It was revealed that the YGaIG single crystal grown by the FZ method shows an etch pit pattern caused by crystal defects different from that obtained by flux method. To reduce such crystal defects, various experiments as parameters of crystallizing conditions have been studied. These experimental results revealed that crystal defects of etch pit density of less thatn 102pcs.cm-2is obtained at the core region of the crystal by decreasing the crystal defects inherent to FZ method and by expanding the core region. As for microwave characteristics a narrow ΔH and a few mode change resonator has been developed.


IQA [[5-oxo-5,6-dihydro-indolo(1,2-a)quinazolin-7-yl]acetic acid] is a novel ATP/GTP site-directed inhibitor of CK2 ('casein kinase 2'), a pleiotropic and constitutively active protein kinase whose activity is abnormally high in transformed cells. The K (i) value of IQA (0.17 microM) is lower than those of other CK2 inhibitors reported so far. Tested at 10 microM concentration in the presence of 100 microM ATP, IQA almost suppresses CK2 activity in vitro, whereas it is ineffective or weakly effective on a panel of 44 protein kinases and on phosphoinositide 3-kinase. In comparison, other CK2 inhibitors, notably apigenin and quercetin, are more promiscuous. The in vivo efficacy of IQA has been assessed by using the fact that treatment of Jurkat cells with IQA inhibits endogenous CK2 in a dose-dependent manner. IQA has been co-crystallized with maize CK2alpha, which is >70% identical with its human homologue, and the structure of the complex has been determined at 1.68 A (1 A=0.1 nm) resolution. The inhibitor lies in the same plane occupied by the purine moiety of ATP with its more hydrophobic side facing the hinge region. Major contributions to the interaction are provided by hydrophobic forces and non-polar interactions involving the aromatic portion of the inhibitor and the hydrophobic residues surrounding the ATP-binding pocket, with special reference to the side chains of V53 (Val53), I66, M163 and I174. Consequently, mutants of human CK2alpha in which either V66 (the homologue of maize CK2alpha I66) or I174 is replaced by alanine are considerably less sensitive to IQA inhibition when compared with wild-type. These results provide new tools for deciphering the enigmatic role of CK2 in living cells and may pave the way for the development of drugs depending on CK2 activity.


Objective Health-related stigma is considered a social determinant of health equity and a hidden burden of disease. This study aimed to assess the level and dimensions of stigma and respective coping mechanisms in COVID-19 survivors. Methods A mixed-methods study with sequential explanatory design was conducted at the University Hospital of Ulm, Germany. Stigma was assessed using the Social Impact Scale (SIS) including adult COVID-19 survivors with mild-to-severe disease. Subsequently, 14 participants were sampled with regard to gender, age and severity of disease for in-depth interviews to understand how stigma was experienced and coping strategies were applied. The questionnaire was analysed using descriptive statistics, t-test and analysis of variance. Content analysis was used for qualitative data. Results From 61 participants, 58% were men and mean age was 51 years. The quantitative analysis of the SIS indicated an intermediate level of experienced stigma. Participants experienced stigma mainly as 'social rejection' (M=14.22, SD=4.91), followed by 'social isolation' (M=10.17, SD=4.16) and 'internalised shame' (M=8.39, SD=3.32). There was no significant difference in experienced stigma regarding gender, education, occupational status or residual symptoms. However, participants between 30 and 39 years of age experienced higher levels of stigma than other age groups (p=0.034). The qualitative analysis revealed how stigma seemed to arise from misconceptions creating irrational fear of infection, leading to stereotyping, vilification, discrimination and social exclusion of COVID-19 survivors, leaving them feeling vulnerable. Stigma cut through all social levels, from the individual level at the bottom to the institutional and societal level at the top. Social networks protected from experiencing stigma. Conclusion COVID-19-related stigma is a relevant burden in the ongoing pandemic. Providing accurate information and exposing misinformation on disease prevention and treatment seems key to end COVID-19-related stigma.


Objective: The best way for effective protection from latex allergy is to educate risk groups. We have been educating students from both medical and dentistry schools about latex allergy. It is of interest whether these lectures make any differences in their perceptions and attitudes in terms of taking strategies against latex allergy. We aimed to assess the effect of latex hypersensitivity lectures on awareness level of the students from both schools and to determine their perceptions and attitudes towards latex hypersensitivity. Materials and Methods: The study group included the 5th grade students from dentistry (n= 87) and medical schools (n= 160). Initially, both groups were given a latex hypersensitivity lectures in 5th grade. Before graduating, the students were asked to fill a questionnaire in which their awareness level and attitude against latex allergy were assessed. Results: The majority of both student groups had a partially adequate knowledge level on latex hypersensitivity. However, the rate of anxiety related to latex allergy was higher in dentistry students [78 (89.7%) vs. 109 (69%), p< 0.0001]. The main reason for anxiety was frequent exposure to latex because of profession. But, application for skin prick tests with latex was poor in both groups [medical students: 10 (6.3%) and dentistry students 1 (1.2%)]. Being in a risk category for latex allergy didn't influence the academic career selection of the groups. Conclusion: Latex allergy lectures should be modified according to the background and need of risk groups and should be improved by feedbacks in order to increase awareness and provide effective strategies targeting prevention.


Racism in the Nation's Service: Government Workers and the Color Line in Woodrow Wilson's America. By Eric S. Yellin. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2013. Pp. [xiv], 301. $39.95, ISBN 978-14696-0720-7.) The federal government's effort to segregate its offices and workplaces in Washington, D.C., during the presidency of Woodrow Wilson is a fairly well recognized chapter in American political history. What is less well known is precisely how and why segregation came to the nation's capital, and how it affected the lives of African American government employees. Eric S. Yellin explores these questions in his excellent new book on the racial transformation of the federal government's workplaces during the Progressive era, a momentous process that ushered in a racial regime that "remained a model for managerial white supremacy until the 1960s" (p. 206). Long after Reconstruction's demise, Washington remained an "unusually promising city" for blacks, particularly ambitious men (and to a much lesser extent black women) with education and skill (p. 38). Through the early twentieth century the city avoided the extreme segregation and racial violence sweeping southern states, boasted excellent black schools, and offered significant cultural opportunities for its black residents. Federal jobs open to black applicants made a real difference, offering a firm economic foundation for the city's black community. By 1907, 11 percent of the city's federal workforce--some 2,785 people--were African Americans. If most labored in lower-paid, unpleasant, and difficult jobs, hundreds worked in better-paid positions as clerks, scientists, technicians, and the like. "For all the hardship" they experienced, Yellin concludes, "Washington was the best place in the United States for African Americans seeking economic security" (p. 35). With positions secured through political patronage or civil service exams, they found in federal employment a modicum of respect and a significant degree of upward mobility. That was not to last, however. Even before Wilson's election in 1912, the William H. Taft administration's "declining enthusiasm for black patronage" reflected its "drastically narrowed view of the government's obligation to African Americans," resulting in fewer jobs (p. 66). Despite the support of a small but significant number of black voters, the new Democratic Wilson administration proved downright hostile to black aspirations. …


System identification using multiple-model strategies may involve thousands of models with several parameters. However, only a few models are close to the correct model. A key task involves finding which parameters are important for explaining candidate models. The application of feature selection to system identification is studied in this paper. A new feature selection algorithm is proposed. It is based on the wrapper approach and combines two algorithms. The search is performed using stochastic sampling and the classification uses a support vector machine strategy. This approach is found to be better than genetic algorithm-based strategies for feature selection on several benchmark data sets. Applied to system identification, the algorithm supports subsequent decision making.


Today's successful materiel managers must possess a wide range of skills. They must above all be highly adaptable to change and influence others to accept rather than resist change. The role and responsibility of the materiel manager have expanded significantly, requiring higher levels of formal education. In conjunction with this, the quality of communication, both verbal and written, becomes essential. A high degree of human, conceptual, and technical skills must be employed to accommodate the many demands encountered. Finally, the successful materiel manager who feels confident and secure will hire others who do not mirror the manager's style, but rather allow for contrast of expression and technique.


Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a heterogeneous disease that occurs in the setting of chronic liver diseases. The role of glycosyltransferase (GT) genes has recently been the focus of research associated with tumor development. However, the prognostic value of GTgenes in HCC remains unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to identify GTgenes related to HCC prognosis through bioinformatics analysis. We firstly constructed a prognostic signature based on four GTgenes using univariate and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) Cox regression analyses in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset. Next, the risk score of each patient was calculated, and HCC patients were divided into high- and low-risk groups. Kaplan–Meier analysis showed that the survival rate of high-risk patients was significantly lower than that of low-risk patients. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves assessed that risk scores calculated with a four-gene signature could predict 3- and 5-year overall survival (OS) of HCC patients, revealing the prognostic ability of this gene signature. Moreover, univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses demonstrated that the risk score was an independent prognostic factor of HCC. Finally, functional analysis revealed that immune-related pathways were enriched and the immune status was different between the two risk groups in HCC. In summary, the novel GTgene signature could be used for prognostic prediction of HCC. Thus, targeting the GTgenes may serve as an alternative treatment strategy for HCC.


A fast and efficient 3D medical image registration method based on adjusting divergence and curl of image displacement field is presented. Using the fact that an image registration problem can be formulated as an optimal control problem, corresponding optimization problem is reduced to solving several Poisson equations. These Poisson equations are solved by finite element (FEM) and multigrid methods (MG), separately. Computational examples indicate that both solution approaches produce similarly good registration quality but that the cost associated with the multigrid approach is, on the average, less than that for the FEM.


Abstract As the disease-free 5-year-survival of late stage laryngeal carcinoma patients is extremely low, indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase-1 (IDO)-induced tryptophan degradation may represent an immune escape mechanism which plays an important role in cancer spreading in advanced stage laryngeal cancers. We examined whether the late stage laryngeal cancer enhances tumor immune evasion by the expression of systemic IDO activities and chronic cellular immune activation. Twenty-two of 42 male laryngeal cancer patients were classified as late stage cancer according to American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) criteria. Their serum neopterin, tryptophan and kynurenine concentrations were compared with 30 cancer-free individuals. IDO activity was approved by correlation between serum neopterin and kynurenine/tryptophan. Late stage cancer patients preoperatively showed a significantly higher IDO activity compared to controls and early stage cancer cases. Six months after tumor removal, late stage cancer patients although having higher serum neopterin concentration compared to early stage patients or controls, they showed a significant decrease in IDO activity and tryptophan consumption. Increased systemic IDO activity may provoke the escape of tumor cells from the immune surveillance of the host. High IDO activity is due to the presence of tumor mass. Persistence of high serum neopterin levels despite tumor removal may indicate poor prognosis.


Ubiquitous Learning (U-Learning), as an emerging learning paradigm, makes it possible for learners to carry out the learning activities at any places and at anytime. With the advantages of the devices, learners can obtain a variety of supplementary materials from the Internet. In the scope of distance learning, LOR (Learning Object Repository) stands for managing and sharing of learning related materials (known as learning objects). However, some challenges may raise while performing these activities. For instance, a huge amount of learning objects may appear while learners utilize the search service provided by LOR. Learners have to spend time on collecting relevant resources for specific purposes. This situation may discourage the reusability of learning objects especially in a ubiquitous environment. In this paper, based on systematic re-examination of reuse scenarios, an adaptive mechanism, as a resource discovery and search middleware, was proposed to assist learners in obtaining possible objects under ubiquitous environment. Achievement of the proposed mechanism can produce search results adaptive to specific situations in order of similarity degree based on the mixed information. We try to filter out some irrelevant results by using the past usage history, current geographical information and input query, so as to enhance the efficiency of learning objects retrieval in a ubiquitous environment. As a pilot test, Apple iPhone was utilized to be the major client testbed.


Background: Utilisation of family planning services in Kenya remains quite low hence, the soaring population which has partly hampered achievement of the fifth Millennium Development Goal (MDG) as well as achievement of overall development goals for the entire country. Current reports indicate that male participation improves uptake of maternal healthcare and family planning services among women.Objective: To determine factors that influence male participation in family planning services in Kenya.Design: A retrospective studySetting: Nationally representative survey of Eight provinces in Kenya.Subjects: Married and single sexually active men.Results: From the adjusted logistic regression model after controlling for other factors, we found higher education AOR 1.59 (C.I: 0.767-3.299), employment AOR 1.67 (C.I: 1.127-2.496), Media as the source of information AOR 1.75 (C.I: 1.308-2.367), discussion with a health worker AOR 1.71 (C.I: 1.206 – 2.430), number of wives (one wife AOR 0.07 (C.I: 0.007-0.769), No more desire for children AOR 2.83 (C.I: 1.794-4.489) and the total number of children one has (1-4) AOR 2.55 (CI: 1.616 -4.029) as the main factors that influence male participation in family planning services.Conclusion: In Kenya, programmes intending to have men actively participate in family planning services should focus on addressing multiple factors which influence men's participation in family planning services.


We present examples of equivariant noncommutative Lorentzian spectral geometries. The equivariance with respect to a compact isometry group (or quantum group) allows to construct the algebraic data of a version of spectral triple geometry adapted to the situation of an indefinite metric. The spectrum of the equivariant Dirac operator is calculated. MSC 2000: 58B34, 46L87, 53C50


Purpose: This is a descriptive, cross-sectional study design that aims to test the hypothesis on whether Saudi consumers prefer taking brand over generic drugs and to assess the difficulties that prevent Saudi consumers from shifting to generic drugs. Generic drugs are defined as a substitute to brand drugs to treat illnesses. Methods: The targeted population was Saudi individuals 18 years and above, and 919 participants were recruited into the study. The study employed a structured questionnaire on paper as well as electronic-based questionnaire forms. Results: In terms of relative overall effectiveness of generic versus brand drugs, the results showed equal numbers of respondents who prefer brand and who prefer generic. The binomial test was carried out to evaluate the statistical significance of the results. Also, quite high percentages indicated that Saudis could not switch to generic drugs because of two main reasons—namely, Saudis directly asked their doctors for generic drugs, and they felt that doctors did not discuss generic drugs as much as they should with their patients. Conclusions: Healthcare providers and institutions should take the responsibility in providing more information about generic and brand drugs. Also, there is a need to more effectively communicate with patients in order to increase their level of awareness and clarify the differences between the given drugs.


Due to its non‐invasive mode of administration, intranasal (IN) application of drugs may be a valuable alternative to non‐invasive pain management. With characteristics that appear to be ideal for IN application, IN fentanyl may have a place in the out‐of‐hospital treatment and the paediatric population. The objective of this systematic review was to evaluate the current evidence of IN fentanyl in the treatment of acute pain. Reports of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of IN fentanyl in treatment of pain were systematically sought using the PubMed database, Embase, Google scholar, Cochrane database, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature. Reports were considered for inclusion if they were double‐blinded randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of IN fentanyl in the treatment of acute pain. Thirty‐two RCTs were identified, and 16 were included in the final analysis. No significant analgesic differences between IN fentanyl and intravenous (IV) fentanyl were demonstrated in treatment of acute and post‐operative pain. Significant analgesic effect of IN fentanyl was demonstrated in the treatment of breakthrough pain in cancer patients. In the paediatric population, results demonstrated some analgesic effect of IN fentanyl following myringotomy, no analgesic effect following voiding cystourethrography, and finally, no significant analgesic difference after long bone fractures, in burns patients, and in post‐operative pain relief when compared to IV morphine, oral morphine, or IV fentanyl, respectively. Significant analgesic effect of IN fentanyl was demonstrated in the treatment of breakthrough pain in cancer patients. However, the significant deficiencies in trials investigating acute and post‐operative pain, and the paediatric population makes firm recommendations impossible.


Aim: This study aimed to identify Salmonella enterica serovars by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based on virulence genes invasion A (invA) and Salmonella plasmid virulence C (spvC). Materials and Methods: DNA extraction of eight bacteria isolates was done using the PowerSoil® DNA Isolation Kit. The amplification of invA and spvC genes was done using conventional PCR. The positive PCR products were purified using the GeneJET Purification Kit and then sequenced using ABI 3730 XL automated genetic analyzer. The sequences obtained were compared for similarities with other Salmonella serovars deposited on the NCBI GenBank using BLASTN. Results: Four out of eight samples were amplified by primers FS139/RS141 that target invA gene with products of about 284 bp, and three out of four of the same invA positive samples were also amplified by primers FSPV-1/RSPV-2 targeting spvC with a product of about 571 bp. One sample was not amplified by primers FSPV-1/RSPV-2 as it lacked virulence plasmid. Analysis of sequences indicated 100% homology with closely related serovars of S. enterica subspecies enterica serovar Typhimurium. Conclusion: Salmonella Typhimurium that contained invA and spvC genes are pathogenic and virulent strains.


Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection affects 180 million people worldwide with the predominant prevalence being infection with genotype 1, followed by genotypes 2 and 3. Standard anti-HCV therapy currently aims to enhance natural immune responses to the virus, whereas new therapeutic concepts directly target HCV RNA and viral enzymes or influence host-virus interactions. Novel treatment options now in development are focused on inhibitors of HCV-specific enzymes, NS3 protease and NS5B polymerase. These agents acting in concert represent the concept of specifically targeted antiviral therapy for HCV (STAT-C). STAT-C is an attractive strategy in which the main goal is to increase the effectiveness of antiviral responses across all genotypes, with shorter treatment duration and better tolerability. However, the emergence of resistant mutations that limit the use of these compounds in monotherapy complicates the regimens. Thus, a predictable scenario for HCV treatment in the future will be combinations of drugs with distinct mechanisms of action. For now, it seems that interferon will remain a fundamental component of any new anti-HCV therapeutic regimens in the near future; therefore, there is pressure to develop forms of interferon that are more effective, less toxic, and more convenient than pegylated interferon.


Typical remote sensing image interpretation consists of large number of long-lived independent computation jobs such as calibration, correction, and transformation and computation. These time consuming jobs are suitable for execution in desktop grid with high performance commodity PCs for its lower cost and high management ability. In this paper, a framework of parallel remote sensing image interpretation in desktop grid is proposed. The framework consists of modules such as job partitioning and scheduling, load balancing, communication, and image processing. We also provided an implementation based on java multi threaded programming. The computation results on real application of soil moisture estimation workload show that the average speedup is 6.1 in a 9-node heterogeneous desktop grid environment and failure rate of jobs is less than 5.6%.


How do the organization and presentation of large-scale social media images recondition the process by which visual knowledge, value, and meaning are made in contemporary conditions? Analyzing fundamental elements in the changing syntax of existing visual software ontology—the ways current social media platforms and aggregators organize and categorize social media images—this article relates how visual materials created within social media platforms manifest distinct modes of knowledge production and acquisition. First, I analyze the structure of social media images within data streams as opposed to previous information organization in a structured database. While the database has no pre-defined notions of time and thus challenges traditional linear forms, the data stream re-emphasizes the linearity of a particular data sequence and activates a set of new relations to contemporary temporalities. Next, I show how these visual arrangements and temporal principles are manifested and discussed in three artworks: "Untitled" (Perfect Lovers) by Felix Gonzalez-Torres (1991), The Clock by Christian Marclay (2011), and Last Clock by Jussi Ängeslevä and Ross Cooper (2002). By emphasizing the technical and poetic ways in which social media situate the present as a "thick" historical unit that embodies multiple and synchronous temporalities, this article illuminates some of the conditions, challenges, and tensions between former visual structures and current ones, and unfolds the cultural significations of contemporary big visual data.


We show that an increase in a stock's breadth of institutional ownership or turnover is followed by a significant but temporary increase in its CAPM beta estimate and a decrease in its CAPM alpha. The increasing effect of breadth of ownership on beta estimates strengthens if we classify institutional investors by their historical trading horizon and look at the effect of changes in the ownership breadth of short-horizon institutional investors. These transitory, trading activity-driven components of beta estimates that we find contribute to the empirical failure of the CAPM and the large returns to long-short portfolios that bet against beta. In addition, the relations between ownership breadth, turnover and betas that we document help explain the puzzling fact that on average betas increase after seasoned equity offerings and stock splits, and decrease after stock repurchases.


The Peer Instruction (PI) is an active learning, student-centered approach designed to engage students through the administration of conceptual questions. On its turn, the CSPI is an adaptation of the PI to the computer science area, mainly Introductory Programming (CS1) courses. In this work, we present the initial assessment of the gamification adoption into the CSPI. Two CSPI/CS1 courses were administered, one without gamification (control experiment) and one with it. We identified that, although participants originally didn't expect that gamification would affect their experience, results suggest that gamification positively impacts participants' motivation and focus. Future work involves the analysis of collaboration and interaction variables through learning analytics tools.


: In patients suffering from tick-borne encephalitis development of epileptic seizures, Kozhevnikov's epilepsy, Jackson's epilepsy, myoclonus-epilepsy, chorea-epilepsy Hunt's myoclonic dyssynergy and various hyperkineses without general convulsions was observed. It was found that a particular place in the structure of the convulsive syndrome was occupied by Kozhevnikov's epilepsy which was not so frequently encountered in other diseases. This is, probably, due to a particular vulnerability of the motor structures, mainly, at the spinal level, at which the final motor response is formed.


BACKGROUND
One million people worldwide benefit from chronic dialysis, with an increased rate in Western countries of 5% yearly. Owing to increased incidence of cancer in dialyzed patients, the management of these patients is challenging for oncologists/nephrologists.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
The CANcer and DialYsis (CANDY) retrospective multicenter study included patients under chronic dialysis who subsequently had a cancer (T0). Patients were followed up for 2 years after T0. Prescriptions of anticancer drugs were studied with regard to their renal dosage adjustment/dialysability.

RESULTS
A total of 178 patients from 12 institutions were included. The mean time between initiation of dialysis and T0 was 30.8 months. Fifty patients had received anticancer drug treatment. Among them, 72% and 82% received at least one drug needing dosage and one drug to be administered after dialysis sessions, respectively. Chemotherapy was omitted or prematurely stopped in many cases where systemic treatment was indicated or was often not adequately prescribed.

CONCLUSIONS
Survival in dialysis patients with incident cancer was poor. It is crucial to consider anticancer drug treatment in these patients as for non-dialysis patients and to use current available specific drug management recommendations in order to (i) adjust the dose and (ii) avoid premature elimination of the drug during dialysis sessions.


This book investigates the major internal and external pressures and constraints facing China as it enters the new century. It is widely recognised that in its capacity as a nuclear power and as a member of the UN's Security Council, China plays a major role in world politics. China is also a growing economic power, which according to some economists is projected to overtake the US 20 years from now. China has clearly emerged as the major power in the East Asian region and the major issues of contention in the region such as the tension on the Korean peninsula, the Taiwan issue and the conflicting territorial claims in the South China seas cannot be resolved without China's active participation.


This paper deals with the ultrasonic studies of the effect of artemisia decoction (AD) on the volume and motion of gallbladder in 33 cases. Ultrasonic examination shows that AD intravenous infusion has remarkable effects on the contractility of gallbladder. There are 4 patterns of phasic changes in the motion of gallbladder and an increase in frequency of its contraction and relaxation. AD has also certain contraction effects on the gallbladders which can not contract after a fatty meal. The above findings indicate that AD is a good choleretic and has a definite regulating effect on the motility of the gallbladder. The clinical use of AD is conducive to bile flow, stone expelling, inhibiting the deposition of bile solids and reducing the possibility of stone formation.


This paper proposes a method for classifying the cattle behaviors. An embedded accelerometer system has attached to the cow's neck. Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) is applied to measure the similarity between acceleration data corresponding to the cow movements and the templates collected from the acceleration data corresponding to the cow behaviors. The results of these processes are the sets of accumulated distances whose minimum value is used to select a behavioral model. Two cows used in the experiment, the accuracy of classification was measured. The results show that the accuracy of the proposed system is more than 90 percentages for all behavioral models. Moreover, the three-axis acceleration data combined before sending through the wireless network to the computer base results in the power consumption of wireless network reduced.


Cosmopolitan species are rare in red algae, which have a low-dispersal capacity unless they are dispersed by human-mediated introductions. Gelidium crinale, a turf-forming red alga, has a widespread distribution in tropical and temperate waters. To decipher the genetic diversity and phylogeography of G. crinale, we analyzed mitochondrial COI-5P and plastid rbcL sequences from collections in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Phylogenies of both markers statistically supported the monophyly of G. crinale, with a close relationship to G. americanum and G. calidum from the Western Atlantic. Based on the molecular analysis from these materials, Pterocladia heteroplatos from India is here merged with G. crinale. Phylogeny and TCS networks of COI-5P haplotypes revealed a geographic structure of five groups: (i) Atlantic-Mediterranean, (ii) Ionian, (iii) Asian, (iv) Adriatic-Ionian, and (v) Australasia-India-Tanzania-Easter Island. The most common ancestor of G. crinale likely diverged during the Pleistocene. The Bayesian Skyline Plots suggested the pre-LGM population expansion. Based on geographical structure, lineage-specific private haplotypes, the absence of shared haplotypes between lineages, and AMOVA, we propose that the cosmopolitan distribution of G. crinale has been shaped by Pleistocene relicts. The survival of the turf species under environmental stresses is briefly discussed.


At a recent conference, I was asked about ecopsychology. Specifically: What kind of approach did I take to try and understand the human-nature relationship? I dutifully talked about my research—how fractal geometry related to levels of physiological arousal and place preference, or how emotional states affected perceptions of the restorativeness of nature— talking about innate responses and possible evolutionary reasons for this and relating it all to the practical, therapeutic benefits of being in natural environments. The response was, well yes, but how did that explain the feelings of awe, of reverence, of need? How did I explain the transcendent experiences that many people have in natural settings, sometimes on an everyday basis? And that stopped me. I realized that, rather than explaining ecopsychology, I was rationalizing my being an ecopsychologist, trying to justify my research by just talking about what fits into current perceptions of what science should be. In short, I was ignoring what got me interested in ecopsychology in the first place: the feelings of excitement, of new ways of looking at the world, of different stories that were more meaningful to my own experiences, and that feeling of ''coming home.'' I was falling into the same pattern of behavior that has so often annoyed me about mainstream psychology: the tendency to dismiss, or explain away as illusory, the difficult questions that undermine the simplicity of standard models. Self—an experience that most of us say we have—is illusory (e.g., Hood, 2012); consciousness, in some ways the driving force behind the creation of psychology, is illusory (Ebert & Wegner, 2011); any anomalous experiences (anomalous only in terms of psychological models, not in terms of how often or how widespread the experience is) are misperceptions or fabrications. I would hate to see ecopsychology go down this route, either purposefully or by default, trying to explain away by reducing, mechanizing, or even worse, dismissing the amazing, life-changing experiences that people (of many species) have.


Xunjun Xiao, Gabrielle Jones, Wednesday A. Sevilla, Donna B. Stolz, Kelsey E. Magee, Margaret Haughney, Amitava Mukherjee, Yan Wang, and Mark E. Lowe We recently learned that the cDNA encoding CEL purchased from OpenBiosystems (clone ID 5187959; GenBank accession no. BC042510.1) for this work contains a three-base pair inframe deletion resulting in p.E365del. (The correct sequence should be NKGNKKVTEEDFYKLVSEFTITKGL and not NKGNKKVTE-DFYKLVSEFTITKGL.) p.E365 is conserved in most primates. The residue is located in a surface loop of the CEL globular domain distant from the catalytic site and the bile acidbinding site. In our study, both CEL14R and CEL MODY contained p.E365del. The experimental variable was the sequence of the variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) domain (Fig. 1A). Thus, the reported differences between CEL14R and CEL MODY reflect the effect of the VNTR MODY mutation on CEL folding. In support of this contention, another group that expressed a form of CEL with p.E365 also found that CEL MODY forms significant levels of intracellular protein aggregates compared with CEL14R (Johansson, B. B., Torsvik, J., Bjørkhaug, L., Vesterhus, M., Ragvin, A., Tjora, E., Fjeld, K., Hoem, D., Johansson, S., Ræder, H., Lindquist, S., Hernell, O., Cnop, M., Saraste, J., Flatmark, T., Molven, A., and Njølstad, P. R. (2011) Diabetes and pancreatic exocrine dysfunction due to mutations in the carboxyl ester lipase gene-maturity onset diabetes of the young (CEL-MODY): A protein misfolding disease. J. Biol. Chem. 286, 34593–34605). Because our hypothesis was that CEL MODY causes disease by misfolding and activating maladaptive cell signaling pathways, the presence of p.E365del raises concerns that deletion may have affected protein folding efficiency and contributed to the unfolded protein response we observed in our study. Based on our results with CEL14R, the effect of p.E365del on the folding of CEL appears minimal. CEL14R was robustly secreted and only formed low levels of detergent-insoluble intracellular aggregates (Figs. 2 and 5). CEL14R had good activity against triglycerides (Fig. 1) and was stimulated by bile acids (Xiao, X., and Lowe, M. E., unpublished observations). The results with CEL14R also showed that the presence of p.E365del was not sufficient to trigger activation of cell death and inflammatory pathways to the same level as seen with CEL MODY (Figs. 4 and 7). Still, we cannot exclude the possibility that the presence of p.E365del amplified the unfolded protein response elicited by the aggregation of CEL MODY resulting in a more robust activation of cell death pathways. Given this new information, the conclusion that "a mutation in CEL is sufficient to cause ER stress, induction of the UPR, NFB activation, and acinar cell death" in the first sentence of the last paragraph under "Discussion" is overstated. Even with this caveat, our data support the conclusion that disorders of protein homeostasis can have a role in the pathophysiology of chronic pancreatitis. ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS


The zymogram features of 11 kinds of isozyme and gene expressions in Qingdao and Zhoushan population of U. pinnatifida gametophytes were investigated and genetic diversity was examined by PAGE (polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis) technique. The results showed that the level of genetic diversity in Qingdao population of U. pinnatifida gametophytes was higher than that in Zhoushan population. Two banding patterns controlled by two variant genes were found in alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh) of U. pinnatifida gametophytes. There were null alleles in the population.


In studies involving diseases associated with high rates of mortality, trials are frequently conducted to evaluate the effects of therapeutic interventions on recurrent event processes terminated by death. In this setting, cumulative mean functions form a natural basis for inference for questions of a health economic nature, and Ghosh and Lin (2000) recently proposed a relevant class of test statistics. Trials of patients with cancer metastatic to bone, however, involve multiple types of skeletal complications, each of which may be repeatedly experienced by patients over their lifetime. Traditionally the distinction between the various types of events is ignored and univariate analyses are conducted based on a composite recurrent event. However, when the events have different impacts on patients' quality of life, or when they incur different costs, it can be important to gain insight into the relative frequency of the specific types of events and treatment effects thereon. This may be achieved by conducting separate marginal analyses with each analysis focusing on one type of recurrent event. Global inferences regarding treatment benefit can then be achieved by carrying out multiplicity adjusted marginal tests, more formal multiple testing procedures, or by constructing global test statistics. We describe methods for testing for differences in mean functions between treatment groups which accommodate the fact that each particular event process is ultimately terminated by death. The methods are illustrated by application to a motivating study designed to examine the effect of bisphosphonate therapy on the incidence of skeletal complications among patients with breast cancer metastatic to bone. We find that there is a consistent trend towards a reduction in the cumulative mean for all four types of skeletal complications with bisphosphonate therapy; there is a significant reduction in the need for radiation therapy for the treatment of bone. The global test suggests that bisphosphonate therapy significantly reduces the overall number of skeletal complications.


Clock Tree Synthesis (CTS) mainly consists of two steps: 1) clock tree topology generation and 2) buffering and embedding. Due to the lack of the efficient model of TSVs, most previous CTS of 3D ICs ignore the effect of TSV planning in the first step. In this paper, we study the TSV-aware clock tree topology generation for 3D ICs by solving two major issues that the previous work has neglected: 1) the density distribution of allocated TSVs; 2) the parasitic and coupling effects induced by TSVs in constructing the topology of clock tree. The experimental results show that considering the impact of TSVs on 3D clock network in the topology generation step can meet the manufacture limitations and enable the designers to obtain the tradeoff among power consumption, the total wire length and the total number of TSVs. The experimental results show that TSVs number and power consumption can be reduced by up to 89.6%and 40.16% respectively with little variation of the total wirelength (the sum of total TSV equivalent wirelength and horizontal wire length) compared to the traditional NNG-based method. Besides, the mitigation of TSV-to-TSV coupling effect in 3D clock tree by implementing the proposed 3D CTS method is demonstrated in our experiment.


Objective: Approximately 20% of all Ischemic strokes are the result of an embolus originating from the heart. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) has long been used to evaluate the cardiac source of emboli but recently transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), which has higher yield for detecting left atrium, aortic arch and left atrial appendage lesions, Is recommended for the assessment of patients with clinical risk factors for cardioembolism or unexplained stroke. Methods: In this study, the diagnostic yield of TTE and TEE for detecting potential cardiac sources of the embolus was compared in 46 consecutive patients (26 men and 20 women, aged 23-84 years) with transient ischemic attack (TIA) or acute ischemic stroke. Results: TTE revealed a potential cardiac source of embolism in 12 (26%) patients, all of whom had clinical evidence of heart disease, TEE detected potential cardiac sources of embolism in 32 (69%) patients; 7 (21%) of these had no clinical evidence of heart disease. Conclusion: TEE is a superior technique to TTE for identifying potential cardiac source of the embolus and should be recommended for early management and prevention of further stroke in patients with underlying heart disease or unexplained cerebrovascular accident. Key Words: Ischemic stroke, Transthoracic echocardiography, Transesophageal echocardiography, Cardiac source of embolism.


The present paper examines data which has been drawn from the
 official proceedings of a murder trial in a Greek court, concerning the killing
 of an adolescent by a police officer (see also Georgalidou 2012, 2016), and addresses the issues of aggressive discursive strategies
 and the moral order in the trial process. It analyses the explicit and implicit
 strategies involved in morally discrediting the opponent, a rather frequent
 defence strategy (Atkinson and Drew
 1979; Coulthard and Johnson
 2007; Levinson 1979). The
 paper examines agency deflection towards the victim (Georgalidou 2016), attribution of a socio-spatial
 identity to the victim and witnesses in an essentialist and reductionist way,
 and other linguistic and discursive means, the majority of which mobilize moral
 panic and have implications for the moral order in court. I argue that these
 aggressive discursive means primarily contribute to the construction of a
 normative moral order by both adversarial parties.


Scots pine tree-ring width data and entries from a farmer's diary were combined to assess early nineteenth century drought in east central Sweden. Tree-ring data were used to recon- struct drought, in the form of the standardized precipitation index (SPI), back to 1750. Daily weather observations in the farmer's diary were translated to temperature and degree of drought for each growing season from 1815 to 1833. During this period, Scots pine growth was constantly below aver- age, and radial growth in 89% of the years between 1806 and 1832 indicated dry summers. Within the same period, severe drought was reported in the diary during several years. Although individual summers have been drier before and after this period, the record suggests that 1806 to 1835 was the longest continuous drought in the last 250 yr, possibly even the last 300 yr. Furthermore, this event seems to have been of regional extent, as indicated by meteorological, historical and tree-ring data from northern and central Europe. The present study showed that a combination of dendrochrono- logical and historical records yields more useful information about past droughts, in terms of impact and long-term context, than one or the other of these sources can provide alone.


Transporting cargo is a significant source of revenue in the airline industry. It is therefore of critical importance to develop booking policies that address the unique challenges presented by the cargo business: the capacity is multi-dimensional, generally measured in terms of volume and weight, and the exact capacity requirements of a shipment are usually not known with certainty at the time of making booking decisions. Operations research methods have proven highly useful in passenger revenue management to effectively allocate a limited capacity while considering the trade-off between the penalty costs for oversold capacity and the opportunity costs for having unused capacity at the departure time. In this thesis, we develop similar methods for the capacity control problem over a single-leg flight with multiple cargo types. We study open loop policies that accept or reject a booking request for a certain type of cargo shipment based on booking limits or bid-prices. In order to compute suitable booking limits and bid-prices, we develop optimization models that incorporate off-loading costs under uncertain volume and weight requirements. We conduct a comprehensive computational study to evaluate the effectiveness of our proposed models. Numerical results demonstrate that our policies perform well compared to benchmarks established by various methods in the literature.


The Far-Eastern Himalaya Landscape (FHL), a shared transboundary landscape between China, India, and Myanmar, is one of the most intact and biologically rich landscapes in the Eastern Himalaya. Yet, the state of biodiversity and its significance are comparatively poorly known to conservationists and policy makers due to low priority in research, inaccessibility, and remoteness. We collated and reviewed 1032 articles relating to biodiversity of the FHL to understand research trends, identify knowledge gaps, and suggest priority research areas for future biodiversity conservation and management in the landscape. Our review showed that the Myanmar part of the landscape is the most studied, followed by the Indian and Chinese parts. The trend of publications in the landscape showed that the earliest publication on biodiversity in the FHL dates back to 1833, while the years from 2001 to 2017 account for almost 80% of the total publications. Most studies focused on species (73.6%), followed by ecosystems (25%) and genetics (1.4%). Mammals were the most studied taxa (22.6%), with a greater focus on charismatic megafauna, followed by arthropods (15.6%), angiosperms (14.8%), insects (13.4%), and birds (10.8%). There were very few publications on lower invertebrates and lower kingdoms, Monera, Protista, Fungi, and Viruses. At the ecosystem level, most studies focused on forests (58.5%) followed by freshwater (32%), agroecosystems (9%), and alpine/tundra ecosystem (0.5%); there were only 14 studies at genetic level. In the FHL, new species have been discovered and rediscovered starting from the early 1930s until 2017. The majority of newly discovered species in the last 18 years are arthropods. The paper reviews past research areas, identifies gaps for future research and intervention, and recommends transboundary collaboration to address these gaps for conservation and sustainable development of the FHL landscape.


Lymphocystis disease (LCD) is the main viral infection reported to affect cultured gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) in Southern Atlantic and Mediterranean aquaculture. Its etiological agent is the Lymphocystis disease virus (LCDV), a member of the family Iridoviridae (genus Lymphocystivirus). The only adequate measures for LCD prevention in the aquaculture systems are general prophylactic practices, such as the control of fish to be introduced in the farm facilities in order to detect carrier fish. These animals may pose a risk for the introduction of LCDV in fish farms, as direct contact between fish specimens is considered the main route of LCDV spreading. More recently, asymptomatic carrier breeders, as well as virus contaminated-live food, have been involved in LCDV transmission to fish larvae. The detection of subclinical viral infections in carrier fish requires the use of sensitive diagnostic methods. In this context, the objective of this study was to establish the applicability of a real-time PCR assay for LCDV diagnosis in surveillance studies. In addition, the assay has been evaluated with samples from a gilthead seabream hatchery, in order to prove its utility to trace the origin of LCDV in fish farms. Juvenile fish were collected at four farms with different background regarding to LCD. LCDV was detected in all farms, and 30 to 100% of fish were identified as LCDV-infected. Estimated viral load in caudal fin of asymptomatic fish was two to five orders of magnitude lower than in diseased fish. Carrier fish were also identified in the broodstock from a farm with LCD records by analysing caudal fin samples by qPCR. In this farm, the q-PCR assay developed in this study allowed the quantitative detection of LCDV in all samples collected in the hatchery, including fertilized eggs, larvae and fingerlings, and also rotifer cultures and artemia metanauplii and cysts used for larval rearing.


Abstract In recent years, metaheuristic methods have been preferred for the optimum design of automobile components, and important results have been accomplished. In this paper, a comparison of the whale optimization algorithm (WOA), the ant lion algorithm(ALO), and the spotted hyena optimization algorithm (SHOA) are presented to show how these optimization methods have been exploited to achieve weight reduction in an automobile brake pedal while maintaining stress requirements. This research is the first in the literature elucidating the application of the SHOA for the optimum design of automobile components. Optimization using the SHOA results in a reduction of 18.1 % of brake pedal weight.


In draft-bryant-mpls-synonymous-flow-labels the concept of MPLS
synonymous flow labels (SFL) was introduced and it was shown how they
could be used to support RFC6374 loss measurements. In draft-bryant-
mpls-sfl-control the request, lifetime management and withdrawal of
SFLs was described. In this memo we show how these two protocols can
be run over UDP to support the operation of RFC6374 in systems that do
not support the Generic Associated Channel Label (GAL) (RFC5586).


We present a novel concept of quasi-distributed flexible optical fiber extensometers fully compensated from thermal variations. Developed for structural health monitoring applications, the sensors are composed of a combination of intrinsic Fabry-Perot cavities as long-base extensometers, and point-like Bragg gratings inserted along the same fiber used as temperature sensors. This configuration enables a high degree of multiplexing, thus quasi-distributed sensing, and very efficient temperature compensation. Both types of sensors are read by a fiber-optic low-coherence interferometer, used in an original way to measure simultaneously the length variations of the cavities and the wavelength shifts of the Bragg gratings. Finally, we present the experimental validation of the whole measurement system, suitable for concrete structures instrumentation, as it includes an original optical fiber sheath packaging the optical fiber as a flexible sensor.


The current understanding of familial colorectal cancer was limited to descriptions of affected pedigrees until the early 1990s. A series of landscape‐altering discoveries revealed that there were distinct forms of familial cancer, and most were related to genes previously not known to be involved in human disease. This review largely focuses on advances in our understanding of Lynch syndrome because of the unique relationship of this disease to defective DNA mismatch repair and the clinical implications this has for diagnostics, prevention, and therapy. Recent advances have occurred in our understanding of the epidemiology of this disease, and the advent of broad genetic panels has altered the approach to germline and somatic diagnoses for all of the familial colorectal cancer syndromes. Important advances have been made toward a more complete mechanistic understanding of the pathogenesis of neoplasia in the setting of Lynch syndrome, and these advances have important implications for prevention. Finally, paradigm‐shifting approaches to treatment of Lynch‐syndrome and related tumors have occurred through the development of immune checkpoint therapies for hypermutated cancers. CA Cancer J Clin 2018;68:217–231. © 2018 American Cancer Society.


Bacteria primarily evolve via horizontal gene transfer, acquiring new traits such as virulence and antibiotic resistance in single transfer events. However, newly acquired genes must be integrated into existing regulatory networks to allow appropriate expression in new hosts. This is accommodated in part by the opposing mechanisms of xenogeneic silencing and countersilencing. An understanding of these mechanisms is necessary to understand the relationship between gene regulation and bacterial evolution. Here we examine the functional evolution of an important lineage of countersilencers belonging to the ancient MarR family of classical transcriptional repressors. We show that although members of the SlyA lineage retain some ancestral features associated with the MarR family, their cis-regulatory sequences have evolved significantly to support their new function. Understanding the mechanistic requirements for countersilencing is critical to understanding the pathoadaptation of emerging pathogens and also has practical applications in synthetic biology. ABSTRACT Gene duplication and subsequent evolutionary divergence have allowed conserved proteins to develop unique roles. The MarR family of transcription factors (TFs) has undergone extensive duplication and diversification in bacteria, where they act as environmentally responsive repressors of genes encoding efflux pumps that confer resistance to xenobiotics, including many antimicrobial agents. We have performed structural, functional, and genetic analyses of representative members of the SlyA/RovA lineage of MarR TFs, which retain some ancestral functions, including repression of their own expression and that of divergently transcribed multidrug efflux pumps, as well as allosteric inhibition by aromatic carboxylate compounds. However, SlyA and RovA have acquired the ability to countersilence horizontally acquired genes, which has greatly facilitated the evolution of Enterobacteriaceae by horizontal gene transfer. SlyA/RovA TFs in different species have independently evolved novel regulatory circuits to provide the enhanced levels of expression required for their new role. Moreover, in contrast to MarR, SlyA is not responsive to copper. These observations demonstrate the ability of TFs to acquire new functions as a result of evolutionary divergence of both cis-regulatory sequences and in trans interactions with modulatory ligands. IMPORTANCE Bacteria primarily evolve via horizontal gene transfer, acquiring new traits such as virulence and antibiotic resistance in single transfer events. However, newly acquired genes must be integrated into existing regulatory networks to allow appropriate expression in new hosts. This is accommodated in part by the opposing mechanisms of xenogeneic silencing and countersilencing. An understanding of these mechanisms is necessary to understand the relationship between gene regulation and bacterial evolution. Here we examine the functional evolution of an important lineage of countersilencers belonging to the ancient MarR family of classical transcriptional repressors. We show that although members of the SlyA lineage retain some ancestral features associated with the MarR family, their cis-regulatory sequences have evolved significantly to support their new function. Understanding the mechanistic requirements for countersilencing is critical to understanding the pathoadaptation of emerging pathogens and also has practical applications in synthetic biology.


Context Concept formation is the process by which generalizations are formed through observation of instances from the environment. These instances are described along a number of attributes, which are selected according to their relevance to the problem or task for which the concepts will be used. The context of a concept learning problem consists of the goals and tasks of the learner, as well as its background knowledge and domain theories and the external environment in which it operates. Context is essential to inductive concept learning for it determines which attributes to use for a given problem out of the infinitely many available, providing a bias for the learner (Mitchell, 1980). Furthermore, context is not a static entity, but is constantly changing, especially in the types of learning tasks faced by humans (e.g. Seifert 1989, Barsalou 1991). As concept formation systems are employed in tasks more typical of natural domains and "real-world" problems, the ability to respond to changing contexts becomes increasingly important.


Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia prompting treatment. Advances in our knowledge of the pathophysiology of AF provide the basis for new and improved treatment modalities. Thus, focal excitation and localised impulse conduction defects are possible trigger factors which can be counteracted by focal ablation and pacing synchronisation, respectively. Perpetuation of AF, caused by continuous multisite re-entry, is promoted by successive shortening of repolarisation. Internal defibrillation and anatomical limitation of re-entry are treatments that counteract perpetuation of the arrhythmia. Current knowledge of AF and the application of new treatments are discussed by the Lund AF research group.


Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for men and women in most developed countries, however tagged MRI (tMRI) may facilitate patient diagnosis and treatment planning and thereby lower morbidity. The imaging technique provides in vivo measurement of regional heterogeneity of the myocardium's contraction when the epicardial and endocardial surfaces and tag sheets are segmented. Since the adoption of tMRI has previously been hindered by lengthy analysis time for the epicardial and endocardial surfaces, we have developed a fully automated system which constructs a biventricular model of the heart and dynamically segments the ventricles throughout systole.
After acquiring tMRI of our volunteers, we correct surface coil-induced intensity inhomogeneity using a scale based approach. We improve noise suppression by combining inhomogeneity correction and anisotropic diffusion. To extract 2D motion in each image, we apply an approach (called GAMA) based on banks of Gabor filters. We then extract ventricle surface features using statically adaptive, gray scale morphology. From the features, we construct a biventricular patient-specific model of the heart directly from the image data, which provides internal regularization forces. Then we derive 3D model forces from the 2D features and fit the model by balancing forces.
We have found excellent agreement between our fitted models and expert delineations and our system replaces the 4 to 17 hours of interactive segmentation with just 1.75 hours of CPU time and it simultaneously fits a biventricular model throughout systole. Our MRI noise suppression is significantly better than previous methods and GAMA recovers all tag information including tag orientation and spacing.
Our deformable model approach yields constraints between those of a model-from-data approach and parameter function/statistical modeling approaches and is suitable for processing steady state free precession images and 3D images. Our methods may be used for clinical applications including ventricular hypertrophy, myocardial infarcts, breathing disorders and speech impediments, or used for research applications including brain trauma, genetically engineered mouse hearts, blood flow analysis, and geometric statistical model construction.


Abstract. A large amount of organic carbon is stored in high-latitude soils. A substantial proportion of this carbon stock is vulnerable and may decompose rapidly due to temperature increases that are already greater than the global average. It is therefore crucial to quantify and understand carbon exchange between the atmosphere and subarctic/arctic ecosystems. In this paper, we combine an Arctic-enabled version of the process-based dynamic ecosystem model, LPJ-GUESS (version LPJG-WHyMe-TFM) with comprehensive observations of terrestrial and aquatic carbon fluxes to simulate long-term carbon exchange in a subarctic catchment at 50 m resolution. Integrating the observed carbon fluxes from aquatic systems with the modeled terrestrial carbon fluxes across the whole catchment, we estimate that the area is a carbon sink at present and will become an even stronger carbon sink by 2080, which is mainly a result of a projected densification of birch forest and its encroachment into tundra heath. However, the magnitudes of the modeled sinks are very dependent on future atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Furthermore, comparisons of global warming potentials between two simulations with and without CO2 increase since 1960 reveal that the increased methane emission from the peatland could double the warming effects of the whole catchment by 2080 in the absence of CO2 fertilization of the vegetation. This is the first process-based model study of the temporal evolution of a catchment-level carbon budget at high spatial resolution, including both terrestrial and aquatic carbon. Though this study also highlights some limitations in modeling subarctic ecosystem responses to climate change, such as aquatic system flux dynamics, nutrient limitation, herbivory and other disturbances, and peatland expansion, our study provides one process-based approach to resolve the complexity of carbon cycling in subarctic ecosystems while simultaneously pointing out the key model developments for capturing complex subarctic processes.


One hundred and one testicular tumours previously diagnosed as "teratoma" were examined and 93 of the patients were followed up. These neoplasm were assigned to one of three groups. Those compared exclusively of somatic tissues were the only tumours referred to as teratoma. The second group was exclusively extra embryonic and consisted of either yolk sac or choriocarcinoma. Neoplasms in the third group were called mixed germ cell tumours and incorporated somatic and extra embryonic tissue and occasionally seminoma. The patients with teratomas showed a very low mortality whereas pure yolk sac tumours proved highly malignant. In mixed germ cells tumours the malignant nature of the yolk sac components was maintained even when combined with somatic elements, but when seminoma was also present the survival rate was significantly improved. It would appear the yolk sac tumour tissue occurs more frequently in adult testicular neoplasms than was previously suspected and in mixed germ cell tumours it can be expected to dictate behaviour except when combined with seminoma.


Early onset retinal dystrophies (EORD) are a group of disorders presenting in childhood with degenerative abnormalities in photoreceptor cells. They are one of the leading causes of sight impairment in the United Kingdom. Since the initial discovery of Rho causing dominant retinitis pigmentosa in 1990, more than 160 genes have been associated with retinal dystrophy. Many, including CRB1, CRX, and RPE65 exhibit phenotypic heterogeneity and have been associated with more than one retinal disorder. Increasingly, with the advent of next generation sequencing, the association of non-syndromic retinal dystrophy with mutations in syndromic genes has been reported including CEP290, CLN3, and BBS1. In this thesis, a large cohort of patients with EORD underwent both detailed phenotyping to characterise their condition and molecular genetic investigations to identify and investigate the underlying causative variants. Many areas of the presented research were driven by novel findings on whole-exome sequencing such as the association of IFT140 with non-syndromic retinal dystrophy or CRX with macular dystrophy. Other areas were driven by unusual groups of patients with limited published data on their condition such as COL18A1 and Knobloch syndrome, with novel phenotypic features of cone-rod dysfunction and pigmentary glaucoma. Sanger sequencing was performed for confirmation and segregation of identified variants but in addition, for investigation of phenotypically similar patient panels for unusual gene associations. This included systemically mild Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome due to HPS6, juvenile macular dystrophy and CDH3, macular dystrophy and CRX and microcephaly with familial exudative vitreoretinopathy due to LRP5. Functional investigation of missense variants in IFT140 related retinal dystrophy was performed with transient cell transfection. This thesis highlights the vast heterogeneity of rare forms of EORD, presents novel clinical and molecular data and describes the key features of conditions to aid diagnosis and opportunities for future research.


Bioethanol is currently being considered as a potential replacement for the conventional gasoline, especially as it possesses similar and some superior qualities enabling reduction in GHG and increases fuel reserve. Bioethanol used for commercial purposes is usually produced from edible feedstocks such as corn and sugar cane which increases the production cost. The high cost of these feedstocks is the driving force behind the search for the second, and third generations (3G) bioethanol produced from cheaper and available feedstocks. The fourth-generation bioethanol is being developed to further advance the 3G bioethanol to enhance the potential of algae to capture CO2 and to increase the production of specific compounds. Despite the efforts been made to reduce the cost of production through the use of diverse non-edible feedstocks, the cost of processing the feedstocks is still very high, thereby making bioethanol uncompetitive with the conventional gasoline. The life cycle assessment and techno-economic analyses are usually conducted to assess the economic feasibility and the environmental impact of the bioethanol production processes. This chapter thus, covers the State-of-the-art processes involved in bioethanol production including pretreatment, hydrolysis, fermentation processes, bioethanol recovery, integrated processes, Life cycle assessment, techno-economic analysis, exergy analysis and process simulation.


Unbaffled stirred tanks, despite their poorer mixing performance with respect to baffled vessels, are gaining a growing industrial interest as they provide significant advantages in selected applications, including a number of biochemical, food and pharmaceutical processes. There still is however a general lack of information on their mixing performance, that needs to be addressed in order to fully exploit their application potential. The present work is aimed at providing experimental information on mixing rates in an unbaffled vessel operated without top-cover (Uncovered Unbaffled Stirred Tank, UUST). The planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF) technique was adopted for measuring the dispersion dynamics of a passive tracer over a vertical section of the vessel. In agreement with the scant literature information available for these systems, results confirm the existence of two well defined, partially segregated, zones that give rise to a double mixing dynamics behavior. A suitable mixing time definition is proposed and results are finally compared with literature information.


SUMMARY Microspectrophotometric examination of the retina of a procellariiform marine bird, the wedge-tailed shearwater Puffinus pacificus, revealed the presence of five different types of vitamin A1-based visual pigment in seven different types of photoreceptor. A single class of rod contained a medium-wavelength sensitive visual pigment with a wavelength of maximum absorbance (λmax) at 502 nm. Four different types of single cone contained visual pigments maximally sensitive in either the violet (VS, λmax 406 nm), short (SWS, λmax 450 nm), medium (MWS, λmax 503 nm) or long (LWS,λ max 566 nm) spectral ranges. In the peripheral retina, the SWS, MWS and LWS single cones contained pigmented oil droplets in their inner segments with cut-off wavelengths (λcut) at 445 (C-type), 506 (Y-type) and 562 nm (R-type), respectively. The VS visual pigment was paired with a transparent (T-type) oil droplet that displayed no significant absorption above at least 370 nm. Both the principal and accessory members of the double cone pair contained the same 566 nm λmax visual pigment as the LWS single cones but only the principal member contained an oil droplet, which had a λcut at 413 nm. The retina had a horizontal band or `visual streak' of increased photoreceptor density running across the retina approximately 1.5 mm dorsal to the top of the pecten. Cones in the centre of the horizontal streak were smaller and had oil droplets that were either transparent/colourless or much less pigmented than at the periphery. It is proposed that the reduction in cone oil droplet pigmentation in retinal areas associated with high visual acuity is an adaptation to compensate for the reduced photon capture ability of the narrower photoreceptors found there. Measurements of the spectral transmittance of the ocular media reveal that wavelengths down to at least 300 nm would be transmitted to the retina.


This thesis is concerned with questions regarding the semantics and pragmatics of counterfactual conditionals. Its point of departure is provided by a problem mentioned in Veltman [2005], which I call 'Veltman's puzzle'. Veltman observes that in certain kinds of contexts the antecedent of a counterfactual conditional may be left implicit, while in others it cannot be left implicit without rendering the result pragmatically infelicitous. This asymmetry in discourse behavior pertains to two sentence sequences in which the discourse initial sentence makes the presupposition of the antecedent of a subsequent counterfactual explicit. While in cases like e.g. 'John did not drink any wine. He would have become sick.' the antecedent of the counterfactual 'If John had drunk any wine, he would have become sick.' can be left implicit, the introduction of a negation changes the picture: the counterfactual 'If John had not drunk any wine, he would not have become sick.' can not felicitously be paraphrased by the sequence 'John drank too much wine. He would not have become sick.' This discourse is not acceptable. The phenomenon is strikingly systematic: building the opposite of an acceptable discourse via the introduction of negation apparently renders the result invariably infelicitous. While in the literature on modal subordination an account of the phenomenon can be found, the discussion shows that the proposal is empirically and theoretically inadequate, making wrong predictions with regards to the felicity resp. infelicity of the data. The same also holds for an approach initially pursued in this thesis in terms of what I call 'negation-induced alternatives'. Although the discussion provides sound and independent support of the empirical reality of the concept, it ultimately turns out to be not essential for the solution of Veltman's puzzle. The key to solving Veltman's puzzle is instead gained by a shift of attention towards the 'because'-sentence paraphrase of the discourses under consideration. Crucial for the phenomenon is a difference in the logical structure of the premise set of the counterfactual conditional. It is mediated by the occurrence of negation and systematically (the point can indeed be axiomatically motivated) characterizes premises to build either a disjunctive or conjunctive array. Based on this, Veltman's puzzle is explained as a clash at the semantics-pragmatics interface depending on the logical structure of the premise set into which the implicit antecedent of the counterfactual is to be accommodated. In addition to solving Veltman's puzzle by working out the semantic demands that the meaning of a counterfactual's consequent puts forth on the logical structure of its antecedent – a result which is arguably of general importance for any theoretical account of counterfactual conditionals –, another general result of this thesis relates to what I call the 'radical interpretation' of counterfactuals. It connects to counterfactual conditionals that, although lacking any semantic support, are nonetheless still accepted as true in conversation. The mechanism of pragmatic reasoning that is employed in the interpretation of such counterfactuals is spelled out in detail. The discussion involves the concept of conditional strengthening and highlights that the interpretation of counterfactual conditionals more often than not relies on tacit pragmatic rescue strategies. Finally, the account formulated in this thesis further answers certain questions regarding the relation between Veltman's data and the corresponding 'because'-sentence paraphrase, and also provides a Lewis-style semantics of subjunctive 'because' which had not been attended to so far.


The excimer laser micromachining process has displayed numerous advantages as an efficient tool for fabricating 2D and 3D micro-components, such as a high-resolution power (up to sub-micrometer range) and ablation without thermal damage. This work investigates the suitability and limitations of the process for the fabrication of microfilters using excimer laser micromachining. Their successful fabrication requires precise control over the work parameters, and deals with a number of challenges. Three microfilters of mean pore sizes 14.4 µm, 18.3 µm and 25.6 µm but with the same opening ratio, and containing up to 14 000 holes, have been fabricated. Their performance has been assessed by measuring air flow, to capture a trend in pressure drop induced by the filter for varying flow rates. The Reynolds number based on hole diameter covered is 0.0086–0.21. The key findings include development of a successful method of fabrication, a positive correlation between pressure drop and flow rate during testing, and an increase in slope of the pressure curve with a decrease in pore size. The correlation available in the literature shows a large deviation with respect to the experimental data and a new correlation has been proposed. These results are expected to help design microfilters in the very low Reynolds number range.


Abstract Along continental margins, various types of methane seeps with a variety of flux rates, spatial extents, and durations occur. Although numerous studies have investigated spatially extensive high-flux-rate seeps, seeps with ephemeral and/or weak flows, known as diffusive seeps, have received less attention. This study investigates ancient diffusive methane seeps in the Shin'etsu sedimentary basin, central Japan, aiming to deduce their spatial extent and their sedimentological, paleontological, and geochemical properties. The seeps were identified as centimeter-scale carbonate concretions in two outcrops of Neogene siltstones in the basin. A comprehensive examination of the spatial distribution of the carbonates, their associated molluscan fossils, petrography, carbon and oxygen isotopic compositions, and lipid-biomarker contents of the concretions revealed that they originated from the anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) and formed via a weak, diffusive fluid flow. The small size and irregular or burrow-shaped morphologies of the concretions indicate that methane-bearing fluids diffused through small pore spaces such as burrows. Associated molluscan fossils consist of vesicomyids and other bivalves typical of methane seeps. Fossils of predator species were also identified, but epifaunal seep organisms are notably absent. The carbonate concretions are composed of strongly 13C-depleted micrite (δ13C values as low as −46.0‰ vs. VPDB) with minor 13C-rich void-filling sparry cements. The presence of lipid biomarkers pentamethylicosane (PMI; with δ13C values as low as −119‰) and biphytane and the absence of crocetane suggests that the AOM was performed by an ANME-1-dominated archaeal community. The insights of diffusive methane seepage in the geological record gained from this study can help to better understand depositional processes of seep deposits and variations in fluid flows in both ancient and modern methane-seeping systems.


Sociological research has demonstrated that peers play a role in patterns of deviance. Yet, examinations of competing mechanisms in continued patterns of deviance are less well developed. We simultaneously examine multiple peer mechanisms of action on prescription drug misuse. Results identify drug sources, peer group norms, and a desire to enhance social experiences as important factors in the frequency of misuse, non-oral administration, and dependence, whereas peer pressure had no effect net of other peer factors. The results emphasize the importance of considering multiple peer mechanisms in shaping deviance, and as such, future scholarly examinations should focus on multiple dimensions of peer effects to fully understand patterns of continuing deviance.


Over the years damage detection in structures is being given prior attention. For this purpose different newer techniques are being used so far. In this investigation defect in cantilever beam in the form of a transverse crack is being investigated using smart Technique like Fuzzy Logic. Gaussian membership functions are used for the Fuzzy Controller. The input parameters to the Fuzzy Controller are relative divergence of first three natural frequencies and the output parameters of the Fuzzy Controller are relative crack depth and relative crack location in dimensionless forms. For deriving the fuzzy rules for the controller; theoretical expressions have been developed considering three parameters such as; natural frequencies, crack depths and crack locations. Strain energy release rate has been used for calculating the local stiffnesses of the beam. The local stiffnesses of the beam are dependent on the crack depth. Different boundary conditions are being outlined which take into account the crack location. Several fuzzy rules are derived and the Fuzzy controller has been designed accordingly. Experimental setup has been developed for verifying the robustness of the developed fuzzy controller. Finite Element Analysis is performed on the single and double cracked cantilever beam to obtain the modal natural frequencies. The proposed approach is verified by comparing the results obtained from the numerical analysis and the developed experimental set-up. And it was observed that the Fuzzy Controller can predict the location and depth of the crack in a close proximity as par with the actual results.


Drawing from the quantitative and qualitative data collected from the two districts of Uganda, the paper examines the extent to which social protection initiatives in particular the formal and informal policies, regulations and accountability mechanisms of selected social protection interventions influences the demand, design and implementation of programs and consequently the degree of effectiveness it has in addressing gendered vulnerability to poverty. The findings indicate that social protection has become an important strategy for reducing household vulnerability to poverty. Social protection is not only provided by the state but also nonstate actors of various categories are increasingly playing a significant role in addressing the different aspects of vulnerability employing different strategies or approaches. The study has shown that governance of non-state actors (NSAs), in particular formal and informal policies and regulations as well as the accountability mechanisms have significant implications for effective delivery of social protection services in particular ensuring that vulnerable poor needs, interest, concerns and priorities are addressed. Therefore, this study explores key ideas needed in the current debate on the development and implementation of social protection policies and programmes against household gendered vulnerability to poverty in Uganda and proposes the development of innovative development policies and programmes that strengthens the pro-poor implementation of social protection along with more comprehensive schemes on poverty reduction.


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of work group diversity dynamics as a novel approach for studying diverse work groups. The authors profile the dynamic processes within diverse work-groups and provide an overview of main objectives.

Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on years of accumulated diversity research to cast a temporal and dynamic lens on the processes taking place within diverse work groups. After outlining the state of the art in work group diversity research, the definition, overall framework and profile of work group diversity dynamics is offered.

Findings
The paper argues that by adopting a temporal and dynamic perspective for studying diverse work groups, one can shift focus from the traditional perspective of "what is diversity" to "what happens within diverse work groups". The paper disentangles the activities taking place within diverse work groups, defines the actual team processes and finally highlights how these processes might be affected by time and dynamism.

Originality/value
After almost 30 years of diversity research the mechanisms and processes through which diversity is translated into individual and organizational outcomes are not yet sufficiently understood and studied. This paper highlights a temporal and dynamic perspective for studying work group diversity, a view that is yet uncharted in diversity literature.


Digital credit scoring is driving a number of significant transformations in Chinese economy and society, catalyzing financial liberalization, deepening financial inclusion, and shifting economic power beyond the previously state-controlled commercial banking system. Yet the significance of financial technology is informed in turn by locally specific traditions of governance and regulation. This article critically interrogates the rise of Chinese fintech, reconceptualizing it as a process of financialization that is embedded in a Chinese systems- oriented authoritarian governance tradition. On the basis of documentary sources, Chinese- language secondary literature, and fieldwork conducted from 2016-18, it argues that in addition to disrupting existing practices of financial intermediation, the emergence of novel digital credit scoring technologies is enabling new forms of algorithmic governance to be exercised over the process of financialization, which in turn represents an important component in the construction of China's neo-statist authoritarian capitalism. These findings have broader implications for how we understand the importance of new financial technologies in an era of big data, contributing to contemporary debates in international political economy, economic sociology, and Chinese studies.


Considerable research has explored various drivers of entrepreneurial intent (EI), including the effects of race or gender separately (e.g., Edelman, Brush, Manolova, & Greene, 2010). Our study builds on this previous work by considering the intersection between race and gender, a unique and needed broadening of perspective as race and gender do not exist in isolation from each other. Applying both role congruity and social identity theory, this study considers an individual's EI through an intersectional lens. Using a sample of 562 student respondents from five universities across the U.S., an experiment examines entrepreneurial intent to participate in entrepreneurship programs after exposure to one of five website conditions intentionally varied in terms of racial and gendered language and imagery. Our findings reveal that intersectionality matters as students responded to the conditions significantly differently dependent upon the race-gender intersection. Overall, the highest positive influence in entrepreneurial intent across all students, regardless of race or gender, resulted from exposure to the racial-minority-female-centric website condition.


We report 370 measures of 170 components of binary and multiple-star systems, obtained from speckle imaging observations made with the Differential Speckle Survey Instrument at Lowell Observatory's Discovery Channel Telescope in 2015 through 2017. Of the systems studied, 147 are binary stars, 10 are seen as triple systems, and 1 quadruple system is measured. Seventy-six high-quality nondetections and 15 newly resolved components are presented in our observations. The uncertainty in relative astrometry appears to be similar to our previous work at Lowell, namely, linear measurement uncertainties of approximately 2 mas, and the relative photometry appears to be uncertain at the 0.1–0.15 mag level. Using these measures and those in the literature, we calculate six new visual orbits, including one for the Be star 66 Oph and two combined spectroscopic–visual orbits. The latter two orbits, which are for HD 22451 (YSC 127) and HD 185501 (YSC 135), yield individual masses of the components at the level of 2% or better, and independent distance measures that in one case agrees with the value found in the Gaia DR2 and in the other disagrees at the 2σ level. We find that HD 22451 consists of an F6V+F7V pair with orbital period of 2401.1 ± 3.2 days and masses of 1.342 ± 0.029 and . For HD 185501, both stars are G5 dwarfs that orbit one another with a period of 433.94 ± 0.15 days, and the masses are 0.898 ± 0.012 and . We discuss the details of both the new discoveries and the orbit objects.


Background Remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) is an attractive therapeutic procedure for protecting the heart against ischemia/reperfusion injury. Despite evidence of humoral mediators transported through the circulation playing a critical role, their actual identities so far remain unknown. We sought to identify plasmatic RIPC‐induced metabolites that may play a role. Methods and Results Rat plasma samples from RIPC and control groups were analyzed using a targeted metabolomic approach aimed at measuring 188 metabolites. Principal component analysis and orthogonal partial least‐squares discriminant analysis were used to identify the metabolites that discriminated between groups. Plasma samples from 50 patients subjected to RIPC were secondarily explored to confirm the results obtained in rats. Finally, a combination of the metabolites that were significantly increased in both rat and human plasma was injected prior to myocardial ischemia/reperfusion in rats. In the rat samples, 124 molecules were accurately quantified. Six metabolites (ornithine, glycine, kynurenine, spermine, carnosine, and serotonin) were the most significant variables for marked differentiation between the RIPC and control groups. In human plasma, analysis confirmed ornithine decrease and kynurenine and glycine increase following RIPC. Injection of the glycine and kynurenine alone or in combination replicated the protective effects of RIPC seen in rats. Conclusions We have hereby reported significant variations in a cocktail of amino acids and biogenic amines after remote ischemic preconditioning in both rat and human plasma. Clinical Trial Registration URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01390129.


This paper describes a study of how social media could be integrated and used in Mobile Experience Sampling. As addressed in previous studies, Experience Sampling Method relies on high response frequency. However participants may experience it as a burden which may cause delay or even suspension of data collection. We have developed a system that allows participants in Mobile Experience Sampling studies to share their questions and answers on social media. We tested our system in a group of 40 participants. The study shows that enabled sharing of ESM questions significantly increased response and participation rates, in our test by +43%, which also indicates its influence on participants' compliance and motivation levels. This paper presents the study and discusses some further use and influence of social media in Experience Sampling.


Introduction: Risk factors for Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), a common hospital-acquired infection, include recent antimicrobial exposure, hospitalization and advanced age. Patients with a chronic disease such as cystic fibrosis (CF) require multiple courses of antimicrobials, and potentially lung transplantation, meaning they are at high risk of acquiring C. difficile or developing CDI. Recently, there have been cases of severe CDI in CF patients reported in Australia. The objectives of this project were to determine the prevalence of CDI or C. difficile colonisation in CF patients in Western Australia, and to study the molecular epidemiology of C. difficile strains from these patients.

Methods: From late June to December 2017, 24 CF patients who came for treatment or consultation at the Department of Respiratory Medicine at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital (SCGH) were recruited with informed consent. Faecal samples were collected on this initial visit, and after subsequent visits, and screened for C. difficile and toxins using EIA. All samples were also cultured for C. difficile and any isolates ribotyped and toxin gene profiled. Before the study started, 177 environmental samples were collected from the CF outpatient clinic and inpatient ward with MWE Polywipe sponges which were also cultured for C. difficile.

Results: The prevalence of C. difficile colonisation in CF patients on the initial visit was 46% (11/24), increasing to 54% through the period of study as two patients became positive with C. difficile after antimicrobial treatment. One patient was persistently positive throughout the study. None of these three patients was symptomatic at the time of sample collection although one required CDI therapy within 6 weeks. The prevalence of C. difficile in the environment was 3% (6/177); 1/90 samples from the outpatient clinic and 5/87 samples from the ward. PCR ribotyping revealed 8 distinct ribotypes in patients, with the nontoxigenic strain RT 039 the most common (8 isolates). RT 014/020 (3), RT, 046 (2), RT 103 (1), RT 012 (1), and RT QX 360 (1) were all toxigenic. The nontoxigenic RT 010 comprised 5 of 6 isolates found in the environment, however, this strain was not isolated from patients. Routine surveillance data for C. difficile in non-CF patients revealed that RT 014/020 was the most common ribotype found in WA during the study period. All toxigenic ribotypes found in CF patients were found in non-CF patients.

Discussion: About half the C. difficile strains found in CF patients were toxigenic but no toxin was detected in the faeces of any culture-positive patient, suggesting possible protective effects of the CF intestinal milieu or microbiome. These asymptomatic carriers are however a potential source of C. difficile, and infection prevention and control procedures should be applied appropriately. Further studies should focus on the effect of the CF intestinal microbiome, CFTR mutations and CFTR modulator therapy on the epidemiology of CDI and C. difficile colonisation in CF patients.


The freshwater dinoflagellate, Ceratium hirundinella ( C. hirundinella ) with its complex morphology and robust thecal plate cell covering, is responsible for extensive problems during drinking water production. To have a better understanding of these problems, knowledge of what happens to the integrity of the cells after each step of the conventional water treatment process is essential. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the physical and chemical impacts of conventional unit processes (prior to sand filtration) on the morphology of C. hirundinella cells and the appearance of cells in aggregation or in flocs. Source water samples enriched with C. hirundinella cells (>500 cells/ml) were used to conduct jar stirring experiments. Samples for scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were collected from raw water, after flash mixing and from the sediment that formed when dosing various coagulant chemicals. The coagulant options included hydrated lime and activated silica (Ca(OH) 2 -SiO 2 ) which increase the pH to levels above 10, hydrated lime in combination with organic polymer (Ca(OH) 2 -poly) that increases the pH to levels of approximately 9 and organic polymer (poly) alone which has no effect on the pH of the water. Results obtained from SEM investigations revealed significant damage to the cells due to flash mixing, as well as due to the dosing of Ca(OH) 2 -SiO 2 . When dosing organic polymer alone, no further impacts on the cell integrity were observed after flash mixing, but it resulted in poor cell removal. Ca(OH) 2 -poly caused less damaging effects to the cells when compared to Ca(OH) 2 -SiO 2 , but resulted in moderate removal of C. hirundinella cells. Treatment plants that experience algal-related problems, especially during coagulation should consider using SEM to select appropriate coagulant dosages in order to avoid further cell damage that may occur during floc formation.


Performance Assessment of Geocell-reinforced Subballast: Modeling and Design Implications Trung Ngo and Buddhima Indraratna, University of Wollongong; Michael M. Biabani, Coffey Geotechnics Pty. Ltd., Australia This paper presents a study of the load-deformation behavior of geocell-stabilised subballast subjected to cyclic loads using a large-scale track process simulation apparatus and numerical modelling. The tests and numerical simulations were conducted to mimic the actual track conditions. Subjected to a given frequency and cyclic loads the predicted load-deformation behavior of the subballast with and without geocell inclusions match reasonably with those measured in the laboratory, and show that geocell could effectively decrease the lateral and axial deformations of the reinforced subballast. The results also provide an insight to design of rail tracks capturing the roles of geocell in decreasing lateral deformation of subballast. Additionally, the numerical modelling carried out in this study can be applied in the preliminary design of track substructure where a wide range of subballast aggregates and geocell mattresses with varying strengths and stiffness can be considered.


In this paper we study the impact of the income distribution on innovation through the demand for quality goods. For simplicity, we assume that there are two types of consumers, rich and poor. The income distribution is measured by the population share of the poor and the relative income of the poor. Contrary to the literature, we assume that both are interdependent through education. The larger the income difference between the poor and the rich, the more individuals undergo education, because individuals can become rich through education. Quality goods are first invented, and then produced by oligopolists. Rich consumers have a higher willingness to pay for the better quality than the poor. Hence, the firms' profit depends on the income distribution of consumers. We focus on the separating equilibrium, where goods of different qualities are sold to different consumers. In this equilibrium, a lower relative income of the poor is good for innovation, and a larger population share of the poor is bad for innovation.


A user's single session with a Web search engine may consist of seeking information on single or multiple topics. Some Web search sessions consist of three queries of one word or more. We present findings from a study of three or more-query search sessions on the Alta Vista Web search engines. We examine the degree of multitasking search and information task switching by these Web searchers. A sample of three or more query sessions were filtered from Alta Vista transaction logs from 2002 and qualitatively analyzed. Findings include: (1) 91.3% of three or more query sessions contained multiple topics, (2) multitasking sessions contained frequent topic changes, and (3) there are a broad variety of search topics in multitasking search sessions. Multitasking is a key element within Web search. The implications of our findings for Web design and further research are discussed.