Martin Dillon, a Belfast journalist regarded as an authority on Irish terrorism, presents material on the IRA's "England department" - how it has functioned and what its objectives are. He also provides evidence of political and military mistakes which he argues have made British cities the most vulnerable in Europe to terrorist attack. He explains why he believes that the various government agencies combating the IRA have failed to eradicate the threat, and describes the intrigue which led to MI5 taking responsibility for co-ordinating the war against the Provos. Dillon's other books include "The Shankill Butchers" and "The Dirty War".


The random priority (random serial dictatorship) mechanism is a common method for assigning objects to individuals. The mechanism is easy to implement and strategy-proof. However this mechanism is inefficient, as the agents may be made all better off by another mechanism that increases their chances of obtaining more preferred objects. Such an inefficiency is eliminated by the recent mechanism called probabilistic serial, but this mechanism is not strategy-proof. Thus, which mechanism to employ in practical applications has been an open question. This paper shows that these mechanisms become equivalent when the market becomes large. More specifically, given a set of object types, the random assignments in these mechanisms converge to each other as the number of copies of each object type approaches infinity. Thus, the inefficiency of the random priority mechanism becomes small in large markets. Our result gives some rationale for the common use of the random priority mechanism in practical problems such as student placement in public schools.


In 2002 and 2003, five government, scholastic, and industry research groups worked together to attempt the AAAI Robot Challenge. In short, autonomous robots are to attempt the roles of graduate students at the American Association of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) conference. Two of the main thrusts of the Robot Challenge are for robots to demonstrate autonomy and to interact with people in natural and dynamic environments. This paper focuses on the task of the robot finding its way from the front door of the conference center to the registration desk by asking for directions. Asking for and following route directions in a partially known environment provides a rich testbed for interacting with an autonomous system. This paper describes the task and the environment, details the adjustable autonomy architecture implemented for the Robot Challenge, and compares it against other approaches. It also presents the problems encountered using this architecture, and suggests further refinements.


In responding to the ubiquitous presence of information and communication technology (ICT) in the educational landscape, blended learning has been increasingly adopted in adult education. While adult educators and practitioners face challenges due to such pedagogical shifts in instructional design, they are also encouraged to underscore the emancipatory values of adult education to contribute to the global social exclusion combat. Thus, it is of particular significance to examine how different elements of the blended learning design can result in social outcomes for adult learners. By deconstructing the blended learning design into specific online and general supportive factors, the present chapter sheds more light on the question: How does learning in a blended environment contribute to adult learners' social capital? On top of that, practical recommendations for instructors are put forward.


This paper intends to precisiate the well-known and widespread definitions of both smart and intelligent agent (SA; IA), as well as the smart and intelligent multi agent system (SS/II_MAS). The use of a unified and standardized agent and multi agent system description based on definitions of the general systems theory is delivered and proposed as well. The intellectics of multi agent systems is considered as some sort of an extension of the agent intelligence. Three typical features of human intellectual activities are proposed to be implemented and simulated in an agent/multi agent system as the basic paradigms for agent and multi agent system intellectics. As underlined in the paper, the functioning according to those paradigms (recognition and classification, behavior according to a set of fuzzy rules, and  the functioning according to some prescribed tendency) is solidly mathematically based (correspondingly: mathematical programing, fuzzy logic and stochastic approximation). Finally, results of a computerized modeling and simulation are delivered demonstrating the practical vitality and efficiency of the theoretical approach to the realization of the intelligent environment of IoT&S for user's comfort in two projects: "Research and Development of Internet Infrastructure for IoT& S in the Smart Environment (IDAPI)" and "Research on Smart Home Environment and Development of Intelligent Technologies (BIATech)". DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.itc.44.1.8768


Peatlands occurring in regions with high rates of total evaporation (ET), matching or exceeding precipitation (P) during seasonal dry periods or longer-term dry spells, are dependent on sustained groundwater flows to ensure peat accumulation. The objective of this study was to quantify the water balance of Mfabeni Mire in South Africa over one year, and thereby define its contribution to downstream and adjacent ecosystems and identify risks and consequences likely to arise from future shifts in the water balance. P (1,031 mm) and ET (1,053 mm) dominated the water balance measured from May 2008 to April 2009. These were followed by groundwater inflows (14 mm), stream outflow (9 mm) and storage change (-3 mm, a net loss in water stored in the mire) with the smallest flux being groundwater outflow (0.3 mm). There were differences in the seasonal patterns of ET from the two dominant plant communities (swamp forest and sedge/reed fen), which probably resulted from their significantly different canopy structures. Limiting factors for ET were low vapour pressure deficit and cloud cover. Although the water balance of Mfabeni Mire was dominated by and equally split between ET and P, it still contributed a small efflux to downstream ecosystems by streamflow. Its value in a landscape where seasonality and long-term dry periods are major ecological drivers lies in its damping effect on climatic variability. This creates a more stable environment for adjacent aquatic ecosystems by contributing to a steady groundwater condition. Mires occurring in areas that experience dry periods, where water stress frequently threatens biodiversity, should be recognised as assets in natural resource management; and their potential to support adjacent ecosystems should be protected through planning and conservation practices. Management of the area should include careful consideration of any proposed changes in land use or encouragement of one plant community at the expense of another, as such changes will alter the equilibrium of the water balance. Mfabeni Mire is particularly vulnerable through the impact of adjacent commercial forestry, which has impacted river and estuary management over the last 80 years and depleted groundwater levels in the surrounding aquifers.


This conversation explores emerging debates concerning teaching to and about marginalized populations often left out of "representative" data sets. Based on our experiences studying, teaching, and belonging to some of these unrepresented populations, we outline some strategies sociologists may use to transform the limitations of data sets traditionally labeled as representative into tools for delivering core sociological concepts. In so doing, we argue that sociologists may respond to increasing critiques of "representative" data by using these critiques to facilitate critical thinking skills and methodological awareness among students. In closing, we encourage sociologists to consider the challenges and opportunities presented by increasing awareness of unrepresented populations within our classrooms and the broader social world.


The NKR-P1 family of C-type lectin-like receptors are expressed on natural killer (NK) cells and NKT cells. We report the cloning and characterization of a cognate ligand for the inhibitory mouse NK receptors (NKR)-P1B and NKR-P1D (CD161b/d). The NKR-P1B/D ligand is osteoclast inhibitory lectin (Ocil), also known as Clr-b, a member of a previously cloned group of C-type lectin-related (Clr) proteins linked to the NKR-P1 receptors in the mouse NK gene complex (NKC). Expression of Ocil/Clr-b on mouse tumor cell lines inhibits NK cell-mediated killing. Inhibition is blocked with a new mAb (4A6) specific for Ocil/Clr-b. By using 4A6 mAb, we demonstrate that Ocil/Clr-b is displayed at high levels on nearly all hematopoietic cells, with the exception of erythrocytes, in a pattern that is similar to that of class I MHC molecules. Remarkably, Ocil/Clr-b is frequently down-regulated on mouse tumor cell lines, indicating a role for this receptor-ligand system in a new form of "missing self-recognition" of tumor cells.


The objective of the present research is to develop systematic methods for planning and analysis of the geometric tolerances of the three-dimensional machine products. The tolerance zones of the geometric features have been investigated, in the previous paper, based on the definitions of the geometric tolerances, and the parameters have been defined to describe the statistical deviations of the geometric features within the tolerance zones. Mathematical methods are discussed, in the present paper, to estimate the statistical deviations of the positions and the orientations of the geometric features, based on the deviation parameters and the relationships between the datum features and the target features. In particular, emphasis is given to the analysis of the statistical deviations of the geometric features under the MMC (maximum material conditions), which specifies the interaction between the dimensional tolerances and the geometric tolerances. The proposed method is applied to the analysis of the deviations of the geometric features, to which both the dimensional tolerances and the geometric tolerances are required.


The Dutch evidence-based guideline 'Treatment of breast cancer' has been revised, and integrated with the guideline 'Screening for and diagnosis of breast cancer'. The guideline can be found on www. oncoline.nl and on www.cbo.nl. The Internet programme 'Adjuvant!' (www.adjuvantonline.com) can be used to predict both the prognosis and the efficacy of systemic adjuvant therapy for each patient. The indications for adjuvant chemotherapy and endocrine therapy have been widened. The aim is to reduce the absolute probability of death by at least 4-5% within 10 years. The goal of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in operable breast cancer is to enable breast-conserving therapy for large tumours in relatively small breasts. One could consider transferring responsibility for follow-up after 5 years from the hospital to the screening organisation following mastectomy, to the family doctor following breast-conserving therapy, and to an outpatient clinic for hereditary tumours in carriers of gene mutation. Cessation of follow-up above the age of 75 could also be considered.


Environment, organizational culture, development/promotion policies, facilities, compensation and political issues are some of the causes of reduction in the organizational commitment and increase in the level of emotional exhaustion and development of turnover intention among faculty of universities. The occupational psychology of faculty is influenced by diverse elements and specifically, there are various factors that play crucial role in overall organizational commitment emotional exhaustion and turnover intention. The faculty plays a vital role in ensuring the students and society for the quality education. For this study, the faculty members of various departments of selected universities in Riaz, KSA were the target population. The population for this study comprised faculty members of higher education institutions employing approximately 100 or more than 100 faculty members. The results show that all the study variables are significantly related with each others. The mediation results show that organizational commitment partially mediate between the emotional exhaustion and turnover intentions among the faculty of higher education institutions in Saudi Arabia.


The concern for environmental issues is one of the most typical features of the modern culture. Nevertheless, this pro-environmental orientation does not allow the people to change their behaviour according with this pro-environmental orientation. To account this incongruence, several studies have been carried out to define what are the determinants of the pro-environmental intentions and behaviours. In this respect, social context (Olli, Grendstad and Wollebaek, 2001) has to be included into the determinants of the pro-environmental intentions. In the present paper, the socio-structural variables of the context are considered, and environmental values, attitudes and behavioural intentions of a rural (N=90) and urban (N=95) sample are confronted. In both samples, environmental orientation has been measured through three questionnaires: the New Ecological Paradigm Scale (translated into Spanish), a moral obligation scale (focusing on environmental issues) and a questionnaire of pro-environmental behavioural intentions (the last two questionnaires has been designed for this specific study).The results indicate high levels of environmental concern and low levels of pro-environmental intentions in both samples. When the two samples are considered, it was found that those living in cities assume a larger number of environmental responsibility values, but their scores in pro-environmental attitudes and behavioural intentions are lower than in rural participants. People living in the rural context present more attitudes of environmental responsibility and greater consistency between environmental attitudes and behavioural intentions than urban sample.The urban-rural context could be considered as an explanatory referent of pro-environmental beliefs and behaviours.ReferenceOlli, E., Grendstad, g. and Wollebaek, D. (2001). Correlates of environmental behaviors. Bringing back social context. Environment and Behavior, 33, 181-208.


This paper presents the results of a ten year longitudinal analysis of almost 19,000 Polish manufacturing firms engaged in export operations. Export dynamics was measured by the rate of growth, consistency of export sales and survival in international operations. It was found that early involvement in international activities negatively affected the survival and regularity of sales of small exporters but that had a positive impact on larger exporters. A strong commitment to internationalization and a capacity for managing rapid growth are factors in achieving high growth in international sales over time. Managerial implications include recognizing the risk of possible failure when they enter international markets, and take into account that export volumes may stagnate after a first opportunity and not justify the initial effort to expand abroad. To remedy such unfavorable outcomes, managers should plan carefully before entering export markets or undertaking subsequent phases of export growth.


Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs) operate with asynchronous discrete events (or spikes) which can potentially lead to higher energy-efficiency in neuromorphic hardware implementations. Many works have shown that an SNN for inference can be formed by copying the weights from a trained Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and setting the firing threshold for each layer as the maximum input received in that layer. These type of converted SNNs require a large number of time-steps to achieve competitive accuracy which diminishes the energy savings. The number of time-steps can be reduced by training SNNs with spike-based backpropagation from scratch, but that is computationally expensive and slow. To address these challenges, we present a computationally-efficient training technique for deep SNNs. We propose a hybrid training methodology: 1) take a converted SNN and use its weights and thresholds as an initialization step for spike-based backpropagation, and 2) perform incremental spike-timing dependent backpropagation (STDB) on this carefully initialized network to obtain an SNN that converges within few epochs and requires fewer time-steps for input processing. STDB is performed with a novel surrogate gradient function defined using neuron's spike time. The weight update is proportional to the difference in spike timing between the current time-step and the most recent time-step the neuron generated an output spike. The SNNs trained with our hybrid conversion-and-STDB training perform at 10X-25X fewer number of time-steps and achieve similar accuracy compared to purely converted SNNs. The proposed training methodology converges in less than 20 epochs of spike-based backpropagation for most standard image classification datasets, thereby greatly reducing the training complexity compared to training SNNs from scratch. We perform experiments on CIFAR-10, CIFAR-100 and ImageNet datasets for both VGG and ResNet architectures. We achieve top-1 accuracy of 65.19% for ImageNet dataset on SNN with 250 time-steps, which is 10X faster compared to converted SNNs with similar accuracy.


Film base material is provided which comprises a film of biaxially oriented synthetic linear polyester of highly hydrophobic character having superimposed thereon adherent to said film a subbing layer obtained from an aqueous latex of a copolymer which has been prepared by copolymerizing vinylidene chloride, an alkyl acrylate or methacrylate and optionally a copolymerizable acid and/or at least one allyl, methallyl or vinyl monomer which contains either an active halogen group or an active methylene group in the presence of a mixture of (a) an anionic surfactant which is either an alkyl aryl polyether sulphate, sulphonate or phosphate and (b) a nonionic surfactant which is an alkyl aryl polyalkylene oxide adduct containing at least some units derived from propylene oxide. The subbing layer improves the adhesion between the film support and the photographic emulsion layers and prevents the separation or frilling of the layers when the final photographic film is processed. Further the surface conductivity of the film base is improved so that there is no need for a separate antistatic layer.


The paper presents algorithms of automatic control of an intelligent anti-tank guided missile with the possibility of attacking a target from the upper ceiling (top attack). Polynomial functions have been used to determine program trajectories. The numerical analysis of chosen algorithms has been performed. The results of work are presented in a graphical form. It appears from the conducted research that the proposed algorithms of automatic control of the anti-tank guided missile work correctly during attack from the upper ceiling, both movable and fixed.


From Every Child Matters and the Munro Review, to changing shifts in thinking from Coalition government; the child protection system has seen dramatic political and policy developments over recent years.

This book brings you a critical analysis of these developments from a leading writer and commentator. It begins by exploring the origins of present-day arrangements, locating English policy and practice in both a wider British and international context. It examines tragic cases such as 'Baby P' and Maria Colwell, considering their impact on public and professional attitudes and, in turn, the implications for the child protection system. Looking to the future of child protection, Nigel Parton considers the current state of the system and argues that we need to address wider social and political issues, including poverty, class and inequality


The problem of identification and control of a Wiener model is studied. The proposed identification model uses a hybrid model consisting of a linear autoregressive moving average model in cascade with a multilayer feedforward neural network. A two-step procedure is proposed to estimate the linear and nonlinear parts separately. Control of the Wiener model can be achieved by inserting the inverse of the static nonlinearity in the appropriate loop locations. Simulation results illustrate the performance of the proposed method.


A study was conducted in Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences to study the epidemiology of Road Traffic Accidents (RTA) . It was a time bound study and the data was collected using a pre-structured questionnaire. India has one of the largest road networks in the world, second only to USA. And, though India has only 1% of world's vehicle population, about 6% of RTAs occur in India 1 . The study included 82 RTA cases admitted to the hospital. The cases were studied with respect to the various medico-socio-demographic parameters. Almost 80% people were educated and 68% came from a rural background. Less than 40% people had a license while they were driving, with negligible number using helmets and car belts. On the brighter side, extremely few people were under the influence of alcohol (less than 8%) . Most commonly observed injuries were fractures (71%) and crush injuries (21%) with around 2% of the people ultimately losing their limbs. 43% of the people did not receive treatment before three hours while, only 23% received first aid. Most importantly, only 21% of the cases were brought to the hospital by the highway or state police, with more than half of the patients being brought by co-passengers or passers-by. The study concluded highlighting the poor state of infrastructure, contributing to a high rate of accidents, complicated by a deficient trauma response medical service.


While pausing and resuming execution using nonvolatile storage has long been possible, nonvolatile processing as a fundamental paradigm has only recently been made practical by technology advances allowing on-chip nonvolatile memories. However, even with on-chip nonvolatile storage, the granularity of ensured forward progress that a nonvolatile processor offers can still vary widely from cycle-level guarantees to software-defined checkpoints spanning potentially significant quantities of execution. Choice of supported granularity influences not only the hardware overheads, but also the complexity of avoiding potential inconsistencies between architectural and microarchitectural state in realistic memory systems. In this paper, we examine the overheads, in terms of both complexity and efficiency, for non-volatile processor designs with different granularity of forward progress guarantees.


This article examines the so-called companization of cooperative law. Companization refers to the phenomenon of national cooperative laws adopting elements of efficiency-oriented company legislation; i.e., cooperative societies seem to be slowly transforming into cooperative companies. Companization is a widely recognized issue, but there is little research on the topic. This is unfortunate, since studying companization helps us understand the relationship between cooperative law and company law, and, furthermore, it serves as a gateway to the investigation of the essential nature of cooperatives and why we need them. This article examines the companization of cooperative law using the Finnish Cooperatives Act (FCA) as a framework for analysis. The FCA is a good instrument for elaborating what companization means in practice, since cooperatives play a larger role in the Finnish economy than anywhere else in the world and since companization has been the conscious objective of Finnish legislators. This research was conducted by reflecting on the FCA in relation to the international cooperative law doctrine, using the ICA's cooperative principles as a benchmark. The findings reveal many signs of companization, and this does not only concern Finland: Companization is a global trend which requires further attention.


The role of rural-urban linkages is critically vital for Africa"s development in this era of rapid socio-economic transformation. A better understanding of cities and how they relate both to the rural and urban development is needed in view of the continuous changes in development. This paper argues that many of Africa"s development  problems such as poverty and food insecurity are best tackled through approaches that recognise the links between the two. Further, the paper proposes the "Kizuna" approach, which emphasises strong symbiotic bonds between rural and urban communities to addressing most problems that face the African society. Moreover, the paper argues that elements of "Kizuna" are already evident in the various social networks and kinships that guide the interactions between rural and urban dwellers in Africa. However, these bonds still need formal recognition and deliberate policy interventions aimed at enhancing their potential to foster poverty reduction and sustainable development. Keywords : Rural-urban-continuum, livelihood options, environmental damage, sustainable development, Kizuna


Accounting and management decision-making is dependent on the fit of the Accounting Information System (AIS) to the organisation's requirements. Therefore, AIS plays an important role in business management, and strategic plans. It is essential to understand the AIS adoption process to ensure success in accounting systems. This research aims to explore ways of managing AIS adoption to investigate the adoption of accounting information systems within organisations. The study has led to the development of a framework for understanding the AIS adoption process in an organisation. This framework was developed from case studies and by collecting qualitative data (interviews). Case studies from six organisations involving 32 respondents were used as confirmatory evidence. The purpose of the case studies was to investigate how to choose and use (adopt) an accounting information system that best achieves organisational goals before and during the adoption of an AIS. The findings of the study's empirical evidence suggest that AIS adoption is critical in accounting information systems to provide assistance in all phases of decision making; the study also provides recommendations that may be useful to practitioners.


Crystal modification 2 of N-(4-trifluoromethylphenyl)-5-met hylisoxazole-4-carboxamide (I) (leflunomid; HWA 486) is new. - New crystal modification 2 of N-(4-trifluoromethylphenyl)-5-methylisoxazole-4-carboxamide (I) has lines (diffraction angles 2theta ([deg])) of strong intensity at 10.65, 14.20, 14.80, 16.10, 21.70, 23.15, 24.40, 24.85, 25.50, 25.85, 26.90 and 29.85 and of medium intensity at 7.40, 9.80, 13.10, 15.45, 16.80, 20.70, 21.45, 22.80, 23.85, 27.25 and 28.95 in the X-ray diffraction graph using Cu-Kalpha 1 radiation in the focusing Deybe-Scherrer procedure and transmission. Compound (I) is known from US 4284786. Independent claims are included for: (A) the preparation of crystal modification 2; and (B) the preparation of crystal modification 1 of compound (I) having lines of strong intensity at 16.70, 18.90, 23.00, 23.65 and 2.05 and lines of medium intensity at 8.35, 12.65, 15.00, 15.30, 18.35, 21.55, 24.10, 24.65, 25.45, 26.65, 27.40, 28.00 and 28.30 in the X-ray diffraction graph measured and defined in the same manner as for crystal modification 2. -


[1] We explore a strategy for long-range hydrologic forecasting that uses ensemble climate model forecasts as input to a macroscale hydrologic model to produce runoff and streamflow forecasts at spatial and temporal scales appropriate for water management. Monthly ensemble climate model forecasts produced by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction/Climate Prediction Center global spectral model (GSM) are bias corrected, downscaled to 1/8° horizontal resolution, and disaggregated to a daily time step for input to the Variable Infiltration Capacity hydrologic model. Bias correction is effected by evaluating the GSM ensemble forecast variables as percentiles relative to the GSM model climatology and then extracting the percentiles' associated variable values instead from the observed climatology. The monthly meteorological forecasts are then interpolated to the finer hydrologic model scale, at which a daily signal that preserves the forecast anomaly is imposed through resampling of the historic record. With the resulting monthly runoff and streamflow forecasts for the East Coast and Ohio River basin, we evaluate the bias correction and resampling approaches during the southeastern United States drought from May to August 2000 and also for the El Nino conditions of December 1997 to February 1998. For the summer 2000 study period, persistence in anomalous initial hydrologic states predominates in determining the hydrologic forecasts. In contrast, the El Nino-condition hydrologic forecasts derive direction both from the climate model forecast signal and the antecedent land surface state. From a qualitative standpoint the hydrologic forecasting strategy appears successful in translating climate forecast signals to hydrologic variables of interest for water management.


The hydrodynamic bearing is an extraordinary device. There are 3000 mm diameter bearings supporting loads of 7 MPa at less then one rpm and 30 mm bearings supporting rotors that operate at tens of thousands of rpm. And more, these bearings can run for decades with little or no wear. Unfortunately, there are also an extraordinary number of factors that can affect and cause bearing problems. Lubricant contamination, misalignment, and other adverse operating conditions degrade thermal performance. Vibration must also be considered as the bearing contributes to system dynamics. Failures can be devastating and so it is important to share knowledge on these subjects. Many researchers have provided valuable theory, experiments and models regarding bearing behavior under adverse and unusual operating conditions. This paper contributes four cases of unusual behavior that have been encountered in high-speed turbomachinery where few references were found in literature, and towards which Kingsbury has devoted effort and time in tests and studies. The first case addresses offset pivot journal bearings. Pad temperatures are reduced by offsetting the pivot. However, some machines can experience reverse rotation under temporary or adverse conditions. Tests were performed to determine if offset pads can accommodate reverse rotation without damage. The other three cases are different in that the unusual behavior occurred at conditions that would typically be considered normal. The phenomena include low amplitude broadband radial vibration, sub-synchronous axial vibration, and high thrust bearing temperatures under low loads. These cases were reported in working machinery and caused sufficient concern to stop production. Laboratory tests were able to duplicate these phenomena, which allowed investigation and design of a solution for all three cases. Results are presented with some theory, hypothesis, or discussion. The intention is that this information will be of value to researchers and other personnel involved with design and prediction of hydrodynamic bearings in high-speed turbomachinery.


The effect of the organic sulphated polyanions, pentosan sulphate (SP54), dextran sulphate 500 (DS500) and suramin, have been tested on golden Syrian hamsters infected with the 263K strain of scrapie by the intraperitoneal (i.p.) or the intracerebral route. SP54 had the greatest effect in prolonging the incubation period of the disease when administered within 2 h of the i.p. inoculum. The same amount of SP54 given 24 h after scrapie inoculation had a potent effect in some animals and no effect in others. This result suggests that SP54 inhibits the uptake of the scrapie agent into the nerve endings and/or carrier cells at the site of the inoculum, i.e. the peritoneum, and that this event occurs in about 24 h. DS500 had a similar although less potent effect (22.4 days delay during the incubation period) than SP54 (54.4 days) when administered within 2 h of scrapie injection by the i.p. route, and suramin had only a minimal effect (10 days). This study suggests that treatment of scrapie and related spongiform encephalopathies of animals and man is possible only before the agent has reached the clinical target areas of the brain.


Macroscopic diversity provides two or more independent copies of the transmitted signal which fade in an uncorrelated manner. The signals can be combined to fight against shadowing but also against fast fading avoiding the use of two antennas per site (microdiversity). It is suggested in this paper that macrodiversity can provide all the necessary fading protection (against fast as well as slow fading) in microcellular networks where the density of antennas is high. This paper investigates the performance of macrodiversity versus microdiversity from the radio coverage point of view. Two and four port combining are considered, firstly for a Rayleigh fading environment and later with a more elaborate microcellular channel model that includes Rician statistics for the received signal envelope, dual-slope path loss model and lognormal shadowing. The results show that macrodiversity is an effective fading countermeasure in microcellular environments. This work is motivated for the concept of a radio fibre microcellular network where optical fibre links are used for RF signal distribution from a central controller to remote antennae at cellsite. In these systems low-cost and compact radio access ports can be deployed anywhere. Therefore the question is how to obtain maximum radio coverage with minimum number of ports using diversity techniques.


The chapter reflects about the idea of crisis making evident that, in the case of communication, it doesn't mean a reduction of importance, but on the contrary increasing and growth. The actual communication fortune is in fact built on what seems a lack in our societies that is the vaporization and loss of social capital. In front of the modern individualism, the social system moves people to search other functions able to balance it: communication is certainly one of the functions. It doesn't help only individuals to get through the crisis, but it also promotes the increase of relations in the social system. The communication covers up the decline of traditional institutions (school, family, and religion) configuring a chance. Digital media, more than any other medium, becomes an expression of new social and cultural conditions.


The experiments of laser cladding nanometer-size WC powder on 2Cr13 stainless steel have been done using 7kW CO2 laser processing system. The microstructure and mechanical characteristic of the WC composite coating were tested by scanning electronic microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersion analyzer of X-ray (EDAX) and microhardness tester. The WC composite coating exhibits compact dendritic and reticular interdendritic structure. The XRD data have revealed the phases of coating include Fe, WC, W2C and Fe3C. The nano-WC composite coating has excellent mechanic performances. The surface hardness of composite coating is about 1758HV0.2. Its abrasion proof is 3.5 times as high as that of parent metal.


Big data is revolutionizing how all sectors of our economy do business, including telecommunication, transportation, medical, and finance. Big data comes in two flavors: data at rest and data in motion. Processing data in motion is stream processing. Stream processing for big data analytics often requires scale that can only be delivered by a distributed system, exploiting parallelism on many hosts and many cores. One such distributed stream processing system is IBM Streams. Early customer experience with IBM Streams uncovered that another core requirement is extensibility, since customers want to build high-performance domain-specific operators for use in their streaming applications. Based on these two core requirements of distribution and extensibility, we designed and implemented the Streams Processing Language (SPL). This article describes SPL with an emphasis on the language design, distributed runtime, and extensibility mechanism. SPL is now the gateway for the IBM Streams platform, used by our customers for stream processing in a broad range of application domains.


The specific symptoms that have been felt to characterize schizophrenia have varied widely over time and across cultures, as has the diagnostic and prognostic importance placed on these symptoms. In this report, the historical concepts of what constitutes the "characteristic symptoms" of schizophrenia are reviewed in the context of the development of DSM-IV. Through the existing literatures as well as through previously unpublished data sets, the dimensions of reliability, specificity, validity, and descriptive value of the various signs and symptoms used to classify schizophrenia are explored. In addition, the structure of the DSM-III-R definition of schizophrenia with that of the proposed revisions of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) are contrasted, demonstrating several potentially meaningful differences. It is concluded that a comprehensive description of the signs and symptoms of schizophrenia should place a strong emphasis on both positive and negative symptoms. Principles and approaches to guide the development of DSM-IV are suggested.


Since 1992, surveillance for acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) cases was introduced in Malaysia along with the establishment of the National Poliovirus Laboratory at the Institute for Medical Research. In 2008, the Ministry of Health, Malaysia, approved a vaccine policy change from oral polio vaccine to inactivated polio vaccine (IPV). Eight states started using IPV in the Expanded Immunization Programme, followed by the remaining states in January 2010. The objective of this study was to determine the viral aetiology of AFP cases below 15 years of age, before and after vaccine policy change from oral polio vaccine to inactivated polio vaccine. One hundred and seventy-nine enteroviruses were isolated from the 3394 stool specimens investigated between 1992 and December 2012. Fifty-six out of 107 virus isolates were polioviruses and the remaining were non-polio enteroviruses. Since 2009 after the sequential introduction of IPV in the childhood immunization programme, no Sabin polioviruses were isolated from AFP cases. In 2012, the laboratory AFP surveillance was supplemented with environmental surveillance with sewage sampling. Thirteen Sabin polioviruses were also isolated from sewage in the same year, but no vaccine-derived poliovirus was detected during this period.


Dystroglycanopathies are a clinically and genetically diverse group of recessively inherited conditions ranging from the most severe of the congenital muscular dystrophies, Walker–Warburg syndrome, to mild forms of adult-onset limb-girdle muscular dystrophy. Their hallmark is a reduction in the functional glycosylation of α-dystroglycan, which can be detected in muscle biopsies. An important part of this glycosylation is a unique O-mannosylation, essential for the interaction of α-dystroglycan with extracellular matrix proteins such as laminin-α2. Mutations in eight genes coding for proteins in the glycosylation pathway are responsible for ∼50% of dystroglycanopathy cases. Despite multiple efforts using traditional positional cloning, the causative genes for unsolved dystroglycanopathy cases have escaped discovery for several years. In a recent collaborative study, we discovered that loss-of-function recessive mutations in a novel gene, called isoprenoid synthase domain containing (ISPD), are a relatively common cause of Walker–Warburg syndrome. In this article, we report the involvement of the ISPD gene in milder dystroglycanopathy phenotypes ranging from congenital muscular dystrophy to limb-girdle muscular dystrophy and identified allelic ISPD variants in nine cases belonging to seven families. In two ambulant cases, there was evidence of structural brain involvement, whereas in seven, the clinical manifestation was restricted to a dystrophic skeletal muscle phenotype. Although the function of ISPD in mammals is not yet known, mutations in this gene clearly lead to a reduction in the functional glycosylation of α-dystroglycan, which not only causes the severe Walker–Warburg syndrome but is also a common cause of the milder forms of dystroglycanopathy.


This critical volume, provides an in-depth analysis of second language reading's multiple dimensions.The paperback edition describes the complexity of reading and explains how reading differs in a first and second language. The book is broad in scope, covering all major aspects of the reading process and synthesizing all current reading research. The author provides a cross-linguistic orientation, explaining how first and second languages can mutually facilitate one another. This important volume offers strategies for enhancing literary acquisition, second-language learning and bilingual processing, and will serve as a valuable guide for graduate students, professors, researchers and foreign language teachers.


Cleveland - Adolescent tanning behavior has not received sufficient attention by researchers and should be considered with other risk behaviors such as substance abuse and sexual activity, according to Catherine Demko, Ph.D., a research associate at the Comprehensive Cancer Center of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. Dr. Demko and colleagues looked more closely at this modifiable cancer-causing behavior by studying a nationally representative sample of 6,903 non-Hispanic white adolescents, aged 13 to 19 years. The teens had responded between April 1, 1996 and Aug. 31, 1996 to a survey about adolescent behaviors for the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.


This paper presents an efficient and robust technique for generating global motion paths for a human model in virtual environments. Initially, a scene is discretized using raster hardware to generate an environment map. An obstacle-free cell path sub-optimal according to Manhattan metric is generated between any two cells. Unlike 2D techniques present in literature, the proposed algorithm works for complex 3D environments suitable for video games and architectural walk-throughs. For obstacle avoidance, the algorithm considers both physical dimensions of the human and actions such as jumping, bending, etc. Path smoothening is carried out to keep the cell path as closely as possible to Euclidean straight-line paths.  2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.


The exponential increase of the data traffic in the next years and the limitations of the wireless spectrum shared by multiusers have challenged the design of the coming 5G radio access technology. In the last decade, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems have become one of the key technologies offering a higher spectral efficiency. Nevertheless, the advantages provided by MIMO systems come to the detriment of an increase in the cost to deploy multiple antennas and also in the receiver complexity. Thus, a pre-equalization stage called precoding is applied at the transmitter in order to improve the coverage and range of the network in fading environments. This thesis investigates performance aspects of such MIMO channel matrix precoding techniques. On the one hand, a digital communication system testbed based on USRP radio hardware is implemented by means of the software defined radio (SDR) LabVIEW. On the other hand, the effective potential of precoding techniques in boosting the network throughput is addressed in a real world scenario testbed. Our results reveal that the spatial diversity provided by multiple antennas is exploited by precoding and thus achieving higher channel capacity.


Effective image-fusion methods inject the necessary geometric information and preserve the radiometric information. To preserve the radiometric information, the injected high frequency of a panchromatic (pan) image must follow the frequency of the multispectral (MS) image. In this letter, an improved additive-wavelet (AW) fusion method is presented using the à trous algorithm. The proposed method does not decompose the MS image; thus, it preserves the radiometric information of the MS image and can inject high frequency following the frequency of the MS image using a low-resolution pan image. Experimental results obtained using IKONOS data indicate that the proposed method produces superior-quality images compared with the AW luminance proportional method in a quantitative analysis.


In fall 2017, the RESOLVE Network launched a major project to analyze religiosity on university campuses in the Lake Chad Basin. The project was related but not limited to the context of the Boko Haram insurgency. The project generated four major studies, including one research report based on a desk literature review and three country case studies (Nigeria, Cameroon, and Chad) based on original fieldwork. The project was driven by policymakers' and researchers' desire to more fully understand political and religious change in this conflict-affected region. This RESOLVE research project sought not merely to investigate questions of radicalization but also to challenge stereotypes, particularly the idea that campuses are inevitably hotbeds of religious extremism. It has been credibly asserted that some of Boko Haram's recruits, particularly in its early phases in the 2000s, were university students. Yet universities in the region have also been sites where key peacemaking initiatives are both studied and implemented.


INTRODUCTION
We report the results of a laboratory evaluation of the BioRad Urinary Metanephrines Reagent Kit. The test was designed for the quantitative measurement of normetanephrine and metanephrine in urine by high performance liquid chromatography. The kit was evaluated in view of improving assay reliability and specificity as compared to the manual method based on cation exchange chromatography and spectrophotometry.

METHODS
Performance was evaluated for precision, linearity, accuracy, sensitivity and detection limit based on National Committee on Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) protocols. Analytical precision was evaluated using commercial controls and patient sample. Accuracy was evaluated by assessing recovery. Linearity was determined using aqueous standards.

RESULTS
The within-run coefficient of variation (CV) for metanephrine and normetanephrine were 1.9 percent and 2.4 percent (low control); 4.2 percent and 3.5 percent (high control); 3.8 percent and 3.3 percent (patient sample), respectively. The between-day precisions were 3.8 percent and 4.3 percent (low control); and 5.5 percent and 3.7 percent (high control) for metanephrine and normetanephrine, respectively. The linearity curve showed metanephrine and normetanephrine to be linear with concentrations, to at least 1,600 microgramme per litre and 2,000 microgramme per litre, respectively. Analytical recovery averaged 102 percent for metanephrine and 95 percent for normetanephrine. Levels as low as 23 microgramme per litre normetanephrine and 10 microgramme per litre metanephrine were measured with this method. The detection limit was 3.3 microgramme per litre for metanephrine.

CONCLUSION
The performance characteristics of automated sample preparation and auto-injection facilitate handling of larger number of samples as well as improve assay reliability.


When neurologists get together the conversation often drifts to unusual cases. But individual cases are seldom written up any longer, although there are reasons to do so. One, says Monk,1 is to report the "curiosities which we will never encounter in our every day practice, but which are so remarkable that they make a delightful interlude in our heavier reading." Such is the case of the farmer with neuropathic pain and his therapeutic use of a cow fence.

In 1978 a neurosurgical colleague asked if I would see a man who had longstanding chronic pain in his leg. He thought the man would interest me as at the time I was carrying out a project on phantom pain, studying whether the pain and the phantom after amputation would change with varying forms of electrical stimulation. He explained that the man didn't have an amputation but he did use an interesting form of electrical therapy for leg pain.

The man was a very pleasant 69-year-old farmer who had been wounded in his right lower leg and ankle by a mortar shell when serving as a Canadian infantryman in Italy in 1944. He lost a lot of blood from his open wounds and was transported on an open flatbed truck 45 miles behind the lines to a field hospital where the wounds were closed and the leg put in a …


When adopting the air-liquid and air-liquid-mechanical composite transmission technology, the comparative advantages of various transmission techniques can be played, while their shortcomings can be avoided. The efficient fixture and press with double-station based on these composite transmission technology are introduced, and their working principles and mechanical formulas are given out. The innovative design of the fixture and press with double station can achieve the two station order-processing operations when only using one drive cylinder, which have high efficiency, the large output force, and will not pollute the environment.


Books by Scott Wolford and Roger Ransom show how economic theories of games and decisions can be fruitfully applied to problems in World War I. This vital application offers fundamental insights into the analytical methods of game theory. Public random variables may be essential factors in war-of-attrition games. An assumption that nations can coordinate on Pareto-superior equilibria may become less tenable when nations are at war. Interpreting a surprising mistake as evidence of an unlikely type can have serious consequences. The ability of leaders to foster consistent beliefs within a cohesive society can create inconsistency of beliefs between nations at war. (JEL C70, D74, D83, F51, N40)


Background—The effect of epicardial artery stenosis on myocardial microvascular resistance remains controversial. Recruitable collateral flow, which may affect resistance, was not incorporated into previous measurements. Methods and Results—In an open-chest pig model, distal coronary pressure was measured with a pressure wire, and the apparent minimal microvascular resistance was calculated during peak hyperemia as pressure divided by flow, measured either with a flow probe around the coronary artery (Rmicro app) or with a novel thermodilution technique (apparent index of microcirculatory resistance [IMRapp]). These apparent resistances were compared with the actual Rmicro and IMR after the coronary wedge pressure and collateral flow were incorporated into the calculation. Measurements were made at baseline (no stenosis) and after creation of moderate and severe epicardial artery stenoses. In 6 pigs, 189 measurements of Rmicro and IMR were made under the various epicardial artery conditions. Without consideration of collateral flow, Rmicro app (0.43±0.12 to 0.46±0.10 to 0.51±0.11 mm Hg/mL per minute) and IMRapp (14±4 to 17±7 to 20±10 U) increased progressively and significantly with increasing epicardial artery stenosis (P <0.001 for both). With the incorporation of collateral flow, neither Rmicro nor IMR increased as a result of increasing epicardial artery stenosis. Conclusions—After collateral flow is taken into account, the minimum achievable microvascular resistance is not affected by increasing epicardial artery stenosis.


In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the transcription factor Aft1p plays a central role in regulating many genes involved in iron acquisition and utilization. An aft1Delta mutant exhibits severely retarded growth under iron starvation. To identify the functional counterpart of AFT1 in Candida albicans, we transformed a C. albicans genomic DNA library into aft1Delta to isolate genes that could allow the mutant to grow under iron-limiting conditions. In the present paper, we describe the unexpected discovery in this screen of CaMNN5. CaMnn5p is an alpha-1,2-mannosyltransferease, but its growth-promoting function in iron-limiting conditions does not require this enzymatic activity. Its function is also independent of the high-affinity iron transport systems that are mediated by Ftr1p and Fth1p. We obtained evidence suggesting that CaMnn5p may function along the endocytic pathway, because it cannot promote the growth of end4Delta and vps4Delta mutants, where the endocytic pathway is blocked at an early and late step respectively. Neither can it promote the growth of a fth1Delta smf3Delta mutant, where the vacuole-cytosol iron transport is blocked. Expression of CaMNN5 in S. cerevisiae specifically enhances an endocytosis-dependent mechanism of iron uptake without increasing the uptake of Lucifer Yellow, a marker for fluid-phase endocytosis. CaMnn5p contains three putative Lys-Glu-Xaa-Xaa-Glu iron-binding sites and co-immunoprecipitates with 55Fe. We propose that CaMnn5p promotes iron uptake and usage along the endocytosis pathway under iron-limiting conditions, a novel function that might have evolved in C. albicans.


Abstract The slowly pulsating B3V star 16 Pegasi was discovered by Hubrig et al. (2006) to be magnetic, based on low-resolution spectropolarimetric observations with FORS1 at the VLT. We have confirmed the presence of a magnetic field with new measurements with the spectropolarimeters Narval at TBL, France and Espadons at CFHT, Hawaii during 2007. The most likely period is about 1.44 d for the modulation of the field, but this could not be firmly established with the available data set. No variability has been found in the UV stellar wind lines. Although the star was reported once to show Hα in emission, there exists at present no confirmation that the star is a Be star.


I've been concerned about my weight all through college. I have what you would call a subclinical eating disorder that never goes so far as anorexia or bulimia. My question is: I have been using diet suppressants (Phenylpropanolamine HCL 75mg) bought over the counter for months. Sometimes I don't take them for a week, but usually I take one dose a few times a week. I know it's not recommended to take them longer than three months. Exactly what are the side effects of this drug? Am I endangering my health by taking them? Sometimes they don't even work.


This paper deal with an analysis of impact of climate conditions on field reliability of vehicles. Two case studies are presented. One case study deals with four heavy vehicles used in a steel mill in Guangzhou, China; and the other deals with 22 buses operated in Changsha, China. The field reliability is measured by monthly average MTBF; the climate conditions are described by monthly average temperature, monthly average relative humidity, and monthly average rainfall. The influence of these variables on the reliability of the vehicles is quantitatively analyzed. It is concluded that the climate conditions have a significant influence on the reliability of the vehicles and the influence can be different in different sites. The analysis is useful for the operational and maintenance management of the vehicles.


Documentary and docudrama practices have expanded with increasingly convergent media. Cinema, television, and the web conspire to create new vehicles of information and entertainment. Footage is manipulated, reenacted, and narratively altered for viewers who must negotiate flexible and porous parameters of fact and fiction. Bill Nichols began a conversation about documentary's "blurred boundaries" that has continued and intensified with scholars such as John Corner, Steven Lipkin, Alan Rosenthal, Vivian Sobchack, Derek Paget, and Jonathan Kahana. Documentary and docudrama techniques must be more closely scrutinized and categorized, with particular focus on the importance of reenactment and reflexivity. A phenomenon that illustrates explicit interaction between documentary footage and fictional affect has remained undefined. My project proposes a new term, "documentary adaptation," to explain the use of documentary films or television programs as source material for a fictional retelling. Films such as Rescue Dawn (2006), Grey Gardens (2009), Devil's Knot (2013), or Loving (2016) have an uncanny and indeed literary relationship to previous documentary films conveying the same story. My research reads, theorizes, and contextualizes these adaptations. I note industrial and audience demand for narrative that engages with familiar facts. These unique dramas are sites of affective engagement with history as well as contemporary journalism. The project employs cinema and media studies terms and techniques to analyze documentary adaptation, to interpret a distinct merger of cinema and television aesthetics. This dissertation revises the dilemmas of documentary and reveals an invention to confront a new era of flexible media.


Increased aggressive activity between ♂ and ♀ in isolated pairs of Etroplus maculatus. has hitherto been explained either by the drive hypothesis or by the external stimulus hypothesis. In an attempt to investigate these two hypotheses the partners of 48 pairs were separated and their aggressiveness towards their mirrored images and their non-aggressive activities were recorded the following day and again 4 days later after 180 brief presentations of an adjacent compartment. For both sexes aggressiveness was lowered if this compartement was empty (isolation) and heightened if it held the original mate. ♂y also reacted more aggressively on seeing conspecific strangers of both sexes. There was no significant alteration of non-aggressive activities in any of the series. The increase of aggressiveness caused by the presence of the mate was normally offset by various investigated mechanisms preventing its eruption against the partner. Attacks only occurred if the equilibrium between aggressiveness and inhibition was disturbed. All results and those of other authors are discussed; it is concluded that the behaviour of E. maculatus. can be better explained in terms of external stimulation than in terms of an endogenous production of aggressive drive energy.


In order to properly accomplish the reservoir characterization process is necessary integrating all available information about the field in a consistent model. It is not an easy task to perform this integration in practice, for which is necessary to use some specific methods such as seismic inversion. By means of seismic inversion is possible to integrate efficiently both well-log and seismic data, obtaining a model that could be used in a forecasting process. The seismic inversion can be achieved by several methods, which can be divided in two main groups: the deterministic ones and the stochastic methods. In this work we show how stochastic inversion can improve the reservoir characterization process, by comparing its results with those obtained by deterministic inversion. As a matter of fact, the stochastic inversion can use a high sample rate that is close to the cell size of reservoir models, implying that a more reliable model is generated. As additional benefits the stochastic method can generate some basic statistics measurements that improve interpretations and also, due the great number of realizations generated during the process, it is possible to perform an uncertainty study on the reservoir model.


Reverse shoulder prostheses are increasingly used in recent years for treatment of glenohumeral arthropathy with deficient rotator cuff such as: rotator cuff arthropathy, rheumatoid arthritis, proximal humeral fractures sequela, irreparable rotator cuff tears, and failed shoulder replacement. Good mid-term and long-term results with restoration of active elevation have been reported. However, early studies showed relatively high rates of complications (24–50%) and many of them require further surgery. Most of the current designs of rTSA are with a humeral diaphyseal stem. A significant part of the reported intra-operative and postoperative complications, as well as difficulties arising during revision surgery, are related to the diaphyseal humeral component. Therefore, preservation of bone stock has become a major goal. Metaphyseal cementless implants without a diaphyseal stem have been developed to preserve bone and resect only minimal amount of bone. In 2005 the first stemless reverse TSAs were introduced for clinical use in Europe, with the Verso shoulder [Innovative Design Orthopaedics, London, UK (formerly Biomet, UK)] in UK and the TESS reverse shoulder (Biomet, France) in France. This review examines the European experience with stemless metaphyseal reverse TSAs, the history, the design rationale, the indications and the clinical and radiological outcome. The European experience with stemless metaphyseal reverse TSAs now spans over 13 years, with results that are at least equal with the stemmed implants. Specific design biomechanical considerations will be discussed.


While there is increasing interest in designing for the developing world, one major challenge lies in understanding when to apply different design methods in unfamiliar contexts. This paper uses HCD Connect, an online design case study repository, to compare what types of methods people frequently apply to developing world problems. Specifically, it covers how the following factors correlate to method usage: application area (e.g., farming versus healthcare), affiliation of the person using the method (IDEO designer versus not), and stages of the user research process. We find that designers systematically use certain types of methods for certain types of problems, and that certain methods complement each other in practice. When compared with non-IDEO users, professional designers at IDEO use fewer methods per case and focus on earlier stages of the process that involve data gathering. Our results recommend certain kinds of user research methods for different developing world problems, as well as identifying which research methods complement each other. It also highlights that professionals designing for developing world contexts commit more time to earlier stage data-gathering efforts, rather than in concept generation or delivery, to better understand differences in needs and design contexts.Copyright © 2014 by ASME


: Over the last five years, various innovations have come forth, giving way to the use of information technology-based services. This has contributed to the grand development of various start-ups in various fields, including financial innovation. The current pandemic has harsher emphasised the need to develop various online financial products and services globally. However, the transition of the humanity's development to an advanced technological level also requires a specific training level. This, by large, depends on the uneven level of the countries' development, the readiness degree of the society and their absorption capacity. This article aims to assess the factors that might halt or trigger the development of these innovations in the Southeast European countries, to determine the readiness degree to apply financial innovations, and to estimate the risks of using them. Research methods used : comparative analysis


In recent years several attempts were made to transfer the thixoforming technology of steel parts into industrial applicable processes. This paper gives an overview about the progress of a European consortium that established a fully automated thixoforming process for the series production of automotive steel parts. Due to the multi-faceted nature of this technology, problems concerning the development of suitable steel grades and tool materials as well as the development and application of an inductive heating system, a handling unit and of a complex forming tool had to be solved. Besides the development of adapted steel grades and the inductive heating, the handling of the semi solid billets plays a special role because during the manipulation of the parts from the heating station into the tool a loss of heat is unavoidable. Furthermore, scaling of the parts must be prevented. By means of a fully automated process line existing constraints were reduced and the forming process is kept reproducible. Improved silicon nitride composites have been developed as a tool material, which show good mechanical properties in combination with an acceptable chemical stability at the occurring process temperatures as well as in contact with semi solid steel. Basing on the practical experience a comparison of the thixoforming technology to existing processes and an outlook for the future are given.


Abstract: Also known as the Himalayan Poppy, Meconopsis is a genus of herbaceous plants growing only in the high elevation habits of the Himalaya and its adjacent plateau and mountain areas. The genus exhibits high morphological and ecological diversity, but the major causes of divergence in Meconopsis have not previously been studied. Our recent revised taxonomic classification, based on a molecular phylogeny, divided the genus into four monophyletic sections. Because chromosome number varies among these sections and our previous phylogenetic analyses revealed extensive incongruence between the recovered nrITS and cpDNA trees, possibly due to ancient hybridization, this study focused on evaluating the potential role of ancient polyploidization and hybridization in Meconopsis' evolutionary history. Our investigation based on the results of reconstructed ancestral chromosome numbers using a Maximum Likelihood method implemented in chromEvol showed that two extant Meconopsis sections (sect. Grandes and sect. Primulinae) shared a triploid ancestor. We further examined the pattern of hybridization in Meconopsis by reconstructing a nuclear marker GAPDH (glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene) network. The result, along with morphological, phylogenetic, and cytological evidence, all point to a hybrid nature of the triploid ancestor. Based on the resultant GAPDH network, an ancient reticulate evolution scenario in Meconopsis is proposed. Overall, this preliminary study shows how an ancient triploid event promoted polyploid evolution in Meconopsis and also exemplifies how allotriploidization and successive polyploidization played an important role in diversification of the genus.


The Penn State Harrisburg Master of Education in Health Education applies education, public health, and behavioral theories to prepare health education specialists to work in any setting in which the aim is to promote health and wellness. The goal of the master's degree in health education is to educate professionals who help individuals, families, and their communities maximize and maintain healthy lifestyles. Health education specialists teach people about behaviors that promote health and wellness and are trained to collect and analyze data to identify community needs prior to planning, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating programs designed to encourage healthy lifestyles, policies, and environments. Health educators may serve as resource to assist individuals, other health professionals, or the community, and may administer fiscal resources for health education programs.


To ensure the identity of a website, SSL digital certificates are used together with HTTPS secured protocol; these two items provide both the server authentication to the user and an encrypted communication channel intended to prevent interception of information exchanged between the user and that website through the Web browser. The current tendency, supported by the major competitors in the market, The Chromium Projects (since December 2014) and Mozilla Foundation (since April 2015), is to impose HTTPS protocol as the default, worldwide used protocol by the Web servers. The paper analyzes the steps followed for creating / obtaining different types of digital certificates and how to configure the Web server to use the secure protocols HTTPS and SSL/TLS so the access to a website will be done in a secure way. As a case study, a Moodle platform was installed on a XAMPP open-source package (locally hosted) and respectively on a Web domain hosted at a specialized provider of Internet services. The identity of this e-learning platform is approached from the perspective of three types of digital certificates. The first type of tested digital certificate is the self-signed one (it doesn't provide a real level of trust and is designed for personal use or in a company intranet). Next, a digital certificate issued by a Certificate Authority will be installed, ensuring the identity and validation of the Web domain. Finally, will be presented the digital certificate issued by Let's Encrypt, a Certificate Authority providing free, trusted digital certificates (in compliance with X.509 standard), automatically obtained by a process that uses the protocol ACME (Automated Certificate Management Environment).The authors present for each type of installed digital certificate, but also for the default case (the Web server is not configured to use a digital certificate), how the Web browsers display the identity of the e-learning platform and what information are available to describe its identity.


The expression of three different members of the gap junction multigene family, alpha 1 (Cx43), beta 1 (Cx32), and beta 2 (Cx26), was analysed in the rat implantation chamber (a structural unit containing fetal, extraembryonic and maternal components within the pregnant uterus) during mid- and late stages of gestation as well as in the delivering, post-partum and non-pregnant uterus. A differential, spatiotemporal and cell-type-specific regulation of gap junctional coexpression was observed for beta 1 and beta 2 in all epithelia examined (visceral, luminal and glandular), as well as for alpha 1 and beta 2 in decidual cells and keratinocytes of the fetal epidermis. alpha 1 antigen was detected in the mesometrial stroma, mesometrial myometrium, connective tissue, mesothelia of the amnion and visceral yolk sac and in the allantoic mesodermal layer throughout gestation. In addition, expression of alpha 1 in the placental basal zone and trophoblast giant cells coincided with the differentiation of these cells. beta 2 expression was observed prominently in the chorionic villi of the placental labyrinth. The presence of beta 1 and beta 2 in the visceral epithelium (visceral yolk sac = the primary route for embryonic nourishment prior to the formation of the chorioallantoic placenta) and beta 2 in the chorionic villi (placental barrier = the major fetomaternal exchange route) suggests that gap junctions have an important role in fetomaternal communication.


Purpose – to present the issue of dealing with negative word-of-mouth under the newly created conditions of social media and formulate a set of rules for dealing with negative contributions in social networks such as Facebook. Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents findings from both a quantitative survey of Czech Facebook users and expert interviews. Findings – The results of the survey that was done among internet users has proven, that Czech Facebook users are fully aware of the fact that by complaining publicly via social media they can get a company in a serious trouble and want to use it to their advantage. Expert interviews agreed on necessity of good knowledge of the community, quick response to the posts and careful consideration of deleting negative contributions. Research limitations/implications – the empirical research is focused on the Czech market that is specific in the field of internet user behaviour. Findings are primarily valid solely for the social network Facebook. Other platforms may differ in complaining behaviour of the users. Practical implications – research findings show, that social media play an important role in complaining behaviour of Czech internet users. This fact results in the necessity of the presence in social media and careful monitoring the word-of-mouth. Crucial factors of successful communication in social media are knowledge of the com munity, quick response to the posts and careful consideration of deleting negative contributions.Originality/Value – Word of mouth, nowadays the most powerful marketing tool and the strongest argument in the decision making process, is now not limited to the circle of nearest friends of family. Social media gives people a voice that is immediate and can have impact. Without an effective and fast reaction of the company, a serious harm can be suffered. The significance of social network Facebook in complaining behaviour of Czech consumers is assessed. Basic rules for dealing with negative contributions were defined.


The number of measles cases in England and Wales rose by a third last year, the latest figures show.⇓

There were 1348 confirmed cases of measles in 2008 compared with 990 in 2007, says the Health Protection Agency. The London region had the largest number of cases (662), followed by the North West (180). The South West (38) and Wales (39) had the fewest.

"The majority of these cases could have been prevented as most were in children who were not fully protected with MMR [the combined vaccine against measles, mumps, and rubella]," said Mary Ramsay, an immunisation expert at the agency.

But now that fears about the MMR vaccine, …


Combining original historical research with literary analysis, Adam Barrows takes a provocative look at the creation of world standard time in 1884 and rethinks the significance of this remarkable moment in modernism for both the processes of imperialism and for modern literature. As representatives from twenty-four nations argued over adopting the Prime Meridian, and thereby measuring time in relation to Greenwich, England, writers began experimenting with new ways of representing human temporality. Barrows finds this experimentation in works as varied as Victorian adventure novels, high modernist texts, and South Asian novels—including the work of James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, H. Rider Haggard, Bram Stoker, Rudyard Kipling, and Joseph Conrad. Demonstrating the investment of modernist writing in the problems of geopolitics and in the public discourse of time, Barrows argues that it is possible, and productive, to rethink the politics of modernism through the politics of time.


Model compression is important in federated learning (FL) with large models to reduce communication cost. Prior works have been focusing on sparsification based compression that could desparately affect the global model accuracy. In this work, we propose a new scheme for upstream communication where instead of transmitting the model update, each client learns and transmits a light-weight synthetic dataset such that using it as the training data, the model performs similarly well on the real training data. The server will recover the local model update via the synthetic data and apply standard aggregation. We then provide a new algorithm FedSynth to learn the synthetic data locally. Empirically, we find our method is comparable/better than random masking baselines in all three common federated learning benchmark datasets.


Abstract Today, the use of essential oils is increasing day by day, and it is considered as raw materials in many industries. Therefore, this study aims to identify the essential oil profile, antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of Rosa canina L. and Rosa pimpinellifolia L. reveal their potential use in the industry. Essential oils that were obtained in 2013-2014 from different parts (flower, leaf, stem, and fruit) of Rosa canina L. and Rosa pimpinellifolia L. by the hydro-distillation method were analyzed by GC/MS. The dominant components in Rosa canina L. were found as trans-geraniol in the flowers (42.08 % for 2013), linalool in the leaves (11.55 % for 2014), and stem (14.91 % for 2013) and vitispirane in the fruits (37.19 % for 2014). The dominant components in R. pimpinellifolia L. were found as heneicosane in the flowers (22.07 % for 2014), γ-elemene in the leaves (30.21 % for 2013), linalool in the stem (14.76 % for 2013) and the fruits, (E)-2-hexenal for those collected in 2013 (14.09 %). The IC50 and FRAP values of the samples ranged from 127.54 to 142.22 μg/g and 121.43 to 296.78 μmol TE/g, respectively. According to the results obtained, both R. canina L. and R. pimpinellifolia L. were found to show poor antioxidant values of DPPH and FRAP. In general, it was determined that the essential oils obtained from different plant parts of both species had a moderate antimicrobial effect against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus cereus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.


This study uses data on the U.S. film industry from 1982 to 2001 to analyze the effects on box office performance of prior relationships between film producers and distributors. In contrast to prior studies, which have appeared to find performance benefits to both buyers and sellers when exchange occurs embedded within existing social relations, we propose that the apparent mutual advantages of embedded exchange can also emerge from endogenous behavior that benefits one party at the expense of the other: actors offer better terms of trade and allocate more resources to transactions embedded within existing social relations, thereby contributing to the ostensible advantages of such exchange patterns. Findings show that not only do distributors exhibit a preference for carrying films involving key personnel with whom they had prior exchange relations, but also they tend to favor these films when allocating scarce resources (opening dates and promotion effort). After controlling for the effects of these decisions, films with deeper prior relations to the distributor perform worse at the box office. The results suggest that, rather than benefiting from repeated exchange, distributors overallocate scarce resources to these prior exchange partners, enacting a self-confirming dynamic.


abstract The existence of impulsive S to S -wave ( S z S ) reflections off an extensive sillshaped magma body on many local microearthquake seismograms near Socorro, New Mexico, allowed a straight-forward least-squares inversion to determine an S -wave velocity crustal model. The data consisted of 163 microearthquakes recorded by a small aperture array during 316 recording days from May 1975 to January 1977. Two least-squares inversion models were attempted. M1 was used to calculate the overall average S -wave velocity for approximately 19 km of the crust and depths to 36 separate, horizontal rectangular surfaces representing the upper surface of the magma body. Due to lack of resolution in the data, the next model was simplified. M2 had as its initial unknown parameters an average S -wave velocity and depth to the reflector. M2 was then used to calculate the velocity of a lower 9.2-km-thick crustal layer starting just above the magma body. The data was then separated into different groups to search for local heterogeneities and anisotropy in the lower half of the upper crust. The best average S -wave velocity for the Rio Grande rift near Socorro was found to be 3.41 ± 0.03 km/sec. Depth to a horizontal magma body, based on a velocity of 3.41 km/sec was 19.2 ± 0.6 km. The data do allow a maximum northward dip of 2°, which places the magma body parallel to the Moho. The lower 9.2 km of the crust above the magma body appears to have a 3 per cent higher velocity than the upper layer and on the average, there are no differences between east-west and north-south S -wave velocities. One segment of the crust west of Socorro appears to have an anomalously low velocity.


Maintaining local interactions in the quantum simulation of gauge field theories relegates most states in the Hilbert space to be unphysical -- theoretically benign, but experimentally difficult to avoid. Reformulations of the gauge fields can modify the ratio of physical to gauge-variant states often through classically preprocessing the Hilbert space and modifying the representation of the field on qubit degrees of freedom. This paper considers the implications of representing SU(3) Yang-Mills gauge theory on a lattice of irreducible representations in both a global basis of projected global quantum numbers and a local basis in which controlled-plaquette operators support efficient time evolution. Classically integrating over the internal gauge space at each vertex (e.g., color isospin and color hypercharge) significantly reduces both the qubit requirements and the dimensionality of the unphysical Hilbert space. Initiating tuning procedures that may inform future calculations at scale, the time evolution of one- and two-plaquettes are implemented on one of IBM's superconducting quantum devices, and early benchmark quantities are identified. The potential advantages of qudit environments, with either constrained 2D hexagonal or 1D nearest-neighbor internal state connectivity, are discussed for future large-scale calculations.


Investigating incentives, through valuation context and questions, that motivate respondents to reveal their true values for environmental good under consideration has been a long-standing area of research in stated preference literature. A large number of previous non-market valuation studies have focused on various dimensions of valuation questions and context and have investigated how these dimensions affect the incentives to answer truthfully. An important, but relatively less-explored, area is the inclusion of a provision rule, by which environmental good under investigation will be provided, and how this affects participants' incentives to tell the true values. Provision rules, that are made explicit to survey respondents, provide a connection between survey choices and actual outcomes. Advancements in Mechanism Design Theory have recently attracted researchers' attention on examining alternative provision rules using discrete choice experiments (DCE) and comparing preferences and tradeoffs across provision rules. Only very few studies,mostly in laboratory experiments, have attempted to examine the influence of the inclusion of a provision rule in elicited preferences and tradeoffs. Employing a split-sample approach, this study compares a single decision-maker's choice and a plurality vote provision rules in in-person choice experiments using real cash for actual implementation of ecosystem restoration project on the ground. A very preliminary conditional logit model results suggest that both rules produce statistically similar preference functions in terms of marginal values and tradeoffs between restoration attributes. Further analysis is yet to be conducted to ensure these preliminary results hold consistently using a Latent Class Model to incorporate preference heterogeneity for ecosystem restoration.


ABSTRACT The cross-reactivity of PorA-specific antibodies induced by a monovalent P1.7-2,4 (MonoMen) and/or a hexavalent (HexaMen) meningococcal B outer membrane vesicle vaccine (OMV) in toddlers and school children was studied by serum bactericidal assays (SBA). First, isogenic vaccine strains and PorA-identical patient isolates were compared as a target in SBA, to ensure that the vaccine strains are representative for patient isolates. Geometric mean titers (GMTs) in SBA against patient isolates with subtypes P1.5-2,10 and P1.5-1,2-2 after vaccination with HexaMen were generally lower than those against vaccine strains with the same subtype, although the percentage of vaccine responders (≥4-fold increase in SBA after vaccination) was not affected. Using various P1.7-2,4 patient isolates, GMTs as well as the number of vaccine responders were higher than for the P1.7-2,4 vaccine strain, indicating that the use of the P1.7-2,4 vaccine strain may have underestimated the immunogenicity of this subtype in HexaMen. Secondly, the cross-reactivity of antibodies induced by MonoMen and HexaMen was studied using several patient isolates that differed from the vaccine subtypes by having minor antigenic variants of one variable region (VR), by having a completely different VR or by having a different combination of VRs. MonoMen induced P1.4-specific antibodies that were cross-reactive with P1.4 variants P1.4-1 and P1.4-3. HexaMen induced a broader cross-reactive antibody response against various patient isolates with one VR identical to a vaccine subtype or a combination of VRs included in HexaMen. Cross-reactivity, measured by a fourfold increase in SBA after vaccination, against these strains ranged from 23 to 92% depending on the subtype of the tested strain and was directed against both VR1 and VR2. The extended cross-reactivity of vaccinee sera induced by HexaMen against antigenic variants has important favorable implications for meningococcal B OMV vaccine coverage.


The Schiff bases namely MIMFMA, MIMTMA and MIPMA have been prepared by reacting 3-amino-5-methyl isoxazole with 5-methyl furan-2-carboxyaldehyde, 5-methyl thiphene-2-carboxaldehyde and pyridine-2-carboxaldehyde. The Cu(II), Ni(II), Co(II), Zn(II) and VO(IV) have been prepared by reacting metal chlorides with those Schiff bases in an alchololic medium. The complexes are electrolytes in DMSO. These have been characterized by using elemental analysis, IR, UV-VIS, 1 H, 13 C, mass spectra, magnetic susceptibility, conductance measurements and thermo gravimetric studies. The complexes were found to have composition ML2. On basis of elemental and spectral studies, six coordinated geometry is assigned for these complexes. The Schiff bases act as neutral and bidentate and coordinate through the azomethine nitrogen and furfural oxygen, thiophene sulphur and pyridine nitrogen, respectively. The synthesized ligands and their metal complexes were screened against bacteria and fungi. The activity data show that the metal complexes are more potent than the parent Schiff bases. Keywords ; Schiff bases; Transition metal complexes; Spectral studies; Antimicrobial studies. © 2010 JSR Publications. ISSN: 2070-0237 (Print); 2070-0245 (Online). All rights reserved. DOI: 10.3329/jsr.v2i1.2732 J. Sci. Res. 2 (1), 114-126 (2010)


Agricultural yield and commodity prices are very sensitive to weather patterns such as drought, excessive rain, or frost. Consequently, unseasonable weather can cause major losses for players in the agricultural value chain, including input providers, farmers, commodity traders, and food processors. In this paper information recorded by PriceWaterhouseCoopers on behalf of the Weather Risk Management Association is complemented by Swiss Re's market intelligence to examine demand patterns for weather risk transfer solutions. There is a particular focus on the evolution of demand from the energy sector compared to the agricultural sector as a means of identifying the critical success factors needed for a prospering market. Our findings show that recent growth in the weather risk transfer market is mainly related to speculative trading in the energy sector. Stakeholders in the agricultural sector around the world are growing increasingly interested in weather risk transfer products. However, the lack of exchange-based instruments in this field, the relatively high basis risk between weather indexes and agricultural markets are still highly regulated, and inadequate information and training are all impeding the growth of this business.


This article presents our observations and experiences with the Griggs method of percutaneous dilation tracheostomy (PTD). We performed 200 tracheostomies on neurosurgical and surgical patients who needed temporary ventilatory support and protection. Early complications were defined and registered. Frequency of early complications was 22,5 %. The majority of complications were minor and improved quickly. Therefore, PTD was shown to be a safe and appropriate technique for patients treated in the intensive care unit (ICU). Unfortunately, lack of standardization and defined criteria deprive the opportunity for good comparisons between the Griggs method and other PTD methods. MLADEN ŠIRANOVIĆ ( ) • SAŠA GOPČEVIĆ • MIJO KELEČIĆ •


Metal-organic cages have served as masks to effect the regioselective functionalization of C60. The enantioselective functionalization of C60 remains challenging, however, requiring complex chiral tethers or challenging chromatography. We report a means of defining up to six stereocentres on C60, achieving both enantioselective and regioselective fullerene functionalisation. This method involves stereochemical information transfer from a chiral formylpyridine, through the framework of an enantiopure cage incorporating it, to a series of regio- and stereochemically defined C60 adducts. The surrounding cage is then opened with retention of fullerene stereochemistry. The chiral formylpyridine thus ultimately dictates the stereochemistry of these chiral fullerene adducts without being incorporated into them. The cage acts both as the substrate and "blueprint" for the chiral information imprinted into the fullerene adducts, which form stereoselectively with a distance of up to 6 carbon atoms between stereocentres. Such chiral fullerene adducts may become useful in devices requiring circularly-polarized light manipulation.


We apply Clifford algebra to investigate 2D electron spin reflection off and transmission through a stepped discontinuity of physical parameters in semiconducting quantum well. The discontinuity may be due to change of spin-orbit interaction constants, effective masses, or electrostatic potential. In the paper the posed problem has been solved exactly. It is shown that the reflected electronic beam has identical spin polarization as the incident one. However, the transmitted beam suffers spin flipping and in general case consists of a mixture of up and down spin states. Optimal conditions for total reversion of 2D electron spin polarization are found. Special attention is paid to correct boundary conditions in the presence of spin-orbit interaction. A simple formula that connects spin polarization of the transmitted beam and SO interaction constants is presented.

Keywords: Clifford algebra, geometric algebra, semiconductors, spintronics, spin polarization, spin flipping, quantum well


BACKGROUND
Hemorrhage is a leading cause of death from trauma. An advanced hemostatic dressing could augment available hemostatic methods. We studied the effects of a new chitosan dressing on blood loss, survival, and fluid use after severe hepatic injury in swine.

METHODS
Swine received chitosan dressings or gauze sponges. Standardized, severe liver injuries were induced. After 30 seconds, dressings were applied and resuscitation initiated. Blood loss, hemostasis, resuscitation volume, and 60-minute survival were quantified.

RESULTS
Posttreatment blood loss was reduced ( p< 0.01) in the chitosan group (264 mL; 95% confidence interval [CI], 82-852 mL) compared with the gauze group (2,879 mL; 95% CI, 788-10,513 mL). Fluid use was reduced ( p= 0.03) in the chitosan group (1,793 mL; 95% CI, 749-4,291) compared with the gauze group (6,614 mL; 95% CI, 2,519-17,363 mL). Survival was seven of eight and two of even in the chitosan and gauze groups ( p= 0.04), respectively. Hemostasis was improved in the chitosan group ( p= 0.03).

CONCLUSION
A chitosan dressing reduced hemorrhage and improved survival after severe liver injury in swine. Further studies are warranted.


It is obvious that there is a great need for small business and self-employment in both developed and developing countries. This article looks at the situation in South Africa, in particular, where there is an urgency to create a good environment for potential entrepreneurship among the black communities, and suggests change, using the experiences of programmes in the UK. Two placement and training programmes are analysed for their potential in raising student awareness of small business, and it is proposed that much could be adapted to suit the situations in developing countries.


BACKGROUND
Urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) and its inhibitor (PAI-1) play essential roles in tumor invasion and metastasis. High levels of both uPA and PAI-1 are associated with poor prognosis in breast cancer patients. To confirm the prognostic value of uPA and PAI-1 in primary breast cancer, we reanalyzed individual patient data provided by members of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer-Receptor and Biomarker Group (EORTC-RBG).

METHODS
The study included 18 datasets involving 8377 breast cancer patients. During follow-up (median 79 months), 35% of the patients relapsed and 27% died. Levels of uPA and PAI-1 in tumor tissue extracts were determined by different immunoassays; values were ranked within each dataset and divided by the number of patients in that dataset to produce fractional ranks that could be compared directly across datasets. Associations of ranks of uPA and PAI-1 levels with relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed by Cox multivariable regression analysis stratified by dataset, including the following traditional prognostic variables: age, menopausal status, lymph node status, tumor size, histologic grade, and steroid hormone-receptor status. All P values were two-sided.

RESULTS
Apart from lymph node status, high levels of uPA and PAI-1 were the strongest predictors of both poor RFS and poor OS in the analyses of all patients. Moreover, in both lymph node-positive and lymph node-negative patients, higher uPA and PAI-1 values were independently associated with poor RFS and poor OS. For (untreated) lymph node-negative patients in particular, uPA and PAI-1 included together showed strong prognostic ability (all P<.001).

CONCLUSIONS
This pooled analysis of the EORTC-RBG datasets confirmed the strong and independent prognostic value of uPA and PAI-1 in primary breast cancer. For patients with lymph node-negative breast cancer, uPA and PAI-1 measurements in primary tumors may be especially useful for designing individualized treatment strategies.


Abstract: In early childhood education and care there has been a tendency in recent years to narrow down the educational practice to an introduction to school with a strong emphasis on literacy and math. It is essential that early childhood education and care researchers and practitioners analyse and reflect on this tendency and consider developing an alternative approach: Critical early childhood education. On the basis of a critical theory of society, a theory of recognition (Honneth, 1995), a Bildung oriented critical-constructive Didaktik* (Klafki, 1995, 1998) and various childhood approaches (Dahlberg, Moss, & Pence, 2001, 2007), this article will present an outline of critical preschool education.* The German term Didaktik is not the equivalent of the English term didactics. The concept of Didaktik goes beyond both didactics and the term curriculum by focusing on both democratic aims and content with a liberation perspective. A theoretical discussion on this issue is elaborated in Hopmann & Riquarts (1995).


Protected areas, the most prevalent international policy mechanism for biodiversity conservation, are highly heterogeneous in their effectiveness at buffering ecosystems and species' habitats from human pressure. Protected areas with intense human pressure cannot protect species that are highly sensitive to human activities. Here, we use 60 million bird observations from the eBird citizen science platform to estimate the sensitivity to human pressure of each bird species breeding in the Americas (Nearctic and Neotropical regions). We find that high-sensitivity species, while found in all ecoregions, are concentrated in the tropical biomes. Ecoregions with large proportions of high-sensitivity species do not have more intact protected habitat, resulting in a low coverage of intact protected habitat for many high-sensitivity species. What is more, 139 high-sensitivity species have little or no intact protected habitat within their distributions while being threatened with extinction. Finally, we show that protected area intactness is decreasing faster in ecoregions with many high-sensitivity species. Our results highlight a major mismatch between species conservation needs and the coverage of intact protected habitats, and will likely hamper the long-term effectiveness of protected areas at retaining species. We highlight ecoregions where the protection and management of intact habitats, complemented by the restoration of degraded ones, is urgently needed to avoid extinctions.


Like Chinese boxes nesting inside each other, the classification of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is subdivided into smaller and smaller subtypes on the basis of histological and molecular attributes. The latter characterizes NSCLC by its molecular alterations and the identification of inhibitors that target these cancer-specific "driver" mutations. Despite the initial promise of precision-guided therapies to inhibit a finer and finer array of molecular subcategories, despite even the curative potential of immunotherapeutic checkpoint blockade, in particular, casualties still abound and true clinical success stories are few and far between; the ever-present, if sometimes unmentioned, "elephant in the room", is the acquisition of resistance, which, sooner or later, rears its ugly head to undermine treatment success and shorten survival. Emerging data suggests that epigenetic therapies are able to reprogram the aberrant tumor-associated epigenome and 'tame the beast of resistance', thereby prolonging survival. This article reviews the role of epigenetic dysregulation in NSCLC, explores PFS2 as a possible surrogate endpoint, briefly mentions possible biomarkers and highlights combinatorial treatment epigenetic strategies to "prime" tumors and reverse resistance.