Purpose This study aims to evaluate the effect of S-ketamine on slow wave sleep (SWS) and the related changes in serum protein in gynecological patients after open abdomen surgery. Methods This was a randomized controlled trial. One hundred gynecological patients undergoing open abdomen surgery were randomized into an S-ketamine group (group S) or placebo group (0.9% saline; group C). During operation, patients in group S received adjuvant S-ketamine infusion (0.2 mg·kg−1·h−1) while those in group C received 0.9% saline. All patients were connected to patient-controlled intravenous analgesia (PCIA) pump in the end of the surgery and the patients in group S with an additional S-ketamine in PCIA pump. Polysomnogram (PSG) was monitored during the next night after surgery with PCIA pump. Blood samples were collected for proteomic analysis at 6:00 AM after PSG monitoring. The primary outcome was the percentage of SWS (also known as stage 3 non-rapid eye movement sleep, stage N3) on the next night after surgery, and the secondary outcome was subjective sleep quality, pain scores, and the changes in serum proteomics. Results Complete polysomnogram recordings were obtained from 64 study participants (31 in group C and 33 in group S). The administration of S-ketamine infusion resulted in a significant increase in the percentage of SWS/N3 compared to the control group (group C, median (IQR [range]), 8.9 (6.3, 12.5); group S, median (IQR [range]), 15.6 (12.4, 18.8), P<0.001). However, subjective evaluations of sleep quality revealed no significant variances between the two groups. The protein affected by S-ketamine was primarily associated with posttranslational modification, protein turnover, carbohydrate transport, and metabolism. Conclusion In patients undergoing open gynecological surgery, S-ketamine enhanced the percentage of objective sleep of SWS during the next night after surgery. Additionally, there were differences observed in serum protein levels between the two groups. Trial Registration ChiCTR2200055180. Registered on 02/01/2022.


Artificial intelligence and laws are coming to appoint where revision of laws is required to keep up with the technological advancements. Artificial intelligence is developing rapidly and there are possibilities that it may take over a lot of human endeavours one of which may also be a large part of law profession. Lawyers with their teams spend a lot of time in understanding and placing Patent claims. Hours are spent in investigating and analysing the novelty, utility and non-obvious nature of products and processes for which a claim is to be presented. A substantial expenditure goes into the process of patenting something. Facilitating laws by including AI in the whole process may substantially save us time and money involved in the process. This article explores some of the aspects of IP laws that particularly deal with Patent processes which are placed in the introduction. This article explores a model that may reduce the fear that people have for different biases that may be picked up by the artificial intelligence.


Macrozoospermia is associated with severe male infertility. To date, the only gene implicated in this phenotype is the Aurora Kinase C gene. We report in this work the genetic screening of AURKC mutations in 34 patients with macrozoospermia among 3,536 Algerian infertile men. Nineteen patients (56%) were homozygotes for the c.144delC mutation, eight (23.52%) homozygotes for the c.744C>G (p.Y248*) mutation and two (5.88%) compound heterozygotes. No AURKC mutation was identified in five patients (14.7%). Interestingly and although it is generally accepted that nearly all positive mutated AURKC patients have close to 100% large‐head spermatozoa, our results showed that 11 patients with AURKC mutations (32.35%) had large‐headed spermatozoa lower than 70% (7 with c.144delC and 4 with p.Y248*), and no mutation was found in 2 patients who had >70% of macrocephalic spermatozoa. Twenty ICSI attempts were performed before genetic screening resulting in 39 embryos but no pregnancy was obtained. The sequencing of AURKC exons 3 and 6 is appropriate as a first‐line genetic exploration in these patients to avoid unsuccessful ICSI attempts. A percentage of large head spermatozoa beyond 25% and a percentage of multiflagellar spermatozoa beyond 10% are predictive of a positive mutation diagnosis.


Virtual teams are susceptible to disruptions such as role changes. Due to inconsistent conclusions in the current literature, it is difficult to predict how role disruptions might affect interpersonal perceptions in those environments. We recommend using a social relations analysis to uncover interpersonal processes within virtual teams that might be hidden in the complex multilevel structure of teams. We demonstrate this technique using data from a study involving 40 virtual teams configured in a laboratory; half of the teams experienced a change in leader role during the collaboration. The analysis revealed significant perceiver (individual differences in rating tendencies) and relationship variance (differentiation among team members) in evaluations of team members. Teams experiencing role change showed more differentiation of partners in evaluations and accuracy in guessing how team members evaluated them, compared to teams without role changes. Implications for future research on interpersonal processes in virtual teams are discussed.


Statement of purpose The overprescribing of opioids has led to increased addiction, overdose death, and violent crime. To create a culture of safety, communities would benefit by decreasing the number of opioids prescribed. Often when considering policy to control the overprescribing of opioids, we hear from opioid supporters who claim that by reducing the number of opioids prescribed, we will hurt those in pain who need these medications. This talk will show that for the great majority of people with pain, opioids are not a good option and that by reducing the prescribing of these medications, we will actually be treating pain better. Methods/Approach Review of medical literature to examine the efficacy and dangers of various classes of pain medications including opioids, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and acetaminophen. Results Efficacy NSAIDs are the most effective pain medications. Opioids and acetaminophen have similar efficacy. The combination of an NSAID and acetaminophen is the best for pain relief. Side-effects NSAID medications can cause gastrointestinal, renal and cardiac side-effects. The GI and renal effects are dose-dependent and low dose ibuprofen has a side-effect profile similar to placebo. Acetaminophen can cause liver damage in higher doses. Opioids surprisingly also have GI, renal, and cardiac side-effects. In addition, opioids have powerful psychotherapeutic effects that can lead to dependence and addiction. Conclusions In the treatment of pain, NSAID medications like ibuprofen and naproxen are both more effective in the treatment of pain and are safer than opioid pain relievers. Significance and contribution to the field In both policy development and community action, we must not let rhetoric and emotion supplant science and knowledge in the discussions on opioid prescribing, opioid abuse, opioid addiction, and opioid overdose. Abundant scientific research has shown that policies and activities that reduce the number of opioid prescriptions will improve the treatment of pain, and reduce the multiple adverse economic and public health effects of opioids.


This is an admirable collection of review articles, another in the splendid Contemporary Neurology Series edited by Plum and McDowell. The volume goes far beyond its title. Parkinson disease, today treated effectively and fairly routinely with levodopa, has been restudied. This is due in part to the new fields opened up by the use of this dopamine precursor, the unexpected essential role of this neurotransmitter, and in part by the slow passage of that special group of patients with Parkinson disease in whom encephalitis was the cause. Forno and Alvord find on close examination that several microscopically distinguishable features separate that category known as idiopathic parkinsonism, including the presence and distribution of Lewy bodies, Alzheimer tangles, and senile plaques. Poirier describes at length animal models for anatomic study of the disease. But the most remarkable aspects of the book are sections written by Carlsson and Hornykiewicz. These have to do


Several Techniques had been applied to measure Ionizing Radiation. Majority of thistechniques are costly and very complicated. We focus on this research to chemically deposition of CdS to formwith CdTe junction x-ray sensor. CdTe has been electrodeposited onto CdS/FTO glass substrate to formwith previously fabricated CdS layer 4 µm thickness. The optimum potential for CdTe deposition hasbeen studied by potentiostat measurement, it shows that -1.3 is the optimum working potential. The XRDanalysis showed that the CdTe films have highly oriented crystallites with the cubic phase zinc blend withpreferred orientation (111). The band gap Eg extrapolated to be 1.4 eV. Four stacked sensors wereconnected in series to measure the device performance. It was observed that amplitude of the pulseformed due to exposed FTO/CdS/CdTe/Mo detector to X-ray of 33 keV and 1mA intensity is 1.03 V.


This paper discusses the potential use of an on-line computer aid for the initial training of robot technicians. The system under investigation, Rhino-Aid, uses computer graphics and a computer-implemented advisor model to aid Rhino robot technicians during training. The graphics part of Rhino-Aid consists of two screens, a top view and a side view, which provide simulated displays of the robot from two perspectives. The advisor model of Rhino-Aid provides suboptimal advice to the technician upon request, for the purpose of motivating the technician to perform better than the advisor. Results of an experiment to evaluate the effectiveness of Rhino-Aid suggest the usefulness of the graphics screens, but not necessarily the advisor model.


baby', making him easy to 'forget' and his mother was terrified that he would die silently without her noticing. She was at a further disadvantage by her own inability to use facial expression as a means of communication with her baby. Soon all those concerned in the baby's care, including the mother herself, were fearful for the baby's safety and help was sought before there was serious neglect or abuse. The family were then admitted to the Park Hospital for an intensive period of treatment where the mother learned to make appropriate signals and respond to her baby. Both mother and child could gaze fixate, even though it could not be coupled with smiling. Starting from this, the mother was helped to recognise the more subtle signs from the baby, such as tiny mouth movements and slight panting sounds in her presence. The baby, too, was encouraged in making chuckling noises in response to his mother's gaze. Marital therapy was also required and it was interesting to note that in the mother's family all the sufferers of myotonic dystrophy had had broken marriages. Several years later, this family remains united but the parents still require help from both health and social services in bringing up their 2 young handicapped children.


ABSTRACT Workers in intensive agricultural operations are exposed to dust and endotoxin that are associated with respiratory effects. The authors investigated the longitudinal changes in lung function in male grain farmers. In this study, male grain farmers (n = 263) and male nonfarming control subjects (n = 261) studies initially in 1990/91 were followed-up in 1994/95 and 2003/04. After controlling for potential confounders, grain farmers had an excess annual decline of 9.2 ml/year (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.7, 15.8, p = .006) in forced vital capacity (FVC) in comparison to control. Long-term exposure to grain dust and other substances in lifetime grain farmers results in progressive loss in lung function.


Food and nutrition security survey based on a representative sample of the population of Juba Town was conducted from October to November 2010. The survey covered four localities: Gudele, Juba na Bari, Kator and Munuki. Daily calorie intake using a one day 24-hour diet recall varied between 500 to 3,500 Kcal as a function of monthly income. Spatial distribution of food poverty incidence as well as daily calorific values were geo-statistically analyzed using a GS+ TM Version 9 software. Results showed that about 13.2% of the households with incomes less than 500 SDG/month were severely food insecure with constant hunger,41.5% of the households with incomes between 350-800 SDG/month were food insecure with moderate hunger; 35.8% of the households with incomes between 850-1850 SDG/month were food insecure but without hunger; and 9.4% of the households with incomes between 1,850 and 4,000 SDG/month were food secure. Isotropic variogram of food poverty incidence showed a 46.6% moderate spatial dependency with a relatively low correlation coefficient of r²=0.15 and a range A0 of 8.8 km suggesting a wide radius of even food poverty levels across much of Juba Town. Meanwhile the estimated daily per capita calorific values also showed moderate spatial dependency of 60.3% and a small range A0at 2.3 km. Food poverty incidence at low correlation coefficient r²=0.02 positively correlated with family size and negatively correlated at r²=0.17 with the per capita food consumption. Monetary indicator was used to assess food poverty with the Gini coefficient at 0.32. This unequal income distribution suggested the vulnerability of most households to food insecurity. However, most low income households with less freedom of choice easily compensated their dietary diversity and calorific values through appropriate food preparation methods.


A method for measuring the focal length of lenses using the Talbot effect and the moire technique is described. The test lens is placed in front of a set of two gratings. The first grating illuminated by the light passing through the test lens produces the magnified Talbot image. The moire fringe is generated by superimposing this Talbot image on the second grating. The tilt angle of the moire fringe is a measure of the focal length of the lens. In the experiments, the focal lengths of positive, negative, and power-distributed lenses are measured.


Main chain liquid crystal elastomers exhibit several interesting phenomena, such as three different regimes of elastic response, unconventional stress-strain relationship in one of these regimes, and the shape memory effect. Investigations are beginning to reveal relationships between their macroscopic behavior and the nature of domain structure, microscopic smectic phase structure, relaxation mechanism, and sample history. These aspects of liquid crystal elastomers are briefly reviewed followed by a summary of the results of recent elastic and high-resolution X-ray diffraction studies of the shape memory effect and the dynamics of the formation of the smectic-C chevron-like layer structure. A possible route to realizing auxetic effect at molecular level is also discussed.


Background: Perinatal viral infections of fetus are among the leading causes of congenital cataract and identifying the viral etiology is important. Objectives: To detect the presence of Rubella virus (RV), herpes simplex virus (HSV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) in lens aspirate specimens obtained from patients with congenital cataract and relate the results with serology. Setting and Design: Prospective study carried out in tertiary care hospital. Materials and Methods: Fifty lens aspirates from 50 infants with congenital cataract were subjected to HSV, RV isolation and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for detection of HSV and CMV. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was applied for RV detection. Peripheral blood specimens were screened for anti-HSV, RV and CMV antibodies by enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA). Results: Rubella virus was detected in nine (18%) lens aspirates, by nRT-PCR which includes six positive by culture. HSV-2 DNA was detected in nine other lens aspirates, while CMV was not detected by PCR. Serological results did not correlate with the presence of viruses in the lens aspirates. This is the first report of detection of HSV-2 DNA in cases of congenital cataract. Conclusions: Cytomegalovirus may not be playing a significant role in causation of congenital cataract. The role of serology in identifying causative viral infection for congenital cataract needs to be re-evaluated.


A growing number of researchers argue that time-series patterns in returns are due to investor irrationality and thus can be translated into abnormal profits. Continuation of short-term returns or momentum is one such pattern that has defied any rational explanation and is at odds with market efficiency. This paper shows that profits to momentum strategies can be explained by a set of lagged macroeconomic variables and payoffs to momentum strategies disappear once stock returns are adjusted for their predictability based on these macroeconomic variables. Our results provide a possible role for time-varying expected returns as an explanation for momentum payoffs. Copyright The American Finance Association 2002.


Southeastern Para is an extraordinarily dynamic region. There were large cattle ranching projects, financed in the 1960s. Expansion of peasant agriculture, mineral projects and gold prospecting followed the ranching projects. Also important structural transformations reinforced the role of the urban centres and the local rural bases in the logistics of new economic sectors conditioned by the presence of Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD), in the region since 1985. This article presents the results of an input--output analysis of the investment programme of CVRD from year 2004 up to 2010. The main findings are that the mineral sector has achieved a considerable influence over the economy of Southeastern Para, so that during the cycle of investments each 1% in the growth of the mineral production creates growth possibilities of about 0.83% for the agricultural sector and about 0.86% for the local urban sectors. Considering just the production growth, a percentile point will imply growth at, respectively, 0.73% and 0.76% for those sectors. For the economy of the rest of the state of Para, those elasticities would be, incorporating the investments, 0.80% and, without them, 0.68%. For the economy of the rest of Brazil they would be, respectively, 0.88% and 0.78%.


Glass-reinforced polyurethane foam (R-PUF) is widely used as the primary and secondary insulation of Mark-III type liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo system. And, polyurethane foam (PUF) and polyisocyanurate foam (PIR) are often used for insulation of onshore structures or LNG storage and pipeline system. These polymeric foam materials are known for the characteristics that mechanical properties are dependent on strain rate and temperature. In this study, compression tests for R-PUF, PIR, and PUF were carried out for the estimation of mechanical behaviors under the cryogenic environment. The range of thermal condition was from room temperature to 110K and strain rates were 10 -3 s -1 and 10 -4 s -1 . The test results were analyzed based on the conditions of strain-rate and temperature.


For much of history, politics has centred on autocrats and monarchs. In his new book, Josiah Ober seeks to explain both how the ancient Greeks created democracy and how their civilization failed. The ''Greek efflorescence'' is Ober's term for the Greek phenomenon of growing populations, high standards of living, as well as sophisticated art, architecture, and literature which has come down to us, despite the collapse of ancient Greek wealth and autonomy. Ober proposes theories to answer the questions of both ''rise'' and ''fall,'' while also offering a new nuanced narrative for ancient Greek history. Ober approaches his task using the methodology and language of social science, relying heavily on political science, anthropology, and sociology, together with a dash of literature. His use of quantitative data is detailed in graphs and charts dealing with demographics, ''fame scores,'' and economic growth. He even appends a probability game that is designed to help students understand options open to kings and city governments during the Hellenistic Age. When it comes to political theory, Ober draws on Aristotle's study of animals, with man, of course, as the most political. Ober suggests that encouragement of constant exchange of information between individualistic citizens allowed the Greeks to operate in a decentralized cooperative culture, avoiding the need for monarchs. He regularly contrasts this theory with that of Thomas Hobbes in the seventeenth century, who argued for the advantages of centralized monarchy. As Ober explains in his first few chapters, the key to the ''Greek efflorescence'' was the exceptional politics of democracy and oligarchy, which gave rise to a sustained economic growth. During their period of expansion and colonization beginning in the eighth century, the Greeks gained certain advantages. They settled around the Mediterranean like ''ants around a pond'' (a phrase adopted from Plato), within a dry, but not too dry, climatic niche suitable for growing wheat and barley, grapes, and olives (a ''Mediterranean triad,'' 27). Further, their poleis shared language, religion, art, and architecture. From these foundations of ''polis ecology,'' the Greeks engaged in certain practices that by the sixth century had fueled their success. Ober's work tests two hypotheses. First, the Greeks encouraged ''fair rules, capital investment, [and] low transaction costs,'' which connected the poleis in a network primed for commercial growth. Second, ''competition, innovation, and rational cooperation'' allowed both creative destruction of political institutions that no longer fit their needs and the establishment of more effective governments (120). Ober tests these proposals in the rest of his chapters by weaving together his hypotheses, propositions, experimental models, counterfactuals, and theories with a narrative of the histories of the classical Greek world, focus-


Essential tremor (ET), traditionally considered benign, is a serious neurologic condition with life-altering repercussions. Its involuntary, rhythmic oscillations involve alternating, irregular, or simultaneous contractions of agonist and antagonist muscles. It is the most common of the 20 known tremor disorders and often confused with Parkinson's disease. Numerous drugs can aggravate ET, and alcohol consumption may alleviate it. Its etiology is unknown. Proven drug treatments are currently limited to propranolol and primidone. This article reviews ET with examples from history to demonstrate points.


Kenyans are living two decades longer; the fertility and infant mortality rates have been cut in half; and school enrollment, at both the primary and secondary level, has more than doubled. On the economic front, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita increased eightfold; the largest share of GDP is the services sector, not agriculture; and the financial sector is now the third largest in Sub-Saharan Africa (after South Africa and Nigeria). Kenya strengthened its external position substantially in recent years, accumulating international reserves to meet program targets under the successfully completed international monetary fund (IMF) program. Reforms have improved the resilience of the banking sector to domestic and international shocks. With the advent of mobile information and communications technology (ICT) developments, the ceiling for innovation targeting specific segments of the market and outreach has been raised almost indefinitely. Kenyan banks are ahead of their counterparts in Sub-Saharan Africa in terms of the share of lending to small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) in their portfolios. A mature banking sector and more generally, a well-developed financial sector that supports a vibrant private sector will be an important advantage to achieving the vision 2030 goals.


Nowadays 10-15% of couples are infertile. One of effective methods in treatment of infertile couples is intra cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), however, spontaneous abortion rate increases in ICSI pregnancies. This study aimed to measure potential risk factors for spontaneous abortion such as maternal age, infertility factors, number of embryo transfer, and multiple pregnancies.

 Materials & Methods: This descriptive-analytical study covered all pregnant women (as a result of ICSI) of Kosar infertility center in Motahary teaching hospital between 2003 and 2007. Data were collected through recorded documents of patients in IVF ward and then analyzed using SPSS software, Chai-square, T test, and fisher test. P value was significant. (P<0.05)

 Results: In the present study, 224 out of 280 patients who had become pregnant through ICSI were included. The incidence rate of abortion was 30.1%. There was a significant difference between aborted and non aborted cases (p=0.034). There was also no significant difference between cause of infertility and abortion (p=0.22) and between abortion and number of transferred fetuses.(p=0.94) and between abortion and multiple pregnancy(p=0.17). The incidence of abortion was higher in ovulation problems rather than other causes.

 Conclusion: In this study, the higher was the age of mother the higher was the incidence of abortion. There was no correlation between abortion and number of embryos transferred or multiple pregnancies.


In Team Production Theory of Corporate Law, Margaret Blair and Lynn Stout made two related points. First, that Delaware law does not require rigid shareholder primacy in public corporations. Rather, the broad deference afforded to the decisions of predominantly independent corporate boards of directors is consistent with a contrary theory, where the fundamental role of the board of directors is to mediate between the interests of various stakeholders that contribute to the corporation's output. Second, Blair and Stout's contend that such an arrangement is more efficient than narrow shareholder primacy. This symposium contribution draws on a closely related area of law — securities regulation — to make two related points. First, unlike corporate law, and as a positive matter, securities regulation can be described as requiring shareholder primacy, or at least investor primacy. This is important because securities compliance takes up more of directors' and officers' time than compliance with corporate law, and thus likely influences and informs their day-to-day decisionmaking to a greater degree than does corporate law. If so, perhaps the persistent dominance of shareholder primacy in corporate governance should not be surprising. Second, as a normative matter, investor primacy in securities regulation and enforcement may produce efficient results for most securities activities, but produces suboptimal compliance and enforcement for the most heavily litigated and debated category of securities misconduct: accounting fraud. Theoretical and empirical evidence on the economic consequences of fraudulent financial reporting suggests that the nearly exclusive focus on shareholders in corporate law and governance is misplaced.


This document is one of a series concerned with defining a roadmap of
protocol specification work for the use of modern cryptographic
mechanisms and algorithms for message authentication in routing
protocols. In particular, it defines the framework for a key
management protocol that may be used to create and manage session keys
for message authentication and integrity.


Orthodontic treatment for a 10-years-old girl, with repaired bilateral cleft lip and left incomplete unilateral alveolar cleft, was performed by moving her right maxillary central incisor across the midline to replace her congenital missing central incisor and then moving the right lateral incisor toward the midline to act as a new central incisor. A malformed supernumerary tooth, positioned between the right central and lateral incisor, was extracted during incisor movement. Significant lip profile improvement was accomplished by maxillary and mandibular anterior teeth retraction into three-premolar extraction spaces. Not only natural functional occlusion, deviated midpalatal suture along the central incisor, and no obvious root resorption were obtained but also narrowing the alveolar bone cleft which was beneficial for bone continuity supporting dental structures, satisfactory results were possible for the patient with primary palate cleft.


Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is characterized by elevation of mean pulmonary artery pressure to values conceivably approaching those seen in the systemic vascular bed. This occurrence is associated with a poor prognosis. PAH may result from a variety of causes, some of which are related to pharmacotherapy.
Herein, we present a case of a 39-year-old female patient with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS), who was receiving immunomodulatory therapy and subsequently developed severe PAH. We presume a causal relationship between the condition and the patient's interferon beta therapy, which had spanned 10 years. The interferon beta therapy was stopped because its continued administration could have led to more rapid progression of severe pulmonary hypertension.
Due to the severity of pulmonary arterial hypertension, PAH-specific pharmacotherapy was indicated, using sildenafil. Since 1998, only several cases of pulmonary arterial hypertension in patients treated with interferon beta have been documented in the scientific literature. In some of these instances, including in two case studies involving patients with multiple sclerosis, it was concluded that there was a possible association with this therapy.


Long, ME. Chippers. Grounds Maintenance 11(11): 32, 34. Machines available for converting wood and brush into chips range all the way from huge, truck-mounted units powered by 300-horsepower engines, and capable of gobbling logs up to 5 ft. in diameter, to small 5-horsepower units that can be pushed on their wheels to the job site. In selecting from all the available machines the one which will best meet your needs, there are many factors to keep in mind. As with any mechanical device, your chipper unit is ultimately going to need repair parts and service.


: The spatial distribution of plant roots is an important parameter when the stability of vegetated slopes is to be assessed. Previous studies in both laboratory and field conditions have shown that a penetrometer adapted with a blade-shaped tip can be used to detect roots from sudden drops in penetrometer resistance. Such drops can be related to root properties including diameter, stiffness and strength using simple Winkler foundation models, thereby providing a field instrument for rapid quantification of root properties and distribution. While this approach has proved useful for measuring single widely-spaced roots, it has not previously been determined how the penetrometer response changes as a result of roots being in close proximity. Therefore in this study 1-g physical modelling (at 1:1 scale) was conducted to study the effect of vertical root spacing using horizontal, straight 3D-printed root analogues. Results show that when roots are closely spaced, there is significant interaction between them, resulting in higher apparent root displacements to failure and an increased amount of energy being dissipated. This preliminary work shows that the interpretive models used to analyse the penetrometer trace require further development to account for root-soil-root interactions in densely rooted soil.


The aim of this thesis is to exploit the technological capabilities of computer supported collaborative work (CSCW) in the field of collaborative Modelling and Simulation (M&S). The thesis focuses on addressing two main problems: (i) providing flexible means of consistency management in collaborative M&S, and (ii) the ability of providing platform and application independent services for collaborative M&S. In this work, some CSCW technologies and how some of the concepts can be incorporated in a distributed collaborative M&S environment, have been studied. An environment for component based simulation development and visualization, which provides support for collaborative M&S, has been designed. Some consistency policies that can be used in conjunction with distributed simulation and the High Level Architecture (HLA) have been investigated. Furthermore, the efficient utilization of HLA and XML in combination, as the foundation of a CSCW infrastructure has been proved. Two consistency policies were implemented utilizing HLA, a strict and an optimistic, in the distributed collaborative environment. Their performance was compared to the performance of a totally relaxed policy, in various collaboration situations.


Published to mark his 50th birthday, this is a biography of one of popular culture's most prominent figures, Paul McCartney. Drawing on the memories of his friends - and his enemies - it celebrates his extravagant achievements without ignoring either his creative inconsistency or the less engaging aspects of his personality. It investigates the paradox of a billionaire who claims he is still a working class lad; an advocate of sexual equality who demands that his wife does the cleaning and ironing. Tracing the development of his career, the author records how McCartney's determination to have his own way led to the break-up of the Beatles and his next group, Wings, and led him into artistic and commercial disasters such as "The Magical Mystery Tour" and "Give My Regards to Broad Street". The book also discusses how the pain of his break with John Lennon drove him to heroin and how he turned that pain to his financial advantage; and explores his relationships with his father, with his wife, Linda, and with Lennon.


Background: Self-management remains poor among most of the diabetic patients due to various individual and environmental barriers which affect it. These barriers should be identified and intervened promptly. The current study aimed to determine self-management barriers perceived by patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods: A cross-sectional study carried out on 681 patients with type 2 diabetes who referred to the diabetes center which is affiliated to Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran during 2018. Through a structured interview, demographic and disease-related data were recorded and the Persian version of the modified Personal Diabetes Questionnaire (PDQ) was used to assess self-management barriers. The tool has four subscales including diet, medication, monitoring, and exercise barriers. The higher score in each subscale indicates a higher level of barriers in that section. Data analyzed by SPSS 20 using T-test, ANOVA, and multiple linear regressions. Results: The majority of the patients (62.8%) were female, married (78.3%) with monthly income 10 to 20 million IRRLs (78.4%) and the mean age of 55.65 ± 14.65 years. Body Mass Index, marital status, monthly income, and HbA1C significantly predicted the barriers' score. The instrument had excellent reliability (α = 0.95). In confirmatory factor analysis, the fit indices had approximately acceptable levels. Conclusions: The Persian version of modified PDQ had good psychometric properties and can be used as a valid and reliable instrument in the primary health care setting. The significant perceived barriers should be identified and intervened by health care providers through the comprehensive management of diabetic patients.


This paper aims to mitigate straggler effects in synchronous distributed learning for multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) problems. Stragglers arise frequently in a distributed learning system, due to the existence of various system disturbances such as slow-downs or failures of compute nodes and communication bottlenecks. To resolve this issue, we propose a coded distributed learning framework, which speeds up the training of MARL algorithms in the presence of stragglers, while maintaining the same accuracy as the centralized approach. As an illustration, a coded distributed version of the multi-agent deep deterministic policy gradient (MADDPG) algorithm is developed and evaluated. Different coding schemes, including maximum distance separable (MDS) code, random sparse code, replication-based code, and regular low density parity check (LDPC) code are also investigated. Simulations in several multi-robot problems demonstrate the promising performance of the proposed framework.


The electromagnetic parameters of synthesized M-type hexagonal ferrite, Ba0.5Sr0.5CoxTixFe(12-2x)O19 (x = 0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0), are measured from 8.2-12.4 GHz. The substitution of Co and Ti ions increases dielectric loss in the ferrite, suggesting for EMI shielding applications. The preferential site occupancy of substituted ions changes resistivity of ferrite. The various mechanisms behind variations of investigated parameters are discussed in this paper.


A multistep methodology for the quantitative determination of rate constants of a detailed surface-reaction mechanism is proposed. As a starting point, thermodynamically consistent, coverage-dependent activation energies and heats of reactions were derived from the application of the unity bond index-quadratic exponential potential formulation, and initial estimates of the preexpontentials were obtained from transition-state theory or available experiments. Important feature identification analysis was performed to determine key kinetic parameters for various experiments. Model responses were parameterized in terms of these important parameters by polynomials and factorial design techniques, and these parameterized responses were subsequently used in simultaneous optimization through simulated annealing against different sets of experimental data to obtain a quantitative reaction mechanism that is valid over a wide range of operating conditions. The technique was successfully applied to the development of a comprehensive reaction mechanism for H 2 /air mixtures on polycrystalline Pt.


Background: Activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor by reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the spinal cord plays an important role in the development of hyperalgesia in several neuropathic pain models. The study examined the involvement of ROS-NMDA signaling pathway in remifentanil-induced postoperative hyperalgesia. Methods: Nociceptive responses were measured by paw withdrawal mechanical threshold (PWT) and paw withdrawal thermal latency (PWL) before and up to day 5 after remifentanil infusion. Spinal delivery of MitoSOX red was performed to detect mitochondrial ROS. Changes in expression of NMDA receptor subunits (NR1 and NR2B) in the spinal cord were analyzed by immunofluorescence and Western blotting. Intraperitoneal injection of phenyl-N-tert-butylnitrone (PBN), a non-selective ROS scavenger, was administrated to investigate the role of ROS in remifentanil-induced postoperative hyperalgesia. Results: Intraoperative infusion of remifentanil induced postoperative mechanical allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia. ROS production, phosphorylated NR1 and NR2B subunits of NMDA receptor were found to be significantly increased in the spinal dorsal horn after intraoperative remifentanil infusion. However, remifentanil-induced postoperative hyperalgesia was suppressed by pretreatment of PBN. In addition, reduction of ROS by PBN prevented enhanced phosphorylation of NR1 and NR2B subunits. Conclusion: These findings indicated that ROS-dependent activation of NMDA receptor in the spinal cord might be a potential mechanism underlying remifentanilinduced postoperative hyperalgesia.


Background: Assessment of bypass grafts by invasive coronary angiography (ICA) is bothersome and often requires extra procedure time, contrast load, and radiation exposure. Aim: To evaluate the ability of dual-source computed tomography angiography (CTA) to detect significant graft disease in symptomatic patients after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Methods: Thirty (26 men, mean age 66 ± 9 years) consecutive post-CABG patients from the prospective ANIN Computed Tomography Angiography Registry who underwent both dual-source CTA and ICA for suspected graft disease were included in the analysis. Coronary artery bypass grafts, anastomotic sites, and distal runoffs with a diameter of ≥ 1.5 mm were evaluated for the presence of significant stenoses (≥ 50% diameter reduction). Invasive coronary angiography served as a reference standard, and was performed within 30 days of dual-source CTA. Results: A total of 58 bypass grafts with 56 anastomotic sites, and 54 distal runoffs were evaluable both in dual-source CTA and ICA. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of dual-source CTA for the detection of significant lesions in bypass grafts were 100%, 92%, 86%, and 100%, respectively. In anastomotic sites, dual-source CTA detected significant stenosis with a sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 96%, respectively. If analysis was restricted to distal runoff segments, sensitivity and specificity were 50% and 98%, respectively. On a per-patient basis, all patients with at least one significant graft stenosis on ICA were correctly classified using dual-source CTA. Conclusions: Dual-source CTA permits the reliable assessment of bypass graft disease with high diagnostic accuracy and can be used in clinical routine as a noninvasive test to rule out suspected graft dysfunction in symptomatic post-CABG patients.


This study is to figure out the speed of soil diffusion and shapes as well when landslide occurred. It was measured the speed and shapes of soil diffusion using installed indoor-simulation of a land slide. Standard sand was used to measure it and this measurement is following the moisture content of standard sand. The result of this experiment follows the moisture content; as the moisture content goes up, the area and speed of soil diffusion goes faster as well. As the average of records by the moisture content was analyzed, the area and speed of land slide are increased proportionally. The shape of diffusion is formed as fanwise. It depends on the moisture content as above; the speed was fast when the moisture content is high, and it was getting narrower and longer as the speed of diffusion was faster.


Objective: The gravitational gradient is the major component to face when considering the physiology of venous return, and there is a growing interest in understanding the mechanisms ensuring the heart filling, in the absence of gravity, for astronauts who perform long-term space missions. Approach: The purpose of the Drain Brain project was to monitor the cerebral venous outflow of a crew member during an experiment on the International Space Station (ISS), so as to study the compensatory mechanisms that facilitate this essential physiological action in subjects living in a microgravity environment. Such venous function has been characterized by means of a novel application of strain-gauge plethysmography which uses a capacitive sensor. Main results: In this contribution, preliminary results of our investigation have been presented. In particular, comparison of plethysmography data confirmed that long duration spaceflights lead to a redistribution of venous blood volume, and showed interesting differences in the amplitude of cardiac oscillations measured at the level of the neck veins. Significance: The success of the experiment has also demonstrated that thanks to its easy portability, non-invasiveness, and non-operator dependence, the proposed device can be considered as a novel tool for use aboard the ISS. Further trials are now under way to complete the investigation on the drainage function of the neck veins in microgravity.


Particle filters are a commonly used technique for sensor fusion in indoor localization use-cases. Multiple strategies exist, that control when the particle filter is updated and with which data. We take a look at three commonly used update strategies. The first runs a full particle filter update for every incoming measurement, the second uses a fixed-interval update rate and the third is triggered by events, such as detected steps. All of these strategies have different advantages and disadvantages. The first strategy, for example, has the problem that steps are recognized only after they have been completed - which makes for a constant temporal discrepancy between the proposal distribution and the measurements evaluated on top. Due to the configured delay, the fixed-interval strategy, in comparison, can pre-date incoming step events to mitigate this discrepancy. In this paper we present PIPF as a novel approach to combine advantages of the fixed-interval update strategy with advantages of the strategy that runs a full update per measurement. This works by using the transition to calculate a trajectory, which is then followed during the evaluation. The proposal distribution in the form of particles is interpolated on this trajectory for every incoming measurement, which removes the temporal discrepancy between both. To evaluate PIPF's performance and characteristics at different configurations, we compare it to a conventional fixed-interval particle filter on a real-world indoor positioning scenario.


Theorists have proposed that men and women and those in various occupational groups should differ in their susceptibility to primitive emotional contagion. Study 1 was designed to explore the extent to which gender and occupation affected respondents' self-reports of emotional contagion, as measured by the Emotional Contagion (EC) scale. As predicted, women in a variety of occupations secured higher total EC scores than did men. Study 2 was designed to determine the extent to which gender affected self-reports of emotional contagion (again as measured by the EC scale) and actual responsiveness to others' emotions. As predicted, women received higher EC scores, reported sharing the targets' emotions to a greater extent, and were rated by judges as displaying more emotional contagion than did men.


Aiming at the rapid change of commanding information system, this paper first puts forward a dynamic evaluating method about the efficiency of commanding information system on the basis of analyzing the index structure of evaluating the system, and a calculated example indicates that the method has good practicability and maneuverability. Then, an approach of affirming and revising the evaluating result is discussed, it has positive significance to enrich the evaluating efficiency of the commanding information system.


Background: Bladder cancer is still a burden on the world of oncology medicine, which every year affects about 3.4 million people globally with 430,000 new cases per year. It is the fourth most common cancer in men and eighth most common women malignancy in the world. This makes bladder cancer a "silent killer" and it needs appropriate treatment planning. Single immediate instillation of chemotherapy after transurethral resection of the bladder (TURB) is recommended by EAU guideline, but its use remains a controversy. Objective: Study aimed to analyze benefit of intravesical chemotherapy following TURB in terms of recurrency of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). Methods: Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials comparing the efficacy of a single instillation after TURB with TURB alone in NMIBC (pTa-pT1) patients was conducted. Studies searched throughout Medline, PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane in December 2018. Keywords were intravesical chemotherapy, combination, transurethral resection, bladder cancer. Inclusion criteria were RCT studies, subjects in study were treated single immediate chemotherapy instillation after TURB compared to TURB alone in patient with pTa-pT1 urothelial carcinoma of the bladder. Trials with additional treatment prior to first reccurence were not eligible. Studies using recurrence rate as dependent variable. From 361 studies, in total 11 studies were eligible for this meta-analysis. Results: From those 11 studies, it is shown that intravesical chemotherapy using Epirubicin and Mitomycin-C following TURB showed significant decrease of recurrence rate of bladder cancer even to progression of the disease compared to TURB alone (p<0.05) with pooled Risk Ratio were 0.69 and pooled heterogeneity (I2) were 26.6%. Conclusion: This meta-analysis study showed that combination therapy of intravesical chemotherapy after TURB is superior to TURB alone in showing the recurrence rate of NMIBC.


The present invention provides a process for differentiation of vascular endothelial progenitor cells from embryoid bodies derived from embryonic stem cells, the process comprising: (a) treating a culture medium comprising embryoid bodies derived from embryonic stem cells such that the concentration of oxygen dissolved in the culture medium is in the range of about 1 ppm to about 5 ppm; (b) culturing the culture medium prepared in step (a) in an incubator in which the oxygen (O2) tension is equal to or less than about 15% to differentiate the embryoid bodies into vascular endothelial progenitor cells; and (c) isolating the vascular endothelial progenitor cells from the culture medium obtained in step (b).


The purpose of this paper was to describe obstructive urolithiasis with uroperitoneum and hydronephrosis in range cattle in southern Rio Grande do Sul. The disease was observed in castrated male cattle, aged between 18 months and 3 years in a herd of 200 steers that were in a ryegrass pasture during the winter and a native pasture during the summer. Different mineral salts were used as a supplement for the animals during the two seasons of the year. Cattle presented a progressive abdominal distention, depression and dehydration ranging from 10 days to one month in duration. One animal was necropsied, and approximately 50 liters of urine (uroperitoneum) in the abdominal cavity were observed. The bladder had a small rupture and was adhered to the pelvic cavity. The right kidney was enlarged with hydronephrosis. Uroliths of more than 1cm in diameter were housed in the penile urethra. In this study, the disease occurred probably because of mineral salt supplementation, resulting in an imbalance of calcium and phosphorus intake.


British discussions of French technical culture have often assumed, if not explicitly stated, contrasting 'national styles' : centralized, state-oriented, theoretically driven, and institutionally supported work in France ; dispersed, individualistic, empirically driven, school-shy practice in Britain. In this paper I examine a spectrum of French-British technical interactions during the second quarter of the nineteenth century and ask whether such caricatures have any power. To make this study more concrete I consider representations of France, and of French technical culture, in one important British periodical and, by way of occasional contrast, in some British professional and academic institutions. From the late 1830s there was a notable increase in the volume of technical literature ; but here, I focus on a periodical founded in 1823. The Mechanics' Magazine (MM) was edited and printed in London but it was read far more widely. Its readership consisted primarily of literate but disputatious mechanics. Defining themselves against the gentlemanly, status-conscious civil engineers, the literary activists of the MM celebrated democracy, discourse and dispute. Their gaze fell on France and on French figures, institutions, technical processes, textbooks and theories. France was a distant arena of mechanical politics. There, exhibitions (it said) pandered to the useless wants of the aristocracy – were there only Kings in France ? There, Protestant craftsmen had resisted Catholic oppressors. There, fledgling Mechanics' Institutes struggled against despotism. But not all was caricature : France was the land of heroes, like Charles Dupin, or a workplace for skilled artisans ; through de Pambour, Poncelet and Morin it could be a source, selectively, of technical insight and theory – even if built upon the example of British engineering works. Such representations of French technical culture 'from below' complement existing accounts of intellectual, cultural, or political encounter ; and they provide some clues as to the mechanisms whereby elite technical literature from France was appropriated in Britain.


This paper is an attempt to unravel some specific inter-related dimensions of inequality in participation in higher education by economic status of the households. The importance of examining the linkages between economic status and participation in higher education also lies with the fact that a substantial proportion of the increase in economic inequality is linked with the increase in the returns to education and low level of inter-generational mobility. More clearly, a vicious circle is clear: the barriers to access to higher education among low-income students widen the income inequality, which in turn widens the inequality in access to higher education. Given this, it is important to examine how far students from poor households are able to access higher education in India. The inequality in access to higher education—measured in terms of the gross enrolment ratio, gross attendance ratio, and rate of higher education attainment that is percentage of higher educated people in the total population—by economic status of the households in India is analysed in detail in the paper. Taking economic status as cross-cutting reference for all dimensions, gender and rural-urban differences are also analysed. Then we analyse inequality in household expenditure on higher education by these categories. Finally probability of attending higher education by various groups of population is estimated using logit regressions. The concluding section provides a summary of the major findings of the study along with some important policy implications.


The condition that marks the post-digital age may be the condition for error. In the condition where machinic systems seek the unforeseen and the emergent, there is also a possibility for the unforeseen error to slip into existence. This condition can be seen in the emerging tradition of artists using error as a creative tool. In his paper "The Aesthetics of Failure: 'Post-Digital' Tendencies in Contemporary Music," Kim Cascone points to the way in which composers, using digital means, exploit the inadequacies of a particular compositional or performative technology (Cascone 13). Cascone cites composers such as Ryoji Ikeda who create minimalist electronic compositions using media as both their form and theme. In these compositions, the errors, imperfections, and limitations of the particular compositional media are the central constituting elements of the piece. In addition to music, this glitch aesthetic is also exploited in the visual arts. Artists such as Tony Scott set up situations in which errors are able to emerge and be exploited in the art making process. In these types of work the artist's role is to allow a glitch or an error to arise in a specific system, then to reconfigure and exploit the generative qualities of the unforeseen error.


Hart et al . are to be commended on another interesting result from the landmark Renfrew/Paisley study which has yielded so much of benefit [1]. However, in their interpretation of the data they have omitted a further explanation which is kinder to the victim of Type 2 diabetes and also in keeping with current scientific data on obesity. The possibility that some of the genetic influences responsible for Type 2 diabetes [2] also influence whether its sufferers become overweight during their lifetime was not discussed. However, it is generally accepted that people who develop Type 2 diabetes have a tendency to acquire fat centrally, and for 80–90% to be overweight or obese. In agreement with Stunkard's landmark studies showing body mass index (BMI) heritability, we have reported the strong heritability of both total and central fat mass in healthy humans [3–5]. We have also recently reported a potential mechanism influencing later weight gain [6]. In healthy normoglycaemic relatives of Type 2 diabetic subjects, we found significantly lower fasting PYY levels than in control subjects matched for age, gender and adiposity without such relatives. This lack of a satiety factor could contribute to later weight gain, which can itself hasten onset of Type 2 diabetes by several mechanisms. For example, we have also reported, in insulin resistant normoglycaemic Type 2 diabetic relatives, a decrease over 6 years in insulin secretion which related only to their increase in central fat. There is an implication in the paper that the weight gain occurs independent of the disease and could hence be dealt with easily by a 'serious' attempt at weight loss in the general population, hence preventing Type 2 diabetes. If so, could the authors indicate the papers showing such permanent weight loss in the healthy population maintained over more than 5 years? People who are obese continually try to lose weight, with and without medical help. The reason it is not easily achieved is because of the strong heritability. Thus, I suggest that statistically the predictive relationship is strong between BMI and later diabetes, both for the reasons the authors mention and because there may be shared genetic factors linking adiposity and Type 2 diabetes.


Abstract This interview between the writer and critic Erik Morse and the artist and theorist Warren Neidich took place over the course of two months in the fall/winter 2021–2022. The interview focuses on a body of work entitled the Hybrid Dialectics produced between 1997–2002 that served as bridge between his earlier perfomative reenactments and fictitious documents entitled, American History Reinvented,1985–1993, and his more recent neon sculptures most notably the Pizzagate Neon, 2017–2021 and his A Proposition for an alt Parthenon Marbles Recoded: The Phantom as Other (2021–2022). Neidich's project extends his interdisciplinary experiments carried out in the fields of cinema studies, structural film and apparatus theory which foregrounded cinematic devices and tools at the expense of the image. This forms the foundation of Neidich's engagement with photographic medium as a form of politicized aesthetics embedded in a bidirectional embodied and extended cognition. His hybrid dialectics take off where artists like Michael Snow and Tony Conrad left off. They are the result of grafted neuro-opthalmologic devices, used in the measurement of squint and skewed gaze, upon the photographic lens which results in a destabilized and estranged image; making them other and queered while at the same time challenging the stillness of the photographic object. The neuro-photographic assemblages release the vibrant energy of their human and non-human subjects distributing them across the surface of the photographic paper. These portray a lexicon of control that would later appear again, in his recent neon sculptures in the form of the Google effect, meme magic, and click bait. The Hybrid Dialects represented forms of dissensus against what Guy Debord called the Society of the Spectacle where as Neidich's recent neon work is a rebuttal of the consciousness industry of social media and Big Data.


The questions addressed in this paper are: (i) does wage inequality increase with local population size, and if so, (ii) what are possible factors behind this increase? In a cross-section analysis of Swedish local labour markets using unique full population data, the article shows that urban scale, i.e. size of local population, has significant positive effects on wage inequality. Testing for potential explanations, labour market diversification, human capital, migration, age structure and employment are shown to be significantly associated with inequality. Given these effects, the article raises the question of how to understand and incorporate scale effects into models of long-term change in wage inequality.


This edited volume brings together scholars from eight countries to explore interactions of popular cultural flows, state politics, audiences' receptions, and public debates in Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, Korea, Vietnam and China, and across the region as a whole. These investigations provide fresh conceptual and empirical insights into the study of the dynamic and complex interface of cultural adaptation, political identification and regional identity formation in the popular cultural consumption process in East Asia. The impact of cross-border popular cultural flows on East Asians' competing national selves and the potential of translating pleasure from popular cultural consumption into regional integration urges are thus issues carrying political significance and consequence for East Asia, and possibly with serious repercussions on the world.


We present a new pipeline for holistic 3D scene understanding from a single image, which could predict object shapes, object poses, and scene layout. As it is a highly ill-posed problem, existing methods usually suffer from inaccurate estimation of both shapes and layout especially for the cluttered scene due to the heavy occlusion between objects. We propose to utilize the latest deep implicit representation to solve this challenge. We not only propose an image-based local structured implicit network to improve the object shape estimation, but also refine the 3D object pose and scene layout via a novel implicit scene graph neural network that exploits the implicit local object features. A novel physical violation loss is also proposed to avoid incorrect context between objects. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our method outperforms the state-of-the-art methods in terms of object shape, scene layout estimation, and 3D object detection.


A multiple linear regression analysis of global annual mean near‐surface air temperature (1900–2012) using the known radiative forcing and the El Niño–Southern Oscillation index as explanatory variables account for 89% of the observed temperature variance. When the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) index is added to the set of explanatory variables, the fraction of accounted for temperature variance increases to 94%. The anthropogenic effects account for about two thirds of the post‐1975 global warming with one third being due to the positive phase of the AMO. In comparison, the Coupled Models Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) ensemble mean accounts for 87% of the observed global mean temperature variance. Some of the CMIP5 models mimic the AMO‐like oscillation by a strong aerosol effect. These models simulate the twentieth century AMO‐like cycle with correct timing in each individual simulation. An inverse structural analysis suggests that these models generally overestimate the greenhouse gases‐induced warming, which is then compensated by an overestimate of anthropogenic aerosol cooling.


A 12 hour old newborn suffering from respiratory distress was found to have a well defined opaque mass in the right lung. The mass was well tolerated up the 33rd day of life when he developed acute respiratory distress, the upper respiratory tract being flooded with secretions. Chest X ray showed that the mass had disappeared and that there was a large cystic structure instead. A bronchogenic cyst was excised successfully from the right middle lobe. The early clinical manifestations of this bronchogenic cyst and the radiologic findings are discussed.


Sorghum (Sorghum bicolour (L.) Moench) grown under rain-fed conditions is usually affected by drought stress at different stages, resulting in reduced yield. The assessment of variation in morpho-physiological traits contributing towards drought tolerance at these stages is of vital importance. This study was conducted using a split plot design with three replications to evaluate 25 sorghum accessions at post flowering stage under well watered and drought stress conditions at Hamelmalo Agricultural College. The data of 14 different morpho-physiological traits were subjected to analysis of variance, estimation of genetic variability and heritability and principal component analysis. We analyzed variance for seedling vigor, number of leaves, leaf area, stay-green, peduncle exsertion, panicle length and width, plant height, days to flowering and maturity, grain yield, biomass and harvest index under drought stress and irrigated conditions. The results showed that genotypic differences were significant at P 1 explaining 74.6% of the total variation with grain yield, biomass, stay-green, leaf area, peduncle exsertion and days to flowering and maturity being the most important characters in PC1 and PC2. This research demonstrated high diversity for the characters studied. Moreover, the result showed that drought stress reduced the yield of some genotypes, though others were tolerant to drought. Accessions EG 885, EG 469, EG 481, EG 849, Hamelmalo, EG 836 and EG 711 were identified as superior for post-flowering drought tolerance and could be used by breeders in improvement programs.


The alternating-direction-implicit finite-difference time-domain (ADI-FDTD) method is an unconditionally stable method and allows the time step to be increased beyond the Courant-Friedrich-Levy (CFL) stability condition. This method is potentially very useful for modeling electrically small but complex features often encountered in applications. As the regular FDTD method, however, the spatial discretization in the ADI-FDTD method is only first-order accurate for discontinuous media; several researchers have shown that the errors can be very high when the regular ADI-FDTD method is applied to such discontinuous media. On the other hand, the conformal FDTD method has recently emerged as an efficient FDTD method with higher order accuracy. In this work, a second-order accurate ADI-FDTD method using the conformal approximation of spatial derivatives is proposed. This new scheme, called the ADI-CFDTD method, retains the second-order accuracy in both temporal and spatial discretizations even for discontinuous media with metallic structures, and is unconditionally stable. 2D and 3D examples demonstrate the efficacy of this method and its application in EMC problems.


Drug repositioning has been a topic of great attention to researchers and pharmaceutical companies due to its significant impact on the cost of drug discovery. There are several approaches to identify potentially novel drug candidates through repurposing. Literature mining has played a critical role in mining such information from scientific articles. In this paper, we used drug-gene and gene-disease semantic predications extracted from Medline abstracts to generate a list of potential drug-disease pairs. We further ranked the generated pairs, by assigning scores based on the predicates that qualify drug-gene and gene-disease relationships. On comparing the top-ranked drug-disease pairs against the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD), a curated database for drug-disease relations, we found that a significant percentage of top ranked pairs appeared in CTD. Co-occurrence of these high-ranked pairs in Medline abstracts further improves the confidence in our approach to rank the inferred drug-disease relations higher in the list. Finally, manual evaluation of top ten pairs ranked by our approach revealed that nine of them have some biological significance based on expert judgment.


The pellet of Aspergillus oryzae CICC 2026 was found to exhibit glutamate decarboxylase activity, and γ-aminobutyric acid was testified by paper chromatography. Its biochemical and kinetic properties were characterized. The results showed the pellet did not accumulate γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the fermentation broth, but catalyzed the α-decarboxylation of MSG to GABA in the acetate buffer. The glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) of the pellet reached the maximum activity in submerged culture at 48 h. The optimum pH and temperature of the glutamate decarboxylase were 4.4 and 40 °C, respectively. The activity was stable between pH 4.4-4.8. It retained 80% of maximum activity after incubated at 30-40 °C for 2 h. Kinetic parameters Km and Vmax were found to be 17.86 mM and 1.49 µmol min-1 g-1, respectively. The influences of chemicals reagents on the catalytic activity were also evaluated that Fe3+ and Ca2+ decreased the enzyme activity by 96% and 25%; other reagents (K+, Mn2+ and Mg2+) did not significantly affect the enzyme activity. Conclusions can be drawn in this study that biotransformation of glutamate into γ-aminobutyric acid could be carried out by glutamate decarboxylase in the pellet of Aspergillus oryzae CICC 2026 at optimal conditions.


Stock market liberalizations provide a natural experiment to test for the causal relation between financial development and economic growth. We test this relation by investigating whether liberalizations facilitate growth through the particular mechanism of reducing capital market imperfections that drive a wedge between the external and internal cost of capital to firms. Using panel data on a large sample of emerging markets, we find no evidence of a uniform shift across all sectors in average industry growth following liberalization. Instead, consistent with the hypothesis that liberalizations lower the incremental cost of external capital, it appears that industries that depend more on external finance experience significantly higher growth following liberalization. We also find that growth occurs through the creation of new establishments, which is more likely to require external funds, rather than through an expansion in the average size of existing establishments, which firms are more likely to finance with internal cash. These results are robust to alternative hypotheses, country and industry specific controls, other economic reforms, world business cycle e ects, and contemporaneous macroeconomic shocks.


This paper demonstrates that risk (uncertainty) along with the monetary (interest rates) shocks to the
housing production sector are a quantitatively important impulse mechanism for the business and housing cycles. Our model framework is that of the housing supply/banking sector model as developed in Dorofeenko, Lee, and Salyer (2014) with the model of housing demand presented in Iacoviello and Neri (2010). We examine how the factors of production uncertainty,financial intermediation, and credit constrained households can affect housing prices and aggregate economic activity. Moreover, this analysis is cast within a monetary framework which permits a study of how monetary policy can be used to mitigate the deleterious effects of cyclical phenomenon that originates in the housing sector. We provide empirical evidence that large housing price and residential investment boom and bust cycles in Europe and the U.S.
over the last few years are driven largely by economic fundamentals and financial constraints.We also find
that, quantitatively, the impact of risk and monetary shocks are almost as great as that from technology
shocks on some of the aggregate real variables. This comparison carries over to housing market variables
such as the price of housing, the risk premium on loans, and the bankruptcy rate of housing producers.


In this paper, we examine the evolution of jobs in the midst of the hiring process: how jobs change between the decision to bring in someone to do a body of work and hiring someone. We analyze data from interviews, observations, and documents about start-up hiring and find that, during hiring, tasks are added and removed from jobs; jobs are abandoned, replaced, and moved; and hiring processes are relaunched. We describe two pathways that this evolution takes: the pathway of anticipated evolution, shaped by the unknown nature of the jobs being filled, and the pathway of accidental evolution, shaped by unanticipated factors surrounding jobs. Although the pathways lead to many of the same immediate consequences, there are differences in the longer-term consequences. Across the pathways, many jobs continue to evolve. On the pathway of anticipated evolution, many job incumbents leave within a year and are not replaced. On the pathway of accidental evolution, the longer-term consequences for job incumbents, structures, and organizations range from stability in structures and incumbents to ongoing conflict and incumbent departure. Not surprisingly, most evolving jobs are new to their organizations, but contrary to common conceptions, job evolution is not the product of managers who lack experience or use lax hiring practices. Our observations provide evidence of the emergent nature of jobs, hiring, and organizations.


A promising cancer vaccine involves the fusion of dendritic cells (DCs) with tumor cells such that a broad array of tumor antigens are presented in the context of DC-mediated costimulation and stimulatory cytokines. In diverse animal models, vaccination with DC/tumor fusions results in protection from an otherwise lethal challenge of tumor cells and eradication of established disease. In phase I clinical studies, vaccination with DC/tumor fusions was well tolerated, and induced immunologic responses in the majority of patients and clinical responses in a subset. Vaccine efficacy may be blunted by the immunosuppressive milieu characteristic of patients with malignancy, including the increased presence of regulatory T cells, and inhibitory pathways such as the PD-1/PDL-1 pathway. A current focus of research interest lies in enhancing response to cancer vaccines, by combining vaccination with tumor cytoreduction, regulatory T-cell depletion, and blockade of critical inhibitory pathways.


Identity politics is often perceived as that which cannot serve as a force for just societal change since it is thought to undermine the possibility of crossing differences and engendering solidarity. Such an endeavor is seen to be especially important for addressing the racial polarization and cultural divisions that are evidenced in the United States today. However, such critiques against identity politics jettison any deep understanding or recognition of the structures and orientations that sustain the call to racial identity politics as found, for example, in the Black Lives Matter movement. In this article, I examine what those structures and orientations are, and explore the ways in which such an examination may reframe our understanding of what it is that might be required for the cultivation of solidarity. I argue that what gets lost or remains unaddressed in the way the critiques against identity politics are currently framed, is the reality of what I call the mobilization of the aesthetics of racialization. It is only by foregrounding how we come to our identities through the habituated movements, patterns, orientations and capacities called out of our bodies in relation to spaces, places, other bodies and things, that can we begin to understand what sustains the call toward racial identity politics.


In this paper a Programmable/Stoppable oscillator is designed based on a Self-Timed Ring. A new model is proposed to calculate the oscillation frequency of the ring. Different solutions for introducing programmability to self timed rings are designed and implemented. Using different techniques, the implemented oscillator achieves a frequency range of 3GHz down to 400MHz with a smallest step of 100MHz.


Research on mobile phone use often starts with a question of "How much time users spend on using their phones?". The question involves an equal-length measure that captures the duration of mobile phone use but does not tackle the other temporal characteristics of user behavior, such as frequency, timing, and sequence. In the study, we proposed a variable-length measure called "session" to uncover the unmeasured temporal characteristics. We use an open source data to demonstrate how to quantify sessions, aggregate the sessions to higher units of analysis within and across users, evaluate the results, and apply the measure for theoretical or practical purposes.


Owing to a copyediting error, Marjukka Mäkelä was incorrectly listed as an author in the editorial by Oortwijn & van der Wilt (1) in February/April 2016 issue of International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care. The publisher apologizes to the author and readers for this error. The original article has been corrected online to rectify this error.


Background: The goals following pulmonary valve replacement (PVR) are to optimize right ventricular hemodynamics and minimize the need for subsequent reoperations on the right ventricular outflow tract. We hypothesized PVR using a xenograft valved conduit would result in superior freedom from reoperation with sustained improvement in right ventricular chamber dimensions. Methods: Xenograft valved conduits placed in patients aged >16 years were reviewed from 2000 to 2010 to allow for a 5-year minimum follow-up. Preoperative, one-year, and the most recent echocardiograms quantified right ventricular chamber dimensions, corresponding Z scores, and prosthetic valve function. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies compared preoperative and follow-up right ventricular volumes. Results: A total of 100 patients underwent PVR at 24 (19-34) years. Freedom from reintervention was 100% at 10 years. At most recent follow-up, only one patient had greater than mild pulmonary insufficiency. The one-year (17.3 ± 7.2 mm Hg; P < .01) and most recent follow-up (18.6 ± 9.8 mm Hg; P < .01) Doppler-derived right ventricular outflow tract gradients remained significantly lower than preoperative measurements (36.7 ± 27.0 mm Hg). Similarly, right ventricular basal diameter, basal longitudinal diameter, and the corresponding Z scores remained lower at one year and follow-up from preoperative measurements. From 34 MRI studies, the right ventricular end-diastolic indexed volume (161.7 ± 58.5 vs 102.9 ± 38.3; P < .01) and pulmonary regurgitant fraction (38.0% ± 15.9% vs 0.8% ± 3.3%; P < .01) were significantly lower at 7.1 ± 3.4 years compared to the preoperative levels. Conclusion: Use of a xenograft valved conduit for PVR results in excellent freedom from reoperation with sustained improvement in right ventricular dimensions at an intermediate-term follow-up.


Abstract. Variations in the Polar Jet Stream directly affect weather across Europe and North America (Francis et al., 2012). Jet Stream dynamics are governed by the development of planetary Rossby waves (Dickinson, 1978) driven by variation of the Coriolis force with latitude. Here we show that increasing atmospheric tides induce the development of Rossby waves, especially during winter months. This changes the flow and direction of the Jet Stream, as measured by the Arctic Oscillation (AO). Although horizontal tidal forces are tiny (107 smaller than gravity), they act over huge areas dragging the Jet Stream flow southwards in regular pulses as the earth rotates. This induces a changing Coriolis torque, which then distorts the Jet Stream flow. The data from eight recent winters are studied indicating that the AO is anti-correlated to the horizontal "tractional" component of tides acting between latitude 45 and 60° N. The observed 28 day cycle in Jet Stream flow and extent has a statistical significance > 99 %. A cross-correlation between all daily AO data since 1950 and the tractional tidal strength shows a significant anti-correlation with a lag time of ~ 5 days. The strongest correlation and largest excursions of the AO are observed during winter 2005/2006 – a maximum lunar standstill year. This declination dependence of tidal forces at high latitudes is the proposed cause of many previous reports of an 18.6 year dependence of continental rainfall and drought.


This paper evaluated the unique challenges of Australians in relation to the global novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The 2019-2020 bushfires and COVID-19 outbreak have increased rates of anxiety and distress in Australia. On the contrary, unprecedented spending by the Australian Government on health care, employment, and housing has potentially lowered anxiety and stress for some Australians. Research is required to monitor the potential long-term mental health consequences of COVID-19 in Australia. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).


Archie Mafeje's passing generated a lot of interest about his life and writings among leftists and liberals alike. While the interest is commendable, certain of the writings on Mafeje leave much to be desired. This article focuses on the works of Andrew Bank and Fred Hendricks. In Bank's work, Mafeje is at once labelled guilty of contributing to 'myths' about the importance of his own critique of anthropology and for 'reinventing' his life history. In Hendricks's work, he is described as an 'embittered' and 'combative warrior'. The tie that binds these narratives about Mafeje's life and work is that, not only do they provide a one-sided approach to his writings, they also rely on inconclusive evidence (where his life is concerned) and unfounded claims to knowledge of his mind and thoughts. The latter case constitutes 'psycho-biography' – something which does little to illuminate the nexus between Mafeje's life and writings. Instead, these narratives serve to perpetuate what Mafeje called the 'epistemology of alterity' (when talking about anthropology in particular) and 'negations' (when writing about the social sciences in Africa generally). On the one hand, these writings come close to discrediting Mafeje's contribution to the social sciences and, on the other, they amount to 'othering' Mafeje. This article advances a critique of these peculiar features in the said writings.


Background:Hypertension is one of the most common disorders affecting on the heart,blood vessels , brain and kidney and it is considered is a very common disease and frequent with diabetes , Conversely, it is responsible for one of four premature deaths in developed countries. Objective: To evaluate the most important factors that cause hypertensive and to study their effects on patients . Patients and Methods: This study was conducted at Baquba Teaching Hospital in the recovery unit for the period from 1/10/2017 until 1/3/2018 The study included 100 patients with hypertensive (44 male , 56 female) to compare them with 25 healthy persons (11 male , 14female) , was measuring blood pressure and has been done a questionnaire for each patient included (Age, BMI , Smoking , Number of hours sleep , Drinking beverages , Chronic diseases) and then by revulsion (2 cc) of blood to measured fasting blood glucose . Results: The results of the study indicates that there is a significant differences at p<0.05 levels of systolic blood pressure , fasting blood glucose , hours of sleep , soft drinks , chronic diseases , smoking . Conclusion: The increase in smoking , soft drinks affects on the level of blood pressure directly, and the decrease of sleep associated with high blood pressure , and most diabetics patients are more prone to hypertension.


This paper is a commentary on the foundational significance of the CliftonBub-Halvorson theorem characterizing quantum theory in terms of three informationtheoretic constraints. I argue that: (1) a quantum theory is best understood as a theory about the possibilities and impossibilities of information transfer, as opposed to a theory about the mechanics of nonclassical waves or particles, (2) given the information-theoretic constraints, any mechanical theory of quantum phenomena that includes an account of the measuring instruments that reveal these phenomena must be empirically equivalent to a quantum theory, and (3) assuming the information-theoretic constraints are in fact satisfied in our world, no mechanical theory of quantum phenomena that includes an account of measurement interactions can be acceptable, and the appropriate aim of physics at the fundamental level then becomes the representation and manipulation of information.


Abstract Giant ragweed is a competitive, allergenic weed that persists in agricultural fields and early successional sites. Field experiments were conducted to determine the effects of seed size and seed burial depth on giant ragweed emergence and seed demise. In a seedling emergence experiment, small (< 4.8 mm in diameter) and large (> 6.6 mm in diameter) seeds were buried 0, 5, 10, and 20 cm in fall 1997, and weed emergence was monitored over the next seven growing seasons. A generalized linear mixed model fit to the cumulative emergence data showed that maximum emergence for both seed sizes occurred at the 5-cm burial depth, where probability of emergence was 19% for small seeds and 49% for large seeds. Emergence probability at the 10-cm burial depth was 9% for small seeds and 30% for large seeds, and no seedlings emerged from the 20-cm burial depth. The model predicted that ≥ 98% of total cumulative emergence was completed after four growing seasons for large seeds buried 5 cm, five growing seasons for small seeds buried 5 cm and large seeds buried 10 cm, and seven growing seasons for small seeds buried 10 cm. Seed size and burial treatment effects on seed demise were tested in a second experiment using seed packets. Rates of seed demise were inversely proportional to burial depth, and the percentage of viable seeds remaining after 4 yr ranged from 0% on the soil surface to 19% at the 20-cm burial depth. Some seeds recovered from the 20-cm burial depth were viable after 9 yr of burial. These results, coupled with previous research, suggest that seed size polymorphism facilitates giant ragweed adaptation across habitats and that a combination of no-tillage cropping practices, habitat modification, and timely weed control measures can reduce its active seed bank in agricultural fields by 90% or more after 4 yr. Nomenclature: Giant ragweed, Ambrosia trifida L. AMBTR.


The self-understanding of the Europeans has been profoundly put into question since 1989, and during the EU reform process, 'Europe' was confronted by the task of describing itself anew. In this context, the debate about the significance of the religious patrimony took on a key position in the discourse. The broad public discussions of the preambles to the European Charter of Fundamental Rights and the Treaty establishing a Constitution for the European Union (ECT) indicate that the relationship between religion and political remains a controversial issue. The article argues that the 'preamble disputes' are part and parcel of the European Union's quest for a political identity and that the outcome of the identity debate—the self-description as a 'community of values'—deals in a specific way with this fundamental question.


As the second of a two-part research project, this study attempted to build three clinically useful prediction equations; these equations would be used to predict three long-term functional outcomes: productivity status, living arrangement status, number of hours of assistance required per week. There were ten predictor variables used in each analysis. These ten variables belonged to four theoretical classes: pre-injury demographics, pre-injury social characteristics, severity of injury, and post-injury environmental variables. The analytical method used was the General Linear Model of multiple regression, rather than the most often used Stepwise regression procedure. The results indicate that in none of the three prediction equations was more than 28% of the criterion variance accounted for, and only a minority of the predictor variables were significant predictors. It is concluded that, while the equations are of only very limited utility, the theoretical model and the analytical technique will be useful for future investigators.


3-D prestack depth migration is emerging as an industrial imaging tool. Many competing algorithms have been proposed by various authors. Nevertheless, the real bottleneck in 3D prestack processes is the sheer amount of input and output data. This paper reviews the principal migration methods on the basis of their capacity for data manipulation, without evaluating the algorithms themselves. It concludes that Kirchhoff methods are the best first candidates, while other methods dealing with subsets of input data may have to be taken into account in the future.


CRC Handbook of Biologically Active Phytochemicals and Their Activities presents an alphabetical catalog of some 3,000 biologically active phytochemicals (elements and compounds) from higher plants. The data includes at least one and in some cases as many as 25 biological activities for each phytochemical. The book's tables also provide data on effective dose, inhibitory concentrations, and lethal and/or toxic doses. Entries after 1990 indicate the source of the data. CRC Handbook of Biologically Active Phytochemicals and Their Activities makes it possible for the first time to locate the concentration of many compounds in plants and compare this data with dosage information to calculate how much of a given plant food it would take to cause lethality, antioxidant activity, hypoglycemic activity, or artemicidal activity. These handy tables of hard-to-find information make this book an indispensable resource for pharmacologists, toxicologists, nutritionists, pharmacognocists, and food scientists.


Preface James C. Kaufman Part I. Creativity and Mental Illness: The State of the Field: 1. A socio-historical overview of the creativity-pathology connection from antiquity to contemporary times George Becker 2. The mad (creative) genius: what do we know after a century of historiometric research Dean Keith Simonton 3. Reviewing recent empirical findings on creativity and mental illness Melanie L. Beaussart, Arielle E. White, Adam Pullaro and James C. Kaufman 4. Building connections on sand: the cautionary chapter Judith Schlesinger Part II. Cognitive and Neuroscientific Perspectives on Creativity and Mental Illness: 5. Neurocognitive mechanisms underlying creative thinking: indications from studies of mental illness Anna Abraham 6. The evolutionary genetics of the creativity-psychosis connection Aaron Kozbelt, Scott Barry Kaufman, Deborah J. Walder, Luz Ospina and Joseph Kim 7. Non-linearity in creativity and mental illness: the mixed blessings of chaos, catastrophe and noise in brain and behavior James E. Swain and John D. Swain 8. Artists' vulnerability to psychopathology: an integrative cognitive perspective Mark Papworth Part III. Creativity and the Spectrum of Mental Illness: 9. Creativity and the spectrum of affective and schizophrenic psychoses Neus Barrantes-Vidal 10. When good is bad and bad is good: mood, bipolarity, and creativity Geir Kaufmann and Astrid Kaufmann 11. Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and creativity: ever the twain shall meet? Dione Healey Part IV. Creativity and Mental Illness: Possible Commonalities: 12. The shared vulnerability model of creativity and psychopathology Shelley Carson 13. On the fragility of the artist: art's precarious triad Maja Djikic and Keith Oatley 14. Creativity as 'compensatory advantage': bipolar and schizophrenic liability, the inverted-u hypothesis, and practical implications Dennis K. Kinney and Ruth Richards Part V. Creativity and Mental Health: 15. Bringing the whole universe to order: creativity, healing, and post-traumatic growth Marie J. C. Forgeard, Anne C. Mecklenburg, Justin J. Lacasse and Eranda Jayawickreme 16. Inspiration and the creative process Todd M. Thrash, Emil Moldovan, Amanda K. Fuller and John T. Dombrowski 17. King Solomon and psychoneuroimmunology: creativity and life coping Michael J. Lowis Part VI. Creativity and Mental Illness: What Now?: 18. Ruminating about mental illness and creativity Emily C. Nusbaum, Roger E. Beaty and Paul J. Silvia 19. Creativity and mental illness: reasons to care and beware James C. Kaufman.


The special topic cases are applied to classroom teaching of the curriculum, Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development. The special topic case teaching model was probed, including construction methods and construction contents. The model practice on classroom teaching had better effect. Special topic case teaching is an effective teaching way to combine theory with practice.


Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the United States and globally. The virus has the ability to be transmitted through sexual contact (vaginal, anal, and/or oral sex) and/or genital-to-genital (skin) contact.  HPV types 6, 11, 16, 18, 31, 33, and 45  are considered  high risk factors for the development of anal, oral, and penile cancers among the male population.  Unfortunately, there are no widely used screening tests for HPV-related anal, oral or penile cancers.  This has allowed the virus to remain undetected and, as a result, the rate of male mortality to increase. Although the HPV vaccine has been recommended for both females and males 9 through 26 years of age, more females than males have received the vaccination. The purpose of this study was to assess knowledge of HPV, HPV-related disease, and intent to vaccinate among young college age males. Following IRB approval, a sample of 131 male students completed a self-administered, 54-question, paper-and-pencil questionnaire. The findings of this study indicated that a majority of participants had a general knowledge about HPV virus, many of the participants were unaware that HPV could present with no outward associated symptomology, that bleeding or bloody discharge could be a symptom of anal cancer, and  that there is no cure for HPV infection. 60% were unaware of the availability of the HPV vaccine for male, greatly limiting the intent to potentially vaccinate. Healthcare providers should provide young males with information related to HPV infection, HPV-related disease, and vaccination.


Alison Jolly believes that biologists have an important story to tell about being human - not the all-too-familiar tale of selfishness, competition, and biology as destiny but rather one of cooperation and interdependence, from the first merging of molecules to the rise of a species inextricably linked by langauge, culture, and group living. This is the story that unfolds in this book, the saga of human evolution as told by a world-renowned primatologist who works among the female-dominant ringtailed lemurs of Madagascar. We cannot be certain that Lucy was female - the bones themselves do not tell us. However, we do know, as Jolly points out in this book, that the females who came after Lucy - more adept than their males in verbal facility, sharing food, forging links between generations, migrating among places and groups, and devising creative mating strategies - played as crucial a role in the human evolutionary process as "man" ever did. In a book that takes us from the first cell to global society, Jolly shows us that to learn where we came from and where we go next, we need to understand how sex and intelligence, cooperation and love, emerged from the harsh darwinian struggle in the past, and how these natural powers may continue to evolve in the future.


Most existing word embedding methods can be categorized into Neural Embedding Models and Matrix Factorization (MF)-based methods. However some models are opaque to probabilistic interpretation, and MF-based methods, typically solved using Singular Value Decomposition (SVD), may incur loss of corpus information. In addition, it is desirable to incorporate global latent factors, such as topics, sentiments or writing styles, into the word embedding model. Since generative models provide a principled way to incorporate latent factors, we propose a generative word embedding model, which is easy to interpret, and can serve as a basis of more sophisticated latent factor models. The model inference reduces to a low rank weighted positive semidefinite approximation problem. Its optimization is approached by eigendecomposition on a submatrix, followed by online blockwise regression, which is scalable and avoids the information loss in SVD. In experiments on 7 common benchmark datasets, our vectors are competitive to word2vec, and better than other MF-based methods.


Fusion products of breccia and mylonite along the Alpine Fault Zone are locally hyalomylonite. Chemical data from this hyalomylonite and those from the Himalayas suggest that they are not the products of preferential melting of a low—melting point fraction, nor in most cases are they produced by total melting. The evidence suggests that progressive melting of the country rock occurred, probably in the presence of water, until the fault was lubricated. The composition of the melt is controlled by the rock mineralogy, temperature, and the time between initial melting and final chilling. A friction temperature of 750°C is estimated to have developed in parts of the Alpine Fault Zone; stresses on the order of 250 b could produce this temperature.


An integrated and efficient approach is developed for automated statistical circuit design. One major problem in statistical circuit design for MOS VLSI is the prohibitively expensive computational requirements. The objective is to find realistic, accurate, and efficient solutions for use in the MOS VLSI design area. An automated statistical characterization system has been developed to characterize a large number of MOS devices to obtain statistical information on device parameters. A statistical model for MOS VLSI circuits has been developed in which only the interdie variations are considered, since they are much larger than the local intradie variations. Therefore, the set of statistical variables are different from the set of design parameters, and this leads to a resolution of the problem of dimensionality associated with statistical design. In this statistical model, variations in device length and width, oxide capacitance, and flat band voltage, have been shown to be the principal process factors responsible for the statistical variation of device characteristics. A scalable MOS model has been developed to represent changes in the device model parameters as functions of these principal factors. This accurate and simple statistical modeling approach uses only four statistical variables, and thus permits computationally efficient statistical parametric yield estimation (SPYE). The direct approach for transient sensitivity computation has been implemented in SPICE to allow very efficient computation of performance function sensitivities. An efficient technique for computing the yield gradient using the SPYE and transient sensitivity results is discussed and an example is presented to demonstrate its use in parametric yield optimization.