Studies related to variation in plant communities have been involved the analysis of regenerative potential of tree species, because saplings may enable forests to restore themselves after natural or human disturbances. The goal of this study was to analyze tree regeneration by identifying composition and abundance, the ecological groups of dispersion, vertical stratification and light requirements for germination and to look for changes in expected richness, diversity and relationships with structure of adult trees. A sapling survey was conducted in 20 sample units of 10 x 10 m where all individual living trees were sampled that had a height > 0.30 m and diameter at soil height 4.7 cm were surveyed in 20 x 20 m sampling units, according to a previous study. We sampled 1,649 living trees (64 species), which generated a total density of 8,245 ind.ha-1. The species with higher absolute density were Gymnanthes concolor Spreng., Trichilia elegans A.Juss. and Calyptranthes tricona D.Legrand. A principal coordinates analysis indicated sharp differences among sampled units and a Mantel test showed no dependence among composition and abundance matrices from adult and regenerative surveys (r = 0.19; p = 0.1). According to the ecological groups, we found that the regenerative component has kept the same proportions of adults, with a higher proportion of zoochorous, light demanding, canopy covering species. Contrary to our initial hypothesis, we found lower expected richness in the regenerative component (p < 0.001) with the same equability in the entire area.


Oesophageal atresia (OA) and tracheooesophageal fistula (TOF) are relatively common human congenital malformations of the foregut where the oesophagus does not connect with the stomach and there is an abnormal connection between the stomach and the respiratory tract. They require immediate corrective surgery and have an impact on the future health of the individual. These abnormalities are mimicked by exposure of rat and mouse embryos in utero to the drug adriamycin. The causes of OA/TOF during human development are not known, however a number of mouse mutants where different signalling pathways are directly affected, show similar abnormalities, implicating multiple and complex signalling mechanisms. The similarities in developmental outcome seen in human infants and in the adriamycin treated mouse model underline the potential of this model to unravel the early embryological events and further our understanding of the processes disturbed, leading to such abnormalities. Here we report a systematic study of the foregut and adjacent tissues in embryos treated with adriamycin at E7 and E8 and analysed between E9 and E12, comparing morphology in 3D in 149 specimens. We describe a spectrum of 8 defects, the most common of which is ventral displacement and branching of the notochord (in 94% of embryos at E10) and a close spatial correspondence between the site of notochord branching and defects of the foregut. In addition gene expression analysis shows altered dorso-ventral foregut patterning in the vicinity of notochord branches. This study shows a number of features of the adriamycin mouse model not previously reported, implicates the notochord as a primary site of disturbance in such abnormalities and underlines the importance of the model to further address the mechanistic basis of foregut congenital abnormalities.


Localization in six degrees of freedom is becoming increasingly relevant, especially in indoor environments where GPS is not available. To localize autonomous vehicles like UAVs in such areas, reliable methods for self-localization with low-weight sensors are required. In this paper, we present an approach to precisely localize systems with monocular cameras in polygonal 3D maps annotated with keypoints and feature descriptors computed from LiDAR data and associated reference images. Our contribution consists of offline map computation from high resolution 3D point clouds with corresponding reference images as well as online localization within these maps using low cost sensors. During localization, features extracted from the vehicle's camera image stream are matched against the reference map. The proposed method is capable of real-time localization and suitable for precise global localization. The evaluation shows comparable results to state of the art with high re-localization accuracy.


Samples of nine different formulations of aircraft deicer and antiicer fluids (ADAF) were screened for the presence of selected surfactants. Nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPnEO) were identified in three ADAF formulations, octylphenol ethoxylates were identified in two formulations, and six formulations contained alcohol ethoxylates. A preliminary field study was conducted at General Mitchell International Airport, Milwaukee, WI, to quantify NPnEO (n = 1-15) and one of its byproducts, nonylphenol (NP), in airport runoff. Samples were collected from two airport outfalls, from the receiving stream, and from an upstream reference site during intensive ADAF application events. NPnEO was measured at concentrations up to 1190microg/L in airport outfall samples, up to 77 ug/L in samples from the receiving stream and less than 5.0 microg/L from the upstream reference. Concentrations of glycol and other ADAF-related constituents, including NPnEO, were reduced by approximately 1 order of magnitude between the outfall sites and the receiving stream site; however, concentrations of NP in the receiving stream remained similar to those from the outfalls (< 0.04 microg/L at the upstream reference, 0.98 and 7.67 microg/L at outfalls, and 3.89 microg/L in the receiving stream). The field data suggest that NP is generated through degradation of NPnEO from airport runoff.


An inverted pendulum with a copper-beryllium (Cu-Be) flexure element was designed and its performance was determined by detecting the respective angular changes of the pendulum using a CCD (charge-coupled device) camera within an oscillation period range of 2-30s. An arrangement was made by clamping the flexure element and pendulum rod to avoid subjecting them to compression stress due to the weight of the overall pendulum mass on the flexure. This form of inverted pendulum employs a flexure specially clamped to the pendulum rod to provide tension deformation under the weight of the mass and could be used for dynamic testing of highly sensitive flexure elements. The quality factors of the pendulum were determined with respect to flexure elements by measuring free oscillations decaying exponentially. The results showed that the inverted pendulum with a different connection between the flexure element, and pendulum rod can be used to measure the anelasticity of materials and to test elements under bending d...


We report the design, synthesis and structure-property investigation of a new perylene diimide material (PDI-Lys) bearing lysine end substituents. Water processed films of PDI-Lys were prepared and their self-assembly, morphology and electrical properties in both inert and air environments were theoretically and experimentally investigated. With the aim of evaluating the potential of PDI-Lys as a biocompatible and functional neural interface for organic bioelectronic applications, its electrochemical impedance as well as the adhesion and viability properties of primary neurons on the PDI-Lys films were studied. By combining theoretical calculations and electrical measurements we show that due to conversion between neutral and zwitterionic anions, the PDI-Lys film conductivity increased significantly upon passing from air to an inert atmosphere, reaching a maximum value of 6.3 S m-1. We also show that the PDI-Lys film allows neural cell adhesion and neuron differentiation and decreases up to 5 times the electrode/solution impedance in comparison to a naked gold electrode. The present study introduces an innovative, water processable conductive film usable in organic electronics and as a putative neural interface.


Sexual aggression is a persistent and prevalent issue in the United States, which often results in a number of psychological, emotional, and physical consequences for victims. The current study examined whether the length of relationship between the victim and perpetrator, level of victim resistance, and observers' gender role attitudes play a role in observers' perceptions of an alleged sexual assault. Participants included 297 male college students from a public university in the Northeastern United States. Contrary to hypotheses, there were no significant effects for length of relationship on participants' attributions. Relative to no resistance, verbal and physical strategies by the victim predicted higher levels of victim credibility, perpetrator culpability, and perpetrator guilt, as well as lower levels of victim culpability and perceived victim pleasure. Endorsement of traditional adversarial sex role beliefs and hostile sexist attitudes, as opposed to egalitarian attitudes, were associated with the attribution of less credibility to the victim, perceived victim trauma, perpetrator culpability, perpetrator guilt, and shorter recommended prison sentences, as well as greater victim culpability and perceived victim pleasure. Laypersons' perceptions of sexual assault merit further study, as they are relevant to juror decision making and third party responses to sexual victimization (e.g., peer support for victim) and can contribute to the secondary victimization and recovery of survivors of sexual assault.


ABSTRACT Academics and practitioners are often at a loss when it comes to understanding the ethical socio-political and cultural contexts that invade the world of adapted physical activity. Ethical practice is situated in the local and the specific. In this article we highlight the reality that both academics and practitioners need to be ever mindful that the cultures surrounding the education, sport and rehabilitation components of adapted physical activity are distinctive environments that vary across the globe. Because of the cultural diversity surrounding adapted physical activity, we set out an embryonic framework for ethically thinking about practice in our field. Ultimately, we hope that this framework will go some way to illuminate questions of situated ethical importance that are becoming increasing conundrums within adapted physical activity.


The aim of this paper is to study the pseudo-Riemannian warped product submanifolds of a paracosymplectic manifold . We first, prove some fundamental lemmas and then derive some important results with parallel canonical structures on -semi-invariant submanifolds of . Finally, we describe the warped product submanifold of by developing the general optimal inequality in terms of warping function and squared norm of second fundamental form. We also consider the totally geodesic, mixed geodesic and equality case of the inequality.


The Age of Sacred Terror, by Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon. New York: Random House, 2002. xiii + 446 pages. Gloss. to 449. Notes to p. 472. Index to p. 490. $25.95. The High Cost of Peace: How Washington's Middle East Policy Left America Vulnerable to Terrorism, by Yossef Bodansky. Roseville, CA: Prima Publishing, 2002. xvii + 569 pages. Appends. to 578. Gloss. to 587. Note on Sources to 596. Bibl. to 619. Index to 652. $27.95. Reviewed by Duncan Clarke These two books share some commonalities: a focus on radical Islam, terrorism, the Middle East, and US foreign policy. Both conclude that, ultimately, regional democratization is imperative, however hazardous that may be for the Islamic world and the United States. Beyond this, the books are from different planets. One is an insightful insider account of pre-9/11 (September 11, 2001) US decisionmaking for counterterrorism. The other is a screed. Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon were terrorism specialists with Richard Clarke on the Clinton administration's National Security Council (NSC) staff. The Age of Sacred Terror examines the US response to Muslim terrorists from the killing of extremist Rabbi Meir Kahane in 1990 through 9/11. It also traces the evolution of a strain of Islam that places holy war at the center of Islamic life - from ibn Taymiyaa in the 13th century through the Wahhabis and the Muslim Brotherhood, to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. The book's real value, and why it deserves to be read, is its informed, credible treatment of US policy and, especially, policy processes. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is portrayed as even more bumbling than what was revealed after 9/11. Not only did it withhold vital information from the White House, but Benjamin and Simon assert that the Bureau was less concerned with al-Qaeda than was any other unit of the US government. The FBI was a "surly colossus," a "disorganized jumble of competing . . . power centers" (p. 300). Likewise, terrorism was of tertiary concern to the US military, and the authors find that the Department of Justice (very much unlike the present) did not encourage close pursuit of potential domestic threats because Arab-American complaints induced an unhealthy "political correctness" (p. 306). Despite this, these Clinton NSC staffers argue that they and their bosses were fully on top of terrorism, certainly by 1993. Both of Clinton's national security advisers, Anthony Lake and Sandy Berger, constantly raised the issue; two presidential decision directives gave the terrorist threat unprecedented salience; Richard Clarke's loud, often abrasive cries of alarm drove the military and complacent officials "batshit" (p. 232); and by 1996 President Clinton himself had "an enduring anxiety" about terrorism that led him to double US spending on the problem. The authors also provide new (to the reviewer) evidence that the pharmaceutical plant in Khartoum that was attacked by the United States in 1998 was, indeed, producing chemical weapons. Benjamin and Simon rightly observe that, despite the acute concerns of Clarke (who was retained by the incoming Bush administration) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director George Tenet, the Bush administration gave little attention to terrorism until 9/11. As to the query, 'Why do they hate us?', the authors cite most of the usual culprits, but accord primacy to "consummate religious devotion" (p. 39). For al-Qaeda and a growing number of other enemies of the United States throughout the Islamic world, mass killing of Americans, Europeans, and Israelis is a "sacrament," "an act of redemption" (p. 40). While Benjamin and Simon are far more discriminate and discrete than Yossef Bodansky, they skate close to tainting all of Islam. For instance: "Muslims the world over look ... for guidance in religious matters" to an Egyptian clerical establishment that shares "some fundamental presuppositions ... of the radical agenda" (p. …


The article deals with the problems of integrated development of territories in the context of site planning, urban zoning and methods of disposal of public property: privatization, concession agreements, public-private partnerships. Current legislation, including laws of regions of the Russian Federation, was analyzed in detail and gaps in legislation were found. The paper emphasizes the need for further improvement of legislation and law-enforcement practices. The article also focuses on the withdrawal of land plots and objects located on them for the purposes of integrated development of territories and fixing rent rates. Recommendations are provided with regard to changes in existing legislation.


Inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) uses target's motion to generate images on the range- Doppler plane. The conventional ISAR uses Fourier transform to compute Doppler spectrum for each range cell. Due to the target irregular translational and rotational motion, the Doppler frequency in fact is time-varying. By using Fourier transform, the reconstructed image becomes blurred. To represent time-varying Doppler spectrum, time-frequency transform should be utilized. Adaptive time-frequency wavelet transform is a very useful tool in analysis of signals with time-varying spectrum. We applied adaptive time-frequency wavelet transform to ISAR image reconstruction and developed a simulation procedure to describe the characteristics of the algorithm. By replacing the conventional Fourier processor with the adaptive wavelet processor, a 2D range-Doppler Fourier ISAR frame becomes a 3D time- range-Doppler wavelet ISAR cube. By sampling in time, a time sequence of 2D range-Doppler images can be viewed. Each individual wavelet ISAR image provides not only superior resolution but also the temporal information within each frame time. Both simulated and real ISAR data have been tested. The result from simulated ISAR data is illustrated in this paper.


Deep neural network (DNN) models are known to be vulnerable to maliciously crafted adversarial examples and to out-of-distribution inputs drawn sufficiently far away from the training data. How to protect a machine learning model against deception of both types of destructive inputs remains an open challenge. This article presents XEnsemble, a diversity ensemble verification methodology for enhancing the adversarial robustness of DNN models against deception caused by either adversarial examples or out-of-distribution inputs. XEnsemble by design has three unique capabilities. First, XEnsemble builds diverse input denoising verifiers by leveraging different data cleaning techniques. Second, XEnsemble develops a disagreement-diversity ensemble learning methodology for guarding the output of the prediction model against deception. Third, XEnsemble provides a suite of algorithms to combine input verification and output verification to protect the DNN prediction models from both adversarial examples and out of distribution inputs. Evaluated using 11 popular adversarial attacks and two representative out-of-distribution datasets, we show that XEnsemble achieves a high defense success rate against adversarial examples and a high detection success rate against out-of-distribution data inputs, and outperforms existing representative defense methods with respect to robustness and defensibility.


The coating is one of the most important components that affect the efficiency of the pavements. parameters are effective in the proper implementation of the coating such as the type of coating, the application time, the rate of application, temperature, uniformity of application, etc. The uniformity of application requires field control in the project implementation, is currently used to control the spreading weight of the tray. This test has many errors due to the lack of continuity. The issue of uniform distribution of coating has become less attention. In this study, the automatic system is presented based on image processing using a camera, GPS, microcontroller board and ..., which can analyze the uniform distribution and provide a good, moderate and poor classification for coating distribution evaluation. Image quality has improved with image processing and compression and noise reduction have been done. The thresholding was used to separate the coating from the background. After the thresholding, various properties such as the area of the coating, coefficient of variation, local maximum, and minimum, etc. are obtained from the images, and used to evaluate the coating distribution. used categorization algorithms for select effective features in categorizing images. A comparison of the results of the classification of images by a confusion matrix. Finally, the results showed that the presented system has a precision of 86%. Also, using the effective parameters in the model, the uniform distribution index was presented. This index has a value between0 and 100, which indicates the best and worst distributions.


An artificial neural network (ANN) for online tuning of a genetic algorithm based PI controller for interior permanent magnet synchronous motor (IPMSM) drive is presented in this paper. The proposed controller is developed for accurate speed control of the IPMSM drive under system disturbances. In this work, initially different operating conditions are obtained based on motor dynamics incorporating various uncertainties. At each operating condition a genetic algorithm (GA) is used to optimize proportional-integral (PI) controller parameters in a closed loop vector control scheme. In the optimization procedure a performance index is developed to reflect the minimum speed deviation, minimum settling time and zero steady-state error. A radial basis function network (RBFN) is utilized for online tuning of the PI controller parameters to ensure optimum drive performance under different disturbances. The proposed controller is successfully implemented in real-time using a digital signal processor board DS1102 for a laboratory 1 hp IPMSM. The efficacy of the proposed controller is verified by simulation as well as experimental results at different dynamic operating conditions. The proposed approach is found to be a robust controller for application in the IPMSM drive


The paper elaborates on competitiveness of Polish enterprises facing the European economic integration. The Author tries to show the impact of the accession of Poland to the European Union on the development of Polish enterprises as far as their competitiveness is concerned. The paper includes results of the empirical research conducted in the first half of 2007, that is 3 years after the accession on the random sample of 323 enterprises localized in malopolskie voivodeship.


This data descriptor summarizes the process applied to identify, screen, select and gather data from the content of 142 peer-reviewed papers/sources that report on the sources and impacts of recreational disturbance on coastal avifauna. While populations of resident and migratory coastal avifauna are under threat and diminishing rapidly across the planet, and particularly in association with Asian flyways, many governments are leveraging booming global demand for coastal recreation and tourism in order to deliver economic development to regional communities. The summary data shared via this data description was extracted from papers collected in a systematic literature review that was designed to explore the global literature on the recreational disturbance of coastal avifauna in order to elucidate the state of the global knowledge regarding this issue and to identify management strategies that could be applied at tropical Asian destinations to minimize the impacts of recreational disturbance and thus enhance the ecological sustainability of coastal recreation and tourism across the region. The data shared via the Excel worksheet associated with this data descriptor was extracted from peer-reviewed articles published in English between 1 January 2000 and the 31 December 2018 with the full text of the article available online. These articles were found by searching several online indexing several databases including Scopus, Web of Science, ProQuest and Google Scholar.


Sal-like 4 (SALL4) is a transcription factor that enhances proliferation and migration in breast cancer cells. SALL4 expression therefore has the potential to promote cancer malignancy. However, the regulatory mechanisms involved in SALL4 protein expression have not been thoroughly elucidated. In this study, we observed that treating MCF-7 and SUM159 breast cancer cell lines with a proteasome inhibitor increases SALL4 protein levels, suggesting that SALL4 is degraded by the ubiquitin-proteasome system. Using immunoprecipitation to uncover SALL4-binding proteins, we identified an E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase, tripartite motif-containing 21 (TRIM21). Using an EGFP reporter probe of the major SALL4 isoform SALL4B, we observed that shRNA-mediated knockdown of TRIM21 increases cellular SALL4B levels. Immunostaining experiments revealed that TRIM21 localizes to the nucleus, and a K64R substitution in the nuclear localization motif in SALL4B increased SALL4B levels in the cytoplasm. These results suggested that TRIM21 is involved in nuclear SALL4 degradation. To identify the amino acid residue that is targeted by TRIM21, we fragmented the SALL4B sequence, fused it to EGFP, and identified Lys-190 in SALL4B as TRIM21's target residue. Amino acid sequence alignments of SALL family members indicated that the region around SALL4 Lys-190 is conserved in both SALL1 and SALL3. Because SALL1 and SALL4 have similar functions, we constructed a SALL1-EGFP probe and found that the TRIM21 knockdown increases SALL1 levels, indicating that TRIM21 degrades both SALL1 and SALL4. Our findings extend our understanding of SALL4 and SALL1 regulation and may contribute to the development of SALL4-targeting therapies.


Infants exposed to some drugs in utero can become physically dependent and neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) may develop after the delivery. NAS causes multi-system dysfunction related to central nervous, gastrointestinal and respiratory systems. The incidence of NAS is 16-90% in infants of heroin-addicted mothers. Clinical signs usually occur within 48-72 hours following birth. In this study, we present a newborn who had neonatal seizures and was treated successfully with phenobarbital and levetiracetam. When his non-convulsive insistent jerky movements did not stop and were followed by convulsion, further evaluation showed in utero heroin exposure. Opiate or other drug withdrawal should be considered in the differential diagnosis of early neonatal seizures or insistent jerky movements on the 3rd or 4th day of life, even if there is no given past history.


The temperature distribution in nanoscale cylindrical representative volume element (RVE) with centered carbon nanofiber (CNF) was modeled by the developed hybrid finite element approach, which used the axisymmetric Green's function to approximate the interior field within the element, while the independent element boundary field with conventional shape functions was assumed to keep the continuity of field variables between adjacent elements. As a result, coupling with the constructed hybrid functional to link the independent interior and boundary fields, the solving linear system of equations with boundary integrals only were obtained. Numerical examples were given to show the accuracy of the proposed approach, and results were found in good agreement with those of ABAQUS. Also, it was obvious that the surface temperature of nanofiller almost kept constant during heat transfer, due to the large difference of thermal properties between nanofiller and matrix.


This paper examines Heidegger's Beiträge zur Philosophie with the aim of shedding light on its messianic-eschatological approach. Firstly, I take into account the formal structure of history through a reference to Aristotle's grasp of κίνησις and its principles. I then try to connect this structure to the complex epochal movement of Universal History, as it emerges from Heidegger's works in the '30s. Lastly, I deal with the concept of the last-God's realm in order to stress the messianic dimension of Heidegger's projects for the new humankind known as the Futurians.


Abstract This paper studies the relationship between public debt expansion and economic growth and investigates whether the debt-growth relation varies with the level of indebtedness. We contribute theoretically by developing tests for threshold effects in the context of dynamic heterogeneous panel data models with cross-sectionally dependent errors. In the empirical application, using data on a sample of forty countries over the 1965–2010 period, we find no evidence for a universally applicable threshold effect in the relationship between public debt and economic growth. Regardless of the threshold, however, we find significant negative effects of public debt buildup on output growth.


To explore the effect of electrical stimulation (ES) on osteogenesis, a polypyrrole (PPy)-made electrical culture system was developed to provide a direct-current electric field (DCEF). This DCEF device was applied to treat differentiated rat bone marrow stromal cells (rBMSCs) once in different stages of osteo-differentation to investigate its temporal effects. The mineralization results showed that the DCEF treatment not only accelerated cell differentiation but also promoted the saturation levels, and the ES on day 8 was the group demonstrated the optimal result. The gene regulation analysis indicated that the DCEF treatment immediately increased the levels of genes related to osteo-differentiation, especially Runx2. Because Runx2 is a crucial transcriptional factor of osteogenesis, the ES-caused improvement of mineralization was likely contributed by the extension of its expression. Further, different ES modes were investigated of their efficacy on bone matrix deposition. Square waves with different parameters including frequency, offset, amplitude, and duty cycle were systematically examined. In contrast to constant voltage, square waves demonstrated periodical changes of current through substrate to significantly improve mineralization, and the efficiencies highly depended on both frequency and intensity. Through this comprehensive study, DCEF treating condition was optimized, which should be beneficial to its application on osteogenesis promotion. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater 107B: 1607-1619, 2019.


Within‐host competition between coinfecting parasite strains shapes the evolution of parasite phenotypes such as virulence and drug resistance. Although this evolution has a strong theoretical basis, within‐host competition has rarely been studied experimentally, particularly in medically relevant pathogens with hosts that have pronounced specific and nonspecific immune responses against coinfecting strains. We investigated multiple infection in malaria, using two pairs of genetically distinct clones of the rodent malaria Plasmodium chabaudi in mice. Clones were inoculated into mice simultaneously or 3 or 11 days apart, and population sizes were tracked using immunofluorescence or quantitative polymerase chain reaction. In all experiments, at least one of the two clones suffered strong competitive suppression, probably through both resource‐ and immune‐mediated (apparent) competition. Clones differed in intrinsic competitive ability, but prior residency was also an important determinant of competitive outcome. When clones infected mice first, they did not suffer from competition, but they did when infecting mice at the same time or after their competitor, more so the later they infected their host. Consequently, clones that are competitively inferior in head‐to‐head competition can be competitively superior if they infect hosts first. These results are discussed in the light of strain‐specific immunity, drug resistance, and virulence evolution theory.


Despite continuous efforts to improve the coverage, the access to electricity remains insufficient in many developing countries, particularly in geographically challenged locations, due mostly to the high cost of grid extension. To rigorously investigate the effectiveness of solar products as an alternative in remote areas, we conducted a randomized controlled trial in river islands of northern Bangladesh where no grid-based electricity is available. We found that solar lanterns significantly increased home study hours among schooled children, especially in the night and before exams. School attendance rate also initially increases due to the provision of solar lamps, although such effects fade away over time. The increased study time and initial school attendance rate, however, did not improve children's exam results. We also found marginal improvements on health-related indicators, such as eye redness and irritation, but negligible impacts on respiratory indicators. Households that received solar lanterns substituted the traditional lighting sources with modern technology, leading to a significant decrease in annual biomass fuel consumptions, particularly kerosene. Finally, treated households showed a greater self-reported willingness to purchase solar products compared with the control group.


Abstract This article reports viscosity data on a series of colloidal dispersions collected as part of the International Nanofluid Property Benchmark Exercise (INPBE). Data are reported for seven different fluids that include dispersions of metal-oxide nanoparticles in water, and in synthetic oil. These fluids, which are also referred to as 'nanofluids,' are currently being researched for their potential to function as heat transfer fluids. In a recently published paper from the INPBE study, thermal conductivity data from more than 30 laboratories around the world were reported and analyzed. Here, we examine the influence of particle shape and concentration on the viscosity of these same nanofluids and compare data to predictions from classical theories on suspension rheology.


Content distribution over networks is often achieved by using mirror sites that hold copies of files or portions thereof to avoid congestion and delay issues arising from excessive demands to a single location. Accordingly, there are distributed storage solutions that divide the file into pieces and place copies of the pieces (replication) or coded versions of the pieces (coding) at multiple source nodes. We consider a network which uses network coding for multicasting the file. There is a set of source nodes that contains either subsets or coded versions of the pieces of the file. The cost of a given storage solution is defined as the sum of the storage cost and the cost of the flows required to support the multicast. Our interest is in finding the storage capacities and flows at minimum combined cost. We formulate the corresponding optimization problems by using the theory of information measures. In particular, we show that when there are two source nodes, there is no loss in considering subset sources. For three source nodes, we derive a tight upper bound on the cost gap between the coded and uncoded cases. We also present algorithms for determining the content of the source nodes.


On the basis of the Kubo formula we evaluated the optical conductivity of a graphene sheet. The full behavior of frequency as well as temperature dependence of the optical conductivity is presented. We show that the anisotropy of conductivity can be significantly enhanced at high frequencies. The photon absorption depends on the field polarization direction. At the frequency comparable to the maximum separation of upper and lower bands the photon-induced conduction of electrons is strongly suppressed if the polarization of field is along the zigzag direction. The corresponding optical conductivity is several orders of magnitude weaker than that when the light is polarizing along the armchair direction. We propose that the property of orientation selection of absorption in the graphene can be used as a basis for a high-frequency partial polarizer.


The reactions of various copper(ii) sources with 2-acetylpyridine, (py)(me)CO, and 2-benzoylpyridine, (py)(ph)CO, under strongly basic conditions have been studied and novel ligand transformations have been discovered. Reaction of Cu(ClO4)2·6H2O and (py)(me)CO in the presence of NBu4(n)OMe (1 : 1 : 1) in CHCl3 gave a mixture of [Cu2Cl2(HLA)2](ClO4)2 (1) and [Cu2Cl2(LB)2(ClO4)2] (2), where HLA is 3-hydroxy-1,3-di(pyridin-2-yl)-butane-1-one and LB is the zwitterionic-type ligand 3-hydroxy-1-methyl-3-(pyridin-2-yl)-3H-indolizin-4-ium. The ligand HLA is formed through an aldol reaction-type mechanism, while the formation of LB takes place via an intramolecular nucleophilic attack of the remote 2-pyridyl nitrogen atom on the positive carbonyl carbon of HLA, after the transformation of the latter through deprotonation and dehydration. The Cu(II) ions in 1 are bridged by two 2.1111 HLA ligands resulting in a long Cu(II)Cu(II) distance (5.338 Å); the metal ions in 2 are triply bridged by the alkoxide oxygen atoms of the two 2.21 LB ligands and one 2.1100 perchlorato group. The absence of α-hydrogens in (py)(ph)CO leads the reactivity of this ligand in the presence of Cu(II) to different pathways. The Cu(ClO4)2·6H2O/(py)(ph)CO/NBu4(n)OMe reaction mixture in MeOH/H2O (25 : 1 v/v) gave the dinuclear cationic complex [Cu2{(py)(ph)CO}2(LC)2](ClO4)2 (3), where LC(-) is the anion of (methoxy)(phenyl)(pyridin-2-yl)methanol formed in situ via the nucleophilic addition of MeO(-) to the carbonyl carbon of (py)(ph)CO upon Cu(II) coordination. The Cu(II) ions in the cation are doubly bridged by the deprotonated oxygen atoms of the two LC(-) ligands. Replacement of Cu(ClO4)2·6H2O with Cu(NO3)2·3H2O and NBu4(n)OMe with NMe4OH and the decrease of the H2O concentration in the above reaction system yielded the tetranuclear coordination cluster [Cu4(OMe)2(NO3)4{(py)(ph)CO}2(LC)2] (4). The Cu(II) centres in this complex define a parallelogram. Two parallel sides of the parallelogram are each supported by deprotonated oxygen atoms belonging to a 2.21 LC(-) ligand and a 2.2 MeO(-) group. The metal ions that define each of the other two sides are singly bridged by an oxygen atom of a 2.210 nitrato group. No bridging exists between the Cu(II) ions that define the two diagonals of the parallelogram. Replacement of MeOH with EtOH in the reaction system that gave 4 resulted in the dinuclear complex [Cu2(NO3)2(LD)2)(EtOH)] (5), LD(-) being the anion of (ethoxy)(phenyl)(pyridin-2-yl)methanol. The Cu(II) ions are doubly bridged by the alkoxide oxygen atoms of the two 2.21 LD(-) ligands. The 1 : 1 : 1 Cu(NO3)2·3H2O/(py)(ph)CO/NMe4OH reaction system in CH3NO2 gave the dinuclear complex [Cu2(NO3)2(LE)2] (6), where LE(-) is the anion of 2-nitro-1-phenyl-1-(pyridin-2-yl)ethanol. The OH(-) ion abstracts one of the methyl hydrogens of CH3NO2, and once the carbanion (-):CH2NO2 is formed it attacks the positive (δ+) carbonyl carbon of (py)(ph)CO; as the carbanion forms the new C-C bond, the π electrons of the carbonyl group of the original ligand are transferred completely to oxygen forming the alkoxide-type ligand LE(-). The Cu(II) ions are doubly bridged by the alkoxide oxygen atoms of the two 2.21 LE(-) ligands. Simplified mechanistic views of the Cu(II)-assisted formation of the transformed ligands are proposed. Dc magnetic susceptibility studies in the 2-300 K range for the representative complexes 3-6 reveal the presence of very strong antiferromagnetic Cu(II)Cu(II) exchange interactions in the dinuclear complexes 3, 5, and 6 and within the dimeric {Cu2(OMe)(NO3){(py)(ph)CO}(LC)}(+) subunits of 4. The strong antiferromagnetic coupling is discussed in terms of the large Cu-O-Cu angles (101.0-102.9°) in the dinuclear, planar {Cu2O2} units/subunits of 3-6.


We propose a 2D multi-level appearance representation of the human body in RGB images, spatially modelled using a fully-connected graphical model. The appearance model is based on a CNN body part detector, which uses shared features in a cascade architecture to simultaneously detect body parts with different levels of granularity. We use a fully-connected Conditional Random Field (CRF) as our spatial model, over which approximate inference is efficiently performed using the Mean-Field algorithm, implemented as a Recurrent Neural Network (RNN). The stronger visual support from body parts with different levels of granularity, along with the fully-connected pairwise spatial relations, which have their weights learnt by the model, improve the performance of the bottom-up part detector. We adopt an end-to-end training strategy to leverage the potential of both our appearance and spatial models, and achieve competitive results on the MPII and LSP datasets.


Electrodynamics for self-interacting scalar fields in spatially flat Friedmann - Robertson - Walker spacetimes is studied. The corresponding 1-loop field equation for the expectation value of the complex scalar field in the conformal vacuum is derived. For exponentially expanding universes, the equations for the Bogoliubov coefficients describing the coupling of the scalar field to gravity are solved numerically. They yield a non-local correction to the Coleman - Weinberg effective potential which does not modify the pattern of minima found in static de Sitter space. Such a correction contains a dissipative term which, accounting for the decay of the classical configuration in scalar field quanta, may be relevant for the reheating stage. The physical meaning of the non-local term in the semiclassical field equation is investigated by evaluating this contribution for various background field configurations.


A thin adhesive layer is analyzed using a representative volume element (RVE). The RVE is comprised by, both continuum and interfacial finite elements. The interface elements allow for crack initiation and crack propagation. To obtain realistic results from the RVE simulation, an in situ scanning electron microscopy (SEM) study is performed. Results from the SEM study show that the adhesive has a very complex structure with two different compounds, a mineral and an epoxy/thermoplastic blend. The RVE is subjected to two different load cases, peel and shear. An evolutionary algorithm is used to calibrate the numerical model to experimental results. The simulation results are compared to experimental results to verify the numerical model. The simulations show good agreement with the experimental results for both the peel and shear experiments.


Reasons for taking out or deciding against private medical insurance were studied by a telephone survey in a random sample of 389 Wellington households with telephones. Nearly 47% were covered by a medical insurance policy, the majority through group schemes, and that cover varies significantly by household income and age. For both those with medical insurance, and those with no policy, the main advantages seen were rapid and convenient access to hospital care, followed by security against future costs, and then to pay doctor's bills. Only a very small number (17) of households had claimed private hospital costs in the past year and the greatest use made of the policy was to pay general practitioner costs.


The aim of this study is to indicate and assess the significance of health in the creation of economic activity of rural areas. The analysis carried out allowed the author to compile a assessment of the regional economies with regard to the degree of the impact of disability on the potential of an effective use of labour resources of rural areas. The empirical data refers to NTUS 1 and NUTS 2.


HOGMep is a novel Bayesian method for joint restoration and clustering on generic multi-component graph data. First, it uses a finite mixture of Multivariate Exponential Power (MEP) distributions as a prior model for graph signals. The general MEP form is capable of modeling broad types of signals including Gaussian, Laplacian or sparser ones. Second, a general Higher-Order Graphical Model (HOGM) on labels, encompassing the widely-used Potts model, is used to incorporate spatial relationships between neighboring graph signals. The generality of our model can tackle a large variety of data structures. Third, in contrast with regularized minimization approaches often adopted in the literature, our algorithm reliably estimates regularization parameters from observations. Such modeling leads to a complex posterior distribution of unknown parameters. This problem is tackled by Variational Bayesian Approximation (VBA) whose goal is to provide accurate approximation of the posterior distribution allowing us to efficiently compute posterior mean estimates. We demonstrate the effectiveness of HOGMep on the joint deconvolution and segmentation of color images interpreted as graph signals. Experiments show that the proposed approach outperforms state-of-the-art methods in both restoration performance and segmentation accuracy.


Autonomous, or driverless, vehicles can support and promote active travel, such as walking and cycling, when two basic conditions are met:
1.their access to cities is restricted
2.their use is pooled.

In the absence of these two conditions, autonomous vehicles could lead to a decline in active travel in cities and an increase in economic, social and environmental costs. Potential costs are rarely mentioned in the rhetoric about autonomous vehicles, much of which is highly optimistic.


This paper presents the analysis on flux and electromotive force (EMF) developed by moving coil and moving iron linear generators using finite element method (FEM). A 6 pole moving coil and 6/4 moving iron linear generator are used to analyze and compare the flux distribution in the air gap. These generators will be used for free piston linear engine. A moving permanent-magnet linear generator has drawbacks of thermal and impact force demagnetization, in addition to requiring complex control strategies. To overcome these limitations, one of the solutions is to place magnets on the stator instead on the translator. Based on the analysis it is proposed to replace the moving permanent-magnet by a moving-coil for a linear generator whose prime mover is a free-piston linear combustion engine.


Evaluation is undertaken for various reasons from helping to ensure that objectives are met to identifying success. This paper examines the significance of creative evaluation in a co-design approach. We have identified a major gap in appropriately embedding evaluation into engagement and consultation processes. The study explores the use of evaluation to evidence the value of co-design and consultation. As a part of this we have established a broad framework to gather information and data to build a portfolio of evidence to evidence the difference we are making.

From the initial studies we have identified findings that are significant and shared across our partners within their evaluation practice. Throughout the project, our evaluation is embedded in our process. We have proposed an evaluation process, and an evaluation framework, which will be used at various stages of the project to capture evidence. At each stage we capture the impact in a meaningful format so it is visible to communities and the researchers, in turn making evaluation a collaborative process. For this purpose, we developed a creative evaluation approach - which is innovative, engaging but also designed in an unobtrusive manner.


We describe an enzyme immunoassay for determination of total estriol in urine. Estriol covalently bound to horseradish peroxidase is used as tracer, and free and bound hormone are separated by precipitation with polyethylene glycol. The method can be used with either acid hydrolysis at 100 #{176}C for 30 mm or enzyme hydrolysis at 50 #{176}C for 40 mm; results by the former procedure are about 15% lower than results by the latter. Results were practically identical when we compared the enzyme immunoassay with a radioimmunoassay, using the same antiserum and method of hydrolysis. The day-to-day CV for three different concentrations was 10.7-12.0%, the within-series CV 6.6-8.6%. The additional time required for the enzyme reaction is compensated for by the rapid measurement of light absorbance. Thus this method is faster than radioimmunoassay when more than 25 samples are to be assayed.


Background: Since being initiated by the United States government, Electronic Medical Records (EMR) has shown to improve the quality of care management by increasing time efficiency and guideline adherence. EMR has also reduced medical errors by decreasing medication errors and adverse drug reactions.
Hypothesis: The effectiveness of electronic medical records to consolidate tasks improves the outcome of patient care and reduce medical error.
Methods: A literature search using multiple databases that include PubMed, Google Scholar, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, ScienceDirect, and Ovid, for journals written in the English language between the year 2010 - 2018.
Results: 10 articles were assessed; nine articles support a significant improvement in the quality of care with implementation of EMR. One article suggested no association with implementing EMR and improvement in quality of care. Quality of care, medical errors and adverse drug reactions, length of stay, readmission rate, hospital mortality, and patient-physician communications were the areas that identified the most significant results.
Conclusion: Implementation of EMR has proven to be of benefit to the healthcare system by improving the quality of patient care, reducing medical error and adverse drug reactions. EMR is still fairly new to the US healthcare system and more research is needed to further improve the future of its use in healthcare.


Learners in Dialogue; this thesis aims at the exploration of teacher expertise for teachers who want to teach genetics in the context of genetic testing and at finding ways to foster teacher learning concerning this expertise. Recent developments in the field of genomics will impact the daily practice of biology teachers who teach genetics in secondary education. A special focus was on moral reasoning because reasoning and decision-making based on genetic information in such test situations introduces moral dilemmas and recent neuropsychological research suggests that intuition and emotion play a role in moral reasoning,. For describing the necessary expertise we explored the educational practice and clinical genetic practices. Nine experienced teachers and 12 respondents representing the clinical genetic practices (clients, medical professionals, and medical ethicists) were interviewed about the biological concepts and ethical, legal, and social aspects (ELSA) of testing they considered relevant to empowering students as future health care clients. The ELSA suggested by the respondents were complemented by suggestions found in the literature on genetic counselling. Next we asked the teachers about the pedagogical content, moral and interpersonal expertise areas concerning how to teach genetics in the context of genetic testing, and the lessons of five of them were observed. To find out how intuitive and emotive considerations are dealt with in present moral education, fifteen pre-university students were interviewed on their way of reasoning by confronting them with real-life situations, and the nine teachers were asked about their approach to moral education, and about their views on student reasoning. In the last part of our study we explored the use of a teacher community to develop teachers' expertise. Eight biology teachers participated in order to develop expertise for teaching genetics in the context of genetic testing in the four areas: subject matter; pedagogical content; moral and interpersonal expertise. Individual developments are reported using constructed narratives, overall patterns by aggregating individual data. The findings revealed that the required teacher knowledge consists of multiple layers that are embedded in specific genetic test situations: on the one hand, the knowledge of concepts represented by the curricular framework and some additional concepts (e.g. multifactorial and polygenic disorder) and, on the other hand, more knowledge of ELSA and generic characteristics of genetic test practice (uncertainty, complexity, probability, and morality). Next we learned that the required teacher expertise encompasses specific teaching and learning activities, interpersonal expertise and a preference for teacher roles and teaching approaches for the moral aspects of teaching in this context. Concerning moral reasoning we found that during their reasoning all students used intuitive, emotive, and rationalistic considerations. The teachers reported that they observed students using intuition and emotion in their reasoning. Neither the educational literature nor the interviews yielded an articulated pedagogical approach in which these considerations played a role in moral reflection. Studying the teacher community showed us that teaching such issues involves the professional identity of the teachers. The community was useful for the expertise development and this development connects to identity development in terms of self-understanding


Importance
Mind-body therapies (MBTs) are emerging as potential tools for addressing the opioid crisis. Knowing whether mind-body therapies may benefit patients treated with opioids for acute, procedural, and chronic pain conditions may be useful for prescribers, payers, policy makers, and patients.

Objective
To evaluate the association of MBTs with pain and opioid dose reduction in a diverse adult population with clinical pain.

Data Sources
For this systematic review and meta-analysis, the MEDLINE, Embase, Emcare, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Cochrane Library databases were searched for English-language randomized clinical trials and systematic reviews from date of inception to March 2018. Search logic included (pain OR analgesia OR opioids) AND mind-body therapies. The gray literature, ClinicalTrials.gov, and relevant bibliographies were also searched.

Study Selection
Randomized clinical trials that evaluated the use of MBTs for symptom management in adults also prescribed opioids for clinical pain.

Data Extraction and Synthesis
Independent reviewers screened citations, extracted data, and assessed risk of bias. Meta-analyses were conducted using standardized mean differences in pain and opioid dose to obtain aggregate estimates of effect size with 95% CIs.

Main Outcomes and Measures
The primary outcome was pain intensity. The secondary outcomes were opioid dose, opioid misuse, opioid craving, disability, or function.

Results
Of 4212 citations reviewed, 60 reports with 6404 participants were included in the meta-analysis. Overall, MBTs were associated with pain reduction (Cohen d = -0.51; 95% CI, -0.76 to -0.26) and reduced opioid dose (Cohen d = -0.26; 95% CI, -0.44 to -0.08). Studies tested meditation (n = 5), hypnosis (n = 25), relaxation (n = 14), guided imagery (n = 7), therapeutic suggestion (n = 6), and cognitive behavioral therapy (n = 7) interventions. Moderate to large effect size improvements in pain outcomes were found for meditation (Cohen d = -0.70), hypnosis (Cohen d = -0.54), suggestion (Cohen d = -0.68), and cognitive behavioral therapy (Cohen d = -0.43) but not for other MBTs. Although most meditation (n = 4 [80%]), cognitive-behavioral therapy (n = 4 [57%]), and hypnosis (n = 12 [63%]) studies found improved opioid-related outcomes, fewer studies of suggestion, guided imagery, and relaxation reported such improvements. Most MBT studies used active or placebo controls and were judged to be at low risk of bias.

Conclusions and Relevance
The findings suggest that MBTs are associated with moderate improvements in pain and small reductions in opioid dose and may be associated with therapeutic benefits for opioid-related problems, such as opioid craving and misuse. Future studies should carefully quantify opioid dosing variables to determine the association of mind-body therapies with opioid-related outcomes.


: Bridge inspection, which collects data for assessment and decision-making processes, plays an important role in the maintenance job of bridge structures. However, all of the inspection jobs, including general inspection, principal inspection and special inspection, generate large and unstructured data resulting in ineffective maintenance. Besides, traditional inspection generates only 2D-based and less visionary information. For a more reliable assessment of structures, it is necessary to improve the current inspection technology and process. In recent years, mixed reality (MR) technology has been proved to be effective in improving interaction, communication and collaboration among stakeholders for evaluating the database. MR and holographic technology blend 3D models with physical assets and support users to engage in the models and interact with the project data more intuitively in the real-time simulation. This paper presents an application of MR-based system called HoloBridge to enhance and facilitate bridge inspection and maintenance. The application consists of modules of inspection, evaluation, and damage mapping. The HoloBridge application is being deployed to Microsoft Hololens for tracking and assessing conditions of bridges. The application has been developed by building information modelling (BIM)-based system linked and integrated into a cross-platform game engine to evaluate bridge damage information. The application is piloted with a highway bridge in South Korea and has shown the benefits not only in the digitalized inspection processes, but also in systematic managing bridge performance.


A growing
world population coupled with changing diet is projected to increase demand for
food production by 70% by 2050. Helping farmers lose less of
their crops will be a key factor in promoting food security. In addition to
pesticides GM crops will continue to be a vital tool in the diverse range of
technologies that can maintain and improve living standards for the people of
the world. The EU is dependent for 65% on imports of protein-rich feedstuffs
for which there are no substitutes in the short term. The EU livestock sector
uses imported soybean, soybean meal and maize by-products as animal feed.
Without an adequate supply of these feed ingredients, the EU's livestock
production will loose competitiveness. However, demands from the EU differ to
those from third countries with respect to the GM varieties grown, and what are authorised for import into the EU. The risk that supplies of
soya products and maize by-products could be affected by the low-level presence
of non-EU approved GM material has not been fully resolved as the EU has
allowed just a 0.1% tolerance for this plus 0.05% tolerance for measuring
uncertainty. This could cause supply problems for the animal feed
industry, and ultimately supply of food to consumers. The importance of the EU
market and EU requirements for the major soybean and maize exporter countries
is declining over time and it is becoming
increasingly difficult and costly to maintain a non-GM supply chain in the EU. Food companies and supermarkets will
struggle to stay GM-free. EU member states dependent on imports will be forced
to deal with more GM presence in their chain. Market forces are forcing
governments to authorize products more efficiently, develop tolerance policies
or tolerate unapproved varieties in their imports.


This article reviews the extant research literature on loneliness and peer victimization for children and youth, and explores the complex relationship between these two constructs. While lonely students who have few friends and receive limited peer support are vulnerable to being victimized by their peers, loneliness also emerges as a salient outcome of persistent and chronic peer victimization. The author discusses the phenomenon and incidence of bullying, the predictors of bullying and loneliness in children and youth, and reviews the literature associated with peer victimization in children and youth with disabilities, a population that is particularly vulnerable to being both the perpetrator and victim of bullying. The article concludes with a review of school-based intervention approaches to alleviate bullying in children and youth.


This paper proposes an efficient erasure-recovered algorithm based on parity placement scheme, called Horizontal-Oblique Parity (HOP), for protecting against double disk failures in RAID-5 disk array systems. HOP keeps all data unencoded, and uses only exclusive-or (XOR) operations to compute parity. HOP is provably near optimal in computational complexity, both during encoding and reconstruction. It is optimal in the amount of redundant information stored and is sub-optimal in its accessing. HOP works within a single stripe of blocks of sizes normally used by file systems, databases, and disk arrays.


The object of the present paper is to analyze the productivity of marketing cooperatives incorporating environmental inputs/outputs. In the European agricultural policy, expectations for attaining sustainable and competitive agriculture lie to a great extent on the cooperative sector's ability to adapt to the new market conditions. These challenges have led marketing cooperatives in the fruit and vegetables sector to consider improvement in productivity and sound environmental performance. In this sector environmental management was intensified by the Common Agrarian Policy (CAP) through incentives on the so-called Operative Programs (OP). The present study analyses the total factor productivity (TFP) related to environmental variables in this sector using a parametric-stochastic approach and taking as reference a panel data of Spanish cooperatives for the period 1994-2002. Additionally, the determinants of productivity environmental indices are examined econ ometrically. The estimates obtained show a relevant increase in the efficiency component for the period under study and a relatively low impact of incentive schemes. However, they also show a relationship between productivity changes and several management factors in cooperatives, such as labor quality, capital intensity and environmental spillover.


Protecting intellectual property rights is an ongoing challenge for hardware manufacturers. After acquiring the rights to powerful capacitive sensing technology, the Atmel Corporation wanted to distribute this technology to all its customers. However, they wanted to distribute it without giving away the trade secrets contained in the code. They wanted the new technology to work on any of their AVR devices, and because of strategic decisions, they wanted the distribution model to be completed as soon as possible. The most purposeful way of distributing the touch functionality, was concluded to be through pre-compiled static library files. And hence, the touch code got to be known as the Touch Libraries. Other options were explored, but the library solution proved best at protecting the intellectual property in the code. Because of the share scale of this project, it was important to implement solid project management procedures from the beginning, otherwise it would be easy to lose overview. Reusing code between devices wherever possible, and have a proper project code-structure became essential in reducing superfluous code. This paper explores the various possible solutions to these problems, and then goes in detail on how to implement an efficient adaptation. The project was developed from a planning stage, to its maturity over the course of the spring, 2009. On June 8th 2009, version 2.0 of the libraries were launched. This launch is a manifesto to the joint efforts of the Atmel QTouch team, and the work detailed in this report. Please see Atmel's QTouch website for more information, and installer binaries. A copy of these files can also be found in the file archive.


Abstract Genetically modified corn (maize) Zea mays (Poaceae) expressing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) Berliner (Bacillaceae) toxins is a controversial issue due to the risk they could pose to predators as non-target organisms. Thus it is important to evaluate that risk before Bt corn is released for commercial planting in Mexico. The effect of genetically modified corn hybrid Agrisure® VipteraTM 3111 on the abundance of non-target predators Orius insidiosus Say (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae), Coleomegilla maculata (De Geer) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), and Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens) (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) was evaluated at Oso Viejo and El Camalote in Culiacan, Sinaloa, and compared with its non-genetically modified isoline with and without insecticide treatment in a randomized complete block design with 3 treatments and 4 replicates. Complete plant visual samplings were performed to determine predator abundance, frequency, and population fluctuation using the Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric statistical test. A total of 5,228 predators were collected in all hybrids in both localities: 2,431 at Oso Viejo and 2,797 at El Camalote with 2 peaks before and after pollination. In both locations, each predator population had a similar fluctuation in all hybrids. Although no statistical difference was found among treatments, in all cases, Agrisure® VipteraTM 3111 had higher abundance than the isolines with and without insecticide treatment. Results show that Agrisure® VipteraTM 3111 does not have a negative effect on predator abundance of O. insidiosus, C. maculata, and C. carnea.


Water flow through soil layers (infiltration) encompasses the key element of the hydrologic cycle, where it characterizes the pathway of contribution to the groundwater aquifers. Infiltration tests are carried out in the field to measure the soil layers' infiltration rate and their corresponding hydraulic conductivity. The investigation site, Wadi Al Bih dam, represents one of the significant locations for water harvesting and storing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The dam plays essential role in preventing and mitigating the flash flooding and assist the infiltration process to recharge the shallow groundwater aquifer. This study targets to measure the infiltration rate on both sides of the dam and emphasize the relationships between the precipitation and water percolation downwards as well as the dam ability to accumulate and store the surface water especially during the intensive water storm events. The results reveal a remarkable variability of the infiltration and the hydraulic conductivity values in both the upstream and downstream of the dam. The average infiltration rate varies from 23.9 to 27.71 cm/h and the average hydraulic conductivity ranges between 9.82 and 39.67 cm/s. This shows the noticeable changeability of the soil cover to absorb the surface water and push it down to recharge the shallow aquifer.


Considerable experimental as well as clinical evidence has now accumulated to indicate that Mg2+ and K+ deficiencies have probably been overlooked as important causal factors in the etiology of hypertensive disease. Mg2+ ions are important for the regulation of Na+ and K+ transport across cell membranes, including those found in cardiac and vascular smooth muscle cells. Mg2+ activates a Na+-K+-ATPase pump which in turn plays a major role in regulating Na+-K+ transport. Loss of cellular Mg2+ results in the loss of critically important phosphagens: Mg ATP and creatine phosphate. Thus, under conditions where cellular Mg2+ is depleted (e.g. hypoxia, anoxia, ischemia, Mg deficiency, errors in Mg metabolism and/or binding, and transport), the Na+-K+ pump and phosphagen stores will be compromised, leading to alterations in resting membranes (e.g. membrane depolarization). Cellular Mg2+ depletion has been found to result in concomitant depletion of K+ in a number of cells, including cardiac and vascular muscles. Myocardial and vascular injury thus results in an uptake of Na+ and Ca2+, Mg2+ and K+ being lost first. The available evidence indicates that Mg2+ is important in the control of arteriolar tone and blood pressure, primarily via the regulation of vascular membrane Mg2+-Ca2+ exchange sites. A reduction in extracellular Mg2+ (or K+) can produce hypertension, vasospasm and potentiation of vasoconstrictor agents by allowing excess entry of Ca2+, concomitantly the potency of vasodilators is reduced. Alterations in vascular membrane Mg2+ result in 'leaky' arterial and arteriolar membranes thus contributing to the cellular reduction in K+ and the gain of Ca2+ and Na+. These factors seem all-important in the production and etiology of hypertension. Both clinical and experimental forms of hypertension are associated with tissue and plasma deficits of Mg2+. The arterial blood pressure elevation appears to be inversely related to the level of ionized intracellular and plasma Mg2+.


Over the years, the Government of Kenya with support from sectoral partners has continued to initiate and implement various policy reforms earmarked towards enhancing health equity. The purpose of this paper was to critically review the various initiatives that the government of Kenya has over the years initiated towards enhancement of universal coverage in terms of policy reforms including health care financing. For purposes of the analysis, data was largely collected through in-depth review of government policy documents including draft health care financing strategy, health policy framework, Ministry of Health strategic plans, Vision 2030, commissioned studies by the Ministry, among others. Notable findings include existence of multiple sources of revenue with government revenue showing an upward trend over the years in absolute terms though still lagging behind the Abuja Declaration of 2001, and existence of high levels of out-of-pocket spending which has continued to contribute towards catastrophic health expenditures. Other findings include existence of significant contribution by the development partners which is however, off-budget and skewed in favor of some regions notwithstanding its sustainability given the global trends. Similarly, though there exist a number of organizational entities that provide risk pooling options, the nature of resource pooling has limited cross-subsidization. Various recommendations have been suggested including sufficient funding for the health system through risk pooling mechanisms, earmarking some taxes for health care; improved revenue collection approaches, continued political commitment by government and development partners while enhancing efficiency in the management of health funds.


Previous work on the role played by valley head areas in humid regions brought to light geomorphological units of the drainage net in which erosion and sedimentation would tend to be recurrent in time and space. Valley heads studied in Brazil had already proved to be very sensible to gully erosion processes, which, besides its importance to land degradation, also is a common process of hillslope evolution on humid regions. Gully erosion carries out from slopes important amounts of sediments, which may either, accumulate as proximal colluvium and alluvium or be conveyed through the drainage net. When colluvium and alluvium accumulate in proximal areas sedimentary structures may be preserved allowing the study of evolutionary processes. This paper is an attempt to apply micromorphological analysis to the study of the sedimentary structures preserved in gullied hillslopes of some southern Brazilian areas. The deposits are dated either in accordance to the supposed age of the gully incision, as estimated by aerial photographs, or by the record, in the field, of the depositional event. As a result, the age of the study deposits ranges from about 200 to 30 years, including fresh sediments just deposited one day before sampling. The paper stresses the relationship between macroscopic structures and micromorphological parametrical description, emphasizing interpretation of sedimentary structures as the result of variable overland flow rates on the gullied hillslopes.


Thrombocytopenia occurs in 15% to 58% of intensive care unit patients. The incidence varies based upon patient population, timing and frequency of platelet monitoring, and definition of thrombocytopenia. Up to 25% of acutely ill patients develop drug-induced thrombocytopenia. When drug-induced thrombocytopenia is suspected, nondrug related causes must be evaluated and excluded. Establishing the diagnosis of drug-induced thrombocytopenia is challenging, as hundreds of medications have been implicated. Medications commonly associated with drug-induced thrombocytopenia include glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors, cinchona alkaloids, antibiotics, anticonvulsants, and heparin. Once the diagnosis is suspected, clinicians should identify the start date of medications to assess the timeline of development. The likelihood of each medication causing thrombocytopenia must be evaluated. The risk vs. benefit of discontinuing the suspected medication and availability of alternative medications must be assessed. The role of corticosteroids, immune globulin, and plasmapheresis is uncertain. Once the offending agent has been discontinued, the overall prognosis is excellent. In the case of suspected or confirmed heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, an alternative anticoagulant should be initiated. Drug-induced thrombocytopenia should be documented in the medical record and reported according to institutional and national standards. This review focuses on immune-mediated drug-induced thrombocytopenia from medications commonly utilized in the critically ill patient.


Liberal democracy, it has been claimed, stands at the end of history. But there are hidden internal strains that could threaten its fabric. Nature and Liberty explores three of the most important practical problems of modern liberal politics - those connected with ethnicity and race, sex and the family, and bureaucratized government. The author traces liberals' difficulties in dealing with these problems to their own reluctance to have recourse to nature as a guide for political life.


Corporate credit rating is a process to classify commercial enterprises based on their creditworthiness. Machine learning algorithms can construct classification models, but in general they do not tend to be 100% accurate. Since they can be used as decision support for experts, interpretable models are desirable. Unfortunately, interpretable models are provided by only few machine learners. Furthermore, credit rating often is a multiclass problem with more than two rating classes. Due to this fact, multiclass classification is often achieved via meta-algorithms using multiple binary learners. However, most state-of-the-art meta-algorithms destroy the interpretability of binary models. In this study, we present Thresholder, a binary interpretable threshold-based disjunctive normal form (DNF) learning algorithm in addition to modifications of popular multiclass meta-algorithms which maintain the interpretability of our binary classifier. Furthermore, we present an approach to express doubt in the decision of our model. Performance and model size are compared with other interpretable approaches for learning DNFs (RIPPER) and decision trees (C4.5) as well as non-interpretable models like random forests, artificial neural networks, and support vector machines. We evaluate their performances on three real-life data sets divided into three rating classes. In this case study all threshold-based and interpretable models perform equally well and significantly better than other methods. Our new Thresholder algorithm builds the smallest models while its performance is as good as the best methods of our case study. Furthermore, Thresholder marks many potential misclassifications in advance with a doubt label without increasing the classification error.


As society delves further into the second decade of the XXI century and the importance of youth participation and involvement on the internet within the information society becomes more and more evident, so does education and higher learning for new generations become more and more important.
Therefore, in light of the recently renewed EU enlargement paradigm, the purpose of this article will be the documentation and presentation of free online education, thus a new wave of free learning. One of the most interesting aspects of this investigation, amongst others, is the impressive amount of prestigious international universities that offer a high number of courses in a wide range of subjects, such as Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies, European University Institute in Florence, etc.
According to the reviewed literature , there are some opinions that would state that distance education can provide a richer and more engaging educational experience than it is possible within the confines of a classroom, as such a process would require creativity and innovation in the design and development of Internet-delivered materials, especially since materials may have to stand alone, and in the use of delivery technologies. The same issues of quality and effectiveness that exist in the classroom occur in distance education, often compounded by the delivery mechanism and lack of contact between students and teachers and between peers.
Distance education existed long before the Internet, but it has become more prevalent and has changed significantly through technological advances. All sectors, especially higher education, corporate training, and continuing and professional education, want to take advantage of Internet technologies to provide education, training, and collaboration capabilities to geographically dispersed populations to enhance educational experiences and increase enthusiasm for learning.


Background Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation is the most frequent mutation tested in lung cancer for targeted therapy in the era of personalized medicine. Knowledge about EGFR mutation is constantly expanding regarding its frequency, clinicopathological association, advancements in testing methodology and sample requirement. We investigated EGFR mutation frequency in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in North Indian patients and evaluated its diagnostic performance in cytological samples. Methods Molecular EGFR testing was done in 250 cases of NSCLC by both real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (Therascreen) and mutation-specific EGFR immunohistochemistry (IHC). Thirty cases had both cytology samples and biopsy including 20 pleural effusions and 10 fine-needle aspirates. EGFR mutation concordance between pleural effusion and biopsy was studied. Results EGFR mutation was overall 31.6% in NSCLC with 36.5% in adenocarcinoma and 15% in squamous cell carcinoma. L858R mutation accounted for 50.7% and DEL19 for 39.3% of total EGFR mutations. Complex mutations were seen in 2% of cases. Sensitivity of mutation-specific EGFR IHC was 48.3% and specificity was 92.3%. L858R showed higher sensitivity (55% vs. 33.3%) but similar specificity (93.2% vs. 91.3%) compared to DEL19. EGFR mutation was successful in 95% of pleural effusion and showed 83.3% concordance with tissue biopsy. Conclusions EGFR mutation frequency in North Indian patients was comparable to that of Asia-Pacific region and showed a similar pattern of histological distribution. EGFR mutation in squamous cell carcinomas is increasingly recognized which was 15% in our study. Mutation-specific EGFR IHC shows variable but generally low sensitivity and considering its significant pre- and post-analytical variables, it should be highly discouraged in patient management. Cytological samples may not only serve as suitable alternative but may be complementary to tissue biopsies.


We study in this article the problem of model risk in VaR computations and document a procedure for correcting the bias due to specification and estimation errors. This practical method consists of "learning from model mistakes", since it dynamically relies on an adjustment of the VaR estimates – based on a back-testing framework – such as the frequency of past VaR exceptions always matches the expected probability. We finally show that integrating the model risk into the VaR computations implies a substantial minimum correction to the order of 10–40% of VaR levels.


Abstract Changes in the structural components of aortic tissues have been shown to play a significant role in the pathogenesis of aortic degeneration. Therefore, reliable stress analyses require a suitable and meaningful constitutive model that captures micro-structural changes. As recent data show, in-plane and out-of-plane collagen fiber dispersions vary significantly between healthy and aneurysmatic aortic walls. The aim of this study is to computationally investigate the influence of fiber dispersion on the mechanical response of aortic tissues in health and disease. In particular, the influence of three different fiber dispersions is studied: (i) non-rotationally symmetric dispersion, the most realistic assumption for aortic tissues; (ii) transversely isotropic dispersion, a special case; (iii) perfectly aligned fibers (no dispersion in either plane), another special case. Explicit expressions for the stress and elasticity tensors as needed for the implementation in a finite element code are provided. Three representative numerical examples are studied: planar biaxial extension, inflation of residually stressed and pre-stretched aortic segments and inflation of an idealized abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) geometry. For the AAA geometry the case of isotropic dispersion is additionally analyzed. Documented structural and mechanical parameters are taken from human aortas (healthy media/adventitia and AAA). The influence of fiber dispersions upon magnitudes and distributions of stresses and deformations are presented and analyzed. Stresses vary significantly, especially in the AAA case, where material stiffening is significantly influenced by fiber dispersion. The results highlight the need to incorporate the structural differences into finite element simulations to obtain more accurate stress predictions. Additionally, results show the capability of one constitutive model to represent different scenarios of aortic micro-structures allowing future studies of collagen reorientation during disease progression.


Crystalline anatase TiO2 thin films were obtained on glass substrates at 60°C, 75°C and 90°C, respectively, by liquid phase deposition (LPD) method without subsequent heat treatment. X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and UV-Vis spectrophotometer were used to characterize the as-synthesized TiO2 thin films. The H2 sensing properties of the TiO2 thin films based sensors were investigated. The results show that the gas sensors signal Ra/Rg (Ra: resistance in air, Rg: resistance in a sample gas) decreases with the increasing deposition temperature. The TiO2 thin films obtained at deposition temperature of 60°C exhibited the maximum H2 gas response at 350°C, and the magnitude of the sensor signal and the response time for 500ppm H2 was 1.25 and 17s, respectively.


An extensive grid of seismic reflection data collected on Ekstrom Ice Shelf, East Antarctica, between 2010–2018, using an on-ice vibroseis source and snowstreamer, are used to reconstruct the glaciological and tectonic history of this region.

The data clearly image the outcrop and sub-ice extent of the volcanic Explora Wedge (generated through Jurassic rifting and seafloor spreading). The wedge is overlain by a sequence of truncated, dipping marine-sediment layers. The sediment were likely truncated by former ice advance and subsequent retreat; which has also left evidence in the form topographic over-deepening and glacial debris deposits at the sea floor. The debris deposits range from elongated bedforms in a topographic trough (indicating probable former ice-stream flow) to layered sediment wedges at the current ice-shelf front (indicating the likely former extent of grounded ice).

A series of sub-ice shelf geological drilling campaigns in the area will take place (2017-2019) to recover sediments from the sea floor. Combining the topography and material characteristics from vibroseis data with stratigraphic evidence from sediment cores allows a robust reconstruction in this area. Future integration of these results with numerical models will provide a better understanding of past and present interactions between the ice sheet and the solid Earth in Dronning Maud Land, which will in turn improve understanding of future contributions of this region to sea-level rise.


Changes in net economic returns in a fishery over time can provide some indication of which direction a fishery's economic performance is moving. However, without information on the causes of those movements, it is difficult to say if a fishery is moving closer to or further away from a point associated with maximum economic yield. A further complication is that different drivers of profitability can cause profit to move in different directions and at variable magnitudes over time. The key variables that influence a fishery's profitability include: prices received for catch; prices paid for inputs (such as crew and fuel); vessel productivity (that is, the ability of each vessel to convert its inputs into outputs or harvested catch); and the fishery's stock biomass, with a higher stock biomass allowing catches to be made at lower cost and greater profit. This paper presents an index number profit decomposition analysis of two sectors of the Australian Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery. The analysis presented decomposes and quantifies the relative contribution of each of the above-mentioned drivers to changes in vessel-level profitability over time. More specifically, the results are interpreted to reveal how historical changes in profit have come about as a result of both changes in variables that fishery managers do have some indirect influence over (fish stocks and productivity) and changes in variables that fishery managers do not have control over (output and input prices). It is shown that, for the two sectors assessed, two key factors that have influenced recent profitability changes are: a recently implemented government restructuring package; and previous adjustments to total allowable catch settings for key species.


In this research, anatomical descriptions of the structure of the temporal bone and auditory ossicles have been performed based on dissection of ten guinea pigs. The results showed that, in guinea pig temporal bone was similar to other animals and had three parts; squamous, tympanic and petrous .The tympanic part was much better developed and consisted of oval shaped tympanic bulla with many recesses in tympanic cavity. The auditory ossicles of guinea pig concluded of three small bones; malleus, incus and stapes but the head of the malleus and the body of incus were fused and forming a malleoincudal complex. The average of morphometric parameters showed that the malleus was 3.53 ± 0.22 mm in total length. In addition to head and handle, the malleus had two distinct process; lateral and muscular. The incus had a total length 1.23 ± 0.02mm. It had long and short crus although the long crus was developed better than short crus. The lenticular bone was a round bone that articulated with the long crus of incus. The stapes had a total length 1.38 ± 0.04mm. The anterior crus(0.86 ± 0.08mm) was larger than posterior crus (0.76 ± 0.08mm). It is concluded that, in the guinea pig, the malleus and the incus are fused, forming a junction called incus-malleus, while in the other animals these are separate bones. The stapes is larger and has a triangular shape and the anterior and posterior crus are thicker than other rodents. Therefore, for otological studies, the guinea pig is a good lab animal.


The aim of this study was to investigate whether the early endosome antigen 1 (EEA1) and/or PI3K pathway is involved in the molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of the six-transmembrane protein of prostate 4 (STEAP4; also called STAMP2 and TIARP) on the insulin sensitivity of human adipocytes. Our data demonstrated that siRNA-mediated STEAP4 deficiency significantly decreased insulin-stimulated glucose transport in mature human adipocytes by decreasing GLUT4 translocation to the plasma membrane through attenuated Akt phosphorylation. We further found that EEA1 may not be involved in the mechanisms underlying the effects of STEAP4 on insulin-stimulated glucose uptake and GLUT4 translocation, as indicated by the results that i) STEAP4 does not alter the effects of EEA1 on insulin-stimulated glucose uptake and GLUT4 translocation; ii) STEAP4 does not modify the expression of EEA1 protein; and iii) STEAP4 does not interact with EEA1 according to FRET analysis. In conclusion, this study revealed that the knockdown of STEAP4 inhibits insulin-stimulated glucose transport and GLUT4 translocation via the attenuated phosphorylation of Akt, independent of the effects of EEA1.


High power conversion efficiency is an important requirement of the front-end power-factor-corrected (PFC) boost rectifier that is used in shaping the ac input current in a typical modern switch-mode power supply. A reasonably accurate estimate of the power losses in individual components is essential in order to improve the efficiency of the PFC rectifier. In this paper, difficulties in the measurement of individual component power losses with particular reference to an ac-dc converter are brought out. A method of loss evaluation by measurement of temperatures of individual components and surrounding ambient is presented. Experimental results that are carried out on the front-end boost PFC rectifier of a commercial ac-dc converter are presented to validate the loss estimation method.


Maize is a major staple food in Sub-Saharan Africa. Monthly maize prices in Tanzania are analyzed since the country is an important maize producer and exporter in East Africa. We analyze price transmission between the five most important urban regions of Tanzania between 2000 and 2008 which correspond to major maize production or consumption areas. We propose a novel method for the analysis. The semiparametric vector error-correction model allows the partial impact of the past deviations from price equilibria on current price changes to be potentially nonlinear. The nonparametric estimates of these partial influences suggest that they can be adequately modeled by linear functions.


This thesis is concerned with various methods for the control and investigation of pulse dynamics in a Photonic Crystal Fibre (PCF) and of the radiation driven by a short pulse. In particular the focus is on pulses in the anomalous dispersion region which would form solitons in the absence of higher order effects. Several different types of radiation can be driven by such pulses if they are perturbed by higher order dispersive and non-linear effects for example Resonant Radiation (RR) and Negative Resonant Radiation (NRR) two dispersive waves which gain energy at the expense of the pulse. The feature of NRR which is of particular importance is that it is the first observed example of a coupling between positive and negative frequencies in optics. This has only been possible due to recent advances in fields such as PCFs, lasers and analogue systems. As with many scientific discoveries, NRR was found by bringing together ideas and techniques from these different fields. Both the pulse and the driven radiation are investigated using a number of different pulse and PCF parameters. These include power, chirp, polarisation and PCF dispersion. These are used to vary the wavelengths at which the driven radiation occurs as well as its generation efficiency. Furthermore the power and chirp are used to vary where in the PCF the driven radiation is generated by controlling where the driving pulse compresses and spectrally expands. This property is used to investigate different stages in the evolution of the pulse and driven radiation as well as to optimise the generation efficiency of the driven radiation.


Abstract To improve the oxidation resistance of a third generation Ti–Al alloy (TNM-B1) at high temperatures, aluminium rich coatings were deposited using pack cementation and magnetron sputtering. The coatings formed were analysed and compared with respect to phases formed and the containing elements. Oxidation tests were carried out on the additionally fluorine treated and preoxidised samples at 900 C in air. Compared to uncoated samples the beneficial effect of coating deposition was confirmed. Additionally, the concentration of incorporated oxygen in the subsurface zone and its influence on the mechanical properties were investigated using EPMA and microhardness measurements. Oxygen concentrations were determined for the three phases of the substrate material -TiAl, -TiAl, and -Ti(Al), and depended on the previous coating layer deposition.


Micro/nano-manipulation systems have been developed and utilized for decades due to their irreplaceable roles in fields such as MEMS/NEMS fabrication and biological studies. Generally, the motion precision of a micro/nano-manipulator highly depends on its actuator, whose performance can be enhanced by proper control strategies. To design satisfactory controllers, an accurate plant model is ideal. For micro/nano-manipulators, the implemented actuators are mostly Smart Materials (SMs), which exhibit strong hysteretic and dynamic coupling characteristics. The construction of linear dynamics preceded by hysteresis is a prevalent representation for describing SM actuators' behaviors. To effectively and accurately model SM actuators, this paper employs the Extended Unparallel Prandtl-Ishlinskii (EUPI) model to describe complicated hysteretic behaviors. For modeling dynamics of SM actuators, firstly, the EUPI inverse is implemented to compensate the hysteretic effect of the plant; subsequently, the Weighted Complex Least-Squares (WCLS) identification method is proposed to estimate parameters of the dynamic part in the form of complex number function. To guarantee stability of the identified model, the Particle Swarm Optimization based WCLS (PSO-WCLS) optimization approach is proposed. The advantage of the proposed modeling scheme is that, it is capable of accurately describing complicated hysteresis of SM actuators and does not require the drive signal to be small while modeling its dynamics; besides this scheme contains frequency domain identification merits, such as easy noise reduction and easy combination of data from different experiments. The modeling and identification scheme is verified through comparison tests conducted on a piezoelectric actuator platform.


The manufacturing of miniaturized components is indispensable in modern industries, where the uncut chip thickness (UCT) inevitably falls into a comparable magnitude with the tool edge radius. Under such circumstances, the ploughing phenomenon between workpiece and tool becomes predominant, followed by the notable formation of dead metal zone (DMZ) and piled-up chip. Although extensive models have been developed, the critical material flow status in such microscale is still confusing and controversial. In this study, a novel material separation model is proposed for the demonstration of workpiece flow mechanism around the tool edge radius. First, four critical positions of workpiece material separation are determined, including three points characterizing the DMZ pattern and one inside considered as stagnation point. The normal and shear stresses as well as friction factors along the entire contact region are clarified based on slip-line theory. It is found that the friction coefficient varies symmetrically about the stagnation point inside DMZ and remains constant for the rest. Then, an analytical force prediction model is developed with Johnson–Cook constitutive model, involving calibrated functions of chip-tool contact length and cutting temperature. The assumed tribology condition and morphologies of material separation including DMZ are clearly observed and verified through various finite element (FE) simulations. Finally, comparisons of cutting forces from cutting experiments and predicted results are adopted for the validation of the predictive model.


The real-space two-dimensional self-consistent field theory (SCFT) is employed to study the free energies of micelles and vesicles constituted by binary amphiphilic diblock copolymer AB in homopolymer A. With an increasing volume fraction of copolymer AB, there are morphological transitions from circle micelles to oblate circle-like micelles, to a compound structure with inverted micelles in the inner center and micelles outer layer, and to vesicles. Special attention is paid to the role of the copolymer AB in controlling the free energies of the micelles and vesicles by examining the effect of the length ratio of A/B with the fixed whole chain length of the AB copolymer, the length effect of A or B block with the corresponding fixed length of B or A block, for one component of copolymer, and the effect of different amphiphile compositions for a binary-component copolymer system. The quantity η is provided to describe the asymmetric density distribution of amphiphiles between the inner and outer monolayers of vesicles, and to quantify the relative asymmetric extent of the density distribution between two species of copolymers in binary component vesicles.


Delirium is more common in older adults because of normal physiologic changes, increased incidence of medical illnesses, and increased medication use in this population. Older dementing patients are particularly predisposed to delirium because of associated neurologic abnormalities. Delirium often is superimposed on a dementing condition and may be difficult to differentiate from atypical dementia or a catastrophic reaction. Accurate diagnosis is essential, as is a thorough search for an underlying cause. The delirium will usually resolve if the underlying cause is properly treated. Treatment also requires maintaining a comfortable environment for the patient and, when necessary, administering a high-potency neuroleptic.


When using reinforcement learning (RL) algorithms it is common, given a large state space, to introduce some form of approximation architecture for the value function (VF). The exact form of this architecture can have a significant effect on an agent's performance, however, and determining a suitable approximation architecture can often be a highly complex task. Consequently there is currently interest among researchers in the potential for allowing RL algorithms to adaptively generate (i.e. to learn) approximation architectures. One relatively unexplored method of adapting approximation architectures involves using feedback regarding the frequency with which an agent has visited certain states to guide which areas of the state space to approximate with greater detail. In this article we will: (a) informally discuss the potential advantages offered by such methods; (b) introduce a new algorithm based on such methods which adapts a state aggregation approximation architecture on-line and is designed for use in conjunction with SARSA; (c) provide theoretical results, in a policy evaluation setting, regarding this particular algorithm's complexity, convergence properties and potential to reduce VF error; and finally (d) test experimentally the extent to which this algorithm can improve performance given a number of different test problems. Taken together our results suggest that our algorithm (and potentially such methods more generally) can provide a versatile and computationally lightweight means of significantly boosting RL performance given suitable conditions which are commonly encountered in practice.