The SW South China Sea preserves a propagating oceanic spreading centre and associated continent–ocean transition (COT) that characterizes the continental margin offshore SE Vietnam. We investigated the nature of strain accommodation in the region immediately in front of the propagating rift using a combination of 1‐ and 2‐D backstripping subsidence reconstructions, coupled with forward modelling based on the measured upper crustal extensional faulting applied to a flexural cantilever model. Major normal faulting ceases after an inversion event at ca. 16 Ma, although moderate extension was also noted at 22–23 Ma, representing the end of an extensional phase that initiated around 28 Ma. 1‐D subsidence models indicate rapid 'syn‐rift' subsidence, possibly lasting until 10 Ma, despite the lack of observed extensional faulting. We show that depth‐dependent extension is required to explain the great depth of the basins despite the modest observed upper crustal faulting. Brittle faulting could not have extended much deeper than 10 km, suggestive of weak crust in the presence of high heatflow. The regional topographic slope on the basement suggests very low mid‐crustal viscosities of 1019–1020 Pa.s., consistent with the idea that flow in the ductile mid and lower crust was responsible for much of the subsidence prior to, and possibly after, seafloor spreading, which extended ca. 300 km from the tip of the mid ocean ridge. Flow is inferred to be dominant towards the spreading centre prior to 16 Ma. Extension in the COT postdates seafloor spreading and further supports the idea of this crust being very weak, albeit with more coherent, less extended crustal fragments, now forming banks offshore the Sunda continental shelf and surrounded by hyperextended crust of the COT.


OBJECTIVE—The endopeptidase dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DPP-IV) has been shown to NH2-terminally truncate incretin hormones, glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide, and glucagon-like peptide-1, thus ablating their ability to potentiate glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. Increasing the circulating levels of incretins through administration of DPP-IV inhibitors has therefore been introduced as a therapeutic approach for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. DPP-IV inhibitor treatment has also been shown to preserve islet mass in rodent models of type 1 diabetes. The current study was initiated to define the effects of the DPP-IV inhibitor sitagliptin (MK0431) on transplanted islet survival in nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice, an autoimmune type 1 diabetes model. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—Effects of MK0431 on islet graft survival in diabetic NOD mice were determined with metabolic studies and micropositron emission tomography imaging, and its underlying molecular mechanisms were assessed. RESULTS—Treatment of NOD mice with MK0431 before and after islet transplantation resulted in prolongation of islet graft survival, whereas treatment after transplantation alone resulted in small beneficial effects compared with nontreated controls. Subsequent studies demonstrated that MK0431 pretreatment resulted in decreased insulitis in diabetic NOD mice and reduced in vitro migration of isolated splenic CD4+ T-cells. Furthermore, in vitro treatment of splenic CD4+ T-cells with DPP-IV resulted in increased migration and activation of protein kinase A (PKA) and Rac1. CONCLUSIONS—Treatment with MK0431 therefore reduced the effect of autoimmunity on graft survival partially by decreasing the homing of CD4+ T-cells into pancreatic β-cells through a pathway involving cAMP/PKA/Rac1 activation.


As an approach to determining the degree of integration of the Brazilian economy, this paper seeks to test the explanatory power of the Goldman Sachs Model for the expected returns by a foreign investor in the Brazilian market during the past eleven years (2004-2014). Using data for the stocks of 57 of the most actively traded firms at the BM&FBovespa, it begins by testing directly the degree of integration of the Brazilian economy during this period, in an attempt to better understand the context in which the model has been used. In sequence, in an indirect test of the Goldman Sachs model, the risk factor betas (market risk and country risk) of the sample stocks were estimated and a panel regression of expected stock returns on these betas was performed. It was found that country risk is not a statistically significant explanation of expected returns, indicating that it is being added in an ad hoc fashion by market practitioners to their cost of equity calculations. Thus, although there is evidence of a positive and significant relationship between systematic risk and return, the results for country risk demonstrate that the Goldman Sachs Model was not a satisfactory explanation of expected returns in the Brazilian market in the past eleven years, leading us to question the validity of its application in practice. By adding a size premium factor to the model, there is evidence of a negative and significant relationship between companies' size and return, although country risk remains not satisfactory to explain stock expected returns.


This paper studies the hypothesis that large firms have more bargaining power with suppliers than do small firms, using data from the cable television industry. Employing techniques from the "new empirical lo," the effect of owner size on marginal costs is inferred from the effect of owner size on observable product market choices. In the cable industry, the downstream firms decide how many subscriptions of cable to sell and how many channels to offer in the cable package. lf large firms have lower costs than small firms, then large firms should be willing to supply more than small firms, at all prices. The effects of bargaining power are identified separately from the effects of scale economies by exploiting the structure of the cable industry. Scale economies, in the cable industry, are likely to stem from regional size, while bargaining power is likely to stem from national size. By controlling for regional size, estimates of the effect of owner national size on the willingness to supply cable subscriptions and to offer channels indicate that large downstream firms offer significantly more subscriptions and channels at all prices than do small downstream firms. These results provide some of the first systematic, industry-specific, evidence consistent with the bargaining-power hypothesis.


This paper presents our work on the application of virtual reality simulation to the design of a production line for a mechanically-assembled product. The development of this simulation was undertaken as a part of the Manufacturing Simulation and Visualization Program at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, MD. The major research problem is the partitioning and analysis of the assembly operation of the prototype product into different tasks and allocation of these tasks to different assembly workstations. Issues such as cycle times, material handling and assembly line balancing complicate the problem. This paper demonstrates the difficulties of using simulation modeling for concurrent graphical simulation of assembly operations and discrete event analysis of a production process in the same model. It also points out the need to speed up the modeling process and reduce the level of effort required in the construction of a simulation model.


Strong-field double ionization of atoms in a non-sequential regime produces longitudinal ion momentum distributions with a characteristic double-peak structure. At 800 nm laser wavelength in Ne2+ the structure is very pronounced with a well-resolved dip at zero momentum, while for Ar2+ the dip is very shallow, possibly indicating different mechanisms in the two atoms. We investigated the source of this difference by measuring longitudinal momentum distributions of Ne2+ and Ar2+ ions at different laser wavelengths (485, 800, 1313 and 2000 nm) and intensities. The shapes of the experimental momentum distributions for the two atoms exhibit strong dependence on laser wavelength: for both the dip becomes more pronounced at longer wavelengths. At 1300 nm the longitudinal momentum spectrum for Ar2+ is similar to that of Ne2+ at 800 nm. On the other hand, the Ne2+ spectrum measured at 485 nm has the same shape as that of Ar2+ at 800 nm. This observation indicates that the difference between Ne and Ar observed at 800 nm should not be attributed solely to differences in relative electron impact ionization and excitation cross-sections of the two atoms. It is, to a larger extent, due to the interplay between the ponderomotive energy of electron and the ionization potentials of the target atom.


The melting of pure axisymmetric ice crystals has been described previously by us within the framework of so-called geometric crystal growth. Non-equilibrium ice crystal shapes evolving in the presence of hyperactive antifreeze proteins (hypAFPs) are experimentally observed to assume ellipsoidal geometries ('lemon' or 'rice' shapes). To analyse such shapes, we harness the underlying symmetry of hexagonal ice Ih and extend two-dimensional geometric models to three-dimensions to reproduce the experimental dissolution process. The geometrical model developed will be useful as a quantitative test of the mechanisms of interaction between hypAFPs and ice.


We present novel adaptive sampling algorithms for particle-based fluid simulation. We introduce a sampling condition based on geometric local feature size that allows focusing computational resources in geometrically complex regions, while reducing the number of particles deep inside the fluid or near thick flat surfaces. Further performance gains are achieved by varying the sampling density according to visual importance. In addition, we propose a novel fluid surface definition based on approximate particle-to-surface distances that are carried along with the particles and updated appropriately. The resulting surface reconstruction method has several advantages over existing methods, including stability under particle resampling and suitability for representing smooth flat surfaces. We demonstrate how our adaptive sampling and distance-based surface reconstruction algorithms lead to significant improvements in time and memory as compared to single resolution particle simulations, without significantly affecting the fluid flow behavior.


Glycerol is prohibited as a masking agent by the World Anti-Doping Agency and a urinary threshold has recently been recommended. However, little is known about urinary glycerol excretion after exercise, when (1) exogenous glycerol is metabolized increasingly and (2) endogenous glycerol levels are elevated. The purpose of the placebo-controlled cross-over study was to determine the effects of pre-exercise glycerol administration on glycerol metabolism, urinary excretion, and selected blood parameters. After administration of glycerol (G; 1.0 g/kg body weight (BW) + 25 ml fluid/kg BW) or placebo (P; 25 ml fluid/kg), 14 cyclists exercised 90 min at 60% VO2max . Samples were taken at 0 h (before administration), 2.5 h (before exercise), 4 h (after exercise) and 6.5 h and additional urine samples were collected until 24 h. Exercise increased endogenous plasma glycerol (0.51 ± 0.21 mmol/l) but peak concentrations were much higher in G (2.5 h: 15.6 ± 7.8 mmol/l). Urinary glycerol increased rapidly (58,428 ± 71,084 µg/ml after 2.5 h) and was significantly higher than in P until 13.6 ± 0.9 h (p < 0.01). In comparison with placebo administration, G caused significantly greater changes in plasma volume and haemoglobin concentrations after 2.5 h. BW and urine production were significantly different between P and G after 2.5 h and post-exercise. Despite exercise-induced increases in endogenous glycerol in the control group, urinary excretion remained well below the previously recommended threshold. In addition, exercise-related glycerol degradation did not appear to negatively affect the detection of exogenously administered glycerol.


BACKGROUND
 Dietary quality plays an essential role in the prevention and management of metabolic syndrome (MetS).

 OBJECTIVE
 The aim of this pilot study is to organize personalized dietary advice in a real-life setting and to explore the effects on dietary intake, metabolic health, and perceived health.

 METHODS
 We followed a one-group pretest-posttest design and included 37 individuals at risk of MetS, who indicated motivation to change dietary behavior. For a period of 16 weeks, participants received personalized advice (t=0 and t=8) and feedback (t=0, t=4, t=8, t=12 and t=16) on dietary quality and metabolic health (ie, waist circumference, BMI, blood pressure, lipid profile, fasting glucose levels, and C-peptide). Personalized advice was generated in a two-stage process. In stage 1, an automated algorithm generated advice per food group, integrating data on individual dietary quality (Dutch Healthy Diet Index; total score 8-80) and metabolic health parameters. Stage 2 included a telephone consultation with a trained dietitian to define a personal dietary behavior change strategy and to discuss individual preferences. Dietary quality and metabolic health markers were assessed at t=0, t=8, and t=16. Self-perceived health was evaluated on 7-point Likert scales at t=0 and t=16.

 RESULTS
 At the end of the study period, dietary quality was significantly improved compared with the baseline (Dutch Healthy Diet Index +4.3; P<.001). In addition, lipid profile (triglycerides, P=.02; total cholesterol, P=.01; high-density lipoprotein, P<.001; and low-density lipoprotein, P<.001), BMI (P<.001), waist circumference (P=.01), and C-peptide (P=.01) were all significantly improved, whereas plasma glucose increased by 0.23 nmol/L (P=.04). In line with these results, self-perceived health scores were higher at t=16 weeks than at baseline (+0.67; P=.005).

 CONCLUSIONS
 This exploratory study showed that personalized dietary advice resulted in positive effects on dietary behavior, metabolic health, and self-perceived health in motivated pre-MetS adults. The study was performed in a do-it-yourself setting, highlighting the potential of at-home health improvement through dietary changes.

 CLINICALTRIAL
 ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04595669; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04595669


nnnn We investigated two brothers with Scheie syndrome whose only complaint was exercise intolerance. In the quadriceps muscle biopsy of both patients, between the normal muscle fibres an increased number of markedly swollen periodic acid-Schiff-positive fibroblasts were seen. Ultrastructurally, these cells showed an accumulation of enlarged lysosomes, partly filled with electro-dense material. We hypothesize that the accumulation of pathological fibroblasts may interfere with intramuscular force transmission resulting in exercise intolerance.


AIM
Pulmonary embolism is a life threatening disease and one of the main causes of in-hospital mortality. There are multiple risk stratification scoring systems for the forecast of the outcomes in patients with pulmonary embolism.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
We conducted a prospective observational cohort study to evaluate the comparative validity of four prognostic models: pulmonary embolism severity index (PESI), simplified PESI score, PESI risk classes and shock index, for predicting short-term mortality in acute pulmonary embolism. The PESI and PESI--simplified scores and shock-index were calculated. PESI scores were segregated into risk class (I-V) obtaining PESI classes. Shock index was dichotomized into 0 (for value < 1) versus 1 (for value > 1) risk groups. We determined the area under Receiver Operating Characteristic curve, the sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratio (LR+, LR-) for PESI score, simplified PESI score, PESI risk classes and shock index, to compare the ability of these scoring tools.

RESULTS
The cohort consisted of 362 subjects. The mortality was 21.54%. The sensitivity, specificity and likelihood ratios were different between scores but the area under Receiver Operating Characteristic curve showed values in range 0.6-0.7.

CONCLUSIONS
The assessed prognostic scores performed comparably for identifying pulmonary embolism patients at short-term risk of mortality, even for PESI score segregated in risk classes and dichotomized version of shock index.


The STAR Collaboration reported measurements of di-hadron azimuthal correlation in medium-central Au+Au collisions at 200 A$\,$GeV, where the data are presented as a function of the trigger particle's azimuthal angle relative to the event plane $\phi_s $. In particular, it is observed that the away-side correlation evolves from single- to double-peak structure with increasing $\phi_s$. In this work, we present the calculated correlations as functions of both $\phi_s$ and particle transverse momentum $p_T $, using the hydrodynamic code NeXSPheRIO. The results are found to be in reasonable agreement with the STAR data. We further argue that the above $\phi_s$ dependence of the correlation structure can be understood in terms of one-tube model, as due to an interplay between the background elliptic flow caused by the initial state global geometry and the flow produced by fluctuations.


Impression management (IM) refers to behaviors employees use to create and maintain desired images in the workplace. Prior studies have shown that the successful use of IM relates to a number of important outcomes for employees (e.g., higher performance evaluations), but this work has tended to compare IM usage between individuals, ignoring the fact that employees likely adjust their use of IM depending on the situations they face at work on a given day. In this paper, we argue that managing impressions on a daily basis can be draining, thereby leaving employees susceptible to the temptation to engage in subsequent harmful behaviors at work. To better understand the nature and within-person consequences of IM, we examine the daily use of two supervisor-focused IM tactics—ingratiation and self-promotion—among 75 professionals in China over the course of two work weeks. Our results indicate that there is significant within-person variance in employees' use of ingratiation and self-promotion aimed at supervisors. Moreover, our findings suggest that the use of ingratiation, but not self-promotion, depletes employees' self-control resources. In the case of ingratiation, this depletion is positively associated with employee deviance, and the indirect effect is stronger among employees with low political skill. Overall, this research contributes to our understanding of the dynamic, within-person nature of IM, the consequences of IM for employees, and the dark side of IM for organizations.


NRP2b connects oncogenic TGFβ to enhanced responsiveness to the promigratory growth factor HGF in non–small cell lung cancer cells. Prometastatic roles for neuropilin 2b Neuropilins are pleiotropic co-receptors for semaphorins and other growth factors, such as TGFβ. In established tumors, TGFβ promotes cell migration and metastasis. Using cell lines, mouse models, and primary patient material, Gemmill et al. found that the roles of the two neuropilin 2 isoforms were distinct in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells. Experiments with cultured cells and xenografted tumors with high and low abundance of NRP2a and NRP2b showed that, in contrast to NRP2a, NRP2b inhibited primary tumor growth but mediated TGFβ-induced epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, cell migration, metastasis, and drug resistance. High amounts of NRP2b in tumors correlated with that of the immunosuppressive ligand PD-L1 and with drug resistance, metastatic disease, and poor prognosis in patients. Selectively targeting this isoform may prevent disease progression and improve drug efficacy in some patients. Neuropilins (NRP1 and NRP2) are co-receptors for heparin-binding growth factors and class 3 semaphorins. Different isoforms of NRP1 and NRP2 are produced by alternative splicing. We found that in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines, transforming growth factor–β (TGFβ) signaling preferentially increased the abundance of NRP2b. NRP2b and NRP2a differ only in their carboxyl-terminal regions. Although the presence of NRP2b inhibited cultured cell proliferation and primary tumor growth, NRP2b enhanced cellular migration, invasion into Matrigel, and tumorsphere formation in cultured cells in response to TGFβ signaling and promoted metastasis in xenograft mouse models. These effects of overexpressed NRP2b contrast with the effects of overexpressed NRP2a. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)–induced phosphorylation of the kinase AKT was specifically promoted by NRP2b, whereas inhibiting the HGF receptor MET attenuated NRP2b-dependent cell migration. Unlike NRP2a, NRP2b did not bind the PDZ domain scaffolding protein GAIP carboxyl terminus–interacting protein (GIPC1) and only weakly recruited phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), potentially explaining the difference between NRP2b-mediated and NRP2a-mediated effects. Analysis of NSCLC patient tumors showed that NRP2b abundance correlated with that of the immune cell checkpoint receptor ligand PD-L1 as well as with epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) phenotypes in the tumors, acquired resistance to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors, disease progression, and poor survival in patients. NRP2b knockdown attenuated the acquisition of resistance to the EGFR inhibitor gefitinib in cultured NSCLC cells. Thus, in NSCLC, NRP2b contributed to the oncogenic response to TGFβ and correlated with tumor progression in patients.


We employed two selective EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors: AG494 (reversible) and AG1478 (irreversible) for growth regulation of human lung (A549) and prostate (DU145) cancer cell lines, cultured in chemically defined DMEM/F12 medium. Both tested tyrphostins significantly inhibited autocrine growth of the investigated cell lines. The action of AG494 was dose dependent, and at highest concentrations led to complete inhibition of growth. AG1478 seemed to be more effective at lower concentrations, but was unable to completely inhibit growth of A549 cells. Inhibition of EGFR kinase activity by AG494 in contrast to AG1478 had no effect on the activity of ERK in both cell lines. Both EGFR's inhibitors induced apoptosis of the investigated lung and prostate cancer cell lines, but the proapoptotic effect of the investigated tyrphostins was greater in A549 than in DU145 cells. The tyrphostins arrested cell growth of DU145 and A549 cells in the G1 phase, similarly to other known inhibitors of EGFR. The influence of AG494 and AG1478 on the activity of two signaling proteins (AKT and ERK) was dependent upon the kind of investigated cells. In the case of DU145 cells, there was an evident decline in enzymatic activity of both kinases (stronger for AG1478), while in A549, only AG1478 effectively inhibited the phosphorylation of Akt. Tyrphostins AG494 and AG1478 are ATP-competitors and are supposed to have a similar mechanism of action, but our results suggest that this is not quite true. (Folia Histochemica et Cytobiologica 2012, Vol. 50, No. 2, 186–195)


The main concern of this paper is the issue of women workers' identity and class consciousness. This investigation is principally based on in-depth interviews with three generations of female factory workers. Extremely unequal power relations between capital and labour is insufficient to explain the more pronounced exploitation of female workers over males. In spite of these women having the potential for collective power, their factory lives have been characterized by treatment in constant violation of labour laws. Low-caste female workers have gone through a process of effeminization which has acted to curb their class identity and limit their scope of action. In the process of caste and class emancipation, the question of gender has been neglected by trade union leaders and politicians. The radicalism of males is built upon women's maintaining of the families – a reality which strongly contradicts hegemonic gender discourses and confuses gender identities.


A simple approach for calculation of anisotropic effective elastic properties of cracked materials is presented. Square computational domain containing randomly distributed cracks under plane strain conditions is considered. Effective elastic properties are expressed in terms of average displacement discontinuities on cracks in three test problems: uniaxial loading in two orthogonal directions and pure shear. These problems are solved using the displacement discontinuity method. Resulting effective compliances are averaged over realizations with different crack distributions. This approach is employed for calculation of effective elastic properties for two particular crack configurations: (i) one family of parallel cracks and (ii) two families of parallel cracks inclined at angle 300. Crack densities up to 0.8 are considered. It is shown that for both configurations the effective elastic properties are orthotropic even at large crack densities. Dependencies of Young's moduli on crack density are obtained. At crack densities up to 0.1, the effective properties can be estimated analytically using the noninteraction approximation (NIA). At higher crack densities, the NIA strongly overestimates effective stiffnesses. Quantitative agreement with results obtained in the literature using more sophisticated methods is demonstrated.


Bond and Hofstede (1989) have demonstrated that culture has a large impact on international business success. In Western cultures it would relate to individualism and in Oriental cultures to Confucian dynamism. Their conception of politeness as a leading principle in human relations and their use of time seems unlike that of Western cultures. Within the Western hemisphere, however, Anglo-Germanic and Latin cultures do not share the same concepts of politeness and time. Spanish business letters seem to be overpolite compared to American ones. Whereas Dutch people stick to one topic at the same time in their negotiations, Italians tend to interrupt to tackle as many issues as possible. Anglo-Germanic and Latin cultures seem to differ in their means of expression of politeness in negotiating and writing. The main source  seems to be the striking difference in power distance between Anglo-Germanic and Latin management cultures, a phenonomenon which was observed in Hofstede's first study with IBM (1980). Irrespective of its origin, politeness or the presumed lack of it could easily lead to intercultural misunderstanding. Hofstede's work can be used as a framework to analyse some of the potential sources of misunderstanding caused by such differences. The purpose of this paper is to summarize some data to illustrate the importance of the above cultures on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, to evidence some politeness markers including the time concept, such as pausing and silencing in oral communication and courteous beginnings and endings of Latin business letters, and to retrace the perception of such behaviour by a person from the other culture. How can cultures respect each other and how can politeness be interpreted in a proper way without insulting the other party? How can cultures respect each other, learn from each other and cooperate effectively, for instance, in business and technology?  What could be the consequences for the international practice of business management and communication in the Anglo-Germanic and Latin cultures of some EU and NAFTA countries? On the basis of those research findings we will present some guidelines for successful intercultural cooperation in the EU keeping an eye on new trade possibilities on the other side of the Atlantic.


Objective: To investigate long-term psychosocial outcomes in young adults who survived septic shock caused by Neisseria meningitidis (meningococcal septic shock) during childhood. Design: A cross-sectional study. Setting: The psychological investigation took place in the department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry of the Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital. Patients: All consecutive surviving patients with meningococcal septic shock requiring intensive care treatment at the pediatric intensive care unit between 1988 and 2001. Intervention: To explore biographical characteristics (such as living conditions, educational, occupational, and marital status) and illness-related physical or social consequences a structured interview was used. To assess intellectual functioning the Groninger Intelligence Test 2 was used and to assess behavioral/emotional problems, the Adult Self-Report was used. Measurements and Main Results: Fifty-eight of 83 eligible septic shock survivors were evaluated (response rate: 70%). The patients were 16–31 yrs old at time of follow-up (median age: 21 yrs old). These patients had had meningococcal septic shock before 18 yrs of age. Median follow-up interval was 13 yrs, with a range of 4 to 16 yrs. For the vast majority of meningococcal septic shock patients, outcomes on biographical characteristics, intellectual functioning, and levels of behavioral/emotional problems were comparable to those of reference groups. A minority (5% to 20%) still report illness-related physical or social consequences, behavioral and emotional problems, and lower intellectual functioning. Conclusions: Despite favorable outcomes for the majority of meningococcal septic shock patients in the long term, an important minority (5% to 20%) still struggles with ongoing problems as to behavioral/emotional problems, intellectual functioning, biographical characteristics, and illness-related physical or social consequences.


Marine predators such as sharks often form single-sex aggregations as part of their diel behavioral cycle. Such aggregations are potentially driven by contrasting reproductive and behavioral strategies between the sexes, leading to distinct sexual segregation. There is, however, no experimental evidence that such predator aggregations are governed by intrinsic social systems, demonstrating long-term temporal stability. Social network structure, temporal stability, and activity profiles were analyzed to examine the impact of introduced males on social structure of 4 captive groups of female catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula). Aside from foraging and habitat selection pressures, we question whether individual female sharks manage additional social demands that potentially influence activity budget and susceptibility to male harassment. Shark groups demonstrated marked differences in their tendency to aggregate in a unisex environment and concomitantly showed significant differences in social response to male presence. Dichotomy in social structure of the 4 groups revealed that well-connected individuals demonstrated greater resilience to male disturbance. Socially isolated females experienced greater levels of partner exchange, reduced temporal stability, and increased activity levels in the presence of males and control females. These results are the first to demonstrate the disruptive influence that male and novel females have on weak female shark social interactions; conversely, aggregations demonstrating relatively strong temporally stable social bonds (at least by some individuals) are particularly resilient to potential male harassment and novel (female) intruders. We highlight that additional 'social constraints' may have disparate influence on individuals occupying different structural positions within a network and may thus impact individual fitness unequally. Key words: aggregation, behavior, fish, network analysis, sexual segregation, shark, social structure. [Behav Ecol]


CHEK2 mutations have been reported to be associated with different human cancers. However, the genetic defects distribution and the roles of CHEK2 mutations in gastric cancer carcinogenesis remain poorly understood. In this study, we detected two CHEK2 alleles: a protein truncating (1100delC, IVS2+1G>A) and a missense variant (I157T) in 63 unselected gastric cancer cases and 96 healthy controls. The results in this study demonstrated that four SNPs (rs201688553, rs376099090, rs777046932 and rs372452522) in CHEK2 1100delC achieved significant difference in their distributions between gastric cancer cases and controls. Moreover, one polymorphism (rs7289973) and a novel genetic variant (IVS2-372T>C) in CHEK2 IVS2+1G>A regions were identified and demonstrated significant difference in their distributions between gastric cancer cases and controls. Multiple logistic regression analyses revealed that gastric cancer risk were significantly associated with the variant genotypes of the four CHEK2 polymorphisms comparing with their wild-type genotypes. Moreover, it was found that variant rs372452522 in CHEK2 might contribute to susceptibility to lymph node metastasis. Our data demonstrated significant associations between CHEK2 SNPs (rs201688553, rs376099090, rs777046932, rs372452522 and rs7289973) and mutation IVS2-372T>C with gastric cancer. In advance, variant CHEK2 rs372452522 might contribute to lymph node metastasis susceptibility, implying the SNPs and mutation of CHEK2 as potential predictors of cancer susceptibility.


Recommendation system is a common demand in daily life and matrix completion is a widely adopted technique for this task. However, most matrix completion methods lack semantic interpretation and usually result in weak-semantic recommendations. To this end, this paper proposes a {\bf S}emantic {\bf A}nalysis approach for {\bf R}ecommendation systems \textbf{(SAR)}, which applies a two-level hierarchical generative process that assigns semantic properties and categories for user and item. SAR learns semantic representations of users/items merely from user ratings on items, which offers a new path to recommendation by semantic matching with the learned representations. Extensive experiments demonstrate SAR outperforms other state-of-the-art baselines substantially.


New Northeast Electric(Shenyang) HV Switchgear Co., Ltd. developed the 1 100 kV SF6UHV circuit breaker independently for the construction of 1 000 kV power grid in China. In this paper, the structure and technical parameters of the circuit breaker are introduced. The selection of the parallel capacitors, the insulation and interruption performances of the main arc-extinguishing chambers, the insulation performance and action principle of the closing resistive switch, as well as the layout, insulation and thermal capacity of the closing resistors, are analyzed. In addition, the items of the corresponding type test are described.


AIMS
Using the affect infusion model (AIM), this study aimed to assess the impact of prior mood on gaming persistence in regular and non-regular gamblers (assumed to be motivated and heuristic decision-makers, respectively). DESIGN, MEASURES AND SETTING: A 2 x 3 experimental design in a laboratory setting employed factors of gambler type (regular, non-regular) and prior mood (happy, neutral, depressed). Measures were number of trials played on a gambling game, and mood ratings (post-mood induction, during and after play).

PARTICIPANTS AND INTERVENTIONS
Sixty regular and 60 non-regular gamblers (all male students) were assigned randomly to watch a video inducing one of the three mood conditions. They were then given AUD$10.00 to gamble in a computerized card-cutting game.

FINDINGS
AIM predictions were supported: prior mood did not affect gaming persistence for regular gamblers, but non-regulars showed reduced persistence across happy, neutral and depressed moods. After-play mood ratings were related to winnings for regulars, and losing regulars were significantly more unhappy after-play compared to during-play, and compared to both their winning counterparts and non-regulars. Mood and winnings were unrelated for non-regulars, with little during- to after-play mood change.

CONCLUSIONS
The findings speak to depression as a causal factor in addictive gambling. Depressed mood did not enhance persistence in regular gamblers, but rather failed to have the inhibitory effect observed in non-regular gamblers. Evidence of mood changes during gambling was obtained, although multiple measures (self-report, physiological indicators, anticipated states) of both affective valence and arousal are advocated for future studies.


We carried out an open, randomized, cross-over study to test the rationale for use of a low molecular weight heparin during hemodialysis with polysulphone membranes. Ten uremic patients (6 men, 4 women, mean age 50 +/- 11 years, range 31-70) in chronic hemodialysis underwent paired filtration dialysis with either low molecular weight heparin or unfractionated heparin, then crossed over to the other anticoagulant treatment. We measured the following: anti-factor Xa and anti-factor IIa activity in patients' plasma and in the ultrafiltrate, activated partial thromboplastin time and bleeding time before, during and after hemodialysis. Some low molecular weight fractions of heparin were lost in the ultrafiltrate during hemodialysis, while higher molecular weight fractions were retained. The activated partial thromboplastin time during dialysis and the bleeding time after dialysis were more prolonged with unfractionated heparin than with the low molecular weight heparin (p < 0.01 and p < 0.05 respectively). Our data indicate that the use of a low molecular weight heparin determines a less pronounced prolongation of the activated partial thromboplastin time during dialysis and prevents a post-dialytic increase in bleeding time.


In this paper, the effect of different reaction conditions on the grafting of acrylamide (AM) onto kappa- carrageenan (kC) using potassium persulfate (KPS) initiator has been studied by determining the grafting parameters. The reactions were carried out under argon atmosphere in a homogenous aqueous medium. After removal of the homopolymer, the graft copolymer was characterized by FTIR spectroscopy. A plausible mechanism of grafting has also been suggested. It was observed that with increasing AM, kC, and KPS concentrations as well as reaction time and temperature the grafting parameters were increased, but


N-Methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA, 200 microM) evokes the release of [3H]norepinephrine ([3H]NE) from preloaded hippocampal slices. This effect is potentiated by dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA S), whereas it is inhibited by pregnenolone sulfate (PREG S) and the high-affinity sigma inverse agonist 1,3-di(2-tolyl)guanidine, at concentrations of > or = 100 nM. Neither 3 alpha-hydroxy-5 alpha-pregnan-20-one nor its sulfate ester modified NMDA-evoked [3H]NE overflow. The sigma antagonists haloperidol and 1-[2-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-ethyl]-4-methylpiperazine, although inactive by themselves, completely prevented the effects of DHEA S, PREG S, and 1,3-di(2-tolyl)guanidine on NMDA-evoked [3H]NE release. Progesterone (100 nM) mimicked the antagonistic effect of haloperidol and 1-[2-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)ethyl]-4-methyl-piperazine. These results indicate that the tested steroid sulfate esters differentially affected the NMDA response in vitro and suggest that DHEA S acts as a sigma agonist, that PREG S acts as a sigma inverse agonist, and that progesterone may act as a sigma antagonist. Pertussis toxin, which inactivates the Gi/o types of guanine nucleotide-binding protein (Gi/o protein) function, suppresses both effects of DHEA S and PREG S. Since sigma 1 but not sigma 2 receptors are coupled to Gi/o proteins, the present results suggest that DHEA S and PREG S control the NMDA response via sigma 1 receptors.


Macacine alphaherpesvirus 1, also known as herpes B virus (BV), is an alphaherpesvirus endemic to several macaque species, capable of causing zoonotic infections in humans, with high mortality rates. Evidence of reactivation in humans has rarely been reported. Here we depict a case of BV reactivation after 54 years, leading to severe meningoencephalitis. This case supports the use of antiviral prophylaxis in patients surviving a confirmed BV central nervous system infection. We sequenced DNA from BV obtained from the patient's cerebrospinal fluid. Phylogenetic analysis showed significant divergence in the clustering of this particular BV strain compared with other known BVs. Therefore, additional efforts are needed to obtain a broader sequence landscape from BVs circulating in monkeys.


Abstract : Industrial experience clearly demonstrates that a product line approach for software-intensive systems can save money and result in faster time to field higher quality systems. Many within the DoD recognize the benefits of product lines, but also recognize that there are significant challenges to adopting such an approach. One of several challenges that confront a DoD organization is developing and implementing a suitable acquisition strategy. To be effective, the DoD organization must balance its product line aspirations against the ability of potential contractors (having varying levels of product line experience and "hands-on" knowledge of related legacy systems) to meet its needs. It also must balance them against the requirements of DoD policy and regulatory documents that govern the entire acquisition process. Several key questions are: "What does developing an acquisition strategy involve?" and "How does a DoD organization develop an effective strategy for acquiring a software product line?" This case study focuses on a recent effort that shows how one DoD organization answered these questions. This technical note describes the approach a DoD organization used to develop alternative acquisition strategies and analyzes the pros and cons of each. It summarizes the acquisition context. It also presents a number of alternative product line acquisition strategies, a method for comparing the merits of each approach, and some risk reduction measures. Although this case study purposely disguises the actual organization and product line, it reflects the considerations involved in developing a software product line acquisition strategy.


Purpose: To identify genes that modify metastatic risk in uveal melanoma, a type of cancer that is valuable for studying metastasis because of its remarkably consistent metastatic pattern and well-characterized gene expression signature associated with metastasis. Experimental Design: We analyzed 53 primary uveal melanomas by gene expression profiling, array-based comparative genomic hybridization, array-based global DNA methylation profiling, and single nucleotide polymorphism–based detection of loss of heterozygosity to identify modifiers of metastatic risk. A candidate gene, leucine zipper tumor suppressor-1 (LZTS1), was examined for its effect on proliferation, migration, and motility in cultured uveal melanoma cells. Results: In metastasizing primary uveal melanomas, deletion of chromosome 8p12-22 and DNA hypermethylation of the corresponding region of the retained hemizygous 8p allele were associated with more rapid metastasis. Among the 11 genes located within the deleted region, LZTS1 was most strongly linked to rapid metastasis. LZTS1 was silenced in rapidly metastasizing and metastatic uveal melanomas but not in slowly metastasizing and nonmetastasizing uveal melanomas. Forced expression of LZTS1 in metastasizing uveal melanoma cells inhibited their motility and invasion, whereas depletion of LZTS1 increased their motility. Conclusions: We have described a metastatic modifier locus on chromosome 8p and identified LZTS1 as a potential metastasis suppressor within this region. This study shows the utility of integrative genomic methods for identifying modifiers of metastatic risk in human cancers and may suggest new therapeutic targets in metastasizing tumor cells.


The optimal filtering error for a class of nonlinear cone-bounded filtering problems is analyzed for the case of observation noise intensity tending to zero. A sufficient condition for the resulting optimal error covariance matrix to tend to zero is derived by relating the nonlinear filtering problems to linear ones. The results are specialized for the case of nonlinear autoregressive moving-average (ARMA) processes. >


Head movements in all three planes were measured while listeners localized a pulse of transient sounds (train of 100 μs broadband impulses) located in the frontal azimuth plane. The eight loudspeakers were at the same height as the head of the seated listener. They were located every 25.7° from +90° to −90°, where 0° is straight ahead. Some listeners were able to see the eight sound sources, while for other listeners the sound sources were hidden from view. In addition, listeners were instructed differently in terms of the necessity for high accuracy or fast reaction. In all cases, the primary means of the listener locating the sound source was head movements. Listeners were instructed to face the source of the sound so that their nose was facing directly at the perceived sound source. The results will be discussed in terms of processing sounds in dynamic listening situations. [Research supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and a Program Project Grant from the NIDCD, DC00293.]


Interest in deliberative democracy grows. Its appeal is understandable. Deliberation, with its emphasis on distributed speech rights and information exchange, has the potential to increase the quality and quantity of political interest and participation (Habermas 1996).While the benefits of deliberative democracy are easy to imagine, they can be hard to achieve. Like any form of civic education, the success of a deliberative endeavor depends on choices made by its designers. For a deliberative endeavor to increase participation, or affect how a target audience thinks about an important political matter, its informational content must, at a minimum,* attract the audience's attention and hold it for a non-trivial amount of time,* affect the audience's memories in particular ways (not any change will do), and* cause them to retain subsequent beliefs - or choose different behaviors - than they would have had without deliberation (Lupia 2002).


We investigate a sequential optimization procedure to minimize the empirical risk functional $f_{\hat\theta}(x) = \frac{1}{2}\|G_{\hat\theta}(x) - y\|^2$ for certain families of deep networks $G_{\theta}(x)$. The approach is to optimize a sequence of objective functions that use network parameters obtained during different stages of the training process. When initialized with random parameters $\theta_0$, we show that the objective $f_{\theta_0}(x)$ is "nice'' and easy to optimize with gradient descent. As learning is carried out, we obtain a sequence of generative networks $x \mapsto G_{\theta_t}(x)$ and associated risk functions $f_{\theta_t}(x)$, where $t$ indicates a stage of stochastic gradient descent during training. Since the parameters of the network do not change by very much in each step, the surface evolves slowly and can be incrementally optimized. The algorithm is formalized and analyzed for a family of expansive networks. We call the procedure {\it surfing} since it rides along the peak of the evolving (negative) empirical risk function, starting from a smooth surface at the beginning of learning and ending with a wavy nonconvex surface after learning is complete. Experiments show how surfing can be used to find the global optimum and for compressed sensing even when direct gradient descent on the final learned network fails.


The excessive widespread in the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is quietly lessening interactive communication between humans, and rapidly turning the world automotive. These advancements are inclined towards rapid mass production and accurate yet systematic supply chain and deliveries to please every end customer, because their satisfaction provides numerous reasons why a particular industry should run and lead the global market. Robot and data processing mechanisms are some of the best known leading high-end technologies that use Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) for manufacturing, processing, and delivering qualitative and quantitative products with minimal cost, labor, and time consumption. Today, even start-ups or small businesses such as cafes, fast food centers, restaurants, etc. are making use of these technologies to start out of the crowd and grow their business rapidly.


The Iberian barbel (Luciobarbus bocagei) is one of the most common cyprinids in the Iberian Peninsula, whose migratory routes are often hampered by anthropogenic barriers. Fishways might be an effective mitigation measure if they integrate designed operational characteristics that account for the biomechanical requirements of this species. Understanding the flow conditions inside the fishway, and how barbel responds to the hydrodynamics of the flow is imperative to improve free migratory routes with minimum energetic cost associated. Herein, we analyze and synthesize the main findings of research on pool-type fishways for upstream passage of the Iberian barbel and derive recommendations of design criteria for pool-type fishways for this species and others of similar biomechanics capacities. Ultimately, we identify research needs to improve upstream passage of this species.


This thesis deals with regualrity questions of elliptic and parabolic systems of partial differential equations of second order. With the help of a Harnack inequality it is shown that bounded weak solutions of certain parabolic systems are Holder continous. In the second chapter we prove regularity theorems for weak harmonic mappings in the interior and at the boundary, an important tool for these theorems are again two Harnack inequalities. The last two chapters deal with degenerate elliptic systems, for certain degenerate elliptic coefficients (e.g. in the Muckenhouptclass A2) we prove two Harnack inequalities and show with these inequalities some regularity theorems for degenerate elliptic systems.


A case is presented of pigmented villonodular synovitis of the knee, macroscopic neoplastiform in appearance. The histologic examination leads to believe in a granulomatous rather than neoplastic nature of the process. The cause certainly is neither traumatic nor bacteriologic, but most probably dismetabolic lipidic. The neoformed mass, singular for its remarkable dimensions (12 cm. in length), nodular in appearance, pedunculated, had not yet provoked, at the time of operation, secondary osteocartilaginous and capsular-ligamentous lesions. At follow-up, more than 11 years later, no signs of relapse were noted and the radiographic examination was negative.


The object of this paper is to collect and discuss examples of social benefits in emerging markets. The main approach is to identify a number of the current policies being applied in BRICS compared to those in Spain and the OECD. Emerging markets are countries that will become a reference for their industry, economy and social management in upcoming years. These countries should not disregard the role the workforce holds as being essential for their mutual benefit (both as employers and employees). For this reason, it is crucial to review the social benefits applied in these states and their companies. According to various studies, governments are implementing polices to increase maternity and paternity leave, the development of personal and work skills or other social benefits like discounts for personal fitness or transport vouchers.


Acne vulgaris is one of the most common skin disorders encountered by the dermatologist, having a complex pathophysiology and with a potential negative psychosocial impact on the patients. Even though acne affects mostly adolescents, it can be also seen in adults or children. Prevention of acne vulgaris relies on the successful management of its modifiable risk factors. Nowadays, a large variety of therapeutic options (topical, systemic or phototherapy) are available, thus the treatment decision depends on the severity of the lesions. New therapeutic options for acne vulgaris are available, being able to target early steps in the pathogenesis of the disease.


We utilize the interaction of tightly focused ultrashort pulses with transparent media to imprint their local polarization in the focal region. In particular, we demonstrate that this technique allows for a subwavelength resolution diagnostic of complex polarization states including the presence of the longitudinal component of the electric field. Moreover, we demonstrate the first ever material ablation with the longitudinal electric field of femtosecond pulses.


The paper examines the exercise, the efficiency, and the legitimacy of the monetary policy-making process. The goal of central bank autonomy in recent times is the outcome of a demand for price stability. The realisation of autonomy is also a consequence of the fragmentation of national decision making, in federal systems but also in regional and international monetary arrangements. Economic and financial crisis changes the political economy, and produces a transition from seeing the central bank as producing a general or universalisable good (price stability) to interpreting monetary policy as fundamentally a tool for redistributive or factional policies. The latter will only work in the framework of national policy.


Background: Lichen planus (LP) is a chronic inflammatory skin condition which leads to changes in lipid metabolism. It may cause chronic atherosclerosis and metabolic syndrome. The objective of this study is to compare lipid levels of patients with LP to healthy controls. Methods: This case-control study recruited 100 total participants, 50 (25 male and 25 female) patients with LP and 50 healthy controls admitted to the Dermatology Clinic of Imam Hospital, Ahvaz, Iran. Serum triglyceride, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and LDL cholesterol levels were measured in samples drawn after a 12-hour fasting period. Results: Patients with LP had significantly higher triglycerides (147.7 vs. 118.4 mg/dl, P<0.05), total cholesterol (188 vs. 173 mg/dl, P<0.05), LDL (122 vs. 106 mg/dl, P<0.05), and lower HDL (49 vs. 57 mg/dl, P<0.05) levels compared to controls. Conclusion: This study showed an association between LP and dyslipidemia. Screening of serum lipids in patients with LP might be valuable to prevent cardiovascular diseases. © 2017 Iranian Society of Dermatology.


Scarified seeds of Medicago sativa L. 'Ranger' and 'Lahontan' alfalfa were allowed to imbibe water for 36 hr and then were inoculated with stem nematodes, Ditylenchus dipsaci Kühn. Seedlings were grown in sterilized Provo sand at 20 C and hypocotyl sections harvested at 1, 3 and 7 days. Evidence from electron micrographs indicated that cells of noninfected control plants contained normally developing chloroplasts bearing stroma, thylakoids, starch grains and plastoglobuli. The cytoplasm contained a nucleus, endoplasmic reticulum, vacuoles, mitochondria, ribosomes and dictyosomes. No morphological symptoms of nematode infection were observed in infected plants of either Ranger of Lahontan alfalfa 1 day after inoculation. Electron micrographs of tissue from the infected plants, however, indicated more osmiophilic bodies (lipid bodies) per cell than did the noninfected control, with more lipid bodies present in Ranger than in Lahontan. Three and 7 days after planting, swollen hypocotyls could be seen; the degree of swelling was greater in Ranger than in Lahontan. Electron micrographs of infected tissues indicated that both cultivars were undergoing the same kind of damage. Injured organelles were endoplasmic reticulum, chloroplasts and the nucleus. Histochemical staining indicated no changes in the middle lamellae.


Sarcoidosis is a multisystemic disease. Cardiac involvement has a strong impact on the patient's prognosis but is difficult to detect in vivo. This is reflected by the high rate of unexpected cardiac sarcoidosis in postmortem studies. In a study of patients with necropsy proven cardiac sarcoidosis, it was established or suspected before death in only 45%, with cardiac involvement being fatal in 67%.1 Cardiac sarcoidosis is mostly identified by impaired systolic left ventricular (LV) function, a feature of more advanced disease.

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) detects tissue inflammation and fibrosis. The focus of our study was to identify cardiac tissue changes in patients with systemic sarcoidosis by using CMR.

Between 1999 and 2003, we studied 31 patients with proven systemic sarcoidosis (mean (SD) age 46 (2) years; 19 men). Twelve patients (48 (4) years; 10 men) had evidence for cardiac involvement as defined by typical symptoms and documented arrhythmias. In eight patients with chest pain, risk factors for coronary artery disease, or age above 30 years, coronary artery disease was excluded by coronary angiography. The remaining four patients were three men and one woman (25, 30, 29, and 30 years old, respectively). All of them were non-smokers, had a normal serum lipid profile, and …


The patterning found in certain wetlands of lowland Mesoamerica has added an important element to the subsistence system that may be attributed to pre-Hispanic inhabitants of the region. The form of the remains, largely expressed in terms of surface vegetation, suggests agriculture on planting platforms, separated by canals. The physical and chemical aspects of the stratigraphy have clarified depositional environments but have not indicated agricultural horizons. Maize phytoliths at about 1 meter below the surface in two Central Veracruzan wetlands do confirm the practice of agriculture. Associated ceramics indicate wetlands agriculture was practiced by A.D. 500 and perhaps earlier.


Recent work on the Fourier-phase problem is shown to be relevant to the reconstruction of the relative phases of fields scattered to a large number of separated inaccurately surveyed locations. A proposed approach to phase retrieval is illustrated with a computational example. It is assumed that the waveforms of the scattered fields can be recorded at each location.


In Israel, as in a number of other economies, a few large banks have historically played a major role in the nonfinancial sector. At the end of 1995, the Israeli government appointed the Brodet Committee to examine bank investments in nonfinancial corporations. The Israeli Knesset subsequently adopted the committee's recommendations and imposed major limitations on the role of banks in the nonfinancial sector. These limitations required the two biggest Israeli banks to start selling much of their nonfinancial investments. This paper is based on the research report that we prepared for the Brodet Committee at the request of the Israeli Finance Ministry and Antitrust Authority. We explain why we recommended to the Committee that substantial limitations be imposed on bank investment in nonfinancial companies. We provide a detailed analysis of the effects that bank- conglomerate combinations have in a small economy -- such as Israel's -- that is characterized by a great deal of concentration in both the financial and nonfinancial sectors. In particular, we analyze the effects that bank-conglomerate combinations have on the safety and soundness of banks, on the decisions of the investment funds managed by banks, and on the level of competition in the economy in both the short run and the long run.


To learn the dynamic characteristics of a mold oscillator, we establish a model that describes the relationship between force equilibrium of a hydraulic cylinder and mold under various oscillation conditions. The non-linearity caused by the servo-value and the operating fluid is considered as excitation, and is calculated as control error between an input signal and mold oscillation in real-time by a PID control process. Based on the non-linear property, we determine that the dynamic behavior is caused by mold oscillation displacement and hydraulic cylinder pressure. We define excitation frequency and harmonic terms, and determine that the sources of the harmonic peak frequency and high peak frequency; (50n ± exciting frequency ωexc) are friction between the piston and hydraulic cylinder, and variable stiffness of the operating fluid. Finally, a mathematical model of the hydraulic chamber that can represent the unknown non-linear phenomenon is derived.


Methasterone is a designer anabolic steroid that is prohibited for athletes and is monitored by anti-doping laboratories. In this work, our objective is to discover new human phase I metabolites, define their excretion kinetics for 30 days and analyze their phase II metabolism (sulfate, cysteine and N-acetylcysteine conjugates). Urine samples from four volunteers were analyzed by chromatographic techniques. Through gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry analysis it was possible to detect methasterone and its nine phase I metabolites in the urine samples after glucuronide enzymatic hydrolysis, from which one were previously unreported. These nine compounds were not excreted in free form. The new proposed metabolite is 17β-hydroxy2α,17α-dimethyl-5β-androstan-3-one, obtained from the epimerization at C5. The 3α-hydroxy metabolite, currently monitored by anti-doping laboratories, was the most abundant and was detected for the longest time. Furthermore, four other long-term metabolites were identified. By ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry, only the drug and a known metabolite were detected after glucuronide hydrolysis, and phase II metabolites were not found. Thus, our results contribute to elucidating methasterone metabolism, including long-term metabolites besides of the 3α-hydroxy in routine doping analysis, which is very important due to variation in human metabolism.


Investigation of sarcopenia should include the measurement of muscle protein synthesis and breakdown because reduced muscle mass occurs only when muscle protein content is reduced. Protein content of a tissue is determined by the balance between synthesis and breakdown. Whole body measurements are inappropriate for determining the small changes in muscle protein synthesis and breakdown, since muscle contributes less than 30 percent to the whole body protein turnover. The measurement of mixed muscle protein synthesis in humans supports the animal data, which demonstrates that there is a decline in muscle protein synthesis with age. Resistance exercise stimulates mixed muscle protein synthesis rate in both the young and the old, although this is not demonstrated when myofibrillar protein synthesis is measured. Muscle is composed of several types of proteins, and their turnover may be differentially regulated. It is important, therefore, to measure the turnover of specific proteins such as myosin and actin, which are important contractile proteins. Recently, techniques have been developed to measure the synthesis rate of myosin heavy chain (MHC) in humans. In addition, the application of quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) allows measurement of the steady state mRNA levels of various isoforms of MHC. These measurements, in combination with measurement of the synthesis rate of MHC, will allow us to understand the molecular regulation of specific proteins such as myosin. The important question is to determine whether the decline in muscle protein synthesis is genetically determined or secondary to inactivity, nutritional, hormonal, or other age-related alterations in body functions, and whether muscle wasting is reversible.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Multiple modal medical image fusion is an essential method for medical imaging technologies. In these Multi-modal medical image fusion usually are Positron Emission Tomography(PET)) and Single-photon Emission Computer Tomography(SPECT), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Computed Tomography (CT) images are utilized. However, the conventional state-of-art-fusion-techniques consists of less redundant and less comprehensive information. Therefore, here, we present an image fusion technique to control non-linear uncertainties and provide stability based on IT2FLDS for multi-modal medical color images. The core idea is to perform fusion on color source images of either functional or structural type by extracting both large and small structural information which is rarely done in any other conventional state-of-art-techniques. This can be achieved with the help of IT2FLDS. The fuzzy membership functions based image fusion technique helps to combining low and high frequency components of multimodel medical color images. Experimental results proves the superiority of our proposed image fusion model in terms of visual and quantitative analysis like mutual information, standard deviation and Feature Point Similarity Measure.


Background: For decades, the American Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS) has provided specialty certification
 programs for pharmacists. As pharmacists become involved in more advanced patient care services, board certification
 becomes an essential component to ensuring quality care. The aim of this study was to measure the self-reported
knowledge and attitude towards the BPS certification.
Methods: A cross sectional study included all pharmacy
 students and pharmacists at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS) and King Abdulaziz
 Medical City (KAMC), respectively. However, the administrative pharmacy staff was not included. This is a manually
 distributed survey was adopted from previous published observational study. The survey included 6 demographic,
 12 knowledge and 15 attitude questions where the participant rank from 1 to 5 (1: very poor, 2: poor, 3: Average, 4:
 good and 5: very good). This study is approved by IRB. Descriptive statistics were primarily used to analyze data.
Categorical responses were compared using Chi-square tests.
Results: In total of 221 participants agreed to participate
 in the study based on convenient sampling, there were more female participants (134, 60.6%) than male (87, 39.4%).
 More number of participants (191, 86.4%) were under the age-group ≤ 30 years. The overall mean age was found to
 be 25.20 ± 5.86 (20-60) years. Among 221 participants, 118 (53.4%) were students and 103 (46.6%) were employees.
 The current study found that 55.2% of respondents have a good knowledge about BPS certification. However, only
48.4% of participants reported their interest in pursuing board certification in their future career.
Conclusion: Many respondents were aware of BPS certification, learning the most through didactic and experiential activities, and many indicated they are considering pursuing BPS certification. College of pharmacy and professional organizations can help provide educational session regarding board certification and professional development opportunities.


s | 31 yearly family income were included as covariates in model 1 and the child's IQ was added as a covariate in model 2. Results: Children who were breastfed had higher listening (p  =  0.048), speaking (p < 0.001), reading (p  =  0.002), writing (p  =  0.002), spelling (p  =  0.001), mathematical calculation (p = 0.002), and learning quotient (p < 0.001) scores in the LDES in model 1. When adding the child's IQ as a covariate, the speaking (p = 0.013), spelling (p = 0.041), and learning quotient (p = 0.042) still remained significant Conclusion: The results suggest that breastfeeding has a protective effect on learning disabilities in school-aged children.


This paper investigates the effect of pointshell shrinking and feature size on manual assembly operations in a virtual environment with haptic force feedback. Specific emphasis is on exploring methods to improve voxel-based modeling to support manual assembly of low clearance parts. CAD parts were created, voxelized and tested for assembly. The results showed that pointshell shrinking allows the engineer to assemble parts with a lower clearance than without pointshell shrinking. Further results showed that assemble-ability is dependent on feature size, particularly part diameter and clearance. In a pin and hole assembly, as the pin diameter increases, for a given percent clearance, assembling low clearance features becomes difficult. An empirical equation is developed to guide the designer in selecting an appropriate voxel size based on feature size. These results advance the effort to improve manual assembly operations via haptic feedback in the virtual environment.Copyright © 2010 by ASME


Summary

1. Many animals choose to breed in sites where they have previously been successful. Such fidelity could arise from the predictability of high quality breeding sites in a temporally stable environment. The quality of a site may be indicated by factors other than an individual's own success, because it may fail as a result of a random event that is unrelated to the intrinsic quality of the site. In particular, prior experience (familiarity) with the breeding area and the performance of neighbours could give complementary information about the quality of the site.

2. We present results from a long-term study of colonial great cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis), where movement and reproductive success of individually marked birds within a colony was known.

3. Individuals were more likely to return to the same breeding site if they had been successful the previous season.

4. Fidelity of both males and females increased with increasing level of familiarity with the breeding area. Males were more likely to breed again in the same area, and their fidelity was more dependent on familiarity with the area than female fidelity.

5. The success of breeding sites within the colony was spatially autocorrelated, and cueing on neighbour performance should thus be advantageous. Female fidelity increased with increasing success of neighbouring birds, while male fidelity was unaffected by neighbour success.

6. We suggest that the difference between the sexes in the criteria determining fidelity arises because it is mainly the males that are involved in territorial disputes. They may therefore benefit more than females from knowing their neighbours, and this could override the importance of the intrinsic quality of the breeding area (i.e. reproductive success of neighbours).

7. The conflict over preferred breeding sites that arises within breeding pairs because of this sex difference may be an explanation for the high rate of mate change between years (92.5%) observed in this species.


News stories of executions now routinely include reports of statements by members of the victims' families. For this study we examined such reported statements for 138 executions in the United States, from 1999 through 2002. We also looked at a smaller set of reports of statements by family members of the victims after death-row defendants are exonerated and released; we found such reports in 34 of the 85 death-row exonerations from 1988 through mid-2002. Neither set of stories is anything like a representative sample of the reactions of the families of capital murder victims, and their content is distorted by the habits and biases of the media. Nonetheless, they provide an intriguing glimpse into the effects of capital punishment on some of those who are most directly affected by the underlying crimes. When a capital defendant is put to death, the most common reaction from the victim's family is relief that it happened, at last. Victims' relatives also frequently express satisfaction with the execution, sometimes in the impersonal terms of justice, sometimes as unabashed pleasure in revenge. They often complain about the long and tortuous route from sentence to execution, and many are particularly unhappy about the attention that is repeatedly focused on the defendants rather than the victims; some see the execution as an opportunity to redress that imbalance. Finally, many victims' relatives hope that at the point of death the killer will accept responsibility and apologize for his crimes, and that they will be able to forgive him. This does occasionally happen, but judging from these data it's uncommon; more often the relatives who hope for this conclusion are disappointed and hurt. In a disturbing number of cases - over 100 since 1973 - American defendants under sentence of death are exonerated and released. Judging from the stories we have found, most relatives of the victims refuse to accept this result and continue to believe that the exonerated defendants are guilty, sometimes in the face of overwhelming evidence. The relatives of the victims unambiguously accepted the innocence of the exonerated defendants in only 7 of the 34 capital exonerations in our study. These seven cases fall into two overlapping groups: cases in which the actual killer is identified (5 of 7), and cases in which the local police officers and prosecutors who investigated the crime now say that the defendant is innocent (5 of 7).


Arthropods, as poikilotherms, adapt to cold environments in a variety of ways that include extension of locomotory activity to low temperatures, enhancement of metabolic rate and maintenance of a positive energy balance whenever possible. The ecological implications for many such animals are extension of the life cycle and a requirement for an individual to overwinter several times. Prolonged sub-zero temperatures increase the risk of tissue freezing, and two main strategies have been evolved, first avoidance of freezing by supercooling, and secondly, tolerance of extracellular ice. In the first strategy, freezing is invariably lethal and extensive supercooling (to -30 $^\circ$ C and below) occurs through elimination or masking of potential ice nucleators in the body and accumulation of cryoprotective substances such as polyhydric alcohols and sugars. Such species are termed freezing intolerant. The second strategy, freezing tolerance, is uncommon in arthropods and other invertebrates, and usually occurs in a single life stage of a species. Freezing of liquid in the extracellular compartment is promoted by proteinaceous ice nucleators. Freezing is therefore protective, and the lethal temperature is well below the supercooling point in freezing tolerant individuals, whereas in most freezing intolerant species it is close to or at the supercooling point. Proteins also act as antifreezes in insects of both strategies, producing a thermal hysteresis by lowering the freezing point of haemolymph in a non-colligative fashion while not affecting the melting point temperature. Recent studies and developments in arthropod cold tolerance are discussed against this background, and a broader approach than hitherto is advocated, which integrates ecological information with physiological data.


3D laminar flow simulations were conducted using OpenFOAM to resolve the temperature, concentration, velocity, and pressure field for two hollow fiber vacuum membrane distillation configurations with feed solution flowing either inside or outside a single hollow fiber. The fiber has a circular cross-section, a fixed length of 120mm, and an inner diameter of 2 mm. The wall thickness was varied from 150 to 450μm, and the pore diameter was varied from 0.1 to 0.3μm based on commercial fibers. The feed solution is an aqueous solution of water and NaCl. The feed flow was simulated at a Reynolds number of 500 and vacuum pressure of 5,000 Pascals. It was found that there was a 75% increase in flux, from 9.58 to 41.41 kg/m2h, between the worst and the best case in membrane properties. Increasing the pore diameter or wall thickness while the other value was fixed resulted in a 45–57% flux increase depending on the fixed value. The module with the feed solution flowing outside a hollow fiber yields 24% higher flux than the module with the feed solution flowing inside the hollow fiber at the same conditions.


The purpose of this investigation was to provide an automatic injection valve of simple construction which would produce a finely atomized oil spray of broad cone angle and would fulfill the requirements of fuel injection in aircraft oil engines. The injection valve designed has only six parts - i. e., two concentric nozzle tubes flared at one end, two body parts, and two nuts. Analysis and engine tests indicate that the fuel spray from this type of injection valve has characteristics which reduce the time lag of autoignition and promote efficient combustion in high-speed oil engines.


Abstract Results from a three-layer asymmetric hurricane model previously described by the authors are compared with results from an axially symmetric analog to investigate the effect of the symmetry assumption on the internal dynamics of model cyclones. The symmetric model storm initially develops more rapidly than the asymmetric storm. The differences in intensity during the first 100 hr are related to differences in horizontal resolution produced by the staggered grid used with the symmetric model. The symmetric model, on the other hand, does not produce the second period of intensification that starts at 120 hr in the asymmetric model. This fact supports the conclusion reached in the earlier paper that the development of large-scale asymmetries at 100 hr is closely related to the subsequent intensification. Although the life cycles of the two storms are different, the azimuthally averaged structure of the asymmetric storm at maximum intensity is similar to the corresponding structure of the symmetric ...


A major development in understanding the structure and organization of memory was the identification of the medial temporal lobe memory system as one of the brain systems that support memory. Work on this topic began in the 1950s with the study of the noted amnesic patient H.M. and culminated in studies of an animal model of human memory impairment in the nonhuman primate. These discoveries opened new frontiers of research concerned with the functional specialization of structures within the medial temporal lobe, the existence of multiple memory systems, the process of memory consolidation, and the role of neural replay and sleep in the consolidation process. This work also led to new insights about how and where memories are ultimately stored in the brain. All of this research has improved our understanding of how memory is affected by normal aging and why it is so profoundly impaired by the pathological processes associated with dementia.


To accomplish this work, it was necessary to perform a survey about studies on the economic viability of the use of photovoltaic panels. This investigation was carried out by a literature review, which is essential to provide theoretical support for future researches. This work aims at conducting an analysis on the subject in works that approach the economic viability and the use of solar panels, from a previous set of bibliographic references to assist the theory contribution of this work. The webibliomining was adopted to perform the mining of the bibliographic sources that compose this systematized review of literature based on search tools and access to bibliographic information on the Internet. Scopus Elsevier database was chosen, as it is the most comprehensive one concerning the other ones. The search terms applied were ("solar photovoltaic system board" OR "pv" AND "economic viability") in the following fields: title, abstract, and keywords. This study also focuses on research relevance for companies interested in using the photovoltaic panels. Results points out that the United States is the country that publishes the most about the subject, as well as the area that publishes is Energy. It is also noticed that Brazil is among the countries of most interest in such issue. In this way, it is concluded that the analysis of the sample of articles found and analyzed here shows that solar energy has increased visibility and has been applied in domestic, rural, commercial, and industrial plants. Nonetheless, there is also a lack of incentives or tax credit to make this power source competitive and viable.


The effective Lagrangian of a test particle, interacting with an ideal gas, is calculated with in the closed time path formalism in the one-loop and the leading order of the particle trajectory. The expansion in the time derivative is available for slow enough motion and it uncovers diffusive effective forces and decoherence for the coordinate and the momentum. A pure Newtonian friction force and an anisotrop coordinate decoherence are found for zero temperature ideal gas of fermions.


The molecular basis of alpha(1)-antitrypsin deficiency is reviewed and is shown to be due to the accumulation of mutant protein as ordered polymers within the endoplasmic reticulum of hepatocytes. The current goals are to determine the cellular response to polymeric alpha(1)-antitrypsin and to develop therapeutic strategies to block polymerisation in vivo.


We demonstrate that artificial bipolar structure can be detected using spectroastrometry when the point spread function (PSF) of a point source suffers distortion in a relatively wide slit. Spectro-Astrometry is a technique which allows us to probe the spatial structure of astronomical sources on milliarcseond (mas) scales making it possible to detect close binaries and to study the geometry and kinematics of outflowing gas on scales much smaller than the seeing or the diffraction limit of the telescope. It is demonstrated that distortion of the PSF, caused by tracking errors of the telescope or unstable active optics during an exposure can induce artificial signals which may be misinterpreted as a real spectro-astrometric signal. Using simulations we show that these may be minimised by using a narrow slit relative to the seeing. Spectra should be obtained at anti-parallel slit position angles (e.g., 0 ◦ and 180 ◦ ) for comparison in order to allow artificial signatures to be identified.


Background We examined the association of long‐term exposure to air pollution and road traffic noise with incident heart failure (HF). Methods And Results Using data on female nurses from the Danish Nurse Cohort (aged >44 years), we investigated associations between 3‐year mean exposures to air pollution and road traffic noise and incident HF using Cox regression models, adjusting for relevant confounders. Incidence of HF was defined as the first hospital contact (inpatient, outpatient, or emergency) between cohort baseline (1993 or 1999) and December 31, 2014, based on the Danish National Patient Register. Annual mean levels of particulate matter with a diameter <2.5 µm since 1990 and NO2 and road traffic noise since 1970 were estimated at participants' residences. Of the 22 189 nurses, 484 developed HF. We detected associations with all 3 pollutants, with hazard ratios (HRs) of 1.17 (95% CI, 1.01–1.36), 1.10 (95% CI, 0.99–1.22), and 1.12 (95% CI, 0.99–1.26) per increase of 5.1 µg/m3 in particulate matter with a diameter <2.5 µm, 8.6 µg/m3 in NO2, and 9.3 dB in road traffic noise, respectively. We observed an enhanced risk of HF incidence for those exposed to high levels of the 3 pollutants; however, the effect modification of coexposure was not statistically significant. Former smokers and nurses with hypertension showed the strongest associations with particulate matter with a diameter <2.5 µm (P effect modification<0.05). Conclusions We found that long‐term exposures to air pollution and road traffic noise were independently associated with HF.


Myostatin (Mstn) is an important negative regulator of skeletal muscle growth. However, it plays also a crucial role in governing
cardiomyocyte growth, heart metabolism and contraction. Our aim was to describe different aspects of Mstn signaling in skeletal muscle and heart tissue. To this end, two different model systems have been used in our experiments:
(1) the Mstn mutant Compact (Cmpt)mice and
(2) healthy and pathological human hearts.
The hypermuscular Cmpt mice carry a 12 - bp natural mutation in the
Mstn propeptide, with additional modifier genes being responsible for the phenotype. Muscle cellularity of the fast tibialis anterior (TA)
and extensor digitorum longus (EDL)
as well as the mixed - type soleus (SOL) muscles of Cmpt
and BALB/c mice was examined by immunohistochemical staining of the myosin heavy chain (MHC) proteins. In addition, transcript levels of MHC isoforms were quantified by qRT - PCR.
On the other hand, gene expression of Mstn and IGF-I, the two major
but mostly counteracting regulators of heart tissue have been investigated in different regions (septum,left and right ventricle
s) of healthy or dilated (DCM) and ischemic cardiomyopathic (ICM)
patient hearts. A comprehensive qRT -PCR analysis was carried out by measuring the expression of Mstn, its receptor Activin receptor IIB (ActRIIB), IGF-I, IGF-I receptor (IGF-I receptor), as well as microRNA-208, the negative
post-transcriptional regulator of Mstn. According to our results all investigated muscles of Cmpt mice were significantly larger compared to wild type characterized by fiber hyperplasia of different grade. Fiber
hypertrophy was not present in TA, however, EDL muscles showed specific IIB fiber hypertrophy while the (I and IIA) fibers of SOL muscles wer
e generally hypertrophied. Both the fast TA and EDL muscles of
Cmpt mice contained significantly more glycolytic IIB fibers
accompanied by decreased number of IIX and IIA fibers, however, this was not the case for the SOL muscles. In summary,
Cmpt mouse, inspite of its complex genetic background,
shows similarities (at least in fast muscles) to Mstn
knockout mice in terms of muscle cellularity and glycolytic muscle phenotype, suggesting that the lack of Mstn is responsible
for these morphological changes. However, based on the more pronounced hyperplasia in Cmpt fast muscles as well as the different cellularity and oxidative phenotype of Cmpt SOL, additional studies are needed to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of Mstn inactivity and
the possible role of modifier genes in Cmpt mice. In our human heart study
, we have found that in healthy control hearts the ratio of
Mstn/IGF - I signaling was significantly higher in the left ventricle/septum than in the right ventricle. Moreover, Mstn transcript levels were significantly upregulated in all heart regions of DCM but not ICM patients. However, the ratio of Mstn/IGF - I signaling remained increased
in the left ventricle/septum compared to the right ventricle of DCM patients (similar to healthy hearts). In contrast, in ICM hearts significant transcript changes were detected mainly in IGF- I signaling. In paralell with these results microRNA -208 showed mild upregulation in the left ventricle of both DCM and ICM hearts.This is the first demonstration of a spatial asymmetry in the expression pattern of Mstn/IGF - I in healthy hearts, which is likely to play a role in the different growth regulation of left vs. right ventricle. Moreover, we identified Mstn as a massively up-regulated gene in DCM but not in ICM as part of
potential compensatory mechanisms in the failing heart.


The paper compares the political leadership of Silvio Berlusconi
and Viktor Orban from the beginning of their political careers to 2014. Besides
giving a descriptive comparison of the Italian and Hungarian political leaders,
the paper focuses on two questions: (1) the nature of their populism; (2) the quality
and robustness of the changes induced by their policy. The paper concludes that
both leaders introduced a new era in politics, but Orban has been more effective
in transforming policy means and priorities and also in adjusting the institutional
settings (polity). Unlike Berlusconi, he has become a founder of a new regime; a
democracy with authoritarian elements. Both of them are populist leaders in terms
of substance, as well as process and linkage, but the ideological nature of their
populism is rather different. While Berlusconi represents liberal populism, Orban
represents an illiberal one.


Children in pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) may experience a broad range of motor, sensory, cognitive, and linguistic difficulties that make it difficult for them to communicate effectively. Being unable to communicate is emotionally frightening for children and can lead to an increase in sentinel events, medical errors and extended lengths of stay. Implementation of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) tools and strategies can address the communication needs of children in the PICU by enabling them to communicate their wants, needs and feelings to healthcare providers and family members and participate in their own care more productively. Hospitals around the world are increasingly recognizing and addressing patients' needs for communication access and have begun to implement communication screenings and assessments and interventions at admission and throughout the hospital stay. New standards for all American hospitals, in fact, mandate efforts to improve patient communication. When patient-provider communication improves, treatment success goes up, hospital-caused errors decrease and patient and family satisfaction improve. This article describes three phases of intervention for communication vulnerable children in the PICU and provides examples of treatment approaches that ensure communication access as their medical condition changes.


Although populism is much-discussed, global trend, attempts to define it have been contentious, unsatisfactory, and often accomplished without the input of the populists themselves. The latest emergence of this political phenomenon has often been linked to "online opportunities" (Engesser et. al, 2017) which help to facilitate and spread such populist ideologies. One strand, a Trump based populism, has even been blamed on the supporters' use of internet memes leading up to the election, and cited in Trump's ultimate victory. This research examines the use of such memes to define the content of this ideology from the populi, themselves. Using Qualitative Content Analysis (QCA), it will attempt to discover how the people who make and use memes in support of Donald Trump, define their own ideology by looking at indicators of the "others," the "general will," "the people," and the "elites." Memes were taken and analyzed from The_Donald subreddit, from which a definition is composed and several insights pertaining to memes are highlighted. This ideological construction is useful when trying to understand elements of populism in the digital age, and works as a record of an emerging and misunderstood political phenomenon.


This paper describes a new method for real-time collaborative localization for intelligent vehicles based on a combination of an extension of simultaneous localization and mapping and track-to-track fusion methods. This strategy aims to overcome the shortcomings of the embedded proprioceptive sensors and solve the localization issues in a cluster of intelligent vehicles, which are equipped with low-cost navigation systems (global position systems, rangefinders, and vehicle to vehicle communication means) in an unknown environment. The strategy improves the vehicles' localization accuracy and tracks a cluster of vehicles for advanced driver assistance systems and vehicles self-driving. For real-time purposes, the computational complexity of standard solutions, which are based on Kalman filter derivatives, is transformed, herein, from cubic to quadratic with respect to the state vector of the cluster. Furthermore, the correlated data is another challenge that needs to be solved in cooperative localization scenarios. To this end, two independent, local and global, fusion nodes are associated with each vehicle. The local node exploits multiple forms of the extended Kalman filter and its dual extended information filter to estimate the vehicles' state, information vectors, covariance and information matrices in the moments and information forms, respectively. Then, the vehicles broadcast the result of their respective local fusion node to cluster. The information is used to solve the second problem, which is a track-to-track fusion on distributed architectures, with two methods: covariance intersection and information matrix fusion in the global fusion node. The simulation and the experimental results of the proposed methods, on distributed architectures, are compared to the optimal solution of centralized data fusion, and to the traditional SLAM method in terms of root mean square errors and consistency.


We describe a delay-based end-to-end congestion control algorithm, called Very FAST TCP (VFAST), which is an extension of FAST TCP. The idea behind this extension is to smoothly estimate the round-trip-time, which eliminates throughput and queue oscillation when round-triptime fluctuates. In this context, we introduce a simulation and an evaluation of the suggested scheme, by comparing our VFAST prototype with FAST in terms of throughput, fairness, stability, RTT and adaptivity to changes in network. The preliminary results are promising.


To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Mayflower Pilgrims' Landing at Plymouth Rock, Daniel Webster (1782–1852), former congressman and future senator and secretary of state, delivered this long discourse to the assembled members of the Pilgrim Society. Always the consummate New Englander, Webster sketched 200 years of American history, surveyed the present era, and projected grand future prospects for a nation barely 40 years old, but with deep roots in Reformed Protestant values and English constitutionalism. Underlying all was his belief that "The character of their political institutions was determined by the fundamental laws respecting property." Webster's stories highlight the political, economic, intellectual, and moral contributions of the New England migrants and their progeny. His account of their enterprise makes them the ancestors of American democracy and dramatizes the concerns that shaped national politics in the decades before the Civil War.


Traditional supervised learning assumes that instances are described by observable attributes. The goal is to learn to predict the labels for unseen instances. In many real world applications the values of some attributes are not only observable, but can be proactively chosen by a decision maker. Furthermore, in some of such applications the decision maker is interested not only to generate accurate predictions, but to maximize the probability of the desired outcome. For example, a direct marketing manager can choose the color of an envelope (actionable attribute), in which the offer is sent to a client, hoping that the right choice will result in a positive response with a higher probability. We study how to learn to choose the value of an actionable attribute in order to maximize the probability of a desired outcome in supervised learning settings. We emphasize that not all instances are equally sensitive to change in actions. Accurate choice of an action is essential for those instances, which are on a borderline (e.g. do not have a strong opinion). We formulate three supervised learning approaches to select the value of an actionable attribute at an instance level. We focus the learning process to the borderline cases. The potential of the underlying ideas is demonstrated with synthetic examples and a case study with a real dataset.


This paper presents an efficient image compression-encryption methodology by using fractals. The methodology is based on the principles and ideas reflected by the family of fractal based languages (Scan) and is mainly motivated for the compression and encryption of 2D digital images. Scan represents a family of special purpose context free languages which access sequentially or process the nxn data of a 2D array, by describing and generating a wide range of (nxn)! algorithms (space filling curves, or permutations) from a short set of simple ones. The compression part of the Scan method uses the algorithmic accessibility of a 2D image and applies a region searching coding criterion for the compression of the image data based on colors or gray levels. Scan produces several compressed versions, where the best of them (the one with the smallest number of bits/image) could be used for compression. The encryption part of the Scan method is coming directly from the nature of the Scan methodology, since it uses one of the (nxn)! permutations to compress the image. The Scan methodology can be used either as lossy or lossless compression scheme.


The seminal model for the effect of winds on surface ocean currents was proposed by Ekman more than a century ago. It demonstrated the non-trivial effect of the Earth's rotation on surface ocean currents driven by constant wind. Here we show that this model is ill-defined when forced by a more realistic stochastic wind – the component of the stochastic wind that resonates with the Coriolis frequency leads to the divergence (singularity) of the surface and depth-integrated currents. The addition of a linear friction term to the model suppresses this unphysical singularity. We present explicit solutions for the surface and depth-integrated currents for wind stress with exponentially decaying and oscillating temporal correlations and show that the wind's temporal correlations and the friction drastically affect, and can even diminish, the resonance. Winds and currents from the Gulf of Elat are compared with the model's predictions.


Waveguide grating couplers based on complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) poly-silicon gate layers are designed and fabricated. Sharing the same etching profile as that of the CMOS poly-silicon gate layer, the fabrication of the grating couplers is fully embedded in the CMOS process without adding any additional masks or process steps. Peak coupling efficiency of 40% and 3 dB bandwidth of ~60 nm, as well as a low reflection, are experimentally achieved. The coupling efficiency can be further improved to ~70% by using silicon-on-insulator wafers with optimal parameters.