 Abstract — This paper presents an approach for identifying interactive effects using Network Science (NS) supported by Social Network Analysis (SNA) techniques. Based on general observations that learning processes and behaviors are shaped by the social relationships and influenced by learning environment, the central idea was to understand both the human and non-human interactive effects for a blended learning mode of delivery of computer science modules. Important findings include (a) the importance of non-human nodes to influence the centrality and transfer; (b) the degree of non-human and human connectivity impacts learning. This project reveals that the NS pattern and connectivity as measured by node relationships offer alternative approach for hypothesis generation and design of qualitative data collection. An iterative process further reinforces the analysis, whereas the experimental simulation option itself is an interesting alternative option, a hybrid combination of both experimental simulation and qualitative data collection presents itself as a promising and viable means to study complex scenario such as blended learning delivery mode. The primary value of this paper lies in the design of the approach for studying interactive effects of human (social nodes) and non-human (learning/study environment, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) infrastructures nodes) components. In conclusion, this project adds to the understanding and the use of SNA to model and study interactive effects in blended social


Eighty-two consecutive patients who underwent 101 consecutive carotid endarterectomies (CEA) between 1982 and the first half of 1986 were evaluated. All of the operations were performed by fourth and fifth year general surgical residents under direct staff supervision. Hemispheric symptoms were present in 75 percent, and 64 per cent had a stenosis of 70 per cent or greater. In 24 per cent of the CEA, the indication for operation was a completed stroke. The operative stroke rate was 3 per cent and the mortality rate, 1 per cent. At a mean follow-up period of 17.4 months, no strokes had occurred, and the restenosis rate was 4 per cent over-all and 1 per cent in primary simple CEA. These results of CEA in a teaching hospital are excellent and indicate no compromise in patient care related to resident surgeons performing the procedures.


There is a wide gap in the educational attainment levels of younger and older people in; Ireland (Irish Equality Authority, 2002:61), which may be due to past deficiencies in the Irish; second level system. Only one-third of adults between the ages of 55 and 64 have completed; second level education compared to two-thirds of adults between the ages of 25 and 34 (Irish; Department of Education and Science, 2000:34-36). The participation of mature students in; higher education in Ireland is amongst the lowest in the OECD (Irish Department of; Education and Science, 2000:18). Only 5% of students in higher education in Ireland are; mature students compared to 33% in the UK and 29% in Northern Ireland (Lynch, 1999:189).; As well as the low proportions of mature students, the majority are relatively young with only; 5% of mature students aged fifty or over (Lynch, 1999:192).; It is now widely accepted that older adults have special educational needs (Elmore, 1999: 12),; which must be respected and reflected in education (Irish Department of Education and; Science, 2000:13). Older adults have been instrumental through their economic contribution; to the education system which has proved beneficial to the economic advancement of the; country, and to the personal benefit of younger generations in Ireland and therefore, should; now have the opportunity to participate in education for themselves (Irish Equality Authority,; 2002:58). As discrimination on the grounds of age is prohibited under the Equal Status Act; Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, 2000, p.10), people over the age of fifty; should have the same right to education as younger people.; However there are well-documented barriers that affect older adults in returning to learning.; Psychological factors such as feeling out of place among younger students or fear of; competition with younger students may be a barrier to learning (Scala, 1996:761). Scala; (1996:761) also found that older adults returning to education may have some academic; difficulties. These barriers need to be addressed if we are to provide equal opportunities in; education.; With an increase in the amount of older learners returning to education, the age diverse; classroom will become commonplace. Therefore, to plan effectively for older learners, it is; important to lean what their interests, motivations and experiences are in the classroom; (Scala, 1996:748).


OBJECTIVES
To describe the performances of selected intensive care units (ICUs) in a single institution using the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) III benchmark and to propose interventions that may improve performance.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
In this retrospective study, we analyzed APACHE III data from critically ill patients admitted to ICUs at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn, between October 1994 and December 2003. We retrieved ICU performance measures based on first ICU day APACHE III values. Standardized ratios were defined as ratios of measured to predicted values. The primary performance measure was the standardized mortality ratio, and secondary performance measures were length of stay (LOS) ratios, low-risk monitor ICU admission rates, and ICU readmission rates. We calculated 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for each performance, graded as good, average, or poor.

RESULTS
Among 46,381 patients admitted during the study period, 57.5% were in surgical ICUs, 24.8% in a medical ICU, and 17.7% in a surgical-medical ICU. Low-risk monitoring accounted for 37.2% of admissions. Hospital standardized mortality ratios (95% CI) were 0.95 (0.90-0.99), 0.86 (0.81-0.91), and 0.70 (0.66-0.74) for medical, multispecialty, and surgical ICUs, respectively. Hospital LOS ratios (95% CI) were 0.83 (0.81-0.85), 0.91 (0.88-0.93), and 0.99 (0.97-1.00) for medical, multispecialty, and surgical ICUs, respectively. The ICU readmission rate for each ICU was higher than the 6.7% reported in the medical literature. Performances were good in mortality, average to good in LOS, average in low-risk admission, and poor in ICU readmission.

CONCLUSIONS
A national benchmarking database can highlight the strengths and weaknesses of ICUs. The performances of ICUs in a single institution may differ; therefore, the performance of each unit should be evaluated individually.


The present paper reviews evidence for the role of specific amino acids in the etiology of fatigue and the overtraining syndrome in athletes. An increase in the plasma concentration ratio of free tryptophan: branched-chain amino acids may mediate an increase in 5-HT synthesis in the brain and thus induce fatigue during exercise. Glutamine is essential for the proper functioning of cells of the immune system and a decrease in plasma glutamine concentration post-exercise and in overtraining may induce an impairment in immune function. Branched-chain amino acids may play a central role in both these processes. Thus, they compete with free tryptophan for entry into the brain. Branched-chain amino acids may also be important precursors of nitrogen for the synthesis of glutamine in skeletal muscle or important in the control of glutamine release from muscle. Consequently, the metabolism of glutamine, tryptophan, and branched-chain amino acids may be the key to understanding some aspects of central fatigue and some aspects of immunosuppression that are very relevant to athletic endeavor. They may be also relevant to other physiological and pathological conditions.


Abstract Examined were the impact of exercise barriers and carer attitudes regarding exercise outcomes on the exercise participation of adults with Down syndrome (DS). The sample included 44 adults age 30 years and older with DS and mild to moderate intellectual disability and their carers (family members or staff). Measures included personal characteristics of the adults with DS (age, level of adaptive behavior, and health status), carer perceived outcomes of exercise for people with DS, socio-emotional barriers, and access barriers to exercising. A regression analysis was conducted with exercise frequency as the dependent variable and the above measures as the independent variables. The significant determinants of exercise participation were carers' perceived outcomes of exercise for persons with DS and access barriers. When carers perceived greater benefits of exercise and when there were fewer access barriers, the adults with DS were likely to exercise more frequently. Persons with DS were more likely to report access barriers than were informants. The results reinforce the need to improve access to exercise facilities and equipment and to increase carers' awareness of the importance of exercise for adults with DS.


The emergence of Java and Sumatra islands at the end of Miocene, has impact to the diversity of fauna that living in the islands. Amphibia, as one of a genetic information series, can be used as a good phylogenetic comparison. Genus Megophrys (Anura: Megophryidae), is a member of amphibians that live isolated at an altitude of 1000 ASL (Above Sea Level) or more. The purpose of this research is to analyze the phylogenetic patterns of genus Megophrys in Java and Sumatra based on the analysis of 16s rRNA gene. We also analyzed the zoogeography to understand the history of relationship and the establishment of these islands. We took samples on 12 localities: 10 areas of Sumatra and 2 areas of Java. We used Qiamp Blood and Tissue Kit to extract the DNA from tissues. Qualitative analysis of DNA was done by running electrophoresis on 1% agarose gel. Qualitative analysis of DNA was done by running electrophoresis on 1% agarose gel. Results show that Clade A has 2 subclasses: I and II. Subclade I consists of Sumatran specimens, whereas subclade II consists of Javanese specimens. Subclaude I and II have paraphyletic connections. Clade B classified as politomy clade consists of Megophrys sp. from West Pasaman, Megophry s sp. from West Sumatra and Megophrys sp. from Pasawaran, Lampung. The result shows that Megophrys sp. of subclade I (clade A) and clade B, belongs to the same group, both of them were originated from Sumatra. Megophrys sp. subclade I (clade A) originated from Tanggamus (Lampung) and West Lampung (Lampung) separated with 2 species of Megophrys sp. of clade B originated from Pasawaran (Lampung). Keywords: 16s rRNA, Java, Megohprys , Sumatra, zoogeography


Four sugar-based organogelators (1–4) were synthesized, and their gelation ability was evaluated in organic solvents and water. It was shown that they act as versatile gelators of various organic fluids, forming various superstructural aggregates. The xerogels showed a single- and lotus-type fiber structure or a spherical structure. The difference in these organogel supramolecular structures has successfully been transcribed into silica structures by sol–gel polycondensation of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS), resulting in single or multiple (lotus-shaped) hollow fiber structures with 5–10 nm inner diameters or a spherical structure with 700–1300 nm outer diameters. These results indicate that novel silica structures can be created by transcription of various superstructures formed in organogels through the hydrogen-bonding interaction. Nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherms were measured by a BET method. The silica obtained from the α-glucose-based organogel 1, β-glucose-based organogel 2, α-galactose-based organogel 3 and α-mannose-based organogel 4 had BET surface areas of 450, 475, 650 and 670 m2 g−1, respectively. The Q4/Q3 ratios of these silicas were estimated by 29Si MAS NMR spectroscopy. The Q4/Q3 ratios for the silica materials obtained from 1, 2, 3 and 4 were 3.00, 3.05, 4.87 and 5.25, respectively. This is a novel and successful example showing that a variety of new silica structures are created using a library of carbohydrate gel fibers as their templates.


An ounce of experience is worth than a ton of theory simply because it is only in experience that any theory has vital, values and verifiable significance. An experience in a real project for interior designer is capable to generate and carry any amount of theory (intellectual interior design content). Experience becomes educative when critical reflective thought creates new meaning, values and leads to growth and the ability to take informed actions in site. "Service-learning is a process through which students are involved in community work that contributes significantly: to positive change in individuals, organizations, neighborhoods and / or larger systems in a community; and to students' academic understanding, civic development, personal or career growth, and / or understanding of larger social issues." (Minnesota Campus Compact, 1999). Project management in Interior Design Petra Christian University try to combine service learning method into the real project in its subject to make meaning of experience in a real sunday school renovation project at Nganjuk. Students can learn how to run a real projects well (scope of the work, time and budget), in touch closely with community, and new values of life which they can't get in an ordinary subject.
In this article we present the story in making meaning of experience, the advantages of using service learning method in project management study subject, which are the best practices used in project management of Interior Design Petra Christian University Surabaya. The author presents findings from experiences and hopes this findings will serve as a new model for interior design educators by using service learning method in a real project.


We exhibit a simple class of exactly marginal "double-trace" deformations of two dimensional CFTs which have AdS3 duals, in which the deformation is given by a product of left and right-moving U(1) currents. In this special case the deformation on AdS3 is generated by a local boundary term in three dimensions, which changes the physics also in the bulk via bulk-boundary propagators. However, the deformation is non-local in six dimensions and on the string worldsheet, like generic non-local string theories (NLSTs). Due to the simplicity of the deformation we can explicitly make computations in the non-local string theory and compare them to CFT computations, and we obtain precise agreement. We discuss the effect of the deformation on closed strings and on D-branes. The examples we analyze include a supersymmetry-breaking but exactly marginal "double-trace" deformation, which is dual to a string theory in which no destabilizing tadpoles are generated for moduli nonperturbatively in all couplings, despite the absence of supersymmetry. We explain how this cancellation works on the gravity side in string perturbation theory, and also non-perturbatively at leading order in the deformation parameter. We also discuss possible flat space limits of our construction.


Based on an OECD survey, this paper presents quantitative and qualitative data on the decentralisation of health systems, focusing on how they vary according to different institutional characteristics and what types of performance measurement systems are used in the health sector. Decision-making in health care tends to rest largely with the central government, which has considerable power across many aspects of the delivery of health services. However, sub-national governments have more control over decisions regarding the inputs, outputs and monitoring of health care services. The majority of OECD countries tends to rely on centralised performance measurement systems, especially to monitor the performance of hospital providers, focusing more on improving performance rather than reducing service costs. Less likely to be monitored under a specific performance framework are providers of ancillary services, retailers and other providers of medical goods, and providers of preventive care.


SiCp/Gr/ZL101 aluminum-based composites is prepared by semi-solid stirring and gravity pouring method. The effects of SiCp/Gr with different volume fractions on the microstructure and property of aluminum-based composites are studied by means of microstructure observation, tensile test, fracture scanning and analysis and damping capacity test and analysis. The results show that the primary phase α-Al of ZL101 alloy prepared by semi-solid stirring and gravity pouring method is fragmented dentrite,along with the rising SiCp volume fractions, the tensile strength of the composites first increases and then decreases while its elongation gradually decreases, the maximum tensile strength of the material can reach to 168MPa, up to 16% than that of ZL101 alloy, the fracture morphology is obvious brittle fracture. They also show that the addition of SiCp and Gr improves the damping capacity of ZL101alloy, the internal dissipation Q-1 of the composites is obviously higher than that of matrix alloy and gradually increases along with the rising SiCp volume fractions. The damping mechanism of the composites is mainly the combined effects of both dislocation damping and interfacial damping.


OBJECTIVE The study of brain size and growth has a long and contentious history, yet normal brain volume development has yet to be fully described. In particular, the normal brain growth and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) accumulation relationship is critical to characterize because it is impacted in numerous conditions of early childhood in which brain growth and fluid accumulation are affected, such as infection, hemorrhage, hydrocephalus, and a broad range of congenital disorders. The authors of this study aim to describe normal brain volume growth, particularly in the setting of CSF accumulation. METHODS The authors analyzed 1067 magnetic resonance imaging scans from 505 healthy pediatric subjects from birth to age 18 years to quantify component and regional brain volumes. The volume trajectories were compared between the sexes and hemispheres using smoothing spline ANOVA. Population growth curves were developed using generalized additive models for location, scale, and shape. RESULTS Brain volume peaked at 10–12 years of age. Males exhibited larger age-adjusted total brain volumes than females, and body size normalization procedures did not eliminate this difference. The ratio of brain to CSF volume, however, revealed a universal age-dependent relationship independent of sex or body size. CONCLUSIONS These findings enable the application of normative growth curves in managing a broad range of childhood diseases in which cognitive development, brain growth, and fluid accumulation are interrelated.


Aim: Recent studies have shown that plants harbor complex bacterial communities, the so-called "microbiome". We are only beginning to unravel the origin of these bacterial plant inhabitants, their community structure and their roles, which, in analogy to the gut microbiome, are likely to be of essential nature. The aim of this work was to analyze the abundance and diversity of the cultivable members of the bacterial microbiome living in and on the leaves of grapevine, and to identify microbiome members with putative plant-protective activities against phytopathogenic organisms.Methods and results: Grapevine leaves were sampled three times during the growing season at one location and used to quantify the abundance and isolate representative members of the epiphytic and endophytic bacterial communities. Results were compared for three grapevine cultivars: Pinot noir, Chasselas and Solaris. Greater bacterial abundance and diversity was observed among epiphytes than among endophytes. Leaf imprints revealed a higher colonization density for the upper than for the lower surface of leaves. A high relative frequency of strains belonging to the genera Staphylococcus and Bacillus was observed, especially in the endophytic communities.Conclusions: The first results of this ongoing study led to the conclusion that epiphytic bacteria of the cultivable grapevine microbiome were more abundant and diverse than endophytic bacteria. A tendency towards more abundant bacteria in the resistant variety Solaris than in the susceptible varieties Chasselas and Pinot noir contrasted with a higher diversity of epiphytic bacteria in the Pinot noir variety. A trend for higher frequency of strains showing antagonistic activity towards the grapevine pathogen Botrytis cinerea among isolates from the resistant variety Solaris could indicate a putative contribution of microbiome bacteria to this resistant phenotype, even though this remains to be confirmed.Significance and impact of the study: This study constitutes a first step in characterizing the endo- and epiphytic cultivable bacterial communities of three grapevine varieties grown at the same location. Further, presently ongoing studies shall reveal i) the true complexity of these leaf-associated communities through cultivation-independent, next generation sequencing techniques, and ii) their potential as a source of biofungicidal agents. In this last point, the contribution of the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as a newly discovered type of bacterial weapon against fungal and oomycetal pathogens shall be quantified.


A multi-stage down-draft evaporative cool tower (DECT) was developed as an improvement to an existing single-stage design. The new tower incorporates a secondary air inlet, added to increase the cooling output and reduce the water consumption in a tower of given cross- section and primary inlet geometry. The secondary air, which may be drawn from the interior space being cooled, is cooled by evaporation in the lower section of the tower. This paper reports on the results of experiments conducted to establish the aerodynamic performance of the design prior to installation of a water spraying system. Design of the water spraying system and experiments on cooling performance are discussed in a companion paper.


Nanofluid is a stable, colloidal suspension of low volume fraction of ultrafine solid particles. These solid particles are in nano metric dimension, dispersed in conventional heat transfer fluids to offer a dramatic enhancement in conductivity. Three nanoparticles namely Alumina, Copper and Titanium dioxide; two base fluids - fresh water and sea water are selected to form nanofluids. The fluid dynamics equation for incompressible flow is selected. In the present study, the highly nonlinear partial differential equations of momentum and energy fields have been simplified using suitable similarity transformations. Both the momentum equation and energy equation are solved for steady, two-dimensional, stagnation-point, laminar flow of a viscous nanofluid past a stretching / shrinking porous plate. Stream functions pertaining to current research work is selected from literature reviews. Various stream conditions are introduced into the equations for better understanding of nanofluids' behavior. Finally, for executing the coupled equations, a new mathematical software known as MAPLE 18 is used. This software uses a fourth-fifth order Runge–Kutta–Fehlberg method as a default to solve boundary value problems numerically. Temperature and velocity profiles are obtained in the form of graphs for all nanofluids that are taken into consideration. Then the graphs are analyzed and compared amongst them. The results proved Copper nanoparticle to be more effective. The results of Cu-fresh water nanofluid and Cu-seawater nanofluid are compared, and it is proven that effectiveness depends on the stream conditions. The study has concluded that magnetic effect increases the heat transfer efficiency and Copper nanofluid is most suitable for stagnation-point flow. Studying sea water based nanofluids in multi-environment will increase the chance of using sea water as coolant in various applications.


We report the results of experimental and theoretical studies of Eu-doped Bi2Se3 thin films with extremely inhomogeneous distribution of magnetic component. The obtained electron microscopy images suggest that Eu atoms are concentrated within platelet-like nanoinclusions. The number of inclusions grows with the increase in Eu content, x. Moreover, at relatively high x values, the stacks of platelets (inclusions located one under another) become rather frequent. A comparative analysis of magnetic properties of the films under study reveals no pronounced changes of their temperature dependence with the increase in x, which, however, leads to the decrease in the average magnetic moment per Eu atom. A theoretical analysis of different mechanisms contributing to a possible magnetic ordering in the Eu-doped films demonstrates that at small distances (i.e. within a platelet) a dominant contribution is related to the RKKY interaction via electrons in the bulk, while the ordering at inter-platelet distances is governed by magnetic dipole–dipole interaction. The latter implies the antiferromagnetic ordering within the stacks of platelets explaining a drop of per Eu atom. We employ the model of a metallic spin glass to estimate the transition temperature, characterising the interaction within the ensemble of randomly distributed magnetic platelets. This estimate gives satisfactory agreement with the experiment, even if we take into account a finite film thickness, thus, neglecting the interaction anisotropy and including only the antiferromagnetism related to the stacking. While the overall contribution of interface Dirac electrons is damped in the systems under study, we argue that the obtained results can be used for the investigation of ultrathin films with analogous impurity profile, where this contribution should be clearly pronounced.


Regression adjustment is broadly applied in randomized trials under the premise that it usually improves the precision of a treatment effect estimator. However, previous work has shown that this is not always true. To further understand this phenomenon, we develop a unified comparison of the asymptotic variance of a class of linear regression-adjusted estimators. Our analysis is based on the classical theory for linear regression with heteroscedastic errors and thus does not assume that the postulated linear model is correct. For a completely randomized binary treatment, we provide sufficient conditions under which some regression-adjusted estimators are guaranteed to be more asymptotically efficient than others. We explore other settings such as general treatment assignment mechanisms and generalized linear models, and find that the variance dominance phenomenon no longer occurs.


Description This reference design, TIDA-060029, demonstrates an analog signal chain solution for LCR Meter applications using an auto balancing impedance measurement method. Auto balancing impedance measurement circuits can often be challenging to stabilize because the circuit stability is dependent on both the value and type of component to be measured. Therefore, it is imperative to have a circuit solution that is inherently stable irrespective of the measured component's type and value. This design presents an analog signal-chain solution that is both inherently stable and accurate to 0.1% for LCR meter applications.


Abstract. Measurements of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), aerosol size distribution and non-refractory chemical composition were performed from 16 to 31 October 2012 in the Sao Paulo Metropolitan Area (SPMA), Brazil. CCN measurements were performed at 0.23, 0.45, 0.68, 0.90 and 1.13% water supersaturation and were subsequently compared with the Kohler theory, considering the chemical composition. Real-time chemical composition has been obtained by deploying, for the first time in the SPMA, an aerosol chemical ionization monitor (ACSM). CCN closure analyses were performed considering internal mixtures. Average aerosol composition during the studied period yielded (arithmetic mean~± standard deviation) 4.81 ± 3.05, 3.26 ± 2.10, 0.30 ± 0.27, 0.52 ± 0.32, 0.37 ± 0.21 and 0.04 ± 0.04 μg m−3 for organics, BC, NH4, SO4, NO3 and Cl, respectively. Particle number concentration was 12 813 ± 5350 cm−3, with a dominant nucleation mode. CCN concentrations were on average 1090 ± 328 and 3570 ± 1695 cm−3 at SS = 0.23% and SS = 1.13%, respectively. Results show an increase in aerosol hygroscopicity in the afternoon as a result of aerosol photochemical processing, leading to an enhancement of both organic and inorganic secondary aerosols in the atmosphere, as well as an increase in aerosol average diameter. Considering the bulk composition alone, observed CCN concentrations were substantially overpredicted when compared with the Kohler theory (44.1 ± 47.9% at 0.23% supersaturation and 91.4 ± 40.3% at 1.13% supersaturation). Overall, the impact of composition on the calculated CCN concentration (NCCN) decreases with decreasing supersaturation, partially because using bulk composition introduces less bias for large diameters and lower critical supersaturations, defined as the supersaturation at which the cloud droplet activation will take place. Results suggest that the consideration of only inorganic fraction improves the calculated NCCN. Introducing a size-dependent chemical composition based on filter measurements from previous campaigns has considerably improved simulated values for NCCN (average overprediction error 14.8 ± 38.6% at 0.23% supersaturation and 3.6 ± 21.6% at 1.13% supersaturation). This study provides the first insight on aerosol real-time composition and hygroscopicity at a site strongly impacted by emissions of a unique vehicular fleet due to the extensive biofuel usage.


A process innovation is proposed by the authors to weld aluminum alloy tubes by means of a high power diode laser. In order to make the temperature profile uniform along the entire welding line, multiple passes of the laser source along the welding path can be performed at very high scan speeds. In the current study, this effect is achieved by focusing the standstill laser spot on the external surface of the aluminum alloy tubes which were put in rotation at high speed. The tubes were clamped together by using a threaded rod passing inside the tubes. Experimental tests were performed by changing the aluminum alloy heat treatment (6060 T1 and 6060 T5), the length of the samples to weld (80 and 100 mm), and the laser power (ranging from 800 to 950 W). The outer diameter of the tube was 10 mm, the thickness was 1 mm, and the rotational speed was kept constant at 1000 rpm. The welding time was monitored during the tests and ranged from 30 to 100 s in dependence on the material and process parameters. Specimens were extracted from the joints to perform tensile tests so as to measure the tensile strength. In the best condition, a high tensile strength was obtained (about 140 MPa).


The use of venlafaxine, a selective serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, for the management of depression in women of childbearing age has been on the rise, and there have been multiple case reports in the literature tying venlafaxine in-utero exposure to a form of neonatal encephalopathy presenting as neonatal abstinence syndrome. We present the case of a 5-day-old term infant whose mother was on venlafaxine throughout her pregnancy and presented with hypothermia, poor feeding, and decreased activity level. She subsequently had a negative sepsis workup and required nasogastric tube feedings for 2 weeks with spontaneous recovery and no clinical sequelae post-discharge. This case highlights the non-trivial potential risk of venlafaxine withdrawal in exposed newborns and the need for close observation. We propose a management framework for such situations in affected infants.


ABSTRACT Whilst "spatiality" and "architecture" have become recognized as important dimensions of urban conflict, contemporary forms of power push our gaze toward symbolic landmarks such as Belfast's "peace walls." This paper uses Belfast as a case study to instead highlight the fundamental role occupied by "everyday" urban space and architecture. It reveals evidence of an undisclosed body of divisive architecture put in place through a confidential process of security planning between 1977 and 1985 to physically segregate and spatially fragment Catholic and Protestant communities in contested areas of Belfast. Termed here as hidden barriers, they are formed from "everyday" roads, housing, shops, offices, factories and landscaping, and the ways in which they continue to promote division represents a crucially undervalued aspect of conflict-transformation planning. The paper examines the complex urban challenges that they pose, arguing for a reevaluation of the role of everyday architecture and space in conflict and peacebuilding processes.


Varicella is one of the most common infectious diseases in childhood, caused by the varicella zoster virus. Although vaccines are available, there are only a few countries with an early-childhood vaccination program. Most countries mainly focus on vaccination of high-risk groups, such as susceptible healthcare workers. One of the main concerns with a routine early-childhood vaccination program is a potential (temporal) increase of the incidence of herpes zoster among elderly adults. In this review, we focus on the cost–effectiveness of varicella vaccination and on the methodology used in the health–economic studies. In particular, we focus on the perspective adopted, type of model used, the modeled effect on herpes zoster, the vaccine efficacy and price, and on the value of time lost by infection. The vast majority of studies show vaccination of high-risk groups – including susceptible adolescents – to be cost saving. Routine early-childhood vaccination programs are always cost saving if indirect costs of production losses are included, or cost effective, as long as the potential negative effects on zoster are not taken into account. We note that most studies included in the review used old vaccine prices and a single dose of the varicella vaccine, whereas multiple doses are now becoming the standard. Despite that, those aspects limit the timeliness of our review and we believe that the current work does provide useful insights in the cost–effectiveness of varicella vaccination.


Offline reinforcement learning methods hold the promise of learning policies from pre-collected datasets without the need to query the environment for new samples. This setting is particularly well-suited for continuous control robotic applications for which online data collection based on trial-and-error is costly and potentially unsafe. In practice, offline datasets are often heterogeneous , i.e., collected in a variety of scenarios, such as data from several human demonstrators or from policies that act with different purposes. Unfortunately, such datasets often contain action distributions with multiple modes and, in some cases, lack a sufficient number of high-reward trajectories, which render offline policy training inefficient. To address this challenge, we propose to leverage latent-variable generative model to represent high-advantage state-action pairs leading to better adherence to data distributions that contributes to solving the task, while maximizing reward via a policy over the latent variable. As we empirically show on a range of simulated locomotion, navigation, and manipulation tasks, our method referred to as latent-variable advantage-weighted policy optimization (LAPO), improves the average performance of the next best-performing offline reinforcement learning methods by 49% on heterogeneous datasets, and by 8% on datasets with narrow and biased distributions.


obstetric data should be analysed according to whether the patient is primiparous or multiparous. The importance of such analysis by parity has been highlighted in previous studies.24 Data from our hospital for last year also show that obstetric outcome differs dramatically between primiparous and multiparous women (table); this is not fully appreciated when the results of all parities are combined. Indeed, differences over time and differences among hospitals, regions, and populations may be due to the proportion of primiparous women in the study group rather than to other variables. Furthermore, separate analysis of first deliveries, especially for caesarean section, may be a useful and early predictor of future trends in obstetric care. We argue, therefore, that differentiation of first deliveries from subsequent deliveries is mandatory before further investigations into differences in obstetric outcome are initiated.


In our times, international travel and extended living arrangements abroad have become almost a normal occurrence in the lives of many people, particularly the young and college educated. Many of these people, often with little training, find themselves with the opportunity to teach the English language to foreign students. After a short stint teaching EFL students in a foreign culture, once-confident English -language teachers often realize that some teacher training would have been useful. This readable and creative new book by Jerry Gebhard is a textbook for the untrained ESL/EFL teacher. It is designed for use by self-motivated teachers who seek to maximize their potential as teachers and, in so doing, enhance the learning of their students. This guide stresses the multifaceted nature of teaching the English language to nonnative speakers and is based on the real experiences of teachers. It provides basic information that ESL teachers should know before they start teaching, as well as ideas on how language instructors can guide students in the skills of listening, conversation, reading, and writing. Teaching English as a Foreign or Second Language is unique in that it emphasizes self-development as central to being an ESL/EFL teacher. A variety of self-development tasks are included. Each chapter is guided by a set of questions directly relevant to teaching, including advice on teaching problems. An appendix provides addresses, phone numbers and information on professional second/foreign language-teaching organizations, as well as a list of professional journals and publishing houses. The author's practical and self-motivating philosophy is inviting to a wide audience: EFL teachers, teachers of teachers, and those who have found themselves in a position for which their training is incomplete. It is an excellent work for everyday use and will serve as a fine reference tool.


Trigger warnings (TWs) are statements that provide students a caution that upcoming educational content may be emotionally disturbing. The idea is that TWs allow students to psychologically prepare themselves. However, recent studies suggest TWs may function as threat cues, rather than preparatory cues, eliciting anticipatory anxiety and avoidance. The present study examined the difference between presenting antecedent information to students in the form of a TW versus an alternative, a coping cue, introduced as a Content Notice. In a between-groups design, undergraduate students (N = 113) who received extra credit for study participation were randomized to receive a TW or CN before reading a potentially distressing literary passage. Questionnaires assessed their tendency to avoid negative emotions (experiential avoidance) before seeing the TW or CN, and their current emotional state (positive and negative affect) before and after seeing the TW or CN and the passage. The key finding was that experiential avoidance moderated anticipatory negative affect. Those who received a TW and were high in their tendency to avoid negative emotional states experienced the most anticipatory negative affect. For those who were more willing to have negative emotional states, receiving a TW or CN did not alter anticipatory anxiety. For students higher in experiential avoidance, TWs served to increase their negative emotional state consistent with the idea that TWs may serve as a threat, rather than preparatory, cue.


In this Paper we focus on the question: Will the HIPC debt reduction program help in the transformation of the development assistance business and change the rules of the 'debt game' in Africa? We concentrate on the donor and official creditor side, by exploring how the growing debt of African countries, over the last two decades, has affected the provision of new resources by the donor community. Our results indicate, if debt levels are reduced sufficiently in high debt countries, that donors can shift from the current pattern of non-selectivity and defensive lending to a low debt regime – a regime that has in the past allowed selectivity in lending in relation to levels of poverty and quality of policy.


Background The majority of patients with B-cell-depleting therapies show compromised vaccination-induced immune responses. Herein, we report on the trajectories of anti-SARS-CoV-2 immune responses in patients of the RituxiVac study compared with healthy volunteers and investigate the immunogenicity of a third vaccination in previously humoral non-responding patients. Methods We investigated the humoral and cell-mediated immune response after SARS-CoV-2 messanger RNA vaccination in patients with a history with anti-CD20 therapies. Coprimary outcomes were antispike and SARS-CoV-2-stimulated interferon-γ concentrations in vaccine responders 4.3 months (median; IQR: 3.6–4.8 months) after first evaluation, and humoral and cell-mediated immunity (CMI) after a third vaccine dose in previous humoral non-responders. Immunity decay rates were compared using analysis of covariance in linear regression. Results 5.6 months (IQR: 5.1–6.7) after the second vaccination, we detected antispike IgG in 88% (29/33) and CMI in 44% (14/32) of patients with a humoral response after two-dose vaccination compared with 92% (24/26) healthy volunteers with antispike IgG and 69% (11/16) with CMI 6.8 months after the second vaccination (IQR: 6.0–7.1). Decay rates of antibody concentrations were comparable between patients and controls (p=0.70). In two-dose non-responders, a third SARS-CoV-2 vaccine elicited humoral responses in 19% (6/32) and CMI in 32% (10/31) participants. Conclusion This study reveals comparable immunity decay rates between patients with anti-CD20 treatments and healthy volunteers, but inefficient humoral or CMI after a third SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in most two-dose humoral non-responders calling for individually tailored vaccination strategies in this population. Trial registration number NCT04877496; ClinicalTrials.gov number.


Cyclooxygenase products of arachidonic acid might be some of the substances that accumulate in contracting muscle to cause the reflex increases in arterial pressure and ventilation that are evoked by exercise. Recently, cyclooxygenase blockade has been shown to attenuate the reflex cardiovascular responses to static muscular contraction in anesthetized cats. Group IV afferents are believed to comprise part of the afferent arm of the reflex arc, the activation by which static muscular contraction causes these cardiovascular effects. We therefore examined the effects of indomethacin and aspirin, two cyclooxygenase-blocking agents, on the responses to static contraction of group IV afferents with endings in the triceps surae muscles of anesthetized cats. We found that indomethacin (5 mg/kg iv) decreased the responses to contraction of each of eight group IV afferents tested. Likewise, aspirin (50 mg/kg iv) decreased the responses to contraction of each of four group IV afferents tested. On the other hand, we found that arachidonic acid (2 mg) injected into the femoral artery did not increase the responses to contraction of four group IV afferents that were stimulated by this maneuver. In addition, arachidonic acid injection did not cause any of seven group IV afferents not stimulated by static contraction to become responsive to this maneuver. Nevertheless, arachidonic acid injection with the muscle at rest stimulated five of seven contraction-insensitive and two of four contraction-sensitive group IV afferents. Our data suggest that cyclooxygenase metabolites of arachidonic acid are needed for the full expression of the responses of group IV muscle afferents to static contraction.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Along with the development of more modern era of human technological sophistication increasingly utilized as an effort to facilitate the work . No exception in the field of heavy equipment , which is used to facilitate a good job dipertambangan work , projects, and companies with effective and efficient time.In an effort to facilitate understanding of the workings of the machine so that it can easily be understood and continue to innovate - innovation then be made simulations as learning materials.This simulation works using a mechanical system with propulsion of motor fuel . Power from the combustion engine is then transmitted to the rear wheels by using pulleys , and then push the material using the blade .


Montmorillonite(MMT)is a typical layered silicate. It has been widely used to modify polymers. It improves the thermal, mechanical and aging properties of polymers. The prominent features of MMT modified asphalt concrete are significant for prolonging the service life of asphalt pavement. The profound researches on the service performance and mechanical characteristics of MMT modified asphalt binder and mixtures are important for the application of MMT modified asphalt concrete in practice projects. The effect of MMT on the creep properties of asphalt mixture has been investigated in the research. The result showed that the physical capabilities of MMT modified bitumen was improved evidently. UTM 25 electro-hydraulic servo-universal testing machine was used to do Creep Text, and proper rheological models are employed to describe such characteristics. Results indicated that the visco-elastic properties of the mixtures can be changed by the use of MMT. The revised Burgers model is suitable for the visco-elastic property research of MMT modified asphalt mixtures. The model demonstrated that the retardant visco-elastic property and viscous property of asphalt mixtures containing MMT can be improved, which result in the enhancement of resistance to permanent deformation for MMT modified asphalt mixtures.


Diseases of the external eye can have several causes and many have similar symptoms, but a precise diagnosis of the specific disorder is crucial for proper treatment. Evaluation should begin with a complete medical history to ascertain any systemic disease that may affect the eyes. Physical examination should include determination of visual acuity, inspection of the tarsal and bulbar conjunctiva, and microscopic evaluation of the cornea. When external inflammatory disease is present, laboratory testing is required. Smears and cultures are the only reliable methods to determine the specific organism causing the infection. Treatment is then aimed at eradicating the underlying microbes.


In the present era of multimedia, the requirement of image/video storage and transmission for video conferencing, image and video retrieval, video playback, etc. are increasing exponentially. As a result, the need for better compression technology is always in demand. Modern applications, in addition to high compression ratio, also demand for efficient encoding and decoding processes, so that computational constraint of many real-time applications is satisfied.Two widely used spatial domain compression techniques are block truncation coding (BTC) and vector quantization (VQ). BTC method results in good quality image with high bit-rate, while the VQ is well known for low bit-rate but produces poor quality images. In further work of this paper is multi-level BTC includes BTC algorithm as well as vector quantization method for purpose of multi-leveltechnique for gray and color image.


Building refurbishment is an important sector in the Malaysian construction industry. The high demand for refurbishment projects is due to an increase in the number of deteriorating and obsolete buildings. However, refurbishment projects are more difficult to manage compared to new-builds. The problem mainly derives from the lack of information available to perform a task, especially during the initial stage of the design process. Many authors on management agree on the importance of the design process towards the success of refurbishment projects. Even though design cost contributes a small percent of total project cost, the performance of the refurbishment projects is much affected by the design process. Similarly, about a quarter of refurbishment project time is lost due to problems in design. The main reason for lost time was rework in design due to errors made during the design process. The construction performances have always been reduced by the difficulty of managing the design process. Therefore, management in the design process needs to be improved in order to produce accurate design before work starts on site. This study aims to discuss methods of obtaining design information in refurbishment projects and shows how the methods could affect performance of refurbishment design. The data was obtained from literature reviews, semistructured interviews with 21 principal architects and a questionnaire survey. The results indicate that a site survey was considered the most important method of obtaining design information during the design process of refurbishment projects. In contrast, destructive and non-destructive tests were rated the least important amongst all the method of obtaining information during the design process.


Background: In spite of the increasing availability of immunomodulatory treatments for myasthenia gravis (MG), little is known about factors that predict response to the treatment. We aim to study if the presence of acetylcholine receptor (AChR) antibodies may be one of the predictors of the response to the therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) in patients with MG. Methods: The study was carried out in 78 patients with moderate to severe MG. They were divided into two groups: TPE group (62 patients) that included the patients who received TPE, and control (non-TPE) group who did not receive TPE and was only on medical treatment (16 patients). Patients in TPE group, then, were subdivided into sero-positive and sero-negative subgroups according to the presence or absence of AChR antibodies respectively. Scoring by Quantitative Myasthenia Gravis Scale (QMGS) was done before and 1 month after the TPE. Results: After 1 month of treatment, the change in QMGS was significantly higher in the TPE group than in the Non-TPE one (t = -6.406) (P < 0.0001). In the sero-positive group, the score of QMGS ranged initially from 19 to 34 (mean 26.48 ± 3.75) and after 1 month from 11 to 30 (mean 18.00 ± 4.45) with the median change of -32. The QMGS change was significantly greater in the sero-positive group than in the sero-negative one (t = -3.516) (P < 0.0001). Conclusions: As regards to the presence of AChR antibodies in patients with MG, both sero-positive and sero-negative groups responded to TPE but the sero-positive group had a better response. J Neurol Res. 2019;9(1-2):8-13 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jnr510


Pathogen-specific antibody responses need to be tightly regulated to generate protective but limit self-reactive immune responses. While loss of humoral tolerance has been associated with microbial infections, the pathways involved in balancing protective versus autoreactive antibody responses in humans are incompletely understood. Studies in classical mouse model systems have provided evidence that balancing of immune responses through inhibitory receptors is an important quality control checkpoint. Genetic differences between inbred mouse models and the outbred human population and allelic receptor variants not present in mice; however, argue for caution when directly translating these findings to the human system. By studying Borrelia burgdorferi infection in humanized mice reconstituted with human hematopoietic stem cells from donors homozygous for a functional or a non-functional FcγRIIb allele, we show that the human inhibitory FcγRIIb is a critical checkpoint balancing protective and autoreactive immune responses, linking infection with induction of autoimmunity in the human immune system.


Psychological essentialism is the belief that members of a category share deep, underlying commonalities. Previous evidence suggests that essentialism is stronger for masculine than feminine properties and more evident in monolingual than bilingual children. Here, we investigated essentialism of gender by monolingual and bilingual adults, focusing on two distinct dimensions of essentialism: naturalness (regarding categories as natural kinds) and entitativity (regarding categories as homogeneous groups). Participants indicated their agreement with statements assessing beliefs about men and women on these two dimensions. The results replicated previous work showing that men are essentialized more than women, but revealed that this effect may be specific to the entitativity dimension. We also found that, compared to monolinguals, bilinguals were less likely to essentialize gender in terms of naturalness. Our findings converge with previous research highlighting the bidimensionality of essentialism and suggest that early effects of language experience on essentialist beliefs may persist into adulthood.


An experiment was conducted to study the effect of the fruit shelf-life and the concentrations of carbon source on somatic embryogenesis via callogenesis of Hevea brasiliensis . Fruits harvested were stored at 15°C during 1, 5, 7, 12 and 15 days and the inner integuments obtained from seed were used as explants. The experiments were performed under carbon source treatments with three concentrations for glucose and five concentrations for sucrose. Under these conditions, the percentage of  explants forming calli was better during the first week of fruit  preservation regardless of the carbon source but at high concentration. However, beyond 7 days of fruits shelf-life, sucrose is best to induce callus unlike glucose but with high concentration. The best rate of embryogenic calli was also obtained with sucrose. The percentages of callogenic explants and embryogenic calli have decreased sharply with the shelf-life of fruit at 15°C. So, to maintain an embryogenic potential of explants in situations of long-term conservation of fruits, sucrose can be used at 234 mM of concentration or default at 111 mM sucrose. These sucrose concentrations are conducive to induce embryogenic calli with  explants coming to rubber fruits after a long time of preservation.


Background: As the number of arts-in-health programmes globally continues to increase, there is an growing need for a systematic approach to evaluation both to provide evidence of the efficacy of projects and support continuous quality improvement. The Arts Observational Scale (ArtsObS) is proposed as a mixed-methods tool to evaluate performing arts activities in health care settings. Methods: The tool was developed over two years involving a consultation process with 1,500 patients, relatives and staff, and validated over a six-month period with 805 patients. Construct validity was assessed through extensive literature reviews, and score distributions, inter-rater reliability and concurrent validity were assessed using Pearson's/Spearman's coefficient. Results: Organising constructs were grounded in both empirical and theoretical research. Data collected with the tool were well distributed. Inter-rater reliability was very strong (r = .721, p < .001) and concurrent validity was strong (r = .641, p < .001). Conclusions: ArtsObS is a reliable way of evaluating the impact of arts programmes in health care settings and is recommended to practitioners, project managers and researchers.


The white missionaries who brought the Good News of Jesus to Igbo land used various strategies to make their message reach every nook and cranny of Igbo nation. Such strategies include hospital apostolate, school apostolate etc. Music was hardly emphasized as a veritable tool to download the word of God into the minds of the people. But music is effective, even more than spoken words, in making the contents of any message permeate the recesses of the minds of the recipients. The repetitive nature of the refrain or the chorus helps to stamp the libretto indelibly into the mind. Because of this power of music, there is need therefore for a music apostolate. Music can be effectively used to actualize the mandate that Jesus had given to his disciples to make his message known to everyone. The Igbo Church musicians can fruitfully engage in this apostolate if they use the Igbo cultural features to carry out their functions.


The study of relationships between regional performance and varieties of capitalism within developing countries is an interesting and challenging topic. Although it is evident that capitalist institutions have made further inroads in Southeast Asia, it is far from certain how particular institutional arrangements should be classified and how institutions will change in the future. What seems reasonably certain, however, is that the traditional dichotomy of liberal capitalist systems (notably the USA and the UK) and coordinated capitalist systems (Germany and Japan) may prove to be an unsuitable lens through which to scrutinise the performance of non-core regions. For example, Vietnam, with a similar population to Germany, is neither liberal nor coordinated. This thesis has been concerned with the bandwidth of capitalist variety within Southeast Asia and has made an effort to apply elements of the Varieties of Capitalism approach as developed by Hall and Soskice (2001) to Thailand and Malaysia. The institutional turn in economic geography has proven to be valid and useful for explaining patterns of regional development in the developed world. Nevertheless, remarkably few publications employed an institutional approach for non-core regions in developing areas. From a theoretical and methodological point of view, then, it was and is interesting to scrutinize to what extent the institutional turn makes sense in such areas. The province of Satun in Southern Thailand and the state of Perlis in Northern Malaysia, two neighbouring non-core regions, were chosen to identify, explore and unravel capitalist institutions and to investigate its impact on patterns of economic activity and human development. Satun and Perlis were selected as research regions because they have much in common, but belong to two different countries. They have experienced remarkably different developmental trajectories: Satun's economy has remained a resource frontier (seafood and natural rubber), whereas Perlis' economy was transformed into an economy dominated by public services. Hence, national institutions matter and consequently, the Varieties of Capitalism approach is a suitable point of departure. Primary data were gathered by conducting two firm surveys, two social network surveys and semi-structured interviews with civil servants, bank managers, politicians and members of the regional press. In total, relevant information was obtained from 213 actors. The results indicate that the national institutional framework has a tremendous influence on the development performance in Perlis. The transformation into an economy based on (state owned) branch plants and public sector activities and the increasingly higher standard of living compared to Satun could not have been achieved without the support of the federal Malaysian government. Although several national institutions are present in Satun its development performance is also influenced by two other factors: regional institutions structured by ethnicity and (inter)national demand for seafood and natural rubber. Therefore, looking at differences between national institutional frameworks certainly makes sense, but researchers and policymakers should not neglect the interplay between national and regional institutions.


Introduction/Background Gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD) defines a spectrum of proliferative disorders of trophoblastic epithelium of the placenta. Incidence, risk factors, and outcome may differ from a country to another. Methodology An observational prospective study was conducted at the GTD Clinic of Mansoura University. The patients were recruited for 12 months from September 2015 to August 2016. The patients' characteristics, management, and outcome were reported. Results We reported 71 clinically diagnosed GTD cases, 62 of them were histologically confirmed, 58 molar (33 CM and 25 PM) in addition to 4 initially presented GTN cases. Mean age of the studied cases was 26.22 years ± 9.30SD. Mean pre-evacuation hCG was 136170 m.i.u/ml ±175880 SD. Most of the cases diagnosed accidentally after abnormal sonographic findings (53.2%). Rate of progression of CM and PM to GTN was 24.2% and 8%, respectively. Conclusion The incidence of molar pregnancy and GTN in our locality was estimated to be 13.1 and 3.2 per 1000 live births respectively. We found no significance between CM and PM regarding hCG level, time to hCG normalization, and progression rate to GTN. Disclosure Nothing to disclose


One hundred patients with patent ductus arterious (PDA) were treated successfully by percutaneous transfemoral plug closure since 1985. Age ranged from 5 to 48 years. Among them five had previous ligation of PDA, One was complicated with infective endocarditis, and in four pulmonary hypertension were found. The internal diameter shown in aortograph ranged from 0.26-1.0 cm. Primary success was accomplished after the first trial in 97 patients and second trial was necessary in three cases. However in one patient plug closure was given up after unsuccessful trial. The plug closure was carried out with domestic-made material and instrument in all cases. We adopted the modified Porstmann technique. We believe that the infrainguinal transfemoral approach is simple, and less traumatic. The indication of plug closure can be extended especially to residual or recanalization cases after ligation in selected cases. It may become the method of first choice for PDA. The "papillary type" of PDA is discussed and a specially designed and tailored plug and also a spontaneous flow-directed method were recommended. Frequent ventricular premature beats usually occurred while the catheters were being pushed through chordae tendinae of the tricuspid valve and the way of prevention was discussed. In case of dislodgement of plug, reestablishing the wire locus would be necessary. One to sixty-eight months follow up study after closure showed no sign of recanalization or residual shunt.


The intestinal epithelium maintains a state of controlled inflammation despite continuous contact with Gram-negative commensal bacteria and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on its luminal surface. Recognition of LPS by the Toll-like receptor (TLR) 4/MD-2 complex results in pro-inflammatory gene expression and cytokine secretion in intestinal epithelial cells (IECs). We have shown that IECs express low levels of MD-2 and TLR4 and are poorly responsive to LPS. In this study, we did a comprehensive analysis to understand the immune-mediated and epigenetic mechanisms by which IECs down-regulate MD-2 expression. Expression of MD-2 and TLR4 mRNA was examined in human inflammatory bowel disease and intestinal epithelial cell lines (T84, HT-29, Caco-2). Nuclear factor-κB transcriptional activation was used as a measure of LPS responsiveness. Intestinal epithelial cells in patients with inflammatory bowel disease exhibited increased expression of MD-2 and TLR4 mRNA. Lipopolysaccharide responsiveness in IECs was polarized to the basolateral membrane. Bisulfite sequencing of the MD-2 promoter demonstrated methylation of CpG dinucleotides. Inhibition of methylation by 5-azacytidine and histone de-actylation by trichostatin A, two forms of epigenetic silencing, resulted in increased mRNA expression of MD-2 in IECs. These results demonstrate various molecular mechanisms by which IECs down-regulate MD-2 and, thereby, protect against dysregulated inflammation to commensal bacteria in the intestinal lumen.


In general approaches of electronic trust in B2C e-commerce, to facilitate purchase decision process, the customers select valid brands based on the authenticity of web and regulatory mechanisms. This approach is not suitable for purchase from small companies without active brands in e-commerce. To purchase from these companies, we should follow other e-trust approaches. One of the approaches applied by information literate people is referring to valid ranking sites like Alexa rank. This study evaluates the correlation between Alexa rank and formal measures of trust in electronic space and extracts a new method for e-trust based on electronic reputation extracted from the results of existing ranking in ranking sites. To do this, 100 store websites are selected based on regulatory lists and the formal criteria of trust is measured and the correlation of these criteria with Alexa rank is compared.


: Earlier, polyclonal antibodies to Escherichia coli RecA protein were used to identify immunologically related proteins in meiotic spermatocytes of different eukaryotes. At least one such protein proved to be a component of the synaptonemal complex (SC) [1]. Subsequent experiments on localization of RecA-like antigens in SCs of spermatocytes were performed by indirect immunocytochemical methods and electron microscopy, which showed that RecA-like protein(s) at early leptotene are largely associated with chromatin. During SC formation (at leptotene and zygotene), they are found in both lateral elements and the central space of SC. In some cases, RecA-like proteins are associated with SC substructures that resemble recombination nodules. When spermatocytes enter late diplotene, Rec-A-like proteins cease to be detected in SC structures.


To reduce manufacturing variation due to chemical-mechanical polishing and to improve yield, layout must be made uniform with respect to density criteria. This is achieved by layout postprocessing to add fill geometries, either at the foundry or, for better convergence of performance verification flows, during layout synthesis. This paper proposes a new min-variation objective for the synthesis of fill geometries. Within the so-called fixed dissection regime (where density bounds are imposed on a predetermined set of windows in the layout), we exactly solve the min-variation objective using a linear programming formulation. We also state criteria for fill pattern synthesis, and discuss additional criteria that apply when fill, must be grounded for predictability of circuit performance. We believe that density control for CMP will become an important research topic in the VLSI design-manufacturing interface over the next several years.


Rett Syndrome (RTT) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder that has multi-system involvement with co-occurring epilepsy, breathing problems and autonomic dysregulation. Autonomic dysregulation can increase the risk of cardiorespiratory vulnerability in this patient group. Assessment of heart rate variability (HRV) provides an overview of autonomic health in RTT and offers insight into how the sympathetic and parasympathetic components of the nervous system function. However, to our knowledge, no study has evaluated HRV in Rett patients to assess how the dynamics of autonomic function vary with age and changes during the day and/or night. Using non-invasive wearable sensors, we measured HRV in 45 patients with RTT and examined the time and frequency domain sympathetic and parasympathetic indices. Among the HRV indices assessed, heart rate decreases with age and is lower in the night across all ages studied. The sympathetic index (SDNN) and the parasympathetic indices (RMSSD and pNN50) are not seen to change with age. Nevertheless, these indices were all higher during the day when compared to the night. Our findings appear to show that Rett patients are less adaptable to autonomic changes during the night. In the clinical setting, this might be more relevant for patients with severe psychopathology.


This article investigates the nationalistic rhetoric disseminated by the Chinese political elite regarding the South China Sea, exploring how this political discourse contributed to building a collective consciousness of the sea among Chinese citizens and to creating a new maritime province.


The research was funded and undertaken by Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) between April 2013 and July 2014. The overall aim of the research was to evaluate the work undertaken by Home Start Manchester South (HSMS) for the year 2013-2014. The evaluation had the following objectives:
 • To explore the kinds of families and communities that the organisation provides support for.
 • To explore how families are referred to Home Start Manchester South.
 • To find out who are the volunteers for Home Start Manchester South.
 • To evaluate the effectiveness of Home Start Manchester South in meeting the needs of the families it works with.
The research is based on focus groups with volunteers, seven interviews with families, telephone interviews with HSMS board members, database evaluation, an online questionnaire with referrers from a range of service providers, and fieldwork at training events. One member of the research team attended a HSMS evaluation event held in Withington. The research team is located within the Faculty of Health, Psychology and Social Care at MMU.


The book investigates the explanatory variables for the passage-reading comprehension performance of Japanese EFL learners and their sentence-reading speed. Following rigorous preliminary studies evaluating the significance of the candidate variables and refining research instruments, a large scale main study was conducted. Regression analyses indicated that syntactic knowledge was the best predictor of passage-reading ability, while vocabulary breadth also contributed to its prediction. Subgroup analyses supported the significance of syntactic knowledge for both higher- and lower-ability readers. Sentence-reading speed was best predicted by the speed of lexical semantic access. The significance of this speed was also consistent across the group division. A subsequent exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modelling of the data indicated that the performances of the participants were best explained in terms of two latent factors: one based on careful text processing power and the other on efficiency of lexical semantic access.


Postpartum depression is a severe mental health disorder, characterized by persistence of low moods, feelings of being worthless, being hopeless and sad, that continuously affects lot of women that just gave birth. Understanding the internal and external factors involved in development and manifestation of postpartum depression has important implication for the practice of counseling psychology and general wellbeing of women. The study investigated the role of self-esteem, social support and age on postpartum depression among 116 Nigerian women. Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, Social Provision Scale, and Index of Self-esteem were used to measure postpartum depression, social support and self-esteem respectively. The results showed a significant effect of selfesteem and social support on postpartum depression but not age. The interaction effects were not significant.


A consumer survey and Tobit analysis were used to determine the effect of message framing and other factors on self-reported organic food purchase likelihood. Negative framing, which emphasizes the possible negative consequences of conventional agricultural techniques, led to a ""boomerang effect"" that resulted in lowered purchase likelihood of organic food by consumers with high trust in food safety. Consumers with significantly higher purchase likelihood had high perceived risk from pesticides and high prior knowledge about organic methods. African Americans and those with less than a high school education had lower purchase likelihood.


Walleyes Sander vitreus are the most popular fish among South Dakota anglers, but smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu were introduced to provide new angling opportunities. Some walleye anglers have reported reductions in the quality of walleye fisheries since the introduction of smallmouth bass and attribute this to the consumption of young walleyes by smallmouth bass and competition for shared prey resources. We quantified the diets of walleyes and smallmouth bass in the lower reaches of Lake Sharpe (a Missouri River reservoir), calculated the diet overlap between the two predators, and determined whether they partitioned shared prey based on size. We also quantified walleye diets in the upper reach of the reservoir, which has a different prey base and allowed us to compare the growth rates of walleyes within Lake Sharpe. Age-0 gizzard shad Dorosoma cepedianum composed a substantial proportion of the diets of both predators, regardless of location, for most of the growing season; the patterns in shad vulnerability appeared to drive the observed patterns in diet overlap. Smallmouth bass appeared to consume a smaller size range of gizzard shad than did walleyes, which consumed a wide range. Smallmouth bass consumed Sander spp. in some months, but in very low quantities. Given that global climate change is expected to alter the population and community dynamics in Great Plains reservoirs, we also used a bioenergetics approach to predict the potential effects of limiting prey availability (specifically, the absence of gizzard shad and rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax) and increased water temperatures (as projected from global climate change models) on walleye and smallmouth bass growth. The models indicated that the absence of rainbow smelt from the diets of walleyes in upper Lake Sharpe would reduce growth but that the absence of gizzard shad would have a more marked negative effect on both predators at both locations. The models also indicated that higher water temperatures would have an even greater negative influence on walleye growth; however, smallmouth bass growth was predicted to increase with higher temperatures. Fisheries managers should consider strategies to enhance the prey base or mitigate the effects of increased water temperatures that may occur in the future as a result of global climate change. Such proactive actions may alleviate potential future competition between walleyes and smallmouth bass resulting from changes in the fish community.


Amyloid protein AA is the presumptive fragment of an acute phase serum apolipoprotein, apoSAA. Two major murine apoSAA isotypes (apoSAA1 and apoSAA2) have been identified. The NH2-terminal amino acid sequences of purified murine apoSAA1 and apoSAA2 have been examined and compared with that of murine amyloid protein AA. Our results indicate that apoSAA1 and apoSAA2 are separate gene products and that amyloid protein AA has NH2-terminal amino acid sequence identity with only one of these isotypes, namely apoSAA2.


Impossible figures are known to be motifs of the Dutch artist M. C. Escher's lithographs. However, impossible figures
cannot be strictly defined geometrically because they are mental images of solid objects. In other words, viewers perceive
two-dimensional (2D) drawings as three-dimensional (3D) structures, although these structures cannot be realized in 3D
space. Regardless of the mental images, viewers' differing perceptions of impossible figures have not been sufficiently
researched; thus, we performed two experiments to address this gap. In the first experiment, the participants observed each
sample figure individually in random order and then stated whether, according to them, it was an impossible or possible
figure. Approximately half the participants labeled some sample figures as possible figures in spite of them being impossible
geometrically. The results indicated that perceptions of impossible figures differ according to the individual and the
figures themselves. We also obtained widely differing results between four inconsistent rectangles that had the external
contours of possible rectangles. To address this variability, we focused on the inconsistent rectangles in the second experiment.
The four rectangles were sub-classified into 28 categories, and the participants were asked whether each of the 28
figures was impossible or possible, similar to the procedure followed in the first experiment. The sub-classified rectangles
were broken down into polygons to analyze the results. Finally, we extracted an element that led to participants' perception
of possible figures and two elements that led to their perception of impossible figures.


A halloysite nanotubes–polyvinyl alcohol–polyvinylpyrrolidone (HNTs–PVA–PVP) composite has been investigated for a quite long time aiming at improving the physico–chemical characterization of HNTs. In this work, HNTs–PVA–PVP composite were prepared based on a unique procedure characterized by crosslinking two polymers with HNTs. The composite of two polymers were modified by treating HNTs with phosphoric acid (H3PO4) and by using malonic acid (MA) as a crosslinker. The composite was also treated by adding the dispersion agent sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The HNTs–PVA–PVP composite shows better characteristics regarding agglomeration when HNTs is treated in advance by H3PO4. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), brunauer–emmett–teller (BET), size distribution, and atomic force microscopy (AFM) are used to characterize the physio-chemical properties of the composite. FTIR shows additional peaks at 2924.29, 1455.7, and 682.4 cm−1 compared to the neat HNTs due to adding MA. Despite that, the XRD spectra do not show a significant difference, the decrease in peak intensity could be attributed to the addition of semi-crystalline PVA and the amorphous PVP. The images taken by TEM and FESEM show the possible effects of MA on the morphology and internal feature of HNTs–PVA–PVP composite treated by MA by showing the deformation of the matrix. The BET surface area increased to 121.1 m2/g compared to the neat HNTs at 59.1 m2/g. This result, the second highest recorded result, is considered a breakthrough in enhancing the properties of HNTs–PVA–PVP composite, and treatment by MA crosslinking may attribute to the size and the number of the pores. The results from these techniques clearly showed that a significant change has occurred for treated HNTs–PVA–PVP composite where MA was added. The characterization of HNTs–PVA–PVP composite with and without treating HNTs and using crosslinker may lead to a better understanding of this new composites as a precursor to possible applications in the dentistry field.


Ab s t r Ac t Aim: To review local and systemic effects of fluoride (F) in alginate impression materials. Background: Alginate is the most frequently used impression material in dental practices. The alginate powder contains F compounds as an integral ingredient. Materials and methods: Reviewed articles are categorized into three main categories: laboratory studies including F release, enamel solubility, and enamel F uptake. Animal experiment assessed the anticaries effect of topically applied F and release of F from subcutaneously implanted alginate. Human studies involved F distribution from alginate impressions to saliva and circulatory system as well as alginate ingestion and inhalation of the alginate dust. Review results: In vitro and in vivo findings indicated that alginate continuously released F in aqueous solution. Topical application of alginate resulted in significant enamel F uptake and reduced enamel solubility. Animal experiment showed that topically applied alginate resulted in a significant inhibition of caries. Subcutaneously implanted alginate continuously released F. Human studies revealed that F in alginate impression are readily taken in and distributed to saliva and blood. Deliberately ingested alginate raised plasma F to considerable level. The F inhaled from emitted alginate dust did not elevate the plasma F level. Conclusion: The outcome of this overview indicates that alginate impression materials are rich source of F delivery to dental tissues, oral fluids, and systemic circulation. Clinical significance: The beneficial local effects of F in alginate impression materials have been discussed. On the other hand, alginate impressions elevate the plasma F levels if the pooled saliva is swallowed or part of the material is accidentally ingested. Dental professionals require to familiarize with these aspects.


In the Junggar Basin, northwestern China, the mass extinction-related strata at the base and top of the Triassic have been well studied, but the biostratigraphy and vegetation patterns of the Middle–Late Triassic sediments are comparatively poorly resolved. Here we investigate Middle–Late Triassic successions of the Dalongkou Section in the southern Junggar Basin for palynostratigraphy and vegetation patterns. Three palynological abundance zones are proposed here: the
 Aratrisporites
 Abundance Zone (Middle Triassic), the
 Dictyophyllidites
 -
 Aratrisporites
 Abundance Zone (latest Middle to early Late Triassic) and the
 Lycopodiacidites
 -
 Stereisporites
 informal abundance zone (Late Triassic). A review of previous records of the
 Fukangichthys
 Fauna indicates that this vertebrate fossil assemblage is stratigraphically located within the uppermost part of the Karamay Formation and is Middle Triassic in age. The revised dating of this and other faunas are further used to constrain the palynological zones in the Junggar Basin. Although the palynoflora is consistently dominated by non-striate bisaccate pollen (produced by seed ferns and/or conifers) in the studied section, spores record a distinctive abundance increase during the late Middle Triassic. Spore taxon abundance changes indicate a vegetational shift from a Middle Triassic-early Late Triassic community characterized by abundant lycophytes (likely
 Annalepis
 and
 Pleuromeia
 ) to a Late Triassic ecosystem with abundant dipteridaceous ferns (e.g.
 Dictyophyllum
 ) in the Junggar Basin and across North China. This study updates Triassic biostratigraphy in the Junggar Basin, and sheds light on temporal floral changes in this basin and elsewhere in North China during the Middle to Late Triassic.

 Supplementary material at
 https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.6655485


We are all stakeholders in the geographical space, which makes up our common living and activity space. This means that a careful, creative, and anticipatory planning, design, and management of that space will be of paramount importance for our sustained life on earth. Here it is shown that the quality of such planning could be significantly increased with help of a computer based modelling and simulation tool. Further, the design and implementation of such a tool ought to be guided by the conceptual integration of some core concepts like anticipation and retardation, multi modal system modelling, fuzzy space modelling, and multi actor interaction.


Natural abundances of the stable isotope pairs C/C (dC) and N/N (dN) have been used previously to study food sources and trophic relationships in soil invertebrates. In this study, dC and dN were measured in five species of Longidoridae to investigate the effect of transferring nematodes from one plant host to another. Longidorus elongatus, Paralongidorus maximus, Xiphinema diversicaudatum, X. index, and X. vuittenezi were cultured initially on Lolium perenne, Petunia hybrida, Rubus ideaus, Ficus carica, and Rubus ideaus, respectively, and subsequently transferred to 4-week-old P. hybrida seedlings. After feeding on P. hybrida for 28 days, whole body dC and dN values of the three Xiphinema species were depleted (P = 0.001) and enriched (P = 0.001), respectively, compared to nematode populations that had fed solely on the original plant hosts. Similar changes in L. elongatus and P. maximus whole body dC and dN were not detected. Changes in whole body dC are considered to be indicative of the new plant host (P. hybrida), whereas differences in whole body dN are probably related to the different feeding strategies used by the longidorid nematodes in this study.


Summary

1
Arguably the most important and elusive component of host–parasite models is the transmission function. Considerable empirical and theoretical work has focused on determining the correct formulation of this function although, to date, there has been little attempt to combine these studies to develop general insights into how observed transmission rates affect host–parasite dynamics.

2
Here, estimates of transmission rates from a range of host–parasite systems in the literature are described using a phenomenological function which takes into account how transmission varies with host and parasite densities. This function is placed in the appropriate model framework to determine the consequences of the observed transmission rates for each system.

3
All of the parasites had decreasing per capita transmission rates with increasing parasite densities suggesting that parasites tend to saturate at high densities, either as hosts become limiting or due to heterogeneities amongst the host population. In terms of the responses to host density, the parasites fell into two groups: those with increasing or decreasing transmission rates. This dichotomy was due to the biology of the organisms; the former group infect through cannibalism, which increased at high densities as the individuals became stressed, whereas the latter group infected through free-living stages, resulting in a form of spatial structuring reducing the number of hosts available for infection.

4
A metapopulation model was developed where hosts and parasites interacted in discrete patches according to the appropriate transmission function, with neighbouring patches linked by dispersal. The model suggested that small-scale, localized transmission events can drive large-scale epizootics at the metapopulation level. This emphasizes the importance of correctly describing and quantifying the transmission function at the individual level.

5
Traditionally, the formulation of the transmission function has depended on the scale of observation. This work shows that transmission should be considered from the viewpoint of the organisms concerned. Observed transmission rates are a consequence of the biology of the individuals meaning it should be possible to develop a priori hypotheses concerning the nature of the transmission function from a basic understanding of the life history of the organisms concerned.


Quantifying and simulating the relationships between crop growth, total-nitrogen (total-N) and nitrate-N (NO3--N) concentration can improve crop nutritional husbandry. In this study, the relationship between shoot relative growth rate (RGR) and shoot total-N, organic-N and NO3--N concentration of hydroponically-grown lettuce (Lactuca sativa var. capitata L. cv. Kennedy) was described and simulated. Plants were grown hydroponically for up to 74 d. Nitrogen was supplied throughout (control; T1), or removed at 35 d (T2) and 54 d (T3), respectively, after sowing. The organic-N and NO3--N concentration declined in the shoots of control plants with growth, until commercial maturity approached when organic-N and NO3--N concentration increased. There were sub-linear relationships between both total-N and organic-N concentration, and shoot RGR, in the N-limited treatments, i.e. shoot RGR approached an asymptote at high shoot N concentration. The proportional effects of total-N and organic-N concentration on shoot RGR were independent of plant age. A dynamic simulation model ('Nicolet'), derived previously under different conditions, was used to simulate the growth, dry matter content, organic-N, and NO3--N concentration of lettuce grown under the extreme N-stress conditions experienced by the plants. In view of the largely successful fitting of the model to experimental data, the model was used to interpret the results. Suggestions for model improvement are made.


The subject of extracting high-resolution data from low-resolution images is one of the most important digital processing applications in recent years, attracting much research. In this work the authors show how to improve the resolution of an image when a small part of the image is given in high-resolution. To obtain this result the authors use an iterative procedure imposing the low frequencies complete data of the original low-resolution image and the high-resolution data present only in a fraction of the image. The result is a clearer image, with higher correlation to the required high-resolution image. The authors show the use of such a procedure on Rosetta images to demonstrate the higher frequencies obtained and on a text sample to show improvement in textual understanding.


Total carbon in the Apollo 12 sample 12023 fines was 110 micrograms per gram of sample with a carbon isotopic abundance δ13C (relative to the Pee Dee belemnite standard) of +12 per mil. Hydrolysis of the fines with deuterium chloride yielded undeuterated methane along with deuterated hydrocarbons, thus confirming the presence of 7 to 21 micrograms of carbon per gram of sample as carbide and about 2 micrograms of carbon per gram of sample as indigenous methane. After vacuum pyrolysis of the fines to 1100�C the following gases were detected in the relative abundance: carbon monoxide 〉 carbon dioxide 〉 methane. Variations of the δ13C value with the pyrolysis temperature indicated the presence of carbon with more than one range of isotopic values. The observed δ13C value of +14 per mil for lunar carbide is much higher than that of carbide in meteorites. These results suggest that lunar carbide is either indigenous to the moon or a meteoritic contribution that has been highly fractionated isotopically.


Plants were surveyed in the St. Katherine Protectorate of South Sinai, Egypt. The most frequently recorded plant species include: Artemisia herba-alba, Artemisia judaica, Fagonia arabica, Fagonia mollis, Schismus barbatus, Stachys aegyptiaca, Tanacetum sinaicum, Teucrium polium and Zilla spinosa. Dominant plant families were Compositae, Graminae, Labiatae, and Leguminosae. Communities with a high grazing pressure had a lower overall plant vigour. A strong negative correlation was found between plant vigour and grazing pressure. Twelve plant families showed heavy grazing pressure, including Resedaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Polygalaceae, Juncaceae, Solanaceae, Geraniaceae, Ephedraceae, Globulariaceae, Urticaceae, Moraceae, Plantaginaceae, and Salicaceae.


Optical isotherms as a novel fundamental characterization method for MOF sensors are presented by a combination of simultaneous monitoring of sorption processes of different analyte gases (N2, Ar, CO2, and O2) together with in situ photoluminescence spectroscopy. Thereby, a direct correlation of both properties, luminescence and adsorption, is achieved, which provides a direct quantitative access to the effect of the MOF–analyte interaction on the photoluminescence of a MOF system. In addition, changes in equilibration time of the sorption process, temperature dependence and cyclic repetition can be systematically investigated. Thereby, optical isotherms establish a frame of reference for MOF luminescence sorption sensors. The MET MOF system (MET = metal triazolate) was chosen as a porous model candidate. A strong intensity increase of the photoluminescence of the MET-type MOF 3∞[Zn(Tz)2], (Tz− = 1,2,3-triazolate), was achieved by introduction of Mn2+ as a luminescence activator. Statistical replacement of Zn2+ with Mn2+ in 3∞[Zn0.9Mn0.1(Tz)2] retains the original structural microporosity. The obtained optical isotherms were further compared to results from a non-porous, luminescent coordination polymer 3∞[Sr0.95Eu0.05(Im)2] in order to elaborate the novel characterization concept in a broader context, showing that this concept is a fundamental step to achieve quantitative read-out of the sensing signal for both, porous and dense systems.


From the viewpoint of better utilization of synchronization information in suppressed carrier VSB (vestigial sideband) television signals, various carrier regeneration and phase tracking systems are examined. Two APC (automatic phase control) systems with improved utilization of synchronous information are discussed further with emphasis placed on their precision phase tracking and carrier regeneration characteristics. Test models of both systems have obtained a carrier phase accuracy of ± 0.5 degree, which permits color television transmission over a chain of long haul links. Practical utilization of the first system, which employs an approximateBSB(both sidebands) component is featured by the use of a variable parameter phase tracking control loop system which attains a stable, high sensitivity. To satisfy stability, sensitivity, and practical requirements, a second-order variable parameter astatic zero tracking system has been adopted. Response of the test equipment to a typical picture has been analyzed, and the theoretical results have been verified by experiment. If the sensitivity parameter is fixed, the first system becomes the phase tracking circuitry of the second system. This is a carrier reproducing system which uses time band filtering, sampling, and which must fully utilize trisynchronization (V- and H-synch and blanking) information to secure the start and continuance of sampling. Its carrier regeneration system features the use of a self-holding gate which synchronously gates by using the natural and horizontal synchronous periods and not regating for a certain fixed time period. The stationary and starting transient responses of this system are discussed and its reliable starting verified through experimentation. It has been found to be effective with an ECR (excess carrier ratio) of 0.5. A phase tracking method similar to that in the first system was used.


Before making any recommendation for the use of improved seeds, policy makers have to ensure that the improved seeds are superior to the local ones. To generate information on the financial viability of improved seeds, this paper computes the gross margin that farmers lose when they fail to use these inputs. Using the switching regression method, it then examines the contextual factors that affect the income foregone if farmers fail to use improved seeds.The study is based on the fifth round of the Ethiopian rural household survey data taking wheat as a case. The estimated foregone gross margin ranges from 277 to 886 Birr per hectare and the total gross margin foregone at the national level ranges from 295 million to 946 million Birr per year. On the whole, the results suggest that, even though failure to use improved seeds involves foregoing financial benefits, it varies across farmers and farming systems. Not all farmers forego equal financial benefits.The regression results show that the gross margin foregone increases with labour use, fertilizer use, farmers' experience with the extension package, wheat marketing, rainfall suitability, and wheat price index. On the contrary, it decreases with plot quality, education, input price index, oxen ownership, and chemical use. The results imply that improved seeds will have better income generating capacity when accompanied by other complementary services. Agricultural extension policy should establish targeting principles based on the comparative advantage of the respective seeds. On the whole, blanket recommendation of improved seeds for all farmers and farming systems across the board has to be re-visited


Formal verification provides strong guarantees of correctness of software, which are especially important in safety or security critical systems. Hoare logic is a widely used formalism for rigorous verification of software against specifications in the form of pre-condition/post-condition assertions. The advancement of semantic parsing techniques and higher computational capabilities enable us to extract semantic content from natural language text as formal logical forms, with increasing accuracy and coverage. This paper proposes a formal framework for Hoare logic-based formal verification of imperative programs using logical forms generated from compositional semantic parsing of natural language assertions. We call our reasoning approach Natural Hoare Logic. This enables formal verification of software directly against safety requirements specified by a domain expert in natural language. We consider both declarative assertions of program invariants and state change as well as imperative assertions that specify commands which alter the program state. We discuss how the reasoning approach can be extended using domain knowledge and a practical approach for guarding against semantic parser errors.


We present FREDo, a few-shot document-level relation extraction (FSDLRE) benchmark. As opposed to existing benchmarks which are built on sentence-level relation extraction corpora, we argue that document-level corpora provide more realism, particularly regarding none-of-the-above (NOTA) distributions. Therefore, we propose a set of FSDLRE tasks and construct a benchmark based on two existing supervised learning data sets, DocRED and sciERC. We adapt the state-of-the-art sentence-level method MNAV to the document-level and develop it further for improved domain adaptation. We find FSDLRE to be a challenging setting with interesting new characteristics such as the ability to sample NOTA instances from the support set. The data, code, and trained models are available online (https://github.com/nicpopovic/FREDo).


We present a conceptual framework for creating Q-learning-based algorithms that converge to optimal equilibria in cooperative multiagent settings. This framework includes a set of conditions that are sufficient to guarantee optimal system performance. We demonstrate the efficacy of the framework by using it to analyze several well-known multi-agent learning algorithms and conclude by employing it as a design tool to construct a simple, novel multi-agent learning algorithm.