The amount of digital information produced and consumed is increasing each day. This rapid growth is motivated by the advances in computing power, hardware technologies, and the popularization of user generated content networks. New hardware is able to process larger quantities of data, which permits to obtain finer results, and as a consequence more data is generated. In this respect, scientific applications have evolved benefiting from the new hardware capabilities. This type of application is characterized by requiring large amounts of information as input, generating a significant amount of intermediate data resulting in large files. This increase not only appears in terms of volume, but also in terms of size, we need to provide methods that permit a efficient and reliable data access mechanism. Producing such a method is a challenging task due to the amount of aspects involved. However, we can leverage the knowledge found in social networks to improve the distribution process. In this respect, the advent of the Web 2.0 has popularized the concept of social network, which provides valuable knowledge about the relationships among users, and the users with the data. However, extracting the knowledge and defining ways to actively use it to increase the performance of a system remains an open research direction. Additionally, we must also take into account other existing limitations. In particular, the interconnection between different elements of the system is one of the key aspects. The availability of new technologies such as the mass-production of multicore chips, large storage media, better sensors, etc. contributed to the increase of data being produced. However, the underlying interconnection technologies have not improved with the same speed as the others. This leads to a situation where vast amounts of data can be produced and need to be consumed by a large number of geographically distributed users, but the interconnection between both ends does not match the required needs. In this thesis, we address the problem of efficient and reliable data distribution in a geographically distributed systems. In this respect, we focus on providing a solution that 1) optimizes the use of existing resources, 2) does not requires changes in the underlying interconnection, and 3) provides fault-tolerant capabilities. In order to achieve this objectives, we define a generic data distribution architecture composed of three main components: community detection module, transfer scheduling module, and distribution controller. The community detection module leverages the information found in the social network formed by the users requesting files and produces a set of virtual communities grouping entities with similar interests. The transfer scheduling module permits to produce a plan to efficiently distribute all requested files improving resource utilization. For this purpose, we model the distribution problem using linear programming and offer a method to permit a distributed solving of the problem. Finally, the distribution controller manages the distribution process using the aforementioned schedule, controls the available server infrastructure, and launches new on-demand resources when necessary.


We purified two isozymes of coniferyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CADH I and II) to homogeneity from cell-free extracts of Streptomyces sp. NL15-2K. The apparent molecular masses of CADH I and II were determined to be 143 kDa and 151 kDa respectively by gel filtration, whereas their subunit molecular masses were determined to be 35,782.2 Da and 37,597.7 Da respectively by matrix-assisted laser-desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). Thus, it is probable that both isozymes are tetramers. The optimum pH and temperature for coniferyl alcohol dehydrogenase activity were pH 9.5 and 45 °C for CADH I and pH 8.5 and 40 °C for CADH II. CADH I oxidized various aromatic alcohols and allyl alcohol, and was most efficient on cinnamyl alcohol, whereas CADH II exhibited high substrate specificity for coniferyl alcohol, and showed no activity as to the other alcohols, except for cinnamyl alcohol and 3-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1-propanol. In the presence of NADH, CADH I and II reduced cinnamaldehyde and coniferyl aldehyde respectively to the corresponding alcohols.


We have evaluated whether sequence polymorphisms in the rRNA intergenic spacer region can be used to study the relatedness of two subspecies of Trypanosoma brucei. Thirteen T. brucei isolates made up of 6 T. b. brucei and 7 T. b. gambiense were analyzed using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). By PCR-based restriction mapping of the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 ribosomal repeat unit, we found a fingerprint pattern that separately identifies each of the two subspecies analyzed, with unique restriction fragments observed in all but 1 of the T. b. gambiense "human" isolates. Interestingly, the restriction profile for a virulent group 2 T. b. gambiense human isolate revealed an unusual RFLP pattern different from the profile of other human isolates. Sequencing data from four representatives of each of the two subspecies indicated that the intergenic spacer region had a conserved ITS-1 and a variable 5.8S with unique transversions, insertions, or deletions. The ITS-2 regions contained a single repeated element at similar positions in all isolates examined, but not in 2 of the human isolates. A unique 4-bp [C(3)A] sequence was found within the 5.8S region of human T. b. gambiense isolates. Phylogenetic analysis of the data suggests that their common ancestor was a nonhuman animal pathogen and that human pathogenicity might have evolved secondarily. Our data show that cryptic species within the T. brucei group can be distinguished by differences in the PCR-RFLP profile of the rDNA repeat.


The control of food quality, using the analysis of essential and toxic element contents, assumes an urgent importance within the regions that suffered from the Chernobyl disaster. Instrumental neutron activation analysis was used to study contents of 17 chemical elements (calcium, chlorine, cobalt, chromium, cesium, iron, mercury, potassium, magnesium, manganese, sodium, rubidium, antimony, scandium, selenium, strontium, and zinc) in foods within the south and southwest territories of the Kaluga Region that was exposed to radionuclide contamination. The radionuclide contamination ranges up to 15 Ci/km2 there. Flesh and meat products, dairy products, bread, vegetables, legumes, roots, fruits, and mushrooms were analyzed. The concentration of essential and toxic elements in the different foods were in the normal ranges.


Purpose Supervised machine learning (ML) provides a compelling alternative to traditional model fitting for parameter mapping in quantitative MRI. The aim of this work is to demonstrate and quantify the effect of different training strategies on the accuracy and precision of parameter estimates when supervised ML is used for fitting. Methods We fit a two-compartment biophysical model to diffusion measurements from in-vivo human brain, as well as simulated diffusion data, using both traditional model fitting and supervised ML. For supervised ML, we train several artificial neural networks, as well as random forest regressors, on different distributions of ground truth parameters. We compare the accuracy and precision of parameter estimates obtained from the different estimation approaches using synthetic test data. Results When the distribution of parameter combinations in the training set matches those observed in similar data sets, we observe high precision, but inaccurate estimates for atypical parameter combinations. In contrast, when training data is sampled uniformly from the entire plausible parameter space, estimates tend to be more accurate for atypical parameter combinations but may have lower precision for typical parameter combinations. Conclusion This work highlights the need to consider the choice of training data when deploying supervised ML for estimating microstructural metrics, as performance depends strongly on the training-set distribution. We show that high precision obtained using ML may mask strong bias, and visual assessment of the parameter maps is not sufficient for evaluating the quality of the estimates.


Purpose: Physical fitness has shown to be positively related with young people's general mental health, mainly due to the changes in body composition derived from a regular sportive practice. Thus, the aim of this study was three-fold: 1) to analyze the relationship between physical fitness with the mental health status assessed as physical self-concept and self-esteem, 2) to study whether self-esteem offers longitudinal relationships with physical fitness three months after the first assessment, and 3) to know the most implicated variables of physical fitness in mental health variables. Method: A total of 1441 adolescents aged 12 to 19 years (mean=14.52; standard deviation=1.96 years), being the 49.5 % of them girls, from 4 high schools in Andalusia, Spain, participated in the study. The EUROFIT battery test was administered to the participants, as well as some questionaries to assess the physical self-concept and the self-steem. Physical tests and self-concept were assessed in an only temporal point, while self-esteem was analyzed longitudinally. Results: The results obtained indicated that physical self-concept was related to physical fitness, while self-esteem was especially related to the Course Navette test. Conclusions: These results suggest that having great levels of physical fitness, especially related to aerobic endurance, may help to have higher levels of physical self-concept and self-esteem as components of mental health in Spanish adolescents.


The compounds (PhP)3Se2 1 and [{PhPSe(μ-Se)}2] II, prepared by selenium oxidation of the homocycle (PhP)5, react with simple unsaturated organic substrates to give highly unusual P-Se-C-N containing heterocycles.


CL-SPEEK/Cs-TPA/CeO2 composite membrane was prepared for polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE). In order to improve the electrochemical, mechanical, durabilities and electrocatalytic characteristics, engineering plastic of polyether ether ketone (PEEK) as polymer matrix was sulfonated and the organic-inorganic blend composite membranes was prepared by loading cesium-substituted tungstophosphoric acid (Cs-TPA) by titration method with cross-linking agent contents of 0.01mL. Ceria (CeO2) was used to scavenge free radicals which attack the membrane in the PEMWE circumstance and to increase the duration of the membrane. In conclusion, CL-SPEEK/Cs(1)-TPA/Ceria 1% membrane showed the optimum results such as 0.119 S/cm at 80°Cof proton conductivity and 62MPa of tensile strength.


Abstract The role of regulatory T-cells (Treg) and Th17 cells in the progression of multiple myeloma has been unclear. There are conflicting reports of the Treg and Th17 frequency being increased, decreased, and unchanged as compared with controls. In this study, we sought to characterize the T-cell subsets including Treg function in both blood and marrow compartments of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) and multiple myeloma (MM). The Treg/Th17 ratio is skewed toward the suppressive phenotype in MGUS and MM. There are more activated and memory Tregs in the myeloma marrow. Although the myeloma Tregs are functional, they are less suppressive than Tregs in chronic lymphocytic leukemia where they drive disease progression. None of the T-cell subsets were found to have a clinical correlation with time to progression in MGUS or progression-free survival in myeloma. Tregs are important but unlikely major players in the progression of MGUS to MM.


It is not clear whether the psychological disturbances associated with chronic low back pain are the cause or the result of the chronicity. It is also not clear whether increasing duration of low back pain is associated with depression. Three groups of patients (N = 148), with recent (0-6 months), relatively longstanding (6-24 months) and chronic (more than 24 months) low back pain were given the MMPI, Multiple Affect Adjective Check List (MAACL), State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and Low Back Pain Questionnaire (LBPQ). Increasing chronicity is associated with significant increases on MMPI Hs, D, HY, PT and MA scales, and on STAI Trait Anxiety scale. These results suggest that chronicity leads to the development of psychopathological characteristics and that these characteristics include a heightened awareness of somatic functioning and the vegetative aspects of the depressive syndrome, but that there is no increase in depressive mood or in the perception of the pain itself.


We use fuzzy set theory and genetic algorithms to solve the loop flow problem of an interconnected electrical power transmission system. The problem gains importance when an interconnected power transmission system is operated at or close to its power-carrying limits. We handle the constraints and objectives in a fuzzy environment and solve the resulting optimization problem using genetic algorithms. In this paper we present the results of the effects of different fuzzy membership function forms on this problem. The slope of trapezoidal membership function has different effects. We present the effect of exponential membership function, different slopes of a trapezoidal function and that of varying acceptable regions of a trapezoidal function. Tests are applied to IEEE 30 bus system and the results are presented.


Over the last few years, I have attended several political meetings concerned with the refugee crisis, multiculturalism or Indigenous rights in Australia, meetings at which liberal democratic–minded 'left-wing' people came together to discuss, or agitate for change in, governmental policies. At these meetings, I always found it difficult to accept the slogans on their placards and in their speeches: 'Shame Australia! Reconciliation for a united Australia', 'Wake up Australia! We welcome refugees!' or 'True Australians are tolerant! Let's celebrate multicultural Australia!' My uncomfortable feeling came not only from the fact that I was left out because of my Japanese nationality but also because I had never seen or heard words like 'shame Japan', 'wake up Japan' or 'true Japanese are ...' at Japanese 'left-wing' political gatherings. In Japan, these are words used only by right-wing nationalists. Indeed it is difficult to even imagine liberal-left intellectuals in postwar Japan calling for a 'true Japanese' political response (as if such a response was positive), such is the extent to which the idea of 'good nationalism' is now regarded as an oxymoron. This is my starting point for an essay in which I want to be attentive to the different roles played by national(ism) in the Japanese and Australian political environments.


In the modern era of multicore processors, utilizing multiple cores properly is a tedious job. Synchronization and communication among processors involve high cost. Software transaction memory systems (STMs) addresses this issues and provide better concurrency in which programmer need not have to worry about consistency issues. Several big-data applications which deal large amounts of data can benefit from Transactional Memory Systems.
In this paper, we introduce a new STM system as multi-version object based STM (MV-OSTM) which is the fusion of object based STM with multiple versions. As the name suggests MV-OSTM, works on a higher level and keeping the multiple versions corresponding to each key. Presently, we have developed MV-OSTM with the unlimited number of versions corresponding to each key. To overcome traversal overhead, it performs the garbage collection method to delete the unwanted versions corresponding to the key. It provides greater concurrency while reducing the number of aborts. It ensures composability by making the transaction as atomic. In the proposed algorithm, $k$ is the input parameter and the value of it will be decided by the programmer and depends on the application. Programmer can tune the value of $k$ from 1 to $\infty$. If k equal to 1 then it will boil down to single version object based STM (OSTM) and if k equal to $\infty$ then it will be equivalent to multi-version OSTM with $\infty$ versions.
MV-OSTM satisfies correctness-criteria as opacity. For a given version order of keys, if any history H generated by MV-OSTM produces acyclic graph then $H$ is opaque.


In this study a computer program was developed using Visual Basic and Visual LISP programming languages to comprehensively analyze the strength, deformation, vibration, manufacturing, and drawing of a rotating circular stepped shaft. These shafts have a variety of power transmitting mechanical elements (components), such as pairs of gears, and pulleys that are modeled in 3D. In addition, force and moment analyses of these elements running on the shafts were examined. Notch sensitivity and stress concentration factors given graphically were formulated using the finite difference method. Vibration analysis was also included to the software. Furthermore, to select the best rolling‐contact bearings, an expert system requiring the knowledge‐based technique was employed. The user is given the choice of shaft material and other parameters. After saving the data regarding calculated and designed shaft, these data are transferred to the graphical environment for detail drawing and CNC code generation of the shaft. A program, which is called shaft and gear design program, has been developed for this process. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 14: 214–225, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com); DOI 10.1002/cae.20152


Mechanisms of hepatic lactate uptake were studied in the gulf toadfish, Opsanus beta by following the accumulation of [14C]lactate by isolated hepatocytes in vitro. Uptake rates were linear for up to 5 s at external lactate concentrations of 1 and 20 mmol l−1. 5-s uptake rates for several concentrations in the physiological range (i.e. 0.2–20 mmol l−1) yielded a linear double reciprocal plot (1/v vs 1/[lactate]) that passed through the origin. Lactate uptake was not inhibited by known inhibitors of carrier-mediated lactate transport (e.g. 5 mmol l−1 α-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamate; 10 mmol l−1 pyruvate), and was not stereospecific for l-(+)-lactate. These observations indicate that lactate uptake is by passive diffusion in toadfish hepatocytes. Lactate uptake by toadfish hepatocytes further differed from lactate uptake by mammalian tissues in that rates were not altered by changes in either pHe. (6.5–8.0) or [Na+]c (3–151 mmol l−1). Rates of lactate conversion to glucose and CO2 were measured and compared to uptake rates, and it appears that rates of lactate metabolism are not limited by passive diffusion. These results are discussed in relation to rates of lactate uptake and metabolism in mammalian hepatocytes.


A new mechanism of the magnetoelectric effect based on the spin supercurrent is theoretically presented in terms of a microscopic electronic model for noncollinear magnets. The electric polarization P(ij) produced between the two magnetic moments S(i) and S(j) is given by P proportional e(ij) X (S(i) X S(j)) with e(ij) being the unit vector connecting the sites i and j. Applications to the spiral spin structure and the gauge theoretical interpretation are discussed.


In order to investigate the role of digitalis-like substance in patients with essential hypertension, levels of plasma digitalis-like substance were measured in nine normotensive, 12 normal-renin and seven low-renin essential hypertensive subjects. The level of plasma digitalis-like substance was determined by using two different methods, the digoxin radio-immunoassay established by our laboratory and Na+,K+-ATPase inhibitory activity (modified Hamlyn's method). There was a significant positive correlation between plasma immunoreactive digitalis-like substance and Na+,K+-ATPase inhibitory activity in plasma samples. Both values were significantly higher in hypertensives than in normotensives. Moreover, Na+,K+-ATPase inhibitory activity was significantly higher in low-renin hypertensives than in normal-renin hypertensives or normotensives. These findings suggest (1) digoxin radio-immunoassay may be able to determine the level of plasma digitalis-like substance; (2) digitalis-like substance is increased in essential hypertensives, especially in low-renin hypertensives; (3) the level of digitalis-like substance might be related to plasma renin activity, and mediated by a change in plasma volume; and (4) the activity of the digitalis-like substance may contribute to the pathophysiology of essential hypertension.


Penicillium menonorum is described as a new monoverticillate, non-vesiculate species that resembles P. restrictum and P. pimiteouiense. On the basis of phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequences from four loci, P. menonorum occurs in a clade with P. pimiteouiense, P. vinaceum, P. guttulosum, P. rubidurum, and P. parvum. Genealogical concordance analysis was applied to P. pimiteouiense and P. parvum, substantiating the phenotypically defined species. The species P. rubidurum, P. guttulosum, and P. menonorum were on distinct branches statistically excluded from inclusion in other species and have distinct phenotypes.


OBJECTIVES
Marijuana was involved in 209,563 emergency department (ED) visits in 2006, according to the Drug Abuse Warning Network. Although screening and brief intervention (SBI) has been effective in changing drinking among ED patients in a number of studies, tests of marijuana SBI in a pediatric emergency department (PED) have not yet been reported. The aim of this pilot study was to test whether SBI is effective in reducing marijuana consumption among youth and young adults presenting to a PED with a diverse range of clinical entities.

METHODS
A three-group randomized controlled preliminary trial was structured to test 1) differences between Intervention (Int) and standard Assessed Control (AC) groups in marijuana consumption, from baseline to 12 months, and 2) the feasibility of adding a Nonassessed Control (NAC) group to evaluate regression to the mean and assessment reactivity. Patients aged 14-21 years in an urban, academic PED were screened during 2006-2007, using standardized risk factor questions. Subjects were eligible if they used marijuana three or more times in the past 30 days, but were excluded for co-occurring high-risk alcohol use. Consented enrollees were randomized to NAC, AC, and Int groups in a two-stage process that permitted blinding to status during assessment and follow-up. NACs received a resource handout, written advice about marijuana use risks, and a 12-month follow-up appointment. ACs were assessed using standardized instruments and received resources, written advice, and 3- and 12-month follow-up appointments. The Int group received assessment, resources, written advice, 3- and 12-month appointments, a 20-minute structured conversation conducted by older peers, and a 10-day booster telephone call. A peer educator utilized a motivational style interview protocol adapted for adolescents to elicit daily life context and future goals, provide feedback, review pros and cons of marijuana use, assess readiness to change, evaluate strengths and assets, negotiate a contract for change, and make referrals to treatment and/or other resources. Measurements included demographic information; 30-day self-report of marijuana use; attempts to quit, cut back, or change conditions of use; and risk factor questions repeated at follow-up.

RESULTS
Among 7,804 PED patients screened, 325 were eligible; 210 consented and enrolled (Int, n = 68; AC, n = 71; NAC, n = 71), with a 12-month follow-up rate of 71%. For the primary objective, we compared Int to AC. At 12 months, Int participants were more likely to be abstinent for the past 30 days than ACs (odds ratio [OR] for reported abstinence = 2.89, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.22 to 6.84, p < 0.014). The Int group had greater reduction in days used, baseline to 12 months, controlling for baseline (Int = -7.1 vs. AC = -1.8), were less likely to have been high among those who smoked (OR = 0.39, 95% CI = 0.17 to 0.89, p < 0.05), and were more likely to receive referrals. In a linear regression model controlling for baseline use, NACs smoked 4 fewer days per month than ACs, but consumption was not significantly different, suggesting no assessment reactivity effect.

CONCLUSIONS
A preliminary trial of SBI promoted marijuana abstinence and reduced consumption among PED patients aged 14-21 years. A no-contact condition for the NAC group over the year after enrollment was insufficient to capture enrollees for follow-up across a range of baseline acuity.


Epidural hematoma of the posterior cranial fossa (EHPCF) is a rare complication in head injuries. Furthermore, nonspecific clinical signs and the rare occurrence of this lesion in craniocerebral injuries make the establishment of a diagnosis more difficult. The aim of the paper is to point to the advantages of early diagnosis. During the 1982-2008 period, 18 patients with EHPCF were operated on at University Department of Neurosurgery, Clinical Center of Montenegro in Podgorica. The clinical picture, neuroradiological examination findings and outcome of operated patients were retrospectively analyzed. In our patient series, EHPCF accounted for 0.11% of craniocerebral injuries or 7.9% of epidural hematomas recorded. In 11 cases, the injury was inflicted in traffic accidents and in 7 patients it was caused by fall. Linear fracture of the occipital bone was detected by radiographic investigation in 12, isolated diastasis fracture of lambdoid suture in four, and linear fracture of the occipital bone with diastasis fracture of lambdoid suture in two patients. Glasgow Coma Scale of 8 and less was present in three, 9-12 in seven, and 13-15 in eight patients. The majority of cases (90%) were detected within 24 hours. In all cases, the diagnosis was made by computed tomography. Mortality rate was 11.11%. Early computed tomography of the head in combination with clinical picture and timely surgical intervention could reduce the mortality and morbidity in these lesions.


Gaussian mode families, including Laguerre – Gaussian, Hermite – Gaussian and generalized Hermite – Laguerre – Gaussian beams, can be described via a geometric optics construction. Ray families crossing the focal plane are represented as one-parameter families of ellipses, parametrized by curves on an analog Poincaré sphere for rays. We derive the optical path length weighting the rays, and fi nd it to be related to the Pancharatnam – Berry connection on the Poincaré sphere. Dressing the rays with Gaussian beams, the approximation returns the Laguerre-, Hermite- and generalized Hermite – Laguerre – Gaussian beams exactly. The approach strengthens the connection between structured light and Hamiltonian optics, opening the possibility to new structured Gaussian beams.


The present article explores the impacts of the anti-Aids drug (Zalcitabine) on the histological structure and morphometric analysis of the spinal cord of 14-day old mice fetuses. Pregnant mice received two oral concentrations of Zalcitabine (600 and 1000 mg/kg) for five consecutive days (from day 9 to day 13 of gestation). The histological structure of spinal cord in 14 day old control fetuses revealed an outer marginal layer (white matter), an inner mantle layer (grey matter), and a central neural canal. The spinal cord of fetuses of mothers fed the low dose of the drug was either slightly affected or did not show any change relative to the controls. On the other hand, the high dose treatment was found to produce a significant decrease of spinal cord diameter, great morphometric variations as well as several histopathological changes. Cellular disorientation of the neuroepithelium and distortion of the neural canal were the most frequent anomalies encountered. KEY WORDS: anti-aids drug, mice fetuses, neural canal, neuroepithelium. Egyptian Journal of Biology Vol.3(2) 2001: 102-109


Abstract Background Aerosol generation during temporal bone surgery caries the risk of viral transmission. Steps to mitigate this problem are of particular importance during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Objective To quantify the effect of barrier draping on particulate material dispersion during temporal bone surgery. Methods The study involved a cadaveric model in a simulated operating theatre environment. Particle density and particle count for particles sized 1–10 μ were measured in a simulated operating theatre environment while drilling on a cadaveric temporal bone. The effect of barrier draping to decrease dispersion was recorded and analysed. Results Barrier draping decreased counts of particles smaller than 5 μ by a factor of 80 in the operating theatre environment. Both particle density and particle count showed a statistically significant reduction with barrier draping (p = 0.027). Conclusion Simple barrier drapes were effective in decreasing particle density and particle count in the operating theatre model and can prevent infection in operating theatre personnel.


We consider the problem of choosing a level of the public good for an economy in which agents have continuous and single-peaked preferences (Black, 1948). We show that a solution satisfying strategy-proofness and continuity if and only if it is an augmented median-voter solution. An augmented median-voter solution is described in terms of 2n parameters (which satisfy an anti-monotonicity condition) as follows: n + 1 of them are selected according to an increasing order of the peaks; the outcome is the median of these n + 1 parameters and the n peaks. This result establishes a formal connection between strategy-proofness and a generalized notion of median voter. (Similar median formulas were used by Moulin (1980) to describe smaller classes of solutions.) We provide an interpretation of these 2n parameters in terms of the following properties: anonymity, voter sovereignty, unanimity, and Pareto efficiency.


One of the most prominent features of galaxy clusters is the presence of a dominant population of massive ellipticals in their cores. Stellar archaeology suggests that these gigantic beasts assembled most of their stars in the early Universe via intense starbursts. However, the role of dense environments and their detailed physical mechanisms in triggering starburst activities remain unknown. Here we report spatially-resolved Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of the molecular gas, with a resolution of about 2.5 kiloparsecs, toward a forming galaxy cluster core with intense starburst galaxies at z = 2.51. In contrast to starburst galaxies in the field often associated with galaxy mergers or highly turbulent gaseous disks, our observations show that the two starbursts in the cluster exhibit dynamically cold (rotation-dominated) gas-rich disks. Their gas disks have extremely low velocity dispersion (σ ∼ 20 − 30 km s−1 ), three times lower than their field counterparts at similar redshifts. The high gas fraction and suppressed velocity dispersion yield gravitationally unstable gas disks, which enables highly efficient star formation. The suppressed velocity dispersion, likely induced by accretion of co-rotating and co-planar cold gas, might serve as an essential avenue to trigger starbursts in forming galaxy clusters at high redshift.


Laparoscopic nephrectomy is commonly employed today for both malignant and benign renal conditions, yet the learning curve for all but the simplest procedures remains quite steep. Hand-assisted laparoscopic nephrectomy (HALN) bridges the gap between standard laparoscopy and open surgery, allowing urologists to develop laparoscopic skills while offering the advantages of minimally invasive surgery. Simple laparoscopic nephrectomy, performed for benign disorders, can at times prove to be challenging because of inflammation around the renal hilum. Meticulous dissection during HALN utilizing the intra-abdominal hand for tactile feedback, retraction, and blunt dissection may improve one's capabilities compared with the standard laparoscopic approach.


For years, the scientific community and Congress have pressured the National Science Foundation (NSF) to lay more bets on research that is risky but that could rock our world if it succeeds. NSF officials have always insisted that everything the basic-research foundation supports is "potentially transformative" and that there's no need for a special program. Until now. Last week, NSF Director Subra Suresh unveiled an initiative that aims to roll the dice on a relative handful of researchers with unorthodox ideas about how to tackle complex problems. At $24 million, the Creative Research Awards for Transformative Interdisciplinary Ventures will take up only a tiny portion of NSF's $5.5 billion research portfolio. But NSF hopes it will send a big signal to the U.S. research community.


The granulocyte colony-stimulating factor receptor (G-CSF-R) activates multiple STAT proteins. Although the membrane-proximal cytoplasmic region of the G-CSF-R is necessary and sufficient for activation of STAT1 and STAT5, activation of STAT3 requires the membrane distal region that contains four tyrosines. Although one of these (Y704) has previously been shown to be involved in STAT3 activation from a truncated G-CSF-R derived from a patient with severe chronic neutropenia (SCN), this tyrosine is not required for STAT3 activation by the full-length G-CSF-R. To investigate possible alternative mechanisms of STAT3 activation, we generated a series of Ba/F3 cell transfectants expressing the wild-type G-CSF-R or mutant receptors that either completely lack tyrosines or retain just one of the four cytoplasmic tyrosines of the G-CSF-R. We show that, at saturating G-CSF concentrations, STAT3 activation from the full-length G-CSF-R is efficiently mediated by the C-terminal domain in a manner independent of receptor tyrosines. In contrast, at low G-CSF concentrations, Y704 and Y744 of the G-CSF-R play a major role in STAT3 activation. Both tyrosine-dependent and -independent mechanisms of STAT3 activation are sensitive to the Jak2 inhibitor AG-490, follow similar kinetics, and lead to transactivation of a STAT3 reporter construct, indicating functional equivalence. STAT3 activation is also impaired, particularly at nonsaturating G-CSF concentrations, in bone marrow cells from mice expressing a truncated G-CSF-R (gcsfr-triangle up715). These findings suggest that G-CSF-induced STAT3 activation during basal granulopoiesis (low G-CSF) and "emergency" granulopoiesis (high G-CSF) are differentially controlled. In addition, the data establish the importance of the G-CSF-R C-terminus in STAT3 activation in primary cells, which has implications for understanding why truncated G-CSF-R derived from SCN patients are defective in maturation signaling.


Arthur Tress's career can be seen as a long fantastic voyage - from early photojournalism into the realm of surrealism, eroticism and minature worlds. This retrospective is an overview of Tress's career. As the title implies, Tress's work is full of fantasy - nothing is what it at first seems. His images contain dark undercurrents and light wit, violence and beauty, futuristic scenes and homoerotic and psychologically charged tableaux. The 250 images featured in this volume range from the early black-and-white work to the richly coloured surrealistic images of the 1990s and his latest, previously unpublished work in progress. Richard Lorenz, (curator of a retrospective exhibition in Washington, DC, in May 2001) offers an in-depth biographical essay on Tress and the development of his vision. An essay by noted photo critic John August Wood puts Tress in context.


Resistance (R) proteins in plants confer specificity to the innate immune system. Most R proteins have a centrally located NB-ARC (nucleotide-binding adaptor shared by APAF-1, R proteins, and CED-4) domain. For two tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) R proteins, I-2 and Mi-1, we have previously shown that this domain acts as an ATPase module that can hydrolyze ATP in vitro. To investigate the role of nucleotide binding and hydrolysis for the function of I-2 in planta, specific mutations were introduced in conserved motifs of the NB-ARC domain. Two mutations resulted in autoactivating proteins that induce a pathogen-independent hypersensitive response upon expression in planta. These mutant forms of I-2 were found to be impaired in ATP hydrolysis, but not in ATP binding, suggesting that the ATP- rather than the ADP-bound state of I-2 is the active form that triggers defense signaling. In addition, upon ADP binding, the protein displayed an increased affinity for ADP suggestive of a change of conformation. Based on these data, we propose that the NB-ARC domain of I-2, and likely of related R proteins, functions as a molecular switch whose state (on/off) depends on the nucleotide bound (ATP/ADP).


In this theory development case study, we focus on the relations across recurrent waves in the amount and kind of language promoting and diffusing, and then demoting and rejecting, management techniques—techniques for transforming the input of organizational labor into organizational outputs. We suggest that rather than manifesting themselves as independent, transitory, and un-cumulative fads, the language of repeated waves cumulates into what we call management fashion trends. These trends are protracted and major transformations in what managers read, think, express, and enact that result from the accumulation of the language of these consecutive waves. For the language of five waves in employee-management techniques—management by objectives, job enrichment, quality circles, total quality management, and business process reengineering—we measure rational and normative language suggesting, respectively, that managers can induce labor financially or psychologically. The results reveal a gradual intensification in the ratio of rational to normative language over repeated waves, suggesting the existence of a management fashion trend across these techniques. Lexical shifts over time, however, serve to differentiate a fashion from its predecessor, creating a sense of novelty and progress from the earlier to the later fashions.


My thesis focuses on the relationship between the local and regional level of Swedish public governance. Since decentralisation has been an ongoing trend in the public sector for at least two decades I assess this subject to be of importance for further discussion and analysis. The dissertation is meant to evaluate a few of the original purposes of decentralisation pronounced by the national administration. These intentions mainly focuses on the local level of administration and that it is not to be marginalised in favour of the regional level while central government delegates power and trust downwards. Thus the aim of this thesis has been to examine whether these prime purposes have been fulfilled or not, and the results shows that they in several aspects have. The study also focuses on various attitudes between clerks working in different public levels of administration, and shows that representatives of regional and local public levels do view the possibilities of influence differently.


My primary objective in this presentation is to deconstruct globalisation as a meta-narrative in order to better analyse its multiple mechanisms and consequences at a very micro level. Although it is a foregone conclusion that globalisation has affected almost all aspects of our public and private lives, understanding the complexities associated with this portmanteau term seems to be more easily said than done. Amongst all the pioneer disciplines (i.e., economics, international business and management, international relations, media studies, etc.) that have taken the plunge to study globalisation (mostly at a macro level), Marketing can provide an invaluable ground to examine the case at a very mundane level. This is because Marketing deals with the very texture of society at large. As a result of its metamorphosis over the last two decades, Marketing is no longer seen as a purely managerial discipline that is concerned with the organisation of the 4Ps or 7Ps; neither is it about the management of an independent entity, namely the 'market', in a vacuum. Rather in a broader sense, Marketing is evermore inclined in better understanding of the socio-cultural context in which markets - as modern social institutions - operate along with their multiple players. Undoubtedly, consumers can be viewed as the most crucial stakeholders all marketing activities of firms/organisations would normally rotate around. Consumers, however, are not passive or even active segments waiting to be served or satisfied by providers of goods or services. Consumers are proactive individuals who, reposed on their unprecedentedly high literacy and analytical power, are capable of scrutinising both the content (resources) and context (dynamics) of their marketplace. The most immediate manifestation of such reflexive scrutiny is adoption and adaptation of multiple lifestyles. Lifestyles, as narratives of 'self', are constantly shaped and reshaped in an ever-changing world reconfigured by the multifaceted interactions between the global and the local sceneries. Consequently, Marketing needs to not only pace with such rapid changes but also move ahead of its most ultimate stakeholder group (i.e., consumers). Drawing upon such issues, in this presentation, I seek to highlight the importance of prioritising the understanding of mechanisms rather than consequences of globalisation. In so doing, I provide examples from branding, country of origin effect, aesthetics of consumption, marketing communications, marketing research, and the like to propose a series of recommendations for both Marketing theory and practice in the Iranian context.


A 14 year integration with a regional atmospheric model has been used to determine the near‐surface climatological wind field over the Antarctic ice sheet at a horizontal grid spacing of 55 km. Previous maps of the near‐surface wind field were generally based on models ignoring the large‐scale pressure‐gradient forcing term in the momentum equation. Presently, state‐of‐the‐art atmospheric models include all pressure‐gradient forcing terms. Evaluation of our model output against in situ data shows that the model is able to represent realistically the observed increase in wind speed going from the interior to the coast, as well as the observed wind direction at South Pole and Dumont d'Urville and the bimodal wind distribution at Halley. Copyright © 2004 Royal Meteorological Society


Background/Objectives Physical activity (PA) could be effective in the prevention of functional disability in older women, especially for those with body composition abnormalities. The aim this study was to analyze the association of total PA and in different domains with physical function and functional capacity in older women with or without osteosarcopenic obesity (OSO), as well as to assess the risk of functional disability in osteosarcopenic obesity older women insufficiently active. Subjects/Methods The study included 152 Brazilian older women, aged 60 years and older. Body composition was measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and physical function by physical tests. Functional capacity and PA were self-reported. Results In older women without OSO, the practice of leisure-time exercise (β:−0.23; 95%CI −0.40 to −0.06) and total PA (β:−0.40; 95%CI −0.57 to −0.23) is inversely associated with dependence in ADL. In older women with OSO, the practice of leisure-time exercise was inversely associated with physical function (β:0.88; 95%CI 0.31–1.46) and functional capacity (β:−1.05; 95%CI 1.64 to −0.45), while total PA (β:−1.03; 95%CI −1.93 to −0.13) was inversely associated with functional capacity, independent of control variables. In addition, older women with OSO who remained insufficiently active in leisuretime exercise (HR:2.28; 95%CI 1.04–4.99) and locomotion (HR:2.62; 95%CI 1.28–5.36) domains presented risk for functional disability. Conclusions PA is inversely associated with physical function and functional capacity in older women with or without OSO, and older women with OSO who are insufficiently active in leisure-time exercise and locomotion domains presented a higher risk for functional disability.


A well-known metaheuristic is the bat algorithm (BA), which consists of an iterative learning process inspired by bats echolocation behaviour in searching for prays. Basically, the BA uses a predefined number of bats that collectively move on the search space to find the global optimum. This article proposes the fractional Levy flight bat algorithm (FLFBA), which is an improved version of the classical BA. In the FLFBA the velocity is updated through fractional calculus and a local search procedure that uses a random walk based on Levy distribution. Such modifications enhance the ability of the algorithm to escape from local optimal values. The FLFBA has been tested using several well-known benchmark functions and its convergence is also compared with other evolutionary algorithms from the state-of-the-art. The results indicate that the FLFBA provided in several cases better performance in comparison to the selected evolutionary algorithms.


Presentation of Case A 57-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital because of dyspnea, chest pain, and a mass in the right atrium and ventricle. The patient had been well until three days earlier, when she experienced the onset of dyspnea, which persisted. That night she was awakened by severe right-sided pleuritic chest pain. On the following day the pain recurred, and she coughed up gross blood; she was admitted to another hospital. The hematologic laboratory values are presented in Table 1. The lactate dehydrogenase level was 1119 U per liter (normal, 313 to 618). The values for urea nitrogen, creatinine, . . .


In this paper, we have developed an ellipsoid radial basis function neural network (ERBFNN) and algorithm for sparse representing of a molecular shape. To evaluate a sparse representation of the molecular shape model, the Gaussian density map of molecule is approximated by ERBFNN with a relatively small number of neurons. The deep learning models were trained by optimizing a nonlinear loss function with $L_1$ regularization. Experimental results demonstrate that the original molecular shape is able to be represented with good accuracy by much fewer scale of ERBFNN by our algorithm. And our network in principle can be applied to multi-resolution sparse representation of molecular shape and coarse-grained molecular modeling.


In this study, owner-manager-related factors that can influence the succession process in small and medium-sized family businesses are empirically investigated. The study was conducted among 2,458 owner-managers and successors in 1,038 family businesses identified via a snowball sampling technique. A total of 332 usable questionnaires was returned. The dependent variable in this study, namely the 'perceived success of the succession process', is measured by two underlying dimensions, namely the 'satisfaction with the process' and 'continued profitability of the business'. The empirical results indicate that the owner-manager-related factors that influence 'satisfaction with the process' are the 'relationship between the owner-manager and successor', the 'owner-manager's trust in the successor's abilities and intentions' and 'family harmony'. The 'continued profitability of the business' is influenced by the 'relationship between the successor and owner-manager' and the 'trust that the owner-manager has in his or her successor's abilities and intentions'. The willingness of the owner-manager to hand over the business is in turn influenced by the extent to which he or she has 'interests outside of the context of the family business' and has 'trust in the successor's abilities and intentions'. The extent to which there is 'harmony among the family members' will influence the 'relationship between the owner-manager and successor'. Based on these findings, recommendations for successful successions are offered.


The Constitutive Act that contains the right to intervene by the African Union (AU) in member states, being the first and only international treaty to contain this novel right, has the potential to redraw the landscape of international law, with significant ramifications for the UN, member states and regional organisations as well as for the way in which we understand and interpret mechanisms for conflict security. This is because until now, the general understanding has been that regional organisations' right to intervene has been secondary and ultimately under the express authorisation from the United Nations. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to address the different questions raised by the AU's institutional framework of regional security and explore how its constituent norms sit alongside the more established rules of international law. In doing so, the thesis aims to offer a better understanding of the evolving mechanism of African regional security and the developing relationship between the UN and the AU. This study builds on recent UN reform proposals and uses the Darfur conflict (2003) in the Sudan as its case study. Finally, it concludes by assessing the longer term prospects that the concerted efforts of the AU and the UN hold in the promotion of regional and international peace and security.


Revision with unchanged content. Dealing with classroom diversity while trying to engage students in meaningful and rewarding instructional activities has proven to be a real challenge for both researchers and practitioners in the field of education. The overall purpose of this longitudinal study was to investigate the interaction between the learning, and the Design-Based Research (DBR) processes using a cognitive flexibility hypertext (CFH) as the object of research. The first major focus was on the impact of the CFH on students' learning. A second major focus was the structure of the DBR process, especially the interplay between research and design when supporting an improved learning process. While the research and design findings reported for the two consecutive years represent in and of themselves significant contributions to the field of DBR, the researcher's reflective analysis found a theoretical link between the DBR process and the model Expansive Developmental Research proposed by Activity Theory. The book is addressed to educational researchers, graduate students, and educational practitioners interested in successfully implementing innovative technology-driven designs in complex classroom contexts.


The article considers the possibility of maintaining in statistical controllable state the technological process with the use of control charts of accumulated sums. The principles of construction of these charts, features of the process disorder detection are shown. The feature of the control charts of accumulated sums is that, the decision regarding the statistical controllability of the process is made taking into account the preliminary information. The dots mapped do not correspond to individual measurement results or statistics, they display information about all the results obtained, from first to last, inclusive. This feature allows you to respond more quickly to signs of process disorder than when working with Shewhart control charts, where sample statistics are used for analysis, which are independent control results.
The characteristics relation of the charts with the establishment of errors of the 1st and 2nd kind when interpreting them using the hypothesis testing apparatus is considered. The article presents the theoretical substantiation and approaches to the application of sequential LQ (likelyhood quotient) criterion in process monitoring, describes the main parameters that influence decision making. A graphical interpretation of the application of the LQ criterion is given to improve the perception of information.
The method of graphical estimation of the process disorder with the use of V-mask, which is associated with the reversed LQ criterion, is also considered, if a disorder of the technological process is detected and it is necessary to set the time when it happened. At the same time, the right approach to constructing a V-mask template is very important, since in addition to the «opening» angle of the mask, the scaling factor must be taken into account. This coefficient is the ratio of the scale of the ordinate to the abscissa axis, and its failure to apply will lead to incorrect interpretation of the control results. A specific numerical example with an appropriate graphical representation of the results is considered.


PURPOSE
The aim of the study was to describe the mode, frequency, duration, and intensity of physical activity among pregnant women, to explore whether these women reached the recommended levels of activity, and to explore how these patterns changed during pregnancy.

METHODS
This study, as part of the third phase of the Pregnancy, Infection, and Nutrition Study, investigated physical activity among 1482 pregnant women. A recall of the different modes, frequency, duration, and intensity of physical activity during the past week was assessed in two telephone interviews at 17-22 and 27-30 wk of gestation.

RESULTS
Most women reported some type of physical activity during both periods. Child and adult care giving, indoor household, and recreational activities constituted the largest proportion of total reported activity. The overall physical activity level decreased during pregnancy, particularly in care giving, outdoor household, and recreational activity. Women who were active during the second and the third trimesters reported higher levels of activity in all modes of activity than those who became active or inactive during pregnancy. The majority did not reach the recommended level of physical activity.

CONCLUSION
These data suggest that self-reported physical activity decreased from the second to the third trimesters, and only a small proportion reached the recommended level of activity during pregnancy. Further research is needed to explore if physical activity rebounds during the postpartum period.


The Safeguarding the Brains of our smallest Children (SafeBoosC) project was initially established to test the patient-relevant benefits and harms of cerebral oximetry in extremely preterm infants in the setting of a randomized clinical trial. Extremely preterm infants constitute a small group of patients with a high risk of death or survival with brain injury and subsequent neurodevelopmental disability. Several cerebral oximeters are approved for clinical use, but the use of additional equipment may disturb and thereby possibly harm these vulnerable, immature patients. Thus, the mission statement of the consortium is "do not disturb—unless necessary." There may also be more tangible risks such as skin breakdown, displacement of tubes and catheters due to more complicated nursing care, and mismanagement of cerebral oxygenation as a physiological variable. Other monitoring modalities have relevance for reducing the risk of hypoxic-ischemic brain injury occurring during acute illness and have found their place in routine clinical care without evidence from randomized clinical trials. In this manuscript, we discuss cerebral oximetry, pulse oximetry, non-invasive electric cardiometry, and invasive monitoring of blood pressure. We discuss the reliability of the measurements, the pathophysiological rationale behind the clinical use, the evidence of benefit and harms, and the costs. By examining similarities and differences, we aim to provide our perspective on the use or non-use of cerebral oximetry in newborn infants during intensive care.


A Thesis Submitted to the School of Humanities and Social Sciences in Fulfilment of The Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics of Kenyatta University. September 2018


>> Primarily based on ethnographic fieldwork in a police K-9 training program, this article first presents the optimal attributes of patrol dogs and their handlers. It then moves to a discussion of the training process and emphasizes the apparent disjunction between defining the dog as a law enforcement tool, on one hand, and a unique and sentient individual, on the other. Following a description of key elements of the day-to-day work of the K-9 unit, the article discusses the uneasiness that handlers (and police administrators) feel due to the potential conflict between treating the patrol dog as an effective weapon/deterrent and treating it as a reliable companion/partner and docile family member. The article concludes with a brief examination of ambivalence as a general feature of social life and a unique characteristic of the occupation life of the K-9 police officer.


D August 10-12,1983, a workshop was held in St. Louis, Missouri, on the Genetic Epidemiology of Coronary Heart Disease: Past, Present, and Future. This was jointly sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the Division of Biostatistics of the Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, and the Departments of Medicine and Psychiatry of the Jewish Hospital of St. Louis. The organizing committee consisted of the six authors of this report. Nearly 100 scientists attended the workshop, with 32 primary presentations and 11 major discussions. The proceedings, with the same title as this report, were published by Alan R. Liss in March 1984.


A study was performed to experimentally characterize the effect of fluid loading on the heat transport performance of wicked heat pipes. In particular, experiments were performed to characterize the performance of heat pipes with insufficient fluid to saturate the wick and excess fluid for a variety of orientations. It was found that excess working fluid in the heat pipe increased the thermal resistance of the heat pipe, but increased maximum heat flux through the pipe in a horizontal orientation. The thermal performance of the heat pipe was reduced when the amount of working fluid was less than required to saturate the wick, but the maximum heat flux through the heat pipe was significantly reduced at all orientations. It was also found in this case the performance of this heat pipe deteriorated once dry-out occurred.Copyright © 2004 by ASME


The Linear Time Frequency Analysis Toolbox is a MATLAB/Octave toolbox for computational time-frequency analysis. It is intended both as an educational and computational tool. The toolbox provides the basic Gabor, Wilson and MDCT transform along with routines for constructing windows (filter prototypes) and routines for manipulating coefficients. It also provides a bunch of demo scripts devoted either to demonstrating the main functions of the toolbox, or to exemplify their use in specific signal processing applications. In this paper we describe the used algorithms, their mathematical background as well as some signal processing applications.


The purpose of this study was to examine whether patients with gastric cancer differ from those with benign gastroduodenal diseases in terms of familial disposition. This series consisted of 1,233 patients with gastric cancer and 2,200 patients with benign gastroduodenal diseases, who had had a gastrectomy between 1972 and 1979 in one hospital. The family information on cancer deaths of first and second relatives of the patients was obtained at the time of operation. The age-adjusted relative risk of positive family history of cancer was higher among the patients with gastric cancer than that among those with benign gastroduodenal diseases. The patients with diffuse type of cancer had a higher risk of positive family history than those with intestinal type of cancer. The non-cancer patients with family history had a slightly higher risk, although not statistical significant, to die from cancer than those without family history. Higher frequency of blood type A was seen in gastric cancer patients with positive family history. These results suggest that certain types of gastric cancer may seem to be associated with genetic factor.


Abstract. Addi A, Soromessa T, Bareke T. 2020. Plant diversity and community analysis of Gesha and Sayilem Forest in Kaffa Zone, southwestern Ethiopia. Biodiversitas 21: 2878-2888. The study was conducted at Gesha and Sayilem districts of the Kaffa Zone with the objective of identifying the floristic compositions, plant community types, and associated environmental factors of the forest. Stratified random sampling technique was used. A total of 90 plots were used to collect vegetation data. The plant community classification was performed using agglomerative Hierarchical cluster analysis Ward's linkage method was applied in R-software. Species diversity and evenness were evaluated using the Shannon diversity and evenness indices respectively. The study revealed that the study area composed of 300 species that belong to 239 genera in 96 families. Asteraceae was the most abundant family followed by Fabaceae, Acanthaceae, Poaceae, Rubiaceae, and Euphorbiaceae accounting 37%, 15%, 14%, 13%, 12%, and 9% respectively. Five plant community types were identified and these were Ilex mitis-Syzygium guineense, Pouteria adolfi-friedericii-Schefflera abyssinica, Millettia ferruginea-Sapium ellipticum, Arundinaria alpina and Schefflera volkensii-Masea-lanceolata community types. Among the community types, Pouteria adolfi-friedericii-Syzygium guineense community was the most diverse whereas Arundinaria alpina community was the least diverse community. Canonical Correspondence of vegetation data analysis indicated that altitude, disturbance, slope, phosphorus, and the electrical conductivity were the environmental factors that significantly influence the plant communities. The high dependency of local communities on the forest resources is affecting the plant biodiversity. Thus, conservation of the forest through the introduction of sustainable forest management interventions including participatory forest management seems an appropriate action.


Naturally radioactive nuclides present in soils contain background radiation that humans are exposed to every day. Previous research suggests that there are high background radiation areas (HBRAs) caused by climate, geography, wind, and water currents that accumulate a higher concentration of these radionuclides. An investigation of the Nile Delta confirms the presence of minerals rich in U and Th from monazite and zircon, further suggesting that certain locations have a higher concentration of these radionuclides. The present work is a search for monazite in Great River Road State Park, near the Mississippi River. The acquired samples were measured with a low-background NaI(Tl) spectrometer and digital data acquisition system. Using γγ-coincidence spectroscopy to reduce background radiation, we were able to apply coincidence gates of known gamma-ray energies originating from 238U and 232Th decay chains to identify the presence of the radionuclides in the soil samples. From our results, we confirmed that there is an accumulation of minerals containing 238U and 232Th near the river. Our next steps will focus on calculating activities for quantitative results and collecting samples from an extended region along the river.


This paper describes Fujitsu Laboratories' research and development activities for raising efficiency in support services such as those provided by hardware support operation and call centers. Efficiency can be raised by assigning the ap ‑ propriate human resources to support services and enhancing call center agent skills. This paper describes technologies that raise productivity by analyzing the large volume of data concerning customer inquiries and agent responses stored by support services. One of these is a technology for assisting in the creation of problem‑solving knowledge that automatically detects and collects frequently occurring problems and ways of solving them. Another is an agent assignment assistance technology that simulates call center activity and accurately estimates key performance indexes.


Sleep disorders are defined as disorders which symptoms or pathophysiology are related with sleep regardless of comorbid physical and/or mental disorders. Sleep disorders are classified into 6 major categories: sleep related breathing disorders which exhibit abnormal breathing during sleep, sleep related movement disorders which show involuntary movements and/or abnormal sensations during sleep and/or nighttime, hypersomnia of central origin not due to other sleep disorders, circadian rhythm sleep disorders due to desynchronization between sleep-wake pattern and required social schedule, parasomnia which exhibit abnormal behavior during sleep and/or around sleep, and insomnia not due to other sleep disorders.


While summits are well served in the literature on diplomacy, the focus tends to be on specific, high-profile occasions such as Munich and Yalta or on the broad experience of multilateral conferences. Such approaches may obscure the full range of summits that were taking place by the later twentieth century. By focusing on a four-year period in the experience of a particular leader, this article provides a case study of summitry, which might serve as the basis for comparisons with other countries and time periods. It draws out the frequency, type and geographical range of summits experienced by Edward Heath as British premier and, in doing so, also raises issues about how types of summits are defined, the relationship between bilateral and multilateral meetings and the way that summitry has evolved as a diplomatic practice. In particular it emerges that summits were frequent and ofen perfunctory affairs, sometimes held as a simple courtesy to leaders who were passing through London. In this sense the British experience may have been unusual, but it is also evident from the number of Heath's interlocutors and the multilateral conferences that he attended that summits had become an integral part of political life for world leaders in the jet age.


The demand for high-efficiency electric motor drives at low cost is increasing, particularly, in high-volume applications, such as household appliances. Single- and two-phase machines are viable under such constraints. Between them, two-phase switched reluctance motor drives are preferred from the viewpoint of performance. This paper presents a novel two-phase switched reluctance machine (TPSRM) that is conceived for high-efficiency operation and full-load starting performance for any initial rotor position. The principle of operation of the proposed TPSRM and its unique features such as the flux-reversal-free stator for reducing core losses, the utilization of only two thirds of the stator core for each phase operation, and the resulting low noise are presented. The machine is analyzed with the 2-D finite-element analysis method. Self-starting in the proposed machine is developed with rotor pole shaping, and a unique technique to provide the desired torque characteristics is described. The effect of varying pole arcs, the number of turns per pole, asymmetric pole placement, and rotor pole shaping on torque and phase inductance is evaluated to find the best machine dimensions for a required performance as well as to understand qualitatively the influence of each variable on the machine performance. Experimental results from a 2.2-hp laboratory prototype correlate the performance predictions and validate the claims for this novel TPSRM.


The depth of disparate illusory contours affects the perception of background patterns that are enclosed by these contours. If the pattern is repetitive, the depth of the illusory surface is attributed to texture elements even though the texture is in zero disparity. Previous results have suggested that this phenomenon, called stereoscopic capture, is possible only with frontoparallel surfaces (Ramachandran, 1986 Perception & Psychophysics 39 361 – 373). We hypothesised that the disruption of stereo capture with three-dimensionally slanted or curved surfaces has been due to the impossibility of consistent rematching of background texture elements. If the texture is designed in such a way that adjacent elements can be rematched to form a surface that is consistent with the three-dimensional structure of the illusory surface, the capture should be possible with complex surfaces. We investigated our hypothesis by showing three-dimensionally slanted and curved surfaces to subjects and changing the pattern of the background texture. According to our results a texture of a constant period can be captured only by a frontoparallel surface; however, if the texture is designed to be consistent with the three-dimensional structure of the complex surface, the texture elements that initially form a frontoparallel surface form a complex surface when they are captured. We conclude that (a) stereoscopic capture is possible with complex three-dimensional surfaces; (b) the possible discrete matches within the background texture determine the possible three-dimensional forms that can be captured and therefore stereoscopic capture should not be characterised only as depth interpolation (Mitchison and McKee, 1987 Vision Research 27 285 – 294) between large image elements.


Compensation system has been broadly discussed because of its significant role in enhancing productivity dan performance. It able to motivate a goal directed behavior. Compensation system is expected to provide organizational goal congruence. There are several norms that will lead to different reward distribution. In determining what compensation system that should be taken, organization should consider these dimensions: (1) short term vs long term, (2) cash vs equity, and (3) monetary vs non monetary. Strategy and performance play important role in organizational compensation system. Empirical evidences had support the relation between company's strategy and its incentive system. Strategic orientation has significant effect on incentive system. To intervene the gap between what is actually needed from compensation system and its practices, the design of reward system should be improved through: (1) give reward to managers only if they perform better than competitors, (2) determine the contribution of each business unit to company stock price, and (3) involve the contribution of front line manager and employees in achieving higher shareholder values. Theory has supports the effectiveness of compensation system, but some evidences showed the contrary. The failness of incentive plans to motivate long term performance should drive the organization to improve the design and implementation of the existed system or to create a new and more effective incentive system.


Recently, Web-based news publishing is evolving fast, as many other Internet services, and nowadays this service is trying to adapt information in manners that better fit user's interests and capabilities in the digital space. In this paper, we propose a semantic link network portal for multimedia content recommendation. The portal is based on Semantic Link Network technologies and attempts to build up a multimedia repository that makes the media house more productive. The goal of the portal is to integrate different kinds of content in semantic link network through semantically annotated audio transcriptions, and other media metadata. In particular, it provides user interface that allows user to interact with and recommend content in an efficient and effective way.


Abstract Nowadays, over 10% of the population of the European Union is facing energy poverty. Energy poverty is defined as the situation where a consumer cannot access energy services in his household up to a socially and materially necessitated level. Although Romania is characterized, according to official European statistics, by a high number of persons at risk of poverty or social exclusion – 40.3% in 2014 – as compared to the other Member States – 24,4% for EU27 – recent studies of the European Commission show that only 12.3% of Romanians were suffering in 2014 of energy poverty. Still energy poverty is considered by several national and international institutions a major problem in Romania, just like in the other "new" EU Member States. So we ask ourselves what is energy poverty and what are the drivers of energy poverty in Romania. Energy poverty has recently drawn the attention of both academic research and policy makers, fact that has led to an mainly uncoordinated excess of national and international studies regarding this topic. This article aims to restrain the concept of energy poverty from the perspective of national and EU policies and regulations by reviewing the existing knowledge and critical approaches in this field. Also the study aims to analyse Romania's development linked to the development of national and EU policies, laws and regulations in order identify the appropriate measures to reduce energy poverty, with regard to its main drivers and effects. Further, the paper explores possible policies that could be implemented to reduce the number of people affected by energy poverty, tailored on the specifics of the Romanian energy sector and Romania's overall economy. Based on the findings, recommendations are drawn. The research relies on the current body of literature as well as on data available at national and at international level in this field.


SummaryIntroduction
Treatment of acute venous thromboembolism (VTE) in cancer patients is challenging, owing to a high risk of recurrent VTE and bleeding complications. The anticoagulants of choice are low molecular weight heparins (LMWHs), because of a proven higher efficacy than vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) and a similar bleeding profile. The recently introduced new oral anticoagulants (NOACs) have the potential to be alternative options for these patients, as these drugs share practical advantages with LMWH, are administered orally, and had similar efficacy to VKAs but a lower bleeding risk in phase 3 studies in the general VTE population.

Methods
A systematic literature search was performed to identify phase 3 trials investigating NOACs for the treatment of VTE. The efficacy outcome was recurrent VTE, and the safety outcome was major and clinically relevant non-major bleeding. Pooled incidence rates and risk ratios (RRs) were calculated for cancer patients and non-cancer patients separately.

Results and discussion
Five studies were included, with 19 060 patients, of whom 973 (5.1%) had active cancer. The pooled incidence rates of recurrent VTE were 4.1% (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.6–6.0) in cancer patients treated with NOACs, and 6.1% (95% CI 4.1–8.5) in patients treated with VKAs (RR 0.66, 95% CI 0.38–1.2). The pooled incidence rates of major or non-major clinically relevant bleeding were 15% (95% CI 12–18) in cancer patients treated with NOACs, and 16% (95% CI 9.9–22) in patients treated with VKAs (RR 0.94, 95% CI 0.70–1.3). These results form a solid basis for the initiation of a head-to-head comparison of NOACs with LMWH in cancer patients.


Abstract The purpose of this paper is to evaluate how the State implement human rights standard on disaster management and response in Indonesia to explore the State's obligation to provide fundamental rights in a state of exigency. This paper investigates whether the law and regulation on disaster management in Indonesia have adopted human rights standards and how the standard has been implemented after Palu Disaster that occurred on 28 September 2018. The investigation was conducted through field research using a standard human rights implementation criteria-based questionnaire according to the standard set by The Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability (CHS) 2014. The research was preceded by an FGD held by stakeholders to obtain more elaborate and balanced information between the disaster victims and the government. Reports of discriminative treatment received by the victims and poor basic needs distribution during the disaster are a few clues regarding the lack of implementation of human rights standards in disaster management in Palu. Here a twist happened between the weakness of human rights protection under the regulation of disaster management and the tendency of state authority to use a positive-legalistic approach to implement such regulation.


CAMBRIDGE, U.K.--
 A unique experiment to improve Russian science has won a ringing endorsement: Two heavyweight U.S. foundations are plowing $12.5 million into an effort to create scientific oases in Russia9s impoverished university system. The funding boost more than doubles the budget of the fledgling Basic Research and Higher Education Program, allowing it to expand from eight to 16 centers across the country.


Research on Cla5trOOM assessment has tended to focus on standardized tests and has paid minimal attention to teacher-developed assessments. As a result, we have A narrow understanding of the classra0M assessment environment. This Study was designed to broaden that underatanding by exploring the nature and quality of teacher-developed assessment; Particular emphasis WAO given to understanding the role of performance assessment -observation and rating of behavior--in the clas0;T/001; Teachers from a range of grades; subjects and school districts described their patterns of test User concerns about assessment and use of performance assessment by completing an extensive questionnaire. When responses are summarized Acktitt teadhet8; the results suggest that the foundation and structure of clasttoOt assessment consists primarily of teacher-developed assessments, with performance assessment serving as one of the key assessment tools. Teachers are concerned about assessment and know that improvement may be needed, but will need help to affect needed changes; Action plariS are suggested frit enhancing the quality of teacher-developed tests.


Once thought to only be associated with depression, self-criticism is a transdiagnostic risk factor for diverse forms of psychopathology. (1,2) However, research has shown that self-compassion is a robust resilience factor when faced with feelings of personal inadequacy. (3,4) Self-critical individuals experience feelings of unworthiness, inferiority, failure, and guilt. They engage in constant and harsh selfscrutiny and evaluation, and fear being disapproved and criticized and losing the approval and acceptance of others. (5) Self-compassion involves treating oneself with care and concern when confronted with personal inadequacies, mistakes, failures, and painful life situations. (6,7) Although self-criticism is the aspect of perfectionism most associated with maladjustment, (8) one can be harshly self-critical without being a perfectionist. Most studies of self-criticism have not measured shame; however, this self-conscious emotion has been implicated in diverse forms of psychopathology. (9) In contrast to guilt, which results from acknowledging bad behavior, shame results from seeing oneself as a bad or inadequate person. Although self-criticism is destructive across clinical disorders and interpersonal relationships, self-compassion is associated with healthy relationships, emotional well-being, and better treatment outcomes. Recent research shows how clinicians can teach their patients how to be less self-critical and more self-compassionate. Neff (6,7) proposes that self-compassion involves treating yourself with care and concern when being confronted with personal inadequacies, mistakes, failures, and painful life situations. It consists of 3 interacting components, each of which has a positive and negative pole: * self-kindness vs self-judgment * a sense of common humanity vs isolation * mindfulness vs over-identification. Self-kindness refers to being caring and understanding with oneself rather than harshly judgmental. Instead of attacking and berating oneself for personal shortcomings, the self is offered warmth and unconditional acceptance. Humanity involves recognizing that humans are imperfect, that all people fail, make mistakes, and have serious life challenges. By remembering that imperfection is part of life, we feel less isolated when we are in pain. Mindfulness in the context of self-compassion involves being aware of one's painful experiences in a balanced way that neither ignores and avoids nor exaggerates painful thoughts and emotions. Self-compassion is more than the absence of self-judgment, although a defining feature of self-compassion is the lack of self-judgment, and self-judgment overlaps with self-criticism. Rather, self-compassion provides several access points for reducing self-criticism. For example, being kind and understanding when confronting personal inadequacies (eg, "it's okay not to be perfect") can counter harsh self-talk (eg, "I'm not defective"). Mindfulness of emotional pain (eg, "this is hard") can facilitate a kind and warm response (eg, "what can I do to take care of myself right now?") and therefore lessen self-blame (eg, "blaming myself is just causing me more suffering"). Similarly, remembering that failure is part of the human experience (eg, "it's normal to mess up sometimes") can lessen egocentric feelings of isolation (eg, "it's not just me") and over-identification (eg, "it's not the end of the world"), resulting in lessened self-criticism (eg, "maybe it's not just because I'm a bad person"). Depression Several studies have found that self-criticism predicts depression. In 3 epidemiological studies, "feeling worthless" was among the top 2 symptoms predicting a depression diagnosis and later depressive episodes. (10) Self-criticism in fourth-year medical students predicted depression 2 years later, and--in males--10 years later in their medical careers better than a history of depression. …


Large-scale hydrogen production using proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEM-EL) requires a drastic reduction in the current noble metal content of the electrodes. To achieve this, new analytical techniques for characterizing solid-liquid catalytic interfaces, applicable in operando under a variety of realistic operating conditions, are critical because they provide a deeper understanding of the relationships between catalyst state, structure, and catalytic performance. However, many analytical techniques cannot be applied in liquid environments at realistic potentials and current densities. We propose electrochemical spectroscopic ellipsometric analysis (ECSE), performed in realistic electrolysis cells, as a new analytical operando method for characterizing electrochemical reactions at solid-liquid interfaces under widely varying working conditions. The method is first validated on a platinum surface using ex-situ and operando ellipsometric analyses. Subsequently, the physico-chemistry of a mesoporous IrOx catalyst film under oxygen evolution reaction (OER) potentials was investigated, showing precise reversible and irreversible potential-dependent variations of a number of physical material properties relevant to catalysis.


Background Primary Sjögren syndrome (pSS) is a systemic autoimmune disease affecting primarily the exocrine glandular system. More than half of the patients with 10 or more years of follow up show extra-glandular manifestations, which will be determinant for the prognosis. Several validated methods are available in order to assess activity in pSS, including the Sjogren's Syndrome Disease Activity Index (SSDAI) and the EULAR Sjogren's Syndrome Disease Activity Index ESSDAI). Objectives The aim of our study was to evaluate disease activity in a representative cohort of patients followed in rheumatology departments. Methods We conducted a multicenter descriptive transversal study of a cohort of Spanish pSS patients fulfilling European/American criteria. It is a randomised register of patients obtained from 33 spanish rheumatology departments. We used SSDAI and ESSDAI in every patient. Informed consent was obtained and local ethics committees approved the study. Variables were analysed by descriptive statistical methods, using means, medians, and rates, with their deviations and interquartile ranges (p25-p75). Results A total of 437 patients were included. Median score for SSDAI was 1 (0-3, p25-p75) and for ESSDAI was 2 (0-4, p25-p75). More than 95% of patients did not show fever, night sweating or weight loss. Twenty percent of them manifested weakness. Less than 5% of patients suffered glandular inflammatory disease or lymphadenopathy. Thirty two percent referred joint pain with stiffness but only 3% had true sinovitis. Fourteen patients (3%) showed cutaneous involvement. Fourteen percent of patients developed pleural involvement. High resolution CT was performed in 89 patients and showed interstitial disease in less than 4% percent of them. Serum creatinine was elevated in 3% of the cases. Seven patients developed tubular acidosis and 2 patients glomerular involvement. Less than two percent of patients had central nervous system involvement and 3% had peripheral nervous system involvement. Twenty seven percent of patients developed some kind of cytopenia: anaemia 14%, lymphopenia 14%, neutropenia 7% and thrombocytopenia, 9%. Twenty three percent had monoclonal component and/or hypoclomplementemia and/or hypergammaglobulinemia and/or high Ig G levels. Four percent showed cryoglobulinemia and/or hypergammaglobulinemia and/or high Ig G levels and/or recent hypogammaglobulinemia or a recent IgG levels fall. Conclusions pSS patients show low scores at the systemic damage indexes. Most affected domains were haematological, biological and articular. Considering parenchymatous and pleural involvement, lung is the organ most frequently involved. Disclosure of Interest None declared


Impurity profiling is an important aspect in drug therapy for its safety and efficacy. The study of impurities of sartans, the first line antihypertensive drugs, has become critical due to presence of cancer causing N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA) and N-nitrosodiisopropylamine (NDIPA) in them, resulting from production and degradation process. These impurities have led to worldwide recall of products. Hence, a simple and accurate method has been developed and validated for simultaneous detection of NDMA, NDEA and NDIPA in Losartan using High Performance Liquid Chromatography - Ultra violet (HPLC - UV) system. The impurities were analyzed on Inertsil ODS 3V (250mm × 4.6mm, 5.0µm) analytical column by using water:methanol (60:40) as the mobile phase at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min, with a run time of 30 mins. The method was developed for the acceptance limit of 0.64 ppm for NDMA, 0.177 ppm for NDEA and NDIPA respectively. On comparison with existing approaches, the developed method is fast, ideal for routine screening and is suitable for both laboratory and industrial uses. Keywords: Losartan, HPLC - UV, N-nitrosodimethylamine, N-nitrosodiethylamine, N-nitrosodiisopropylamine


List of contributors Preface Chronology of Beckett's life List of abbreviations A note on titles 1. An endgame in aesthetics: Beckett as essayist Rupert Wood 2. Beckett's English fiction John Pilling 3. Three novels and four nouvelles Paul Davies 4. Waiting for Godot and Endgame: theatre as text Michael Worton 5. Stages of identity: from Krapp to Play Paul Lawley 6. Beginning again: the post-narrative art of Texts for Nothing and How It Is H. Porter Abbott 7. The mediated Quixote: the radio and television plays and film Jonathan Kalb 8. Dead heads: damnation-narration in the 'dramaticules' Keir Elam 9. Disabled figures: from the Residua to Stirrings Still Andrew Renton 10. Beckett's poems and verse translations Roger Little 11. Beckett as director: the art of mastering failure Anna McMullan 12. Beckett's bilingualism Ann Beer 13. Beckett and the philosophers P. J. Murphy Further reading Index.


This paper aims to show the importance of stress at work for the economy. Stress, which until recently was considered mainly in psychological or social terms, has a direct impact on human capital and labour, which are the basic factors of economic growth (as well as natural resources, technology, physical and financial capitals). The quality and quantity of human capital directly affects the growth of the economy. An increase in investment in human capital can improve the quality of the labour force, hence its productivity. On the other hand, factors that limit economic growth include: poor health and low level of education. People who do not have access to healthcare or education have lower levels of productivity. The economy, therefore, does not fulfil its potential productivity or growth. Stress negatively contributes to changes of these factors. It has become one of the main causes of disability and inability to work in recent years.The first part describes the overall situation in which stress has become an issue for companies and the economy. In the second part I present the different research findings that demonstrate how the meaning and importance of work, and workplace conditions, have evolved. I refer, as well, to quantitative findings proving that companies should invest in preventing stress at work as excessive stress affects performance and productivity. The third part briefly portrays the example of Belgium, where the problem of stress and its economic consequences have been quite thoroughly investigated. The costs of excessive stress were regarded as undue, and as a result, Belgium adopted a law protecting employees against stress and burnout at work. Under this law, employers are obliged to introduce specific internal rules and preventative measures. Based on the Belgian experience, I provide several arguments demonstrating that improving the workplace by mitigating stress levels is beneficial not only for a company itself but for the economy in general. It impacts positively human capital, employability, leads to improved productivity, and in the end, contributes to sustainable economic growth. At the end of the paper, in an annex, I present a case illustrating the problem of excessive stress at work. It is an example of the great pressure and stress imposed on employees during the time of the ongoing business changes in one of the financial companies based in Brussels. The purpose of this article, however, is not to exhaust the topic of the impact of stress on economy, but rather to induce discussion on the magnitude and importance of this problem.


Binge drinking and alcohol abuse are common during adolescence and cause lasting pathology. Preclinical rodent studies using the adolescent intermittent ethanol (AIE; 5.0 g/kg, i.g., 2‐day on/2‐day off from postnatal day [P]25 to P55) model of human adolescent binge drinking report decreased basal forebrain cholinergic (ie, ChAT+) neurons that persist into adulthood (ie, P56‐P220). Recent studies link AIE‐induced neuroimmune activation to cholinergic pathology, but the underlying molecular mechanisms contributing to the persistent loss of basal forebrain ChAT+ neurons are unknown. We report here that the AIE‐induced loss of cholinergic neuron markers (ie, ChAT, TrkA, and p75NTR), cholinergic neuron shrinkage, and increased expression of the neuroimmune marker pNF‐κB p65 are restored by exercise exposure from P56 to P95 after AIE. Our data reveal that persistently reduced expression of cholinergic neuron markers following AIE is because of the loss of the cholinergic neuron phenotype most likely through an epigenetic mechanism involving DNA methylation and histone 3 lysine 9 dimethylation (H3K9me2). Adolescent intermittent ethanol caused a persistent increase in adult H3K9me2 and DNA methylation at promoter regions of Chat and H3K9me2 of Trka, which was restored by wheel running. Exercise also restored the AIE‐induced reversal learning deficits on the Morris water maze. Together, these data suggest that AIE‐induced adult neuroimmune signaling and cognitive deficits are linked to suppression of Chat and Trka gene expression through epigenetic mechanisms that can be restored by exercise. Exercise restoration of the persistent AIE‐induced phenotypic loss of cholinergic neurons via epigenetic modifications is novel mechanism of neuroplasticity.


ABSTRACT The European beech is a major component of central European forests, and the eastern limit of its range lies in Poland. However, the Holocene migration of the beech is not yet finished, especially in NE Poland, so the northern distribution of the beech continues to change. The main goal of this study was to determine if the beech will reach its northern limit in the future. The investigation was carried out in 18 beech stands in Poland. To study the status of the health of the trees, circular plots were established in grids of different sizes. The basal beech stand area ranged from 3.7 m2 ha-1 to 31.2 m2 ha-1. The density of trees exceeded a hundred trees per hectare in most of the plots (61%), and the average degree of defoliation was not greater than 60% in all of the investigated stands. Environmental conditions influenced defoliation of beech trees (Fisher's test, F = 4.0204; P <0.0001). The vitality of the beech trees varied between stands (Kruskal-Walis test, H = 139.7433, P <0.0001) and was rather good in 56% of the study plots. Seedlings and saplings were observed in all of the investigated stands, and they covered from 5 to 39% and 21 to 80% of the study plots, respectively. Spontaneous beech regeneration was widespread and differed from stand to stand as well as within stands in all of the study plots. The number of tall seedlings in most of the study plots (56%) was greater than 10,000 individuals per hectare. The factors limiting beech regeneration were stand density and herb cover, and the number of beech seed trees influenced the quantity of small seedlings. Beech tree density positively influenced the number of small seedlings, and the strength of the correlation was moderate and statistically significant (Pearson correlation, r = 0.349). Beech tree density influenced the vitality of tall and small saplings (Pearson's correlations, r = 0.673 and r = 0.361, respectively). The spontaneous regeneration and strong vitality of seedlings and saplings suggests that beech can create stable stands in the future and that it is an expansive tree species both within its continuous range and at the limit of its distribution. It is quite possible that beech will reach its north-eastern limit in Poland in the future.


Transverse mode coupling instability of a bunch with space charge and wake field is considered within the frameworks of the boxcar model. Eigenfunctions of the bunch without wake are used as a basis for the solution of the equations with the wake field included. A dispersion equation for constant wake is presented in the form of an infinite continued fraction and also as the recursive relation with an arbitrary number of the basis functions. Realistic wake fields are considered as well including resistive wall, square, and oscillating wakes. It is shown that the TMCI threshold of the negative wake grows up in absolute value when the SC tune shift increases. Threshold of positive wake goes down at the increasing SC tune shift. The explanation is developed by an analysis of the bunch spectrum.


ABSTRACT Soil nitrogen mineralization strongly affects N availability, thus impacting the primary productivity in ecosystems. The seasonal environmental changes affect soil mineralization in restored sandy grasslands such as a studied mobile dune (MD), a semi-fixed dune (SFD), a fixed dune (FD) and a grassland (G). During the growing season, we examined the association of soil N mineralization rate with vegetation characteristics, soil properties and climatic factors through the multivariate stepwise regression model. The vegetation cover, species diversity, above- and belowground biomass, soil carbon, nitrogen, soil water content (SWC), pH, electrical conductivity, very fine sand, clay and silt fractions increased during sandy grassland restoration. The NH4+-N concentration in MD and SFD was higher than that in FD and G, while NO3--N and inorganic N concentration showed a reverse trend. The NH4+N, NO3--N and inorganic N concentrations in MD, SFD and FD reached to the highest values in June, while in G they were highest in May. The net mineralization and nitrification rates increased with sandy grassland restoration; both of these rates were much greater in June than in other months at all sites. Regression analysis showed that the NO3--N concentration, SWC, pH of the soil and precipitation could explain 75% of the total variation in net nitrification rate, and the NO3--N concentration and precipitation could explain 59% of the total variation in the net mineralization rate. These results illustrate that the sandy grassland restoration can enhance the soil N availability, with soil N mineralization mainly determined by the changes of the NO3--N concentration and precipitation.


The authors present a model for the behavior of software failures. Their model fits into the general framework of empirical Bayes problems; however, they take a proper Bayes approach for inference by viewing the situation as a Bayes empirical-Bayes problem. An approximation due to D.V. Lindley (1980) plays a central role in the analysis. They show that the Littlewood-Verall model (1973) is an empirical Bayes model and discuss a fully Bayes analysis of it using the Bayes empirical-Bayes setup. Finally, they apply both models to some actual software failure data and compare their predictive performance. >


Accidental falls are the most frequent injury of old age and have dramatic implications on the individual, family, and the society as a whole. To date, fall prediction estimation is clinical, relying on the expertise of the physiotherapist for performing the diagnosis based on standard scales, such as the highly common and validated Berg Balance Scale (BBS). Unfortunately, the BBS is a time consuming subjective score, prone to variability and inconsistency between examiners. In this study, we developed an objective, computational tool, which automates the BBS fall assessment process and allows easy, efficient and accessible assessment of fall risk. The tool is based on a novel multi depth-camera human motion tracking system integrated with Machine Learning algorithms. The system enables large scale screening of the general public at very little cost while significantly reducing physiotherapist resources. The system was pilot tested in the physiotherapy unit at a major hospital and showed high rates of fall risk predictions as well as correlation with physiotherapists BBS scores on individual BBS motion tasks.