: The therapeutic options for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) have significantly improved in the last few years. But the disease is still too often diagnosed late in its course. In more than 80% of patients the diagnosis is made and treatment started when the condition is already in NYHA class III-IV with a very poor prognosis. According to the EARLY study, beginning treatment 3 - 6 months earlier can improve prognosis and progression of the PHT. Late diagnosis is first of all due to the fact that it is asymptomatic in the early stages, such symptoms as dyspnoea, peripheral edema or syncope frequently occurring only when there are already signs of heart failure. Secondly, there is as yet no method for the early diagnosis of PHT. But echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are non-invasive modes that are important for screening and follow-up. Among noninvasive methods echocardiography shows the greatest diagnostic sensitivity and specificity. It should be undertaken in all patients in whom pulmonary hypertension (PHT) is suspected. But because of the particular geometry of the right ventricle its examination is difficult. New diagnostic techniques allow for assessment of additional information of right ventricular function. Right heart catheterization is essential for further elucidating PHT.


BACKGROUND
Different 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) thresholds for treatment with vitamin D supplementation have been suggested, and are derived almost exclusively from observational studies. Whether other characteristics including race/ethnicity, body mass index (BMI), and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) should also influence the threshold for treatment is unknown.

OBJECTIVE
Identify clinical and biomarker characteristics that modify the response to vitamin D supplementation.

METHODS
666 older adults in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) were randomized to 16 weeks of oral vitamin D3 (2000 IU/d; n = 499) or placebo (n = 167). Primary outcomes were changes in serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25(OH)2D) concentrations from baseline to 16 weeks.

RESULTS
Among 666 participants randomized (mean age 72 years, 53% female, 66% racial/ethnic minority), 611 (92%) completed the study. Mean (SD) change in PTH was -3 (16) pg/mL with vitamin D3 vs 2 (18) pg/mL with placebo (estimated mean difference, -5 (95% CI: -8, -2) pg/mL). Within the vitamin D3 group, lower baseline 25(OH)D was associated with a larger decline in PTH in a non-linear fashion. With baseline 25(OH)D ≥30 ng/mL as the reference, 25(OH)D <20 ng/mL was associated with a larger decline in PTH with vitamin D3 supplementation (-10 (95% CI: -15, -6) pg/mL) whereas 25(OH)D 20-30 ng/mL was not (-2 (95% CI: -6, 1) pg/mL). A segmented threshold model identified a baseline 25(OH)D concentration of 21 (95% CI: 13, 31) ng/mL as an inflection point for difference in change in PTH. Race/ethnicity, BMI and eGFR did not modify vitamin D treatment response. There was no significant change in 1,25(OH)2D in either treatment group.

CONCLUSIONS
Of characteristics most commonly associated with vitamin D metabolism, only baseline 25(OH)D <20 ng/mL modified the PTH response to vitamin D supplementation, providing support from a clinical trial to use this threshold to define insufficiency. Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02925195.


ABSTRACT Using the two-dimensional (2D) diagonalisation method, the impurity-related electronic states and optical response in a 2D quantum dot with Gaussian confinement potential under nonresonant intense laser field are investigated. The effects of a hydrogenic impurity on the energy spectrum and binding energy of the electron and also intersubband optical absorption are calculated. The obtained numerical results show that the degeneracies of the excited electron states are broken and the absorption spectrum exhibits a redshift with the values of the laser field. The findings indicate a new degree of freedom to tune the performance of novel optoelectronic devices, based on the quantum dots and to control their specific properties by means of intense laser field and hydrogenic donor impurity. Using the same Gaussian confinement model, the electronic properties of a confined electron in the region of a spherical quantum dot are studied under the combined effects of on-centre donor impurity and a linearly polarised intense laser radiation. The three-dimensional problem is used to theoretically model, with very good agreement, some experimental findings reported in the literature related to the photoluminescence peak energy transition.


Information fusion refers to the merging of information from disparate sources with differing conceptual, contextual and typographical representations. Rather than focusing on traditional data fusion applications which have been mainly concerned with physical military targets, this unique resource explores new human-centered trends, such as locations, identity, and interactions of individuals and groups (social networks). Moreover, the book discusses two new major sources of information: human observations and web-based information. This cutting-edge volume presents a new view of multi-sensor data fusion that seeks to address these new developments, explicitly considering the active role of a human user/analyst. Professionals become knowledgeable about the key inputs into this innovative information fusion process, including traditional sensing resources (S-space), dynamic communities of human observers (H-space), and resources such as archived sensor data, blogs, and dynamic news reports from citizen reporters via the Internet (I-space).


In the last few decennium, research pertaining to the brand has gained the attention of many academicians. Interest in further studies of matters related to it, such as brand love and brand engagement has increased tremendously as well. This study was conducted to examine the effect of brand love, brand image and brand personality on brand engagement with ethnocentrism as a moderating factor by using the case study of the local fashion brand in Indonesia. Respondents in this study were people who have purchased clothing items from a specific brand of local fashion. Data processing method used is Structural Equation Model (SEM). This study indicates that the excitement does not have a positive influence towards brand love, and the brand image does not have a positive effect on word-of-mouth (WOM). Nonetheless, with the existence of ethnocentrism as moderating factor, excitement's effect towards brand love and brand image were even greater. Hereafter, brand advocacy was finally formed by brand love's positive effect towards WOM. This study demonstrated the importance of ethnocentrism in enhancing word of mouth and further brand advocacy.


The proved relation that the gastrointestinal flora has in the origin of the pulmonary, urinary, injury infections, or in the critically ill patient's sepsis as it turns potentially pathologic, has caused us to carry out a study whose objective would be to determine the influence of the enteral feeding in the gastrointestinal flora, as for the variety of the species and their meaning. The prospective survey has been carried out from October, 1992 to May 1993, and it includes thirty patients, eighteen of whom received enteral nutrition while the others received nutritional supplementation through different ways. Only the patients with a minimum four day stay in the Intensive Care Unit of the Basurto hospital were included. The samples for microbiologic study were taken by means of rectal swab (80%) or faeces (20%). No qualitative neither quantitative differences have been obtained in the gastrointestinal flora between the patients who have received enteral nutrition and those who have not, except three cases attributable to the antibiotherapy. In conclusion, in our study, the enteral nutrition has not influenced the critic patient's gastrointestinal flora.


In 2011, Aaronson gave a striking proof, based on quantum linear optics, showing that the problem of computing the permanent of a matrix is #P-hard. Aaronson's proof led naturally to hardness of approximation results for the permanent, and it was arguably simpler than Valiant's seminal proof of the same fact in 1979. Nevertheless, it did not prove that computing the permanent was #P-hard for any class of matrices which was not previously known. In this paper, we present a collection of new results about matrix permanents that are derived primarily via these linear optical techniques.
First, we show that the problem of computing the permanent of a real orthogonal matrix is #P-hard. Much like Aaronson's original proof, this will show that even a multiplicative approximation remains #P-hard to compute. The hardness result even translates to permanents over finite fields, where the problem of computing the permanent of an orthogonal matrix is ModpP-hard in the finite field F_{p^4} for all primes p not equal to 2 or 3. Interestingly, this characterization is tight: in fields of characteristic 2, the permanent coincides with the determinant; in fields of characteristic 3, one can efficiently compute the permanent of an orthogonal matrix by a nontrivial result of Kogan.
Finally, we use more elementary arguments to prove #P-hardness for the permanent of a positive semidefinite matrix, which shows that certain probabilities of boson sampling experiments with thermal states are hard to compute exactly despite the fact that they can be efficiently sampled by a classical computer.


The aim of the paper is to study modern tritium levels in various sources of the drinking water supply in the settlements situated in the riverside zone of the Techa. Almost everywhere the water entering water-conduit wells from deep slits (100-180 m) contains averagely 2-3 times higher tritium concentrations than the water from less deep personal wells, slits and springs. Tritium levels in the drinking water supply decrease with the distance from the dam; while in wells, springs and personal wells they are constant all along the river. The observed phenomenon can be explained by the fact that the river bed of the Techa is situated at a break zone of the earth crust, where the contaminated deep water penetrates from the reservoirs of the "Mayak" enterprise situated in the upper part of the regulated river bed. Less deep water sources (personal wells, slits and springs) receive predominantly flood, atmospheric and subsoil waters and are not connected with the reservoirs.


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide an adequate account of anti-corruption agency (ACA) ineffectiveness and propose the kind of ACA that would hold the promise of success. The paper draws on legitimacy theory, legal process and the notion of integrity of purpose.

Design/methodology/approach
This paper contextualizes the establishment and proliferation of ACAs; explores different ways of conceptualizing them; examines the broad range of factors that have underpinned ACA ineffectiveness and utilizes both legitimacy theory and the notion of the integrity of purpose.

Findings
The one-ACA-model-fits-all approach in corruption-control has been an abysmal failure. Disentangling the reasons for ACA ineffectiveness reveals various endogenous and exogenous factors. It also emphasizes the crucial importance of integrating both legitimacy theory and integrity of purpose in a revamped ACA concept that meets the corruption-control challenge.

Practical implications
It is possible to design and implement an effective ACA by avoiding various factors that have been shown to seriously undermine corruption control efforts by also drawing on legitimacy theory, legal process and integrity of purpose.

Social implications
Corruption in both the public and private sectors cannot be controlled in isolation from other socio-economic problems. An effective ACA is one that fosters integrity and is considered legitimate by its stakeholders.

Originality/value
While there have been some articles the past two decades discussing the effectiveness of ACAs in particular countries, this is the first paper to account for the overall ACA ineffectiveness also using legitimacy theory, legal process and integrity of purpose to revamp the ACA concept.


This paper presents an improved binary particle swarm optimization algorithm (IBPSO) to solve short-term thermal unit commitment. Unit commitment (UC) is a challenging optimization problem in the power system operation. The NP-Hardness of the UC motivates us to develop metaheuristics algorithm to solve it approximately. PSO is one of relatively current metaheuristics. When implementing the PSO to UC, we derived two strategies to improve the binary particle swarm optimization algorithm. One is asynchronous time-varying learning strategy and another is a new repairing strategy for particles. In order to verify the performance of the proposed PSO, Lagrangian relaxation is used to find lower bound of UC. A computational experiment is carried out on randomly generated instances. The numerical results show that the IBPSO may obtain better solution within reasonable computational time.


online task scheduling of heterogeneous multicore system-on-a-chip is a complex problem due to priority constraints and non-pre-emptive task execution in the synergistic processor core. To achieve high performance in the midst of increased complexity, multi-core systemon-a-chip is used. This study first proposes an online heterogeneous dual-core scheduling framework for dynamic workloads with real-time constraints. Both the general purpose and synergistic processor core are dedicated to separate schedulers with different allocation properties, and priority constraints among different tasks are deal with the interaction between the two schedulers. This framework is configurable for low priority inversion and high system utilization. This framework is also extended to heterogeneous multicore systems with well-known dispatcher schemas. This paper presents the practicability of the proposed methodology, and also a series of extensive simulations to obtain comparison studies using different workloads and scheduling algorithms.


The decarbonization of the economy, for which the contribution of power systems is significant, is a growing trend in Europe and in the world. In order to achieve the Paris Agreement's ambitious environmental goals, a substantial increase in the contribution of renewable sources to the energy generation mix is required. This trend brings about relevant challenges as the integration of this type of sources increases, namely in terms of the distribution system operation. In this paper, the challenges foreseen for future power systems are identified and the most effective approaches to deal with them are reviewed. The strategies include the development of Smart Grid technologies (meters, sensors, and actuators) coupled with computational intelligence that act as new sources of data, as well as the connection of distributed energy resources to distribution grids, encompassing the deployment of distributed generation and storage systems and the dissemination of electric vehicles. The impact of these changes in the distribution system as a whole is evaluated from a technical and environmental perspective. In addition, a review of management and control architectures designed for distribution systems is conducted.


The isoelectric point (pI) values of matrix protein M1 of influenza A, B, and C viruses, calculated theoretically on the basis of its primary structure, were found to be about 10.0. However, experimental pI determination by electrofocusing in ampholyte-containing polyacrylamide gel showed it to be 5.0 for M1 protein isolated from A/WSN/33 (H1N1) and A/Aichi/2/68 (H3N2) viruses by mild deproteinization with nonionic detergents. This marked discrepancy between experimental and theoretical pI values indicated that influenza virus matrix protein M1 possessed an unusual tertiary structure and/or intensive posttranslational addition of charged residues.


Early vocabulary development in children lays the foundation for general language acquisition, including articulation, grammar and literacy. A great deal of recent research has shown the importance of early linguistic and communicative stimulation for word learning. The first phase of the SPRINT project at Stockholm University ("Effects of enhanced parental input on young children's vocabulary development and subsequent literacy development") aims to investigate the impact of a naturalistic family intervention on vocabulary development in Swedish children 18 to 36 months old. The general aim of the larger longitudinal study is to deliver a predictive model of environmental factors, including an education program for parents (the intervention), with emphasis on lexical development and subsequent literacy attainment, spanning the language development of children from 12 months through the first three years of school. The SPRINT project recognizes the importance of cultural context on language acquisition and is therefore part of an international network with representatives from seven countries aiming to share experiences and collaborate on comparative analyses of nation-specific data regarding children's vocabulary development and reading acquisition. This will enable us to make international comparisons with the results of American studies such as Hart & Risley's (1995) seminal work.Current analyses of data from the SPRINT project include an investigation of parental interaction style in relation to children's vocabulary development. In this first study, a comparison is made of parental linguistic input directed to two sets of children chosen from the first intervention cohort. The two groups consist of children with low (0-25th percentile) and medium verbal ability (50-65th percentile) according to the Swedish version of the MacArthur CDI at age 1;6. Results, based on the analysis of audio recordings of parent-child interaction in four different everyday situations, indicate significant differences between the two groups of parents regarding the amount and diversity of input. In addition, the two groups of parents use positive interactive behaviors, such as affirming, imitating and commenting on their child's communicative intent, to significantly different extents. The current analysis will be extended to include parental input by parents of children with high verbal ability at 18 months of age, the beginning of the three-month intervention period for the first of three intervention cohorts. The second and third cohorts started the intervention phase of the project when the children were 24 and 30 months of age, respectively. In addition, a statistical analysis of the vocabulary development of the children in the three intervention groups and a control group will be undertaken. A further extension of the project will be the development of a MOR grammar for Swedish, which will enable automatic morphosyntactic coding of material in the CHAT transcription format of the CHILDES database and thus facilitate computerized analysis of parent-child interaction. Current and future results of the longitudinal SPRINT project represent a unique opportunity for further research on children's literacy development, from both a Swedish and an international perspective.


In order to study the static and dynamical characteristics of the crankshaft, ANSYS software was used to carry out the corresponding calculations. The entity model of the crankshaft was established by UG software firstly, and then was imported into ANSYS software for meshing, and then the finite element model of the crankshaft was constructed. The crankshaft satisfied the requirement of stiffness and strength through static analysis. The top six natural frequencies and corresponding shapes were acquired through modal analysis, and the every order critical rotating speed of the crankshaft was calculated. The fatigue life of the crank was calculated by fatigue module of ANSYS software finally. These results offered the theoretical guidance for designing, manufacturing and repairing the crankshaft.


Hidden Markov Model is a popular statisical method that is used in continious and discrete speech recognition. The probability density function of observation vectors in each state is estimated with discrete density or continious density modeling. The performance (in correct word recognition rate) of continious density is higher than discrete density HMM, but its computation complexity is very high, especially in very large discrete utterance recognition problems. For real time implementation of very large discrete utterance recognition, we must use discrete density HMM (DDHMM). To increase the performance of DDHMM, one usual solution is fuzzy interpolation. In this study, we present a new method named Gaussian interpolation. We implemented and compared the performance of two types of interpolation methods for 1500 Persian speech command words. Results show that precision and flexibility of Gaussian interpolation is better thanthose of the fuzzy interpolation.


This paper provides a comprehensive overview of adolescent career plans reported in PISA 2006. Its main focus is on the differences in the status and area of employment expected by girls and boys in high school. In almost all countries, girls lead boys in their interest in non-manual, high status professional occupations. This can be seen as a vertical dimension of gender segregation in occupational preferences. Students also differ by gender in selecting particular fields of employment within status categories. These differences make up the horizontal segregation of students' expectations and, in PISA 2006, are prominent in the gendered choices of specific subfields of science. Both the vertical and the horizontal dimensions must be considered to appreciate the cultural and institutional factors which promote and reinforce systematic divides in career choices of adolescent boys and girls.


Nursing reforms were rarely introduced into nineteenth-century hospitals without some conflict between their governors and their medical staff. Most historians have seen this as a chapter of nursing history, not part of the history of the medical profession. The nursing dispute at Guy's Hospital, which lasted from December 1879 to September 1880, suggests that wider issues for the medical profession's authority within hospital management were at stake in these disputes and not just their Janus-like attitude to reform. The medical staff at Guy's remained intransigent when a new system of nursing was introduced because they felt that reform threatened their authority at a number of levels. The doctors' rhetoric emphasized the effect reform had on patients, but from the start they questioned the governors' authority to introduce reform and asserted that they should have been consulted before any changes had been made. This issue of authority remained central to the dispute. Public accusations of mismanagement eventually forced a confrontation and the medical staff's collective resolved collapsed with the threat of dismissal, allowing a compromise in favour of the governors. The new system of nursing remained in a modified form and the doctors were invited to take part in a joint management committee that they themselves had initially demanded. An apparent defeat gave the doctors a formal role in the hospital's management that ultimately extended their authority. The dispute is just one example of how the medical profession attempted to assert control over hospital management. In other disputes, like the very public one at Guy's, doctors were forced to compromise and often back down, but out of an apparent defeat they emerged with a negotiated role in the hospital's management that left them in a stronger position than before. Conflict therefore was the medical profession's main vehicle to increased authority.


On 9–10 May 2005, over 200 people met at the Royal Society in London to discuss sexual conflict. Papers by 12 of the speakers are presented in this volume. In this introductory note we briefly discuss whether we have, or in fact need, a universal definition of sexual conflict. We briefly summarize what for us were the main messages emerging from the meeting in relation to where the field of sexual conflict currently stands, before finally attempting to distil some of the important unanswered questions for the future. Our motivation for organizing the meeting was that it seemed to us that in the last ten years or so, there has been a dramatic shift in the prevailing view of matings as being essentially 'a good thing' for both participants, to one in which they are regarded as 'bad' for females. This change has been driven primarily by some very elegant empirical work, which has generated some passionate advocacy (and some equally passionate resistance) for the importance of conflict. However, whether evolutionary biologists were mistakenly viewing male–female interactions as more benign than they actually are, or whether there is now a tendency to overemphasize the importance of conflicts of interest, is a major question that warrants consideration. This discussion meeting provided an opportunity to explore the state of the art and whether sexual conflict is indeed a new paradigm. This was made possible by the hard work of the participants, whom we would like to take this opportunity to thank.


Zoonotic infectious diseases have been an important concern to humankind for more than 10,000 years. Today, approximately 75% of newly emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) are zoonoses that result from various anthropogenic, genetic, ecologic, socioeconomic, and climatic factors. These interrelated driving forces make it difficult to predict and to prevent zoonotic EIDs. Although significant improvements in environmental and medical surveillance, clinical diagnostic methods, and medical practices have been achieved in the recent years, zoonotic EIDs remain a major global concern, and such threats are expanding, especially in less developed regions. The current Ebola epidemic in West Africa is an extreme stark reminder of the role animal reservoirs play in public health and reinforces the urgent need for globally operationalizing a One Health approach. The complex nature of zoonotic diseases and the limited resources in developing countries are a reminder that the need for implementation of Global One Health in low-resource settings is crucial. The Veterinary Public Health and Biotechnology (VPH-Biotec) Global Consortium launched the International Congress on Pathogens at the Human-Animal Interface (ICOPHAI) in order to address important challenges and needs for capacity building. The inaugural ICOPHAI (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2011) and the second congress (Porto de Galinhas, Brazil, 2013) were unique opportunities to share and discuss issues related to zoonotic infectious diseases worldwide. In addition to strong scientific reports in eight thematic areas that necessitate One Health implementation, the congress identified four key capacity-building needs: (1) development of adequate science-based risk management policies, (2) skilled-personnel capacity building, (3) accredited veterinary and public health diagnostic laboratories with a shared database, and (4) improved use of existing natural resources and implementation. The aim of this review is to highlight advances in key zoonotic disease areas and the One Health capacity needs.


PVI 5FU gives increased response rates and reduced toxicity when compared to bolus 5FU (J Clin Oncol 1989, 425–432). PVI 5FU administration was reported to give highly variable (>1000-fold) plasma 5FU concentrations at steady state (FU Css) which correlated with toxicity (Ann Oncol 1996, 47–53); but only 19 patients were studied. Therefore, we performed a study of PVI 5FU in 61 patients with advanced colorectal cancer to assess the variability (inter- and intra-subject) in 5FU Css associated with PVI 5FU (300 mg m−2 day−1) and to attempt to correlate pharmacodynamic end-points (anti-tumour activity, toxicity) with 5FU Css as a prelude to 'exposure-guided' 5FU administration. All 5FU sampling was performed between 10 am and noon. PVI 5FU administration continued to 26 weeks in patients with disease improvement or stabilization. The response rate was 26% (33% stable disease) and median survival was 11 months. Hand–foot syndrome was the most common dose limiting toxicity. Variability in 5FU300Css was considerably less than previously reported; 94 ± 25 ng ml−1(CV = 27%). No relationships were demonstrated between subject mean 5FU300Css and PD end-points such as response, mucositis, diarrhoea and hand–foot syndrome. The lack of correlation suggests that measurement of 5FU concentrations should not be used to individualize dosing in patients receiving PVI 5FU for advanced colorectal cancer. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign


Affective Materialities reads modernist literature for the ways in which bodies come to matter physically, socially, and juridically using two recent turns in literary studies—one to affect studies and the other to ecocriticism. Each chapter in the collection delves into a multifold body, investigating how body-forms come to matter. Chapters reveal what the modernist body represents in a way that also addresses the most urgent contemporary concerns of modernity today. In other words, chapters address how a body signifies, becomes legible, writes, is written, touches, constitutes, merges, and encounters through various representations in a peculiarly modernist fashion. In turn, the collection sets the stakes for how bodies merge with their surroundings or are re-created by them, into an amalgam of self and place, as ethical concern for social justice. We aim to address the way the body and animate matter become a lens for grasping the fluidities of race, gender, sexuality, anthropocentrism, individualism, and ultimately, the promise and limits of creativity itself.


Papillomaviruses are infectious agents for human and animal epithelial tissue, and nearly 100 distinct human types (HPVs) have been identified. When these viruses infect cutaneous or mucosal skin they can initially cause clinical warts or persistent infection with little or no visible manifestations. Warts, while usually benign, can be painful or cosmetically unacceptable and often require medical treatment. Furthermore, infection with certain specific HPV types, such as 16 or 18 (as well as several others), is the major risk factor for a woman's development of cervical cancer. In addition to cervical cancer, papillomaviruses have also been implicated in cancers of the skin and respiratory track though the evidence is not yet as conclusive. It is clear that prevention or elimination of papillomavirus infections would ultimately reduce the incidence of cervical cancer and possibly other epithelial cancers as well. Unfortunately, progress in vaccine development has been slow and no specific anti-papillomavirus agents are available. The rational development of effective anti-papillomaviral treatments will require a detailed understanding of how these viruses replicate and interact with the host cell, and much progress has been made in this area over the last 10 years. These viruses have small DNA genomes with limited coding capacity, and their complete array of viral protein products is known. This review will discuss the known functions of the viral proteins with a focus on strategies to interdict their biological activities as a possible means of specific therapy.


Motivated by the objective of designing a full field-of-view (FOV) small gamma camera for medical applications, the authors investigated the limit on spatial resolution imposed by the gamma radiation detection components of 3 variations of one such device. For their investigation, the authors used a parallelized version of DETECT97, a Monte Carlo optical photon tracking simulator. The basic component of the device simulated was an assembly comprising a 100 mm/spl times/100 mm/spl times/8 mm NaI(Tl) scintillation crystal coupled to a block of quartz. The authors generated the point spread functions of 3 different crystal/quartz assemblies. The physical parameters that differed among the 3 assemblies were the quartz thickness and the crystal/quartz surface reflection coefficient. The authors performed simulations with scintillation photon generation initiated at various lateral positions within the crystal of each assembly. They emphasized positions at the periphery of the FOV of each assembly. To determine the best spatial resolution achievable by an unbiased estimator, the authors computed the Cramer-Rao lower bound on the variance of the position estimate for the simulated models and positions. Their computations indicate that at the centre of the FOV of each assembly the lower bound on spatial resolution is less than a millimeter and that the lower bound on resolution is less than 4 mm to within 7 mm of a corner of a crystal if light reflection from the side of the crystal is minimal. If light reflection from the side of a crystal is substantial, the lower bound on resolution is similar to the above in the centre of the crystal but degrades substantially 10 mm from the corner of the crystal. The authors' computations also indicate that the estimation error correlation coefficients are generally high (|corr|-1) for peripheral source positions.


Background: Expression of UBE2Q1, UBE2Q2, and members of the ubiquitinconjugating enzyme family (E2) are affected in colorectal cancer (CRC). The BECN gene plays a key role in CRC cells. In gastrointestinal carcinoma therapy, tumorassociated antigens such as CEA are typically used.To investigate the association between UBE2Q1 and Beclin1 autophagy marker and CEA protein expression in LS180 CRC cell line. Materials and Methods: In this study, changes in the expression of BECN marker in LS180 cell lines with the vector containing UBE2Q1 were investigated using real-time PCR. The expression of CEA protein was also evaluated by western blotting. Statistical analyses were performed with Graph Pad Prism software. Results: The results indicated reduced expression of BECN autophagy marker (P=0). Therefore, in the presence of UBE2Q1, cancer cells have less ability to induce autophagy. However, CEA protein levels in LS180 transfected cells with a UBE2Q1- ORF-containing plasmid decreased when compared to non-transfected cells. Conclusion: The use of pharmacologic inhibitors related to the autophagy mechanism can be a novel approach in cancer therapy.


In light of the significant impacts on global economy both nations and firms witnessed a dramatic advancement of information and communication technology (ICT). There was particularly bi-polarization between ICT advanced and growing economies compelling a vicious cycle between ICT advancement and its productivity decline in these economies. The institutional sources of resilience were analyzed. On the basis of an empirical analysis comparing technopreneurial performance in world top 500 ICT firms by market value, sales and profit over the last decade, resilient firms maintaining world top 100 position by all three values over the whole period were identified. Institutional sources enabling resilient firms maintain leading position can largely be attributed to co-evolutionary acclimatization ability, which harnesses the vigor of emerging power of counterparts both in home countries and in advanced countries as well as growing economies in a co-evolutional way. Such ability maximizes synergy between efficiency and resilience in their technopreneurial management. Contrasting business model in global ICT firms with and without resilience structure suggests the sources of emerging trap due to ICT advancement and endorsed the significance of co-evolutionary acclimatization. This suggests the significance of institutional coevolution between ICT advanced and growing economies that enables both economies to harness the vigor of partners for global sustainability.


The local structures of semiconductor InSb compound have been studied by in-situ XAFS in the temperature range of 300 and 823 K. Reverse Monte Carlo calculation is used to simultaneously fit both In and Sb K-edge EXAFS functions kχ(k) of InSb compound. The fitting results indicate that the average bond length R1 (2.80 Å) and the average coordination number N1 (4.0) of the first In-Sb (or Sb-In) shell of InSb (723 K) are similar to those (2.79 Å, 4.0) of crystalline InSb (300 K) with a zinc-blende structure, in spite of InSb compound possessing a large thermal disorder degree at 723 K. At the temperature of 828 K (Tm(InSb) = 798 K), the R1 and N1 of the first In-Sb shell are 2.90 Å and 5.8, and the R1 and N1 of the first Sb-In shell are 2.90 Å, and 5.5 for molten InSb, respectively. For molten InSb (828 K), the coordination numbers of the In-Sb (or Sb-In) first shell are mostly 5 and 6, and a few percent of In-In (or Sb-Sb) coordination appears in the first shell. It implies that the tetrahedron structures of the In-Sb (or Sb-In) covalent bonds of InSb compound have been destroyed in the liquid state.


The meeting discussed the current understanding of the role of immunoglobulin E (IgE) in asthma, and anti-IgE strategies in the treatment of severe asthma. Prof Gary Anderson provided an overview of the integral role of IgE in the inflammatory pathways involved in the pathogenesis of severe asthma and the development of omalizumab (Xolair®), an anti-IgE therapy. Prof William Busse presented some of the clinical findings on the use of omalizumab for virus-provoked asthma. Prof Jan Lötvall discussed how phenotyping could improve the development of patient-targeted treatment strategies in asthma. Finally, Prof David Price discussed how changes to the clinical management of patients with severe asthma could improve patient outcomes.


Cloud computing is a new and promising technology in which cloud resources are provided as a service to its user over a virtualized network like Internet. Cloud computing provides computing and storages resources to its user specially small and medium sized organizations. By providing "pay per usage" cost model, cloud computing can also reduce cost for use of cloud resources. The issue of trust is one of the major barrier for the usages of cloud computing resources. Nowadays security of the cloud resources is the one of the main factor in cloud computing. Trust in cloud computing can be categorized for the many issue such as access control, prevention, ownership and data security. In this thesis we have label the issue related to user trust and proposed a trust evaluation model for establishing trust based on different policies. In cloud computing, User can directly access and use the cloud resources. The user can perform malicious activities. So it is important to evaluate the user trust based on action, performed by user using the trust model. So to evaluate the user trust, policy based trust evaluation model is used. Based on the user trust value, number of policies breach and the number of warning received the user is classified into different categories. The trust evaluation model provides information to Cloud Service Provider(CSP) to monitor the malicious behavior of user. Based on the trust value of user, the cloud service provider can limit the user from performing activity on the cloud resources and blacklist the user. In future, the number of new user are going to be increase on a large scale so the trust value evaluation for each user will become an overhead. To solve this problem, we have proposed a trust value prediction method. By using this method, we are able to predict the new user trust value with minimum effort. When a new user usages the cloud services, this prediction method predict his trust value based on the previous user performed activities. After predicting the trust value of user, user will be categorized into one of the category set by the CSP.


An evaluation of safety and security properties performed by an independent organisation can be an important step towards establishing trust in Automated Driving Systems (ADS), bridging the gap between the marketing portrayal and the actual performance of such systems in real operating conditions. However, due to the complexity of an ADS's behaviour and dangers involved in performing real environment security attacks, we believe assessments that can be performed with a combination of simulation and validation at test facilities is the way forward.In this paper, we outline an approach to derive test suites applicable to generic ADS feature classes, where classes would have similar capabilities and comparable assessment results. The goal is to support black box testing of such feature classes as part of an independent evaluation. By the means of co-simulation of post-attack behaviour and critical scenarios, we derive a representative set of physical certification tests, to gain an understanding of the interplay between safety and security. During the initial tests an ADS is subjected to various attacks and its reactions recorded. These reactions such as reduced functionality, fall back etc., together with relevant scenarios for the class is further analysed to check for safety implications.


The present work is a study of the theory of inter-state relations in Northern India from c. A.D. 800 to 1200. Chapter I deals with the nature, scope, and source materials of the present enquiry and points out that the traditional theory of inter-state relations is interpreted and re-stated by our Sanskrit authorities. In Chapter II we consider the concept of the state and maintain that a state comprising seven constituent elements, indicating its sovereignty and power, is the subject of the theory of inter-state relations and that feudatories are ignored. It is also shown that sovereignty is a relative concept in the inter-state sphere, and states are classified on the basis of power, independence, payment of tribute, and political allegiance. Chapter III explains that the theory of inter-state relations is a corollary of the concept of the state, and it is based on the assumption of conflict of power and ambition for political supremacy among states. After a brief introduction to the development of the three concepts of inter-state relations, viz. mandala (circle of states), s?dgunya (sixfold policy), and up?yas (political expedients), we discuss the mandala system, which outlines a hypothetical pattern of inter-state relations based on the principles of geo-politics and power-politics. It provides a framework for the conduct of relations of a king desirous of conquest and supremacy over others. Chapters IV to VII deal with the various aspects of the sixfold policy. We have attempted to define and analyse the policies of peace, war, marching, staying quiet, dual policy and seeking shelter and have pointed out that each one of them is an instrument of the politico-military strategy for overcoming enemies during vicissitudes of power. It has been shown that all six policies sire concerned with hostile relations and ?sana (staying quiet) is not 'neutrality', as some modern scholars contend. Chapter VIII deals with the political expedients and analyses their contents. It shows that the means of diplomacy and war are comprehensive for attaining success in inter-state relations. It is pointed out in conclusion that the dominant theme of the theory of inter-state relations as well as the dynastic history of our period is conflict of power and struggle for supremacy, which indicates the impact of political ideas on inter-dynastic relations.


Conventional versions of linear multiuser detectors (MUD) are not feasible in the wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) downlink due to the use of long scrambling sequences. As an alternative, linear channel equalizers restore the orthogonality of the spreading sequences lost in frequency-selective channels, thus, suppressing multiple access interference (MAI) in the WCDMA downlink. In this thesis, linear channel equalizers in WCDMA terminals are studied. The purpose of the thesis is to develop novel receivers that provide performance enhancement over conventional rake receivers with an acceptable increase in complexity, and to validate their performance under WCDMA downlink conditions. Although the WCDMA standard is emphasized as the candidate system, the receivers presented are suitable for any synchronous direct sequence code division multiple access downlink employing coherent data detection and orthogonal user or channel separation. Two adaptive channel equalizers are developed based on the constrained minimum output energy (MOE) criterion and sample matrix inversion method. An existing equalizer based on the matrix inversion lemma is also developed further to become a prefilter-rake equalizer. Performance analysis is carried out for equalizers trained using a common pilot channel and for the channel response constrained MOE (CR-MOE) and sample matrix inversion (SMI) based equalizers developed in the thesis. The linear minimum mean square error (LMMSE) channel equalizer, which assumes a random scrambling sequence, is shown to approximate the performance of the LMMSE MUD. The adaptive CR-MOE, SMI-based, and prefilter-rake equalizers are observed to attain performance close to that of an approximate LMMSE channel equalizer. The equalizers considered are also shown to be suitable for implementation with fixed-point arithmetic. The SMI-based equalizer is shown to provide good performance and to require an acceptable increase in complexity. It is also well suited for symbol rate equalization after despreading, which allows for computationally efficient receiver designs for low data rate terminals. Hence, the SMI-based equalizer is a suitable receiver candidate for both high and low data rate terminals. Adaptive equalizers are considered in conjunction with forward error correction (FEC) coding, soft handover, transmit diversity and high speed downlink packet access (HSDPA). The adaptive equalizers are shown to provide significant performance gains over the rake receiver in frequency selective channels. The performance gains provided by one antenna equalizers are noted to decrease near the edges of a cell, whereas the equalizers with two receive antennas achieve significant performance improvements also with soft handover. The performance gains of one or two antenna equalizers are shown to be marginal in conjunction with transmit antenna diversity. Otherwise the equalizers are observed to attain good signal-to-noise-plus-interference ratio performance. Therefore, they are also suitable receiver candidates for HSDPA.


Abstract. During the 42-year period (1979–2020) of satellite measurements, only three winter polynyas have ever been observed north of Greenland and they all occurred in the last decade, i.e. February of 2011, 2017 and 2018. The 2018 polynya was unparalleled by its magnitude and duration compared to the two previous events. Combined with the limited weather station and remotely-sensed sea ice data, a fully-coupled Regional Arctic System Model (RASM) hindcast simulation was utilized to examine the causality and evolution of these recent extreme events. We found that neither the accompanying anomalous warm surface air intrusion nor the ocean below had an impact on the development of these winter open water episodes in the study region (i.e., no significant ice melting). Instead, the extreme atmospheric wind forcing resulted in greater sea ice deformation and transport offshore, accounting for the majority of sea ice loss. Our analysis suggests that strong southerly winds (i.e., northward wind with speeds of greater than 10 m/s) blowing persistently for at least 2 days or more, were required over the study region to mechanically redistribute some of the thickest sea ice out of the region and thus to create open water areas (a latent heat polynya). In order to assess the role of internal variability versus external forcing of such events, we additionally simulated and examined results from two RASM ensembles forced with output from the Community Earth System Model (CESM) Decadal Prediction Large Ensemble (DPLE) simulations. Out of 100 winters in each of the two ensembles, initialized 30 years apart, one in December 1985 and another in December 2015, respectively, 17 and 14 winter polynyas were produced over north of Greenland. The frequency of polynya occurrence and no apparent sensitivity to the initial sea ice thickness in the study area point to internal variability of atmospheric forcing as a dominant cause of winter polynyas north of Greenland. We assert that dynamical downscaling using a high-resolution regional climate model offers a robust tool for process-level examination in space and time, synthesis with limited observations and probabilistic forecast of Arctic events, such as the ones being investigated here and elsewhere.


This paper proposes a new parameter estimation approach for a single-phase induction machine (SPIM) whose parameters are usually obtained using several traditional techniques such as the DC, no-load, load and locked-rotor tests. The proposal is based on using a dynamic particle swarm optimization (Dynamic PSO) algorithm. The dynamic PSO algorithm modifies the algorithm parameters to improve the performance of the standard PSO algorithm. The algorithms use the experimental measurements of the currents and active powers in the SPIM main and auxiliary windings as the inputs to the parameter estimator. The experimental results obtained compare the estimated SPIM parameters with the SPIM parameters achieved using the traditional tests. There is also a comparison of the solution quality between the standard PSO and dynamic PSO algorithms. The results show that the dynamic PSO algorithm is better than the standard PSO algorithm for parameter estimation of the SPIM.


This thesis investigates the fundamental aspects of egulation of expression of the surface antigen, Fraction 1 (F1), of the plague pathogen Yersinia pestis. F1 contains a single subunit, Caf1, polymerised into a flexible fibrillar structure. It is a key diagnostic tool and a primary component of older whole cell plague vaccines and newer subunit ones under development.
Caf1 is encoded by the caf gene cluster, comprising caf1R, an AraC/XylS family regulator and the chaperone/usher caf1MA1 operon. Despite considerable research on its assembly and role as a vaccine constituent there is virtually no information on how the expression of this key antigen is regulated. Availability of a spontaneous Caf1R point mutation (E98G) that virtually abolished F1 assembly stimulated initial interest in regulation. Modelling of Caf1R revealed location of E98 within the DNA binding helix-6 and its involvement in a novel 'bridge-type' DNA-protein interaction linking DNA backbone bound R62 (helix-4) to helix-6. It is proposed that this interaction may be critical for the correct spatial orientation of the base-binding residues Q93 and R97 within the major DNA groove. Site-specific mutagenesis supported this model and defined the requirement of other Caf1R residues modeled as interacting with DNA backbone or specific nucleotides.
Promoter-lacZ fusions identified a Caf1R dependent class II promoter (PM) controlling expression of the caf1MA1 operon and 2 potential promoters upstream of caf1R (PR2 and PRK). PR2 promoter, also a class II promoter, was autoactivated by Caf1R. Provision of Caf1R in trans
from a PBAD promoter, identified thermosensing within the caf locus is via 5′ UTR of Caf1R. Potential RNA thermometer (RNAT) structures were predicted from the 5′ UTR of transcripts from both promoters. The longer and more stable 5′ UTR from PRK and the higher level of Caf1R
independent transcription from this promoter would be consistent with an RNAT within this transcript controlling early expression of caf1R in response to temperature. Five potential Caf1R binding sites (repeat motifs) were identified within the caf1R-caf1M intergenic region, R1-3 upstream of caf1R and R3′ and R4′ upstream of caf1M, with the consensus sequence TGCRCBS1RAMWAGCWARDBS2. An electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) confirmed specific binding of Caf1R to R4′. Several tagged approaches were taken for purification of Caf1R. Low levels of soluble hCaf1R were recovered using the PBAD promoter. Using the pET28a+ vector, hCaf1RT was mainly recovered in inclusion bodies but low levels of soluble hCaf1RT were recovered using codon optimisation and induction with glucose plus IPTG. Solubility of Caf1R
was greatly enhanced with MBPCaf1R expressed in E. coli-K12 2508. While isolated Caf1R showed some activity in EMSA, comparison with activity in crude lysed cell fractions suggested either inactivation of Caf1R during isolation or loss of an activating factor. Thus this study has identified the fundamental features controlling transcription within the caf locus for subsequent expression of F1. This is the first example of AraC/XylS type regulator, directly linked to a CU system of ϒ3-fimbriae/pili family. Working models are presented that can be used as a basis to further clarify autoregulation of Caf1R including activation, the possibility of repression and thermoregulation. This study has provided the fundamental information and tools for in-depth understanding of expression of F1 in Y. pestis and its applications in vaccine development.


The postoperative experiences of a high-performance pilot who underwent Nissen fundoplication for reflux esophagitis illustrate two important points concerning return to flying duties. Both the gas bloat syndrome and obstructive phenomena are potential sequelae to surgery. Both have obvious implications for flight personnel. A logical approach for flight medical officers is presented.


Subperiosteal abscess (SPA) complicating sinusitis is commonly located lateral to the lamina papyracea. There are multiple routes of spread from ethmoidal sinus into subperiosteal space and direct spread through the thin lamina papyracea is one of the routes. Superiorly located SPA is traditionally drained by open approach. We report a 56-year-old man with right SPA located in the superior orbital roof with medial extension secondary to frontal sinusitis successfully drained endoscopically avoiding additional external skin incision and achieve a complete evacuation of abscess without evidence of recurrence on follow up at 1 year.


Introduction: Concept mapping is an innovative approach that helps the learner to organize knowledge for a better mental picture. Students should be life-long meaningful learners to adapt to the rapid changing science and apply it in practicing medicine. The concept map may be regarded as an image displaying detailed study of a case or problem through various concepts and by linking them with the key words which enables the learners to do a cognitive analysis. This way of approaching basic science subjects in medical education will definitely improve the meaningful learning (Asubel, 1968). The objective of this study was to introduce concept map as a mode of learning involving various important topics of basic medical sciences subjects and evaluate its usefulness and acceptability among students in improving their understanding of the given topics. Materials and Methods: Participants are first year MBBS students (n=250) from Sri Ramachandra Medical college and Research Institute; they were divided into small groups of 20-22. Students were evaluated with pretest and post-test performance along with a feedback which were collected and evaluated at the end of the project. Result : Students subjected to this newer learning method showed a highly significant positive result (p<0.001). Conclusion: The introduction of concept- mapping in learning methodology resulted in better understanding of a topic and correlation between all basic courses by the students. It also helps in learning through vertical integration between basic and clinical sciences. Keywords: Concept Map


Parts I-III of this paper give an overview of references to human rights – mainly at the initiative of host states and non-governmental third parties, but increasingly also by complainants and judges on their own initiative – in international investment disputes and investor-state arbitral awards and the responses by investment tribunals to such human rights arguments. They discuss the problems of 'legal fragmentation' of international investment law and human rights law, the need for judicial balancing of state-centered 'principles of justice' (like state responsibility) and person-oriented principles of justice (such as human rights and 'proportionality balancing') in trade and investment disputes, and related problems of legal methodology. Part IV concludes with a brief discussion of the increasing impact of the human rights obligations of all UN member states on investment disputes in other international courts and in private commercial arbitration, for instance due to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and their approval and increasing incorporation by thousands of transnational corporations and non-governmental organizations (like the International Federation of Football Associations) into their commercial contract practices.


In 1997, viruslike symptoms similar to those caused by potato potyvirus Y (PVY) were observed in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum ) plants of the cv. Basmas in the area of Drama (Macedonia) in northern Greece. Diseased plants showed vein clearing and necrosis of the petioles and main veins, and were severely stunted. Serological tests with polyclonal antibodies prepared against PVY, cucumber mosaic cucumovirus (CMV), alfalfa mosaic alfamovirus (AMV), and tomato spotted wilt tospovirus (TSWV) gave negative results. The virus was mechanically transmitted from infected field tobacco plants to plants of N. tabacum cvs. White Burley, Samsun NN, Xanthi, Christie, and Basmas, and to plants of the species N. benthamiana, N. clevelandii, N. glutinosa, N. roselata, and N. rustica. All tobacco species and cultivars generally reacted with chlorotic local lesions on the inoculated leaves followed by systemic vein clearing, often veinal necrosis, leaf curling, and severe stunting. Similar symptoms were produced on Petunia hybrida. Other plant species such as beet, faba beans, lettuce, tomato, Datura stramonium, and watermelon were not infected by the virus. Aphid transmission studies with Myzus persicae showed that the virus was transmitted in a semi-persistent manner. Electron microscopic observations of leaf squash preparations from infected plants revealed the presence of long, filamentous, virus particles of 1,600 to 1,800 nm in length, typical for the family Closteroviridae. The virus was partially purified in a process in which the extract was treated with Triton for 1 h at 4°C, followed by two cycles of high-speed centifugation on a 20-40-60 % sucrose cushion. The virus was denaturated on CsCl or CsSO 4 gradients. The results show that the virus isolated is the first member in the Closteroviridae reported to naturally infect N. tabacum.


Preeclampsia is a complex disease that increases both maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality in both developed and developing countries. It complicates around 5-10% of all pregnancies..The pathophysiology of preeclampsia includes both maternal and fetal/placental factors. Implantation of embryo and placentation are crucial steps for development of pregnancy involving trophoblast invasion. Abnormalities of spiral artery invasion, trophoblast function, inflammatory process, and biologic functions of angiogenic/anti-angiogenic factors early in pregnancy result in pregnancy diseases, including preeclampsia. ADAMTS genes are members of the family of matrix metalloproteinase, which have important tasks in extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation and repair processes. The roles of ADAMTS in preeclampsia may include regulation of spiral artery invasion and ECM arrangement of the placenta.


Machine Learning (ML) algorithms are used to train computers to perform a variety of complex tasks and improve with experience. Computers learn how to recognize patterns, make unintended decisions, or react to a dynamic environment. Certain trained machines may be more effective than others because they are based on more suitable ML algorithms or because they were trained through superior training sets. Although ML algorithms are known and publicly released, training sets may not be reasonably ascertainable and, indeed, may be guarded as trade secrets. While much research has been performed about the privacy of the elements of training sets, in this paper we focus our attention on ML classifiers and on the statistical information that can be unconsciously or maliciously revealed from them. We show that it is possible to infer unexpected but useful information from ML classifiers. In particular, we build a novel meta-classifier and train it to hack other classifiers, obtaining meaningful information about their training sets. This kind of information leakage can be exploited, for example, by a vendor to build more effective classifiers or to simply acquire trade secrets from a competitor's apparatus, potentially violating its intellectual property rights.


Fiber-to-fiber on-off optical switching based on the gigantic Goos-Hanchen (GH) shift on an optical beam induced by the Bloch surface wave is experimentally demonstrated for the first time. Through changing the refractive index of the cladding covering a truncated 1-D photonic crystal, the enhanced GH shift can be toggled dynamically from zero to submillimeter range. By using the finite coupling aperture of the fiber and selecting an optimized pass region of the beam to the output fiber, high extinction ratio can be achieved with reasonable insertion loss. It is also demonstrated that a refractive index change of <; 2*10-3 is sufficient to realize the switching, which opens the way to realize faster and more compact integrated GH switches.


The UNESCO world heritage label (WHL) is a contentious topic in local to global public, and it gains in importance for the urban and regional development in Europe for some reasons. So on the one hand, the nominations of European sites as UNESCO world heritage are increasing steadily, and on the other hand the polarization of space is still continuing. Thus, the disparities between peripheral and metropolitan regions and their towns are growing. The need to steer sustainably the economic, demographic and cultural concentration processes in metropolises confronts the challenge in peripheral regions to stabilize and initiate developments. In consequence of these trends the UNESCO world heritage label constitutes a relevant urban and regional topic that refers to conflicting connotations like 'development barrier' and 'source of conflict' on the one hand, and 'chance for development' on the other. To date, however, the potential of the WHL for sustainable urban and regional development is barely investigated. Neither the local socio-cultural, economic and institutional effects of the world heritage status, nor the mechanisms and conditions of its local effectiveness have been investigated in a critical and systematic way. Moreover, there is little research on the local management approaches, how to enhance (save and use) the UNESCO label for sustainable urban development which should be based on the principles of integration, participation and justice. Against this background, a recent research project evaluated the UNESCO world heritage label as potential for urban sustainable development. Mindful of the intertwined local to global contextual dimensions and actor networks it questioned the hypotheses that the spatial (peripheral and metropolitan) context of an urban region and the local actors' concepts and activities towards the WHL do influence the status' impacts on urban development. A special emphasis was given to the analysis of local partnerships, planning instruments and communication processes, tackling the UNESCO label as potential for urban development. Based on a realist evaluation approach that links economic and social theory with comparative case study research in the three European world heritage cities of St. Petersburg (Russia), Stralsund and Wismar (Germany), the project finally proves the WHL as a topic of cross-sectoral importance for urban regions, affecting collaterally political and administrative as well as economic and socio-cultural local processes and structures in a positive or negative way. The WHL constitutes a potential for sustainable urban development indeed, but in dependence on the spatial context of an urban region as well as on the local actors' approaches, how to enhance the WHL. Mindful of these insights, the project argues for spatially differentiated and actor sensitive local management approaches in order to preserve the urban world heritage and to use the WHL for socio-cultural and economic sustainable development.


Computing latent representations for graph-structured data is an ubiquitous learning task in many industrial and academic applications ranging from molecule synthetization to social network analysis and recommender systems. Knowledge graphs are among the most popular and widely used data representations related to the Semantic Web. Next to structuring factual knowledge in a machine-readable format, knowledge graphs serve as the backbone of many artificial intelligence applications and allow the ingestion of context information into various learning algorithms. Graph neural networks attempt to encode graph structures in low-dimensional vector spaces via a message passing heuristic between neighboring nodes. Over the recent years, a multitude of different graph neural network architectures demonstrated ground-breaking performances in many learning tasks. In this work, we propose a strategy to map deep graph learning architectures for knowledge graph reasoning to neuromorphic architectures. Based on the insight that randomly initialized and untrained (i.e., frozen) graph neural networks are able to preserve local graph structures, we compose a frozen neural network with shallow knowledge graph embedding models. We experimentally show that already on conventional computing hardware, this leads to a significant speedup and memory reduction while maintaining a competitive performance level. Moreover, we extend the frozen architecture to spiking neural networks, introducing a novel, event-based and highly sparse knowledge graph embedding algorithm that is suitable for implementation in neuromorphic hardware.


There is strong evidence that sun exposure during childhood and adolescence plays an important role in the etiology of skin cancer, in particular cutaneous melanoma. Between the age of 6 and 18, most children and adolescents will spend around 200 days per year at school and may receive a substantial fraction of their daily total solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) exposure while at school. This study estimated the average daily erythemally effective dose of 70 grade 8 students from a high school in Townsville during 5 school days in July 1998. Through UV measurements of shade locations at the school and a combination of frequency counts and a questionnaire of grade 8 students, it was possible to determine the fraction of solar UVR reaching under the shade structures during lunch breaks and routine outdoor activities. Also, a routinely operating UV-Biometer provided the annual variation of the daily dose that was used to calculate exposure levels for the 70 students. Our results suggest that up to 47% of the daily total dose fell within the time periods where students were outdoors during school hours. For students not seeking shade structures during the breaks (which usually was the case when involved in sport activities such as basketball or soccer), the average daily dose could have been as high as 14 SED (standard erythemal dose). Using results from the questionnaire of 70 grade 8 students, their average annual dose while at school was 414 SED or 2 SED per schoolday. However, the distribution of average daily erythemal effective dose per grade 8 student over the whole year showed that on 31% of all school days in 1998, this dose was exceeded. Because most previous attempts to change arguably poor sun-protective behavior of young Australian children and adolescents at school showed little success, one way of decreasing the amount of harmful UVR reaching unprotected skin is the more careful design of shade structures at schools.


Nowadays, application of the strip-yield model for computation of crack opening load levels is well known. In this paper the incremental formulation of a fatigue crack growth law is used to demonstrate the role of the crack opening load level in time-independent fatigue crack growth. Less known is the ability of the strip-yield model to define the strain rate at the crack tip. A threshold level {dot {var{underscore}epsilon}}{sub th} of this strain rate is introduced and used to formulate a criterion for initiation of time-dependent accelerated fatigue crack growth. This process is called corrosion fatigue. To account for effects of environment and frequency on the crack growth rate a time-dependent part is added to the incremental fatigue crack growth law. The resulting incremental crack growth equation is integrated to obtain the crack growth rate for a load cycle. The model discussed in this paper is a mechanical model. Physical aspects other than strain rate, loading frequency and load wave shape are not modeled in an explicit way. Hence, the model is valid for specific environment/base metal combinations. However, in consideration of the effects of small variations of environment, temperature, and other variables on the crack growth rates, it can bemore » used as a reference solution. The fatigue crack growth model has been implemented in the NASGRO (ESACRACK) software. The time-dependent part is still subject to further evaluation.« less


In 2015 in United States v. Lichtenberger, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that police violated the Fourth Amendment by exceeding the scope of a private search of computer files. This decision deviated from holdings of the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fifth and Seventh Circuits, which held that under the private search doctrine, police could more thoroughly search digital devices that were previously searched by a private party. The Sixth Circuit created a circuit split by failing to apply the closed container approach to the digital storage devices in Lichtenberger. This Comment argues that the closed container approach should not be applied to searches of digital devices under the private search doctrine. This Comment also argues that the Sixth Circuit correctly adopted the "virtual certainty" test of scope, but failed to properly apply the test to the facts in Lichtenberger.


OBJECTIVES
The healthcare system in Israel faces difficulties similar to those of most industrialized countries, including limited resources, a growing chronically ill population, and demand for high quality care. Disease management programs (DMPs) for patients with a chronic illness aim to alleviate some of these problems, primarily by improving patient self-management skills and quality of care. This study surveyed the opinions of senior healthcare administrators regarding barriers, benefits, and support for implementing DMPs.

STUDY DESIGN
Cross-sectional survey.

METHODS
A 21-item questionnaire was self-completed by 87 of 105 (83%) healthcare administrators included in the study. Participants were 65.5% male and 47% physicians, 25.3% nurses, 17.3% administrators, and 10.3% other healthcare professionals.

RESULTS
The main perceived benefit of DMPs among all respondents was improving quality of care. Other benefits noted were better contact with patients (81.6%) and better compliance with treatment (75.9%). Efficient long-term utilization of system resources was perceived as a benefit by only 58.6%. The main perceived barriers to implementing DMPs were lack of budgetary resources (69%) and increased time required versus financial compensation received (63.2%).

CONCLUSIONS
The benefits of DMPs were patient oriented; barriers were perceived as financial and limiting professional autonomy. Information regarding long-term benefits (better patient outcomes) that ultimately provide better value for the system versus short-term barriers (increased costs and expenditures of time without compensation) might encourage the implementation of DMPs in countries faced with a growing population of patients with at least 1 chronic illness.


ABSTRACT The ecosystems of alpine snowbed habitats are reviewed with emphasis on ecosystem functioning and capability to adapt to current and predicted global change. Snowbeds form in topographic depressions that accumulate large amounts of snow during the winter months, and the final snowmelt does not occur until late in the growing season. Many species preferentially grow in snowbed habitats and some of these are even restricted to these habitats. In this review we identify several ecosystem services which snowbeds provide to the alpine landscape. For instance, snowbeds provide a steady water and nutrient supply to adjacent plant communities and offer newly emerged high-quality food for herbivores late in the growing season. We also propose that alpine snowbeds are much more productive than earlier thought, especially when the very short growing season and often high grazing pressure are taken fully into account. Furthermore, we propose that bryophytes and graminoids (grasses, sedges, and rushes) probably will be most negatively impacted by global change, and the snowbed plant communities will be invaded by species from adjacent plant communities, especially by shrubs and boreal species. As snowbed plants have special growth conditions, their sensitivity and ability to respond rapidly to changes in annual snowfall patterns make snowbed communities particularly vulnerable in a warmer climate, and thereby sensitive indicators of global change.


Here we present a concept to improve the field effect transistor performance of P3HT in terms of threshold voltage stability as well as the stability in ambient atmosphere by introducing a strong acceptor dopant in the main polymer chain. In our concept the direct introduction of the acceptor dopant in the polymer main chain ensures the strucural stability against diffusion processes. P3HTs with different contents of acceptor molecules which are fixed linked in the main chain of the polymer , have been synthesized using the McCullough Grignard metathesis method. As acceptor unit has been integrated tetrafluorbenzene (TFB). The introduced dopant amount has been varied in order to obtain an optimum between the processability of the polymers and the resultant transistor performance. Compared to the p-type semionducting polymers the n-type organic materials are markedly less developed. Recently an interesting solution to this task has been proposed in the form of a conjugated ladder-type poly (benzo-bisimidazobenzo-phenanthroline) (BBL) showing either ambipolar or n-type field effect properties dependent upon the sample preparation and processing. However this rigid-chain ladder polymer is not soluble in the common organic solvents resulting in a rather complicated technological transfer. We report the significant improvement of the BBL-processing utilizing aqueous colloidal dispersions and their OFET-application. The resultant devices demonstrate ambipolar electronic transport with charge carrier mobilities in the range of 10−5 cm 2 /Vs without specific optimization procedures..


Several cases of mal-operation of transformer differential protection with second-harmonic blocking after clearance of external fault are reported. These mal-operations all occurred at the nonrestraint region of percentage restraint plane. The previous theory cannot be utilized directly to analyze this phenomenon. Therefore, a mathematical model for analyzing the transient course of external fault inception and removal, together with the CT model involving the magnetic hysteresis effect, is proposed in this paper. It is proved that the magnetic linkage of one CT core can be pushed into the region nearby the saturation point by the high fault current with aperiodic component. As soon as the external fault is removed, the magnetic linkage formed by the primary current with low amplitude is not high enough to pull the operating point of the magnetic linkage back to the linear region. This phenomenon is named as CT local transient saturation, which results in the big measuring angle error and relative smooth waveform. In this case, the transformer differential protection using second harmonic blocking inevitably mal-operates. This point of view is verified with the simulation tests.


Structure and diversity of the vegetation of the Gorgona Island National Natural Park, Colombia. Gorgona is a continental island in the Pacific of Colombia. We studied the structure and diversity of its vegetation with 16 Gentry transects (total area 0.16ha) in nine sites on the island. With these data, we calculate Importance Value Index (IVI), distribution of individuals according to their height and diameter at breast height (DBH), cumulative species curves, and species diversity. The vegetation is mainly secondary forest, with rem- nants of primary forest on the hills. By density, frequency, and coverage, the most important family is Rubiaceae, with 0.275 IVF. The species with the highest IVI (0.157) is Lacistema aggregatum (Lacistemataceae). In height and diameter classes (DBH), individuals have an inverted "J" distribution. The plant community has a Shannon- Wiener diversity index of 3.98. The cumulative species curve of the plant community does not level off even after more than ten transects. Transects were grouped in the similarity analysis but not strongly. There were species richness differences among transects. Rev. Biol. Trop. 62 (Suppl. 1): 13-26. Epub 2014 February 01.


Though the theories on the reasons why humans need to sleep vary, there is no disagreement that sleep is essential to our wellbeing and survival. External and internal physiological parameters dictate our own individual body "clocks," or circadian rhythms. Typically, this clock runs very close to a 24-hour cycle of sleep and wakefulness. However, for some individuals, this clock can be slightly "off." This article will discuss what creates internal circadian rhythms and the major types of circadian rhythm disorders, with an overview of diagnosis and treatment options.


IL6 is a pleiotropic cytokine with both pro- and anti-inflammatory properties, which acts directly on cancer cells to promote their survival and proliferation. Elevated serum IL6 levels negatively correlate with survival of cancer patients, which is generally attributed to the direct effects of IL6 on cancer cells. How IL6 modulates the host immune response in cancer patients is unclear. Here, we show the IL6 signaling response in peripheral blood T cells is impaired in breast cancer patients and is associated with blunted Th17 differentiation. The mechanism identified involved downregulation of gp130 and IL6Rα in breast cancer patients and was independent of plasma IL6 levels. Importantly, defective IL6 signaling in peripheral blood T cells at diagnosis correlated with worse relapse-free survival. These results indicate that intact IL6 signaling in T cells is important for controlling cancer progression. Furthermore, they highlight a potential for IL6 signaling response in peripheral blood T cells at diagnosis as a predictive biomarker for clinical outcome of breast cancer patients. Cancer Res; 77(5); 1119-26. ©2016 AACR.


Modelling behavior is not just copying what another todo, buat also increase and decrease behavior with cognition process. It will be happened when some body imitate the behavior models like as the parent, family, or their idols. The modelling process did not based on compulsion but it based on awarness, it can be the models got a positive reward for the behavior. Some body perception about how the model got a reward, it will be influence some body to make modelling behavior like as the model to do. Persuasive comunication is trying to persuade or influence some body else and direct to do something with spontanity, willingness, and about without compulsion.
The purpose of this research is understanding relation between persuasive comunication and modelling behavior. The variable is persuasive comunication as free variable and modelling behavior as the researc variabel. Persuasive comunication scale and modelling behavior scale it used to colecting the data. Data is came from 86 housewife as regular social gathering on Kelurahan Boyolangu, Tulungagung, jawa timur. And the analyze technique used product moment corelations with SPSS 13 program. According the analysis it get correlation (r hitung) = - 0,402 with significant (P) = 0,000. it is mean we got negative relation and significant between persuasive comunication and modelling behavior. Contribution efektive of persuasive comunication for modelling behavor is 16,1% it from determinant coeficient 0,161. and the residu 83,9 % is an other variabel that not examined.


"Nothing happens until something moves." ― Albert Einstein Nothing happens until something moves? If nothing is happening where is the movement initiated from? Life moves in a series of reactions and changes in energy. Movement is produced from the conversion of potential energy to kinetic energy. Potential energy is stored energy and depends on gravity, the mass and relative position of an object in space (Peterson). Kinetic energy is the work to accelerate a body (Peterson). Humans are perpetually in a state of kinetic energy; on the microscopic scale, charges equalize to activate ion channels and transport hormones and necessary molecules such as oxygen and glucose (Sherwood). Neurons constantly fire in the brain, playing a role in voluntary and involuntary behavior generating thoughts and emotions. Muscles pump the heart, circulate blood, and move the skeleton (Clippinger). Physical forces such as friction and gravity affect the efficiency of the system (Hinrichs et al.). These external forces determine the degree of movement a body can have, both on the microscopic and macroscopic scale. But the average individual is unaware of these forces. How and through what medium can these invisibilities be revealed? Like scientists, I believe artists hold the tools to expose hidden forces. In my studies of dance kinesiology I have explored biomechanics, specifically the kinetic energy of the body, space, and sound and played with magnifying these concepts through movement for the stage. My research over the last four years culminated in the creation of a mini ballet: Nothing happens until something moves. This paper, presented as a laboratory report, analyzes each component of the creative process.


A branch of dentistry that deals with diseases of the supporting and investing structures of the teeth including the gums, cementum, periodontal ligaments, and alveolar bone—called also periodontia, periodontology. From Wikipedia Journals


The aim of the study was to develop a new hybrid media product for learning environments and to evaluate its suitability and potential for studying English as a foreign language in elementary school. The prototype made for the study consisted of an English book linked to a mobile phone through 2D codes. By using the code reader the user was able to carry out listening tasks and interactive grammar exercises which opened up in the mobile phone's web browser. The hybrid book concept was evaluated by ten elementary school teachers. According to the user tests with the teachers the hybrid book would motivate pupils and allow them to study regardless of time and place. The interviewed teachers had a very positive attitude to using a mobile phone side-by-side with the text book in order to carry out tasks not possible with the text book alone (e.g. listening tasks). Most of the teachers were willing to use a hybrid book for teaching if it was available. All the interviewed teachers thought that pupils would be interested in using a hybrid book, and hence it will be interesting to observe how the pupils themselves evaluate the use of the hybrid book in the next phase of the study.


Sloshing control is key in the offshore storage and transportation of petroleum and other liquid phased products such as liquid natural gas (LNG). It is of interest in the enhancement of the structural stability of offshore platforms and floating production storage and offloading units. This work presents a numerical approach in the study and analysis of the effect of storage tank configurations on the hydrodynamic response of a multiphase-layered fluid undergoing sloshing. The study showed that tank configurations had an effect on the internal and free surface wave heights of the multiphase fluid sloshing in the tank, as well as on the dynamic pressure intensity being exerted on the tank walls, with some configurations exhibiting comparatively greater sloshing wave and pressure damping.


World Health Organization (WHO) designated the COVID-19 or more commonly called Coronavirus disease, a "public health emergency of international concern" on January 30, 2020, and declared it a pandemic on March 11, 2020, which threatens human wellbeing around the world. With no proven pharmacological treatment, therapy (such as plasma, bacteriophage, virophage) drug approved by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) against COVID-19 and the frequent transmission of infection resulting in progression of infected person;made the situation more critical. The critical pandemic situation created by COVID-19 realized that nutrition becomes a priority to boost immune function as what we eat can have severe health impacts and medical consequences. The present assessment focused on enhancing awareness among people to maintain a healthy lifestyle through balanced food, nutrition, and eating habits, and AYUSH recommendations to overcome inevitably caused distress due to pandemic situation.


EndNote Basic is a web-based program that allows you to organize your sources (articles, books, images, etc.), cite the sources while you write a paper, and prepare bibliographies.


Operator's workplace design takes a priority to be developed in order to reach the highest possible level of Quality, Safety and productivity. Continual improvement of the workplace is yield from studies carried out on different approaches, each approach shall keep into consideration many aspects, in this research; the results will be used for feeding the productivity aspects with valuable and reliable input data using relatively simple engineering solutions. This research is made based on literature of the accumulated knowledge from diverse fields in which different studies and analysis are made to provide the necessary input for Human Centred Design process, adopting the-state-of-the-art technologies and methodologies used for data collection and analysis for Human behaviour inside the dedicated workplace. Better understanding of the operator's Gaze in addition to the change according to the mental and physical workloads inside the tractor cabin will lead to optimal designs for higher productivity operation.


Advisor: Harshavardhan Thippareddi Beef prime rib is a delicacy cooked at low temperatures for long period and extended hot holding prior to consumption. Due to the potential survival and outgrowth of foodborne pathogens, this process may pose a public health risk. Considering an increase in the availability of non-intact beef, the microbial safety of the preparation of prime rib from intact and mechanically tenderized beef was evaluated. In the first study, lethality of the prime rib (from intact and non-intact, blade tenderized beef) cooking process to Salmonella spp. was evaluated. Boneless beef rib eye was surface inoculated with a five-strain cocktail of Salmonella spp. to obtain ca. 5.9 log CFU/g. The inoculated blade tenderized subprimals were passed with the fat side facing the blades to prepare non-intact beef rib eye. The subprimals were seared for 15 min at 260°C, cooked at 121°C to internal temperatures of either 37.8 or 48.9°C and held at 60°C for up to 8 h. The searing of blade tenderized rib eye resulted in 0.63 log CFU/g reduction in Salmonella spp. and cooking to internal temperatures of 37.8 and 48.9°C resulted in 2.86 and 3.58 log CFU/g reduction in Salmonella spp., respectively. Subsequent holding of the blade tenderized prime rib at an oven temperature of 60°C for 8 h resulted in an increase of 1.99 log CFU/g in Salmonella spp. population. Thermal processing of intact rib eye resulted in 5.22 and 5.54 log CFU/g reduction of Salmonella spp. population after cooking to 37.8 and 48.9°C respectively. Subsequent holding at 60°C during 8 h resulted in an increase in Salmonella spp. population of 1.07 and 0.44 log CFU/g, respectively. In the second study, the growth of C. perfringens during hot holding and cooling was evaluated. Ground rib eye was dispensed in 5-g pouches, inoculated to obtain 2.5 spores/g of C. perfringens, and vacuum-packaged. C. perfringens spores were heat activated and the pouches with the inoculated meat were held at 43 or 49°C. Hot holding of inoculated rib eye resulted in germination and outgrowth of C. perfringens spores by 6.5 and 6.05 log CFU/g. Abusive cooling of cooked prime rib from 57.2 to 5°C within 6, 9, 12, and 15 h resulted in C. perfringens spore germination and outgrowth by 0.2, 0.4, 0.8, and 2.2 log CFU/g respectively. Use of non-intact rib eye can pose an enhanced risk of foodborne illness when prime rib is cooked to low …


A construction of fully abstract typed models for PCF and PCF^+ (i.e., PCF +
"parallel conditional function"), respectively, is presented. It is based on
general notions of sequential computational strategies and wittingly consistent
non-deterministic strategies introduced by the author in the seventies.
Although these notions of strategies are old, the definition of the fully
abstract models is new, in that it is given level-by-level in the finite type
hierarchy. To prove full abstraction and non-dcpo domain theoretic properties
of these models, a theory of computational strategies is developed. This is
also an alternative and, in a sense, an analogue to the later game strategy
semantics approaches of Abramsky, Jagadeesan, and Malacaria; Hyland and Ong;
and Nickau. In both cases of PCF and PCF^+ there are definable universal
(surjective) functionals from numerical functions to any given type,
respectively, which also makes each of these models unique up to isomorphism.
Although such models are non-omega-complete and therefore not continuous in the
traditional terminology, they are also proved to be sequentially complete (a
weakened form of omega-completeness), "naturally" continuous (with respect to
existing directed "pointwise", or "natural" lubs) and also "naturally"
omega-algebraic and "naturally" bounded complete -- appropriate generalisation
of the ordinary notions of domain theory to the case of non-dcpos.


The main purpose of this research is to discuss the specificity of the microphone as a gestural tool through which the sequence organization of media two-party interviews is accomplished. The study focuses on the practical communicative problems of microphone operations in a media setting where the parties have alternating turns, and addresses the question of who of the participants speaks next and for how long. It is particularly concerned with investigating what the participating parties can do with the microphone, what it accomplishes, and how it is used as a tool for interaction with an audience. We particularly focus on how microphone moves can make use see how how people orient to emergent content structures in talk, and how microphone performs as a device for confirmation of verbal turns.


Nowadays, approximately sixteen million Japanese travel abroad, and six million foreigners come to Japan for sightseeing. It can be said that it is just the time of sightseeing right now. Therefore, the knowledge of tourism has become more and more important, and reading materials in English that can be said to be a world common language has been indispensable. If we have beforehand enough knowledge of the features of English in this field, reading of the texts will become easier. In this paper, we investigated several English books on tourism, comparing with journalism in terms of metrical linguistics. In short, frequency characteristics of character- and word-appearance were investigated using a program written in C++. These characteristics were approximated by an exponential function. Furthermore, we calculated the percentage of Japanese junior high school required vocabulary and American basic vocabulary to obtain the difficulty-level as well as the K-characteristic of each material. As a result, it was clearly shown that English materials for tourism have a similar tendency to literary writings in the characteristics of character-appearance. Besides, the values of the K-characteristic for the materials on tourism are high, and the books with older publication and with higher specialty are more difficult than journalism.


One reflection of the enormous increase in interest in management information systems (MIS) is the rapid growth of research, theory, and prescription. But available knowledge of MIS is not of equal service to all managers. Managers working in the public sector must exercise particular caution as they seek to draw lessons from MIS literature. The vast majority of MIS knowledge, both formal and "know how," has been developed from private-sector data sites for application in private sector contexts. Prescriptions developed for the private-sector or for "generic" management may be valid for the public sector context. The problem is in determining which findings and prescriptions are applicable to public management and which are not. While MIS theory and research has grown by leaps and bounds, little research and virtually no theory has been published on public management information systems (PMIS). The purposes of this paper are to provide an integrating theoretical framework for PMIS which focuses on the differences between public and private sector environments and to use the framework to develop prescriptive propositions for PMIS. Before presenting the PMIS framework, existing frameworks


We constructed a retroviral vector, pLhIL-9RSN, containing CDNA encoding the human interleukin-9 receptor (IL-9R) along with a neomycin phosphotransferase gene (Neo). In order to study the biological effects of the IL-9R, high titer (1-5 x 10(5) CFU/ml) viral supernatant, generated from the packaging cell lines, ecotropic GPE86 and amphotropic PA317, was used to transduce the IL-9R gene into sorted populations of CD34++ CD33-cells from human cord blood which are highly enriched for erythroid progenitor cells (BFU-E). Colony formation by BFU-E transduced with the IL-9R gene and grown without selection in G418 and in the presence of erythropoietin (Epo) and interleukin (IL)-9 was significantly increased up to three-fold and the size of the erythroid colonies was significantly increased 50-100% compared to colony formation by mock virus transduced cells. Moreover, colony formation by IL-9R-transduced cells was more sensitive to stimulation with lower doses of IL-9 and Epo. Individual colonies formed with or without selection in G418 were evaluated. Proviral integration and mRNA expression were respectively assessed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and reverse transcriptase (RT) PCR analysis and were apparent in 93% and 84% of the G418-resistant colonies and 52% and 48% of the colonies grown in the absence of G418. Our study demonstrates that a functional human IL-9R gene can be efficiently transduced into human cord blood hematopoietic progenitors using retroviral vectors with increased cytokine-dependent erythroid colony formation.


This paper analyzes a new alternative approach to compensate for the effects of time delays on a dynamic networked control system (NCS). The approach is based on the use of time-delay-predicted values as the sampling times of the NCS. We use a one-step-ahead prediction algorithm based on an adaptive time delay neural network. The application of pole placement and linear quadratic regulator methods to compute the feedback gains taking into account the estimated time delays is investigated.


The Commission for the Conservation of Marine Living Resources, otherwise known as CCAMLR, is the governing body established as part of the Antarctic treaty system to regulate fisheries in the Southern Ocean. Due to concern about the exploitation of Antarctic krill (Euphasia superba), a key prey item in the Antarctic marine food web, the CCAMLR Ecosystem Monitoring Programme (CEMP) aims to account for the needs of predator species when setting conservation measures such as catch limits. This precautionary approach is integral to the conservation objectives of CCAMLR and the rational use of marine resources. Predator parameters and environmental conditions are monitored as they are likely to be important for both predator and prey species. In the krill fishery, a krill yield model allows for krill escapement and trigger levels are set to protect dependent predators and minimize ecosystem effects. The scale of management units should be taken into account for a better understanding of the effects of harvesting and allow for faster management response. Future challenges such as climate change could further complicate the ecosystem based approach, but may be anticipated by the precautionary management of CCAMLR and the ecosystem monitoring programme.