Introduction Faecal calprotectin (fcal) is a non-invasive marker of intestinal inflammation that can assist physicians in investigating chronic gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms. Different cut-off values have been proposed, depending on the pre-test probability for organic disease, in order to improve diagnostic accuracy and to make the test more cost-effective. To support the use of a higher cut-off in clinical practice, we present data from a cohort of patients having been fully investigated for fcal levels above the lab reference cut-off. Method Retrospective observational study. Results We identified the patients who were referred to the Gastroenterology department at King's College Hospital, London, UK between January 2002 and 2004 with chronic gastrointestinal symptoms and had a fcal test. During this period 367 patients were tested. Two hundred (200/367, 55%) were given a diagnosis of non-organic disease and were discharged to their primary care physician. Sixty one (61/200, 31%) with a median age of 48 years (range 21, 85) and 2:1 female: male ratio tested positive for fcal (>60 μg/g, ELISA kit, Bühlmann). Thirty five (35/61, 57%) had presented initially with altered bowel habit, 15 (25%) with abdominal pain, 7 (12%) with bloating and 4 (6%) with diarrhoea. The median fcal was 113 μg/g (range 60, 850, >150 μg/g in 18 [30%] patients). All had a normal ileocolonoscopy. The median follow up time from initial presentation to the initiation of this study was 10 years (range 9, 11). In this period 3 patients (3/61, 5%) were diagnosed with an organic condition. Two were diagnosed with Crohn's disease (1 with terminal ileal [TI] and 1 with isolated perianal disease) after 7 years of their initial presentation and 1 with collagenous colitis after 5 years. The repeat fcal for the patient with TI disease increased from 80 μg/g to 1130 μg/g prior to diagnosis. The other two had normal fcal when retested. Four patients were found, in retrospect, to take NSAIDs regularly, three had a diagnosis of cystic fibrosis, two with liver cirrhosis and one had a diagnosis of HIV at the time of referral. None of the patients with a negative calprotectin developed organic disease during their follow-up. Conclusion In patients presenting with chronic GI symptoms, fcal in the range 60–150 μg/g is associated with a very low incidence of organic or significant pathology. Subsequent routine investigation of these patients after normal colonoscopy (other than perhaps repeating fcal to demonstrate a trend over time) is not recommended. Disclosure of interest None Declared.


The current study examines the challenges and constraints faced by rural, small-herd, llama (Lama glama) agropastoralists of the Bolivian Altiplano. Three different study sites with various degrees of agropastoralism were examined in order to describe the relationship between quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) and llama production and the implications of land use competition between these two livelihoods. In order to document the impact of land use change, the study also examined the native forage species available to free grazing llamas and their relative importance. Llama pastoralists were interviewed and completed a survey on the perceived importance of native forage plants in grazing llama diets as well as the perceived constraints to llama husbandry. The relative frequency of citation (RFC) index was employed as a measure of relative importance of different native forage plant species. This data was supplemented with further primary data collected from the field using mixed methods involving participatory rural appraisal techniques (PRA), interviews and focus groups. Secondary data was collected from an in-depth literature review, government offices and other relevant institutions. The study presents a detailed list of all cited native forage species and their perceived importance as a forage crop and any ethnoveterinary uses. The results reveal that challenges and constraints can often be site-specific, and a lack of forage throughout the dry season (May to November) was a general constraint among study sites. Quinoa production was found to be in direct competition with llama husbandry, with many sites demonstrating s shift away from llama pastoralism.


The author analyzes the results of clinical morphologic and immunologic studies carried out in 55 patients (78.2 percent of these with chronic active hepatitis, 12.7 percent with chronic latent hepatitis, and 9.1 percent with chronic passive hepatitis) with the virus replication phase serum markers and in 57 patients (82.5 percent with chronic passive and 17.2 percent with chronic active condition) with the hepatitis B virus integration phase markers. Histologic examination of the liver has revealed hepatocyte necroses, lobular necroses predominating in the patients with the replication phase markers (90.9 percent) and periportal necroses in those with the integration phase markers (17.5 percent). Clinical symptoms and laboratory findings, irrespective of the stage of hepatitis B virus, were not representative. Chronic hepatitis associated with the viral replication stage, was characterized by a reduction of T lymphocyte functional activity, elevation of T suppressor count, and reduced immunologic regulation index. In-Chronic hepatitis associated with viral integration phase the immunologic parameters did not much differ from those in the controls. The results evidence that the dialogic cycle of hepatitis B virus development plays the major role in the pathogenesis of chronic hepatitis; active stage of the disease is associated with the replicative phase of viral development and regressive stage and arrest of the condition with the integration phase.


Managing and improving the processes used to develop software products is widely accepted as one of the remedies to overcome the problem of poor quality systems being delivered. As a result, the IS community has adopted several software process improvement (SPI) programs. The tenets of these programs are grounded in the belief that a mature development process can increase the likelihood of producing high quality software products with the requisite requirements which should add business value. However, small firms in developing countries like the English-speaking Caribbean (ESC) are not aware nor adopting these SPI programs because they are seen as costly, time consuming and disruptive; hence, not realizing the potential benefits. This study examined the awareness, adoption and benefits of SPI programs in ESC software development firms. The result found that a slight majority (54.5%) of firms in the region are aware of SPI programs, with only 20% of those who are aware using any form of SPI programs in the development of software. These findings reinforces the need for SPI training in the ESC to articulate the compelling need for a change towards the adoption and use of SPI programs in software development.


Since superintendents are keenly aware of the strengths and weaknesses of active principals, an investigation was conducted of principalship-preparation curricular needs, as determined by superintendents. The subjects included superintendents from 64 parish-school districts and two city-school districts in Louisiana. The survey instrument consisted of a principalship-preparation program course list, and superintendents were asked to select 12 courses that they believed would represent the most effective curriculum and to rank each course in terms of its importance to the curriculum. The 12 courses selected by the greatest number of the 56 superintendents who responded were then ranked according to frequency of responses. The courses are as follows: (1) School Law; (2) Supervision in Elementary and Secondary Schools; (3) Elementary and Secondary Curriculum; (4) Elementary and Secondary Principalship; (5) Planning, Organizing, and Decision-Making; (6) School and Community Relations; (7) School Personnel Administration; (8) School Finance and Taxation; (9) Curriculum Planning; (10) Internship; (11) School Plant Facilities; and (12) Evaluation, Accountability, and Policy Analysis Models. The resulting principalship-preparation program was not dramatically different from many principalship-preparation programs presently operating in the state. (RJM) ******************************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * ******************************************************************************** What Do Superintendents Think About Principalship Preparation Curriculum? Dawn T. Hardin Northeast Louisiana University Monroe, Louisiana U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUcATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. 0 Minor changes have heen made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 1 Paper presented at the Southwest Educational Research Association Annual Meeting January 23, 1998 in Houston, Texas. 2 EST COPY AVM k ii IIb


We describe the foundational model of anatomy (FMA), reference ontology for the discipline of human anatomy. Using the semantic structure of the FMA as knowledge representation template, we propose a physiology reference ontology (PRO) as a corresponding ontology for "functional bioinformatics". We envision the PRO as a source vocabulary for building symbolic representations of human physiological states and actions that may ultimately be extensible to other species. We describe the evolving architecture of the PRO, in terms of simple examples based on the anatomical concepts encoded in the FMA.


Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is a pathergy positive, ulcerative neutrophilic dermatosis. Pathergy phenomenon is described as a sterile pustule and an ulcer development after minor skin traumas like a bump or bruise, or needlestick injury. In the literature, there are PG cases associated with the pathergy phenomenon on the post-surgical scar tissue. It presents as a necrotic and an ulcerative lesion clinically and, debridement is performed mostly with wrong pre-diagnoses. Debridement makes the lesion get wider and the morbidity increase. There are some PG case reports in the literature which were ended up with amputation due to debridement of a lesion which was an overlooked PG. Herein, we present a case with a giant abdominal pyoderma gangrenosum developed after a surgery in the abdominal drainage site and has reached to 30 cm size after debridement.


We present an emerging indoor assisted navigation system for the visually impaired. The core of the system is a mobile robotic base with a sensor suite mounted on it. The sensor suite consists of an RFID reader and a laser range finder. Small passive RFID sensors are manually inserted in the environment. We describe how the system was deployed in two indoor environments and evaluated by visually impaired participants in a series of pilot experiments.


The unhindered navigation of mobile robots in an unstructured and dynamic environment is constrained by uncertainty, unreliability of input information, and unpredictability issues that plague the sensors and the robot controller. One of the long standing challenges in modern day mobile robotics is instilling the ability and intelligence in robots to autonomously navigate their path, avoiding structured and unstructured obstacles in real-time. An effective way of structuring the navigation path is designing the robot controller by implementing behavioral based approaches. In this project, research work has been carried out on the different fuzzy techniques which can be implemented for the navigation of a wheeled mobile robot, especially in a crowded and unpredictably dynamic environment and in the midst of static as well as dynamic obstacles. In this project, individual robot behaviors and their action coordination are addressed using fuzzy logic. It uses sets of linguistic fuzzy rules to implement expert knowledge in various situations. Later, it has been shown that the fuzzy model of the robot controller far outweighs the traditional algorithm based approach towards design of a robot control system. The proposed fuzzy scheme consists of inputs from an array of sensors located at the front, sides and rear of the mobile robot, which provide information about distances between obstacles to the front, left, right and back of the robot and the fuzzy rule base is run over these inputs to actuate the motion of the left and right wheels of the robot as per the situtation encountered.


Background. In clinical research, the ability to properly analyze data is a necessary skill that cannot be learned simply by listening to lectures. Interactive classes, such as Peer Instruction (PI), are required to help medical students understand the concept of epidemiology for future valid research. In PI lectures, ConcepTests are conducted to confirm and deepen students' understanding of the lecture material. Although it is important to evaluate PI lectures, there have been no studies conducted on PI lectures in epidemiology. This study employed the ConcepTest to evaluate PI lectures in a medical school epidemiology class to measure the efficiency of active learning techniques and the usefulness of ConcepTests in determining effective active learning approaches. Methods. The PI lecture was conducted as part of an existing epidemiology class for fourth-year medical students at Okayama University on October 17, 2019. The lecture was conducted as follows. The lecturer taught the fundamental concepts of epidemiology and presented the ConcepTest to students. After answering the test, students were provided with the answer distribution, followed by peer discussion. After the discussion, students answered the ConcepTest again, and a new answer distribution was presented. Subsequently, the lecturer announced the correct answers and delivered a commentary. The ConcepTest comprised five questions, each related to fundamental concepts of epidemiology. Students' responses to five ConcepTests were collected and analyzed by calculating the proportion of correct answers before and after the discussion, as well as PI efficiency to evaluate the PI lecture. Results. Overall, 121 students attended the epidemiology lecture. The proportion of correct answers before the discussion ranged from 0.217 to 0.458, and after the peer discussion they ranged from 0.178 to 0.767. The PI efficiency ranged from −0.051 to 0.657, and was higher than the theoretical value in three ConcepTests. The efficiency was about the same as the theoretical value in one ConcepTest, and lower than the theoretical value in another. Conclusion. In this study, the efficiency of a PI lecturewas determined by calculating the PI efficiency of each ConcepTest. The results showed that the educational efficiency of a ConcepTest in epidemiology lectures can be widely distributed, ranging from efficient to inefficient. Particularly in three ConcepTests, the proportion of correct answers after the discussion and the PI efficiency were higher than the theoretical value. This suggests that PI lectures can be useful in epidemiology education with the efficient use of ConcepTests. Subjects Epidemiology, Science and Medical Education


Lignocellulosic biomass is highly recalcitrant and requires a pretreatment step to improve the enzyme accessibility and fermentable sugar yields during enzymatic hydrolysis. Our previous studies demonstrated the rearrangement of the hydrogen bond network within CIII, makes it "amorphous-like" and facilitates easier glucan chain extraction by enzyme. Also, these changes increase the number of solvent-exposed glucan chain hydrogen bonds with water ∼50% lowering the surface-bound cellulase by 60-70%. Also, major chemical modifications to lignin occur via ammonolysis of ester-linked ferulate and coumarate linkage. These apparent ultrastructural changes help the enhancement of cellulase activity resulting in higher production of fermentable sugars during enzyme hydrolysis of EA pretreated corn stover relative to Ammonia Fiber Expansion (AFEX) pretreatment. To understand ultra-structural modifications that occur during EA pretreatment, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) were used to examine untreated and EA-pretreated corn stover in an effort to visualize changes in the biomass resulting from the pretreatment. In addition, Immunofluorescence Microscopy was applied to both untreated and pretreated plant cell walls using glycan-directed monoclonal antibodies to reveal possible changes in the spatial distributions of wall glycan epitopes resulting from EA pretreatment. This evaluation was complemented with glycome profiling to determine the glycan epitope compositions of EA-pretreated cell walls relative to untreated and AFEX pretreated corn stover, where lignin and carbohydrates are not extracted. Distinct differences could be observed in the case of xyloglucan, unsubstituted and substituted pectin- and pectic-arabinogalactan-epitope levels in the plant cell wall after EA pretreatment compared with untreated and AFEX-pretreated walls. Liquid ammonia induced de-lignification of cell wall has helped to clearly identify the glucans that are intact after pretreatment. These studies support some of our hypothesis that liquid ammonia cleaves lignin–carbohydrate ester linkages, partially solubilizing lignin and its associated carbohydrates. Specifically, the imaging studies clearly show that some of the cell wall components are extracted as a separate liquid stream during the EA process, thereby creating porous, interconnected tunnel-like networks in the plant cell walls thereby providing better access of carbohydrate polymers to enzymes and thereby increasing the sugar yield from the EA-pretreated biomass.


The present study addressed the phenomenon of dust and sand storms in Makkah al- Mukarramah Administrative Area. The phenomenon, because of its impacts on physical and human aspects, has drawn the attention of researchers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the last two decades. The data used in the study had been obtained from the Ministry of Water and Electricity, and from the General Presidency of Meteorology and Environment conservation, in Saudi Arabia during the period 1978 - 2007. The study used several statistical methods which are common in climate and Meteorological studies. A number of results are reached in the present studies: Winter and Spring witness the most frequent dust storms dvring the year. In these seasons the area is subjected to the prevalence of the Sudan thermal low that accompanied with warm, humid, winds blowing from the south borne with dust storms along the eastern coast of the Red Sea, the western edge of the study area. The thermal low line is characterized by vertical movement that helps to raise up dust and sand to the upper atmosphere over the area. The compared results of the numerical model (NCEP/ETA) on dust storms with the obtained data from the Toms Sensor proved to be successful. In this connection, forecast of dust distribution in the atmosphere is made for two out of the total three cases. The researcher hopes that the current study provided a clear idea about the usefulness of several models and satellite images in forecasting dust storms expected in Saudi Arabia. The study concludes with an appeal to establish new monitoring stations for further control and monitoring of the phenomenon of the dust storms, as well as the establishment of monitoring stations to forecast the suspension of the dust and its concentration in the air. The study recommends to empower the early warning capabilities, in favor of population who are exposed to the dangers of storms, and even by establishing a center for prediction of the recurrence of the dust storm phenomenon. The study recommends also that the concerned authorities adopt and encourage researches in the fields of climate and meteorology aiming to identify the precise characteristics of the patterns and trends of dust and sandstorms; and to intensify training of manpower in those fields. Finally, the study recommends the improvement of the methods to protect roads, farms and other human activities in the areas exposed to dust and sand storms.


Over the past two decades, there has been a growing interest in developing predictive models of animal movement and force generation in fluids. In a departure from past studies that have asked how prescribed motions of a propulsor (wing or fin) generate lift and thrust during swimming and flying, we are increasingly interested in predicting the propulsor's movement as well as the forces generated by it. This interest, motivated by a need to understand the control and dynamics of locomotion and its applications to robotics and animal physiology, requires that we develop integrative models and analyses of swimming and flying that incorporate neural control and muscle physiology into more traditional biomechanical studies of locomotion in fluids. This approach extends from whole-animal studies to the molecular basis of force generation. In this paper, we explore mechanical tuning from the level of the whole animal to the proteins driving force generation in muscle.


The magnetocaloric properties of the Gd5Ge2.025Si1.925In0.05 compound have been studied by x-ray diffraction, magnetic and heat capacity measurements. Powder x-ray diffraction measurement shows that the compound has a dominant phase of monoclinic Gd5Ge2Si2-type structure and a small quantity of Gd5(Ge,Si)3-type phase at room temperature. At about 270 K, this compound shows a first order phase transition. The isothermal magnetic entropy change (ΔSM) is calculated from the temperature and magnetic field dependences of the magnetization and the temperature dependence of MCE in terms of adiabatic temperature change (ΔTad) is calculated from the isothermal magnetic entropy change and the temperature variation in zero-field heat-capacity data. The maximum ΔSM is −13.6 Jkg−1K−1 and maximum ΔTad is 13 K for the magnetic field change of 0–5 T. The Debye temperature (θD) of this compound is 149 K and the value of DOS at the Fermi level is 1.6 states/eVatom from the low temperature zero-field heat-capacity data. A considerable isothermal magnetic entropy change and adiabatic temperature change under a field change of 0–5 T jointly make the Gd5Ge2.025Si1.925In0.05 compound an attractive candidate for a magnetic refrigerant.


In mobile ad hoc networks (MANET), broadcasting is widely used in route discovery and many other network services. The efficiency of broadcasting protocol can affect the performance of the entire network. As such, the simple flooding algorithm aggravates a high number of unnecessary packet rebroadcasts, causing contention and packet collisions. Proper use of probabilistic method can reduce the number of rebroadcasting, therefore reduce the chance of contention and collision among neighboring nodes. A good probabilistic broadcast protocol can achieve high save rebroadcast and low collision. In this paper, we propose a dynamic probabilistic approach when nodes move according to way point mobility model and compare it with simple flooding AODV and fixed probabilistic scheme. Our approach dynamically set the rebroadcasting probability according to the number of neighbours nodes distributed in the ad hoc network. Simulation results show our approach performs better than both simple flooding and fixed probabilistic flooding.


To develop an in vitro model of methamphetamine (METH)-induced dopamine (DA) neurotoxicity, striatal synaptosomes were incubated at 37 degrees C with METH for different periods of time (10-80 min), washed once, then tested for DA transporter function at 37 degrees C. METH produced time- and dose-dependent reductions in the V(max) of DA uptake, without producing any change in K(m). Incubation of synaptosomes with the DA neurotoxins 1-methyl-4-phenyl-pyridinium ion, 6-hydroxydopamine, and amphetamine under similar conditions produced comparable effects. In contrast, incubation with fenfluramine, a serotonin neurotoxin, did not. METH-induced decreases in DA uptake were selective, insofar as striatal glutamate uptake was unaffected. Various DA transporter blockers (cocaine, methylphenidate, and bupropion) afforded complete protection against METH-induced decreases in DA uptake, without producing any effect themselves. METH's effects were also temperature dependent, with greater decreases in DA uptake occurring at higher temperatures. Tests for residual drug revealed small amounts (0.1-0.2 microM) of remaining METH, but kinetic studies indicated that decreases in DA uptake were not likely to be due to METH acting as a competitive inhibitor of DA uptake. Decreases in the V(max) of DA uptake were not accompanied by decreases in B(max) of [(3)H]WIN 35,428 binding, possibly because there is no mechanism for removing damaged DA nerve endings from the in vitro preparation Collectively, these results give good support to the development of a valid in vitro model that may prove helpful for elucidating the mechanisms underlying METH-induced DA neurotoxicity.


Most commercial large wind turbines use blade pitch action to mitigate structural loads in high wind velocity conditions. In this paper, we study the linearized dynamics of the map from blade pitch to tower top fore-aft deflection in horizontal-axis wind turbines. We show that the mass and stiffness distribution of the blades at certain operating conditions determine the presence (or absence) of a right half-plane zero in the transfer function of interest. We conclude that blade design can impose constraints on the achievable tower fore-aft oscillation mitigation through collective blade pitch control. Consequences of this result to wind turbine design are discussed.


Abstract Cratonic basins appear to occupy a specific place in the Wilson cycle, initiating after continental collision and supercontinent development, but before rifting and continental break-up. They do not result directly from the horizontal plate motions characteristic of the Wilson cycle, but from localized, long-lived subsidence. Covering c. 10% of the Earth's continental crust, most of the preserved cratonic basins developed in the Early Paleozoic after the formation of Gondwana and Laurentia. Recent investigation of the Parnaíba cratonic basin of Brazil has shown that this basin, and potentially cratonic basins in general, are characterized by six features: (1) formation on thickened lithosphere (>150 km); (2) a pronounced basal unconformity; (3) a sub-circular outline and large area of 0.5 × 105 to 2 × 106 km2; (4) long-lived (100–300 myr) quasi-exponential tectonic subsidence of shallow marine and terrestrial sediments; (5) no major extensional strain features, such as rifts, crustal or lithospheric thinning or Moho elevation; and (6) dense, high velocity and conductive lower crust and upper mantle. These characteristics indicate basin initiation and development by purely vertical subsidence of the lithosphere, either thermally or mechanically driven. Thermal subsidence may be related to orogenic thickening, radiogenic heating and erosion associated with supercontinent assembly, whereas mechanical subsidence may be a result of the emplacement in the lower crust or upper mantle of a dense igneous body related to plume activity during the lifetime of a supercontinent.


We examine a knowledge representation architecture to support context interchange mediation. For autonomous receivers and sources sharing a common subject domain, the mediator's reasoning engine can devise query plans integrating multiple sources and resolving semantic heterogeneity. Receiver applications obtain the data they need in the form they need it without imposing changes on sources. The KR architecture includes: 1) data models for each source and receiver, 2) subject domain ontologies, containing abstract subject matter conceptualizations that would be known to experienced practitioners in the industry, and 3) context models for each source and receiver that explain how each source or receiver data model implements the abstract concepts from a subject domain ontology. Examples drawn from the fixed income securities industry illustrate problems and solutions enabled by the proposed architecture.


A multiband folded loop chip antenna with a very small volume of 1 cm3 (40 times 5times 5 mm3) is presented. The antenna has a simple metal pattern comprising a folded loop strip and a tuning pad, and is especially suited for application in small-size mobile phones (groundplane length 60 mm only) for multiband operation. The metal pattern is attached on the surfaces of a foam base, and the first three resonant loop modes (0.5-, 1.0-, and 1.5-wavelength modes) of the antenna can be excited with good impedance matching by simply adjusting proper dimensions of the tuning pad and its location along the folded loop strip. The excited 0.5-wavelength mode forms as the antenna's lower band at about 900 MHz for GSM operation, while the 1.0- and 1.5-wavelength modes are formed into a wide operating band at about 1900 MHz for the antenna's upper band to cover DCS/PCS/UMTS operation. Design considerations of the proposed folded loop chip antenna are described, and effects of the tuning pad on controlling the performances of the antenna are shown.


Literature surrounding the topic of environmental certification programs has consistently shown that green buildings financially outperform non-green buildings. Financial performance and energy performance go hand-in-hand when studying commercial real estate, as markets are dominated by institutional and private investors seeking the highest financial returns. Financial performance is the single greatest motivator for firms to implement sustainable initiatives as profit generation takes utmost priority. However, many indications suggest that environmental certification programs are simply branding techniques that do not meet expectations for energy performance. This study examines over 783 million ft 2 of office space across four major metropolitan markets to understand greenhouse gas intensity levels as they relate to Energy Star ratings. This study finds that buildings ranked at the highest level by Energy Star underperform those with slightly lower scores, suggesting there is an underlying issue not captured by Energy Star performance measurement. Two main explanations for the results were rating inflation and over consumption of product. The paper argues that the current Energy Star rating system lacks a complete understanding of building performance and highlights the issues that can arise as they relate to financial performance.


Malignant melanoma-initiating cells (MMIC) are a subpopulation of cells responsible for melanoma tumor growth and progression. They are defined by the expression of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) subfamily B member 5 (ABCB5). Here, we identified a critical role for the DEAD-box helicase HAGE in ABCB5+ MMIC-dependent tumorigenesis and show that HAGE-specific inactivation inhibits melanoma tumor growth mediated by this tumor-initiating population. Knockdown of HAGE led to a significant decrease in RAS protein expression with a concomitant decrease in activation of the AKT and ERK signalling pathways implicated to play an important role in melanoma progression. To confirm that the reduction in NRAS expression was dependent on the HAGE helicase activity, we showed that NRAS, effectively silenced by siRNA, could be rescued by re-introduction of HAGE in cells lacking HAGE. Furthermore, we provide a mechanism by which HAGE promotes NRAS unwinding in vitro. We also observed using tumor transplantation in NOD/SCID mice that the HAGE knockdown in a ABCB5+ melanoma cell line displayed a significant decrease in tumor growth compared to the control. Our results suggest that the helicase HAGE is required for ABCB5+ MMICdependent tumor growth through promoting RAS proteins expression and that cancer therapies targeting HAGE helicase may have broad application for treating malignant melanoma and potentially other cancer types.


Synthesis of sulphated proteoglycans was compared in human erythroleukaemia (HEL) cells grown under control conditions and under stimulation by dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA). Synthesis of [35S]sulphate-labelled proteoglycans by DMSO-treated cells was decreased by about 35 % relative to controls, but synthesis of proteoglycans by PMA-treated cells increased 3-4-fold. Control and DMSO-treated cells secreted 65 % of the newly synthesized proteoglycans, but PMA-treated cells secreted more than 90 %. Sepharose CL-6B chromatography and SDS/PAGE suggested the presence of several proteoglycans in the cells and culture medium. The PMA-treated cells synthesized a low-Mr proteoglycan (Kav 0.3) that was not present in controls and DMSO-treated cultures. The proteoglycans of the cells and medium from control, DMSO-treated and PMA-treated cultures could be separated into three fractions by octyl-Sepharose chromatography. The proteoglycans were resistant to trypsin but were degraded by Pronase and papain to fragments similar in size to the NaOH/NaBH4-generated glycosaminoglycans. The average chain length of the glycosaminoglycans (Kav 0.20 on Sepharose CL-6B for controls) was decreased by DMSO (Kav 0.25) and by PMA (KaV 0.30-0.38). Chondroitin ABC lyase digestion of the proteoglycans from the medium of the control cultures produced two core proteins at Mr 31 000 and 36000. The DMSO medium proteoglycans had only the 31 000-Mr core protein, and the PMA culture medium proteoglycans had core proteins of Mr 27000, 31000 and 36000. Changes in synthesis of proteoglycans induced by DMSO or PMA may have relevance for the maturation of haematopoietic cells.


The real-time measurement of various traffic parameters including queue parameters is required in many traffic situations such as accident and congestion monitoring and adjusting the timings of the traffic lights. In case of the queue detection, at least two algorithms have been proposed by previous researchers. Those algorithms are used for queue detection and are unable to measure queue parameters. The authors propose a method based on applying the combination of noise insensitive and simple algorithms on a number of sub-profiles (a one-pixel-wide key-region) along the road. The proposed queue detection algorithm consists of motion detection and vehicle detection operations, both based on extracting edges of the scene, to reduce the effects of variation of lighting conditions. To reduce the computation time, the motion detection operation continuously operates on all the sub-profiles, but the vehicle detection is only applied to the tail of the queue. The proposed algorithms have been implemented on an 80386-based microcomputer system and the whole system works in real-time.


My thesis argues that the New Right (NR) sought to manipulate state education as a
mechanism of both social transformation and social control in the UK between 1979
and 1992. This is investigated by employing a 'critical realist' perspective which is
located within a wider 'neo-Marxist' conceptual frame. The links between the NR and the Radical Right (RR) Conservative governments during this period are investigated through an analysis of the origins, intentions and ascendancy of NR ideology. It is suggested that the NIRIRR's political intent was a 'hegemonic project' to shift underlying moral values from 'social democracy' to the 'social market'. This depended on the successful transmission, through education, of a definition of 'citizenship' grounded in competitive, 'selfish individualism', with the inequalities of the 'social market' accepted as 'common-sense'. My data reveal how the NRJRR conjoined symbolic and material rules and resources to draw power and authority to 'the centre' on the grounds that there was a crisis in national stability and security. Education is identified as a central mechanism in the NR!RR's 'hegemonic project'. It is shown how the RR gained control of the form, content and method of educational provision through a series of initiatives which gradually altered the structure of education and shifted provision progressively from the periphery to the centre, centralising control over curriculum and resources while devolving responsibility and accountability to schools. The argument central to my thesis is that the NR/RR sought to use physical education as a pivotal component of its 'hegemonic project'. This is revealed most clearly in the privileging of the definition of physical education as 'sport and games' in NRJRR discourse. This discourse sought to imbue pupils with
values of competition, tradition, reward, meritocracy and individual responsibility: the moral values central to the 'social market'. My data outline how the NRLRR
endeavoured to 'control' the 'form', 'structure', 'content' and 'methods' of physical
education provision in state schools by delineating the discursive framework and text
of the national curriculum physical education (NCPE), and raise critical issues relating to the relationship between policy, power and autonomy within the education system.


The habitual purpose of data mining is prediction, one of the most direct real-world applications. There are many technologies available to data mining in literature and they achieved some results with reasonable accuracies. This paper designs and implements an advanced model based on fuzzy inference system, namely Standard Additive Model (SAM) for forecasting the output of any record given the input variables only from the database, the age of abalone in particular. SAM offers an optimum solution for the prediction and can be definitely an alternative approach for conventional models such as neural networks. The experimental result comparison to multi-layer perceptron neural network (MLPNN) is provided in same context.


In the past decade, synchrotron radiation has triggered a surge in studies of the polarization dependence of X-ray beams passing through non-isotropic materials. A vast range of experimental results concerning polarization-dependent absorption (dichroism) and dispersion (birefringence, for example) are available from materials which are either magnetic or exhibit preferred directions due to the local atomic environment. This article aims to bring together the diversity of modern experiments in this field with established methods of optical calculus, in a way that highlights the simplicity of the underlying physics. A useful framework is formed when observable quantities, in the X-ray case, are related to atomic variables of the sample material. Atomic descriptions of absorption spectra with various levels of complexity are considered, and some well documented sum-rules are encountered. The framework is the most general allowed within the electric dipole approximation. By way of illustration, dichroic X-ray absorption by two materials with highly anisotropic properties and magnetic ions with different valence shells are considered; namely, a 3d-transition ion in ferrous niobate, and a lanthanide ion in dysprosium borocarbide. Both materials display interesting magnetic properties that are challenging to interpret at an atomic level of detail, and it is shown how absorption experiments can contribute to resolving some issues.


Cancer remains a leading cause of death worldwide, resulting in continuous efforts to discover and develop highly efficacious anticancer drugs. High‐throughput screening of heterocyclic compound libraries is one of the promising approaches that provided several new lead molecules with a novel mechanism of action. On the basis of the promising anticancer potential of imidazoquinoxaline as well as the structurally similar imidazoquinoline‐derived scaffold, we prepared a set of C6‐substituted benzimidazo[1,2‐a]quinoxaline derivatives via two novel synthetic routes using commercially available starting materials, with good to excellent yields and evaluated their anticancer activity against the NCI‐60 cancer cell lines. The one‐dose (10 µM) anticancer screening of the synthesized compounds in the NCI‐60 cell line panel revealed that the substituents have a significant role in the activity. In particular, the indole (7f), imidazole (7g), and benzimidazole (7h) derivatives showed significant activity against the triple‐negative breast cancer cell line, MDA‐MB‐468. The lead compounds also exhibited notable IC50 values against another breast cancer cell line, MCF‐7. Furthermore, it was observed that these compounds were relatively nontoxic to normal cell lines: HEK293 (human embryonic kidney cell line) and MCF12A (nontumorigenic human breast epithelial cell line). The IC50 values against healthy cells were at least 5‐ to 11‐fold higher, offering a new class of heterocycles that can be further developed as promising therapeutics for cancer treatment.


Some patent law scholars have proposed introducing new forms of patents to promote commercialization of inventions that would not otherwise be commercialized, or at least not within a reasonable period of time. In this Article I suggest that so-called commercialization patents are unnecessary because the United States already has a system for promoting commercialization of inventions that does not require creating unprecedented exclusive rights: direct government financing. Drawing on statutes and administrative codes, I provide an in-depth account of the major commercialization financing options for inventors and entrepreneurs at both the federal and the state levels. I then compare these incentives, called commercialization awards, to newly proposed commercialization patents. I show that, like commercialization patents, commercialization awards create strong incentives to commercialize inventions in the near future, and that award administrators employ a variety of strategies, such as strict investment matching requirements, to reduce the risk of wasting public money on projects that are not commercially viable.
Based on the insight that non-patent commercialization incentives exist and may be as efficient or more efficient than commercialization patents, I make a novel argument regarding the institutional structure of U.S. patent and innovation policy from the perspective of federalism. I assert that, when the field of commercialization incentives is expanded to include non-patent options such as commercialization awards, state and local governments may be better suited to design and administer these programs. The reason is that – unlike generation of new technological information, which is thought to produce significant geographic spillovers justifying federal intervention in the form of patents – commercialization of inventions produces relatively localized benefits, including not only near-term political benefits like job creation, but also long-term productivity gains as a result of new information derived from the actual practice, production, and marketing of inventions that, at least for a time, remains geographically bound to its place of origin. Thus, according to theories of economic federalism, state and local governments should have superior incentives and superior information to promote commercialization of inventions in their own jurisdictions than the federal government.


This report describes a program for improving students' depth of understanding through the use of alternative assessment. The targeted population consisted of students at one elementary, one junior high, and two high schools in two growing middle class communities in northern Illinois. Lack of student understanding was documented through teacher observation checklists, journal entries, student reflections, and content evaluations. Analysis of probable cause data reveals that students' lack of understanding is due to current assessment practices, currently used instructional strategies, and scheduling and curriculum constraints. A review of solution strategies suggested by researchers and educators, combined with an analysis of program setting, resulted in the selection of two major categories of intervention. The first was a revision of instructional strategies focusing on higher-order thinking, problem solving, ana cooperative learning. The second was implementing alternative assessments to evaluate student understanding and creating opportunities for student self-assessment. Postintervention data indicated an increase in students' depth of understanding of content. Through the use of cooperative learning, class bonding took place and a comfortable learning environment was created. With an emphasis placed on the use of graphic organizers, students were better with their organizational skills. The continued teaching of problem-solving strategies improved students' ability to think logically. Alternative assessments provided students with a greater sense of ownership of their work, a more enthusiastic approach to learning, and the increased use of higher-order thinking. Student reflection requirements developed their metacognitive skills and gave students a way to assess and chart their own progress. Evidence shows that students have gone beyond the basics to a deeper understanding of content. Thirty-seven appendixes present cover letters and forms used in the study and other supplemental information. (Contains 8 tables and 49 references.) (Author/SLD) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ********************************************************************************


The European Commission and several European countries have acknowledged the importance of open standards and have taken various initiatives for addressing specific challenges. Formal standards (e.g. from ISO) are often referred to in software development and procurement. However, there is a lack of knowledge concerning use of formal and open standards in national policy and implications for implementation in software. This paper characterises how requirements for open standards have been adopted in national policy, elaborates on conditions for use of formal standards in scenarios when national policy imposes requirements for use of open standards, and elaborates conditions for implementation of specific open and formal standards in open source software. It is shown that not all formal standards are open standards. Specifically, while some formal standards (e.g. the ISO standard for PNG) are also considered open standards according to the definition adopted in national policies for open standards, it is also clear that other formal standards (e.g. the ISO standard for JPEG 2000) are not considered open standards by the same policies. Use of such formal standards creates barriers for implementation in open source software and inhibits an open and inclusive business friendly ecosystem, something which is of particular importance for small companies that are essential players in an innovative and international society.


OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate predictive models based on a combination of T2-weighted images (T2WI) and different machine learning algorithms, and to explore the value of hepatic alveolar echinococcosis (HAE) activity assessment by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) radiomics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study included 136 patients diagnosed with HAE at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University between 2012 and 2020. All subjects underwent MRI and positron emission tomography–computed tomography (PET-CT) before surgery. Taking the PET-CT examination results as the reference standard, patients were divided into active (90 cases) and inactive groups (46 cases). The volume of interest of the lesion was manually delineated on T2WI, and quantitative radiomics features were extracted. Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technology was used to balance the number of patients in the categories. To control for redundancy, the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator was used for feature screening after normalization, and ten optimal features were obtained based on correlation coefficient screening. Three machine learning classifiers were trained using five-fold cross-validation and their performance was compared to establish an optimal HAE activity assessment model. The performance of the classifier was evaluated by area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC), sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy (ACC). The ten optimal features selected from each fold were combined using three machine learning algorithms: logistic regression, multilayer perceptron (MLP), and support vector machine, to establish an HAE activity prediction model. RESULTS: The three machine learning classifiers all showed good prediction performance with a mean AUC on the test set of more than 0.80, and the MLP showing the best performance (AUC = 0.830 ± 0.053, ACC = 0.817, sensitivity = 0.822, and specificity = 0.811). CONCLUSION: HAE activity can be accurately evaluated by a radiomics method using a combination of quantitative T2WI features and machine learning.


The capabilities of the multiple signal classification (MUSIC) algorithm have been enhanced by development of two techniques to allow the algorithm to operate on a single snapshot, such as phased array radar, and at a much lower computational cost than previously possible. This paper derives the extensions applicable to a uniform linear array, and implements the algorithms on simulated data. The results are discussed and evaluated against previous variants of MUSIC.


: This paper examines what native Spanish speakers find most disturbing in the pronunciation of Hungarian language learners of Spanish. Former research (Baditzné Pálvölgyi, 2019) showed that in spontaneous Spanish speech of at least threshold level Hungarian learners, one of the aspects that Spanish native speakers least tolerated was the way Hungarians hesitated. So the present paper focuses primarily on hesitation phenomena—lengthening and filled pauses—assuming that Hungarians hesitate more, and the lengthened segments are longer than the Spanish ones. In order to validate the hypothesis, an investigation comparing a corpus of Northern Spanish spontaneous speech to another corpus of advanced Hungarian learners of Spanish was conducted. Abstract This paper examines what native Spanish speakers find most disturbing in the pronunciation of Hungarian language learners of Spanish. Former research (Baditzné Pálvölgyi, 2019) showed that in spontaneous Spanish speech of at least threshold level Hungarian learners, one of the aspects that Spanish native speakers least tolerated was the way Hungarians hesitated. So the present paper focuses primarily on hesitation phenomena—lengthening and filled pauses—assuming that Hungarians hesitate more, and the lengthened segments are longer than the Spanish ones. In order to validate the hypothesis, an investigation comparing a corpus of Northern Spanish spontaneous speech to another corpus of advanced Hungarian learners of Spanish was conducted.


110 mm. Hg. She was confused with paranoid trends, and exhibited hallucinations at times. -Depression had also been noted by her relatives before she was admitted to hospital. Physical examination showed osteoarthritis of both knee joints and small joints of the hands, confirmed by x-ray. Intravenous pyelogram showed normal appearance of both kidneys. Her haemoglobin was 6 g./100 ml. and the blood picture was hypochromic and microcytic, which improved after iron therapy. Blood sugar, electrolytes, proteins, and cholesterol were normal. There was no glycosuria, and urinary 17-ketosteroid estimation was within normal limits. Xray of the skull showed well-marked hyperostosis frontalis interna (Fig. 1). As seen in Figs. 2 and 3, obesity was mainly limited to the upper arms and thighs. Association of hirsutism, obesity, and hyperostosis frontalis interna has been observed under the tide of " Stewart-Morel Syndrome " or " Morgagni-Morel Syndrome." Morel reported 17 cases and Stewart reported a few cases.' Michaux described a case in 1959 presenting mental symptoms along with this syndrome.' Aubertin described a patient with arterial hypertension.' All say that the case is obscure. The newly formed bone is deposited in the inner aspect of the frontal bones with considerable thicken-


Motivation: Cartilage is a robust but flexible connective tissue found in most joints of the body. The collagen fibres present in the extracellular matrix of cartilage contribute to its tensile strength and stiffness. The purpose of this study is to develop and implement methods to determine the orientation and anisotropy of collagen fibres in 3-D images gen- erated with multi-photon microscopy. The motivation behind developing these techniques is to improve the foundation for further studies on understanding the characteristics of the cartilage matrix. This in turn would give a better foundation for developing artificial matrices and mechanical models, as well as improve diagnostics. Material and methods: The two methods developed in this study are based on analysing the frequency domain. One is an expansion of a previous developed method by Chaudhuri et al. [1]. This method is based on evaluating the average intensity at different directions in the frequency domain. The direction with the least average intensity is equivalent to the direction of the fibres. The other method is based on thresholding the frequency domain according to intensity followed by fitting an ellipsoid to the remaining data set. The direction of the collagen fibres is equivalent to the direction of the shortest axis of the ellipsoid. These methods are called the sector and ellipsoid method, respectively. To determine how robust these methods are a series of tests were developed. The focus of these tests was to determine if the methods are rotational invariant and if the results are influences by different preprocessing techniques. These preprocessing techniques are: median filtering, deconvolution and skeletonization of the original image containing the collagen fibres. It is also important to determine the sensitivity of the ellipsoid method according to the chosen threshold value. In addition data generated fibres and frequency domains were made to determine the accuracy of the methods. Results and conclusion: The sector method was not very robust. For most cases there is not one specific direction that has the least average intensity in the frequency domain. Instead there is a quite large minimum area. The ellipsoid method shows promising results. It managed to find the correct direction both for the data generated data sets, but also for the real images. It seems like no preprocessing nor frequency filtering, except for thresholding, is needed to still find the correct direction and its anisotropy. The only remark is that the automatically chosen threshold value was to low for one of the samples. This can probably be improved by making a slight change in the process for choosing a threshold value.


amplitude of the compound electromyographic action potential of the hypothenar muscles as measured by a Relaxograph. It is well recognised by workers in the field of neuromuscular transmission that even during normothermic procedures it is vital to keep exposed limbs warm if they are being used for electromyographic (EMG) recordings and if the recording is to return to the control level. Indeed, on the trace published there is initially a clear increase in amplitude of both T, and T, as the peripheral temperature increases from 29-29.3"C, but the amplitude of these two responses decreases as the peripheral temperature falls and recovers again as the periphery rewarms. It would be interesting to know if the peripheral temperature was measured from the same hand as used for the EMG recordings. We agree with the conclusion that there may be discrepancy between respiratory muscle function and observed neuromuscular transmission via the ulnar nerve but suggest that, on this occasion, this is a result of temperature-related changes in skin impedance rather than any specific effect on neuromuscular function.


Based on single vendor and single buyer, vendor supplies buyer with a product, and the vendor split order into many equal shipments to delivery. Aimed at minimizing the total cost of vendor and buyer, JIT purchase model based on actual freight rate was proposed. Actual freight rate is transformed into alternating ranges of a constant charge per kilogram followed by a constant fixed charge. For the actual freight rate, by calculating the solutions for all weight ranges and comparing them, the optimal solution was derived. Numerical results show that the algorithm can obtain the optimal solution, and the model is verified.


This experiment was conducted to study the effect of water deprivation on daily milk yield and milk composition in she camels (Camelus dromedarius). Six lactating she camels of approximately equal daily milk yield were selected and divided randomly into three experimental groups of two each. The average daily water requirement and the average daily milk yield of the she camels were determined. During the experiment, each group received a different watering regime. Group 1 (G1) was allowed free access to water, group 2 (G2) was offered half the average daily water requirement (18 litters/head/day) while Group 3 (G3) was allowed to get the actual average daily camel's water requirement (36 litters/head/day) as a control group. The results elucidated that, the daily milk yield and composition were significantly (p<0.05) affected by the amount of water offered to the camels. Camels offered half the average daily water requirement (G2) produced higher (p<0.05) amount of milk (5.39 kg) than both G1 (4.98 kg) and G3 (5.27 kg). As for milk composition, the fat content of the milk produced by camels of G2 was found to be lower (p<0.05) (3%) than that of the milk produced by the other two groups. No significant differences were observed among the three groups regarding protein, lactose, solid not fat content and pH. These results proved the capability of camels to tolerate the dehydration conditions and produce sufficient amount of milk.


Introduction The formation of Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETS) may protect against pathogens but might promote autoimmunity. Bronchiectasis (BR) is a model for autoimmunity with strong links to rheumatoid arthritis. Bacterial antigens may promote NETosis and/or peptidyl arginine deiminase (PAD) enzyme activity leading to protein citrullination. The ability of these bronchiectasis relevant pathogens/molecules to induce NETosis and PAD activity in human derived neutrophils using consistent methodologies has not been assessed. Aims To undertake multi-modal assessment of NETosis rates and PAD activity in healthy peripheral blood neutrophils following stimulation with BR relevant stimuli. Methods Neutrophils were isolated from healthy volunteer whole blood by gradient separation then incubated for 4 hours at 37°C in the presence of PMA (used as a positive NET control) or BR relevant stimuli including: LPS, TNF-&agr;, P. aeruginosa whole cell lysates (WCLs) or H. influenzae WCLs. NETosis rates were assessed in neutrophil samples using two methodologies: Microscopy count of immunofluorescent (IF) stained fixed NETs (n=13) and histone-elastase complex ELISAs of collected supernatants (n=16, semi-quantified using a NET containing biological standard). Supernatant PAD activity was measured using a commercial PAD activity assay from Modiquest Research (n=16). Results IF microscopy counts showed NETosis rates in unstimulated neutrophils of 4% (95% CI: 2.8% to 5.4%). All stimuli (excluding H. influenzae WCLs) caused a significant increase in NETosis, with the highest increase being observed in 50 nM PMA with a mean rate of 53% (95% CI: 46% to 59%) (figure 1). NET ELISAs of supernatants showed significant increase in the NET dependent absorbance for neutrophils stimulated with PMA (p<0.001), LPS (p<0.001) and TNF-&agr; (p<0.05), absorbance increased following P. aeruginosa and H. influenzae WCL stimulation but not significantly. PAD activity increased significantly following stimulation with PMA(p<0.001), LPS(p<0.01), TNF-&agr;(p<0.05) and P. aeruginosa(p<0.05). H. influenzae WCL stimulated supernatants showed a decrease in supernatant PAD activity, however this was not significant. Abstract S87 Figure 1. NETosis rates in healthy peripheral blood neutrophil stimulated with bronchiectasis relevant stimuli Incubation with 50 nM PMA, 1 µg/ml LPS. 10ng/ml TNF-&agr;, 2.5% (v/v) P. aeruginosa WCLs or 2.5% (v/v) H. infleunzae WCLs resulted in an increase in NETosis rates (determined by immunofluorescent NET staining and counts). Excluding H. influenzae WCL results, all increases in NETosis rates were shown to be statistically significant (n=13±95% CI, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001) Conclusion Collectively the NETosis assays show PMA, LPS and TNF-&agr; promote NETosis, however IF counts also suggest P. aeruginosa WCLs induced NETosis. Extracellular PAD activity increased following stimulation with several BR relevant stimuli. These data may explain the links between Bronchiectasis and Rheumatoid arthritis through protein citrullination.


Recently, a number of philosophers of biology (e.g., Matthen and Ariew 2002; Walsh, Lewens, and Ariew 2002; Pigliucci and Kaplan 2006; Walsh 2007) have endorsed views about random drift that, we will argue, rest on an implicit assumption that the meaning of concepts such as drift can be understood through an examination of the mathematical models in which drift appears. They also seem to implicitly assume that ontological questions about the causality (or lack thereof) of terms appearing in the models can be gleaned from the models alone. We will question these general assumptions by showing how the same equation – the
simple (p + q)2 = p2 + 2pq + q2 – can be given radically different interpretations, one of which is a physical, causal process and one of which is not. This shows that mathematical models on their own yield neither interpretations nor ontological conclusions. Instead, we argue that these issues can only be resolved by considering the phenomena that the models were originally designed to represent and the phenomena to which the models are currently applied. When one does take those factors into account, starting with the motivation for Sewall Wright's and R.A. Fisher's early drift models and ending with contemporary applications, a very different picture of the concept of drift emerges. On this view, drift is a term for a set of physical processes, namely, indiscriminate sampling processes (Beatty 1984; Hodge 1987; Millstein 2002, 2005).


Despite its moral immediacy, there are serious theoretical objections, best described as "realist," to an expansive conception of judicial open-mindedness. Almost invariably, the normative basis of judicial impartiality is traced to what is described as "natural justice"; specifically the celebrated maxims of nemo iudex in causa sua and audi alteram partem. But the relationship of this moral bedrock to the exigencies and settled practices of constitutional adjudication is far from straightforward. In Part I, the article proceeds with a doctrinal analysis of the legality of Justice Antonin Scalia's decision to sit in the case of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld notwithstanding his prior comments on legal questions ostensibly related to its subject matter. Taking a broader perspective, Part II considers whether objections to Justice Scalia's participation in Hamdan can be reconciled with the nature of appellate adjudication and, in relation to dissenting opinions, with an established feature of adjudicative practice in most common law jurisdictions.


Most people in India depend on agriculture. Agricultural production has played an important role in the country's rural development and has been passed on to adoptive rural development. Most farms are located around food processing plants. They affect food security and people's basic needs. This study aims to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of India's agriculture-based industries. With so many countries suffering from malnutrition and imminent food crises, India's agriculture-based companies may be able to trade in both domestic and foreign markets by addressing their own challenges. . Certainly, there are some problems ahead for such an industry. Still, it has some strength, such as abundant natural resources,suitable geographic conditions and atmosphere, availability of raw materials, cheap labor supply, and distribution possibilities. However, these organizations have some weaknesses such as lack of infrastructure and poor product quality. Even if this care is preceded by threats such as global performance, additional costs of equipment, unorganized markets, etc., it can withstand anything. About to do his SWOT analysis of the industry.


-Coproducts of processing agricultural commodities are often marketed for use as livestock feed through private transaction. The resulting lack of historical price information prohibits the use of positive time series techniques to estimate demand. Linear programming is used as a normative technique to estimate step function demand schedules for coproducts by individual livestock classes. Seemingly unrelated regression is used to smooth demand schedules by fitting demand data to generalized Leontief cost functions. Estimates are adjusted for data censoring using probit analy sis. Aggregate quantity demanded of sugarbeet pulp, wheat middlings, and potato waste is relatively responsive to price changes (i.e., demand is elastic) but less so for specific species and at higher prices for sugarbeet pulp (i.e., demand is inelastic) .


A father's true story of his high-school-age son's winning soccer season. Soccer Dad is simultaneously the candid reflections of a devoted father and the enthusiastic observations of a diehard soccer fan. When Matt enters his senior year of high school, it is not without myriad parenting concerns on the part of his father, author W. D. Wetherell. What is his role in shaping his son's future? What will life be like when Matt is away at college? And what of Matt's soccer season?--Is Matt's success in soccer just setting him up for disappointment later in life? With the pensive eye of an artist, Wetherell follows his son's team from field to field and win to win and ruminates on topics ranging from soccer's esoteric appeal in America to the conflicting emotions of a parent sending his youngest child out into the world. Reflecting on his own experiences both as a participant and a spectator, Wetherell offers a paean to the sport of soccer and the joys of parenthood. Updated and revised with a new chapter that brings Soccer Dad fully up to date, this is an exciting new edition that readers will enjoy for years to come.


Manufacturing techniques of color TV receivers as well as other electronic equipment have made remarkable progress. Many approaches to automation have been tried in the past. The authors' activities concerning l) the development of modular chassis, 2) the automatic drafting system of printed circuit boards, 3) the automatic component inserting machine and checking facility used for printed circuit boards, 4) the automatic aligning and testing system applied to printed circuit boards, and 5) the automatic measuring system for color TV receivers are presented. Also, the concept of quality control of components and material is presented since quality control is essential for the attainment of reliability and automation. Through these activities and developments productivity has trebled during past several years, and the reliability of color TV receivers currently produced is over 20 000 hours mean time between failures (MTBF).


Listeria monocytogenes is a gram-positive intracellular pathogen responsible for opportunistic infections in humans and animals. Here we identified and characterized the dtpT gene (lmo0555) of L. monocytogenes EGD-e, encoding the di- and tripeptide transporter, and assessed its role in growth under various environmental conditions as well as in the virulence of L. monocytogenes . Uptake of the dipeptide Pro-[ 14 C]Ala was mediated by the DtpT transporter and was abrogated in a (cid:1) dtpT isogenic deletion mutant. The DtpT transporter was shown to be required for growth when the essential amino acids leucine and valine were supplied as peptides. The protective effect of glycine- and proline-containing peptides during growth in defined medium containing 3% NaCl was noted only in L. monocytogenes EGD-e, not in the (cid:1) dtpT mutant strain, indicating that the DtpT transporter is involved in salt stress protection. Infection studies showed that DtpT contributes to pathogenesis in a mouse infection model but has no role in bacterial growth following infection of J774 macrophages. These studies reveal that DptT may contribute to the virulence of L. monocytogenes . of the pPL2:: dtpT plasmid into the PSA bacteriophage attachment site at tRNA Arg attBB (cid:6) was verified by using the primer pair NC16 and PL95 to specifically amplify a 499-bp PCR product in the integrant strains. The primer pair E and F was used to specifically detect the dtpT gene region. The complemented strain was examined for further phenotypic analysis.


: In 65 patients with a biopsy-proven diagnosis of membranous glomerulonephritis, the association with HLA class I, class II and class III antigens was studied using classical techniques. We found a highly significant association with the HLA-DR3 (Pc = 8 x 10(-5)) antigen and with the HLA-B8 (Pc = 2 x 10(-4)) antigen in linkage disequilibrium with the former. In addition, there was an excess of null C4 allotypes (C4 AQo or C4 BQo) in patients and a significant decrease of BfS allele. Finally, the most commonly observed phenotype was A1 B8 DR3 BfS C4AQoB1. These results confirm a strong association between major histocompatibility complex and primary membranous glomerulonephritis, raising the possibility of a susceptibility gene being necessary for the development of that disease.


In this article a data driven approach for the classification of simultaneously occurring faults in an induction motor is presented. The problem is treated as a multi-label classification problem with each label corresponding to one specific fault, using the power-set approach. The faulty conditions examined, include the existence of a broken bar fault and the presence of mixed eccentricity with various degrees of static and dynamic eccentricity. For the feature extraction stage, the time-frequency representation, resulting from the application of the short time Fourier transform of the start-up current is exploited. The proposed approach is validated using simulation data with promising results.


A new vista is open for research in the area of data management in pervasive environments where mobile devices gather and exchange information from other devices based on their current context. Each device is both a data source and a data consumer pursuing its individual and collective tasks. Our research group is investigating various ideas aimed at realizing pervasive computing systems based on the cooperation of autonomous, dynamic and adaptive components located in vicinity of one another. These systems will enable devices to discover information, compose it, and analyze it for consistency, all in a secure and trusted manner.


Ad hoc communication applications like computerfacilitated collaboration have become possible with the rapid advancements in portable computing and ad hoc wireless networking. Ad hoc communication solutions require a balance between private communications and access to corporate networked services in order to succeed. In this paper, we discuss and offer some approaches in integrating ad hoc communications into an enterprise framework through the use of secure group services and presence. We believe that the projection of presence and availability are crucial in facilitating spontaneous and ad hoc communication sessions but argue that the challenges lie in the proper manipulation of user and enterprise policies to allow these sessions to occur in a manner acceptable to the enterprise. We present concepts that focus on the use of presence and group-based policies which we call Associations, that we hope will encourage communications and collaboration among users as well as protect their privacy.


This paper examines the ways in which discourses of food security and food sovereignty are articulated in Indonesia, exploring their emergence within particular historical episodes and considering how this change has informed their current deployment by state-based actors. Looking first to the wider global discourses that encompass perspectives on food security and food sovereignty, this paper attempts to map a specifically Indonesian perspective on 'food security' (ketahanan pangan), and its relationship with 'food sovereignty' (kedaulatan pangan). Kedaulatan pangan emerges as a fundamentally endogenous political construct in Indonesia; that is, only marginally related to the broader global discourses of food sovereignty as espoused by organisations such as La Via Campesina. As presented by the Indonesian state, kedaulatan pangan is not oppositional to ketahanan pangan, as sometimes is portrayed elsewhere, but should instead be understood primarily as a rhetorical device to strengthen the role and function of the state and to reinforce existing associations between food security, state control, and national scale food self-sufficiency. The Indonesian notion of kedaulatan pangan responds primarily to the scalar notion of feeding the bangsa, the abstract Indonesian word for 'the nation'. The dominant discourse has been embraced and projected by political actors to further vested interests and also appears to be contributing to policy interventions with negative food security outcomes for some of Indonesia's most vulnerable individuals.


A 64-year-old female had been managed by dietary and exercise treatment for diabetes mellitus from 1988. However, around 1995, poorly controlled blood sugar levels appearedand insulin therapy was thus initiated. At the same time, Simvastatin (SIM) and Bezafibrate (BEZ) were concomitantly administered for the treatment of hyperlipidemia. In December 1999, the patient was hospitalized due to increased CPK (688 IU/L), BUN (127.5 mg/dL) and Scr level (6.76mg/dL). After hospitalization, nephrotic syndrome and congestive heart failure both developed. Because of an abnormally high serum myoglobin level, 551 ng/mL, an acute aggravation of diabetic nephrosis due to rhabdomyolysis (RM) was suspected. The combined administration of SIM and BEZ was thus stopped, and thereafter the renal function improved while theheart fail ure symptoms subsided.When long term combined therapy with SIM and BEZ is required, physicians should keep in mind that an acute aggravation of renal disturbance due to RM may develop. This case is valuable because few reports are available on the appearance of RM due to the administration of SIM combined with BEZ and also due to the fact that the renal disturbance which had appeared subsided after this combined administration was stopped.


Yorke Rowan and Uzi Baram (eds.), Marketing Heritage: Archaeology and the Consumption of the Past. Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press, 2004, 315 pp. Archaeologists came relatively late to the post-modern scene (indeed, some are still en route), but when we did arrive, we discovered to our surprise that the interpretation of the past did have a real impact on life in the here-and-now. This idea was not exactly new; Bettina Arnold, just to name one example, documented how the Nazis used archaeology in support of their goals in the 1940s, showing the awareness of this connection at least that early (Arnold 1991). More recently, Christopher Chippendale (1990) published Who Owns Stonehenge?, a discussion of the uses of the monument which included archaeologists, druids, earth magicians, and other interested parties. Despite these early forays, it has only been fairly recently that this has become a major topic of archaeological analysis. It is in this spirit that this book, Marketing Heritage: Archaeology and the Consumption of the Past, is offered. It is perhaps not as cutting edge as the authors seem to think, but it is nevertheless an interesting collection of analyses of the various ways in which archaeological sites and knowledge become "heritage." There is a reasonable breadth of world coverage, with articles on Guatemala, the US, and Cambodia as well as Europe and the Near East. The unifying theme concerns how the interpretation of sites for the public reflects concerns of the dominant cultures, governments, and archaeologists, with most articles being presented as case studies. In these cases, the aim is to demonstrate that some aspects of information about the past are foregrounded, while others are hidden in various ways. Yet each study does this through a different medium of analysis, and all have interesting contributions to make. To my mind, two of the most interesting are the discussions of souvenir shops at Stonehenge and Avebury, and the analysis of heritage road signs in Jordan. Gazin-Schwartz discusses how the objects sold at Stonehenge show the monument as isolated in the past, but representing a wide range of tastes, academic content, and cost. By contrast, the Avebury souvenirs presented a particular, narrow vision of Britain's past as a pastoral paradise of happy peasants and benevolent landowners, with the monument as a part of that cultural landscape. This puts the two sites in entirely different lights in terms of how they connect the past with the present. In Jordan, Addison shows how far more attention is drawn to Christian sites than Muslim ones, a troubling observation in a country that is ninety-eight percent Muslim. These sites are highlighted not only in tourist literature, but also by road signs (their prevalence, placement, and language) and the quality of their access roads. This struck me as a particularly nifty way to go about exploring the privileging of certain aspects of a nation's archaeological heritage. As someone who does archaeology in Ireland, I was drawn to Costa's study of the sites of Newgrange, Tara, and Navan Fort. It seemed promising given the significance of tourism in Ireland, but I was somewhat disappointed and rather confused by the article. While this is fertile ground for analysis (the controversy over the Navan Fort interpretive center alone is worthy of detailed analysis) the article contains a good deal of internal contradiction. …


Prior to the research reported in this paper, a site-specific hydrogeologic investigation was developed for a closed solid waste facility in Eastern Nebraska using phased subsurface characterizations. Based on the findings of this prior investigation, a surface based geoelectric survey using electromagnetic induction to measure subsurface conductivity was implemented to delineate the vertical and horizontal extent of buffed waste and subsurface contamination. This technique proved to be a key non-intrusive, cost-effective element in the refinement of the second phase of the hydrogeologic investigation. Three-dimensional ordinary kriging was used to estimate conductivity values at unsampled locations. These estimates were utilized to prepare a contaminant plume map and a cross section depicting interpreted subsurface features. Pertinent subsurface features were identified by associating a unique range of conductivity values to that of solid waste, saturated and unsaturated soils and possible leachate migrating from the identified disposal areas.


The wireless communications finds many applications inside an aircraft cabin, in terms of Passenger and Crew Communications as well as Machine Type Communications (MTC). The aircraft cabin is a challenging environment and the different wireless technologies must be adequately tested and adapted to achieve maximum performance. In this regard, an aircraft environment has been analyzed in this paper for an in-cabin wireless system implementation and the measurement results have been further evaluated. This is an integrated system for the technologies of LTE, LAA and NB-IoT for the potential use-cases of Passenger Connectivity, On-Board Sensing, Cargo Tracking and Passenger Announcement. Results have then been summarized within the scope of this paper.


Time reversal mirrors can be used to backpropagate and refocus incident wavefields to their actual source location, with the subsequent benefits of imaging with high‐resolution and super‐stacking properties. These benefits of time reversal mirrors have been previously verified with computer simulations and laboratory experiments but not with exploration‐scale seismic data. We now demonstrate the high‐resolution and the super‐stacking properties in locating seismic sources with field seismic data that include multiple scattering. Tests on both synthetic data and field data show that a time reversal mirror has the potential to exceed the Rayleigh resolution limit by factors of 4 or more. Results also show that a time reversal mirror has a significant resilience to strong Gaussian noise and that accurate imaging of source locations from passive seismic data can be accomplished with traces having signal‐to‐noise ratios as low as 0.001. Synthetic tests also demonstrate that time reversal mirrors can sometimes enhance the signal by a factor proportional to the square root of the product of the number of traces, denoted as N and the number of events in the traces. This enhancement property is denoted as super‐stacking and greatly exceeds the classical signal‐to‐noise enhancement factor of . High‐resolution and super‐stacking are properties also enjoyed by seismic interferometry and reverse‐time migration with the exact velocity model.


An improved amperometric pyruvate biosensor was fabricated by immobilizing covalently commercial pyruvate oxidase (POx) from Aerococcus sps. onto nanocomposite of c-MWCNT (carboxylated multi- walled carbon nanotubes), copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) and polyaniline (PANI) electrodeposited onto gold (Au) electrode. The copper nanoparticles were prepared by chemical reduction method and characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV- visible spectroscopy and X- ray diffraction (XRD). The working electrode (POx/c-MWCNT/CuNPs/PANI/AuE was studied via scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) at different stages of its construction. The biosensor showed optimum activity at a pH of 5.0 and 35°C and a linearity for pyruvate in the concentration range, 0.1 µM to 2000 µM. The analytical recovery of added pyruvate was 99.6% and 99.2%. The within and between batch coefficients of variation (CV) were 0.052% and as 0.022% respectively. There was a commendable correlation between sera pyruvate values as measured by standard spectrophotometric method and the present method. The biosensor was applied to measure sera pyruvate level and compared with that biosensor based on pyruvate oxidase nanoparticles covalently bound to Au electrode.
Malik et al. (2019) Int. J. Appl. Sci. Biotechnol. Vol 7(2): xxx-xxx
Graphic Abstract
Schematic representation of fabrication of POx/c-MWCNTs/CuNPs/PANI/AuE and electrochemical reactions involved in its response measurement (POx- Pyruvate oxidase; c-MWCNTs- Carboxylated multi-walled carbon nanotubes; CuNPs- Copper nanoparticles; PANI- Polyaniline; AuE- Gold electrode).


Author(s): Toven-Lindsey, Brit Astrid | Advisor(s): Rhoads, Robert A.; Eagan, Kevin | Abstract: Many students on college campuses today are members of the first generation to grow up surrounded by computers, the internet, and other information and communication technologies (ICT). When they graduate, they will enter a job market where employees in diverse fields are expected to leverage ICT to support their academic and professional work. Research offers only limited information about college students' digital literacy as it relates to career planning, what college activities and communities of practice encourage the development of digital literacy among students, and the extent to which early experiences with computers and ICT influence college experiences and career aspirations. The purpose of this study was to learn more about the experiences and individuals that influence students' development of digital literacy and attitudes toward professional career transitions, with a particular focus on the experiences of lower-income students. Digital literacy, as defined by Martin (2008), is the ability to use digital tools to find, sort, analyze, and synthesize information and resources, to effectively communicate with others, and to construct new knowledge, in the context of specific life situations that facilitate reflection and social action. Guided by theories of situated learning (Lave a Wenger, 1991) and differential practices (Sims, 2014), along with boundaryless careers and career capital (Arthur a Rousseau, 1996; Arthur, Inkson a Pringle, 1999), the study employed an explanatory sequential mixed method design (Creswell, 2014) with both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection and analysis to gain insight from graduating seniors at a selective public research university. Results indicated that lower-income students, those eligible for federal Pell Grants, reported greater gains in digital competencies as compared to higher-income peers, and that hands-on learning experiences such as undergraduate research appointments and internships were positively related to students' feelings of preparation for the job market and technology demands of work in their chosen career field. Even though most students gained valuable career capital through these experiences, some struggled to draw connections between specific digital competencies and their career goals, and to articulate how these activities had prepared them for the transition to work. Additionally, data from the interviews revealed that very few students had discussed issues of critical information literacy, commercial interests driving the internet, and other related topics in their academic courses or with peers and colleagues. The study concludes with implications for theory and practice, as well as recommendations for future research to deepen our understanding of the kinds of digital skills and competencies that students develop through engagement in various activities and communities of practice in college, and how colleges and universities might better serve all individuals in using digital literacy to advance their academic and professional goals.


Climate change forecasts project up to 20% increase in precipitation for southern Ontario based on several climate change scenarios and models and an unpredictable change an average wind speed that may range from 5% reduction to 15% increase by the year 2100 compared to 1971 to 2000 reference period. Average annual air temperatures are predicted to increase between 2.5 and 3.7°C by 2050 from baseline average between 1961 and 1990.

This research studied the impact of climate change on bridge infrastructure using the Portage bridge on the Ottawa river in southern Ontario as a case study. Result shows that increase in precipitation due to climate change will cause 0.3m/s increase in stream velocity and about 0.85m increase in water level for a 100-year storm. This increase will result in scour depths at bridge piers to increase by 0.86 m while bending moments on piers increased by 21 kNm. Shear forces also increased by 43 kN.


The aim of this study is to evaluate the emission characteristics of mercury, lead, arsenic, and selenium from medium size municipal solid waste incinerators(MSWIs) in Korea. The concentrations of mercury, lead, arsenic, and selenium emitted from medium size MSWI stack were , respectively. The concentration levels of mercury, lead, arsenic in flue gas from medium size MSW incinerator stacks selected were nearly detected under the Korea criteria level. Removal efficiencies of mercury, lead, arsenic, and selenium in waste heat boiler(WHE) and cooling tower(CT) were , respectively. In general, the removal efficiencies of mercury and lead in WHE were higher than those of arsenic and selenium in WHE. Emission gas temperature reduction from waste heat boiler(WHB) and cooling tower(CT) can control mercury and lead of medium size MSWIs. To evaluate the relationship between mercury, lead, arsenic, selenium of fly ash and those of flue gas, it was carried out to correlation analysis of each metal concentration in the fly ash and in the flue gas from medium size MSWIs. From the correlation analysis, the coefficients of mercury, lead, arsenic, and selenium were 0.61, -0.38, 0.87, 0.28, respectively. The results of correlation analysis revealed that it should be highly positive to the correlation coefficients of mercury and arsenic in the fly ash and those of the flue gas emitted from medium size MSWIs. As it were, the concentrations of mercury and arsenic of flue gas from medium size MSWIs are high unless mercury and arsenic in fly ash are properly controlled in dust collection step in medium size MSWIs. It was also concluded that mercury, lead, arsenic, and selenium from MSWIs stacks could be controlled by waste heat boiler(WHE) and dust collecting step in medium size MSWIs.


One important attribute of graphene that makes it attractive for high-performance electronics is its inherently large thermal conductivity (κ) for the purposes of thermal management. Using a combined density-functional theory and classical molecular-dynamics approach, we predict that the κ of graphene supported on hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) can be as large as 90% of the κ of suspended graphene, in contrast to the significant suppression of κ (more than 70% reduction) on amorphous silica. Interestingly, we find that this enhanced thermal transport is largely attributed to increased lifetimes of the in-plane acoustic phonon modes, which is a notable contrast from the dominant contribution of out-of-plane acoustic modes in suspended graphene. This behavior is possible due to the charge polarization throughout graphene that induces strong interlayer adhesion between graphene and h-BN. These findings highlight the potential benefit of layered dielectric substrates such as h-BN for graphene-based thermal management, in addition to their electronic advantages. Furthermore, our study brings attention to the importance of understanding the interlayer interactions of graphene with layered dielectric materials which may offer an alternative technological platform for substrates in electronics.


Pesticide exposure and poisoning among children can lead to devastating long-lasting health effects that impact their human rights, with communities in low- and middle-income countries experiencing the negative impacts of pesticides more profoundly than those in high-income countries. While United Nations agencies recommend banning highly hazardous pesticides responsible for serious pesticide poisonings, childhood pesticide poisoning is rarely discussed, especially from a human rights perspective. In India, a country with a large population of children and widespread pesticide use, no law or policy addresses pesticide poisoning among children. This lack of prioritization leads to gaps in poisoning surveillance and lack of government action to prevent poisoning, causing violations of children's rights. The proposed pesticides ban can reduce pesticide poisoning among children in India, but to fully protect children's rights, the government needs to establish comprehensive pesticide poisoning surveillance and ensure the mainstreaming of pesticide poisoning prevention into law and policy based on a human rights framework.


In the present work, the survival of two commercial strains of probiotic bacteria: Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BB-12 and Lactobacillus acidophilus LA-5, and their influence on the composition, proteolysis and sensory characteristics of soft sheep cheese were studied. Three different types of cheeses were made: control cheese (QT) without addition of probiotic bacteria, and two experimental cheeses with addition of BB-12 (QBb) and LA-5 (QLA). Gross composition, pH, counts of starter and probiotic bacteria and proteolysis were evaluated during ripening at 4, 15 and 30 days, and a descriptive sensory analysis was conducted at the end of ripening (30 d). The initial pH in all cheeses was 5.15±0.02 and was slightly increased at 30 days at a value of 5.31 ± 0.02; pH values were similar in all cheeses. Gross composition was similar between control and probiotic cheeses; mean values of moisture and content of fat and protein (expressed in dry matter) were 47.61±0.8 (%w/w), 53.38±1.52 (%w/w) and 42.87±1.15 (%w/w) respectively. The counts of BB-12 and LA-5 in the curd were ~108 CFU/g and were maintained at this level in the cheeses during all ripening time. The addition of BB-12 and LA-5 produced an increase in the levels of secondary proteolysis, being the effect more marked for LA-5. The descriptive sensory analysis of cheeses showed that the addition of LA-5 and BB-12 did not produce defects in flavor and taste but rather significantly improved (p<0.05) the elasticity, appearance of mass and mouthfeel of cheeses. Soft sheep cheese demonstrated to be a suitable carrier for these probiotic cultures, and the characteristics of these cheeses were slightly improved by the addition of probiotic bacteria.


This paper argues for introducing the role of capital malleability into the analysis of environmental policies. The issue is explored by means of a theoretical model, a numerical analysis and a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model. Considering the three approaches together is fundamental in obtaining theory-compatible policy-relevant results. The model outcomes reveal differences between results under separate assumptions regarding the malleability of capital. When capital is imperfectly malleable a carbon policy is less effective than under the assumption of perfect malleability of capital. Therefore, it is important that, especially for the analysis of short-term environmental regulations, the issue of capital malleability is taken into consideration.


A wealth of data is generated daily by social media websites that is an essential component of the Big Data Revolution . In many cases, the data is anonymized before being disseminated for research and analysis. This anonymization process distorts the data so that some essential characteristics are lost which may not be captured by methods that are not robust against such transformations. In this paper we propose novel algorithms, for two-dimensional data, for a recently discovered statistical data analysis measure, the Ray Shooting Depth (RSD) that provides an affine-invariant ranking of data points. In addition, we prove some complexity results and illustrate some of the desirable properties of RSD via comparisons with other similar notions. We develop an open-source data visualization tool based on RSD, and show its applications in distribution estimation, outlier detection, and D tolerance-region construction.


Within the context of lean premixed prevaporized combustion (LPP) which is considered as most promising technology for the next generation of low emission combustors for aero engines, combustion instabilities are a major issue. These combustion instabilities may compromise the pollutant emissions and even cause damage to the combustion chamber structure. In the literature, numerous phenomenological studies on combustion oscillation are available, but a comprehensive theory is still missing. One potential excitation mechanism is the interaction of strong air velocity fluctuations and pressure oscillations with the airblast atomizer leading to temporal fluctuations of the spray characteristics. This phenomenon was investigated experimentally at the Institute of Thermal Turbomachinery (ITS) within a parametric study. A duct with a prefilming surface was set up as an abstraction of a prefilming airblast atomizer. A mean air velocity up to 65 m/s can be reached, and periodic oscillations can be superimposed by means of a siren with a frequency up to 570 Hz. The disintegration process of the liquid fuel was studied downstream the atomizing edge of a plain airblast nozzle. Several optical diagnostics like phase resolved LDV (Laser Doppler Velocimetry) and an improved PTV technique (Particle Tracking Velocimetry) were used. The mean air velocity, the film load, the kinematic viscosity and the surface tension of the fluid as well as the pulsation frequency and amplitude of the siren were varied, and their effect on the temporal evolution of the droplet size and droplet rate was studied. It was found that the amplitude of fluctuations of the droplet size and the droplet rate is almost proportional to the air velocity fluctuations at low frequencies. At higher frequencies, however, both are nearly unaffected. In addition, the fluctuations of droplet diameter and rate increase strongly if the mean air velocity is increased. The phase shift between particle diameter, particle rate and air velocity fluctuations was found to increase at higher excitation frequencies.© 2006 ASME


The objective of the present paper is to examine the effects of process parameters, such as laser power, cutting speed of the laser and thickness of the workpiece, on characteristics of the cut section in the cutting of cold rolled steel sheets using a high-power Nd:YAG laser with a continuous wave (CW). From the results of the experiments, the influence of the process parameters on surface roughness and average striation angle has been quantitatively investigated. In addition, critical cutting speeds with a minimum surface roughness and a maximum average striation angle has been obtained. Finally, the optimum cutting conditions for each workpiece thickness have been estimated to improve both the quality of the cut section and the cutting efficiency.