In this essay, I attempt to build a typology of how warfare was financed in ancient India. During the period discussed in this article (1500 BCE–800 CE), most of the polities of the subcontinent followed continental strategy. Hence, they focused on maintaining armies rather than navies. Loot and plunder were adequate for maintaining irregular forces and mercenaries temporarily. Some polities which depended on taxing overseas commerce and gathering tributes proved to be rickety. For maintaining a standing disciplined, trained and loyal army, a regular income in cash from taxation of settled agriculture with the aid of a centralised hierarchical bureaucracy was necessary.


Arteriographic findings of neovascularity and fistula formation between coronary arteries and left atrium have occasionally been described in association with left atrial thrombosis in patients with mitral valve disease. The validity of these coronary arteriographic findings in diagnosis of atrial thrombi has been evaluated in 112 patients with mitral valve disease. Comparison was made with surgery. The study furnished these diagnostic values: sensitivity 70%, specificity 85%, positive predictive value 72%. Even if this angiographic finding is complementary in diagnosis of atrial thrombosis, its identification during coronary arteriography in patients with mitral valve disease is useful. Its detection could improve diagnostic prediction of thrombosis, especially in patients without previous embolic events or where echocardiography failed to reveal thrombi.


High thermal load on the turbine blade tip surface leads to high temperature corrosion and severe structural damage. One common way is to deliver a part of coolant through bleed holes onto the tip portion for cooling purpose. In this study, numerical simulations are performed to investigate the effects of rotation on the internal tip heat transfer in a simplified rotating two-pass channel with a bleed hole, which is applicable to the internal cooling passage of typical gas turbine blade. The bleed hole is placed on the tip wall of a two-pass channel at different locations, i.e. the ratio of distance from the outlet-side wall to width of the tip wall is 0.07, 0.21, 0.5, 0.78, 0.93, respectively. A smooth channel without bleed hole is used as Baseline. The Reynolds number is fixed at 10,000. The Ro numbers are varied from 0 to 0.4. Results show that a three-dimensional vortex, which is induced by the Coriolis force, is found at the bend region. It transports the fluid from the trailing side to leading side, which is beneficial to enhance tip heat transfer. The middle-mounted hole shows a better heat transfer augmentation compared to other hole arrangement. The rotation have a notable effect on the heat transfer and flow structures. Compared to the smooth channel, the heat transfer augmentation is about 34%.


'His published writings show an elegantly articulate musical discrimination.' Christopher Hogwood's entry in the 1980 New Grove Dictionary was fulsome—and accurate. Still in his 30s, Chris had already authored two major books—and an avalanche of published writings was to follow, for various dictionaries and journals, notably the proceedings of biennial conferences at The International Centre for Clavichord Studies, of which Chris was co-director. As one obituary put it, essays flew off his desk—on Dowland, Handel, Haydn, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Purcell and many others.


BACKGROUND/AIMS
Fibroglycan (FG) is a major heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG) in the rat liver that is mainly distributed on the surface of hepatocytes. HSPG may play some important roles in the regeneration of liver by interacting with various growth factors such as bFGF and HB-EGF. However, little is known about the function of FG. We reported that after injury caused by D-galactosamine, regeneration started on the following day and peaked on day 2. To clarify the function of FG in liver regeneration, we investigated the gene expression of FG during regeneration after D-galactosamine injury.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Rats were given D-galactosamine on day 0. Liver RNA was collected from day 0 to day 7. The gene expression of FG and beta-actin (as a representative cytoskeleton) was examined by Northern and/or Slot blotting.

RESULTS
FG gene expression was markedly decreased on day 2, but totally recovered on day 3. In contrast, beta-actin gene expression was markedly increased on day 2 and returned to the normal level on day 3. Expression of the FG and beta-actin genes was reciprocal.

CONCLUSION
FG expression is transiently suppressed when cytoskeleton gene expression is enhanced at the early phase of liver regeneration.


Abstract This paper revisits the crucial issue of current account imbalances and focuses on the determinants of their gaps between eurozone Member States. We conduct robust estimations of the current account balances for a panel of ten founding euro area economies and construct a measure that allows us to diagnose why some countries have started to diverge from the eurozone mean in the last two decades. Our findings show evidence of remaining differences in countries' economic development, meaning that real macroeconomic convergence has failed in the zone. Price and cost competitiveness, as well as fiscal balances, have also participated in this growing macroeconomic divergence. Overall, while the European authorities cannot influence the part of the current account gaps due to demographic factors, the role of fiscal redistribution and investment at the euro area level could help achieve macroeconomic convergence and thus reduce current accounts' divergence in the zone.


This paper explores the content knowledge of sixteen experienced teachers in an area of the Geography curriculum that has previously been investigated with students - tropical cyclone causes, patterns and processes. Data collected using a questionnaire, drawing task and semistructured interview enabled the analysis of the teachers' conceptual knowledge and depth of understanding. Three categories of conceptual knowledge were identified including: concepts already understood by the teachers; concepts where understanding developed throughout the interview; and concepts that were less regularly understood and resistant to change. The paper concludes with the implications of these findings for classroom practice and the development of Geography teachers' pedagogical content knowledge. Strategies for promoting the development of Geography teachers' substantive (content) knowledge are also explored.


One way to better protect combustible materials against initiating fires is the use of flame retardants. Every day we come across new innovations particularly in the areas of flame retardant fibres and chemicals. This study investigates fire retardancy effect of boron on two cotton fabrics. Boron can soluble in water, colourless and capable of melting by heat. Boron is highly resistant to fire due to the melting temperature of 2300 ◦C. Because of this property, it is used as a flame-retardant material. The objective of this study was to examine the feasibility of imparting flame-retarding functions to different textile materials through the application of boric acid with impregnation methods. Different concentrations of boric acid nanoparticles were examined to optimize the flameretarding functions. Eventually, 45◦ inclined combustion test are applied to the samples and examined the changes in strength of the samples. In this research; the aim is to bring in flame-retarding functions to different fabrics.


Contextual coaching is a process that emphasizes the importance of an organization's environment or context on leadership development work. It recognizes that certain attributes in an organization's context like strategy, the organization's attitude towards development, prevailing leadership style or feedback quality can have disproportionate impact on coaching outcomes and the sustainability of coaching work. Further, the process posits that achieving alignment between the contextual factors most relevant to the coaching work, the developmental objectives of the client and organizational goals and expectations, will result in better outcomes for both the client and the sponsoring firm (Gorrell & Hoover 2009). Although it is accepted that context surrounds all coaching work (Johns, 2006), there is an absence of empirical research on how it influences coaching effectiveness and sustained behavior change in organizations. This paper examines the perceived presence of contextual factors in an organization, considers how coaches incorporate them in practice, and suggests a framework to enhance coaching outcomes. The multi-phased qualitative/quantitative study utilizes the coach's perspective to identify which contextual factors they most incorporate into their work and which factors they believe are most influential in promoting the sustainability of behavior change by the coaching client.


The possibility to finely control nanostructured cubic ferrites (MFe2O4) paves the way to design materials with the desired magnetic properties for specific applications. However, the strict and complex interrelation among the chemical composition, size, polydispersity, shape and surface coating renders their correlation with the magnetic properties not trivial to predict. In this context, this work aims to discuss the magnetic properties and the heating abilities of Zn-substituted cobalt ferrite nanoparticles with different zinc contents (ZnxCo1−xFe2O4 with 0 < x < 0.6), specifically prepared with similar particle sizes (∼7 nm) and size distributions having the crystallite size (∼6 nm) and capping agent amount of 15%. All samples have high saturation magnetisation (Ms) values at 5 K (>100 emu g ). The increase in the zinc content up to x = 0.46 in the structure has resulted in an increase of the saturation magnetisation (Ms) at 5 K. High Ms values have also been revealed at room temperature (∼90 emu g) for both CoFe2O4 and Zn0.30Co0.70Fe2O4 samples and their heating ability has been tested. Despite a similar saturation magnetisation, the specific absorption rate value for the cobalt ferrite is three times higher than the Zn-substituted one. DC magnetometry results were not sufficient to justify these data, the experimental conditions of SAR and static measurements being quite different. The synergic combination of DC with AC magnetometry and Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy represents a powerful tool to get new insights into the design of suitable heat mediators for magnetic fluid hyperthermia.


In this document, we consider the effects of a land reform on economic and demographic growth by a family-optimization model with sharecropping, endogenous fertility and status seeking. We show that tenant farming is the major obstacle to escaping the Malthusian trap with high fertility and low productivity. A land reform provides peasant families higher returns for their investments in land, encouraging them to increase their productivity of land rather than their family size. This decreases fertility and increases productivity in agriculture in the short and long runs. The European demographic history provides supporting evidence for this.


ABSTRACT Professional identity is how professionals identify themselves in their work role. Practicing clinicians working in multidisciplinary teams soon discover their professional identities must broaden and mobilize so that they can work seamlessly alongside others to maximize health and social care outcomes. Methods to mobilize professional identity are not well understood: our study aimed to identify opportunities for facilitating flexibility of professional identity within the context of multidisciplinary teams. We undertook an appreciative inquiry, with eight health and social care professions, to (i) assess how the mobilization of professional identity can be translated into the workplace, (ii) outline a mechanism that will support the mobilization of professional identity for health and social care practitioners working within a multidisciplinary team, and (iii) identify the implications of this research for managers of multidisciplinary teams. We found that developing role models and shared workplace learning environments were important approaches to facilitate understanding of other professions. Participants suggested developing a work-based intervention to mobilize professional identity. This study offers a unique insight into the mobilization of professional identity within multidisciplinary teams; development of a programme for a work-based education resource, centering on the 'role of others', power and trust; and identification of the implications for managers of multidisciplinary teams.


This research was conducted to examine the structure of backyard poultry in Bingol province, and to demonstrate its problems and the solutions. Study material consisted of the data obtained through face-to-face surveys with producers in the villages of Bingol province. The villages were selected by by simple random sampling method to represent sample population, it was aimed, in the surveys conducted for manufacturers, to determine socio-economic status of the producers, their objectives for raising village chicken , management level , knowledge about housing system and manufacturer problems . According to the results, 75.7% of producers are male, while 24.3% are female. The average ages of producers are calculated as 45.2. Diseases are seen mostly in September-November (40.4%) and disease incidence was determined to be 53.2%. It was found out that concentrate feed was almost never used in poultry feeding in the villages. It was confirmed that mostly wastes and/or byproduct feeds (91%) pasture (59%) and grains (28.2%) were used in poultry feeding. As a result, it is necessary to give information and to support through experts and institutions about fighting against the disease to the growers.


The paper presents the research into the effect of an integrated pozzolanic addition containing glass powder and metakaolin on the physical and mechanical properties and the resistance to an alkali aggregate reaction in mortars incorporating crushed glass. Six batches of specimens were made for the tests. Sand was replaced with 25 % of crushed waste glass in all the specimens. Cement was replaced with 5 % of glass power (GP) and 5 % – 25 % of metakaolin (MK) by weight. Specimens containing 20 % of the compound pozzolanic addition were found to have better physical and mechanical properties and higher resistance to alkali aggregate reactions compared to the reference specimens without the addition. Additional hydration products were observed in X-ray and microstructure tests. The formation of new products confirms the results of the tests of the physical and mechanical properties and resistance to alkali aggregate reactions. Mortars incorporating crushed glass were found to be suitable for applications in potentially corrosive environments when modified with a 20 % of a compound pozzolanic addition consisting of 5 % waste glass powder and 15 % waste metakaolin.


Cleft lip and palate is the most common craniofacial birth defect, and its etiology has been the focus of many reports in the literature. It is well accepted that both genetics and environment play a role in the condition; however, the authors still have not been able to translate what have been learned into clinical applications. This paper provides an interpretation of 2 possible mechanisms leading to cleft lip and palate in humans. First, the authors reflect on the known association between maternal cigarette smoking and risk for cleft lip and palate and the proposed hypoxic mechanism put forward to explain this association. Second, the authors reflect on the difference in frequency between left and right cleft lip and propose that without more extensive clinical definitions, it will be difficult to definitely unveil genetic targets that can be used for counseling.


In most of the introductions to Rawls and contemporary contractarianism, Rawls is seen as the representative of Kantian contractarianism. He is understood as inheriting a contractarian tradition that can be traced back to Kant and which has inspired followers such as Barry and Scanlon. This paper argues that the label does not fit Rawls. While a Kantian contractarian would presuppose a monistic conception of practical reason, Rawls is a hybrid contractarian who presupposes a dual conception. I shall first argue that the way in which a contractarian model is labeled is determined by its conception of practical reason. Then I show that Rawls and Kantian contractarians assume different conceptions of practical reason, and therefore should be seen as belonging to two strands of thought. I further argue that, although Rawls acknowledges his intellectual affiliation with Kant, he cannot be considered a Kantian contractarian in the commonly understood way. In his Lectures on the History of Moral Philosophy, Rawls interprets Kant as endorsing a hybrid contractarian model that is similar to his. By understanding Rawls as a hybrid contractarian and not confusing his philosophical project with that of Kantian contractarians, Rawls's contribution to the history of contractarianism can be better evaluated.


ABSTRACT Nitric oxide (NO) is a labile inorganic free radical produced by NO synthase from the substrate l-arginine in various cells and tissues including endothelial cells. A substantial elevation of nitrite levels indicative of NO production occurred in cultures ofCowdria ruminantium-infected bovine pulmonary endothelial cells (BPEC) incubated in medium alone. Exposure of the infected cultures to recombinant bovine gamma interferon (BorIFN-γ) resulted in more rapid production of NO, reduced viability of C. ruminantium, and induction of endothelial cell death. Significant inhibition of NO production was noted after addition of the NO synthase inhibitor N-monomethyl-l-arginine (l-NMMA), indicating that the increase in production occurred via the inducible NO synthase pathway. Reduction in the infectivity of C. ruminantium elementary bodies (EBs) occurred in a dose-dependent manner after incubation with the NO donor moleculeS-nitroso-N-acetyl-dl-penicillamine (SNAP) prior to infection of endothelial cells. The level of infection in cultures maintained in SNAP was reduced in a dose-dependent manner with significant negative correlation between the final level of infection on day 7 and the level of SNAP (r = −0.96). It was established that pretreatment and cultivation of C. ruminantium EBs with the NO donor molecule SNAP reduced infectivity to cultures and viability of EBs with the implication that release of NO in vivo following infection of endothelial cells may have an effect upon the multiplication of the agent in the host animal and may be involved in the pathogenesis of heartwater through the effect of this molecule upon circulation.


It is difficult to generate p–n junctions in atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) because of the great challenge of selective doping. First-principles calculations demonstrate that the electronic states in monolayer MoS2 could be substantially tuned through contact with hydrogenated SiC sheets, as a result of interface-induced electronic doping. Specifically, monolayer MoS2 exhibits metallic characteristics when put in contact with the Si termination of SiC–H (MoS2/SiC–H), but exhibits ambipolar type polarization when in contact with the C termination of CSi–H (MoS2/CSi–H). Furthermore, monolayer MoS2 can be switched from p-type on H–Si terminations (MoS2/H–SiC and MoS2/H–SiC–H) to n-type on H–C terminations (MoS2/H–CSi and MoS2/H–CSi–H). Accordingly, p–n junctions can be generated in bilayer MoS2 if a fully hydrogenated monolayer SiC is inserted between the layers. In addition, the staggered band alignment of the top and bottom monolayers of MoS2 leads to considerable rectification of current. The results are helpful for the design of TMD based nanoelectronic devices.


Mosasaurus hoffmanni from Devrekani, Turkey is among the geologically youngest of the ancient aquatic predators. In addition, M. hoffmanni is the only Mesozoic vertebrate reported from Turkey, and has proven useful in the understanding of paleogeographic segregation within Mosasauridae. Here we provide an analysis of the histology and geochemistry of a functional maxillary tooth of this Turkish mosasaur. Dental histology included descriptions of lines of von Ebner and contour lines of Owen in dentine, as well as microstructural details pertaining to the enamel structure. Considering the spacing of the lines of von Ebner, the odontoblast deposition of the dentine (at the level of sectioning of the crown) was estimated to have taken approximately 511 days. A replacement tooth was fortuitously discovered upon sectioning the functional tooth, and given the thickness of the dentine visible, it is estimated that it took 233 days to deposit the centripetal layer of dentine. Energy dispersive spectroscopy, x-ray diffractometry, fusion disc x-ray fluorescence and Sr isotope measurements suggested that the tooth had undergone heterogeneous diagenetic alteration. Despite signs of alteration, the anatomy and chemistry of the M. hoffmanni teeth provided significant paleobiological and paleo-environmental insight.


Precise freeform microchannels within an aqueous environment have several biomedical applications but remain a challenge to fabricate. Carbohydrate glass materials have shown potential for three-dimensionally (3D) printing precise, microscale structures and are suitable as a sacrificial material to reconstruct complex channel architectures, but due to the rapid dissolution kinetics in hydrogels and the aqueous environment, protective coatings are required. Here, conformal coatings were applied to carbohydrate structures via surface-initiated photopolymerization (SIP) by incorporating a photoinitiator (PI) into freeform 3D printed isomalt structures using a custom 3D printer. Structures were then immersed into a photocurable prepolymer bath and exposed to light for reaction initiation. To achieve uniform distribution of photoinitiator molecules in 3D printed constructs, miscibility between commercial photoinitiators and isomalt was modeled using the group contribution method. A dye-based, type-two photoinitiator, Eosin Y disodium salt (EY), was selected for its miscibility with isomalt and stability under high temperature. A previously described Eosin Y (EY)/triethanolamine (TEA) radical polymerization system was used to polymerize poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA). Attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR), surface morphology, and swelling ratio characterizations via SIP were performed. Coatings around freeform structures and solid surfaces were presented to demonstrate the capability of coating complex architectures. This coating method should facilitate the application of 3D sacrificial molding in a variety of hydrogels toward building biomimetic vascular constructs.


One of the main features of modern buildings is the improved isolation. This leads to a sinking power requirement combined with a more uneven time dependent behaviour. The economic efficiency of the widespread water heating systems is endangered by that. So this thesis compares the total costs of a gas-fired water heating system to the costs of an electric direct heating system. The calculation is based on the new VDI 2067. A new method of calculating the combined external temperature is introduced. As a result of this thesis it turned out that an electric direct heating system is in many cases the alternative with lower total costs.


Differential quadrature method is applied in this work to solve singular two-point boundary value problems with a linear or non-linear nature. It is demonstrated through numerical examples that accurate results for the problem with different types of boundary conditions can be obtained using a considerably small number of grid points. The relative, root mean square and maximum absolute errors in computed solutions are given to show the performance of the method.


BACKGROUND
Systematic assessment of pain is necessary for adequate treatment of pain. Patient self-reported pain is a superior assessment but is of limited use for intubated patients in the intensive care unit. For these patients, the critical-care pain observation tool (CPOT) has been developed.

AIM
To perform a validation of the Dutch CPOT.

STUDY DESIGN
Cross-sectional observational study.

METHODS
The Dutch translation of the CPOT was used. Clinimetric characteristics were analysed in a cross-sectional design. Internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) was tested by collecting CPOT scores in patients at rest and during turning. Inter-rater reliability was tested by collecting CPOT scores simultaneously by two different nurses who were blinded to each other's scores. Criterion validity (area under the curve, sensitivity and specificity) of the Dutch CPOT (index test) was analysed using patient self-reported pain (reference test).

RESULTS
Cronbach's alpha was 0.56. During rest, the inter-rater reliability was 0.38 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.20-0.53). During turning, the inter-rater reliability was 0.56 (95% CI: 0.42-0.68; area under the curve = 0.65 [95% CI 0.57-0.73]). At a threshold CPOT score of 2, the sensitivity and specificity were 39% and 85%, respectively.

CONCLUSION
The Dutch CPOT is available for pain assessment in intubated patients unable to self-report. Inter-rater reliability is moderate. At the threshold, a CPOT score of 2, the sensitivity was 39% and the specificity of 85%.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE
The CPOT is easy to use for systematic assessment of pain. Additional information about the threshold is valuable for use in daily practice.


Effects on pulmonary cryptococcosis and aspergillosis and the pharmacokinetics of the new antimycotic agent, fluconazole, were examined. 1. Cases Pulmonary cryptococcosis: Two cases, 30 and 29 year-old men who were suspected of pulmonary tuberculosis by routine health examinations. Pulmonary aspergillosis: A 65 year-old man with collagen disease and a 62 year-old man with bacilli free cavities of tuberculosis. 2. Method Fluconazole was administered at a dose level of 400 mg/day per os for 2 to 4 weeks. One exception was the 65 year-old aspergillosis patient who was administered with fluconazole 50 mg/day for 4 weeks, 100 mg/day for 6 weeks then 400 mg/day for 4 weeks. Sera of the cases 1, 2 and 4 were harvested before, and 1/2, 1, 2, 4, 8 and 24 hours after administration of fluconazole on the 1st and the 7th day, and in every morning until the 9th day before administration and stored in a freezer. Serum fluconazole concentrations were determined at Pfizer Taito Laboratory. As pharmacodynamic parameters, T1/2, Tmax and Cmax were calculated. 3. Result Effects of fluconazole on 2 of the 2 cases with cryptococcosis were excellent. On the other hand, the effects on the aspergillosis were poor. The average Tmax was 2-4 hours. The average C maxs were 10.3 micrograms/ml on the 1st day and 30.6 micrograms/ml on the 7th day. Serum concentrations reached the plateau on the 5th-7th day, and the average C min (concentration before administration) was 21-23 micrograms/ml. Average T1/2s were 34.4 hours on the 1st day and 37.2 hours on the last (32th) day. 4. Conclusion Fluconazole may be regarded as the promising remedy for pulmonary cryptococcosis but not for pulmonary aspergillosis.


Reaction of calix[4]arene with alkaline earth metals (Ca/Sr/Ba) in methanol followed by the addition of various titanium(IV) sources afforded novel dimeric 1:1 alkaline earth/titanium(IV) calix[4]arene complexes. In each complex the central core of the crystallographically imposed centrosymmetric dimer consists of a rhombus of alternating alkaline earth metals and μ3-oxo-centres. Five terminal methanol ligands form seven-coordinate calcium and strontium centres, while the barium centres are bridged by two additional methanol ligands, making them nine-coordinate. Each oxo centre is the apical ligand of a square-pyramidal titanium(IV) centre, whose basal plane ligands are the four phenolate oxygens from a calix[4]arene in the symmetrical cone-conformation. Deprotonation of calix[4]arene with potassium metal, followed by the addition of a titanium(IV) source containing at least one acetylacetonate ligand, formed a mixed potassium/titanium complex based on one calix[4]arene. The potassium cation in this complex binds within the π-basic calix[4]arene cavity, whilst titanium is octahedrally complexed in the exo-position, by four phenolates and one acetylacetonate. The alkaline earth titanium dimers and potassium/titanium monomers could be interconverted merely by changing the solvent, with the appropriate cations and ligands present in solution. (© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2003)


BACKGROUND
Treatment options remain limited for patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). We evaluated eribulin mesylate (E7389), a nontaxane halichondrin B analog microtubule inhibitor, in patients with metastatic CRPC with or without previous taxane exposure.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Men with histologically proven CRPC, with or without prior taxane exposure, were enrolled in an open-label, single-arm phase II trial. Patients received eribulin mesylate 1.4 mg/m(2) as a 2- to 5-min i.v. bolus infusion on days 1 and 8 of a 21-day cycle. The primary efficacy end point was prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response rate.

RESULTS
In total, 108 patients were assessable for safety (50 were taxane-pretreated) and 105 for efficacy in the per-protocol population. The median age of patients was 71 years and median number of cycles was 4. PSA decreases of ≥ 50% were achieved in 22.4% and 8.5% of taxane-naive and taxane-pretreated patients, respectively. The most common grade 3/4 adverse event was neutropenia, seen in 22.4% of chemo-naive and 40% of taxane-pretreated men. Grade 3 peripheral neuropathy occurred in none of the taxane-naive patients and 6.0% of taxane-pretreated patients.

CONCLUSION
Eribulin mesylate demonstrated activity and a relatively favorable toxicity profile in metastatic CRPC.


In surface irrigation, uniformity of longitudinal slope and depth of tillage are very important factors in advance duration time. Inappropriate tillage and land preparation can cause uneven surfaces and non-uniform slopes in fields which is especially important in furrow irrigation due to their influence on advance times. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of non-uniform longitudinal slope due to inappropriate tillage on advance and recession phases in furrow irrigation system, which plays an important role in irrigation uniformity and application efficiency. For this purpose 12 furrows, each 42 m long were made with different longitudinal slopes and a width of 0.6 meter. The number of irrigation was 5 with irrigation interval of 4 days and input discharge of 0.8 lps. Results showed that advance times are very different in furrows especially in the first irrigation and varied from 19min up to 50min. The values for recession time were 9 to 29 min. The results of these five irrigation events indicate that non-uniform slope has significant effect on advance and recession time. Therefore with attention to the water crisis and the need to increase efficiency and uniformity of water distribution in surface irrigation, using modern machinery and paying more attention to accurate preparation of land are necessary in order to obtain uniform furrows in fields.


—It is accepted that digital watermarking is quite rele- vant in medical imaging. However, due to the special nature of clinical practice, it is often required that watermarking not introduce irreversible distortions to medical images. The electronic clinical atlas has such a need of "lossless" watermarking. We present two tailored reversible watermarking schemes for the clinical atlas by exploiting its inherent characteristics. We have implemented the schemes and our experimental results look very promising.


Multiple object tracking is a broadly used task in multiple applications, all the way from bioengineering to security applications. In this paper we propose a variation of RVOS [7] by adding the center estimation of detected instances, by means of a second head in the decoder which is assigned the task of detecting the corresponding object's bounding box arithmetic center. We have trained the model using three variants of the cross-entropy loss, which has been adapted to tackle the class imbalance caused by the fact that the center of an object is represented by only one pixel of the image, and have obtained some promising results.


The present study is a meta-analysis of the effectiveness of HIV prevention interventions for women in the USA. Twenty-four articles from 1989-1997 were included. We evaluated five ethnic groupings (All Ethnicities Combined, African-American, White, Hispanic and a Mixed Ethnicity group) over four time periods (post-test, less than two months after the intervention, 2-3 months after the intervention and 6-24 months after the intervention) on three HIV-related sexuality outcome variables (HIV/AIDS knowledge, self-efficacy and sexual risk reduction behaviour). The HIV interventions appear effective at improving knowledge about HIV/AIDS and increasing sexual risk reduction behaviours for all ethnicities examined at all follow-up periods, with one exception. The findings for self-efficacy are less consistent. The interventions were less consistently effective for African-American women, for whom significant improvements in feelings of self-efficacy were only seen six months or longer after the intervention. The present analysis elucidates ethnic differences which may have previously been obscured while demonstrating convincingly that HIV interventions are generally effective for women of many different ethnicities.


This article explores the guidelines used to theoretically and empirically determine the bengkilas' measurement of Limas house to understand how the social dimension is integrated into the vernacular housing design process. This goal was achieved by conducting a multi-case study, mixed methods, interviews with four interviewees chosen purposively because of their limas house ownership and recognition of expertise in its architecture, and measurements on 30 limas houses in Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia. The data was collected quantitatively through measurements of the dimensions of the house and qualitatively through interviews with community leaders. Previous research literature was also used to cross-examine various interviewees' statements. This literature was likely to be local studies that cannot be avoided due to the lack of international publications related to the limas house. The guideline used in determining the size of bengkilas is the dulang module system and the step count system. The social dimension can be seen from the priority of space to share food in the house based on the dish module. Based on the study results, a theory was developed which explained that the origins of bengkilas were semi-public space instead of social stratification. Governments trying to revitalize vernacular housing for reasons of tourism, culture, or preservation, can build on the findings of this study to build sustainable housing design. This article contributes to the understanding of vernacular design that exists today.


. The main feature of the signs of health in the animal habitus and behaviour can be characterised as the readiness to adequately (for a species) serve the need for impression (in animalistic elements of the Umwelt). The signs of disease, however multifarious and diverse, generally display certain lack of Umwelt-oriented attentiveness, alertness. Attention of deeply afflicted animals is strongly Innenwelt-oriented; and in some species a set of such signs, suggesting sickness or mortal disease is used as a set of traits in the mimicry of dying. The semiotic factors in health-disease relationships are apparently connected with intuition — like responses creating in the semiosphere a structure of Umwelt-Innenwelt polarized tensions, important in ecological and evolutional developments.


How can parks contribute to the overarching project of helping cities become more ecologically sustainable? The history of urban parks in America reveals more concern with social problems than with ecological sustainability. Four types of city parks have been identified—the Pleasure Ground, the Reform Park, the Recreation Facility, and the Open Space System—and each of them respond to social issues, not ecological ones. Yet today, ecological problems are becoming one of our biggest social concerns, so a new urban park type focused on social solutions to ecological problems would be consistent with this pattern. Using the same social and physical criteria that described the previous four models, Part I describes a fifth model, the Sustainable Park, which began to emerge in the late 1990s. Part II postulates three general attributes of this new kind of park: (1) self-sufficiency in regard to material resources and maintenance, (2) solving larger urban problems outside of park boundaries, and (3) creating new standards for aesthetics and landscape management in parks and other urban landscapes. It also explores policy implications of these attributes regarding park design and management, the practice of landscape architecture, citizen participation, and ecological education.


After defining the $k$-Lucas numbers of similar form to as the $k$-Fibonacci numbers are defined, a table with the polynomic expression of the first numbers of Lucas is indicated. The coefficients of these polynomials, properly placed, constitute a table that receives the name of Lucas triangle. Later, we study some properties of this triangle and the sequences obtained from this one, either are by rows, or by diagonals or antidiagonals. Finally we generate the classical Pascal trinagle from the $k$-Lucas triangle.


"Matiere" plays an important role in paintings to create an atmosphere to tableaux. We investigated "matiere" or texture features of Paul Klee's paintings because he seems to have tried to use many painting techniques and materials intending to produce variety of textures that create respective atmosphere in each painting. As a first step to know texture feature of color images of his paintings we analyzed grayscaled images of paintings in seven composition categories by 2-D wavelet transform. Then we calculate an image characteristic amount from the result of wavelet multi-resolution analysis of the painting images to clarify their texture feature quantitatively. As a result, the image characteristic amounts of painting images we calculated actually indicate that Klee created many different textures by using many kinds of painting techniques and materials. This result indicates that we can use the image characteristic amounts as objective index of texture feature or "matiere" of paintings.


Estimates of the prevalence of hypertension in the United States have varied owing to differences in interpretation and extrapolation of the data. In 1978 the National High Blood Pressure Education Program issued a consensus document estimating the prevalence of high blood pressure in the United States. Results from the 1976-1980 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES II) allow for a revised estimate. The purpose of this report was to arrive at consensus on a prevalence figure and also to provide information on the distribution of hypertension by blood pressure level, age, race, and sex. The prevalence estimates used are based on hypertension defined as blood pressure measurements greater than or equal to 140/90 mm Hg (average of 3 readings taken on 1 occasion) or self-reported taking of antihypertensive medication. Based on NHANES II data, blacks have a higher prevalence than whites (38% vs 29%) and men show a higher prevalence than women (33% vs 27%). These data again confirm the tendency for the prevalence of hypertension to increase with age in the U.S. population — this holds true for blacks, whites, men, and women. Progress in high blood pressure control efforts has traditionally been measured by changes in the status of awareness, treatment, and control. Changing the hypertension threshold from 160/95 to 140/90 mm Hg, as recently recommended, substantially lowers these measures: the percentage of hypertensives aware of their condition falls from 74% to 54%, the percentage taking antihypertensive medication falls from 56% to 33%, and the percentage with controlled hypertension decreases from 34% to 11 %. These apparent decreases reflect a change in the frame of reference rather than changes in hypertension treatment status. In addition, hypertension prevalence rates from NHANES II (1976-1980) were applied to 1983 Bureau of the Census population figures to estimate the total number of Americans with hypertension and their distribution by age, sex, race, and severity of blood pressure level. Since NHANES II did not include persons 75 years of age or older in its sample, data from a pilot study on systolic hypertension in the elderly were used for prevalence estimates in this age group. Estimates for children under 6 years of age and hypertensive persons controlling their pressures without medication could not be included in this analysis because of a lack of reliable data on these groups. (Hypertension 7: 457-468, 1985)


Comparing and Contrasting the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the European Union challenges the use of uncontextualised comparisons of COVID-19 cases and deaths in member states during the period when Europe was the epicentre of the pandemic. This timely study looks behind the headlines and the statistics to demonstrate the value for knowledge exchange and policy learning of comparisons that are founded on an in-depth understanding of key socio-demographic and public health indicators within their policy settings. The book adopts innovative, integrated, multi-disciplinary international perspectives to track and assess a fast-moving topical subject in an accessible format. It offers a template for analysing policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and for using evidence-based comparisons to inform and support policy development.


The bioproduction of methionol through fermentation was performed by Kluyveromyces lactis KL71 in coconut cream supplemented with L-methionine (Met). This bioprocess was successfully optimized with the Taguchi method applying the L 27 (3 13 ) orthogonal array. Among these studied factors, shaking speed was found to be the most significant factor that affected the bioproduction of methionol, followed by incubation time, pH level and Met concentration. The optimum fermentation conditions were determined as follows: 0.45% (w/v) of Met, 48 h of incubation, shaking speed of 160 rpm, 0.05% (w/v) of yeast extract (YE), 0 mg/L of diammonium phosphate (DAP) and pH of 6.3. Under the optimum conditions, the signal to noise (S/N) ratio achieved was 59.9 decibels (dB), which was in good agreement with the predicted S/N ratio of 58.2 dB. The average yield of methionol obtained under the optimum fermentation conditions was 990.1 ± 49.7 µg/mL. This indicates that the Taguchi method was effective for the optimization of bioproduction of methionol by K. lactis .


Acanthamoeba is a free-living amoeba widely distributed in the environment which exists as two stages in their life cycle: a motile and trophic replicating trophozoite and a resistant cyst stage. In recent years, the incidence of infections due to Acanthamoeba spp. has shown a remarkable increase. This parasite is the causative agent of a sight-threatening infection of the cornea known as Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) and a fatal disease of the central nervous system known as Granulomatous Amebic Encephalitis (GAE) mainly in immunocompromised patients. Although the trophozoite form is much more readily eliminated, at present there are not harmless effective treatments or a single drug that can eliminate both cystic and trophozoite forms. A particular set of compounds known as Minor Grove Binders (MGBs) have the characteristic of binding specifically to minor groove region of double-stranded DNA. The main effects of these MGBs are their ability to interfere with biological functions of DNA such as transcription machinery, also induction of apoptosis, hence cell death. These molecules have received great attention since they can be empirically screened and iteratively refined via chemical synthesis to target various entities such as tumors, bacteria, viruses and parasites. MGBs have been tested in vitrousing a colorimetric alamar Blue viability cell assayagainst Acanthamoeba castellanii Neff strain. To date, 2 hit compounds were able to inhibit trophozoites producing IC50s of 1.56 µM and 12.5 µM.


This paper describes a semi-dynamic CMOS flip-flop family featuring embedded threshold logic functions. First, we present the concept of a flip-flop featuring embedded threshold logic, and then we describe the circuit and its operation. Subsequently, we present the design issues and the experimental results of such threshold logic flip-flops, obtained in 0.25 /spl mu/m CMOS technology. It is shown in this paper that we successfully manufactured and tested flip-flops having embedded threshold functions with up to 16 data inputs. The proposed flip-flop featuring embedded threshold logic is very suitable for high-performance pipelined arithmetic units since this feature greatly reduces the pipeline overhead, by allowing the elimination of one or more levels of logic from the path leading to the flip-flop.


Purpose: Detecting gene mutations by two competing biomarkers, circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and ctDNA has gradually paved a new diagnostic avenue for personalized medicine. We performed a comprehensive analysis to compare the diagnostic value of CTCs and ctDNA for gene mutations in lung cancer. Methods: Publications were electronically searched in PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science as of July 2018. Pooled sensitivity, specificity, and AUC, each with a 95% CI, were yielded. Subgroup analyses and sensitivity analyses were conducted. Quality assessment of included studies was also performed. Results: From 4,283 candidate articles, we identified 47 articles with a total of 7,244 patients for qualitative review and meta-analysis. When detecting EGFR , the CTC and ctDNA groups had pooled sensitivity of 75.4% (95% CI 0.683–0.817) and 67.1% (95% CI 0.647–0.695), respectively. When testing KRAS , pooled sensitivity was 38.7% (95% CI 0.266–0.519) in the CTC group and 65.1% (95% CI 0.558–0.736) in the ctDNA group. The diagnostic performance of ctDNA in testing ALK and BRAF was also evaluated. Heterogeneity among the 47 articles was acceptable. Conclusion: ctDNA might be a more promising biomarker with equivalent performance to CTCs when detecting EGFR and its detailed subtypes, and superior diagnostic capacity when testing KRAS and ALK . In addition, the diagnostic performance of ctDNA and CTCs depends on the detection methods greatly, and this warrants further studies to explore more sensitive methods.


We develop the basics of module theory with an emphasis on categorical constructions. Elements of free modules have a natural interpretation as finite polysets, generalized multisets where elements can also occur a negative or even fractional number of times. Many queries traditionally ex-pressed in SQL correspond to multilinear maps on polysets. By employing symbolic constructors for scalar multiplication and tensor products we obtain more compact representations that facilitate run-time optimizations using algebraic identities and yield asymptotic speed-ups compared to the conventional stream-of-tuples representation in database systems. In particular we show that a straightforward functional join algorithm is efficient even for cyclic joins. From sets and multisets to


We agree with Falzon et al. [1] that treatment of isoniazid-resistant tuberculosis (TB) is an important issue. The first-line re-treatment regimen for previously treated TB patients, which was known as the category II regimen, comprised 8 months of isoniazid, rifampicin and ethambutol supplemented by streptomycin for the initial 2 months, and pyrazinamide for the initial 3 months (2SHRZE/HRZE/5HRE). It was introduced in the collaborative programme of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease in which the first-line initial regimen for new TB patients was an 8-month regimen comprising 2 months of isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinamide and streptomycin, followed by 6 months of isoniazid and thioacetazone (2HRZS/6HT) [2]. At that time, the prevalence of multidrug-resistant (MDR)-TB among previously treated TB cases was relatively low and the challenge was mainly isoniazid resistance [3]. The category II regimen was designed to overcome isoniazid resistance and to reduce the risk of acquired resistance to rifampicin. It performed fairly well in settings where resistance to isoniazid predominated among previously treated TB patients [4]. However, with the wide use of a 6-month regimen including rifampicin throughout the whole treatment course (2HRZE/4HR) for new TB patients (category I regimen), the prevalence of rifampicin resistance among previously treated TB patients increased substantially [5], rendering the category II regimen ineffective and problematic. Once rifampicin resistance is excluded, it might be wiser to use the category II regimen in TB retreatment http://ow.ly/KLJE30hDX0I


Bispecific Abs hold great potential for immunotherapy of malignant diseases. Because the first components of this new drug class are now entering clinical trials, all aspects of their mode of action should be well understood. Several studies proved that CD8+ and CD4+ effector T cells can be successfully redirected and activated against tumor cells by bispecific Abs both in vitro and in vivo. To our knowledge, this study provides the first evidence that bispecific Abs can also redirect and activate regulatory T cells against a surface Ag, independently of their TCR specificity. After cross-linking, via a bispecific Ab, redirected regulatory T cells upregulate the activation markers CD69 and CD25, as well as regulatory T cell-associated markers, like CTLA-4 and FOXP3. The activated regulatory T cells secrete the immunosuppressive cytokine IL-10, but, in contrast to CD8+ and CD4+ effector T cells, almost no inflammatory cytokines. In addition, the redirected regulatory T cells are able to suppress effector functions of activated autologous CD4+ T cells both in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, the potential risk for activation of regulatory T cells should be taken into consideration when bispecific Abs are applied for the treatment of malignant diseases. In contrast, an Ag/tissue-specific redirection of regulatory T cells with bispecific Abs holds great potential for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and graft rejection.


tentative): This talk will outline the types of data that public health officials seek from mathematical models during a public health emergency. The talk will describe how modeling is integrated into CDC's emergency response structure and illustrate the type of questions that have been addressed during large-scale responses. Also discussed will be the conditions and constraints under which the response modeling teams must work under in order to provide data useful to decision makers. BIO: Dr. Martin I. Meltzer is the Lead of the Health Economics and Modeling Unit (HEMU), and a Distinguished Consultant in the Division of Preparedness and Emerging Infections, CDC in Atlanta, GA. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Zimbabwe in 1982, and Masters and a Doctorate in Applied Economics from Cornell University, NY, in 1987 and 1990, respectively. From 1990 to mid-1995, he was on the faculty at the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Florida. In 1995, he moved to CDC, where he was in the first class of Prevention Effectiveness (health economists) Fellows. He lead the modeling teams supporting CDC's response to the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, including producing monthly estimates of cases, hospitalizations and deaths, as well as estimating impact of the vaccination program and use of influenza anti-viral drugs. Other responses in which he lead the modeling activities include estimating the residual risk associated with the 2012 contaminated steroid injectable products that caused fungal meningitis among patients, and the 2014 Ebola epidemics in West Africa. Examples of his research include estimating the impact of the 2009 influenza pandemic, the modeling of potential responses to smallpox as a bioterrorist weapon, and assessing the economics of controlling diseases such as rabies, dengue, hepatitis A, meningitis, Lyme, and malaria. Dr. Meltzer has published approximately 210 publications, including over 100 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals and more than 34 software tools. These tools include FluAid, FluSurge and FluWorkLoss, designed to help state and local public health officials plan and prepare of catastrophic infectious disease events. They have been downloaded more than 100,000 times and have been used by local, state, national and international public health agencies, with jurisdictions exceeding a total of 1 billion persons. He is an associate editor for Emerging Infectious Diseases. He also supervises a number of post-doctoral health economists at CDC. Will Lowe, What shall we do with the humans? Princeton University ABSTRACT: Humans play various roles in social science text analyses, from coding the data, to providing gold standards, to exercising expert judgment on the output of statistical models of text. Increasingly, humans are also involved in the process of training them too. This talk describes some work on removing humans from these roles where we can, using them more efficiently and humanely when we cannot, and embedding them deeper when required. Humans play various roles in social science text analyses, from coding the data, to providing gold standards, to exercising expert judgment on the output of statistical models of text. Increasingly, humans are also involved in the process of training them too. This talk describes some work on removing humans from these roles where we can, using them more efficiently and humanely when we cannot, and embedding them deeper when required. BIO: Will Lowe is Senior Research Specialist in the Department of Politics at Princeton. He is a methodologist specializing in text analysis whose work has appeared in Political Analysis, International Organization, the Journal of Peace Research, Legislative Studies Quarterly, China Quarterly, and European Union Politics. He holds a PhD in Cognitive Science from Edinburgh University, but didn't let that stop him. Drew Linzer, The limitations of fundamentals-based presidential election forecasting Votamatic ABSTRACT: U.S. presidential election forecasts are of widespread interest to political commentators, campaign strategists, research scientists, and the public.We argue that most fundamentalsbased political science forecasts U.S. presidential election forecasts are of widespread interest to political commentators, campaign strategists, research scientists, and the public.We argue that most fundamentalsbased political science forecasts 4 overstate what historical political and economic factors can tell us about the probable outcome of a forthcoming presidential election. Existing approaches generally overlook the uncertainty in coefficient estimates, decisions about model specifications, and the translation from popular vote shares to Electoral College outcomes. We introduce a Bayesian forecasting model for state-level presidential elections that accounts for each of these sources of error, and allows for the inclusion of structural predictors at both the national and state levels. Applying the model to presidential election data from 1952 to 2012, we demonstrate that, for covariates with typical levels of predictive power, the 95% prediction intervals for presidential vote shares should span approximately ±10% at the state level and ±7% at the national level. BIO: Drew Linzer is the Chief Data Scientist at Daily Kos, located in Oakland, CA. A statistician and survey scientist, Drew was previously an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Emory University and professional pollster in California and Washington, DC. In 2012, he ran the election forecasting site votamatic.com. His research has appeared in the American Political Science Review, Journal of the American Statistical Association, International Journal of Forecasting, Political Analysis, Political Science Research and Methods, Journal of Politics, World Politics, Social Science & Medicine, and the Journal of Statistical Software. Drew holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles. Zeynep Tufekci, Computational social science: Considerations for a "dual-use" technology University of North Carolina


Aim To develop a novel global spatial framework for the integration and analysis of ecological and environmental data. Location The global land surface excluding Antarctica. Methods A broad set of climate-related variables were considered for inclusion in a quantitative model, which partitions geographic space into bioclimate regions. Statistical screening produced a subset of relevant bioclimate variables, which were further compacted into fewer independent dimensions using principal components analysis (PCA). An ISODATA clustering routine was then used to classify the principal components into relatively homogeneous environmental strata. The strata were aggregated into global environmental zones based on the attribute distances between strata to provide structure and support a consistent nomenclature. Results The global environmental stratification (GEnS) consists of 125 strata, which have been aggregated into 18 global environmental zones. The stratification has a 30 arcsec resolution (equivalent to 0.86 km2 at the equator). Aggregations of the strata were compared with nine existing global, continental and national bioclimate and ecosystem classifications using the Kappa statistic. Values range between 0.54 and 0.72, indicating good agreement in bioclimate and ecosystem patterns between existing maps and the GEnS. Main conclusions The GEnS provides a robust spatial analytical framework for the aggregation of local observations, identification of gaps in current monitoring efforts and systematic design of complementary and new monitoring and research. The dataset is available for non-commercial use through the GEO portal (http://www.geoportal.org).


The purpose of this paper is to grasp effect of flood puddle to durability of asphalt concrete mixture on road pavement. In this regard, an experimental study was carried out by using Modified Immersion test in order to represent the flood phenomenon and Marshall Immersion test as reference. The experimental treated immersion test during 1, 3, 5, and 7 days to the two types of asphalt mixture, i.e. the mixture containing Retona additive and un-containing it. The research adopted three types of durability indexes to describe asphalt mixture durability, i.e. the retaining strength index (RSI), the first durability index (FDI), and the second durability index (SDI). The results show that Modified Immersion test gave good appearance to grasp deterioration of the mixtures durability due to flood puddle during some days. In further, the asphalt concrete mixtures still retained until seven days immersion, where the mixture containing Retona was more durable than the other mixture.


Realkalisation and desalination are electrochemical repair methods for reinforced concrete structures damaged by carbonation and chloride attack respectively. After completing realkalisation and desalination, surface protection method could be applied for sustaining the repair effect of electrochemical repair methods for a long time. However, past papers reported that the surface coating materials are sometimes deteriorated at an early stage due to the highly alkaline atmosphere of concrete after the application of the electrochemical repair method. In this research, the performance of surface treatment materials applied to the concrete after realkalisation or desalination was investigated. Furthermore, the protection effect of the surface treatment against steel corrosion after realkalisation and desalination under the condition of accelerated carbonation or chloride attack was estimated by measuring electrochemical steel corrosion indexes. As a result, the bond strength of polymer-cement mortar (PCM) or epoxy resin on concrete applied realkalisation maintained the sound level through the accelerated carbonation for 2 years. Moreover, the re-passivation of the steel in concrete after desalination occurred more quickly in the cases of silane-based impregnation than in the cases of PCM or epoxy resin.


What is the state of intimate romantic relationships and marriage in urban China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan? Since the 1980's, the character of intimate life in these urban settings has changed dramatically. While many speculate about the 21st century as Asia's century, this book turns to the more intimate territory of sexuality and marriage-and observes the unprecedented changes in the law and popular expectations for romantic bonds and the creation of new families. Wives, Husbands, and Lovers examines how sexual relationships and marriage are perceived and practiced under new developments within each urban location, including the establishment of no fault divorce laws, lower rates of childbearing within marriage, and the increased tolerance for non-marital and non-heterosexual intimate relationships. The authors also chronicle what happens when states remove themselves from direct involvement in some features of marriage but not others. Tracing how the marital "rules of the game" have changed substantially across the region, this book challenges long-standing assumptions that marriage is the universally preferred status for all men and women, that extramarital sexuality is incompatible with marriage, or that marriage necessarily unites a man and a woman. This book illustrates the wide range of potential futures for marriage, sexuality, and family across these societies.


Foundation for the Science and Technology (FCT–Portugal) for financial support through the Portuguese NMR network (Bruker 400 Avance III-Univ Minho). FCT and FEDER (European Fund for Regional Development)-COMPETE/QREN/EU for financial support through the research centre PEst-C/QUI/UI686/2011, the research project PTDC/QUI-QUI/111060/2009 and the post-doctoral grant of Agathe Begouin SFRH/BPD/36753/2007.


Abstract:This article analyzes Taiwan's cross-Strait policy and its impacts on U.S.-Taiwan relations. It specifically discusses the contending notions of cross-Strait status quo following Taiwan's presidential election of 2016. This article finds first that most Taiwanese people support peaceful status quo across the Strait while either opposing or being suspicious of unification in the future. Moreover, they do not pay equal attention to the political foundation of the status quo. Second, the convergence among DPP, KMT, Beijing, and Washington over cross-Strait relations lies in the maintenance of the status quo. However, while both KMT and Beijing regard the "1992 Consensus" and "one China principle" as preconditions for sustaining it, the Tsai administration rejects those terms. This divergence has led to a deadlock in cross-Strait relations. Third, for Washington, the bottom line remains as opposing any unilateral changes of cross-Strait status quo by either side. Tsai's status quo discourse without "1992 Consensus" continues to satisfy this precondition, and the Trump administration has strengthened its political and military links with Taiwan. Fourth, the relief of cross-Strait deadlock might depend on the possibility of Washington and Beijing achieving mutual understanding on a new definition of the status quo, for instance, maintaining peace across the Strait without touching upon the sovereignty issue. Fifth, Tsai has to cope with a dilemma regarding her status quo policy: how to continue to appeal to DPP's cross-Strait notion with a strong proindependence component, while navigating the realities of Taiwan's vulnerability vis-à-vis Beijing and continuing to gain Washington's support. Finally, Taiwan cannot just rely on Washington's good will. Taiwan should find a way to define its political interests, positions, and strategies so as to strengthen U.S.-Taiwan relations and maintain the balance of U.S.-China-Taiwan relations.


Reinforcement learning (RL) is a machine learning answer to the optimal control problem. It consists of learning an optimal control policy through interactions with the system to be controlled, the quality of this policy being quantified by the so-called value function. An important RL subtopic is to approximate this function when the system is too large for an exact representation. This survey reviews and unifies state of the art methods for parametric value function approximation by grouping them into three main categories: bootstrapping, residuals and projected fixed-point approaches. Related algorithms are derived by considering one of the associated cost functions and a specific way to minimize it, almost always a stochastic gradient descent or a recursive least-squares approach.


The invention relates to a method of arranging communication in a local area networking system comprising a first device, a second device and an intermediate node for arranging data transmission between the first device and the second device. The second device is arranged to multicast and/or broadcast messages to devices in the system. The transmission of multicast and/or broadcast messages to the first device is prevented by the interworking means.


Biological spiking neurons with intrinsic dynamics underlie the powerful representation and learning capabilities of the brain for processing multimodal information in complex environments. Despite recent tremendous progress in spiking neural networks (SNNs) for handling Euclidean-space tasks, it still remains challenging to exploit SNNs in processing non-Euclidean-space data represented by graph data, mainly due to the lack of effective modeling framework and useful training techniques. Here we present a general spike-based modeling framework that enables the direct training of SNNs for graph learning. Through spatial-temporal unfolding for spiking data flows of node features, we incorporate graph convolution filters into spiking dynamics and formalize a synergistic learning paradigm. Considering the unique features of spike representation and spiking dynamics, we propose a spatial-temporal feature normalization (STFN) technique suitable for SNN to accelerate convergence. We instantiate our methods into two spiking graph models, including graph convolution SNNs and graph attention SNNs, and validate their performance on three node-classification benchmarks, including Cora, Citeseer, and Pubmed. Our model can achieve comparable performance with the state-of-the-art graph neural network (GNN) models with much lower computation costs, demonstrating great benefits for the execution on neuromorphic hardware and prompting neuromorphic applications in graphical scenarios.


In this paper, we investigate the importance of different loss functions when estimating and evaluating option pricing models. Our analysis shows that it is important to take into account parameter uncertainty, because this leads to uncertainty in the predicted option price. We illustrate the effect on the out-of-sample pricing errors in an application of the ad hoc Black-Scholes model to DAX index options. We confirm the empirical results of Christoffersen and Jacobs (Christoffersen, P., K. Jacobs. 2004. The importance of the loss function in option valuation. J. Financial Econom.72 291--318) and find strong evidence for their conjecture that the squared pricing error criterion may serve as a general-purpose loss function in option valuation applications. At the same time, we provide a first yardstick to evaluate the adequacy of the loss function. This is accomplished through a data-driven method to deliver not just a point estimate of the root mean squared pricing error, but a distribution.


Using a strategy involving multiple raters and instruments, the authors compared 134 clinic subjects with controls matched on sex, age, and socioeconomic status to determine how various risk factors are related to clinic utilization apart from their effects on children's symptomatology. Parental psychopathology, family size, and marital status were most predictive of children's symptom levels, while stress levels, family size, and marital status were most predictive of clinic utilization. Although children's total symptom levels explained 27.6% of the variance in clinic utilization, other factors (family size, family history of divorce, stress, and parental psychopathology) explained an additional 13.2% of the variance. Findings indicate that clinicians and health care planners must carefully assess variables other than children's symptom levels in order to better understand children's mental health services utilization, develop more robust models of risk, and increase the effectiveness of our efforts directed towards prevention and intervention.


Abstract Unmet needs for services, such as housing and psychiatric treatment, are relatively common among HIV-infected individuals; however, the effects of different types of unmet needs on health-care outcomes are not well understood. This study describes unmet psychosocial needs and their relationship with health-care outcomes among individuals receiving HIV care in the southeastern US (n=526). We used multivariate logistic regression to examine the association of seven categories of unmet needs with HIV medication use and adherence. Most participants (84.5%) reported at least one service need in the past year. Nearly half (47%) of participants with service needs reported that at least one need was not met. Participants with one or more unmet needs were less likely to be taking any HIV medications (p = 0.007) and reported poorer medication adherence (p=0.013). The specific unmet needs for benefits (including Social Security, health insurance and prescription coverage) (p = 0.006) and a support group (p=0.040) were associated with being less likely to be taking any HIV medications. Unmet need for mental health-related counseling was associated with poorer medication adherence (p=0.003). Study findings regarding the high level of unmet need and the association of unmet need with poorer outcomes illustrate the importance of interventions to address these needs.


Abstract This research examines mediational processes in digital activities at Projeto Clicar, a program designed to promote the social inclusion of children living and working on the streets of Sao Paulo, Brasil. It offers a cognitive ethnography of how the program's particular relational habitus, or pedagogical frame, shapes children's participatory appropriation through navigational play in digital learning activities that provide for an integrative sociocultural learning process. Making the relational habitus explicit enables us to observe and clarify the mediational tools and pedagogical strategies that shape children's navigational play and their ultimate participatory appropriation of program activities, as well as their sense of social inclusion among a community of learners. Keywords: participatory appropriation, third space, relational habitus, navigational play, social inclusion ----- Bibl iography: Underwood, Charles/Mahmood, Mara Welsh/Pranzetti, Dirce M. F./Costa, Maria Cecίlia Toloza de O.: Animating Mastery: Navigational Play as Integrative Learning, IJREE, Vol. 4, Issue 1-2016, pp. 85-102. https://doi.org/10.3224/ijree.v4i1.24777


Author Institution: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, P.O. Box 999, Mail Stop K8-88, Richland, WA 99352 (PNNL is operated for the US; Department of Energy by the Battelle Memorial Institute under contract DE-AC05-76RL0 1830)


The currently ongoing discussion about large scale increase of electro mobility supposes a high acceptance of electrical vehicles by the public. To achieve a high acceptance, beyond the ecological aspects, the availability and the short-term flexibility of use are of essential importance. Quick charging leads directly to numerous technical questions regarding the integration of high power charging stations in rural areas. Dynamic reactive power compensation and a short term on demand active power supply on site can be an appropriate approach to realise high power charging with adequate technical efforts. The investigation results of these approaches for intelligent integration of high power charging stations in distribution grids will be discussed. Furthermore, the mains pollution by harmonics will be examined and discussed in the scope of a detailed investigation of the battery charger. (6 pages)


We present a new algorithm for eliminating excess parameters and improving network generalization after supervised training. The method, "Principal Components Pruning (PCP)", is based on principal component analysis of the node activations of successive layers of the network. It is simple, cheap to implement, and effective. It requires no network retraining, and does not involve calculating the full Hessian of the cost function. Only the weight and the node activity correlation matrices for each layer of nodes are required. We demonstrate the efficacy of the method on a regression problem using polynomial basis functions, and on an economic time series prediction problem using a two-layer, feedforward network.


Women Music Educators is a comprehensive narrative of women teaching music in the United States from colonial days until the end of the twentieth century. Traditional accounts of the history of music education have often neglected the contributions of women, because these texts have emphasized bands and the top leaders in hierarchical music organizations. When music education is defined broadly, the contributions of many forgotten women are revealed. Women taught in many settings: the home, community, churches, public schools, and teacher-training institutions. Women were music educators as writers, patrons, and through their volunteer work in organizations. Their stories are found in articles, dissertations, and books from the fields of musicology, education, and social history.


OBJECTIVES
We assessed racial/ethnic variations in patterns of ambulatory care use among Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care-eligible veterans to determine if racial/ethnic differences in health care use persist in equal-access systems.

METHODS
We surveyed 3227 male veterans about their health and ambulatory care use.

RESULTS
Thirty-eight percent of respondents had not had a health care visit in the previous 12 months. Black (odds ratio [OR] = 0.5), Hispanic (OR = 0.4), and Asian/Pacific Islander veterans (OR=0.4) were less likely than White veterans to report any ambulatory care use. Alternately, Whites (OR=2.2) were more likely than other groups to report ambulatory care use. Being White was a greater predictor of health care use than was having fair or poor health (OR=1.4) or functional limitations (OR=1.5). In non-VA settings, racial/ethnic minorities were less likely to have a usual provider of health care. There was no VA racial/ethnic variation in this parameter.

CONCLUSIONS
Racial/ethnic disparities in health and health care use are present among VA health care-eligible veterans. Although the VA plays an important role in health care delivery to ethnic minority veterans, barriers to VA ambulatory care use and additional facilitators for reducing unmet need still need to be investigated.


: This study aims to explore the social behavior and interactions experienced by communities with different religious, social, economic, and cultural backgrounds. It focuses on the local wisdom, which binds communities to guide, internalize, and implement a social norm in daily life. This study employs a qualitative method with a phenomenological approach to examine the behavior and social interactions of the community. Data were collected using a literature review by reading primary sources, such as books, journals, and other academic works. This study concludes that there are various peaceful interactions among people considered diverse, such as person to person, groups to groups with all different backgrounds, and they interact without considering the differences, such as religions, ethnics, and culture. They can perceive the unity in diversity that must be upheld depicted in the fundamental attitude towards the value of local wisdom. Local wisdom can be utilized as a robust social bonding in diverse societies. This study confirms that a pluralistic society will behave socially with social norms that are upheld and applied in daily life under the vision of local wisdom. This value is used as a series of morals, norms, social values, and rules that are sourced from the cultural aspects of the community and are used as a reference in interacting between humans in a pluralistic society.


The histological development of the digestive system and swim bladder of Chalcalburnus tarichi larvae and their histology in adults were studied under light microscopy. After hatching, the digestive tract is a simple undifferentiated tube. Exogenous feed- ing started on the 6th day. The yolk sac was absorbed completely on the 9th day. The goblet cells appeared first in the bucco-pha- ryngeal cavity and oesophagus on the 4th day, in the anterior on the 9th day and in the posterior intestine on the 5th day. The diges- tive tract was differentiated as the buccal cavity, pharynx, oesophagus post-eosophageal swelling and intestine on the 5th day. At the same time, taste buds and pharyngeal teeth also started to form. In the oesophagus, the circular muscle was observed on the 9th day and the longitudinal muscle in one-year-old fish. In the intestine, the circular muscle was observed on the 35th day and the longitudinal muscle in two-year-old individuals. The wall of the digestive tract is composed of epithelial, submucosa, muscle and serosa layers. The liver lobules formed on the 3rd day and the cells began to reserve glycogen on the 10th day. The pancreatic acina formed on the 5th day and the tubular in one-year-old fish. The liver and pancreas ducts opened into the anterior intestine before the exogenous feeding started. The swim bladder was observed as one lobuled on the 4.5th day and two lobuled on the 35th day.


The application of polymer gears in power transmission has been considered recently due to their advantages over metal gears, e.g., lighter weights and lower costs. Much further research work needs to be carried out to understand their wear mechanisms and to establish their design methods. This paper aims to investigate the wear and failure behavior of the poly-ether-ether-ketone (PEEK) gear against the steel gear under oil jet lubrication through the durability test with the standard FZG test rig. The service life and wear loss of PEEK gears were experimentally recorded under different moderate loading conditions ranging from the output torque of 10–20 Nm with a fixed input rotational speed of 1000 rpm. Moreover, the tooth surface morphologies and the wear loss of PEEK gears under different running stages were investigated. The experimental measurements reveal that there is a critical load magnitude for the transition of wear performance. With a load above 15 Nm, the PEEK gear wear rate increases rapidly, leading to a quick breakage failure, whereas the gear wear rate with a torque below 15 Nm is much lower. All tested PEEK gears finally failed with a pitting-induced tooth breakage mode under moderate loading conditions.


Global changes linked to increases in temperature and ocean acidification, but also to more direct anthropogenic influences such as aquaculture, have caused a worldwide increase in the reports of Vibrio-associated illnesses affecting humans and also animals such as shrimp and molluscs. Investigation of the emergence of Vibrio pathogenesis events requires the analysis of microbial evolution at the gene, genome and population levels, in order to identify genomic modifications linked to increased virulence, resistance and/or prevalence, or to recent host shift. From a more applied point of view, the elucidation of virulence mechanisms is a prerequisite to devising prophylactic methods to fight infectious agents. In comparison with human pathogens, fairly little is known about the requirements for virulence in vibrios pathogenic to animals. However, the advent of genome sequencing, especially next-generation technologies, the possibility of genetically manipulating most of the Vibrio strains, and the recent availability of standardised animals for experimental infections have now compensated for the considerable delay in advancement of the knowledge of non-model pathogens such as Vibrio and have led to new scientific questions.


This book revisits the theory of social systems as a defence against anxiety first set out by Elliott Jaques and Isabel Menzies Lyth in papers which they published in 1955 and 1960, and which have been influential points of reference ever since. Menzies Lyth's study of the nursing system of a general hospital, with its roots in both psychoanalysis and socio-technical systems thinking, has remained one of the most convincing demonstrations of the influence of unconscious anxieties on social behaviour, and of their effects in inducing dysfunctional defensive systems in organisations. The theory of 'social defences against anxiety' remains one of the most significant contributions of the 'Tavistock school' to the study of human relations.


SIR,-The B.M.A. Committce, named by the Board of Science and approved by the Council, was initially called to see whether there was a case for re-investigation of the working of the Abortion Act. The initial committee which made the recommendation was representative of different geographical areas of the country and of different skills and opinions, including those with different religious views. The findings of the Committee were approved by Council and the Committee is to have further representatives added to prepare evidence to submit to Mrs. Justice Lane's Committee. Council were well aware of the opinion expressed by Dr. A. 0. Diver (15 May, p. 470) but were satisfied as to the impartiality and the capability of the chairman. Finally, Professor Donald offered to resign but Council did not accept and asked him to continue as chairman of the Committee to give evidence.-I am, etc.,


We study non-doped dislocation-free monocrystals of float-zone silicon using transmission electronic microscopy, optical microscopy and x-ray topography. The crystals were obtained with various growth rates (1–9 mm min−1) and were subjected to various kinds of thermal processing. We experimentally determine the temperatures at which microdefects of various types form, and we establish the mechanism of transformation of interstitial microdefects. On the basis of data in the literature and new results obtained by authors, we establish that the formation of microdefects in silicon occurs on two independent mechanisms: vacancy and interstitial. As a result of both these mechanisms, D-microdefects will be formed as interstitials agglomerate. We suggest that the critical parameter V/G = Ccrit describes the conditions of emerging (vanishing) vacancy microdefects. On the basis of these results, we suggest a physical model of the formation of microdefects in dislocation-free monocrystals of float-zone silicon, and we discuss other known models.


Data analytics is emerging as a critical field to intelligently utilize the vast trail of data we create in our daily lives. An analysis of data trends can reveal patterns that can predict human behavior in areas such as health care, Ecommerce and consumerism, among others (Kim, 2017). The purpose of this experiment was to study the correlation between a Twitter hashtag's sentiment and its trending duration using IBM Watson Analytics. The hypothesis was that a major event associated with a more positive sentiment would trend longer than more negatively associated counterparts. The experiment relates to Hedonic adaptation, the psychological theory that states that humans will return to a relatively happy state despite a negative or positive turn of events (Halvorson, 2012).The sentiment was first analyzed on a smaller scale by randomly selecting 30 tweets within each hashtag studied and then on a larger scale using IBM Watson Analytics. For the trend analysis test, the total number of tweets for each hashtag was recorded daily. Manual sentiment analysis yielded a strong correlation of "happy" sentiment with entertainment hashtags, "sad" with natural disaster, "fearful" with health and medicine, and "neutral" with the control group #selfie. A Chi Square Test for Independence was run at alpha = 0.05 on the average number of tweets for the hashtags in each category and showed a direct correlation between the category and sentiment X (15, N = 120) = 37.731, p<0.05. Thus, the hypothesis was supported because the entertainment hashtags with positively associated sentiments trended longer than more serious hashtags exhibiting negative sentiments, and there was a direct correlation between the category of the tweet and its sentiment.


A set of 212 samples from unrelated Spanish Caucasians living in Andalucia (southern Spain) were analyzed with a new commercially-available kit for multiplex amplification of 3 STR loci (D13S137, D7S820, and D16S539), manual denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and silver staining. These three loci are of special interest for the forensic community since they are a part of the 13 CODIS-core STR loci. The results show that the loci D13S317 and D16S539 meet Hardy-Weinberg expectations (HWE), but the locus D7S820 did not meet HWE (p = 0.003). However, there was no detectable departures from independence (i.e., linkage disequilibrium) between any pair-wise combination of loci. The D7S820 data were further investigated. The excess homozygosity was due to an excess of D7S820 10, 10 homozygotes. To determine if the allele frequency data are meaningful and can be applied to forensic identity cases, the Spanish D7S820 allele frequency data were compared with four other Caucasian sample populations. The D7S820 allele frequencies were statistically similar; thus, the results support that the allele frequency data can be used reliably for estimating DNA profile frequencies.


The practice of anesthesiology is inextricably dependent upon technology. Anesthetics were first made possible, then increasingly safe, and now more scalable and efficient in part due to advances in monitoring and delivery technology. Herein, we discuss salient advances of the last three years in the technology of anesthesiology. Consumer technology and telemedicine have exploded onto the scene of outpatient medicine, and perioperative management is no exception. Preoperative evaluations have been done via teleconference, and copious consumer-generated health data is available. Regulators have acknowledged the vast potential found in the transfer of consumer technology to medical practice, but issues of privacy, data ownership/security, and validity remain. Inside the operating suite, monitoring has become less invasive, and clinical decision support systems are common. These technologies are susceptible to the "garbage in, garbage out" conundrum plaguing artificial intelligence, but they will improve as network latency decreases. Automation looms large in the future of anesthesiology as closed-loop anesthesia delivery systems are being tested in combination (moving toward a comprehensive system). Moving forward, consumer health companies will search for applications of their technology, and loosely regulated health markets will see earlier adoption of next-generation technology. Innovations coming to anesthesia will need to account for human factors as the anesthesia provider is increasingly considered a component of the patient care apparatus.


Purpose: Spoilage flora is critical in vegetal ready to eat (RTE) product shelf-life and selecting efficient spoilage control technologies depends on the microorganisms present. This manuscript describes the evolution of the bacteriome of Batavia RTE lettuce, from fresh lettuce up to completely spoiled (day 14) and correlate these results with the sensorial characteristics.  Research Method: The microbiome of vegetal RTE were examined using culture-dependent and culture-independent (16S rRNA metabarcoding) methods. Culture-dependent methods were related with the metagenomic results and sensory analysis to describe the evolution during spoilage and shelf-life. Findings: Our results demonstrated that the RTE lettuce bacteriome during spoilage is dominated by Gram-negative bacteria, mainly Flavobacterium and Pseudomonas. A bacterial population of 22 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) represent up to 96% of total bacterial reads and is maintained during the spoilage, representing the bacterial core of RTE lettuce. A high correlation was detected between culture-independent and culture-dependent results, both in general and selective culture media. Sensorial analysis of lettuce demonstrated that "odor" was the key parameter to determine the sensorial spoilage time and is related to total microbial load and to high concentrations of spoilage-related bacterial genera. Limitations: Hereby presented results are limited by the lettuce variety and by the storage conditions (MAP, 6°C, up to 14 days). Originality/Value: This paper describes an overview of the microbial and sensory evolution during spoilage of Batavia lettuce under MAP. A combination of culture-dependent and independent methods and sensorial analysis were used up to 14 days of storage.


Nowadays, technology advances really fast and so does the generation of data. Almost all electronic
devices are constantly generating and sharing a huge amount of data through the World
Wide Web. Moreover, recent policies of open governments and data, are helping to make available
this information for everybody that wants to take it and use it. The aim of using Big Data is to
discover knowledge that is hidden behind thousands of rows of information. However, to find out
the value of the data, it is necessary to use non-traditional methods able to deal with such amount
of information.
Furthermore, big cities have traffic problems and complex mobility patterns which need to be
studied in depth to improve life conditions of citizens, reduce pollution and to create eco-friendly
cities. This work is focused on the city of Barcelona and its bike-sharing system Bicing. The aim is
to understand the mobility patterns of Bicing subscribers using Big Data.
Treating Big Data requires of more resources than conventional problems. So that, setting a
methodology to acquire, pre-process and treat the data has been necessary before proceeding with
the analysis.
In order to gain visibility out of the data, two different approaches have been followed. First of
all, an exploratory analysis of the behaviour of the users of Bicing. On the other hand, a Principal
Component Analysis has also been carried out to understand the data but also to reduce the
dimensionality, hence the volume of the data necessary to provide acceptable results.
To sum up, the present work is a particular example of the possibilities that Big Data offers in
terms of gaining knowledge out of massive amounts of data. Moreover, it studies the patterns of
Bicing subscribers during different periods of the day, week and year based on real data.


The paper considers the importance of cultural events for the development of tourism in
the Island of Jersey. In recent years there has been a decline in tourism that appeared
to take effect in the 1980s with the changing tourism market. A number of research
methods have been used, including consideration of secondary data, to assess the
development of tourism and a historical analysis of the development processes of the
tourism industry. The research has been carried out in three distinct stages. The first
stage assessed the historical development of the tourism industry in the 20th and 21st
centuries. It draws primarily on archival material, existing research and secondary data
sources. The second stage considered the role of cultural events in the modern
development of the tourism industry. The third stage examined the nature and
importance of the events in terms of the recent development of the industry. This has
involved both internal (island) and external (international) influences on evolution. From
this, a summary of the salient issues arising from trends has been made enabling direct
analysis of the importance of cultural events.


Bim (Bcl-2-interacting mediator of cell death) is a BH3-only protein (BOP), a pro-apoptotic member of the Bcl-2 protein family. The Bim mRNA undergoes alternate splicing to give rise to the short, long and extra long protein variants (BimS, BimL and BimEL). These proteins have distinct potency in promoting death and distinct modes of regulation conferred by their interaction with other proteins. Quite how Bim and other BOPs promote apoptosis has been the subject of some debate. Bim was isolated by it's interaction with pro-survival proteins such as Bcl-2 and it has been suggested that this is key to the ability of Bim to induce apoptosis. However, an alternative model argues that some forms of Bim can bind directly to the pro-apoptotic Bax and Bak proteins to initiate apoptosis. A new study may finally put this debate to rest as it provides strong evidence to suggest that Bim and other BOPs act primarily by binding to pro-survival Bcl-2 proteins, thereby releasing Bax or Bak proteins to promote apoptosis. The importance of the interaction between Bim and the pro-survival Bcl-2 proteins is underlined by our demonstration that it is regulated by ERK1/2-dependent phosphorylation of BimEL. ERK1/2-dependent dissociation of BimEL from pro-survival proteins is the first step in a process by which the pro-survival ERK1/2 pathway promotes the destruction of this most abundant Bim splice variant. In this review we outline the significance of these new studies to our understanding of how BOPs such as Bim initiate apoptosis and how this process is regulated by growth factor-dependent signalling pathways.


In most settings of practical concern, machine learning practitioners know in advance what end-task they wish to boost with auxiliary tasks. However, widely used methods for leveraging auxiliary data like pre-training and its continued-pretraining variant are end-task agnostic: they rarely, if ever, exploit knowledge of the target task. We study replacing end-task agnostic continued training of pre-trained language models with end-task aware training of said models. We argue that for sufficiently important end-tasks, the benefits of leveraging auxiliary data in a task-aware fashion can justify forgoing the traditional approach of obtaining generic, end-task agnostic representations as with (continued) pre-training. On three different low-resource NLP tasks from two domains, we demonstrate that multi-tasking the end-task and auxiliary objectives results in significantly better downstream task performance than the widely-used task-agnostic continued pre-training paradigm of Gururangan et al. (2020). We next introduce an online meta-learning algorithm that learns a set of multi-task weights to better balance among our multiple auxiliary objectives, achieving further improvements on end-task performance and data efficiency.


Tom Powell was a master of descriptive neuroanatomy. He knew and understood all parts of the central nervous system, had taught it all and studied most of it. During the more than 40 years of his working life, methods of studying the brain advanced dramatically. Tom used new and old methods critically, he knew the snags, the difficulties and the risks of misinterpretation, was careful to try and avoid them in his own work and quick to spot them in the work of others.