizing the passages retrieved by DEDR, we further introduce MM-FiD, an encoder-decoder multi-modal fusion-in-decoder model, for generating a textual answer for KI-VQA tasks. MM-FiD encodes the question, the image, and each retrieved passage separately and uses all passages jointly in its decoder. Compared to competitive baselines in the literature, this approach leads to 5.5% and 8.5% improvements in terms of question answering accuracy on OK-VQA and FVQA, respectively.


Technological improvements in memory systems in the '70s are expected to have a significant impact on computer organization. The expected advances will result in associative memories at reasonable cost, small-capacity random-access memories at low cost, and mass memories with greatly reduced access time. Possible implications or effects of each of these advances on the organization or design of future computer systems are identified.


Eta Carinae is one of the most massive and luminous stars in the Galaxy. A huge bipolar nebula and an equatorial disk give the object a characteristic shape. Close to the star there are gas clouds, which emit intriguing emission line spectra. One such region, the strontium filament, is studied in more detail in this thesis, and the identities of 600 emission lines are reported. Some of these require extra treatment, viz. allowed and forbidden lines of Ti II and Sr II. Many thin astrophysical plasmas emit parity-forbidden lines, which can be used to diagnose the plasma. The upper levels of these lines are metastable states, which have radiative lifetimes of the order of 1 second compared to 1 nanosecond for ordinary states. We have performed measurements of metastable lifetimes in complex ions applying a laser probing technique on a stored ion beam at the storage ring CRYRING (MSL, Stockholm). This thesis reports on 4 lifetimes in Fe II and 2 in Ti II, the first measured in such complex systems. The lifetimes are in the range 0.23 to 28 s. Experimental absolute transition probabilities for forbidden lines in [Fe II] are derived by combining the experimental metastable lifetimes with astrophysical branching fractions (BF). The BF's are derived from spectra of the Weigelt blobs of Eta Carinae, which contain strong forbidden [Fe II] lines. In some stars the intensity of emission lines from specific high-excitation levels is greatly enhanced. They are explained as fluoresence lines from energy levels, which have an enhanced population due to selective photoexcitation. This is caused by an accidental coincidence in wavelength between a strong emission line and the pumped transition. We report on fluorescence lines and pumped levels in Fe II observed in the symbiotic star RR Telescopii.


A propos : N. Ferguson, C. Maier, E. Manela and D. Sargent, eds., The Shock of the Global : The 1970s in Perspective, Harvard University Press, 2010


Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) often coexists with major depression (MD), with rates varying from 35 to 75%. The nature of the depressive symptomatology can be investigated by familial aggregation analysis, assuming that the disorder which occurs first is the one showing greater genetic liability and should have higher familial concentration. Therefore, the aim of our study was to assess the familial loading for OCD and mood disorders in the families of OCD patients with different chronology of onset for the mood disorder, to evaluate how the familial pattern of the diseases differs with different temporal sequences in which the two syndromes occur. A total of 172 OCD patients entered the study; 112 were pure OCD probands, 12 were unable to separate the onset of the two syndromes, 11 had prior mood disorder, and 37 of them had experienced their first depressive episodes after the onset of OCD. Information about the family history was collected by means of the Family History-Research Diagnostic Criteria (FH-RDC) and by directly interviewing at least 2 relatives per family. Morbidity risks for OCD indicate a familial concentration of the disorder in all groups, except the MD/OCD group. We found the highest rate of relatives affected by mood disorders in the families of patients with first onset of MD (28.8%), whereas in the other 3 groups MRs were much lower. These results suggest the affective nature of OCD patients who experienced first onset of MD. Thus, the chronology of onset seems to identify 2 different typologies of familial distribution.


The effect of 14 natural and synthetic naphthoquinones in the replication of Toxoplasma gondii was evaluated. In vitro studies were accomplished in cultures of 2C4 fibroblasts infected with RH-strain. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to quantify parasite growth. For the studies in vivo, mice were infected with tachyzoites of the RH strain or cysts of the T. gondii EGS strain. In vitro, seven naphthoquinones demonstrated significant inhibition of intracellular T. gondii growth at concentrations of 1 and 5 micrograms/ml. Only three compounds were significantly protective when tested in animals: 2-hydroxy-3'-(3'-pentenyl)-1,4-naphthoquinone (PHNQ4), 2-hydroxy-3-(1'-vinylphenyl)-1,4-naphthoquinone (PHNQ5), and 2-hydroxy-3-(1'-propen-3'-phenyl)-1,4-naphthoquinone (PHNQ6). In animals infected with the EGS strain and treated with PHNQ4 (50 mg/kg/day orally), a 7-day prolongation of the time to death was observed. Treatment with 100 mg/kg/day orally or 50 mg/kg/day i.p. of PHNQ5 resulted in a 5-day and 16-day prolongation of the time to death, respectively. Treatment with 50 mg/kg/day orally or 50 mg/kg/day i.p. of PHNQ6 resulted in a 4-day prolongation of the time to death or up to 30 days after treatment, respectively. Our results suggest that the naphthoquinones may be important therapeutic agents for the treatment of toxoplasmosis.


HANARO, a multi-purpose research reactor, 30 MWth open-tank-in-pool type, is planning to produce a fission moly-99 of radio isotopes, a mother nuclide of Tc-99m, a medical isotope and a target handling tool is under development for loading and unloading it in a circular flow tube (OR-5) of HANARO. A guide tube is extended from the reactor core to the top of the reactor chimney for easily loading the target under a normal operation of the reactor. But active coolant through the core can be quickly raised up to the top of the chimney through the guide tube. The jet flow was suppressed in the guide tube after reducing the inner diameter of a flow restriction orifice installed in the OR-5 flow tube for adding the pressure difference in the flow tube. This paper describes an analytical analysis to calculate the flow distribution in the core of HANARO after suppressing the jet flow of the guide tube. As results, it was confirmed through the analysis results that the flow distribution in the core of HANARO were not adversely affected.


Open access (OA) publishing model fosters growth of research and development activities in academic and research institutes. The study identifies the major OA initiatives in India. It was found that 105 Indian repositories are listed in the Registry of Open Access Repositories (ROAR), constituting 3% of the total. The top 10 countries collectively produced 1,146,187 (63.4%) OA papers. Brazil has the maximum share of publications, 335,590 (18.6%), followed by United Kingdom 193,309 (10.7%), United States 115,078 (6.4%), India 94,156 (5.2%). India publishes 595 OA journals and is ranked fourth in the world. The maximum OA journals are on medicine and majority of journals are in English 584 (97.8%). Indian researchers have been ranked eighth in research publications with 351 (3.6%) papers. Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is the leading institution in publishing research on OA. s, Arunachalam, from M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai is the most prolific Indian author publishing research on OA with 10 (2.8%) papers.


With the advent of cloud and container technologies, enterprises develop applications using a microservices architecture, managed by orchestration systems (e.g. Kubernetes), that group the microservices into clusters. As the number of application setups across multiple clusters and different clouds is increasing, technologies that enable communication and service discovery between the clusters are emerging (mainly as part of the Cloud Native ecosystem). In such a multi-cluster setting, copies of the same microservice may be deployed in different geo-locations, each with different cost and latency penalties. Yet, current service selection and load balancing mechanisms do not take into account these locations and corresponding penalties. We present MCOSS, a novel solution for optimizing the service selection, given a certain microservice deployment among clouds and clusters in the system. Our solution is agnostic to the different multi-cluster networking layers, cloud vendors, and discovery mechanisms used by the operators. Our simulations show a reduction in outbound traffic cost by up to 72% and response time by up to 64%, compared to the currently-deployed service selection mechanisms.


Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most aggressive types of cancer and lacks effective therapeutic approaches. Most HCC develops in the setting of chronic liver injury, hepatic inflammation, and fibrosis. Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are key players in liver fibrogenesis and hepatocarcinogenesis, respectively. CAFs, which probably derive from HSCs, activate into extracellular matrix (ECM)-producing myofibroblasts and crosstalk with cancer cells to affect tumor growth and invasion. In this review, we describe the different components which form the HCC premalignant microenvironment (PME) and the tumor microenvironment (TME), focusing on the liver fibrosis process and the biology of CAFs. We will describe the CAF-dependent mechanisms which have been suggested to promote hepatocarcinogenesis, such as the alteration of ECM, CAF-dependent production of cytokines and angiogenic factors, CAF-dependent reduction of immuno-surveillance, and CAF-dependent promotion of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). New knowledge of the fibrosis process and the role of CAFs in HCC may pave the way for new therapeutic strategies for liver cancer.


Predictions of perturbative QCD (pQCD) for the inclusive production of direct photons and mesons at high pT have been tested using new high-statistics measurements from Fermilab experiment E706. Inclusive π0 and direct-γ cross sections in the kinematic range 3.5<pT<12 GeV/c with central rapidities have been measured for 530 and 800 GeV/c proton beams and a 515 GeV/c π− beam incident on a Be target. Current Next-to-Leading Log (NLL) pQCD calculations fail to describe the data for usual choices of scales. Other aspects of the data indicate the presence of a substantial initial state parton transverse momentum (kT) in the hard scattering. Incorporating a kinematic model of kT effects improves the agreement between the calculations and the observed cross sections. Gluon distributions are extracted from Deep Inelastic Scattering (DIS), Drell-Yan (DY), and our direct photon data using fitting procedures similar to those used by the CTEQ collaboration; calculations using these new pdf fits yield jet cross sectio...


3,4-Bis(methoxycarbonyl)-1,2-dithiete (6), 3,4,7,8-tetrakis(methoxycarbonyl)-1,2,5,6-tetrathiocin (8), and (Z,Z,Z,Z)-3,4,7,8,11,12,15,16-octakis(methoxycarbonyl)-1,2,5,6,9,10,13,14-octathiacyclohexadeca-3,7,11,15-tetraene (9) were synthesized by oxidation of titanocene dithiolene complex 4 with sulfuryl chloride, and the crystal structures of 6 and 8 were characterized by X-ray crystallographic analysis which revealed planar and twist geometries, respectively. Tetrathiocin 1, 11, and 12, and 16-membered cyclic compound 3 were also obtained by oxidation of the corresponding dithiolate or dithiolene complex. Dithiete 6 underwent tetramerization selectively to give 16-membered cyclic product 9 even at room temperature. Ring conversion reactions also proceeded among the 4-, 8-, and 16-membered unsaturated cyclic compounds possessing disulfide bonds under various conditions, such as in polar solvent or in the presence of silica gel. The ring-size selectivity of these ring conversion reactions was studied using...


Aims: To perform an economic analysis of government-funded universal rotavirus vaccination in Hong Kong from the government's perspective. Methods: A Markov model of costs and effects (disability averted) associated with universal vaccination was compared with no vaccination. In both strategies, newborns were studied until 5 years of age or until they died, using cost, probability and utility data from the literature. The potential cost savings and cost effectiveness of vaccination were calculated and their sensitivities to changes in vaccine and health care costs, presumed decline in vaccine efficacy over time, and the use of discounting and age weights were determined. Results: Depending on assumptions, the new rotavirus vaccines would be cost saving to the Hong Kong Government if they cost less than US$40–92 per course. Higher vaccine costs would quickly lead to an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio exceeding that of the gross national product per capita if the mortality rate of rotavirus gastroenteritis remained at zero. Conclusions: Based on 2002 demographic, cost and morbidity data and reasonable uncertainty estimates of these variables, a universal rotavirus vaccination programme paid for by the Hong Kong Government is cost neutral at a per course vaccine cost of US$40–92. For a fixed vaccine cost, the potential savings and cost effectiveness of the vaccine increase with higher estimated health care costs and vice versa.


People's preferences for urban parks are influenced by the spatial and contextual characteristics of spaces, where landscapes form the main body of parks. The present study examined women's preferences for landscape spatial quality indicators (including coherence, mystery, complexity, legibility, prospect, and refuge) in two urban parks. Also, the study explored the impact of socio-economic variables such as age, income, and education on women's preferences. In this spirit, a photo survey was conducted among 178 women as park users in Tabriz in 2017. Descriptive analysis, factor analysis, and comparison tests such as one-way ANOVA were used to analyze the data. Based on the results, the highest preferences were for mystery, complexity, and prospect. The results also revealed that the preference for landscape spatial quality indicators (LSQIs) varies among different age groups, education levels, and income statuses, where middle-aged women show the highest preference toward all of the LSQIs. Similarly, perception of and preference for landscape were seen to increase with education level, with less educated women demonstrating the lowest preferences for LSQIs in a park environment. Also, women with low and high income levels had the highest preference for mystery, complexity, and prospect of LSQIs. The population of middle-aged residents is increasing, which renders it necessary for special attention to be paid to understanding their opinions and demands for public spaces, such as landscape quality. It was likewise confirmed that users' characteristics should be taken into account in planting design, particularly its spatial configurations in urban parks.


The neurotransmitters gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) and nitric oxide (NO) play a role in maintaining the larval state in the eastern mud snail, Nassarius obsoletus, but how GABAergic and nitrergic neurons are organized in the neural circuit that controls metamorphosis is unknown. Because of previous work by other members of my laboratory, I hypothesized that GABAergic neurons would be upstream from the nitrergic ones. Larval N. obsoletus were exposed to various combinations of GABAergic and nitrergic compounds in bath application and the resulting numbers of metamorphosed individuals were counted after 24 and 48 hours.. I performed multiple sets of experiments and while some indicated that GABAergic neurons were upstream from nitrergic ones the data as a whole did not reveal a clear organizational scheme to this pathway, so I suggest instead that GABA and NO may function in separate pathways to influence the onset of metamorphosis.


This work deals with the provision of underground, as one of the main modes of public transport, with automated control systems, in particular the provision of automated train management. It defines that the underground is one of the most progressive modes of transport, which is related to its environmental safety, comfort, and speed of movement, as this mode of transport does not intersect with other transport and pedestrian routes, which excludes traffic blocks. Underground is an important element of urbanized spaces, for it serves large passenger traffic. The article presents an algorithm for the creation of an automated control system for the underground train system. Based on this algorithm, a model of building an organizational and economic mechanism for automation of control systems has been developed. The diagram of organizational and technical implementation of the automated system of underground train management is presented. An economic analysis of the effectiveness of the application of the automated control system of underground trains was carried out. The recoupment on the acquisition and installation of automation systems is very high. The application of the automated system will increase the capacity of the underground by optimizing the traffic schedules, which will contribute to increasing its profitability. It is also useful to determine the reduction of electricity consumption due to the change in the dynamics of acceleration and braking systems, which is important, as the underground is a powerful enterprise. In the future, a promising direction is to streamline the coordination of train schedules and other modes of land public transport.


As Deloria indicates in the opening lines of his essay, the dominant paradigm of racism in the 1960s reflected the popularly held belief that racism was an individual phenomena. Consequently. if racist individuals were confronted and curtailed or converted, the argument concluded, then discrimination would come to an end. However, history has shown us that we can have racist institutions without having racist individuals. For instance, our education institutions perpetuate racial, as well as sex, inequality. Yet it is possible for every member of such an institution to be non-racist, as well as non-sexist.


Bioaerosols often contain human pathogens and allergens affecting public health. However, relatively little attention has been given to bioaerosols compared with non-biological aerosols. In this study, we aimed to identify bioaerosol compositions in Manchester, UK by applying high throughput sequencing methods and to find potential sources. Samples were collected at Manchester Air Quality Super Site at the Firs Environmental Research Station in November 2019 and in February 2020. Total DNA has been extracted and sequenced targeting the 16S rRNA gene of prokaryotes, ITS region of fungal DNA and 18S rRNA gene of eukaryotes. We found marine environment-associated bacteria and archaea were relatively more abundant in the February 2020 samples compared with the November 2019 samples, consistent with the North West marine origin based on wind back-trajectory analysis. In contrast, an OTU belonging to Methylobacterium, which includes many species resistant to heavy metals, was relatively more abundant in November 2019 when there were higher metal concentrations. Fungal taxa that fruit all year were relatively more abundant in the February 2020 samples while autumn fruiting species generally had higher relative abundance in the November 2019 samples. There were higher relative abundances of land plants and algae in the February 2020 samples based on 18S rRNA gene sequencing. One of the OTUs belonging to the coniferous yew genus Taxus was more abundant in the February 2020 samples agreeing with the usual pollen season of yews in the UK which is from mid-January until late April. The result from this study suggests a potential application of bioaerosol profiling for tracing the source of atmospheric particles.


This paper proposes a novel power flow algorithm for islanded hybrid AC/DC microgrids. The algorithm is based on a recursive (non-iterative) method called the holomorphic embedding load flow method. The convergence properties of this method are more favorable than other iterative-based techniques such as Newton Raphson. The proposed power flow algorithm accounts for the special characteristics of hybrid microgrids by developing new holomorphically embedded versions for the DG droop characteristics on both the AC and DC microgrid as well as the interlinking AC/DC converter droop characteristics. The proposed approach is tested on two systems and in the presence of multiple interlinking systems. For each case, the results from the proposed algorithm are compared to detailed time-domain simulations performed using PSCAD/EMTDC to validate the accuracy of the proposed algorithm.


OBJECTIVE
To identify the influence of age on nailfold capillary dimensions in children between 6 and 15 years.

METHODS
Capillary density (the number of capillaries in a 3 mm length of the distal row) and capillary dimensions were measured in 110 healthy children using the technique of nailfold video microscopy. The age groups studied were as follows: 6 to 7 years (17 children), 8 to 9 years (15 children), 10 to 11 years (34 children), 12 to 13 years (24 children), and 14 to 15 years (20 children).

RESULTS
There was a significant trend for the arterial and venous diameters to rise with age. However, this trend was not present for apical or loop diameters, nor for the capillary density. Results did not differ between males and females.

CONCLUSION
In studies incorporating capillary dimensions in children, results should ideally be age adjusted, and dimensions should not be categorized as normal or abnormal without taking the child's age into account.


The heritable forms of keratinization disorders, including various forms of ichthyosis and keratodermas, comprise a phenotypically heterogeneous group of diseases which can be divided into syndromic and non-syndromic forms. In the non-syndromic forms, the clinical manifestations are limited to the cutaneous structures while the syndromic ones are associated with a spectrum of extracutaneous manifestations. The inheritance in different families can be autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive or either X-linked dominant or recessive. Currently at least 67 distinct genes have been associated with different forms of ichthyosis. These genes can be grouped on the basis of their physiological involvement, including genes encoding structural components of epidermis, those involved in epidermal lipid metabolism, or those critical for cell-cell adhesion, and keratinocyte differentiation. This overview highlights some of the recent progress made in understanding the molecular genetics of keratinization disorders, and presents selected, recently characterized cases as representative of different forms of heritable ichthyosis.


OBJECTIVE
To study the feasibility and rationale of using a generalized regression neural network model integrated with multiple disease indicators for diagnosing alcoholic liver disease (ALD).

METHODS
ALD indicators were identified by reviewing the clinical testing results of 40 ALD patients from the literature and 135 patients from the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, who were also classified by physician experts upon clinical consultation. Seven indicators were selected as diagnosis indexes and applied to a general regression neural network diagnostic model. Thirty-four of the reported patients and 120 of the clinical patients were selected for use as training samples to establish the indicator recognition pattern for the model, and the remaining six and 15 patients from the two respective groups were selected for use as testing samples to determine the model's diagnostic ability.

RESULTS
The model provided a correct diagnosis of ALD sub-classification for 94.1% (32/34) of the reported patients and 100% (120/120) of the clinical patients in the training set. The correct diagnosis rates achieved with the training sets were 100% for both the reported patient group (6/6) and the clinical patient group (15/15), indicating that the results of the diagnostic model were in good agreement with the ALD classifications generated by the clinical expert consultations.

CONCLUSION
The general regression neural network model based on multiple indicators of ALD is capable of providing accurate and comprehensive diagnosis of ALD and may be feasible for clinical applications.


This research presents a systematic approach to evaluating the costs of integrating new generation and operational procedures into an existing power system, and the methodology is independent of the type of change or nature of the generation. The work was commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy and performed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to investigate three integration cost-related questions: (1) How does the addition of new generation affect a system's operational costs, (2) How do generation mix and operating parameters and procedures affect costs, and (3) How does the amount of variable generation (non-dispatchable wind and solar) impact the accuracy of natural gas orders? A detailed operational analysis was performed for seven sets of experiments: variable generation, large conventional generation, generation mix, gas prices, fast-start generation, self-scheduling, and gas supply constraints. For each experiment, four components of integration costs were examined: cycling costs, non-cycling VO&M costs, fuel costs, and reserves provisioning costs. The investigation was conducted with PLEXOS production cost modeling software utilizing an updated version of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 118-bus test system overlaid with projected operating loads from the Western Electricity Coordinating Council for the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, Puget Sound Energy, andmore » Public Service Colorado in the year 2020. The test system was selected in consultation with an industry-based technical review committee to be a reasonable approximation of an interconnection yet small enough to allow the research team to investigate a large number of scenarios and sensitivity combinations. The research should prove useful to market designers, regulators, utilities, and others who want to better understand how system changes can affect production costs.« less


The traffic bottleneck plays a key role in most of the natural and artificial network. Here we present a simply model for bottleneck dynamical characteristics consideration the reliability on the complex network by taking into account the network topology characteristics and system size. We find that there is a critical rate of flow generation below which the network traffic is free but above which traffic congestion occurs. Also, it is found that random networks have larger critical flow generating rate than scale free ones. Analytical results may be practically useful for designing networks, especially for the urban traffic network.


The purpose of the research - is the determination of the directions of innovative and investment development of Azerbaijan's transport system and its development problems.

The methodology of the research - Analysis and synthesis, as well as induction and deduction methods were used in the preparation of the work. Thus, through the method of analysis, the topic was taken as a whole and then divided into chapters and analyzed separately. Later, by synthesis method, these chapters were concentrated in the economic system. Through the method of induction, economic facts about the research work were obtained, systematized and investigated. Then, through the use of the deduction method, both theoretical conclusions and general principles, in short, important recommendations for practical activity, were determined based on those obtained facts.

The results of the research - as a result of the research, selection of appropriate strategy, innovative directions, management and regulation system are proposed for organizing the transport system at a modern level of innovation activity.

The practical importance and scientific novelty of the research - the main scientific innovation of the research work consists of the following:

- The necessity of implementing the state policy in the direction of determining the characteristic features of the transport system is comprehensively studied;

- The main characteristics of management in the transport system are determined;

- The importance of the role played by the systematic approach in the management of the transport system is analyzed;

- The main directions of state support for the sustainable development of the transport system are identified and comprehensively analyzed.


An innovative approach to automatic "soft" docking of a spacecraft with a space station (or with another spacecraft) is proposed, using a computer vision system where a camera is rigidly fixed to the spacecraft as a position and orientation measurement device. The emphasis in this paper is on the spacecraft guidance and control loops, which make use of position and orientation estimates obtained by the computer vision system. A simple guidance plan provides the desired input commands to keep the camera always pointed at the space station and to perform control of the spacecraft range. Theoretical properties of the control loops, under ideal assumptions, are described. Integration of the computer vision and control loops into a complete docking system and performance analysis of the complete docking system are considered elsewhere.


Introduction Team-based, interprofessional approaches to outpatient care are critical to high-quality patient care. However, few specific educational interventions promoting these skills in graduate level health care trainees have been described to date. Methods University of Minnesota faculty from the Schools of Medicine, Pharmacy, and Nursing created an interprofessional workshop experience exploring core concepts in outpatient care for graduate level trainees in pediatrics, family medicine, medicine-pediatrics, internal medicine, graduate-level nursing, and pharmacy. We focused on four key content areas: teamwork, systems thinking, the patient-centered health care home, and patient-centered communication. The workshop included brief didactics, role-plays, team-based experiences, and interactive skill practice. Participants completed an end-of-day survey reflecting on knowledge and attitude. Results From 2014–2017, nine workshops reached 305 trainees. Survey results from the 2015–2016 academic year are representative of our overall results and revealed that learners found the content high yield, and that they valued the opportunity to learn with their interprofessional colleagues. Improvements in perceived knowledge were noted in all domains. Trainees also reported increased skills, with 81% reporting both increased confidence in working within the interprofessional team, and change in attitude, and 90% reporting increased interest in working with their interprofessional colleagues after the workshop. Discussion Creating an opportunity for postgraduate level trainees from a variety of disciplines and professions to convene and focus on interprofessional team-based skills can fill a gap in interprofessional learning as they enter practice. Trainees were able to draw on their everyday experiences and find common ground with their interprofessional colleagues.