Battle of the Sexes In many species, males compete with one another to propagate their own DNA, often to the detriment of females (see the Perspective by Promislow and Kaeberlein). Shi and Murphy (p. 536, published online 19 December) discovered that mating in Caenorhabditis species causes mothers to shrink and die soon after they have ceased producing progeny. Males appear to hijack the longevity and stress resistance pathways normally employed by the mothers to slow reproduction and somatic aging in times of stress. Maures et al. (p. 541, published online 29 November) explored why the presence of abundant mating-competent males causes a decrease in the life span of nematodes of the opposite sex and found that a secreted substance, possibly a pheromone, reproduced the effect of the males when transferred in the culture medium. Detection of pheromones from a female fruit fly is enough to cause changes in metabolism, reduce resistance to starvation, and shorten the life span of male flies. Gendron et al. (p. 544, published online 29 November) report that the signals from the female appear to be recognized by sensory receptors on the legs of male flies. Male nematodes produce a soluble signal that shortens the life span of worms of the opposite sex. [Also see Perspective by Promislow and Kaeberlein] How an individual's longevity is affected by the opposite sex is still largely unclear. In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, the presence of males accelerated aging and shortened the life span of individuals of the opposite sex (hermaphrodites), including long-lived or sterile hermaphrodites. The male-induced demise could occur without mating and required only exposure of hermaphrodites to medium in which males were once present. Such communication through pheromones or other diffusible substances points to a nonindividual autonomous mode of aging regulation. The male-induced demise also occurred in other species of nematodes, suggesting an evolutionary conserved process whereby males may induce the disposal of the opposite sex to save resources for the next generation or to prevent competition from other males.


abstract This chapter introduces an ontology-based framework for automated construction of complex interactive data mining workflows as a means of improving productivity of Grid-enabled data exploration systems. The authors first characterize existing manual and automated workflow composition approaches and then present their solution called GridMiner Assistant (GMA), which addresses the whole life cycle of the knowledge discovery process. GMA is specified in the OWL language and is being developed around a novel data mining ontology, which is based on concepts of industry standards like the predictive model markup language, cross industry standard process for data mining, and Java data mining API. The on-tology introduces basic data mining concepts like data mining elements, tasks, services, and so forth. In addition, conceptual and implementation architectures of the framework are presented and its application to an example taken from the medical domain is illustrated. The authors hope that the further research and development of this framework can lead to productivity improvements, which can have significant impact on many real-life spheres. For example, it can be a crucial factor in achievement of scientific discoveries, optimal treatment of patients, productive decision making, cutting costs, and so forth.


Numerous quadruped walking and running robots have been developed to date. Each robot walks by means of a crawl, walk, trot or pace gait, or runs by means of a bound and/or gallop gait. However, it is very difficult to design a single robot that can both walk and run because of problems related to mechanisms and control. In response to this, we adapted a biological control method for legged locomotion in order to develop a dog-like quadruped robot we have named 'Tekken'. Tekken has a control system that incorporates central pattern generators, reflexes and responses as well as a mechanism that makes the most of the control system. Tekken, which is equipped with a single mechanism, an unchangeable control method, and modifiable parameters, is capable of achieving walking and trotting on flat terrain, can walk using a free gait on irregular terrain, and is capable of running on flat terrain using a bounding gait. In this paper, we describe the mechanism, the control method and the experimental results of our new development.


Chronic atrial fibrillation represents one of the main risk factors for the occurrence of thromboembolic events. At present it is clear that thrombus formation is triggered, not only by irregular rhythm, but also by reduced intrinsic atrial contractility. Apart from the thromboembolic risk, reduced atrial contractility might contribute to reduced cardiac output in patients with ventricular heart disease. Hence, the clinical importance of atrial dysfunction induced by atrial fibrillation prompts research into the underlying mechanisms involved in reduced atrial contractility that may serve to develop new therapeutic strategies. This review addresses both structural and functional cellular alterations involved in contractile dysfunction associated with chronic atrial fibrillation.


Catchment hydrology is presently operating under an essentially reductionist paradigm, dominated by small-scale process theories. Yet, hydrology is full of examples of highly complex behavior, including strong nonlinearities and thresholds, and paradoxes that defy causal explanation through these small-scale process theories. There are strong interactions and feedbacks between processes, leading to apparent simplicities in the overall catchment response, yet the laws governing these feedbacks are not well understood. Routine measurements and specialized field experiments have been valuable for observing catchment responses and understanding the underlying process controls, but there has been little progress in extrapolating the local knowledge and understanding gained from these well studied (or gauged) catchments to ungauged catchments. Efforts at generalization are hampered by the lack of an appropriate quantitative framework, for example, a classification system, to help identify interesting and useful patterns in the observations. There are many theories governing different elements of catchment hydrology, but not a unified theory that connects these seemingly disparate elements. This article presents the broad outlines of an emerging new, unified theory of hydrology at the catchment scale, and the approaches being used to develop it. The new theory embraces multiscale heterogeneities as a natural and intrinsic part of catchment hydrology. Instead of relying solely on current process theories, it seeks to discover new catchment-scale process theories that embed within them the effects of natural heterogeneities. Instead of attempting to prescribe in detail the actual patterns of heterogeneity in every catchment, it will seek to incorporate the geomorphic or landforming processes that may have generated them in the first place, and their ecological, pedological, and geomorphological functions. Instead of using our rather meagre observations to calibrate complex models that are based on small-scale theories, the theory will emphasize the use of patterns in the observations to formulate and test alternative hypotheses about the underlying process controls. Instead of using field measurements to learn more and more about individual catchments, it will seek to find connections between observations in different catchments, to identify broad-scale or general patterns. The defining feature of the new theory of catchment hydrology will be a sharp focus on the interconnection and feedbacks between pattern and process, over a range of scales, and their interpretation in terms of their "function", that is, the reason that these connections arise. The renewed focus on pattern, process, and function will revolutionize hydrology, elevate its place within the earth system sciences, and strengthen the scientific foundations of its practice.

Keywords:

approach;
breakthroughs;
calibration;
complexity;
function;
heterogeneity;
holistic approach;
hypothesis testing;
nonlinearity;
organization;
paradigm shift;
parameterization;
patterns;
predictions;
processes;
reductionist;
scale;
theory;
variability


Summary: Twenty-two femoral shaft fractures in 20 patients aged 10-14 years with open physes treated with closed reamed intramedullary nailing were studied retrospectively. Follow-up averaged 26.7 months in 18 of 20 patients. Eleven additional patients with 11 femoral shaft fractures treated with casting and traction were included for comparison of hospitalization time, cost, and time to mobilization. All of the fractures treated with an intramedullary nail healed without malunion or leg length inequality, and there was no evidence of growth plate arrest. The patients treated with an intramedullary nail had statistically significant shorter hospitalizations and shorter times to mobilization, and treatment had an estimated cost of less than half of traction treatment. Results of this study suggest that closed intramedullary nailing of femur fractures in adolescents is an effective treatment option.


Molecular sieves with beta zeolite topology are promising catalysts for various reactions as they exhibits extraordinary Lewis acidity. However, their industrial application and related research in academica is hindered because their synthesis is time consuming and typically involves toxic chemicals as hydrofluoric acid. Therefore, tetraethylammonium fluorid was tested as a non-toxic fluotide source for the synthesis of beta zeolites. In combination with the previously reported nano-seeded growth method, a fast synthesis of beta zeolites only involving non-toxic chemicals was possible. Synthesized zeolites show comparable selectivity in the Bayer-Villinger oxidation as conventional zeolites synthesized with hydrofluoric acid.


Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is defined as any degree of glucose intolerance that occurs or is first recognised during pregnancy. The prevalence of GDM is 1-28% globally and 11% in China. Although GDM can cause severe maternal and neonatal outcomes, there is no consensus worldwide as to whether universal or selective screening of expectant mothers should be recommended. In 2010, The International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups (IADPSG) recommended that all pregnant women should be screened via a one-step universal screening approach for GDM, using a 75g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) with reduced thresholds. Despite ongoing debate over the efficacy and use of the IADPSG approach, China was the first country to adopt the new screening approach. A number of observational studies have shown that the new IADSPG approach is clinically more effective. However, reservations exist as to the associated increase in health costs and inconvenience to pregnant women.

Aim: To assess and explore the best screening approach for GDM both globally and in China.

Methods: The research involved three projects. Project I (Chapter 3) was a systematic review of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of universal versus selective screening for GDM, which followed a standard systematic review procedure for Diagnostic Test Accuracy studies. Project II (Chapter 4) was a Q methodology study to investigate the pregnant women's attitudes towards and experience of the IADPSG one-step screening approach for GDM in China. A total of 30 pregnant women who visited the hospital for antenatal care in 2014 were recruited to participate in the study. The Q methodology study was undertaken using the FlashQ software and were analysed using the PQMethod software. Project III (Chapter 5) was a case-control study to establish and assess a risk score algorithm in order to improve the IADPSG approach for GDM screening in China. Medical records of 550 pregnant women (272 GDM cases and 278 controls) who had given birth in the year 2013 at the Chengdu First People's Hospital were retrospectively collected and analysed. Univariable analysis and multiple logistic regression analysis were used to identify GDM risk factors and to formulate the risk score algorithm. A Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve was employed to assess the effectiveness of the risk score algorithm for GDM screening.

Results: The systematic review (Chapter 3) included 28 effectiveness studies, four cost studies and one cost-effectiveness study. Seven out of the 28 effectiveness studies and the cost-effectiveness study favoured selective screening. The Q methodology study (Chapter 4) suggested that the participants agreed as to the importance and necessity of the IADPSG one-step GDM screening for all pregnant women. However, the non-GDM women felt somewhat burdened in undertaking the fasting and 2-hour oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) for GDM under the IADPSG approach. The participants also desired more information on GDM and OGTT both before and after the test. The case-control study (Chapter 5) identified age, height, body mass index (BMI), family history of diabetes, waist circumference, previous deliveries and blood pressure before 24th week of gestation to be risk factors for GDM in the Chinese population. Subsequently, a risk score algorithm was established, whereby the use of the risk score to select high-risk women for screening could help to exclude nearly half (45%) of non-GDM women from the OGTT while still diagnosing 80% of the GDM cases.

Conclusion: Universal screening for GDM is recommended for areas where GDM prevalence is relatively high and where economic constraints circumscribing implementation of the approach do not exist. For areas where GDM prevalence is low, it is recommended that current practice, whether it is universal or selective screening, should be retained until more robust evidence emerges. The IADPSG one-step universal screening was viewed positively in terms of importance and necessity by participants of the study, and they felt that GDM screening is necessary to be undergone by every pregnant woman. At the same time, the non-GDM women also felt strongly that the two-hour OGTT requiring 3 blood samples over the test period was inconvenient and burdensome. Alternatively, the use of a risk score-based selective IADPSG approach was observed to be conducive to the exemption of nearly half (45%) of non-GDM women from the OGTT test while still diagnosing 80% of the GDM cases in China. A future validation cohort from other parts of China is required to affirm the effectiveness of this risk scoring algorithm.


Colonoscopy is the most important method for preventing colorectal cancer (CRC) (1). However, colonoscopy is also known to be not flawless technique. According to back-toback colonoscopy study, a quarter of polyps were missed during colonoscopy (2). In spite of technical improvement, there has been no decrease in the occurrence of missed or early CRC over a 10-year period (3). In addition, the main cause of post-colonoscopy CRCs (PCCRCs) is not completely new lesions but missed lesions (4). The most crucial cause of this phenomenon is the endoscopist related factor. As we already perceive, colonoscopy performance is variable.


Interaction between the E1 and E2 papillomavirus proteins appear to play an important role in viral DNA replication, although the exact domains of each protein involved in this interaction have not been identified. Using bovine papillomavirus type 1 (BPV-1) as a model for examining interactions between E1 and E2, we have used the two-hybrid and glutathione S-transferase (GST) fusion systems to map domains of BPV-1 E1 and E2 that interact in vivo and in vitro. In the two-hybrid system experiments, portions of BPV-1 E2 were expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae as LexA fusion proteins, which were tested for interaction with various domains of BPV-1 E1. These assays indicated that domains sufficient for E1-E2 interaction are present within the amino-terminal 250 amino acids of E1 and within the first 91 amino acids of E2. Interestingly, a LexA fusion protein that included amino acid residues 53 to 161 of BPV E2 demonstrated transcriptional activation in this system. In vitro binding assays using combinations of BPV-1 E1-GST fusion proteins and BPV-1 E2 expressed by in vitro translation confirmed the observations from the yeast system; a GST fusion protein containing the first 222 amino acids of BPV-1 E1 bound specifically to full-length BPV-1 E2 in vitro. Furthermore, E1(1-222)-GST bound to forms of E2 deleted of the carboxy-terminal DNA binding-dimerization domain, suggesting that E2 dimerization is not required for this interaction. Finally, in vitro interaction between E1-GST and E2 was observed at 22 degrees C but not at 4 degrees C.


A new method is described in which the dc motor may regenerate power effectively to ac supply. The principle is similar to that with a dc chopper for regeneration of the power from dc motor to dc supply. In this new method, however, thyristor switches synchronizing to the ac supply are used instead of a dc chopper. The principle and the power calculations as well as experimental results are presented. From theoretical and experimental considerations it is clarified that there exist suitable trigger angles in the thyristor of the synchronizing switches.


The Benedictine Convent of Saint John at Müstair is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the eastern part of Switzerland close to South Tyrol's border (Italy). Known as a well-preserved Carolingian building complex housing Carolingian and Romanesque frescoes, the convent has received much academic attention. However, all research activities so far have been concentrated on the area enclosed by the convent's walls, even though the neighbouring fields to the east and south are also part of the convent's property. This paper reports on the archaeological magnetic and ground-penetrating radar surveys of these areas, executed as part of a pilot project exploring the convent's immediate environment. At present, these fields are used for agriculture and located on a massive alluvial fan of the mountain stream Valgarola. Dense geophysical sampling revealed an intricate network of distributary channels with stream and mudflow deposits, constituting a natural border of the convent's territory. In addition to different field systems, a newly discovered broad pathway appears to be an original Roman road. Numerous structural elements, mapped within the convent's walls, could be attributed to specific building phases. Over 40 large and deep burial shafts, arranged in three rows, were discovered outside the convent's burial ground. Their specific design and arrangement are characteristic of early medieval burials, such as those of the 6th century Lombards on the edge of the eastern Alps.


Sintered dicalcium pyrophosphate (SDCP) is a synthetic pyrophosphate analog that could be utilized in the treatment for osteoporosis. In this study, an ovariectomized rat model is used to evaluate the systematic toxicity of orally administered SDCP relative to its effects on bone mass. Ovariectomized Wistar rats were treated with experimental medication with different dosing strategies (0.5 mg/kg five days weekly, and 2.5 mg/kg once weekly) for once (acute oral toxicity test) and four weeks (subacute oral toxicity test) followed by recovery period. Clinical signs of toxicity, body weight, and food consumption of rats were recorded. Blood samples were collected for hematological and blood biochemical analyses. Rats were sacrificed for necropsy and major visceral organs were harvested for histological examination after the recovery period. Long bones of four limbs were harvested to evaluate the effects of SDCP on bone mass. Results showed that there was no change in clinical signs, body weight, food consumption, hematology, blood biochemistry, necropsy, and histological examination attributable to the oral administration with SDCP to rats during the dosing period and the recovery period. Analysis of bone ashes revealed that the ovariectomized rats ingested with 0.5 mg/kg SDCP five days weekly continually for four weeks increased bone mineral contents significantly. In the ovariectomized rats ingested with 2.5 mg/kg SDCP once weekly continually for four weeks, the bone mineral contents were increased to normal bone quality. This study indicates that the SDCP can increase bone mass in the ovariectomized rat with no deleterious effects.


The development of Java Island which forms part of the Sunda Arc is due to subduction of the northward-moving Indian-Australian Plate beneath the Eurasian Plate. Ungaran volcano, Central Java, is situated 197 k m above the Benioff Zone dipping at 55°, and forms part of the second of three cycles of volcanism recognized on Java Island. The volcano which was active between the Late Pliocene and Late Pleistocene is characterized by three stages of growth, interrupted by two episodes of cone collapse and the products of eruption can be grouped into four major units comprising Oldest Ungaran, Old Ungaran, Parasitic Cones and Young Ungaran. Lavas consisting of basalts, basaltic andesites and andesites are porphyritic with either a holocrystalline or hypocrystalline groundmass. Plagioclase, clinopyroxene, Fe-Ti oxide and amphibole are the major phenocrystic phases but biotite and olivine occur in some samples. In holocrystalline samples the phenocrysts are set in a fine-grained groundmass of feldspar, clinopyroxene, Fe-Ti oxide, and accessory apatite. Plagioclase phenocrysts range in composition from oligoclase to anorthite and some grains have thin rims of K-feldspar. Compositions of phenocryst rims and-coexisting groundmass plagioclase are similar but the groundmass grains have a more restricted range in compositions. With increasing age the plagioclase phenocrysts in all'rock types from Ungaran become less calcic. Clinopyroxene (diopside, augite and salite)Hs the only pyroxene in lavas from Ungaran and small changes in the compositions of phebocrysts in the series basalt to basaltic andesite to andesite are attributed to increasing silica activity and decreasing pressure. Magnetite is the only Fe-Ti oxide in all lavas from Ungaran. Most of the amphibole grains are magnesian-hastingsite and aggregates of "black amphibole" indicate conditions of rapid cooling at pressures less than 9 Kb. Biotite is a common accessory phase in basaltic andesites and andesites but is absent from basalts. Most of the fresh olivine occurs in basalts from Old Ungaran and it has a compositional range from F059 to F079. Lavas from Ungaran exhibit a continuum of compositions which range from 48.95% to 60.80% Si02. O n the basis of K 2 0 and Si0 2 contents, most of the basalts are shoshonites whereas most of the basaltic andesites and all andesites are high-K calcalkaline. Shoshonitic rocks dominated the early stages of magmatic activity whereas high-K calcalkaline rocks were produced during later stages. Compared with most rocks of similar SiC>2 content, the lavas from Ungaran are characterized by high contents of AI2O3 and total alkalies, high ferric/ferrous iron ratio, high contents of incompatible elements and low M g O contents. Mafic rocks from Ungaran range from Nenormative to Q-normative depending on the ferric/ferrous iron used in the calculation. Most of the basalt samples, however, are saturated if an assumed ratio of 0.2 for Fe203/FeO+Fe203 is used but all are relatively evolved with a maximum Mg-number of 0.55. The low Mg-numbers indicate that these basalts crystallized from derivative melts , and do not represent primary, mantle-derived magma. Trace element modelling on the basis of published distribution coefficients and possible source compositions suggests that the rocks from Ungaran are generated by 5 to 1 0 % melting of spinel lherzolite or amphibole lherzolite which had been previously enriched in incompatible elements. Subsequent to generation, 31.5 to 39.5% fractionation of early formed olivine and clinopyroxene in a ratio 30/70 produced the most mafic rocks in Ungaran. Rocks with < 5 3 % S-O2 have a wider range and higher mean Sr/Sr ratio than ^rocks with > 5 3 % SiC_ and the available isotopic data are consistent with derivation of ^Ungaran lavas from heterogeneous OIB-type source. Depletion of Ta, N b and Ti relative fto LILE cannot be attributed to a residual Ti-rich phase in the source. Geochemical data are consistent with enrichment of LILE in the mantle wedge by the process of zone • refining or mantle metasomatism, or from a fluid derived from the subducted slab. Comparison between Sr isotopic ratios and contents of H F S E and LILE in Ungaran basalts and the crust of the eastern Indian Ocean suggests that the model involving derivation of Ungaran lavas from a mantle wedge contaminated by a fluid from the subducted slab is plausible. Many observed geochemical variations in Ungaran lavas, particularly in Sr/Sr ratios, reflect heterogeneity in an OIB-type mantle wedge.


Using data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002, this study examines the association between high school socioeconomic segregation and student attainment outcomes and the mechanisms that mediate those relationships. The results show that socioeconomic segregation has a strong association with high school graduation and college enrollment. Controlling for an array of student and school factors, students who attend high socioeconomic composition (SEC) schools are 68% more likely to enroll at a 4-year college than students who attend low SEC schools. Two mediating mechanisms were examined, including socioeconomic-based peer influences and school effects. The results indicate the association between SEC and attainment is due more to peer influences, which tend to be negative in the low SEC setting. However, school practices that emphasize academics also play a major role, particularly in mediating the relationship between SEC and 4-year college enrollment. These findings suggest that integrating schools is likely necessary to fully addressing the negative consequences of attending a low SEC school.


Background Early-life institutional deprivation produces disinhibited social engagement (DSE). Portrayed as a childhood condition, little is known about the persistence of DSE-type behaviours into, presentation during, and their impact on, functioning in adulthood. Aims We examine these issues in the young adult follow-up of the English and Romanian Adoptees study. Method A total of 122 of the original 165 Romanian adoptees who had spent up to 43 months as children in Ceauşescu's Romanian orphanages and 42 UK adoptees were assessed for DSE behaviours, neurodevelopmental and mental health problems, and impairment between ages 2 and 25 years. Results Young adult DSE behaviour was strongly associated with early childhood deprivation, with a sixfold increase for those who spent more than 6 months in institutions. However, although DSE overlapped with autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms it was not, in itself, related to broader patterns of mental health problems or impairments in daily functioning in young adulthood. Conclusions DSE behaviour remained a prominent, but largely clinically benign, young adult feature of some adoptees who experienced early deprivation.


ABSTRACT The X-linked Plac1 gene is maternally expressed in trophoblast cells during placentation, and its disruption causes placental hyperplasia and intrauterine growth restriction. In contrast, Plac1 is also reported to be one of the upregulated genes in the hyperplastic placenta generated by nuclear transfer. However, the effect of overexpressed Plac1 on placental formation and function remained unaddressed. We complemented the Plac1 knockout placental dysfunction by lentiviral vector-mediated, placenta-specific Plac1 transgene expression. Whereas fetal development and the morphology of maternal blood sinuses in the labyrinth zone improved, placental hyperplasia remained, with an expanded the junctional zone that migrated and encroached into the labyrinth zone. Further experiments revealed that wild-type placenta with transgenically expressed Plac1 resulted in placental hyperplasia without the encroaching of the junctional zone. Our findings suggest that Plac1 is involved in trophoblast cell proliferation, differentiation, and migration. Its proper expression is required for normal placentation and fetal development.


Machine learning systems may encounter unexpected problems when the data distribution changes in the deployment environment. A major reason is that certain combinations of domains and labels are not observed during training but appear in the test environment. Although various invariance-based algorithms can be applied, we find that the performance gain is often marginal. To formally analyze this issue, we provide a unique algebraic formulation of the combination shift problem based on the concepts of homomorphism, equivariance, and a refined definition of disentanglement. The algebraic requirements naturally derive a simple yet effective method, referred to as equivariant disentangled transformation (EDT), which augments the data based on the algebraic structures of labels and makes the transformation satisfy the equivariance and disentanglement requirements. Experimental results demonstrate that invariance may be insufficient, and it is important to exploit the equivariance structure in the combination shift problem.


Chytridiomycosis is an emerging infectious disease caused by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, a fungal pathogen affecting the skin of amphibians. Chytridiomycosis is differentially affecting amphibian species and populations across the world, causing severe declines and extinctions. It is spread by contact or zoospores travelling in water sources. It is not yet fully understood why susceptibility is so variable. Understanding differing susceptibility is crucial for realising any successful conservation efforts. Multiple factors appear responsible for the differing susceptibility. The two factors being examined in this literature review are ineffective immune responses and the limitations of the cutaneous microbiome. Relevant papers' significance and limitations are discussed with their provenance and objectivity taken into consideration. The immune system of amphibians comprises innate and acquired defences. The innate immune system has been found to be counterproductive in some cases, much like how an allergic reaction in humans can be detrimental to health. An adaptive immune response has yet to be confirmed in previously exposed individuals. The cutaneous microbiome plays an initial role in the defence against harmful zoospores by making the environment unsuitable or by producing deadly secretions; this consequently prevents colonization by the zoospores. Differing levels of secretions have been measured in response to disease. Most amphibian immune systems and microbiomes are not adapted to deal with chytridiomycosis, and the fungi are adapted to exploit this weakness. There are many difficulties in studying this disease, such as recreating a natural habitat in laboratory conditions, which is vital to get accurate microbiome data. The variety of species and global spread of this disease is incredibly wide ranging with many factors to consider. Many studies are only focused on one aspect of the disease, so a holistic and global approach would be more beneficial.


Approximately 55,400 new cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) are diagnosed each year, with the overall prevalence of the disease now estimated to be 243,000. Until recently, treatment alternatives for advanced disease included chemotherapy with or without external beam radiation. Based on the results of several clinical trials, the chimeric monoclonal antibody Rituximab has now been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory, low-grade or follicular, B-cell NHL. Several other monoclonal antibodies in conjugated and unconjugated forms have been evaluated in the treatment of NHL. Ibritumomab, the murine counterpart to Rituximab, radiolabeled with 9Oy (Zevalin), is presently being evaluated in clinical trials. The success of radioimmunotherapy is dependent upon the appropriate choice of antibody, isotope, and chelator-linker. The Ibritumomab antibody targets the CD20 antigen. The antibody is covalently bound to the chelator-linker tiuxetan (MX-DTPA), which tightly chelates the isotope 9Oy. To date, two Phase I/II Zevalin clinical trials have been completed in patients with low-grade, intermediate-grade, and mantle cell NHL. The overall response rate was 64% in the first trial and 67% in the later trial. Phase II and III trials are ongoing.


Abstract Disordering of Si and Al in natrolite, scolecite, mesolite, and gonnardite was investigated with 29Si and 27Al magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (MAS NMR) spectroscopy. The results indicate that with the exception of one sample of natrolite (from San Benito County, California), the natrolite, mesolite, and scolecite samples studied all exhibit small degrees (<10% Al occupancy of Si sites) of Si-Al disorder. The spectra for these samples are consistent with Al avoidance. Gonnardite is confirmed to have extensive Si-Al disorder, with only slight preferential Si occupation of the T1 site. Fits of 29Si MAS NMR spectra and mathematical relations based on Al avoidance were used to calculate Si and Al occupancies across the tetrahedral sites in these minerals. Configurational entropies arising from Si-Al disorder in natrolite, mesolite, and scolecite can add an addition 1-2% [up to 11 J/(mol·K)] to the total entropies of these phases at 298.15 K, whereas it may add as much as 7% to that of gonnardite [up to 27.7 J/(mol·K)]. These results also concur with previous observations of a gap in Si-Al disordering between orthorhombic and tetragonal natrolite samples and suggest that the state of disorder in natrolite is a function of temperature. The 29Si MAS NMR spectrum of gonnardite is consistent with a disordered natrolite framework structure, and not an intergrowth of thomsonite and natrolite structural domains.


Over the past few years, the energy consumption of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has become a major issue. Nowadays, ICT accounts for 2% of the global CO2 emissions, an amount similar to that produced by the aviation industry. Large-scale distributed systems (e.g. Grids, Clouds and high-performance networks) are often heavy electricity consumers because -- for high-availability requirements -- their resources are always powered on even when they are not in use. Reservation-based systems guarantee quality of service, allow for respect of user constraints and enable fine-grained resource management. For these reasons, we propose an energy-efficient reservation framework to reduce the electric consumption of distributed systems and dedicated networks. The framework, called ERIDIS, is adapted to three different systems: data centers and grids, cloud environments and dedicated wired networks. By validating each derived infrastructure, we show that significant amounts of energy can be saved using ERIDIS in current and future large-scale distributed systems.


Fire is a global phenomenon transcending social, economic, and political boundaries. Effective decision making regarding fire policies requires integrating knowledge of human, ecological, and climatic components of fire research over a range of spatial and temporal scales.

The Analysis, Integration and Modeling of the Earth System (AIMES) fourth Young Scholar's Network workshop brought together early-career researchers representing anthropology, archaeology, atmospheric science, climate modeling, ecology, fire management, geography, paleoclimate, political science, and remote sensing. Goals of the workshop were to explore the drivers, impacts, and feedbacks of human use of fires and to contextualize the management of fires.


The paper describes bulletproof tests of flexible armors containing different variants of modular interlayers. This elements were placed in the armor between the textile layers of the ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE). The interlayers were made of the rheological materials: the silicone elastomer (composition of methyl-, phenyl-, borosiloxane polymers with addition of fillers and lubricating mediums), the shear thickening fluid STF (silica nanoparticles dispersed in polypropylene glycol) and the commercial shear thickening polymer as well as the same polyethylene layers which were sewn or ultrasonically welded. Before performing the bulletproof tests in order to select the most appropriate process parameters and to compare the process to other ways of combining polyethylene layers the strength tests of ultrasonically welded joints were carried out. Different variants of ultrasonically welded protective layers were made. The samples with dimensions 400x400 mm were tested with the use of the 0.44 Magnum SJHP bullet.


Acoustic cues to a given phonological contrast may extend over long stretches of time. Thus, recent findings show that syllableonset /l/s are slightly longer and darker in syllables with voiced codas, compared with voiceless ones, and that, in certain conditions, these acoustic differences play a role in word recognition. It is argued that coda-dependent variations in onset /l/s contribute to enhancing two major perceptual properties associated with coda voicing. We further suggest that the listener's sensitivity to these phonetic dependencies between syllable onsets and codas is at variance with segmental models of word recognition in which acoustic cues are integrated over short time intervals. Our findings provide support for an alternative, non-segmental approach, according to which distributed acoustic cues are central to word recognition and acoustic-phonetic finedetail is available at the initial contact stage of lexical access.


We study the problem of uncertainty quantification via prediction sets, in an online setting where the data distribution may vary arbitrarily over time. Recent work develops online conformal prediction techniques that leverage regret minimization algorithms from the online learning literature to learn prediction sets with approximately valid coverage and small regret. However, standard regret minimization could be insufficient for handling changing environments, where performance guarantees may be desired not only over the full time horizon but also in all (sub-)intervals of time. We develop new online conformal prediction methods that minimize the strongly adaptive regret, which measures the worst-case regret over all intervals of a fixed length. We prove that our methods achieve near-optimal strongly adaptive regret for all interval lengths simultaneously, and approximately valid coverage. Experiments show that our methods consistently obtain better coverage and smaller prediction sets than existing methods on real-world tasks, such as time series forecasting and image classification under distribution shift.


Offering radar-related software for the analysis and design of radar waveform and signal processing, Radar Signal Analysis and Processing Using MATLAB provides a comprehensive source of theoretical and practical information on radar signals, signal analysis, and radar signal processing with companion MATLAB code. After an overview of radar systems operation and design, the book reviews elements of signal theory relevant to radar detection and radar signal processing, along with random variables and processes. The author then presents the unique characteristic of the matched filter and develops a general formula for the output of the matched filter that is valid for any waveform. He analyzes several analog waveforms, including the linear frequency modulation pulse and stepped frequency waveforms, as well as unmodulated pulse-train, binary, polyphase, and frequency codes. The book explores radar target detection and pulse integration, emphasizing the constant false alarm rate. It also covers the stretch processor, the moving target indicator, radar Doppler processing, beamforming, and adaptive array processing. Using configurable MATLAB code, this book demonstrates how to apply signal processing to radar applications. It includes many examples and problems to illustrate the practical application of the theory.


T cells are one of the most pivotal cell types in the human adaptive immune system. They have the capacity to eradicate primary, metastatic, relapsed tumours and can ameliorate otherwise fatal viral infections. Not surprisingly therefore, the activation and expansion of T cells has become one of the main focuses for immunotherapy and immune gene therapy. However one of the problems of T cell mediated immunotherapy in terms of delivering significant clinical impact to patients, is the expansion of high numbers of functional antigen specific effector T cells. The current approaches for expanding T cells have a number of drawbacks in terms of timing, reproducibility and reliability. Many if not all the currently available systems rely on ex vivo cell manipulation, which concordantly leads to short T cell survival in vivo after infusion. In vivo artificial expansion systems would clearly circumvent this problem. Nevertheless active immunotherapy is not always the solution since sometimes in some patients, the T cells that could be potentially in- vivo expanded no longer exist because they have been deleted, killed or anergised. Therefore a flexible system should be constructed in order to performed both adoptive and/or active immunotherapy depending on the patients requirements. Currently there is no comprehensive artificial Antigen Presenting Cell system (aAPC) for both effective ex vivo and in vivo antigen specific T cell expansion. Therefore in order to address this we have constructed a novel artificial nano-sized super para magnetic antigen presenting cell system (aAPC) capable of priming and expanding antigen specific T cells ex vivo and in vivo. As defined by the NIH, nanotechnology uses nanoscale injectable, targeted and traceable devices capable of important immunological/clinical functions. This nano-system was constructed using the latest generation of immuno liposomes, approved for in vivo human use since they are non-toxic, biodegradable, avoid rapid recognition by the reticulo endothelial system, are safe in terms of size being 50 times smaller than average cells at lOOnm, have good stability and favourable pharmacokinetic behaviour for effective in vivo trafficking. We have coated these liposomes with an optimised number of MHC Class I / peptide complexes and a specific selected range of adhesion (anti LFA-1), early activation (anti CD28 and anti CD27), late activation (4-IBB) and survival receptors (anti CD40L) in the form of Fab antibody regions or monoclonal antibodies. We have made these immuno liposomes traceable since they carry fluorescent lipids and iron oxide super para magnetic nano particles or spios of 13nm size, which make them traceable in vivo using fluorescence and/or by Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). The super para magnetic liposomes are also able to facilitate their own focusing to specific organs, tumour sites or body areas by applying external magnetic attraction. Production of this nano immune liposome system in a ready to use form is achievable in less than 48 hrs and viable for at least 7 days. After ex vivo stimulation with this artificial nano system using CMV pp65 as a model antigen, we have established successful expansions with high T cell numbers (55 to 200 fold) in CMV positive individuals, which are superior when compared with other systems such as peptide pulsed DCs, which are one of the standard methods currently used, coated Daudi cells, magnetic commercial beads and modified tetramers. The T cells are fully functional in terms of degranulation and production of cytokines when specifically challenged. They express predominantly effector-memory and memory phenotypes. We have demonstrated by double fluorescent staining that these liposomes activate T cells directly in an antigen specific fashion and also semi-directly by being incorporated on the surface of the natural APCs in a similar manner as exosomes. When tested in naive individuals, this nano system was also capable of accomplishing initial low levels of T cell priming without help of any adjuvants. In conclusion, we have generated an efficient artificial APC, which embodies a powerful, controllable and superior approach with enormous potential for cancer nanotechnology and T cell immunotherapy for use either in vivo or in vitro.


The supplementary eye field (SEF) is a region of cortex located on the dorsomedial shoulder of the frontal lobe, considered to be involved in the control of eye movements. SEF neurons show spatially selective activity during visually- and memory-guided saccades. The selectivity exhibited by SEF neurons has been described as being related to an eye- or head-centered reference frame. We have previously shown that SEF neurons exhibit selectivity in an object-centered reference frame: neurons will fire selectively when saccades are directed to one end of a bar or another, irrespective of the absolute location of the bar in space.It is not well known how SEF neurons display selectivity for object-centered locations. In order to better understand the mechanism of this phenomenon, we performed three studies. In the first study, we asked how SEF neurons encode locations in both egocentric and object-centered reference frames. We recorded from single SEF neurons while monkeys performed tasks requiring spatial representation in either eye-centered or object-centered reference frames. Different SEF neurons encoded locations in eye-centered coordinates only, object-centered coordinates only, or in complex combinations of the two.In the second study, we tested whether object-centered selectivity is an innate property of SEF neurons or whether it is acquired through learning. We recorded the activity of SEF neurons before and after training monkeys to perform an object-centered task. Some SEF neurons exhibited object-centered selectivity before training. Following training, this number was increased, as was the intensity of object-centered spatial selectivity.In the third study, we investigated whether the object-centered selectivity seen in SEF neurons during performance of an object-centered task is reduced during performance of a non-object-centered task. We recorded from SEF neurons while monkeys performed either an object-centered task or a color matching task with an object as a target. An equivalent number of neurons showed object-centered selectivity in both tasks, but the strength of selectivity was slightly higher during performance of the object-centered task. We conclude from the results of these studies that neurons in the SEF are critically involved in the dynamic representation of locations using multiple spatial reference frames.


The main focuses in this study are 1) Islamic educational values contained in QS Luqman/31: 1-9; 2) fostering cognitive, affective, and psychomotor potential according to QS Luqman/31: 1-9; and 3) the results of the development of cognitive, affective, and psychomotor potential according to QS Luqman/31: 1-9. This study is library research which is descriptive analysis using normative theological, historical, and pedagogical approaches. The results showed that the values of Islamic education in QS Luqman/31: 1-9 included tauhid education, moral education, worship education, social education, mental education, and exemplary education. The application of these educational values in the dimensions of cognitive, affective, and psychomotor is carried out by Luqman al-Hakim who is known to be virtuous, wise, intellectual, and true in words and deeds. The nature and attitude of the educator will produce students who have strong faith, good morals, and understanding of Shari'a by implementing it correctly as evidence of the development of balanced cognitive, affective, and psychomotor potentials.


Optical stimulation of neural tissue within the cochlea was described as a possible alternative to electrical stimulation. Most optical stimulation was performed with pulsed lasers operating with near-infrared (NIR) light and in thermal confinement. Under these conditions, the coexistence of laser-induced optoacoustic stimulation of the cochlea ("optophony") has not been analyzed yet. This study demonstrates that pulsed 1850-nm laser light used for neural stimulation also results in sound pressure levels up to 62 dB peak-to-peak equivalent sound pressure level (SPL) in air. The sound field was confined to a small volume along the laser beam. In dry nitrogen, laser-induced acoustic events disappeared. Hydrophone measurements demonstrated pressure waves for laser fibers immersed in water. In hearing rats, laser-evoked signals were recorded from the cochlea without targeting neural tissue. The signals showed a two-domain response differing in amplitude and latency functions, as well as sensitivity to white-noise masking. The first component had characteristics of a cochlear microphonic potential, and the second component was characteristic for a compound action potential. The present data demonstrate that laser-evoked acoustic events can stimulate a hearing cochlea. Whenever optical stimulation is used, care must be taken to distinguish between such "optophony" and the true optoneural response.


A key challenge of visual methodology is how to combine large-scale qualitative data sets with epistemologically acceptable and rigorous analysis techniques. The authors argue that a pragmatic approach drawing on ideas from mixed methods is helpful to open up the full potential of visual data. However, before one starts to "mix" the stages of analysis one needs to be aware of the strengths and weaknesses provided by the various qualitative and quantitative perspectives. This article therefore provides a methodological discussion based on empirical research experiences with one visual data set: Pupil Views Templates (Wall and Higgins). The authors investigate two different approaches to the analysis of these data: inductive and deductive processes. The two approaches are applied separately to the same data set and observations are made regarding the affordances and constraints of each process, and the findings and implications for developing visual analysis in this area are presented. The authors show how both processes provide useful insight, but without clear strategy as to how they can be combined to achieve the intent of the research, the true potential of visual data will remain unlocked.


Artificial bandwidth extension (BWE) is still an important topic, especially in the automotive domain where consumers experience a dramatic degradation in voice quality when a wideband call suddenly falls back to 8-kHz GSM. This happens e.g. due to poor network coverage in the countryside. The aim of BWE is to bridge the perceived voice quality gap by reconstructing the wideband signal. In this work, we take a Deep Neural Network (DNN) based approach. We address the problem of selecting a robust feature set from a larger pool of timeand frequency-domain features. This is achieved in a bottom-up fashion. Starting with Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC) as a basic feature set, we conduct a sequence of experiments to evaluate the performance improvement that can be achieved by adding a feature from the pool. This is carried out for all features and the one with the highest improvement is selected. The final feature set is obtained by iteratively repeating this procedure until the achievable improvement drops below a threshold. A focus lies on the robustness of frequency-domain features in comparison with timedomain features regarding background noise and channel characteristics.


We report a simulation study on diffuse reflective optical computed tomography, in which continuous-wave sources and detectors are placed on the plane surface of a semi-infinite body. We adopted a simple Tikhonov regularization in the inverse problem and demonstrated the feasibility of three-dimensional reconstruction of the absorption coefficient change. The spatial resolution of the reconstructed image was shown to be degrading markedly with the depth. The regularization parameter should be chosen appropriately considering the trade-off between the reconstructed image noise and the spatial resolution. We analysed the dependence of the spatial resolution of the reconstructed image on the regularization parameter and the depth, and also the behaviour of the reconstructed image noise on the regularization parameter and the depth.


While China has become one of the larger tourism destination regions in the recent years, allindications point to China establishing itself as the biggest tourist outbound market in the nearfuture. As such, numerous countries prepare to attract more Chinese travelers with a higherspending power in order to sustain or extend the current level of tourism related income. Forpotential European destinations, it is therefore essential to understand the travel motivations aswell as the obstacles Chinese travelers face when considering Europe as a travel destination.Therefore, the aim of this research is to contribute to the understanding of the Chinese outboundtourism market towards European destinations. This was achieved by analyzing the impacts oftravel obstacles and the push and pull factors of Chinese travelers. This analysis has been basedupon the development of the travel flows in the past 10 years, in terms of tourist numbers, and isexplained by economic, political and social factors (i.e. push and pull).The method used within this research consists of quantitative secondary data. The data isrecorded from the World Tourism Organization statistics and re-analyzed using the LocationQuotient.While in the past much of the outbound tourism was concentrated in several countries the resultsindicate that destination choices vary more and more while all countries in this study recorded anincrease in Chinese tourists. The analyzing-results also indicated that with the rise of the Chineseeconomy, the number of outbound tourists will relatively rise. Moreover, the findings indicatethat the flow of outbound tourists from China has risen, also owing to relaxation of major staterestrictions and change of intervening obstacles.After analysing the situation of tourism market [during the past decade] between Europe andChina, the authors are able to comment about the future trends. Furthermore, suggestions forfuture investigation are presented.


Background and purpose: Viral hepatitis is a systemic infection that mainly affects the liver. We studied the prevalence of skin lesions and infectious diseases including hepatitis A and B virus infection in patients attending Qaemshahr Razi Teaching Hospital, Iran 2013-2015. Materials and methods: In this retrospective descriptive study, records of patients diagnosed with hepatitis were investigated for skin lesions and other simultaneous infectious diseases. Results: There were 188 patients with viral hepatitis in whom skin lesions were observed in 16 and 35 were diagnosed with other simultaneous infections. Conclusion: In current study, the incidence of skin lesions in patients with hepatitis B was higher than that of other hepatitis. High rate of infections such as pneumonia and bronchitis among patients with viral hepatitis indicates a decreased ability of their immune system in protecting against other infectious agents.


Organic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control to maintain soil productivity and control pests on a farm. Organic farming excludes or strictly limits the use of manufactured fertilizers and pesticides, plant growth regulators such as hormones, livestock antibiotics, food additives, and genetically modified organisms. Organic agriculture is a production system that sustains the health of soils, ecosystems and people. It relies on ecological processes, biodiversity and cycles adapted to local conditions, rather than the use of inputs with adverse effects. Organic agriculture combines tradition, innovation and science to benefit the shared environment and promote fair relationships and a good quality of life for all involved. In 2010, we organised a bi- factorial trial at the Didactic Station in Timisoara in which we monitored maize yield with permanent vegetal cover technology compared to classical cultivation technology with mineral and organic fertilisation. Results show that there are no statistically ensured yield differences. There were significant differences between expenses and profit levels. Rezults show that in the Banat 's conditions, alternative technological variants are a solution from the point of new of enviromental - friendly agriculture. The technology of cultivation with permanent vegetal cover can be a solution for the cultivation of maize in Western Romania. The results of the present study are part of a research project PN II IDEI Contract nr. 1093/2009, topic code ID_863, financed by the Ministry of Education, Research, Youth and Sport, through the National Council of Scientific Research in Higher Education. The topic of the project is " Research, fundamenting and elaborating of the technological variant of ecologically planted corn and sunflower ".


In an introduction to papers from the 2003 Agricultural History Society (AHS) symposium, the author discusses the need for international exchange and contributions to the scholarship of a cross-border region that some scholars call the "Greater Southwest." Monographs from several disciplines dealing with this geographic area--the portion of southwestern North America that straddles the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico--have often been specialized examinations that do not overlap in geography or time. Increased understanding of the region is becoming more imperative, and it recently has gained more attention from academia. This symposium offered a chance to add to the body of knowledge, plus have a venue where academics from the United States and Mexico could meet to exchange scholarship. The meeting also marked the return of an Agricultural History Society symposium to an agricultural museum and an invitation for public school teachers to hear current interpretations directly from scholars and museum professionals.


Purpose: Our study aims to evaluate the morphology, histopathology, and immunohistochemistry of the spontaneously late dislocated capsular bag-intraocular lens (CB-IOL) complex. Various etiologies and possible pathogenesis of the event are also discussed. Methods: This was a tertiary-care setting and retrospective observational case series. The surgically explanted intact specimens of spontaneously late dislocated CB-IOL complex were studied. The demographics, duration of pseudophakia, IOL design/material, and specimen measurements were noted. Fresh specimens were photographed, and computer software was used for measurements. After processing, a detailed microscopic examination was carried out for three different sections of each specimen with hematoxylin and eosin (H and E), Masson's-trichrome, and immunohistochemistry stain for vimentin. The Mann–Whitney U-test was used for the statistical analysis. Results: Of 12 specimens, the mean CB and capsulorhexis opening size were 8.32 ± 0.8 mm and 3.62 ± 0.61 mm, respectively. The average CB-IOL complex size of our study was significantly lower than the studies reported in the literature (P ≤ 0.001). All (n = 12, 100%) were acrylic IOLs with 11 (91.67%) having single-piece design. All specimens on H and E stain showed extensive subepithelial fibrosis while Masson's trichrome staining showed that none had any pseudoexfoliation material. The circumferential sphincter-like fibrous tissue arrangement was seen in all specimens. Immunohistochemical expression of vimentin suggested the mesenchymal metaplasia of epithelial A-cells. Conclusion: Significant fibrotic contraction of the CB and phimosis of capsulorhexis may cause a progressive zonular tear. This is probably the most important etiology of spontaneous late dislocation of the CB-IOL complex.


In complex food webs, it is often difficult to classify all trophic interactions, especially when the number of potential energy sources and interacting species can be high. Biochemical markers (biomarkers) can help trace energy-flow pathways from basal sources up to top predators, but can suffer from poor resolution when multiple sources all produce the same biomarker (e.g. many algae produce long-chain unsaturated fatty acids). Highly branched isoprenoids (HBIs) are unique lipids produced by diatoms, which have been successfully applied as biomarkers of diatom-derived energy pathways through marine food webs. However, currently, the existence and trophic transfer of HBIs has not been explored in freshwater food webs. Here, we confirm, for the first time, the presence of two HBI isomers (IIb and IIc) across two temperate-lake food webs, from lower basal sources up to higher trophic-position consumers (predatory fishes). Lake ecosystems are facing multiple interacting threats that could influence food-web structure and function in complex ways. HBIs could provide a novel method for tracing the outcome of altered temperature, nutrient loading and water clarity on high-quality, diatom-derived energy pathways through freshwater food webs.


Because of the climate warming during the 20th century, species shift their range to track their preferred climates (Parmesan & Yohe, 2003). However, while some species already show considerable range shifts, many species have not (yet) shifted their range (Lenoir et al., 2008). There is growing interest into whether certain plant traits, such as dispersal ability, could predict which species are able to move their range (Angert et al., 2011). Next to research directly examining the effect of dispersal traits on range shifts, research examining the effect of traits on plants' range size and range filling (the extent to which a species inhibits its potential area) can give information about what traits affect range shift ability, since these traits could also help a species to successfully establish in a new habitat (Estrada et al., 2016). However, since the actual seed dispersal distance of many species is not known, studies often use simple plant traits to estimate dispersal capacity (Vittoz & Engler, 2007). By looking at studies examining the effect of dispersal traits on range shifts, range size and range filling, this paper examines which traits are used to determine dispersal capacity, and whether current evidence suggests that these traits indeed influence range shift ability. Most studies reviewed found that dispersal modes which reach longer distances, such as dispersal by wind or animals, increase range shift ability in plants. However, evidence for an effect of seed size or seed mass on range shift ability is mixed. This paper gives insight in which dispersal traits influence range shifts, and gives direction as to which dispersal traits need more research.


Abstract : Most of the popular topic models (such as Latent Dirichlet Allocation) have an underlying assumption: bag of words. However, text is indeed a sequence of discrete word tokens, and without considering the order of words (in another word, the nearby context where a word is located), the accurate meaning of language cannot be exactly captured by word co-occurrences only. In this sense, collocations of words (phrases) have to be considered. However, like individual words, phrases sometimes show polysemy as well depending on the context. More noticeably, a composition of two (or more) words is a phrase in some contexts, but not in other contexts. In this paper, the authors propose a new probabilistic generative model that automatically determines unigram words and phrases based on context and simultaneously associates them with a mixture of topics. They present very interesting results on large text corpora.


Updating Extraterritoriality argues that a global economy requires extraterritorial reach, and that nations have been too timid in restraining themselves from condemning international cartels on grounds of indirectness of effects. The article poses five sets of real-life fact problems, analyzes what is or is not a legitimate outreach of national law, and proposes that, in cases of world consensus principles, notably hard core cartels, the national and world interest in a global economy free of restraints of competition (the world commons of competition) should be a factor in deciding whether jurisdiction lies. The article examines how to reflect world welfare more cautiously in other cases.


Corruption is one of the biggest problems that is very difficult to eradicate in Indonesia. Indonesia is a country that is rich in natural resources, but Indonesia lacks character than its human resources. Corruption is also one of the obstacles why Indonesia is not currently a developed country. This is because state assets that should be used in the interests of the state, however, by irresponsible people are used for their own interests. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent corruption so that Indonesia can develop into a developed country. The purpose of writing this article is to: (1) know the typology of corruption; (2) knowing the bad effects of corruption in Indonesia; (3) knowing the criminal penalty against the perpetrator of corruption; (4) knowing how to prevent corruption in Indonesia. The writing method used is descriptive qualitative with the data source used by the author, namely library research, which is data obtained from existing literature from books, journals, the internet and other references that are in accordance with the research problem. In preventing corruption itself, of course there needs to be cooperation between the government and the Indonesian people. As the government apparatus who manages the state, it is necessary to manage state assets as well as possible for the interests of the state and society, while the people must believe in and support the work of government. With this cooperation, it is hoped that Indonesia will be free from criminal acts of corruption.


In order to use the full power of artificial intelligence, many are required to navigate through a complex process that involves reading and understanding code. Understanding this process can be especially intimidating to domain experts who wish to use A.I to develop a project, but have no former experience with programming. This paper develops an application to allow for any domain expert (or normal person) to gather data, assign labels, and train models automatically without the use of software to do so. Our application, through a server, allows the user to send HTTP API requests to train models, upload images to the database, add models/labels, and access models/labels.


We study the post-Newtonian expansion of a class of Lorentz-violating gravity theories that reduce to khronometric theory (i.e. the infrared limit of Horava gravity) in high-acceleration regimes, and reproduce the phenomenology of the modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND) in the low-acceleration, non-relativistic limit. Like in khronometric theory, Lorentz symmetry is violated in these theories by introducing a dynamical scalar field (the "khronon") whose gradient is enforced to be timelike. As a result, hypersurfaces of constant khronon define a preferred foliation of the spacetime, and the khronon can be thought of as a physical absolute time. The MOND phenomenology arises as a result of the presence, in the action, of terms depending on the acceleration of the congruence orthogonal to the preferred foliation. We find that if the theory is forced to reduce exactly to General Relativity (rather than to khronometric theory) in the high-acceleration regime, the post-Newtonian expansion breaks down at low accelerations, and the theory becomes strongly coupled. Nevertheless, we identify a sizeable region of the parameter space where the post-Newtonian expansion remains perturbative for all accelerations, and the theory passes both solar-system and pulsar gravity tests, besides producing a MOND phenomenology for the rotation curves of galaxies. We illustrate this explicitly with a toy model of a system containing only baryonic matter but no Dark Matter.


Abstract. With saker falcon populations on the mend globally, and in Bulgaria, special caution is taken to ensure the best possible care of the birds in their breeding programmes. Diets play a particularly important role as they affect the health of not only the breeding pairs, but also the young birds. With the ultimate goal for the captive-bred sakers being to reestablish viable saker falcon populations, releasing healthy falcons is paramount. As part of the ongoing saker falcon reintroduction efforts in Bulgaria, special emphasis was placed on well-rounded diets carefully tailored to the species, and the accompanying proper sanitation procedures. Outlined are best practices concerning the variety of dietary regimes for saker falcons in captivity and for released falcons based on their biology and behaviour. In captivity the meals were different for non-breeding birds, breeding birds, for nesting birds, and for birds with chicks in the nest. The hacked juvenile saker falcons had a change in diet every two weeks – starting with food similar to the one in the breeding facilities, to the more natural for the species meals. The different techniques aimed at replicating wild conditions resulted in a natural breeding behaviour for the saker falcons kept in captivity, and successful adaptation for the released juveniles. The meal preparation methods kept the risk of food-transmitted diseases to a minimum.


We derive the statistical properties of the SNP densities of Gallant and Nychka (1987). We show that these densities, which are always positive, are more flexible than truncated GramCharlier expansions with positivity restrictions. We use the SNP densities for financial derivatives valuation. We relate real and risk-neutral measures, obtain closed-form prices for European options, and analyse the semiparametric properties of our pricing model. In an empirical application to S&P500 index options, we compare our model to the standard and Practitioner's Black-Scholes formulas, truncated expansions, and the Generalised Beta and Variance Gamma models.


Philanthropist Donald A. Adam will donate$20.4 million for the development of a Comprehensive MelanomaResearch Center at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & ResearchInstitute. This center will conduct research in melanoma andtranslate that into cutting-edge patient treatment. This representsthe largest single gift in Moffitt's history. "Melanoma is the fastest growing cancer in the United States, withFlorida ranking second in the nation in number of cases," said Dr.William Dalton, President and CEO of Moffitt. "This center willallow us to respond even more aggressively to Florida's growingmelanoma rate and reduce the state's burden." Adam, a melanoma survivor himself, is chairman and chief executiveofficer of American Momentum Bank, headquartered in Tampa. "With this gift, I am confident that Moffitt will become the premieremelanoma research and treatment center in the United States," saidAdam. "I know first hand the importance of developing effective newtreatments and, I hope, a cure for this disease." Adam has enterprises in Texas, Ocala and Tampa, the headquarters ofAmerican Momentum Bank, which obtained a charter from the state ofFlorida in October, 2006. With $100 million in capitalization,American Momentum represents the largest bank start up equity inFlorida history. "It is important to me that we contribute to, and become an integralpart of the fabric of the community," said Adam. Adam considers Moffitt the ideal location for a ComprehensiveMelanoma Research Center because it sees more than 1,500 newmelanoma patients yearly and is one of the top three cancer centersby volume in the United States. "We are honored that Mr. Adam chose Moffitt," said Dr. JeffreyWeber, director of the Donald A. Adam Comprehensive MelanomaResearch Center. "His generous gift will provide a quantum leap inour ability to translate new ideas in melanoma research intoclinical trials, and hopefully a cure for this devastating disease." In addition to Weber, the leadership team for the center includesJames Mule', Ph.D., a world-renowned translational scientist and Dr.Vernon Sondak, an internationally-known melanoma surgeon. Adam's gift almost entirely funds the first five years of researchand development at the new center. During that time, the researchand medical team plans to recruit from around the country and add toits top melanoma researchers, conduct clinical trials on new cancerdrugs and pursue the Melanoma Genomics Project, which maps thedevelopment of the diseases on a molecular level, which candramatically improve patient diagnoses and physician understandingof the methods for treating various types of melanoma. About H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research InstituteLocated in Tampa, Florida on the University of South Florida campus,H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute (www.moffitt.org)is the only Florida-based cancer center with the NCI designation asa Comprehensive Cancer Center for its excellence in research andcontributions to clinical trials, prevention and cancer control.Moffitt currently has 15 affiliates in Florida, one in Georgia andtwo in Puerto Rico. Additionally, Moffitt is a member of theNational Comprehensive Cancer Network, a prestigious alliance of thecountry's leading cancer centers, and is listed in U.S. News & WorldReport as one of America's Best Hospitals for cancer. Moffitt's solemission is to contribute to the prevention and cure of cancer.


In reinforcement learning, temporal difference-based algorithms can be sample-inefficient: for instance, with sparse rewards, no learning occurs until a reward is observed. This can be remedied by learning richer objects, such as a model of the environment, or successor states. Successor states model the expected future state occupancy from any given state for a given policy and are related to goal-dependent value functions, which learn how to reach arbitrary states. We formally derive the temporal difference algorithm for successor state and goal-dependent value function learning, either for discrete or for continuous environments with function approximation. Especially, we provide finite-variance estimators even in continuous environments, where the reward for exactly reaching a goal state becomes infinitely sparse. Successor states satisfy more than just the Bellman equation: a backward Bellman operator and a Bellman-Newton (BN) operator encode path compositionality in the environment. The BN operator is akin to second-order gradient descent methods and provides the true update of the value function when acquiring more observations, with explicit tabular bounds. In the tabular case and with infinitesimal learning rates, mixing the usual and backward Bellman operators provably improves eigenvalues for asymptotic convergence, and the asymptotic convergence of the BN operator is provably better than TD, with a rate independent from the environment. However, the BN method is more complex and less robust to sampling noise. Finally, a forward-backward (FB) finite-rank parameterization of successor states enjoys reduced variance and improved samplability, provides a direct model of the value function, has fully understood fixed points corresponding to long-range dependencies, approximates the BN method, and provides two canonical representations of states as a byproduct.


4sU-seq allows for measuring or nascent transcription which can reflect dynamic changes more accurately than traditional RNA-seq. Incorporation of the nucleoside analog 4-thiouridine into RNA allows the separation of nascent transcripts though reversible coupling to biotin and streptavdin bead pull-down. The protocol takes roughly two days to generate a sequencing ready library.


A comparative palynological study of 25 taxa of the genus Orobanche L. belonging to section Trionychon Wallr. and section Orobanche L. was carried out. A clear difference between the pollen grains of section Trionychon and section Orobanche was observed. The grains of section Trionychon are typically tricolpate, radially symmetrical, more or less oblate spheroidal with a microreticulate, or scabrate-perforate sculpture. Section Orobanche on the other hand, had spheroidal, more or less inaperturate pollen grains, although some were tricolpate, but without any clear symmetry. The basic surface sculpture of the pollen in section Orobanche was scabrate to rugulate-perforate. Palynologically, six groups can be recognized amongst the species of the genus Orobanche, for which a key is provided.


As part of the Bureau of Mines health and safety research program in strata control, a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) system capable of penetrating approximately 10 ft into the mine roof has been devised to identify anomalistic conditions. The GPR system consists of a transmitter with carrier frequencies of 250, 500, and 1,000 MHz, utilizing a dipole antenna, and a receiver, consisting of a dipole antenna fed into a sampler with a time base housed in a storage oscilloscope. A computer was utilized for data acquisition and data processing. Data analysis by computer enhancement revealed recognizable return radar signatures from the middle man rock and main roof of the test site. These stratigraphic anomalies can be cataloged for recognizable features, which from the past history of the mine may have been shown to create strata control problems. Early recognition of such features could lead to immediate corrective actions and result in the saving of lives. 1Mining engineer, Tuscaloosa Research Center, Bureau of Mines, Tuscaloosa, AL. 2physical scientist, Tuscaloosa Research Center; professor of electrical engineering, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL.


Ambiguity is inherent in the concept of hope especially when used in the field of politics. While a functionalist view of politics can only understand hope in terms of manipulation, an Aristotelian view of politics may require hope for its operation. The ambiguity of hope, then, is traced to ancient Greek and Roman thought, in Hesiod and Ovid. This ambiguity can also be found in 20th century German philosophy. Ernst Bloch is just as enthusiastic about hope as Theodor W. Adorno is skeptical about it. A reflection on their respective philosophies will lead to a better understanding of the potential and the danger of hope in the political field.


The outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome is the first severe and readily transmissible disease to emerge in the 21st century. Often one new infection meant tracing of several people to monitor their health conditions as well. In Singapore, several agencies coordinated their efforts to quickly bring the outbreak under control. The current breed of health-care information systems (HCIS) was not sufficient to handle new information-sharing needs during the crisis. In this paper, we take a look at the measures taken during the crisis in Singapore through a knowledge integration perspective. This perspective reveals interesting implications for HCIS.


Babesia divergens, transmitted by the tick Ixodes ricinus, is the most common cause of bovine babesiosis in northern Europe and plays a role as a zoonotic pathogen. However, several studies have indicated a decline of B. divergens prevalence in Europe during the last decades. Here, we investigate the epidemiology of bovine babesiosis on a beef production farm in northern Germany, which had not been affected by babesiosis until an initial outbreak in 2018. In June 2018, 21 adult cattle died, showing classical symptoms of babesiosis. Babesia divergens merozoites were detected in blood smears of clinically affected animals and the species was confirmed by PCR and sequencing of a part of the 18S rRNA gene. In 2018, screening of the farm's entire stock by PCR revealed that Babesia-positive animals were present in only one of five herds grazing on different pastures. In the following year, further babesiosis cases occurred in multiple herds. In March 2020, 95 cattle were tested for anti-B. divergens antibodies and 36 of them (37.89%) had positive titres. To investigate the local Babesia prevalence in ticks, 1,430 questing I. ricinus ticks (555 larvae, 648 nymphs, 227 adults) were collected on the farm's pastures and subjected to PCR for Babesia detection. Babesia divergens DNA could not be detected, but Babesia microti showed an overall prevalence of 0.49% (7/1,430; 0.88% [2/227] of adult ticks, 0.77% [5/648] of nymphs, 0.00% [0/555] of larvae). Babesia venatorum was detected in 0.42% (6/1,430) of ticks (0.44% [1/227] of adult ticks, 0.77% [5/648] of nymphs, 0.00% [0/555] of larvae) and B. capreoli in 0.07% (1/1,430) of ticks (0.00% [0/227] of adult ticks, 0.15% [1/648] of nymphs, 0.00% [0/555] of larvae). Despite the fact that no B. divergens-positive ticks were found, the collected data suggest a geographical spread of the pathogen on the farm. Bovine babesiosis remains a disease of veterinary importance in Europe and may cause considerable economic losses when (re-)emerging in non-endemic areas, especially as awareness for the disease among veterinarians and farmers declines.


To minimize the geometric error made in ground surface, the optimization of grinding parameters is essential. This paper focused on the parameter optimization of the surface grinding process based on Taguchi and response surface methods for minimizing the geometric error. Firstly, the effect of grinding parameters on the geometric error was evaluated and optimum grinding conditions were determined. Then, a second-order response model for predicting the geometric error was developed and the validation of the response surface model was examined with industrial constraints such as the surface roughness and the material removal rate. Finally, experimental verification was conducted at an optimal condition and two selected conditions to see accuracy of the developed response surface model.


The objective of this study was to prospectively assess the value of combining clinical assessment and noninvasive testing in predicting the spectrum of carotid bifurcation pathology, as subsequently proven by arteriography, in order to determine the safety and accuracy of performing carotid endarterectomy without angiography. A panel of eight specialists representing vascular surgery, neurology, and neurosurgery were presented with the history, physical findings, and noninvasive test results (GEE-OPG and duplex scan) of 85 patients. They were asked to make an anatomic prediction of the status of each carotid artery (170 arteries) as to whether the bifurcation was normal, ulcerated, had a hemodynamically significant stenosis, or was occluded. The predictions were then prospectively evaluated and correlated with angiographic findings; 159 of 170 (93.5%) carotid arteries were accurately characterized; 73 of 80 (91%) symptomatic carotid arteries and 86 of 90 (95.5%) asymptomatic arteries were correctly characterized; 61 of 61 (100%) stenoses of hemodynamic significance, nine of 14 (64.3%) ulcerations without stenosis, and 18 of 18 (100%) of total occlusions were accurately identified by the panel. Twenty-nine patients have subsequently had 32 carotid endarterectomies without angiography, and the predicted lesion was confirmed at the time of exploration. The combination of clinical assessment and noninvasive testing, particularly duplex scanning, when performed in a laboratory with validated accuracy may with defined qualification be safely used as a substitute for contrast angiography.


pausal pill to control dysfunctional bleeding and hot flushes. If this was an accepted prophylactic many women would avoid hysterectomy for dysfunctional bleeding. Then after the age of 52 the postmenopausal pill containing even less oestrogen would, could, and maybe should be taken for many years to reduce the chances of myocardial infarction and osteoporosis. All this is I suppose contingent on women giving up smoking cigarettes. ALAN M SMITH


To gauge whether more stringent civil commitment criteria have led to the criminalization of mentally ill persons, forcing them into jails and prisons instead of treating them, a statewide sample of 1,226 civil commitment candidates in North Carolina was tracked for six months after their commitment hearings. Only 72 sample members were arrested during the period, mostly for burglary or larceny (22 arrests), simple or aggravated assault (17 arrests), and minor offenses (40 arrests), including drunkenness, trespassing, and traffic violations. Fourteen sample members were jailed, and two were sent to prison. The mentally ill who were not involuntarily hospitalized or who were hospitalized for only short periods were seldom arrested; when they were arrested, the charges were generally for nondangerous offenses.


A three-dimensional model of molecular dynamics (MD) simulation was employed to study the generation process of nanometric machined surfaces of monocrystalline copper. The model included the utilization of the Morse potential function to simulate the interatomic force between Cu-C and Cu-Cu. By analyses of the MD simulation snapshots of the various stages of the nanometric cutting process and local radial distribution function (RDF), the structure of the bulk and the machined surface with no change and that of the chip with minimal change were observed. Potential energy had significant fluctuations due to generation and propagation of dislocations around the tool. The elastic recovery along the machined surface of the work material was observed after the tool passed. Because the state of machined surface was an important influence on the performance and the physical and chemical properties of product, the effects of surface relaxation on the machined surface state were investigated under the vacuum condition.


The relatively recent rise of religious pluralism has significantly affected the evangelical movement, the roots of which are traceable to the sixteenth century Reformation. In particular, the theological implications of religious pluralism have led to debate concerning the nature of core beliefs of evangelicalism and how these should be interpreted in the contemporary world. While evangelicals continue to articulate a genuine undergirding desire to "honour the authority of Scripture", differing frameworks and ideals have led to a certain level of fracturing between schools of evangelical thought. This research focuses on the work of three evangelical theologians – Harold Netland, John Sanders and Clark Pinnock – and their responses to the question of religious pluralism. In assessing the ideas put forward in their major work relevant to religious pluralism this thesis reveals something of the contestation and diversity within the evangelical tradition. The authors' respective theological opinions demonstrate that there is basic agreement on some doctrines. Others are being revisited, however, in the search for answers to the tension between two notions that evangelicals commonly affirm: the eternal destiny of the unevangelised; and the will of God that all humankind should obtain salvation. Evangelicals are deeply divided on this matter, and the problem of containing seemingly incompatible views within the confines of "evangelical belief" remains. This ongoing division highlights the difficulty of defining evangelicalism in purely theological terms.


ABSTRACT This paper examines the revival of the nuclear energy initiatives in Turkey and the associated 'economic growth' and 'competitiveness' discourse of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) as a function of the neoliberal transformation of the Turkish political economy since the 1980s. Based on an engagement between the neo-Gramscian approach and the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), this paper shows how the nuclear project in Turkey is historically situated and discursively constructed. Analysing the Parliamentary Records and statements of state officials, the paper has highlighted how the AKP exercises power through hegemonic discourses in terms of the legitimization of the nuclear energy in Turkey.


The featherstar genera, Dichrometra A.H. Clark, 1909a, Lamprometra A.H. Clark, 1913, and Liparometra A.H. Clark, 1913 (Comatulida: Mariametridae), are currently diagnosed only on the basis of the relative lengths of their proximal three pairs of pinnules. Previous published descriptions and a morphological re-examination indicate that this character is inconsistent and phenotypically variable. Distinctions amongst most of the 11 currently recognized species within each of these three genera are similarly ambiguous. This study compared currently accepted diagnostic characters amongst members of these three genera and incorporated mitochondrial DNA and nuclear DNA sequencing to assess taxonomic distinctions. Specimens were obtained from throughout the range of all three genera. Molecular data supported a monophyletic grouping, which we have placed under the senior generic name Dichrometra, based on a level of intraspecies divergence similar to that in other featherstar taxa, with four distinct species-level clades: palmata Müller, 1841, flagellata Müller, 1841, gyges Bell, 1884, and brachypecha H.L. Clark, 1915, the latter two resurrected from synonymy under palmata. Amongst these, proportions of proximal pinnules contributed only to the diagnosis of D. brachypecha. These species and the genus are redescribed. However, new diagnostic morphological characters remain, because they are needed to corroborate the four clades distinguished by molecular data. Because no sequence data were available from specimens identifiable as the remaining nine nominal species, we maintain them as accepted, pending further information.


INTRODUCTION:
Lawson, Heidrick, and Soular (LHS) present three criticisms in regard to Johnson-Flanigan-Weeks' (JFW) study "An Empirical Investigation of the Costs of Adopting No-fault Insurance Systems: 1971-1980," Journal of Insurance Regulation, December 1983. The JFW study found that no-fault has the effect of increasing the cost of automobile insurance. The purposes of this comment are to respond to the LHS criticisms and to present support for the conclusion of the previous study.


BACKGROUND
Since the 1990s, Scottish community-based antidepressant prescribing has increased substantially.

AIM
To assess whether GPs prescribe antidepressants appropriately.

DESIGN OF STUDY
Observational study of adults (aged >/=16 years) screened with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) attending a GP.

SETTING
Four practices in Grampian, Scotland.

METHOD
Patients (n = 898) completed the HADS, and GPs independently estimated depression status. Notes were scrutinised for evidence of antidepressant use, and the appropriateness of prescribing was assessed.

RESULTS
A total of 237 (26%) participants had HADS scores indicating 'possible' (15%) or 'probable' (11%) depression. The proportion of participants rated as depressed by their GP differed significantly by HADS depression subscale scores. Odds ratio for 'possible' versus 'no' depression was 3.54 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.17 to 5.76, P<0.001); and for 'probable' versus 'possible' depression was 3.59 (95% CI = 2.06 to 6.26, P<0.001). Similarly, the proportion of participants receiving antidepressants differed significantly by HADS score. Odds ratio for 'possible' versus 'no' depression was 2.79 (95% CI = 1.70 to 4.58, P<0.001); and for 'probable' versus 'possible' was 2.12 (95% CI = 1.21 to 3.70, P = 0.009). In 101 participants with 'probable' depression, GPs recognised 53 (52%) participants as having a clinically significant depression. Inappropriate initiation of antidepressant treatment occurred very infrequently. Prescribing to participants who were not symptomatic was accounted for by the treatment of pain, anxiety, or relapse prevention, and for ongoing treatment of previously identified depression.

CONCLUSION
There was little evidence of prescribing without relevant indication. Around half of patients with significant symptoms were not identified by their GP as suffering from a depressive disorder: this varied inversely with severity ratings. Rather than prescribing indiscriminately (as has been widely assumed), it is likely that GPs are initiating antidepressant treatment conservatively.


We used high-precision radial velocity measurements of FGKM stars to determine the occurrence of giant planets as a function of orbital separation spanning 0.03–30 au. Giant planets are more prevalent at orbital distances of 1–10 au compared to orbits interior or exterior of this range. The increase in planet occurrence at ∼1 au by a factor of ∼4 is highly statistically significant. A fall-off in giant planet occurrence at larger orbital distances is favored over models with flat or increasing occurrence. We measure 14.1−1.8+2.0 giant planets per 100 stars with semimajor axes of 2–8 au and 8.9−2.4+3.0 giant planets per 100 stars in the range 8–32 au, a decrease in occurrence with increasing orbital separation that is significant at the ∼2σ level. We find that the occurrence rate of sub-Jovian planets (0.1–1 Jupiter masses) is also enhanced for 1–10 au orbits. This suggests that lower-mass planets may share the formation or migration mechanisms that drive the increased prevalence near the water–ice line for their Jovian counterparts. Our measurements of cold gas giant occurrence are consistent with the latest results from direct imaging surveys and gravitational lensing surveys despite different stellar samples. We corroborate previous findings that giant planet occurrence increases with stellar mass and metallicity.


New provisions for improved management of price and market policy, implementation of supplementary programs of alleged supply control, and procurement of additional financial resources have. during the last 12 months, deeply affected EC agricultural policy. The present policy is briefly reviewed, highlighting these developments and suggesting likely consequences. The state of information being 1 May 1988, the latest revision of EC agricultural prices (1988-89 marketing year) is dealt with on the basis of the first draft of the Commission's annual price package.


In an effort to assist the Navy to better utilize its waste hydrocarbons, NIPER, with support from the US Department of Energy, is conducting research designed to ultimately develop a practical technique for converting Reclaimed Product (RP) into specification Naval Distillate Fuel (F-76). The first phase of the project was focused on reviewing the literature and available information from equipment manufacturers. The literature survey has been carefully culled for methodology applicable to the conversion of RP into diesel fuel suitable for Navy use. Based upon the results of this study, a second phase has been developed and outlined in which experiments will be performed to determine the most practical recycling technologies. It is realized that the final selection of one particular technology may be site-specific due to vast differences in RP volume and available facilities. A final phase, if funded, would involve full-scale testing of one of the recommended techniques at a refueling depot. The Phase I investigations are published in two volumes. Volume 1, Technical Discussion, includes the narrative and Appendices I and II. Appendix III, a detailed Literature Review, includes both a narrative portion and an annotated bibliography containing about 800 referenvces and abstracts. This appendix, because ofmore » its volume, has been published separately as Volume 2. 18 figures, 4 tables.« less


The highest sedimentary cover rocks of the Sierra de Moreno are the Tertiary, Sichal Formation. These are flat lying and undeformed, except at one locality adjacent to an igneous intrusion, where the sediments exhibit a spectacular though minor belt of folds that, from the stratigraphy, can be shown to have formed under a cover of 300–500 m. From the orientation and interaction of fibrous veins within the folds it is possible to unravel the history of deformation. We infer that the lateral compression of these rocks first resulted in minor conjugate thrusts. The major phase of deformation which followed gave rise to folds whose geometry and position can be attributed to the existence of gypsum intercalations which underwent the gypsum/anhydrite reaction as a result of the high geothermal gradient associated with the emplacement of an igneous intrusion. This reaction released large quantities of water which enabled kink folds to develop, coupled with the infilling of the pre-existing barren thrusts to form a complex of fibrous veins. A final phase of extensional deformation can be attributed to subsequent shrinkage of the country rock as the intrusion cooled.


Since the publication of Another Roadside Attraction in 1971, Tom Robbins (b. 1932) has become known as the principal voice of American countercultural fiction. His cult celebrity was further solidified by the success of Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1976) and Still Life With Woodpecker (1980). Robbins's mix of vivid language, ribald humor, philosophical musings, controversial commentary on religion and sexuality, and concentration on female protagonists and feminine consciousness has marked almost all of his fiction, as well as his short writings. Despite his undeserved reputation as 1960s hippie icon, all of Robbins's work remains popular and in print, and his later novels--including Jitterbug Perfume (1984), Skinny Legs and All (1990), Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas (1994), Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates(2000), Villa Incognito (2003), and B Is for Beer (2009)--engage thoroughly with current politics, mores, and trends. Conversations with Tom Robbins brings together more than twenty interviews with the acclaimed author, from the mid-1970s to the present. Throughout the volume, Robbins discusses his working methods, his fusion of Eastern and Western philosophical traditions, the need for wit and humor in serious fiction, and the ways living in the Pacific Northwest has fueled his work.