Stone engravings in Historical Vietnamese steles allow historians to study the life of common people in the villages. Only recently, a large amount of images of such engravings have become available. For supporting the historians, automatic document analysis systems are needed for reading the ancient Chu Nôm characters that are written in columns from top to bottom. In this paper, we study the problem of layout analysis, which is the first step of automatic reading. Semantic segmentation is applied at pixel-level to find the title, main text, label, and reference number on the page using deep convolutional neural networks. Afterwards, seam carving is used to segment the text columns within the main text. We present baseline results for hundred exemplary pages, discuss error cases, and outline lines of future research.


Inspection of components with surface discontinuities is an area that volumetric Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) methods, such as ultrasonic and radiographic, struggle in detection and characterisation. This coupled with the industrial desire to detect surface-breaking defects of components at the point of manufacture and/or maintenance, to increase design lifetime and further embed sustainability in their business models, is driving the increased adoption of Eddy Current Testing (ECT). Moreover, as businesses move toward Industry 4.0, demand for robotic delivery of NDT has grown. In this work, the authors present the novel implementation and use of a flexible robotic cell to deliver an eddy current array to inspect stress corrosion cracking on a nuclear canister made from 1.4404 stainless steel. Three 180-degree scans at different heights on one side of the canister were performed, and the acquired impedance data were vertically stitched together to show the full extent of the cracking. Axial and transversal datasets, corresponding to the transmit/receive coil configurations of the array elements, were simultaneously acquired at transmission frequencies 250, 300, 400, and 450 kHz and allowed for the generation of several impedance C-scan images. The variation in the lift-off of the eddy current array was innovatively minimised through the use of a force–torque sensor, a padded flexible ECT array and a PI control system. Through the use of bespoke software, the impedance data were logged in real-time (≤7 ms), displayed to the user, saved to a binary file, and flexibly post-processed via phase-rotation and mixing of the impedance data of different frequency and coil configuration channels. Phase rotation alone demonstrated an average increase in Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) of 4.53 decibels across all datasets acquired, while a selective sum and average mixing technique was shown to increase the SNR by an average of 1.19 decibels. The results show how robotic delivery of eddy current arrays, and innovative post-processing, can allow for repeatable and flexible surface inspection, suitable for the challenges faced in many quality-focused industries.


This paper focuses on current trends of regionalisation with supra-regional coalitions emerging in Europe. In the context of further European integration and institutionalisation of cross-border cooperation, functional integration in cross-border areas is developing. By exploiting cross-border territorial capital these coalitions might contribute to the concept of territorial cohesion stated and upgraded in the European Union's Treaty of Lisbon. The paper considers the right scale for these emerging supra-regional coalitions and their implications for the European Spatial Development Policy. When elaborating on the right delineation of supra- or transnational regional coalitions and about policy options, 'territorial knowledge' on territorial specificities, territorial capital and development potential is urgently needed. In border regions this includes cross-border functional linkages and interdependencies. The paper highlights an enhanced framework condition for cross-border functional integration and gives examples of supra-regional coalitions emerging in Europe, especially along Germany's borders. It shows the difficulties with cross-border data availability for delineation of supra-regional coalitions in Europe and discusses the implications for European Cohesion Policy.


The use of Ge very rich Si-Ge liquid phase during the heteroepitaxial growth of 3C-SiC on Si-face, on-axis 6H-SiC(0001) substrate by vapour-liquid-solid mechanism leads to the formation of Ge based precipitates inside the 3C layer. These Ge based features are investigated by TEM and atomic models of the Ge clustering are proposed by means of high resolution TEM image simulation. Conventional TEM shows only a few small precipitates sparsely distributed near the interface, as well as dislocations and stacking faults starting from the interface in an almost regular manner. High resolution TEM shows fine structural imperfections in the form of Guinier Preston zones also near the interface. It is concluded that the high Ge content creates an enlargement of the SiC lattice leading to a misfit with the substrate. This could be the driving force for the formation of all the observed features.


Following Kuhn (1962) paradigm shifts are described as discontinuous revolutionary breaks with earlier thoughts and experience. The mechanistic paradigm sees nature as a machine composed of related but discrete components. It helps support the idea that we humans are the crown of creation, the source of all value, the measure of all things. The ecological paradigm offers resistance to the mechanistic way of thinking and a rejection of the assumption of human self-importance in the larger scheme of things. Emphasis is placed on the whole and the view is described as holistic, organic, ecological or systemic. Physicist Fritjof Capra argues that society is embarking on a fundamental paradigm shift towards an ecological view of the world as an integrated network of all living and non-living entities (Capra, 1986). The paper identifies roots of both a mechanistic (or reductionist) and an ecological (or holistic) paradigm and describes significant aspects of a shift from one world view to the other, along with the importance of changing knowledge and values in contemporary and historical sustainability practices.


The Ku Klux Klan saw a rapid rise in Kern County, California, in 1921 but disintegrated in 1922. Local newspapers decried the Klan's vigilante violence; a diligent district attorney pursued and prosecuted those involved; and the local press and the court cases revealed members' identities. The ensuing backlash quickly neutralized the Klan in Kern County. The revealed identities enabled the author to profile local KKK adherents. The subsequent career paths of key members and their opponents confirm the shift of public opinion against the Klan despite its public relations efforts.


Mobile robots suffer from sensor data corruption due to body oscillations and disturbances. Especially, information loss on images captured with onboard cameras can be extremely high and such loss may become irreversible or deblurring can be computationally costly. In this paper, a novel method is proposed to minimize average motion blur captured by mobile cameras. A real-time computable motion blur metric (MMBM) is derived by using only inertial sensor measurements. MMBM is validated by comparing it to optic flow results. To express the applicability of MMBM, a motion blur minimizing system is built on the RHex. To this end, an onboard camera is externally triggered depending on the real-time-calculated MMBM while the robot is walking straight on a flat surface. The resulting motion blur is compared to motion blur levels of a regular, fixed frame-rate image acquisition schedule by qualitative inspection on captured images.


The main aim of this study is to examine the development policies of Sweden and the European Union from a postcolonial perspective. Sweden and the European Union are increasingly coming to be viewed as normative powers rather than military powers. So how does the colonial past of the western societies affect the policies of today? Are there any signs of the power structures of the past, and if so, how are these power structures manifested in the development policies of today? Since both Sweden and the European Union have come to be viewed as normative powers they are compared with each other to highlight their similarities and differences. The results of the study shows that both Sweden and the European Union can be seen as carriers of western values and interests. These values and interests are manifested in their development policies. The analysis also shows that a lot of the colonial power structures exist today though often in other shapes or forms. A postcolonial take on development policy enables us to critically examine the underlying intentions of both actors. Further more it enables us to identify and examine power structures in effect in the international politics.


The state of elastic rolling of the wheel is considered as a special manifestation of the highly developed evolution of the plastic contact of rolling friction. It is shown that for the material point of contact of smooth rolling surfaces, their initial elasticity forms a pair of elastic roughnesses – the sliding friction model. The Carter's diagram is analyzed and its interpretation is given as an analog of the metal tension curve. This diagram is transformed to a structural-energy diagram of the sliding friction coefficient (evolution) of the rubbing surfaces. The conclusion is made about the mutual generality of the Carter's equation and the equation of the energy balance of friction. The evolution of the structure of the rolling contact to the ideal nano-state, adequate to the state of the ideal solid, is justified. The possibility of the existence of an almost ideal thermodynamic cycle at the rolling contact and the maximum efficiency of the energy transformation is shown. In this state, we make up one mechanical (nano) quantum of the self-organized dynamic dissipative structure of the elementary friction contact with minimal contact shift (creep). This actually determines the real performance characteristics of the heavy-loaded Hertz contact of real engineering systems.


Approximately 80% of the world trade measured in volume is carried at sea and there are accordingly many different actors making the shipping industry close to a perfect market. The shipping industry is also a highly volatile industry with abrupt market fluctuations. Under such premises correct timing of decisions becomes essential for those who want to succeed. The nature of the shipping industry also makes it difficult to conduct strategic planning because the fluctuations and irregular pattern between the cycles make the future hard to predict. In this thesis an optimization model that can be used as a tool for strategic planners is presented. An introduction to the shipping industry is given in order to set the background for developing an optimization model. Different types of planning are discussed and important issues connected to strategic planning in shipping are addressed. A deterministic optimization model is presented which suggest the strategic long term decisions that will yield the highest profit for a given planning period. It can be used to evaluate contracts up against each other and find the best mix of COAs and spot contracts for a given fleet, find the optimal fleet size & mix for a set of contracts or a mix of both. In that way it is a very flexible model that can be adapted to fit different scenarios, ranging from small fleets to the larger ones. The model can be used as a basis for a fleet renewal program, helping to decide when to sell and whether to buy old or new ships. It also takes into consideration the time charter market, recommending when to charter in vessels and when to charter out. Another area of application is for users that only are engaged in active vessel trading and not in transportation. A fictional case is used to illustrate how the model can be used to help the management in a shipping company evaluate different strategies. Limitations related to the model and the uncertainties connected to using forecast data is discussed in the thesis.


Register windows is an architectural technique that reduces memory operations required to save and restore registers across procedure calls. Its effectiveness depends on the size of the register file. Such register requirements are normally increased for out-of-order execution because it requires registers for the in-flight instructions, in addition to the architectural ones. However, a large register file has an important cost in terms of area and power and may even affect the cycle time. In this paper we propose two early register release techniques that leverages register windows to drastically reduce the register requirements, and hence reduce the register file cost. Contrary to the common belief that out-of-order processors with register windows would need a large physical register file, this paper shows that the physical register file size may be reduced to the bare minimum by using this novel microarchitecture. Moreover, our proposal has much lower hardware complexity than previous approaches, and requires minimal changes to a conventional register window scheme. Performance studies show that the proposed technique can reduce the number of physical registers to the same number as logical registers plus one (minimum number to guarantee forward progress) and still achieve almost the same performance as an unbounded register file.


Background In resource limited-settings, timely tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis depends upon referral of sputum samples from non-diagnostic to diagnostic facilities for examination. The TB programme data for 2018 suggested losses in Mpongwe District's sputum referral cascade. Aim This study aimed to identify the referral cascade stage where loss of sputum specimen occurred. Setting Primary health care facilities in Mpongwe District, Copperbelt Province, Zambia. Methods Data were retrospectively collected from one central laboratory and six referring health facilities between January and June 2019, using a paper-based tracking sheet. Descriptive statistics were generated in SPSS version 22. Results Of the 328 presumptive pulmonary TB patients found in presumptive TB registers at referring facilities, 311 (94.8%) submitted sputum samples and were referred to the diagnostic facilities. Of these, 290 (93.2%) were received at the laboratory, and 275 (94.8%) were examined. The remaining 15 (5.2%) were rejected for reasons such as 'insufficient sample'. Results for all examined samples were sent back and received at referring facilities. Referral cascade completion rate was 88.4%. Median turnaround time was six days (IQR = 1.8). Conclusion Losses in the sputum referral cascade for Mpongwe District mainly occurred between dispatch of sputum samples and receipt at diagnostic facility. Mpongwe District Health Office needs to establish a system to monitor and evaluate the movement of sputum samples along the referral cascade to minimize losses and ensure timely TB diagnosis. Contribution This study has highlighted, at primary health care level for resource limited settings, the stage in the sputum sample referral cascade where losses mainly occur.


Educating our future planning, property, housing, geography, energy and climate change specialists about the influence of the built environment on health and sustainability is a fundamental component of their learning. However, trying to get first year students to grasp the complexity and breadth of what constitutes a healthy sustainable community and why it is important is no mean feat. This paper, from the perspectives of past student, Ben Hockman, and new lecturer, Sarah Burgess, reflects on the approach taken in the Healthy Sustainable Communities module to address this challenge. With an emphasis on participatory learning, the module seeks to engage students in the topic and emphasises the need for individual thought, research and motivation. Whilst the students are initially averse to this approach, Ben Hockman identifies the benefits that he gained as a student as well as the lessons of hind-sight that he is able share with current students as a Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) leader for the module. Sarah Burgess shares her experience in assisting with the delivery of the module and in assisting students to think creatively about health, sustainability and the built environment.
Sarah Burgess is a senior lecturer in the department, working in the WHO (World Health Organisation) Collaborating Centre for Healthy Cities and Urban Policy. She is a tutor for the first year planning module, Healthy Sustainable Communities.
Ben Hockman is a second year planning student who completed the Healthy Sustainable Communities module in 2010.


The understanding of any neural circuit requires the identification and characterization of all its components. Morphologic classifications of neurons are, therefore, of central importance to neuroscience. We use a quantitative method to classify neurons from layer 5 of mouse primary visual cortex, based on multidimensional clustering. To reconstruct neurons, we used Golgi impregnations and biocytin injections, as well as DiOlistics, a novel technique of labeling neurons with lipophilic dyes. We performed computerized 3‐D reconstructions of 158 layer 5 cells to measure a series of morphologic variables. Principal component analysis and cluster analysis were used for the classification of cell types. Five major classes of cells were found: group 1 includes large pyramidal neurons with apical dendrites that reach layer 1 with an apical tuft; group 2 consists of short pyramidal neurons and large multipolar cells with "polarized" dendritic trees; group 3 is composed of less extensive pyramidal neurons; group 4 includes small cells; and group 5 includes another set of short pyramidal neurons in addition to "atypically oriented" cells. Our sample included a relatively homogeneous group of 27 neurons that project to the superior colliculus, which clustered mainly in group 1, thus supporting the validity of the classification. Cluster analysis of neuronal morphologies provides an objective method to quantitatively define different neuronal phenotypes and may serve as a basis for describing neocortical circuits. J. Comp. Neurol. 461:415–428, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Abstract The Sabinas sub-basin in northern Mexico contains gassy coals in the Upper Cretaceous Los Olmos Formation, based on both historical evidence and current desorption testing. The "Double Seam" coal is present at shallow depth (86 vol%), is well-cleated, shows high diffusivity [average tau (τ) value is 56 hours] and has high natural fracture permeability (>30 mD) in the minesites. The coal averages 2.2 m in thickness but has a high ash content (32 wt%). A tonstein band is present in the middle of the Double Seam, consisting of vitrinite and inertinite embedded in a matrix of fine clays and quartz. Average desorbed gas content of this medium-volatile bituminous coal (Romax = 1.30%) is highest in Mine V (Esmeralda Mine at >9.0 cm3/g). Maximum methane adsorption at an equivalent depth of 300 m is 15 cm3/g (as-received basis; arb). Coal bed methane is mainly methane (98%) with heating value of 38.21 MJ/m3 (1026 Btu/ft3). The coal is under-pressured and reported to be dry, with possibly free gas in the cleat/fracture system and absence of discrete mineralization. In-seam horizontal drilling prior to longwall mining has resulted in the significant reduction of in-situ gas contents and in an increase of mined coal production per shift. The Sabinas sub-basin coals are suitable for a full-scale coal bed methane (CBM) development using in-seam single horizontal and multi-lateral horizontal drilling. Similarities, but also differences, exist between the Sabinas coals in Mexico and the same coals in the Maverick Basin, Texas.


While the current generation of peer-to-peer networks share predominantly static files, future peer-to-peer networks will support sharing of files that are modified frequently by their users. We present techniques to maintain temporal consistency of replicated files in a peer-to-peer network. We consider the Gnutella P2P network and present techniques for maintaining consistency in Gnutella even when peers containing replicated files dynamically join and leave the network. An experimental evaluation of our techniques shows that: (i) a hybrid approach based on push and pull achieves high fidelity in highly dynamic P2P networks and (ii) the run-time overheads of our techniques are small, making them a practical choice for P2P networks.


The questions and answers in the above exchanges are common occurrences in classroom discourse: requests by the teacher for causal explanations and efforts by the students to give them. To succeed in school, students need to be able to explain causally, and teachers need to be able to assess these explanations. Students' causal explanations allow teachers to check understandings of how and why; thus, examining the development of this type of discourse has the potential to provide a framework for formative assessment that can promote learning. Researchers and educators working from a systemic functional linguistic perspective have provided a body of work on causal discourse in science, offering an excellent starting point for examining the development of causal explanations in that subject area. Much of the work that has been undertaken has generally focused on texts written by expert writers (e.g., Mohan et al., 2002 ; Veel, 1997), such as textbooks


In this issue, the news team at Science names its annual breakthrough of the year (see p. 1604). This year the honor goes to the first quantum machine—a microscopic cantilever ingeniously lowered to its lowest possible energy, the quantum ground state. The result may lead to ultrasensitive force detectors and to ways of controlling an object's mechanical vibrations as deftly as we now control electricity and light. It also heralds further investigations of one of the great mysteries of physics: the chasm separating the world of familiar objects from the bizarre realm of quantum mechanics.


In order to understand the influence of a semispherical crucible geometry combined with different convection modes as a thermocapillary convection, natural convection and forced convection, induced by crystal rotation, on melt flow pattern in silicon Czochralski crystal growth process, a set of numerical simulations are conducted using Fluent Software. We solve the system of equations of heat and momentum transfer in classical geometry as cylindrical and modified crystal growth process geometry as cylindro-spherical. In addition, we adopt hypothesis adapted to boundary conditions near the interface and calculations are executed to determine temperature, pressure and velocity fields versus Grashof and Reynolds numbers. The analysis of the obtained results led to conclude that there is advantage to modify geometry in comparison with the traditional one. The absence of the stagnation regions of fluid in the hemispherical crucible corner and the possibility to control the melt flow using the crystal rotation enhances the quality of the process comparatively to the cylindrical one. The pressure field is strongly related to the swirl velocity.


The field of image denoising is currently dominated by discriminative deep learning methods that are trained on pairs of noisy input and clean target images. Recently it has been shown that such methods can also be trained without clean targets. Instead, independent pairs of noisy images can be used, in an approach known as Noise2Noise (N2N). Here, we introduce Noise2Void (N2V), a training scheme that takes this idea one step further. It does not require noisy image pairs, nor clean target images. Consequently, N2V allows us to train directly on the body of data to be denoised and can therefore be applied when other methods cannot. Especially interesting is the application to biomedical image data, where the acquisition of training targets, clean or noisy, is frequently not possible. We compare the performance of N2V to approaches that have either clean target images and/or noisy image pairs available. Intuitively, N2V cannot be expected to outperform methods that have more information available during training. Still, we observe that the denoising performance of Noise2Void drops in moderation and compares favorably to training-free denoising methods.


This study proposes a simple drape measurement method for the 3D virtualization of garments. The pro-posed method uses angles or disks of different diameters to evaluate the drape properties easily. We divided 710 fabrics into ten groups based on the drape coefficient, of which 49.6% had drape coefficients of 30 or less. The drape properties were measured to classify the groups into smaller clusters using the angle formed when the center of the fabric was fixed. Accordingly, three clusters were formed for 60° and 100° angles. A method was devised using ten disks of different diameters to classify the remaining two clusters, except the cluster con-taining only the D10 group (D1-D5 and D5-D9). Three criteria‒grade match, a sum of deviation, and standardization of deviation‒were used for the classifications. The discriminative ability between groups was high for D1-D5 with disks with 24.0 and 25.5 cm diameters. Furthermore, a disk with a diameter of 16.5 cm was effective for D5-D9. The three-dimensional drape shapes were unique for the ten groups, which can be utilized as fundamental data for 3D virtualization.


The dependency of elderly persons became recently an autonomous issue beside the problem of the pensions or the disability. We can explain this late apparition in the field of social policy by a strong attention paid to problems of the pensions and the lack of interest to the new concept of disability. But the main reason is the disagreement on two main questions. There is no common vision on the resources that the community must devote to help dependent people and their family. Moreover there is no agreement on the quality assurance of the services provided. The public debate for the first law was focused on the measure of the dependency and its budget. The second, in a context of growth of the number of dependent people, must integrate the need of support for an increasing number of families, and the condition for production of care of quality


Restoration of riparian plant communities in the dry interior Columbia River basin and other semiarid regions where channel incision has altered hydrological connections is a major challenge. Establishing riparian vegetation within incised systems has the potential to facilitate the aggradation of the stream bed by increasing bank stabilization and providing large woody debris inputs. We tested an alternative approach to irrigation in a heavily incised subwatershed of the dry interior Columbia River Basin by using motorized augers to penetrate lowered water tables. By planting dormant pole cuttings of black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) and willow (Salix spp.) in auger holes within terraces up to 2 m above the incised streambed elevation, we hypothesized that riparian vegetation could be established without the aid of irrigation. We also tested the efficacy of vented plastic tree shelters and circular fence cages with respect to survival, growth, and browsing after 15 months. Survival and average growth was significantly higher for pole plantings protected with vented plastic tree shelters and planted in auger holes where lowered water tables were penetrated (89% and 95 cm, respectively). Survival and average growth was significantly lower for unprotected pole cuttings planted in augur holes where lowered water tables were not penetrated (5% and 33 cm, respectively). Our results suggest that survival of willow and cottonwood pole plantings along incised streams can be greatly enhanced if they are: 1) placed in auger holes that reach the water table via deep-planting; and 2) protected with vented plastic tree shelters.


Non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) is a genomic technology used to predict the chance of a foetus having a genetic condition. Despite the immediacy of this technology's integration into clinical practice, there is a dearth of evidence outlining how both patients and professionals experience NIPT on the ground. In this article, we draw upon our collective empirical research—specifically on earlier screening technologies (BKR), Down syndrome screening (GT), genetic screening/testing (JL) and NIPT (HS)—to outline the most pressing and often controversial issues which, we argue, remain unresolved and vital to consider regarding NIPT. We begin with a brief introduction to NIPT as a prenatal technology and the bodies of literature which unpack its 'social life'. In what follows, BKR discusses NIPT within the context of her research on 'the tentative pregnancy' and diagnostic testing in the USA. In the following sections, GT, HS and JL identify different, but related, concerns with respect to NIPT, particularly around routinisation, commercialisation, choice, abortion, and configurations of disability and 'normalcy'.


This new functionalization method consists of the deposition of very thin plasma polymer layers (20 to 100 nm) of functional group bearing monomers in pulsed plasma. With allylalcohol, a maximum of 30 OH groups per 100 C atoms was measured with a selectivity of about 90% and a significant stability at long-time exposure to air. Allylamine was used to produce primary amino groups, with a maximum of 18 NH2groups per 100 C atoms. Side reactions were observed during the storage in air, such as oxidation of the amino groups. Carboxylic groups could be produced using acrylic acid with a maximum concentration of 24 COOH groups per 100 C atoms. The most prominent side reaction was the decarbonylation/ decarboxylation of the acid group during plasma deposition. The variation of the density of functional groups using the pulsed-plasma polymerization of functional-group-bearing monomers was possible by the chemically-initiated radical copolymerization with either a chain-extending monomer, such as ethylene, or a cross linker, such as butadiene, in plasma. The density of functional groups could be adjusted continuously (0 to 30 OH, 0 to 18 NH2 and 0 to 24 COOH groups per 100 C atoms). The successful application of these densely functionalized polymer surfaces for producing biocompatible surfaces and for use in metal–polymer composites is proposed.


This paper considers a nuclear norm penalized estimator for panel data models with interactive effects. The low-rank interactive effects can be an approximate model and the rank of the best approximation unknown and grow with sample size. The estimator is solution of a well-structured convex optimization problem and can be solved in polynomial-time. We derive rates of convergence, study the low-rank properties of the estimator, estimation of the rank and of annihilator matrices when the number of time periods grows with the sample size. Two-stage estimators can be asymptotically normal. None of the procedures require knowledge of the variance of the errors.


In a world of increasingly rapid technological and economic development, sea-level rise, and possible global climate change, central tasks facing the coastal and estuarine manager are to predict and manage change, undertaken against a background of constantly moving goalposts. There is an urgent need for a much better framework of background environmental data and more effective and reliable management tools, founded on sound scientific understanding, which can provide necessary guidance and the basis for policy formulation. Although these needs have been recognized, and some progress has been made in the past few years, an adequate suite of such management tools and frameworks for environmental monitoring is still some way off.

The broad selection of papers included in this volume reflects the wide range of research currently being undertaken in coastal and estuarine environments, but underlines the fact that there are still significant gaps in understanding and major needs for further research which crosses traditional disciplinary boundaries. This volume brings together the results of recent research of sedimentologists, geomorphologists, archaeologists, engineers and others, expounding their methods and concerns, and identifying further areas where future joint work might be fruitful.


Purpose: To test the sensitivity of DVH‐derived dose indices in comparisons of IMRT plans using different dose calculation methods. Materials and Methods: Eighteen Head‐and‐Neck IMRT patient plans are computed with SC and Monte Carlo(MC) algorithms using identical dose grid placement and resolution. Dose volume histograms (DVH) and resultant dose indices from each plan are evaluated for targets and critical structures as a function of the dose calculation method. The difference of the dose indices is tabulated. An alternate numerical method is introduced where the difference of the doses computed by the two methods are computed for each dose grid element, and divided by the average value at that point. Thereafter, the relative dose difference matrices are overlayed onto the 3D CT and contoured structures. The weighted average and standard deviation of the relative dose difference values over all points within each structure and target are extracted and compared to the dose index differences. Results: A linear regression analysis is possible between the average dose differences and the differences in the dose indices. However, the resultant fit shows a weak correlation, due to exacerbated standard deviations in the dose differences for all targets and dose‐limiting structures. The large standard deviations reflect the differences in the location of hotspots and coldspots in the treatment plans derived from different calculation methods, which cannot be probed with DVH analyses. Conclusions:IMRT planning dose calculation may not be compared accurately with dose index analyses. Thus, we propose the implementation of a weighted dose difference analysis, beyond DVH analysis, for IMRT planning comparisons studies. The present method is an ideal evaluation tool in probabilistic planning and IGRT planning studies, where DVH analyses alone will be insensitive to differences in the location of hotspots and coldspots, within targets and critical structures. (Partial Support, NIH‐1R01CA98524).


ABSTRACT In colonial organisms, alarm pheromones can provide a key fitness advantage by enhancing colony defence and warning of danger. Learning which species use alarm pheromone and the key compounds involved therefore enhances our understanding of how this important signal has evolved. However, our knowledge of alarm pheromones is more limited in the social wasps and hornets compared with the social bees and ants. Vespa velutina is an economically important and widespread hornet predator that attacks honey bees and humans. This species is native to Asia and has now invaded Europe. Despite growing interest in V. velutina, it was unknown whether it possessed an alarm pheromone. We show that these hornets use sting venom as an alarm pheromone. Sting venom volatiles were strongly attractive to hornet workers and triggered attacks. Two major venom fractions, consisting of monoketones and diketones, also elicited attack. We used gas chromatography coupled to electroantennographic detection (GC-EAD) to isolate 13 known and 3 unknown aliphatic ketones and alcohols in venom that elicited conspicuous hornet antennal activity. Two of the unknown compounds may be an undecen-2-one and an undecene-2,10-dinone. Three major compounds (heptan-2-one, nonan-2-one and undecan-2-one) triggered attacks, but only nonan-2-one did so at biologically relevant levels (10 hornet equivalents). Nonan-2-one thus deserves particular attention. However, the key alarm releasers for V. velutina remain to be identified. Such identification will help to illuminate the evolution and function of alarm compounds in hornets. Summary: The Asian hornet Vespa velutina uses sting venom volatiles as an alarm pheromone.


The publication represents a multi-dimensional and multi-faced, in depth assessment of the most significant determinants of the EU development as a political, economic and legal entity, in its format emerging from the Lisbon Treaty. The book represents an important contribution to our understanding of the most profound issues in the recent process of EU integration, including the issue of maintaining its cohesion and coherence under the stress of global challanges faced also by the European Union. Autohors formulated worthwhile conclusions of high value not only for academics but also for political decision-makers, which gives the book same competitive edge over its more theoretical and, hence, less practice-oriented, knack. The arumentation presented in the book would not be left without a reaction of the academic and/or professional circles. I take it almost for granted that the overall setting of the argumentation presented in it, as well as specific points made in its various chapters would find their adequate resonance in a high profile discussion likely to emerge after the book would have been published.


Abstract. Coastal areas are highly exposed to natural hazards associated with the sea. In all cases where there is historical evidence for devastating tsunamis, as is the case of the southern coasts of the Iberian Peninsula, there is a need for quantitative hazard tsunami assessment to support spatial planning. Also, local authorities must be able to act towards the population protection in a preemptive way, to inform "what to do" and "where to go" and in an alarm, to make people aware of the incoming danger. With this in mind, we investigated the inundation extent, run-up and water depths, of a 1755-like event on the region of Huelva, located on the Spanish southwestern coast, one of the regions that was affected in the past by several high energy events, as proved by historical documents and sedimentological data. Modelling was made with a slightly modified version of the COMCOT (Cornell Multi-grid Coupled Tsunami Model) code. Sensitivity tests were performed for a single source in order to understand the relevance and influence of the source parameters in the inundation extent and the fundamental impact parameters. We show that a 1755-like event will have a dramatic impact in a large area close to Huelva inundating an area between 82 and 92 km2 and reaching maximum run-up around 5 m. In this sense our results show that small variations on the characteristics of the tsunami source are not too significant for the impact assessment. We show that the maximum flow depth and the maximum run-up increase with the average slip on the source, while the strike of the fault is not a critical factor as Huelva is significantly far away from the potential sources identified up to now. We also show that the maximum flow depth within the inundated area is very dependent on the tidal level, while maximum run-up is less affected, as a consequence of the complex morphology of the area.


We design powerful low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes with iterative decoding for the block-fading channel. We first study the case of maximum-likelihood decoding, and show that the design criterion is rather straightforward. Since optimal constructions for maximum-likelihood decoding do not perform well under iterative decoding, we introduce a new family of full-diversity LDPC codes that exhibit near-outage-limit performance under iterative decoding for all block-lengths. This family competes favorably with multiplexed parallel turbo codes for nonergodic channels.


We present a novel end-to-end QoS architecture that enables seamless services over heterogeneous wireless access networks. We discuss the main architectural approaches and design issues of mobility-aware QoS signaling in IP networks. Then we introduce a QoS signaling architecture that integrates resource management with mobility management. It is based on a domain resource manager concept and nicely supports various handover types in an integrated approach. In particular, we support anticipated handover with pre-reservation of resources over the old network before the mobile node is attached to the new access point.


This article is a written version of The Thomas E. Fairchild Lecture given by Judge Adelman in Madison, Wisconsin in 2017. The article is divided into three sections. The first discusses the importance of Section 1983 of the United States Code as a vehicle for enforcing constitutional rights. This section also contains a brief history of the statute. The second section of the article discusses some of the ways that the Supreme Court has undermined the effectiveness of the statute. Of the many restrictions that the Court has created, the section places particular emphasis on a doctrine that has been developed relatively recently, that of qualified immunity. The section argues that the doctrine is unsupported by both law and policy. In the third section of the article, the author proposes some modifications of Section 1983 that Congress or the Supreme Court could effect to make the statute more useful, more consistent with its text and history and more protective of civil rights. Probably the most important of these changes would be to apply the tort law principle of respondeat superior to §1983 claims.


Aluminum borate (Al4B2O9) nanomaterials were synthesized via a sol-gel process using Na2B4O7·10H2O and Al (NO3)3·9H2O. The effect of reaction volume concentration, calcination temperature and feeding modes on the morphology of Aluminum borate was investigated. The material was characterized with SEM and XRD. Results reveal that Al4B2O9 nanowires, nanorods could be synthesized, and its morphology also can be tailored by controlling calcination temperature and feeding modes.


The water shortage crisis is globally getting worse particularly in the light of increase in water demand among its different uses. Thus, it is essential to optimize the water allocation to crops. In this paper, a linear programming model has been formulated to ensure the efficient allocation of scarce water resources among the competing crops. This model was constrained by land, water, labour, production costs, and organization constraints, determining the optimal plan for two possible future scenarios. The mathematical analysis was based on statistical data for the years (2009-2011) from the official statistical institutions in Egypt. The results of the two scenarios are as follows: Under the maximization of the net return per unit of land, there is an increase in total net returns by 3.56% more than the actual net returns. The optimized cropping pattern has been coupled with about 3.24% water saving and about 3.13% reduction in production costs compared to actual cropping pattern. However, under the minimization of irrigation water requirements, the total net returns decreased by 10.20% indicating losses below the actual situation. It has resulted in about 11.05% water saving and 11.24% reduction in the costs of production compared to the existing situation. These results can be used as a reference for indicative cropping pattern and irrigation water management in Egypt.


As greenhouse effect has been recognized as serious environmental problem of the world, interests in carbon dioxide (CO2) emission which comprises major part of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have been increased recently. Since construction industry takes a relatively large portion of total CO2 emissions of the world, extensive studies about reducing CO2 emissions in construction and operation of building have been carried out after the 2000s. Also, performance based design (PBD) methodology based on nonlinear analysis has been robustly developed after Northridge Earthquake in 1994 to assure and assess seismic performance of building more exactly because structural engineers recognized that prescriptive code based design approach cannot address inelastic earthquake responses directly and assure performance of building exactly. Although CO2 emissions and PBD approach are recent rising issues on construction industry and structural engineering, there were few or no researches considering these two issues simultaneously. Thus, the objective of this study is to minimize the CO2 emissions and cost of building designed by PBD approach in structural design stage considering structural materials. 4 story and 4 span reinforced concrete building optimally designed to minimize CO2 emissions and cost of building and to satisfy specific seismic performance (collapse prevention in maximum considered earthquake) of building satisfying prescriptive code regulations using non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II (NSGA-II). Optimized design result showed that minimized CO2 emissions and cost of building were acquired satisfying specific seismic performance. Therefore, the methodology proposed in this paper can be used to reduce both CO2 emissions and cost of building designed by PBD approach.


Background During the implementation of the Danish Safer Hospital Programme (DSHP) in 2010–2013, two surgical departments hired pharmacy staff to carry out medicines reconciliations and medicines reviews. The staff had to prioritise the patients and the focus of medicines reviews using the DSHP. The DSHP had never been used to investigate whether the types of drug-related problems (DRPs) differ from orthopaedic to abdominal surgery departments. Purpose To compare DRP in two different surgical departments by using DSHP as a model for medicines reconciliation and review. Materials and methods Data were collected by the pharmacy staff. Over a period of 3 months all DRPs were recorded in thirteen different categories, in the two departments. The medicines review model was built on the methods for medicines reconciliation and high-risk medicines described in the DSHP. The data was analysed using the reports in the Danish DRP database. Results 173 records were made in the orthopaedic department (OD) and 182 in the abdominal department (AD). 75 DRPs were identified in the orthopaedic department (43% of problems noted), and 125 DRPs in the abdominal department (69% of problems noted). The remaining records were of non drug-related problems. The categories of DRP that were most frequent in both departments were dose (OD 31%; AD 32%), supplement to treatment (OD 29%; AD 27%) and inappropriate choice of drug (OD 19%; AD 8%). Examination of data showed many similarities and few differences. For instance both departments had problems with prescribing laxatives to patients treated with opioids. Conclusions The examination of data showed that DRPs are very similar in two different surgical departments using DSHP as a model for medicines reconciliation and medicines review. It is therefore possible to cooperate on a joint effort with the two departments to improve patient safety. No conflict of interest.


The crystal growth conditions of compounds of the series Srn+1IrnO3n+1 (n=1, 2 and ∞) are investigated. It was found that the ratio of IrO2:SrCO3 in the starting mixture is the most important variable in determining the phase formed. Good quality samples of Sr3Ir2O7 were found to have a sharp change in gradient at the Néel temperature of 287.5 K and no secondary T* transition between 230 K and 260 K. All crystals of Sr3Ir2O7 grown were found to be heavily oxygen deficient by EPMA regardless of the crystal growth conditions used with an average stoichiometry of Sr2.87Ir2O6.27. Adding more electrons via replacing strontium with lanthanum causes (Sr(1−x)Lax)3Ir2O7 to become metallic by x=0.072, which also fully quenches the long-range antiferromagnetic order. Heat capacity and resistivity measurements show that metallic (Sr(1−x)Lax)3Ir2O7 is a weakly correlated Fermi-liquid metal. Given that there are only subtle changes to the structure upon lanthanum doping, the metal-insulator transition is a result of electron doping rather than structural distortions. No structural phase transitions were found up to a temperature of 800◦C and no additional evidence was found to support the Bbcb space group model of the structure of Sr3Ir2O7. Using crystals five times better in quality than those reported in the literature, SrIrO3 was found to be a Fermi-liquid metal, rather than a non-Fermi liquid metal as previously reported, and no superconductivity was found down to temperatures of 20 mK. A known Pt(III) compound, CaPt2O4, was found to be a weakly correlated metal down to 2 K and a novel Pt(III) based compound, K2CaPt3−δO6 (δ ≈ 0.4), was discovered. K2CaPt3−δO6 has a structure consisting of monolayers of edgesharing PtO6 octahedra separated by layers of ordered K + and Ca ions in a 2:1 ratio. The structure of K2CaPt3−δO6 was found to be flexible to doping with copper, causing the magnetic properties to change from temperature independent to paramagnetic.


Introduction: An active area of tobacco regulatory science research focuses on examining the effects of varying the nicotine content of cigarettes as part of a potential national policy to lower their nicotine content levels to reduce addiction potential. The present study examines differences in the behavioral effects of reduced nicotine content cigarettes related to their menthol status. Menthol is the only cigarette flavoring that is still legally permissible according to Food and Drug administration regulations. Methods: Participants were 26 current adult smokers from three populations especially vulnerable to tobacco use and addiction (economically disadvantaged women, opioiddependent individuals, individuals with affective disorders) dichotomized as menthol (n=11) or non-menthol (n=15) smokers. Participants completed 14 experimental sessions following acute smoking abstinence (CO<50% baseline level). Across sessions, participants smoked four Spectrum research cigarettes (22 Century Group, Clarence, NY) with varying nicotine content levels (0.4mg/g, 2.4 mg/g, 5.2 mg/g, 15.8 mg/g) or their usual brand cigarette. Research cigarettes were mentholated or non-mentholated corresponding to participants usual brand. Upon completion of smoking, participants completed tasks measuring reinforcing efficacy, subjective effects, topography, and withdrawal and craving measures. Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance was used for all analyses (p<.05). Results: Main effects of menthol status, as well as interactions of nicotine dose and menthol were noted across subscales of subjective effects and direct assessments of reinforcing efficacy. Usual brand mentholated cigarettes produced a profile of equal or greater relative reinforcing effects than usual brand non-mentholated cigarettes, while mentholated research cigarettes produced a profile of effects that fell below (i.e., lower relative reinforcing effects compared to usual brand or non-mentholated cigarettes) those of non-mentholated research cigarettes. Conclusions: Mentholated research cigarettes produce a lower profile of reinforcing and subjective effects, without discernible differences in smoking topography. The potential impact of mentholation on reinforcing efficacy and subjective effects should be considered when using Spectrum research cigarettes.


Indigenous hunting and its impact on wildlife represents one of the most critical and controversial issues in Taiwan. This study aims to investigate the interplay between governmental conservation institutions and indigenous hunting norms in an anonymous Truku area. The empirical results show that, over the long term between the 1970s and mid-2000s, socioeconomic change has played a pivotal role, and has exerted a relatively slow but significant influence on indigenous hunting norms, while governmental conservation institutions have played a minor role. In such external institutional settings, Truku hunting territory norms remain robust. However, since the mid-2000s, strict legal enforcement by governmental institutions has resulted in a more rapid decline in indigenous hunting territories. In the long run, wildlife populations have significantly recovered. At the same time, indigenous hunting activities have dramatically declined, and nowadays indigenous hunting norms are increasingly losing their influence. Finally, we discuss the normative implications of the empirical findings. We suggest that, in friendly external institutional settings, Truku hunting territory norms are quite robust. Accordingly, in cooperating with the future framework of Truku self governance, a wildlife co-management proposal governed by both the governmental conservation institutions and Truku hunting norms may become feasible.


This article describes the general competence of health care professionals and points possible articulations with the practicum. The goal is to draw the attention of nurses and future professionals, about the importance of experiencing the practicum, during training for the acquisition and improvement of general competence of health care professionals, in addition to the specific skills and competencies of nursing. In the health services, both in public and in private, there is the need to count on a competent nurse professional in your professional practice. In this way, as is noted in the National curriculum guidelines for undergraduate courses in nursing, the practicum is considered the best place for the graduating acquire a profile that meets the profile of a competent professional with knowledge and skills appropriate to the exercise of the profession.


Personalization of cancer immunotherapies such as therapeutic vaccines and adoptive T-cell therapy may benefit from efficient identification and targeting of patient-specific neoepitopes. However, current neoepitope prediction methods based on sequencing and predictions of epitope processing and presentation result in a low rate of validation, suggesting that the determinants of peptide immunogenicity are not well understood. We gathered published data on human neopeptides originating from single amino acid substitutions for which T cell reactivity had been experimentally tested, including both immunogenic and non-immunogenic neopeptides. Out of 1,948 neopeptide-HLA (human leukocyte antigen) combinations from 13 publications, 53 were reported to elicit a T cell response. From these data, we found an enrichment for responses among peptides of length 9. Even though the peptides had been pre-selected based on presumed likelihood of being immunogenic, we found using NetMHCpan-4.0 that immunogenic neopeptides were predicted to bind significantly more strongly to HLA compared to non-immunogenic peptides. Investigation of the HLA binding strength of the immunogenic peptides revealed that the vast majority (96%) shared very strong predicted binding to HLA and that the binding strength was comparable to that observed for pathogen-derived epitopes. Finally, we found that neopeptide dissimilarity to self is a predictor of immunogenicity in situations where neo- and normal peptides share comparable predicted binding strength. In conclusion, these results suggest new strategies for prioritization of mutated peptides, but new data will be needed to confirm their value.


Objective: This randomized, partially-blinded, placebo-controlled study evaluated hemodynamic effects, pharmacokinetic interactions, and safety of concomitant administration of oral rimegepant and subcutaneous sumatriptan. Methods: Healthy non-smokers aged ≥18 and ≤40 years (men) or ≥18 and ≤50 years (women) were enrolled. On Day 1, subjects received 12 mg of sumatriptan as 2 subcutaneous 6 mg injections separated by 1 hour. From Days 2 to 4, subjects received rimegepant or placebo once daily (randomized 6 to 1, rimegepant to placebo). On Day 5, subjects received rimegepant or placebo, followed 2 hours later by 2 subcutaneous 6 mg injections of sumatriptan, separated by 1 hour. Sumatriptan was administered at the same times as on Day 1. Results: All 42 dosed subjects were analyzed. There were no significant differences in the time-weighted average of mean arterial pressure, diastolic blood pressure, or systolic blood pressure between treatment with rimegepant + sumatriptan and sumatriptan alone. Co-administration of rimegepant and sumatriptan had no effect on the pharmacokinetics of either drug. Overall, 93% (39/42) of subjects experienced ≥1 adverse event; injection site reaction was most common (60% [29/42]). Conclusions: Concomitant administration of oral rimegepant and subcutaneous sumatriptan to healthy adults was without hemodynamic or pharmacokinetic interaction and was safe and well tolerated.


The role of CETP expression and diabetes in atherogenesis was investigated in mice with heterozygous disruption of the LDL receptor gene (LDLR1). LDLR1 mice with and without CETP expression were treated with streptozotocin (STZ) and maintained on a standard diet for one month before switching to an atherogenic diet for an additional month. STZ‐sensitive mice had ∼2.5‐fold higher glycemia and 7.5‐ to 8.0‐fold higher cholesterolemia. Factorial analysis of variance showed no significant effect of diabetes, CETP or diabetes‐CETP interaction on the size of the atherosclerotic lesions. CETP expression in non‐diabetic mice resulted in a 50% reduction in the area of the atherosclerotic lesions. Multiple regression analysis showed a positive and independent atherogenic effect of triglyceridemia in LDLR1 mice and of cholesterolemia in diabetic mice. Logistic analysis showed that elevated plasma cholesterol level significantly increased the risk of developing large lesion size (>75th percentile). In conclusion, CETP expression did not alter the lesion formation in response to diabetes, although it may be protective in the euglycemic state; the triglyceride level was an independent risk factor for LDL receptor‐deficient mice but not for CETP‐expressing mice; and elevated plasma cholesterol levels increased the risk of developing large atherosclerotic lesions, independently of CETP and diabetes.


Abstract. To establish the horizontal crustal movement velocity field of the Chinese mainland, a Hardy multi-quadric fitting model and collocation are usually used. However, the kernel function, nodes, and smoothing factor are difficult to determine in the Hardy function interpolation. Furthermore, the covariance function of the stochastic signal must be carefully constructed in the collocation model, which is not trivial. In this paper, a new combined estimation method for establishing the velocity field, based on collocation and multi-quadric equation interpolation, is presented. The crustal movement estimation simultaneously takes into consideration an Euler vector as the crustal movement trend and the local distortions as the stochastic signals, and a kernel function of the multi-quadric fitting model substitutes for the covariance function of collocation. The velocities of a set of 1070 reference stations were obtained from the Crustal Movement Observation Network of China, and the corresponding velocity field was established using the new combined estimation method. A total of 85 reference stations were used as checkpoints, and the precision in the north and east component was 1.25 and 0.80 mm yr−1, respectively. The result obtained by the new method corresponds with the collocation method and multi-quadric interpolation without requiring the covariance equation for the signals.


Our work is aimed at enhancing the external quantum efficiency (EQE) of n-i-p photodiodes by reducing the absorption losses in the p-layer and the recombination losses in the p-i interface. We have applied boron-doped and undoped hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbon alloy (a-SiC:H) grown in hydrogen-diluted, silane-methane plasma to both the p-layer and undoped buffer layer, thus tailoring the p-i interface. The current-voltage, capacitance-voltage, and spectral-response characteristics of fabricated photodiodes are correlated with the doping level, optical band gap, and deposition conditions for a-SiC:H layers. The optimized device exhibits a leakage current of about 110 pA/cm2 at the reverse bias of 5 V, and a peak value of 89% EQE at a wavelength of 530 nm. At shorter wavelengths, the EQE decreases down to 56% at a 400 nm wavelength. Calculations of transmission/reflection losses at the front of the photodiode show that observed short-wavelength sensitivity enhancement can be attributed to improved separation of electron-hole pairs in the p-layer depletion region. © 2010 Materials Research Society.


Drs JOSEPH WALKER and LAKSHMI N YATHAM (Nova Scotia Hospital, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada) write: In 1990 Benylin DM was reformulated as a single entity cough suppressant containing only dextromethorphan, which is described as having no analgesic or addictive properties.' Cases of dextromethorphan abuse and dependence have, however, been reported24 as well as a case of toxic psychosis and exacerbation of pre-existing schizophrenia.45 We report a case of recurrent mania associated with abuse of dextromethorphan. A 40 year old man was admitted with a two week history of manic symptoms. On inquiry we discovered that he had been using Benylin DM 100ml or more regularly for about eight years. At times of stress his intake increased to 400ml daily, at which point he invariably became manic. This had led to admission on one occasion before 1990, when Benylin DM also contained diphenhydramine, and on three occasions subsequently, after he had taken Benylin DM containing dextromethorphan only. He rapidly settled down with small doses of haloperidol on each occasion with return to premorbid level offunctioning. Mania (organic mood syndrome) secondary to Benylin DM abuse was provisionally diagnosed, and he was treated with small doses of haloperidol with rapid resolution of symptoms. While in hospital, however, he experienced craving for Benylin DM, which he obtained and ingested, with prompt return of manic symptoms; these abated within two to three days. He has had one further episode of mania since, again associated with excessive ingestion of Benylin DM. Although psychosis has been described associated with both normal use and abuse of non-prescription cold medications,;7 this is the first report of a case of mania associated with a non-prescription cold remedy whose sole constituent is dextromethorphan. It is not clear how dextromethorphan brings about mania, but we draw attention to the abuse potential of this over the counter medication.


Changes in pitch angle distributions of electrons with energies from a few eV to 1 MeV at dipolarization sites in Earth's magnetotail are investigated statistically to determine the extent to which adiabatic acceleration may contribute to these changes. Forty‐two dipolarization events from 2008 and 2009 observed by Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms probes covering the inner plasma sheet from 8 RE to 12 RE during geomagnetic activity identified by the AL index are analyzed. The number of observed events with cigar‐type distributions (peaks at 0° and 180°) decreases sharply below 1 keV after dipolarization because in many of these events, electron distributions became more isotropized. From above 1 keV to a few tens of keV, however, the observed number of cigar‐type events increases after dipolarization and the number of isotropic events decreases. These changes can be related to the ineffectiveness of Fermi acceleration below 1 keV (at those energies, dipolarization time becomes comparable to electron bounce time). Model‐calculated pitch angle distributions after dipolarization with the effect of betatron and Fermi acceleration tested indicate that these adiabatic acceleration mechanisms can explain the observed patterns of event number changes over a large range of energies for cigar events and isotropic events. Other factors still need to be considered to assess the observed increase in cigar events around 2 keV. Indeed, preferential directional increase/loss of electron fluxes, which may contribute to the formation of cigar events, was observed. Nonadiabatic processes to accelerate electrons in a parallel direction may also be important for future study.


We present a new symbolic approach for the steady-state solution of ergodic continuous-time Markov chains(CTMCs) using iterative methods, based on Edge-Valued Multi-way Decision Diagrams (EVMDDs) to store an indexing function for the structured states and the transition rate matrix. The approach is applicable to any structured CTMC, is memory efficient, and supports both Jacobi and Gauss-Seidel iterations. In particular, our main contribution is a new two-phase algorithm to perform Gauss-Seidel iterations with a reduced decision diagram traversal overhead (a cost also encountered by Kronecker-based approaches). Then, we show how even better speedup can be achieved through a caching scheme. The complexity of our algorithm is linear in the number of nonzero entries in the transition rate matrix, and, even more importantly, it is independent of the number L of submodels in which the CTMC is decomposed under most common conditions. This is an improvement over previous structured methods, which are plagued by this L factor in practice. The advantages of our algorithm are supported by experimental results and a comparison with the tool PRISM.


The original intention of this study was to exploit the specificity of circularisable ligation probes (CLiPs) in a unique approach of in situ genotyping the mu-opioid receptor (MOR) splice variants. CLiPs were designed to target a PCR generated MOR-1 template in vivo. The ligation results were consistent with circularised CLiPs, however due to the inherent limitations of this method the more conventional technique of fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH) was substituted for CLiPs to analyse to distribution of MOR splice variants in rat brain. Utilising FISH, the aim was to produce RNA probes (riboprobes) approximately the same size as the target specific region of CLiPs (~60-70 nt) to analyse the distribution patterns of MOR splice variants in rat brain. Five short (70-222 nt) riboprobes were generated to exons 1, 3, 4 and 9, and the 5' UTR + exon 1 of the Rattus norvegicus MOR gene (Oprm) to be utilised in FISH. The exon 1, 4 and 5' UTR + exon 1 riboprobes were shown to localise to MOR mRNA in brain structures previously reported to express MORs. These riboprobes also localised to mRNA within the Purkinje cells of the adult rat cerebellum, where it is generally accepted that only DOR is expressed in the rat cerebellum. MOR mRNA was visualised in many structures in the rat brain, including the dendate gyrus, inferior olive and spinal trigeminal nucleus. Riboprobes generated to the 5' UTR + exon 1 and exon 4 showed differential distribution patterns, the functional significance of this discovery is unknown, however these results implicate a role for FISH in tracking the distribution patterns of untranslated and translated mRNA. The use of novel new short riboprobes represents a technically difficult yet feasible technique for mapping MOR mRNA distribution in adult rat brain.


In order to evaluate the relationship between yield and some relevant traits and estimation of the most effective traits on grain yield, a split-plot experiment based on completely randomized block design with four replications was carried out in 2006–2007 in the research field of Islamic Azad University of Karaj. The irrigation schemes scheduled as main plots included the following: (T1) 40% moisture depletion throughout the growing season (control); (T2) 60% moisture depletion throughout the growing season; (T3) 80% moisture depletion throughout the growing season; (T4) no irrigation during the stem elongation stage and continuing with adequate irrigation to the end of the growing season; (T5) no irrigation from the stem elongation stage to the end of the growing season; (T6) no irrigation at flowering and continuing with adequate irrigation to the end of the growing season; (T7) no irrigation from flowering to the end of the growing season; and (T8) no irrigation from the milk stage to the end of the growing season; and 2 wheat cultivars [Marvdasht (V1), Chamran (V2)] as sub-plots. According to the results of simple correlation, the grain yield exhibited the most positive correlation with biomass (0.877), number of infertile spikelets (0.876) and harvest index (0.855). The results of step-wise regression showed that, in the absence of drought stress, biomass and harvest index had respectively the most important effects on the grain yield but both exhibited different results under drought stress. Path analysis results showed that the most important effect on the grain yield in the total tested treatments was related to the biomass, justifying a total of 87% of grain yield variations, 72% of which is the direct effect of this trait on grain yield.


One of the challenges in medicine is to give patients good advice and guidance that will enable them to live for as long as possible in as good a state of health as possible. Prevention of disease is the best treatment. This is why it is so important to accurately predict the risk of various diseases such as cancer, vascular disease or diabetes mellitus. In highrisk patients it is useful to take preventative measures. To do this it is necessary to have information about the expected absolute treatment effect for each individual patient. All this information can then be used in a discussion between the patient and their treating professional so that together they can make an informed decision about whether or not to take preventative measures that are aimed at a longer diseasefree life. This may or may not mean living longer, but it does mean a life in as good a state of health as possible.


The entropy behaviour along the Rayleigh–line process of quasi–one–dimensional (quasi–1D) gaseous detonation waves is examined using a Rankine–Hugoniot analysis. Quasi–1D detonation waves are characterized by a small fractional change in cross–sectional area across otherwise ideal 1D detonation waves (ξ). They arise, for example, in the modelling of boundary layers in the detonation of gases in tubes of finite diameter. Contrary to the current view on the problem of quasi–1D detonations with area change, where the generalized Chapman–Jouguet (CJ) condition used to close the conservation laws is the sonic outflow, the following results are obtained from the present analysis. We first show that the tangency between the Hugoniot curve and Rayleigh line of quasi–1D gaseous detonation waves can be adequately described in the [pressure, specific volume /(1+ξ)] plane. For ξ > 0, it is shown that this tangency with a positive entropy derivative along the Rayleigh line represents the end–state of a self–sustaining quasi–1D diverging detonation wave, where the entropy reaches its maximum allowable value. The corresponding downstream flow velocity is subsonic relative to the detonation front. Both the state of maximum entropy along the Rayleigh line and that of downstream sonic flow lie on the weak branch of computed entropy profiles. For ξ < 0, this tangency with a negative entropy derivative along the Rayleigh line cannot be a physically attainable state without violating the principle of the increase of entropy. The end–state of a quasi–1D self–sustaining converging detonation wave lies in the state of maximum entropy along the Rayleigh line, where the flow velocity is supersonic relative to the wave front. For ξ= 0, this tangency coincides with the state of maximum entropy along the Rayleigh line where the downstream flow velocity becomes sonic. Therefore, the present findings refute the current consensus on the important question about the basic CJ criterion of detonations. The correct condition to obtain closure of basic conservation laws is the maximum allowable entropy along the Rayleigh line of a detonation wave, i.e. maximum entropy without weak detonation solutions. On the other hand, it is shown that practical application of the sonic–choking criterion for determining quasi–1D self–sustaining detonation waves, when the ξ is small, can be justified on the basis of its small deviation from the result predicted by the maximum allowable entropy criterion, owing to the existence of the unique solution of quasi–1D conservation equations describing the considered detonation waves.


In this paper we test the ability of three of the most popular methods to forecast South African currency crises with a special emphasis on their out-of-sample performance. We choose the latest crisis of June 2006 to conduct an out-of-sample experiment. The results show that the signals approach was not able to forecast the out-of-sample crisis correctly; the probit approach was able to predict the crisis but only with models, that were based on raw data. The Markov-regime-switching approach predicts the out-of-sample crisis well. However, the results are not straightforward. In-sample, the probit models performed remarkably well and were also able to detect, at least to some extent, out-of-sample currency crises before their occurrence. The recommendation is to not restrict the forecasting to only one approach.


The spatial structure of the banking sector in Hungary is characterised by a large- scale concentration in Budapest, but the foundation "boom" of branch offices is also typical in the countryside, as the necessity of the presence on the local markets (collection of resources and credit allocation etc.), as well as the competition for the market of households stimulate banks to build out their national networks. From the mid-1990s, after the relative saturation of West Hungary, the main targets are the large cities in East and South Hungary. The Hungarian fmance institutions, because of the centralised structure of banking, aim at completely covering the relatively small Hungarian banking market. This tendency promotes equalisation among the different parts of Hungary. At the same time, the fmance institutions, which have their headquarters in Budapest, only concentrate on the collection of deposits in their national network. The presence of the centralised and the lack of the decentralised capital markets can block or slow down regional development in the long run. Local and regional credits can only be received in Hungary in the traditional way, through the centralised network of bank offices. The Hungarian commercial banks do not provide SMEs with adequate credits, and they do not fmance larger local governmental projects and regional infrastructure investments, either. Within the centralised banking structure, the regional decentralisation of certain financial services is possible, without questioning the role of the national banking centre, but contributing to a more efficient operation of the network.


The proposed method is devised to reconstruct a focused radar image for a wide observation angle without an interpolation, and therefore, it improves the image quality and reduces the processing time. To evaluate the performance, it is compared with the conventional sampling method through simulation and experimental results. In the case of the proposed method, the computation time is improved more than 33% for the image size of 1024/spl times/1024 pixels.


Species that disperse by means of planktonic larvae are typically not genetically structured along environmentally homogeneous coastlines. In contrast, those that lack a planktonic dispersal phase, or species with a short (<12 h) pelagic propagule duration (PPD), tend to show population genetic structure at small spatial scales, with dispersal often taking place by means of a stepping-stone process. These general patterns emerged in the literature after decades of studies based on relatively poorly resolving genetic markers (e.g. allozymes and DNA se- quences). However, recent evidence based on more informative genetic markers (microsatellites) suggests that stepping-stone dispersal is not uncommon in species with a PPD of days to weeks. Here, we used microsatellite data to investigate genetic structure in a non-native population of the solitary ascidian Pyura doppelgangera in southern Australia. This species is part of a group of mar- ine invertebrates with great potential to become invasive, whose 1 day PPD was considered to be sufficiently long to drive genetic homogeneity along continuous coastlines. We identified genetic structure at scales of a few kilometres, with clear signatures of larval retention at natal sites. This limited dispersal potential may explain why the species has not yet established itself throughout the invaded region. Our results add to the growing evidence that many previous studies may have over-interpreted the dispersal potential of this group, likely because of insufficient resolution of the more slowly evolving DNA markers used to make inferences at ecological time-scales.


Icing is still one of the most common treatments to acute skeletal muscle damage in sports medicine. However, previous studies using rodents reported the detrimental effect of icing on muscle regeneration following injury. This study aimed to elucidate the critical factors governing the impairment of muscle regeneration by icing with a murine model of eccentric contraction-induced muscle damage by electrical stimulation. Because of icing after muscle injury, the infiltration of polynuclear and mononuclear cells into necrotic muscle fibers was retarded and attenuated, leading to the persistent presence of necrotic cellular debris. These phenomena coincided with the delayed emergence and sustained accumulation of Pax7+ myogenic cells within the regenerating area. Additionally, due to icing, delayed and/or sustained infiltration of M1 macrophages was noted in accordance with the perturbed expression patterns of inflammation-related factors, including tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-10 (IL-10). The key myogenic regulatory factors (i.e., MyoD and myogenin) involved in the activation/proliferation and differentiation of myogenic precursor cells were not altered by icing during the regenerative process. A detailed analysis of regenerating myofibers by size distribution at day 14 after muscle damage showed that the ratio of small regenerating fibers to total regenerating fibers was higher in icing-treated animals than in untreated animals. These findings suggest that icing following muscle damage blunts the efficiency of muscle regeneration by perturbing the removal of necrotic myofibers and phenotypic dynamics of macrophages rather than affecting myogenic factors.


Roadheaders are frequently used machines in mining and tunnelling, and performance prediction of roadheaders is important for project economics and stability. Several methods were proposed so far for this purpose and, rock cutting tests are the best choice. Rock cutting tests are generally divided into two groups which are namely, full scale rock cutting tests and small scale rock cutting tests. These two tests have some superiorities and deficiencies over themselves. However, in many cases, where rock sampling becomes problematic, small scale rock cutting test (core cutting test) is preferred for performance prediction, since small block samples and core samples can be conducted to rock cutting testing. Common problem for rock cutting tests are that they can be found in very limited research centres. In this study, a new mobile rock cutting testing equipment, vertical rock cutting rig (VRCR) was introduced. Standard testing procedure was conducted on seven rock samples which were the part of a former study on cutting rocks with another small scale rock cutting test. Results showed that core cutting test can be realized successfully with VRCR with the validation of paired samples t-test.


Pine nuts are becoming a popular snack because of their interesting taste and positive nutritional profile. Their fatty acid profile has been reported but there is some confusion identifying named cultivars. This study presents the fatty acid profile of five different cultivars of pine nuts currently growing in the South Island of New Zealand. The data are compared to three different samples of pine nuts currently imported into NZ. Identification of the twelve different fatty acids extracted from these samples was identified by retention time using GC-FID and GC-MS methods. The peaks were further identified by comparison of the retention times with a MS Library match and their corresponding LRI value. All but two of the extracted fatty acids were identified by comparisons with a known pure fatty acid standard sample for each fatty acid. Botanical identification of the five locally grown pine nuts was confirmed by calculating the Diagnostic Index of each cultivar from its fatty acid composition.


The recent development of two types of environmental friendly cementitious materials, magnesium oxychloride cement and magnesium phosphate cement, at HKUST are presented. Both of them can develop high strength without heat treatment under elevated temperature, i.e. the bonding of these cementitious materials can be achieved at low temperature through chemical reaction, as opposed to fusion or sintering at high temperature. The preparation process of the two cements can not only save a lot of energy but also emit no carbon dioxide. For magnesium oxychloride cement, our research includes parametric study of the formulation, strength development, water resistance, and also identification of phase composition in the cement paste. Magnesium phosphate cement is mainly applied as rapid repair material in civil engineering. In this paper, the formulation, mechanical properties and performance in patch repair of mortar specimen including strength, bond ability to old concrete substrate, volume stability are studied.


ABSTRACT The travel cost method (TCM) has been widely used to estimate values of visits to recreational and heritage sites. However, its conventional use is limited to the estimation of visitors' values given the current condition of the site. In this article, the TCM is combined with the contingent behaviour (CB) technique to allow the estimation of changes in values associated with a change in site condition. This approach provides marginal value estimates that are suited to inclusion in benefit–cost analysis. The context used to apply this conceptual development is the estimation of marginal benefits associated with improvements in the condition of the Hawkesbury–Nepean River system, an iconic waterway in NSW, Australia. Pollution, reduced flows downstream of dams and weirs, and water extraction have contributed to algal blooms and aquatic weed growth in the River. To address this decline in river health a new regime of environmental flow releases is under consideration. The increases in recreation values at six main recreation sites along the River that would result from environmental flows were estimated using the dual travel cost/CB approach. The marginal benefits were estimated to be within a range of $1.7 m to $6.6 m per annum.


The level of pCO2 and bicarbonates in blood and tissues of Cyprinus carpio L. increases with concentration of carbonic acid (HCO3- and pCO2), the other indices of the hydrochemical composition being constant. The value of blood pH is unchanged. In fish with a higher content of carbonic acid in blood the amount of lactate, pyruvate, oxaloacetate, malate, citrate, alpha-ketoglutarate, ammonia, glutamin, free amino acids, total and residual nitrogen rises. Simultaneously the content of urea increases in kidneys, but decrease in gills, whereas in blood and live it does not differ from the corresponding indices of fishes from the control group.


This paper presents a compact model implemented in Verilog-A for PD SOI sub-micron MOSFETs, which allows for describing the Single Events Effects (SEE) produced by heavy ions. This Verilog-A module can be coupled with Spice simulator in order to have faster (time-efficient) circuit simulations with good agreement. Due to the physical aspects considered in the model, better flexibility than the standard current source method is achieved. Experimental data for 0.15 and 0.13 µm technology nodes are used to validate our model. Robustness of the model to reproduce experimental results is demonstrated on three datasets available in literature: 1) single event transient current in stand-alone n-FET from 0.13µm PD SOI process hinted by heavy ions at different positions; 2) SEE propagation in path delay with ten inverters realized in 0.13µm PD SOI process; 3) 6T SRAMs with active element delay on SEE-rad-hardened 0.15µm PD SOI process.


A systematic evaluation of N-heterocyclic carbene ligands in the iron-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions of aryl chlorides and arylmagnesium reagents is performed. There is no clear correlation between the donor strength of the N-heterocyclic carbene and the reaction outcome. Instead, the highest yields of the desired biaryl product are obtained with sterically demanding ligands possessing large %Vbur values. Through this study, SIPrNap has been identified as an efficient and general ligand for the coupling of both aryl chlorides and tosylates.


Abstract The present study investigates the phonology and phonetics of Galician post-vocalic velar nasals. Galician has very strict coda restrictions – it does not allow for complex codas. One exception to this restriction is found in the plurals of words ending in a nasal consonant, which add /s/ to the "right" of a noun or adjective: man 'hand', mans 'hands'; pan 'bread', pans 'breads'. The present study puts forward a proposal, initially based on synchronic, formal phonological grounds, according to which post-vocalic, pre-/s/ nasals in plural forms are not nasal stops, but nasal glides. Their nature as nasal glides allows for their syllabification in the nucleus rather than in the coda, thus preserving (i.e., not violating) the restriction on complex codas. This proposal is then tested with a production experiment based on quantitative acoustic data. The acoustic study reveals indeed a difference in the degree of weakening of post-vocalic nasals, with pre-/s/ nasals in the plural forms showing a significantly higher degree of weakening than pre-/s/ nasals in the singular forms. The article concludes with an Optimality-Theoretic analysis of the phonological facts.


Research related to factors affecting transfer of training in the government sector in Sri Lanka is extremely limited. Hence, this article examines the impact of two trainee characteristics (self efficacy and career commitment) and four work environmental factors (supervisory support, opportunity to perform, awareness of strategic linkages and accountability) on motivation to transfer. Data were collected from 152 officers of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service who participated in a capacity building training program. The Structural Equation Modelling technique was used to test the hypotheses derived from the extensive literature survey. The findings revealed that trainees' self efficacy has a significant impact on the motivation to transfer. Contrary to expectation, the other constructs did not significantly influence the motivation to transfer. The implications of the results and limitations of the study are also noted, along with suggestions.


Specific behavioral patterns associated with chromosomal and genetic disorders are being recognized more frequently. The hope is that the demonstration of a behavioral phenotype with a particular syndrome may lead to the isolation of the behavior's genetic determinants. Three issues are considered here: the problem of defining a behavioral phenotype, the difficulty of demonstrating the existence of a behavioral phenotype, and the likelihood of characterizing etiologically important genes. Although there are many impediments to success, the value of recognizing behavioral phenotypes within a diagnostic syndrome is emphasized, and examples are given of how this may lead to isolating behavioral genes.


Onomastic knowledge in Textbooks on Hungarian Grammar for secondary schools: possibilities of redesigning in the light of the draft version of the National Curriculum
The insufficiencies of pupils' onomastic knowledge at several levels of public education have been continually reported in Hungarian articles on Onomastics. In the current process of redesigning the National Core Curriculum, it is time to review why the onomastic exercises in the present text-books on Hungarian Grammar prove to be inefficient, and what opportunities the draft of the National Core Curriculum may provide to improve onomastic knowledge. The paper first discusses the problems of teaching Onomastics in accordance with the present National Core Curriculum. The second part of the paper presents the results of a survey on onomastic knowledge (the types and rates of the tasks) in the latest textbooks on Hungarian Grammar for grades 5 to 12. The paper also attempts to define the types of tasks, such as onomastic tasks, tasks for widening onomastic knowledge and tasks for widening knowledge on proper names. Finally, the paper explores new possibilities in the draft for moving forward.


The effect of organic additives, thiourea (TU), on the copper electroplated layer of large rectangular size was investigated through physical and various electrochemical techniques. It was found that TU had strong adsorption characteristics on the Ni substrate and affected the initial electroplating process by inducing surface reaction instead of mass transfer in the bulk solution. TU additives had its critical micelle concentration at 200 ppm in copper sulphate solution and showed abrupt change in morphological and electrochemical impedance spectroscopic results around this concentration, which could be related with the destruction of adsorption structure of TU-Cu(I) complex formed at the Ni substrate surface. By conducting a commercial electroplating simulation, when TU additives was included at cmc in the plating solution, it acted as a depolarizer for copper electrodeposition and was effective to reduce the unevenness of copper deposits between centre and edge region at high current densities of 10 ASD.


The first part of this thesis investigates the establishment of a calibration procedure for the Nanoscope II Scanning Tunnelling Microscope (STM) based on the use of calibration standards, which have been certified by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Two measurement techniques are compared. One involves taking a fast fourier transform (fft) of a surface profile, the resulting measurement corresponds to the period of the optimum frequency of the fft spectrum. In the other method the surface profile is differentiated and the measurement corresponds to separation of consecutive peaks on the differential curve.

The second part focused on Scanning Tunnelling Spectroscopy (STS) measurements of the Au(l 11) surface in air and liquid environments. A characteristic I-V curve was obtained for the Au(lll) surface usmg current voltage(I-V) spectroscopy. The apparent tunnelling barrier height was calculated from current-distance (I-S) spectroscopy. For the Au(lll) surface imaged in Decalm a value of 1 4eV was calculated for the apparent barrier height, while for the same surface in a air value of 10 eY was calculated.

The final part of this thesis involved a study of the native oxide and sulphur passivated InP(lOO) surfaces and preliminary measurements on Germanium surfaces X-ray photoemission spectroscopy(XPS) was used to determine the chemical composition of the InP surfaces STM images of the native oxides of InP(lOO) surfaces were found to have a root mean square (rms) roughness greater than that of the sulphur passivated surface I-V spectroscopy of both the native oxide and sulphur passivated InP(lOO) displayed characteristics similar to those observed for corresponding treatments to the GaAs surface I-S spectroscopy of the native oxide on InP(lOO) gave a apparent barrier height of 0 3 eV, while for the sulphur passivated InP(lOO) surface the value was 0 05 eV The very low apparent barrier height on the passivated surface was attributed to the effects of tip induced band bending. Further STS studies of the native oxides on Ge(l 11) surface and hydrogen passivation of that surface display the same trends as observed on InP(lOO).


Islands in Time explores the ecological and cultural development of prehistoric island societies. It considers the prehistory of the Mediterranean and offers an explanation of the effects of isolation on the development of human communities. Evidence is drawn from a broad range of Mediterranean islands including Cyprus, Crete and the Cyclades, Malta, Lipari, Corsica and Sardinia.


Cyclohexane analogues of the antifungal icofungipen [(1R,2S)-2-amino-4-methylenecy
clopentanecarboxylic acid] were selectively synthesized from unsaturated bicyclic beta-lactams
by transformation of the ring olefinic bond through three different regio- and stereocontrolled
hydroxylation techniques, followed by hydroxy group oxidation and oxo-methylene
interconversion with a phosphorane. Starting from an enantiomerically pure bicyclic beta-lactam
obtained by enzymatic resolution of the racemic compound, an enantiodivergent procedure led to
the preparation of both dextro- and levorotatory cyclohexane analogues of icofungipen.


Brachial artery and central aortic pressures were compared in 50 consecutive patients subjected to retrograde left heart catheterization in order to re-emphasize the fact that the two pressures are not necessarily identical. In 43 cases the systemic systolic pressure peaks exceeded those in the central aorta while in seven these pressures were equal. The average pressure difference was 22.6 mm. Hg. The greatest differences occurred in cases of aortic regurgitation and could be extreme, the brachial artery systolic pressure exceeding that in the aorta by more than 100 mm. Hg in some instances. The least differences occurred in cases of aortic stenosis but significant differences occasionally existed, leading to erroneous estimation of valve orifice size if the systemic rather than the aortic systolic pressure was used.


This project investigated an Agile Development Process for groupware on the Web 2.0. The process has its based in different technologies, especially those of the Scrum agile method, integrated with functional testing at the acceptance level. To assist this integration, we established a greater intercommunication between the process disciplines, using the User Stories as artifacts in all disciplines. The process aims to take advantage of the agility of the Scrum without losing quality in the development of applications. It was developed based on the Scrum process, with the addition of technologies that support the creation and use of artifacts in the search for integration with functional testing. The process uses three disciplines, each one refining the User Stories, which occur in different degrees of abstraction throughout the development. These stories should be a most faithful portrait possible of user needs and are used both in the form of cards (Story Cards), for requirements specification, and in an executable format to guide the implementation and work as functional testing. Mockups are used to complement the requirements specified in the cards, assisting in the task of representing the requirements. This set is the basis for the creation of User Stories in executable format. Other modeling artifacts, like Class Diagram, can also be specified in order to elicit requirements of the application. The procedure is supported by tools developed to enable the integration of the functional tests. These tools define a tests specification language to write User Stories, created as a DLL for Visual Studio, and a converter of these User Stories for functional testing in C# code. Thus, the proposed process provides a greater integration of tests during the development and execution of each discipline in order to produce higher quality applications. To test the process, applications were developed in the domain of groupware in Web 2.0. The adoption of this area was motivated by the idea of exploring the development of collaborative software that supports group work of people involved in common tasks.


Abstract Microbial phytase has been shown to increase the availability of Ca, P, ME, and amino acids (AA) in diets for broilers. However, much more research has been conducted on the Ca and P effects than on the ME and AA effects. Therefore, 2 experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of phytase on the release of ME and AA from corn-soybean meal diets for broilers. Experiment 1 was a battery study that lasted for 14 d and included diets adequate in all nutrients, diets deficient in ME and AA, and these later 2 diets with and without added phytase. Experiment 2 was a floorpen study that lasted 42 d and included diets with reduced levels of ME and AA with added phytase. Growth performance, meat quality, and tibia ash were not affected by using the ME and AA values for phytase. Total P, soluble P, and inorganic soluble P in the litter were reduced when phytase was added to the diets. These data indicate that ME and AA values for phytase can be used in diet formulations for broilers with no loss in growth or yield performance, but a decrease in the P content of the litter will be observed.