ABSTRACT This study evaluated the prevalence of hepatitis A virus infection in the rural area of Labrea, in the western Brazilian Amazon region. Communities and households were selected randomly. Serum samples were analyzed by means of the immunoenzymatic method for the presence of total antibodies against HAV. The study included 1,499 individuals. The prevalence of anti-HAV was 74.6% (95% CI 72.3-76.8). Univariate analysis showed associations with age (chi-square for linear trend = 496.003, p < 0.001), presence of outside toilet (p < 0.001), history of hepatitis (p < 0.001) and family history of hepatitis (p = 0.05). After adjusting for age, HAV infection also showed an association with the number of people in the family (p = 0.03). The overall prevalence rates were high, but not more than 60% of the children under the age of ten years had already been infected. Very high prevalence was detected only within older cohorts, thus paradoxically defining this as a region with intermediate endemicity, even under the conditions of poverty encountered.


RATIONALE
Individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus have an increased risk of vascular disease, which is reduced by lowering the blood pressure of patients with hypertension. However, the association between blood pressure and vascular risk appears to be continuous across a broad range of values of blood pressure, and it is likely that blood pressure-lowering will confer similar benefits in nonhypertensive individuals. Intensive glucose-lowering in these patients have also been shown to reduce microvascular disease, but the effects on macrovascular outcomes remain uncertain.

OBJECTIVES
To determine the effects on macrovascular and microvascular disease of first, lowering blood pressure using a very-low-dose angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor-diuretic combination compared with placebo; and second, intensive glucose control targeting a glycated haemoglobin A1c concentration of 6.5% or less compared with usual glucose control, in high-risk hypertensive and non-hypertensive individuals with type 2 diabetes.

DESIGN
A 2 x 2 factorial randomised, controlled trial with a scheduled period of treatment and follow-up of 4.5 years.

SETTING
The study will be conducted in approximately 200 centres in Australasia, Asia, Europe and North America.

PARTICIPANTS
The study will include 10000 adults with type 2 diabetes at increased risk of vascular disease. Individuals will be eligible irrespective of baseline blood pressure, baseline glucose concentration or requirement for background ACE inhibitor treatment.

INTERVENTIONS
After 6 weeks receiving the active perindopril-indapamide combination, eligible individuals will be randomly allocated to receive continued very-low-dose perindopril-indapamide combination or matching placebo; and to an intensive modified-release gliclazide-based glucose control regimen, or usual guidelines-based treatment.

STUDY OUTCOMES
The primary outcomes are, first, the composite of non-fatal stroke, non-fatal myocardial infarction or cardiovascular death and, second, the composite of new or worsening nephropathy or diabetic eye disease. Secondary outcomes include cause-specific cardiovascular end-points in addition to dementia and all-cause mortality.


The last two decades of the XX century have been marked by a vigorous acceleration of international economic integration both at a global and regional level. States accepted pervasive constraints on their national decision-making in the hope that stability and predictability would favor economic growth. This model of international economic integration, however, has recently shown worrying signs of 'disintegration'. Disintegration manifests itself both as disintegration of the international legal regimes which compose the international economic order; and disintegration through law, namely the social, economic and environmental disintegration phenomena, triggered or at least facilitated by these regimes. Relying on the paradox integration/disintegration as an analytical framework, this article draws a blueprint of the various disintegration phenomena, which are further analyzed in the individual contributions to this Special Issue. It seeks to identify a relationship between the two dimensions of disintegration and detect possible correlation patterns. Last, after engaging with the different normative alternatives put forward by the contributors, it concludes by calling for a rethinking of the traditional approach to international economic integration. This reconceptualization should be premised on the full realization that the current model entails a great deal of environmental and social 'hidden costs'.


Abstract. The North Atlantic carbon sink is a prominent component of global climate, storing large amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), but this basin's CO2 uptake variability presents challenges for future climate prediction. A comprehensive mechanistic understanding of the processes that give rise to year-to-year (interannual) and decade-to-decade (decadal) variability in the North Atlantic's dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) inventory is lacking. Here, we numerically simulate the oceanic response to human-induced (anthropogenic) climate change from the industrial era to the year 2100. The model distinguishes how different physical, chemical, and biological processes modify the basin's DIC inventory; the saturation, soft tissue, and carbonate pumps, anthropogenic emissions, and other processes causing air-sea disequilibria. There are four 'natural' pools (saturation, soft tissue, carbonate, and disequilibrium), and an 'anthropogenic' pool. Interannual variability of the North Atlantic DIC inventory arises primarily due to temperature- and alkalinity-induced changes in carbon solubility (saturation concentrations). A mixture of saturation and anthropogenic drivers cause decadal variability. Multidecadal variability results from the opposing effects of saturation versus soft tissue carbon, and anthropogenic carbon uptake. By the year 2100, the North Atlantic gains 66 Pg (1 Pg = 1015 grams) of anthropogenic carbon, and the natural carbon pools collectively decline by 4.8 Pg. The first order controls on interannual variability of the North Atlantic carbon sink size are therefore largely physical, and the biological pump emerges as an important driver of change on multidecadal timescales. Further work should identify specifically which physical processes underlie the interannual saturation-dominated DIC variability documented here.


Background: Assessing the volume of mammographic density might more accurately reflect the amount of breast volume at risk of malignant transformation and provide a stronger indication of risk of breast cancer than methods based on qualitative scores or dense breast area. Methods: We prospectively collected mammograms for women undergoing screening mammography. We determined the diagnosis of subsequent invasive or ductal carcinoma in situ for 275 cases, selected 825 controls matched for age, ethnicity, and mammography system, and assessed three measures of breast density: percent dense area, fibroglandular volume, and percent fibroglandular volume. Results: After adjustment for familial breast cancer history, body mass index, history of breast biopsy, and age at first live birth, the ORs for breast cancer risk in the highest versus lowest measurement quintiles were 2.5 (95% CI: 1.5–4.3) for percent dense area, 2.9 (95% CI: 1.7–4.9) for fibroglandular volume, and 4.1 (95% CI: 2.3–7.2) for percent fibroglandular volume. Net reclassification indexes for density measures plus risk factors versus risk factors alone were 9.6% (P = 0.07) for percent dense area, 21.1% (P = 0.0001) for fibroglandular volume, and 14.8% (P = 0.004) for percent fibroglandular volume. Fibroglandular volume improved the categorical risk classification of 1 in 5 women for both women with and without breast cancer. Conclusion: Volumetric measures of breast density are more accurate predictors of breast cancer risk than risk factors alone and than percent dense area. Impact: Risk models including dense fibroglandular volume may more accurately predict breast cancer risk than current risk models. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 20(7); 1473–82. ©2011 AACR.


A water surface not only provides a habitat to many living organisms but also opens up new possibilities to develop state-of-the-art technologies. Here, we show a technology for the layer-by-layer assembly of free-standing nanofilms by controlled rolling. The water surface is exploited as an ideal platform for rolling a nanofilm, allowing adhesion control and frictionless feeding. The nanofilm floating on the water surface is attached to a tube by van der Waals adhesion and is rolled up by the rotation of the tube. This method can assemble diverse film materials including metals, polymers, and two-dimensional materials, with an easy control of the number of layers. Furthermore, heterogeneous and spiral structures of the nanofilm are achieved. Various applications such as a stretchable tubular electrode, an electroactive polymer tube actuator, and a superelastic nanofilm tube are demonstrated. We believe this work can potentially lead to a breakthrough in the nanofilm assembly processes.


The properties of epoxy rsesin can be improved by the use of nanofiller such as carbon black (CB), The nanocomposite was synthesized by dispersion via sonication and shear mixing. The morphology, surface chemistry and the structure of CB and the epoxy/CB nanocomposites were investigated using XPS, FTIR, FESEM, and XRD. The FTIR spectrum indicates nucleophilic addition in the presence of CB nanoparticles forming hydroxyl functional group. The XRD pattern shows a slight shift in the morphology between the neat epoxy and the epoxy/CB nanocomposites. The percolation threshold is at 20 – 24 wt% loading. The resistivity of the nanocomposite decreases with CB loading from 90 Ωcm to 0.3 Ωcm at 25 wt% of CB. The Tensile strength was increased by about 42 % at 2 wt%. However, at the percolation threshold (2025 wt% CB) the tensile strength was very poor at 1-2 MPa.


Background: Regular physical activity has a positive effect on physical health, well-being and life satisfaction for older adults. However, engaging in regular physical activity can be challenging for the elderly population due to reduced mobility, low motivation or lack of the proper infrastructures in their communities. Objective: The goal of this paper is to study the feasibility of home-based online group training under different group cohesion settings and its effects on adherence and wellbeing among Russian older adults. We focus particularly on the technology usability and usage, and on the adherence to the training (in light of pre-measures of social support, enjoyment of physical activity and leg muscle strength). As a secondary objective we also explore the effects of the technology-supported intervention on subjective well-being and loneliness. Methods: Two pilot trials were carried out exploring two different group cohesion settings (weak cohesion and strong cohesion) in the period 2015-2016, in Tomsk, Russian Federation. A total of 44 older adults (59-83 years old) participated in the two pilots, and followed a strength and balance training program (OTAGO) for eight weeks with the help of a tablet-based virtual gym application. Participants in each pilot were assigned to an Interaction condition, representing the online-group exercising, and an Individual condition, representing a home-based individual training. Both conditions featured persuasion strategies but differed in the ability to socialise and train together. Results: Both Interaction and Individual group reported a high usability of the technology. Trainees showed a high level of technology acceptance and, particularly, a high score in intention to future use (4.2-5.0 on a 5-point Likert scale). Private messaging was more used than public messaging, and the strong cohesion condition resulted in more messages per user . Joint participations to training sessions (co-presence) was higher for the Social group with higher cohesion. The overall adherence to the training was of 74% (SD=27%). Higher levels of social support at baseline were associated with higher adherence in the low cohesion condition (F(1, 18)=5.23, p=.034), whereas in the high cohesion such association was not found. Overall improvement in the satisfaction with life score was observed between pre and post measures (F(1,31)=5.85, p=.022), but no decrease in loneliness. Conclusions: Online group-exercising was proven feasible among healthy independently living older adults in Russia. The pilots suggest that a physical training performed in a virtual environment positively affect the life satisfaction of the trainees, but it does not provide support for a decrease in loneliness. High cohesion groups are preferable for group-exercising, especially to mitigate effects of low social support on adherence. Further research in motivating group interactions in training settings is needed.


Over the past decades, child malnutrition in Ethiopia has persisted at alarmingly high rates. By applying the conditional nutrition demand approach to household data from three consecutive welfare monitoring surveys over the period 1996-1998, this study identifies household resources, parental education, food prices and maternal nutritional knowledge as key determinants of growth faltering in Ethiopia. Income growth is important for alleviating child stunting, though on its own it will not suffice to reach the international goal of halving each country's level of child malnutrition by 2020. Universalizing access to primary schooling for girls has slightly more promise. However, to reduce child growth faltering in Ethiopia in a significant and timely manner, our empirical results indicate that targeted child growth monitoring and maternal nutrition education programs will be needed in conjunction with efforts to promote private income growth and formal schooling. Authors' Affiliation and Sponsorship Luc Christiaensen Young Professional, PRMPR, The World Bank Email: email@example.com Harold Alderman Advisor, Food and Nutrition Policy, RDV, The World Bank Email: firstname.lastname@example.com THE WORKING PAPER SERIES The Africa Region Working Paper Series expedites dissemination of applied research and policy studies with potential for improving economic performance and social conditions in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Series publishes papers at preliminary stages to stimulate timely discussion within the Region and among client countries, donors, and the policy research community. The editorial board for the Series consists of representatives from professional Families appointed by the Region's Sector Directors. Editor in charge of the series: Antoine Waldburger., AFTM3, Email: awaldburgergworldbank.org, who may be contacted for hard copies. For additional information visit the Web site http://www.worldbank.org/afr/wps/index.htm, where copies are available in pdf format. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the author(s). They do not necessarily represent the views of the World Bank Group, its Executive Directors, or the countries that they represent and should not be attributed to them. Child Malnutrition in Ethiopia: Can Maternal Knowledge Augment The Role of Income? Luc Christiaensen Young Professional, PRMPR, The World Bank Email: Lchristiaensen(worldbank.org Harold Alderman Advisor, Food and Nutrition Policy, Rural Development Department, The World Bank Email: email@example.com


The objective of this work is to analyze the correlation between signs, symptoms and complications and the presence of stress in pregnant adolescents in health facilities in Maceio, Alagoas, Brazil. Quantitative, cross-sectional data were collected through questionnaire survey and tests of applied stress in adolescents treated in prenatal care. Data were analyzed by Epi Info version 3.5, using the odds as a statistical measure. The survey involved 140 pregnant girls, aged from 10 to 19 years. Results show that 80.7% of them had some degree of stress, 57.1% being in the resistance phase and 18.6% at the stage of exhaustion. Statistical association was found between stress and some symptoms. The results indicate the presence of stress in adolescence and the need for special attention to the mental health of these women.


Non-Relativistic QCD (henceforth NRQCD) is a non-relativistic effective theory that
models the strong interaction. We use this formulation to perform lattice simulations of
the bound states of b quarks, known as the Upsilon spectrum. These simulations are performed
on a range of gauge ensembles provided by the MILC collaboration that include three
flavours of quark content - one at the approximate mass of the strange quark, and two
degenerate flavours that range from about a half to a tenth of the mass of the strange
quark.
We implement a random wall algorithm in the creation of our b quark propagators,
and develop a technique to combine the random wall with smearing functions, which are
used to assist in picking out the relevant quantum numbers in the the resulting meson
correlator. This is the first time these techniques have been used in this manner.
We employ a Bayesian fitting procedure to extract energies and amplitudes from our
simulated correlators. By using the 2S−1S Upsilon splitting on each configuration, and matching
to experimental results, we are able to extract the lattice spacings for each ensemble
from which we determine the heavy quark potential scale parameter r1. In concert with
results from our collaborators, we outline the procedure for combining multiple determinations
of r1, and present the collaborative result. We then use this parameter in a
determination of the strong coupling constant αs in the MS scheme.
We investigate the dispersion relation of the NRQCD action, and note some undesirable
features that we are able to resolve with the precision attainable using the random
wall. We look at a number of ways to address these issues, including non-perturbative and
perturbative tuning of coefficients. Using the perturbative coefficients, we then proceed
to calculate heavy-heavy currents, which are perturbatively matched to the continuum,
and allow us to give results for the Upsilon leptonic width.


Tip-streaming generates micronand submicronsized droplets when a thin thread pulled from the pointy end of a drop disintegrates. Here, we report streaming from the equator of a drop placed in a uniform electric field. The instability generates concentric fluid rings encircling the drop, which break up to form an array of microdroplets in the equatorial plane. We show that the streaming results from an interfacial instability at the stagnation line of the electrohydrodynamic flow, which creates a sharp rim. The flow draws from the rim a thin sheet which destabilizes and sheds fluid cylinders. This streaming phenomenon provides a new route for generating monodisperse microemulsions.


Photosystem I of higher plants is characterized by red-shifted spectral forms deriving from chlorophyll chromophores. Each of the four Lhca1 to -4 subunits exhibits a specific fluorescence emission spectrum, peaking at 688, 701, 725, and 733 nm, respectively. Recent analysis revealed the role of chlorophyll-chlorophyll interactions of the red forms in Lhca3 and Lhca4, whereas the basis for the fluorescence emission at 701 nm in Lhca2 is not yet clear. We report a detailed characterization of the Lhca2 subunit using molecular biology, biochemistry, and spectroscopy and show that the 701-nm emission form originates from a broad absorption band at 690 nm. Spectroscopy on recombinant mutant proteins assesses that this band represents the low energy form of an excitonic interaction involving two chlorophyll a molecules bound to sites A5 and B5, the same protein domains previously identified for Lhca3 and Lhca4. The resulting emission is, however, substantially shifted to higher energies. These results are discussed on the basis of the structural information that recently became available from x-ray crystallography (Ben Shem, A., Frolow, F., and Nelson, N. (2003) Nature 426, 630–635). We suggest that, within the Lhca subfamily, spectroscopic properties of chromophores are modulated by the strength of the excitonic coupling between the chromophores A5 and B5, thus yielding fluorescence emission spanning a large wavelength interval. It is concluded that the interchromophore distance rather than the transition energy of the individual chromophores or the orientation of transition vectors represents the critical factor in determining the excitonic coupling in Lhca pigment-protein complexes.


Introduction. The paper will present the preliminary results of a study of voters' online information behaviour being conducted during the 2014 Scottish independence referendum campaign. The referendum provides a rare opportunity to explore politicians' use of the Internet, and citizens' information behaviour, in a completely different campaign setting: one where traditional political opponents have joined forces to either support or oppose the independence argument. Method. The study uses the authors' interactive, electronically-assisted interview method, where participants are observed and questioned as they search for, browse and use information on the web sites and social media sites of political actors taking part in the pro- and anti-independence campaigns. Analysis. All interviews are being audio-recorded digitally and transcribed. The transcripts will then be analysed to identify the important themes and issues emerging. Results. The paper presents the researchers' initial impressions of the nature and impact of voters' online behaviour during the campaign. For example, it will report on the participants' views of the relevance and comprehensibility of the information obtained, and on the potential influence of this information on their voting decisions. Conclusions. The paper presents some preliminary conclusions concerning the relationship between the provision and use of online political information and the democratic process.


Phthalocyanines (Pcs) are an exciting class of molecules that exhibit appreciable physical and chemical stabilities. The Pc macrocycle can host most metal ions in its cavity; hence numerous metallophthalocyanines (MPcs) have been synthesized, characterized, studied and assessed for their potential applicabilities in diverse areas of mankind. The nature of the metal ion encapsulatede within the Pc cavity plays a crucial role in the properties, reactions and of course, applications of the resulting MPc. MPcs exhibit a wide range of applications ranging from industrial, technological to medical, especially in oncology. . A review of the chemistry of MPcs (synthesis, properties and applications) is hereby presented.


A central objective of EU Kids Online is to strengthen the evidence base for policies regarding online safety in Europe. Its findings regarding children's online experiences from across Europe offer an unrivalled opportunity to gain greater knowledge of European children's and parents' experiences and practices regarding risky and safer use of the internet and online technologies, thereby informing the promotion of a safer online environment for children. This chapter draws out in summary form the main implications for policy making and highlights significant issues arising from the findings of the survey, aligning them with existing initiatives where relevant in the distinct areas of risk and safety addressed. Policy actors addressed include policy makers at the European level, the Safer Internet Programme itself; Safer Internet Centres in each of the countries; national governments who play an important role in regulatory oversight; schools as central providers of internet safety training and education; industry at both national and European level as service providers and developers of children's online content; and finally, children, young people and their parents as not only the targets for awareness-raising but who also have active roles in promoting and supporting safer internet practices.


Interest in word-meaning is on the increase among mainstream linguists again after a half-century of neglect. During this interval progress in phonology and syntax was great, but further progress in these sub-disciplines will remain blocked until it is recognized that the prime functional unit of speech is the word, that the central problem of language theory is lexis. Word-meaning is typically complicated by changes across time; for a theory of language creativity, these effects must be discerned from spontaneous creation. The articles brought together in this volume attempt to illuminate, on the basis of particular lexical studies, the dynamics of perception and word-meaning, of language and mind.


Aim: The present work was aimed at evaluating the effect of ascorbic acid on mercuric chloride induced changes on the cerebrum of Wistar rats.

 Methods: Thirty Wistar rats of average weight of 200g were divided into 6 groups of 5 rats each. In addition to normal diet, the animals in Group 1 were given distilled water, Groups 2 and 3 were administered 52mg/kg and 26.25mg/kg of mercuric chloride (HgCl) respectively while Groups 4 and 5 were administered 52mg/kg of HgCl and 5mg/kg of ascorbic acid and 26.25gm/kg of HgCl and 5mg/kg of ascorbic acid respectively. Group 6 was administered 5mg/kg of ascorbic acid through oral route, daily for 3 weeks.

 Results: Oxidative stress assay showed a significant decrease (P<0.05) in the mean levels of catalase, superoxide dismutase and glutathione reductase in Groups 2, 3 and 4 when compared with the Control while lipid peroxidase showed a significant increase (P<0.05) in Groups 2 and 3. Histological observation of the cerebrum showed a normal architecture in Groups 1 and 6 while, Groups 2, 3, 4 and 5 showed degenerative changes, necrosis and clumping of cells.

 Conclusion: Ascorbic acid administration has been shown to ameliorate induced degenerative changes in the cerebrum caused by mercuric chloride toxicity in Wistar rats.

 Keywords: Mercuric chloride, Cerebral cortex, Ascorbic acid, Oxidative stress.


A promising whey protein separation technique, Reverse micelles (RM) extraction could be an important tool for obtaining the valuable food ingredients. RM techniques have the potential to continuously extract specific proteins from an aqueous mixture, achieving simultaneous concentration and purification of specific proteins in an efficient manner. The extraction of lactoferrin (LF) protein, using nano-sized reverse micelles of nonionic surfactant polyoxyethylene p-t-octylphenol (triton-X-100) is attempted here. Suitability of reverse micelles of cationic surfactant cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and triton-X-100/CTAB mixture in organic solvent for LF extraction is also investigated. The raw milk treated with 1M HCl at pH 6.5 and centrifuged to get whey sample. The whey sample was concentrated with 0.1µm membrane enrichment and diluted five times to its original volume with 50 mM phosphate buffer at pH 6.35 containing 100mM sodium chloride. The aqueous solution was then mixed with an equal volume of organic solvents containing the surfactant. The aqueous phase and reverse micelles phase has been separated by centrifugation and the protein is accumulated in the aqueous phase. The extract was fractionated using ammonium sulphate and purity improvements are done by HIC (Hi Trap Phenyl) column and followed by IEX(DEAE cellulose) column chromatography which was previously equilibrated with phosphate buffer with the pH maintained at 7.8 and eluted by increasing ionic strength with sodium chloride. The results show that the LF evolves more in CTAB than in CTAB+ triton- X-100 mode which may be due to reduced hydrophobic interaction.


The `excitation profile' of a liquid is a measure of the rate per kelvin at which the liquid is driven by entropy generation to the top of its potential energy landscape. We argue that it determines the liquid fragility, and hence controls the canonical features of viscous liquid phenomenology. We seek to prove this using studies of simple glass formers. We recognize two types of simple glass former, molecularly simple and excitationally simple, and provide examples and characterization of each. In the first category we describe the systems , , and their binary solutions. The simplest case is only glass forming in emulsion form but solutions in up to 85% are found to be bulk glass formers. The fragility of each component is determined by the new `reduced-transition-width' measurement and found to be only 60% fragile versus 75% for the fragile liquid toluene and propylene carbonate. We infer that the mixed LJ (Lennard-Jones) system, whose landscape `excitation profile' has recently been determined by MD computer simulations, is only a moderately fragile liquid. For the increase in heat capacity at is used to `quantify' the energy landscape and establish the appropriate `excitation profile' for liquids of this fragility. The second type of simplicity is bestowed by the presence of a single dominant interaction in the system. The best cases are the covalent glass formers of the chalcogenide variety, e.g. Ge-Se, and Ge-As-Se, in which the breaking of angle-specific covalent bonds is the dominant excitation process. We show that in the ground-state bond lattice an extremum in the glass transition temperature occurs close to the theoretical rigidity percolation bond density of 2.4 bonds per particle where a fragility minimum is also found. Invoking a simple theoretical treatment of this bond lattice we find that the entropy of the elementary excitation is a minimum or zero at percolation, and the glass transition becomes a simple Schottky anomaly with kinetic arrest. The excitation profile predicted by this model seems similar to that found by the simulations for the molecularly simple glasses. The fragility of the liquid is, in this case, controlled by the entropy change in the elementary excitation process. Whether this excitation entropy is determined within the configurational or vibrational densitites of states is a key question. In either case, large values mean sharp excitation profiles which, due to cooperative effects near pure Ge, can become first-order liquid-liquid transitions.


The temperate bacteriophage Sf6 infects Shigella flexneri strains of serotype X or Y, converting them into serotypes 3a or 3b, respectively. The tailspike protein (TSP) of Sf6 possesses endo-1,3-alpha-L-rhamnosidase (endorhamnosidase) activity which results in cleavage of the lipopolysaccharide O-antigen receptor during the adsorption of the phage to the cell surface. When used in Southern hybridization, a P22 gene 9 (encoding P22 TSP) DNA probe hybridized with restriction fragment Pstl-7 of Sf6. DNA sequencing and analysis of Pstl-7 and the adjacent Pstl-8 fragment revealed an open reading frame (ORF1) of 1872 bp (624 amino acids) bearing amino acid sequence homology to the bacteriophage P22 TSP N-terminal head-binding domain. High conservation of key residues was suggestive of similar secondary and tertiary N-terminal protein structure and a similar function of the Sf6 TSP in this region. In addition, an amino acid sequence motif (DFGX3DGX6AX3A) was identified between residues 164 and 184 which was also found to exist in various prokaryotic and eukaryotic exo-/endoglycanases, C-5 epimerases and bacteriophage proteins. Expression of ORF1 from a T7 promoter produced a 67 kDa protein (detected by L-[35S]methionine labelling and SDS-PAGE). Assay of heat-treated cytoplasmic extracts containing the ORF1-encoded protein by incubation with whole Sh. flexneri Y cells demonstrated that O-antigen hydrolysis activity was present; ORF1 therefore encodes Sf6 TSP. Sf6 TSP exhibited specific and preferential activity for long-chain Sh. flexneri serotype X or Y O-antigen, cleavage of which resulted in the release of oligosaccharide fragments, consistent with octasaccharides in size, as detected by fluorophore-assisted carbohydrate electrophoresis (FACE).


The goal of the work was to establish the toxicity and biodistribution of the superparamagnetic protein cationized ferritin (CF) after intravenous injection. Intravenously injected CF has been used to target the extracellular matrix with high specificity in the kidney glomerulus, allowing measurements of individual glomeruli using T  2* ‐weighted MRI. For the routine use of CF as an extracellular matrix‐specific tracer, it is important to determine whether CF is toxic. In this work, we investigated the renal and hepatic toxicity, leukocyte count, and clearance of intravenously injected CF. Furthermore, we studied CF labeling in several organs using MRI and immunohistochemistry. Serum measurements of biomarkers suggest that intravenous injection of CF is neither nephrotoxic nor hepatotoxic and does not increase leukocyte counts in healthy rats at a dose of 5.75 mg/100 g. In addition to known glomerular labeling, confocal and MRI suggest that intravenously injected CF labels the extracellular matrix of the hepatic sinusoid, extracellular glycocalyx of alveolar endothelial cells, and macrophages in the spleen. Liver T  2* values suggest that CF is cleared by 7 days after injection. These results suggest that CF may serve as a useful contrast agent for detection of a number of structures and functions with minimal toxicity. Magn Reson Med, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Written by JERRY SIEGEL Art by JOHN SIKELA, ED DOBROTKA and LEO NOWAK Cover by FRED RAY In this new volume of stories from ACTION COMICS #47-52, WORLD'S FINEST COMICS #6-7 and SUPERMAN #16-17, Superman battles Lex Luthor, Metallo, The Talon and The Human Bomb. With help from Lois Lane, he faces down crooked politicians and slumlords. On sale JUNE 8 - 192 pg, FC, $17.99 US


Abstract. During the Chequamegon Heterogeneous Ecosystem Energy-balance Study Enabled by a High-density Extensive Array of Detectors 2019 (CHEESEHEAD19) field campaign, held in the summer of 2019 in northern Wisconsin, USA, active and passive ground-based remote sensing instruments were deployed to understand the response of the planetary boundary layer to heterogeneous land surface forcing. These instruments include radar wind profilers, microwave radiometers, atmospheric emitted radiance interferometers, ceilometers, high spectral resolution lidars, Doppler lidars, and collaborative lower-atmospheric mobile profiling systems that combine several of these instruments. In this study, these ground-based remote sensing instruments are used to estimate the height of the daytime planetary boundary layer, and their performance is compared against independent boundary layer depth estimates obtained from radiosondes launched as part of the field campaign. The impact of clouds (in particular boundary layer clouds) on boundary layer depth estimations is also investigated. We found that while all instruments are overall able to provide reasonable boundary layer depth estimates, each of them shows strengths and weaknesses under certain conditions. For example, radar wind profilers perform well during cloud-free conditions, and microwave radiometers and atmospheric emitted radiance interferometers have a very good agreement during all conditions but are limited by the smoothness of the retrieved thermodynamic profiles. The estimates from ceilometers and high spectral resolution lidars can be hindered by the presence of elevated aerosol layers or clouds, and the multi-instrument retrieval from the collaborative lower atmospheric mobile profiling systems can be constricted to a limited height range in low-aerosol conditions.


Abstract The positive features of innovation are well known but the dark side of public innovation has received less attention. To fill this gap, this article develops a theoretical understanding of the dark side of public innovation. We explore a diversity of perverse effects on the basis of a literature review and an expert consultation. We indicate that these perverse effects can be categorized on two dimensions: low public value and low public control. We confront this exploratory analysis with the literature and conclude that the perverse effects are not coincidental but emerge from key properties of innovation processes such as creating niches for innovation and accepting uncertainty about public value outcomes. To limit perverse effects, we call for the dynamic assessment of public innovation. The challenge for innovators is to acknowledge the dark side and take measures to prevent perverse effects without killing the innovativeness of organizations.


Magnesium (Mg) chelatase is a heterotrimeric enzyme complex that catalyzes a key regulatory and enzymatic reaction in chlorophyll biosynthesis, the insertion of Mg2+ into protoporphyrin IX. Studies of the enzyme complex reconstituted in vitro have shown that all three of its subunits, CHL I, CHL D, and CHL H, are required for enzymatic activity. However, a new T-DNA knockout mutant of the chlorina locus, ch42-3 (Chl I), in Arabidopsis is still able to accumulate some chlorophyll despite the absence of Chl I mRNA and protein. In barley (Hordeum vulgare), CHL I is encoded by a single gene. We have identified an open reading frame that apparently encodes a second Chl Igene, Chl I2. Chl I1 and Chl I2 mRNA accumulate to similar levels in wild type, yet CHL I2 protein is not detectable in wild type or ch42-3, although the protein is translated and stromally processed as shown by in vivo pulse labeling and in vitro chloroplast imports. It is surprising that CHL D accumulates to wild-type levels in ch42-3, which is in contrast to reports that CHL D is unstable in CHL I-deficient backgrounds of barley. Our results show that limited Mg chelatase activity and CHL D accumulation can occur without detectable CHL I, despite its obligate requirement in vitro and its proposed chaperone-like stabilization and activation of CHL D. Thus, the unusual post-translational regulation of the CHL I2 protein provides an opportunity to study the different steps involved in stabilization and activation of the heterotrimeric Mg chelatase in vivo.


Advances in information and communications technologies (ICTs) have strategic implications for a wide range of industries.

Tourism and hospitality have dramatically changed by the ICTs and the Internet and gradually emerge as the leading industry on online expenditure. The Internet revolutionised traditional distribution models, enabled new entries propelled both disintermediation and reintermediation and altered the sources of competitive advantage. This paper explores the strategic implications of ICTs and the perceived advantages and disadvantages of Internet distribution for small and medium-sized hospitality enterprises (SMEs). Primary research in Athens hotels demonstrates the effects of the Internet and ICTs for secondary markets, where there is lower penetration and ICT adoption. Interviews and questionnaires identified a number of strategies in order to optimise distribution. The analysis illustrates the strategic role of ICTs and the Internet for hospitality organisations and Small and Medium-sized organisations in general. Most hotels employ a distribution mix that determines the level and employment of the Internet. The paper demonstrates that only organisations that use ICTs strategically will be able to develop their electronic distribution and achieve competitive advantages in the future.


The yield stress of concentrated wheat straw suspensions was measured by a vane with a Bohlin rheometer. Wheat straw fibers were made by grinding (wet and dry) wheat straw and separated into four sizes by sieving (8, 12, 20, and 40 mesh). The yield stress was found to increase with concentration as well as with the size of the wheat straw fibers. The yield stress data fitted to power law equation proposed by Kerekes et al. (1985) for pulp fibers. It was found that only 40 mesh size wheat straw fibers agreed with the relation. Effect of stress ramp rate was studied on 5% (20 mesh) w/v, wheat straw suspension. It was observed that stress ramp rate had an effect on measured yield stress value. No yield stress was observed in the suspension of 5% (40 mesh) w/v, due to sedimentation of wheat straw fibers. For effective utilization and mixing of enzymes with wheat straw fibers during hydrolysis, knowledge of yield stress of suspension was important.


This chapter discusses the concept of data-driven regulation and governance in the context of smart cities by describing how these urban centres harness these technologies to collect and process information about citizens, traffic, urban planning or waste production. It describes how several smart cities throughout the world currently employ data science, big data, AI, Internet of Things ('IoT'), and predictive analytics to improve the efficiency of their services and decision-making. Furthermore, this chapter analyses the legal challenges of employing these technologies to influence or determine the content of local regulation and governance. This chapter explores in particular three specific challenges: the disconnect between traditional administrative law frameworks and data-driven regulation and governance, the effects of the privatization of public services and citizen needs due to the growing outsourcing of smart cities technologies to private companies; and the limited transparency and accountability that characterizes data-driven administrative processes. This chapter draws on a review of interdisciplinary literature on smart cities and offers illustrations of data-driven regulation and governance practices from different jurisdictions.


In addition to deciding cases, the Japanese Supreme Court bears responsibility for another major category of decision making: judicial administration. One vital aspect is personnel management. The Supreme Court, through its General Secretariat, plays a central role in the selection of lower court judges and decides on promotions and transfers, which are a standard element of Japan's career judiciary. Over the years, many critics have contended that the Supreme Court General Secretariat uses its authority in personnel matters to reward some judges and punish others, with allegations that ideological and political considerations are involved. This, in turn, it has been argued, threatens judicial independence. For its part, the Supreme Court has steadfastly resisted responding to these charges, other than to provide assurances that the process is fair. The basic outline of the lower court appointment process is widely known. Yet the actual operation of that process has been shrouded in secrecy. The Supreme Court has held the governing standards and process for promotions and transfers in even greater secrecy.In 2001 the Justice System Reform Council issued a report that included various recommendations relating to the judiciary. Among its recommendations, the Reform Council called for reforms that would ensure the views of the public are reflected in the judicial appointment process and would secure transparency and objectivity in personnel evaluations. After reviewing the Supreme Court's role in the judicial appointment and personnel management process, this essay examines the set of reforms that were adopted to heighten transparency in that process. As this examination reveals, despite the push for transparency, appointments are still far from public, not to mention standards governing promotions and transfers. Japanese judges still work in relative anonymity. This supports the Japanese judiciary's ethos of uniformity built on a view (or mythology) that the identity of judges does not matter, since procedures and outcomes will be the same no matter who is on the bench.


Abstract. Large-eddy simulations of stably stratified flows are carried out and analyzed using the mesoscale atmospheric model Meso-NH for applications to kilometer- and subkilometer-scale turbulence in the in the upper troposphere–lower stratosphere. Different levels of turbulence are generated using a large-scale stochastic forcing technique that was especially devised to treat atmospheric stratified flows. The study focuses on the analysis of turbulence statistics, including mean quantities and energy spectra, as well as on a detailed description of flow topology. The impact of resolution is also discussed by decreasing the grid spacing to 2 m and increasing the number of grid points to 8 × 109. Because of atmospheric stratification, turbulence is substantially anisotropic, and large elongated structures form in the horizontal directions, in accordance with theoretical analysis and spectral, direct numerical simulations of stably stratified flows. It is also found that the inertial range of horizontal kinetic energy spectrum, generally observed at scales larger than a few kilometers, is prolonged into the subkilometric range, down to the Ozmidov scales that obey isotropic Kolmogorov turbulence. This study shows the capability of atmospheric models like Meso-NH to represent the turbulence at subkilometer scales.


Profiles of refraction and bending angle, which computed through the forward model for GPSRO (Global Positioning System radio occultation), are extremely important for GPS radio occultation data assimilation to the forecast system of NWP (Numerical Weather Prediction). The daily processing of GPS RO data in assimilation system costs amount of time, thus there is an urgent need to find a new way to reduce the computing time. GPU is suited for many data computation-intensive task and has emerged as an inexpensive high performance co-processor because of their tremendous computing power. In this paper, we demonstrate how forward model for GPS can be accelerated considerably by using throughput-oriented GPU on a standard PC. Our implementation is based on loop unrolling, CUDA stream, SPMD, and SIMD vector parallel computing. We have successfully implemented the forward model on single GPU platform, and then develop a simple CPU/GPU parallel cluster. The results on GTX 480 for a single-GPU show a speedup of up to 259 over CPU-based program. In comparison to a single node, the speedup on our cluster which has three nodes is 2.68. All results demonstrate that the forward model can be high efficiently parallelized on CPU/GPU cluster. Besides, it also indicates that the cluster has good scalability.


Global assessments have shown that future climate change is likely to significantly impact forest ecosystems. The present study makes an assessment of the impact of projected climate change on forest ecosystems in India. This assessment is based on climate projections of Regional Climate Model of the Hadley Centre (HadRM3) using the A2 (740 ppm CO2) and B2 (575 ppm CO2) scenarios of Special Report on Emissions Scenarios and the BIOME4 vegetation response model. The main conclusion is that under the climate projection for the year 2085, 77% and 68% of the forested grids in India are likely to experience shift in forest types under A2 and B2 scenario, respectively. Indications are a shift towards wetter forest types in the northeastern region and drier forest types in the northwestern region in the absence of human influence. Increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration and climate warming could also result in a doubling of net primary productivity under the A2 scenario and nearly 70% increase under the B2 scenario. The trends of impacts could be considered as robust but the magnitudes should be viewed with caution, due to the uncertainty in climate projections. Given the projected trends of likely impacts of climate change on forest ecosystems, it is important to incorporate climate change consideration in forest sector long-term planning process.


The modern trends in automotive turbocharger applications are towards the boosting of smaller internal combustion engines in passenger cars. The use of turbochargers in gasoline engines is increasingly common. There are particular issues relating to gasoline engines that result in the aerodynamic efficiency of the turbine design being less than the achievable. The turbine must be designed to provide the best compromise between engine efficiency and transient response. This paper explains the reasons for compromise in the design and presents an example of a design methodology by which a design optimum may be developed.


The presentation focuses on the establishment of a new thematic library network in Greece encompassing the majority of organized maritime orientated collections within special and/or University libraries: The Maritime Libraries Network (MarLiNet). The Network originated from the initial cooperation of three libraries with significant maritime collections, namely those of the Eugenides Foundation Library, the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation Library and the Library of the University of the Aegean about a decade ago. The interest of the three institutions to cooperate on the maritime transport collections resulted in the signing, in 2010, of a first Memorandum of cooperation and in the establishment of the "Triangle of Maritime Libraries" with the written intent for it to become one day a "Polygon". Today, the network consists of 8 libraries1. Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation2. Eugenides Foundation3. Hellenic Maritime Museum4. Hellenic Naval Academy5. National Technical University of Athens6. University of Piraeus7. University of the Aegean8. Naval History Department (Hellenic Navy)
These libraries, possessing important maritime collections and sharing the common vision of improving their services to their research and general readers (users), meet regurarly on a monthly basis through their representatives in order to coordinate the actions of the network.The paper provides an overview of the vision, the values and the main purposes underlying the cooperation of the MarLiNet. These are mainly:a. Expanding the availability of titles to their users b. Saving resources through a rationalized strategy of new acquisitions c. Increasing the readability of their shipping collections; and d. maximizing their visibility as important collections on maritime transport subjects, a step already taken through the on-going construction of a joint website.In the above context, we are discussing in this presentation our short-term and long-term planning as well as our strengths, weaknesses and the challenges that this network offers. Finally, there is reference to some best practices and lessons learned by other relevant initiatives.


Alveolo-pleural fistula remains a serious post-operative complication in lung cancer patients after surgery, which is associated with prolonged hospital stay and higher healthcare costs. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of a polyglycol acid (PGA)-sheet known as Neoveil in preventing post-operative air-leak in cases of detected intra-operative air-leak after lung resection. Between 11/2021 and 7/2022, a total of 329 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients were surgically treated in two institutions. Major lung resections were performed in 251 cases. Among them, 44 patients with significant intra-operative air-leak at surgery were treated by reinforcing staple lines with Neoveil (study group). On the other hand, a historical group (selected by propensity score matched analysis) consisting of 44 lung cancer patients with significant intra-operative air leak treated by methods other than the application of sealant patches were considered as the control group. The presence of prolonged air-leak (primary endpoint), pleural drainage duration, hospital stay, and post-operative complication rates were evaluated. The results showed that prolonged air-leak (>5 days after surgery) was not observed in study group, while this event occurred in four patients (9.1%) in the control group. Additionally, a substantial reduction (despite not statistically significant) in the chest tube removal was noted in the study group with respect to the control group (3.5 vs. 4.5, p = 0.189). In addition, a significant decrease in hospital stay (4 vs. 6 days, p = 0.045) and a reduction in post-operative complications (2 vs. 10, p = 0.015) were observed in the study group when compared with the control group. Therefore, in cases associated with intra-operative air-leak after major lung resection, Neoveil was considered a safer and more effective aerostatic tool and represents a viable option during surgical procedures.


Ultrastructural analysis of cells, collagen and elastic fibres and connective tissue matrix was performed separately in sinoatrial node (SN) and the right atrium (RA) perinodal working myocardium in 12 patients of different age with idiopathic long Q-T syndrome. Despite the variability in SN and RA connective tissue component content in different patients these parameters were often significantly different for working and conducting myocardium. In senior group SN and RA elastic fibres content showed 1.9 and 1.8 (P < 0.05) fold increase, respectively, although RA collagen fibres content was 2.2 fold (P < 0.02) lower as compared to younger patients. In general, difference of SN from RA was noted in 3 parameters of the 4 assessed, with the content of cells, collagen fibres and connective tissue matrix in conducting myocardium exceeding those in working myocardium.


The systematic collective vibrations of the constituent atoms of a crystal poessess energy which is
quantized – the quantum of energy is referred to as phonons. The presence of phonons in the
semiconductor lattice introduces anomaly in the otherwise periodic arrangement of atoms which
significantly modifies the electrical, thermal and optical properties of the semiconductors. Phonons in
semiconductor give rise to many significant effects such as: (a) It is one of the most dominant scattering
mechanism for electron transport (b) Non-vertical electron transitions in Indirect band gap
semiconductors (c) Creation and annihilation of excitons. Recent advancements in fabrication of low
dimensional nanostructures have found various applications in optoelectronics and novel devices to be
used in switches. The dimensional confinement of nanostructutres in one or more spatial dimensions
modifies the bulk phonons, for example in quantum well new modes such as : Interface modes, confined
modes, propagating modes and half space modes arise. In polar semiconductors the most significant
mechanism of electron-phonon interaction is through the frohlich interaction. My work concentrates on
Interface modes in wurtzite heterostructure and out-of plane modes in 2D materials (for which I have
considered MoS2) In the present thesis I have worked on the following problems:
1. Derivation of analytical expressions for dispersion relation and electron Interaction (frohlich
potential) potential for the Interface modes in various two interface wurtzite heterostructure.
2. Derivation of analytical expressions and conditions for existence of Interface modes in two
interface ternary alloy heterostructures such as Al(1-x)Ga(x)N and quantum well heterostructure
GaN/In(x)Ga(1-x)N/GaN as a function of composition "which is labelled by x". This work
extends the work of komirenko et al (1999) applied to wurtzite material heterostructures.
3. Derivation of analytical expressions for dispersion relation and electron Interaction (frohlich
potential) potential for the Interface modes in metal terminated two interface wurtzite
heterostructure. This problem investigates the role of metal terminations in nanostructures to
reduce scattering of electrons by Interface modes.
4. Inspired by the work of Yu et al (1997), I have Developed a Transfer Matrix Theory for
determination of dispersion relation and frohlich potential amplitudes in any heterostructure with
any arbitrary number of layers. This theory is then applied to a 4-period superlattice of AlN/GaN
layer.
5. Determination of Electron interaction potential due to out-of-plane phonon mode in MoS2.


Again available! This handy volume collects the best and most important writings of J.L. Moreno in one concise and accessible place. This unique collection explores Moreno's thought in developing psychodrama and sociometry, with his strong emphasis on spontaneity and creativity. The book discusses both basic and advanced concepts and techniques of psychodramatic treatment. Thte reader will find extensive examples from Moreno's own cases containing verbatim transcripts that illustrate the give-and-take between Moreno, his patients, and the audience observers. Jonathan Fox introduces the book with a brief overview of Moreno's life and ideas and places him in the context of his time and in the field of psychotherapy. Fox's notes throughout underscore significant aspects of the selections for the practitioner and student.


The preparation of densely-packed films from hybrid lead halide perovskite nanocrystals is not trivial, as during assembly into the solid state both the charge transport and photoluminescence can be substantially altered. The objective of the present study was to retain the pre-engineered confined morphologies of hybrid lead halide perovskite nanocrystals in densely-packed solid films by using short organic ligands. Therefore, the roles of the organic ligands would be to provide stable colloids and a good passivation of the nanoparticle surface, as well as to enable the efficient assembly of the nanoparticles in the solid state. We report here an effective and reproducible process to deposit lead halide perovskite nanoparticle films from colloidal CH3NH3PbBr3 nanoparticles short organic ligands. Remarkably, we demonstrate that nanoparticle solid films with thicknesses of hundreds of nanometres can retain high photoluminescence, with a quantum yield of 80%, and still sustain charge transport.


Our main aim is to understand the phenomena coercion by regarding how it is created and maintained during coercive care of drug abusers in Sweden. In this article we follow processes through coercive care by stories from social workers and clients. 23 interviews were conducted with 13 social workers in the social services and 10 persons who have been under coercive care. The material derives from two parallel studies where the social services work has been in focus. The interviewees' stories elucidate actions and interaction throughout the coercive care. Hereby they describe a process where the drug user first is transformed from a subject to an object. When the care continues in to voluntary treatment the objectification of the drug user ceases and turns into a re-subjectification, where the disciplined can regain influence on his life, but this time as disciplined. We argue that coercion is a process of both objectification and re-subjectification and that coercion is productive since it produces changed identities. (Less)


Polycrystalline, partially epitaxial Sc2O3 films were grown on AlGaN/GaN substrates by atomic layer deposition (ALD). With this ALD Sc2O3 film as the insulator layer, the Sc2O3/AlGaN/GaN metal-insulator-semiconductor high electron mobility transistors showed excellent electrical performance with a high Ion/Ioff ratio of over 108 and a low subthreshold slope of 75 mV/dec. The UV/NH4OH surface treatment on AlGaN/GaN prior to ALD was found to be critical for achieving these excellent figures. In addition, the Sc2O3 dielectric is found to be negatively charged, which facilitates the enhancement-mode operation. While bare Sc2O3 suffers from moisture degradation, depositing a moisture blocking layer of ALD Al2O3 can effectively eliminate this effect.


This thesis explores the implications of cultural resources for educational attainment and socioeconomic progression among Caribbeans in Britain - one of Britain's most disadvantaged [social] ethnic groups - since the 1940s. More specifically, it offers, first, a review of Caribbeans? experiences in education and socioeconomic domains in Britain, as have been researched throughout the decades since the World Wars, and explores, second, how cultural resources through which Caribbeans understand their social world and mediate their experiences therein impact upon their educational attainment and socioeconomic progression. Cultural resources, as implied in studies undertaken by DeGraaf (1986; 1989; 2000) in the Netherlands, are acquired in settings such as the family and schools in which individuals are socialised, i.e., learn their culture and how to live in their social world. These settings are held to be influenced by cultural and societal factors that are interrelated and are, in effect, sociocultural (Wertsch, 1994; 1995). Such settings are posited in this thesis as vital to understanding Caribbeans? educational and socioeconomic outcomes. This is demonstrated through adopting a sociocultural approach from which analyses was undertaken into the experiences of ten families of three generations and ten individuals - all of Caribbean descent - who participated in a quasi-ethnographic inquiry that formed the empirical part of the study. The participants had a range of educational, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds, which characterised a purposive sample that they formed. Their accounts of their experiences, which were the source from which inferences about their educational attainment, socioeconomic progression, and cultural resources are made, were elicited through ethnographic interviews, participant observations, and researcher?s diaries, and are presented in this thesis as family case study analyses and sociocultural settings analyses. The inquiry revealed that the participants across the whole sample were socialised in a key set of sociocultural settings that were identified in their accounts of their experiences as family, community, religion, education, and occupation. In-depth interrogation of patterns in their lived experiences in these settings revealed that their socialisation processes were diverse and, consequently, reflected in diversity in their acquisition and usage of a common set of cultural resources that were discovered and, through analyses, reified as familial influence, community orientation, religiosity, familiarity with formal education processes, and occupational aspiration. Diversity in their acquisition and usage of these resources in the various settings reflected in diverse patterns of educational and socioeconomic outcomes across the three generations. However, two distinct patterns are herein defined and discussed as a ?trajectory of advancement? and a ?trajectory of urgency?. The former characterises the outcomes of participants who had attained educationally and progressed in socioeconomic terms across generations in their family, and the latter characterises the outcomes of participants who had not attained educationally and remained disadvantaged in socioeconomic terms across generations in their family. These findings are tentative, but they suggest, nonetheless, that cultural resources are salient in shaping Caribbeans? educational and socioeconomic outcomes. Such findings are significant in that they interrupt the ways that Caribbeans? experiences and outcomes in education and socioeconomic domains have been understood historically and, at the same time, offer the sociocultural approach as another way from which to understand these experiences and outcomes. In addition, the sociocultural approach from which these finding are derived and the concept of cultural resources are introduced, in this thesis, in an understanding of patterns of educational and socioeconomic outcomes that persist across generations. This understanding, it is herein suggested, is crucial to any debate surrounding persistently low achievement in education and socioeconomic domains among social groups - particularly among groups such as Caribbeans that are disadvantaged in education and socioeconomic domains.


Baboons inform on human gut microbiota Commensal bacteria are found throughout an organism, but it is not known whether associations between gut bacteria and their host are heritable. Grieneisen et al. examined changes in the microbiomes of 585 wild baboons from fecal samples collected over 14 years (see the Perspective by Cortes-Ortiz and Amato). Almost all microbiome traits tested demonstrated some level of statistically significant heritability. Most heritability values were low but varied over time correlating with the age of the host. Baboons live in an environment similar to that postulated for early humans and have a microbiome similar to that of humans. Thus, this heritability of the microbiome may reflect similar genetic determinants in humans, for which similar datasets are not available. Science, aba5483, this issue p. 181; see also abj5287, p. 159 The baboon gut microbiome is heritable but changes over time. Relatives have more similar gut microbiomes than nonrelatives, but the degree to which this similarity results from shared genotypes versus shared environments has been controversial. Here, we leveraged 16,234 gut microbiome profiles, collected over 14 years from 585 wild baboons, to reveal that host genetic effects on the gut microbiome are nearly universal. Controlling for diet, age, and socioecological variation, 97% of microbiome phenotypes were significantly heritable, including several reported as heritable in humans. Heritability was typically low (mean = 0.068) but was systematically greater in the dry season, with low diet diversity, and in older hosts. We show that longitudinal profiles and large sample sizes are crucial to quantifying microbiome heritability, and indicate scope for selection on microbiome characteristics as a host phenotype.


We investigated age-related improvement in speed and accuracy of complex language comprehension with 361 children attending kindergarten and the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. Language comprehension was measured using both the neuropsychological procedure proposed by Luria (1966, 1980) and an adapted version of the Token Test. Levels of short-term memory and verbal intelligence were controlled for in the evaluation of language comprehension. The findings show that the accuracy of language comprehension continued to develop until the 6th grade, whereas the speed of language comprehension continued to improve up until the 7th grade. We thus conclude that the complex language comprehension of children is not fully developed until early adolescence. We further contend that the speed of complex language comprehension appears to be more sensitive than accuracy with respect to measuring developmental differences.


Original title: "Kijk op kinderopvang"

The Kijk op kinderopvang (A look at childcare. How parents think about the affordability, accessibility and quality of childcare) study explores parents' perspectives on formal child care, their experiences and the decisions with regard to paid work and care. What are their views on the affordability, the accessibility, and the quality of childcare? And how do their perceptions and experiences relate to the ways in which parents combine work and childcare? The report is based on population statistics and newly collected data on more than 1,800 parents of babies and toddlers.

The study was conducted by the Netherlands Institute for Social Research (known by its Dutch initials: SCP) at the request of the Childcare Directorate within the Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment. The collection of data for the survey has been financed by the Childcare Directorate.


Thread-Level Speculation (TLS) provides architectural support to aggressively run hard-to-analyze code in parallel. As speculative tasks run concurrently, they generate unsafe or speculative memory state that needs to be separately buffered and managed in the presence of distributed caches and buffers. Such a state may contain multiple versions of the same variable. In this paper, we introduce a novel taxonomy of approaches to buffer and manage multiversion speculative memory state in multiprocessors. We also present a detailed complexity-benefit tradeoff analysis of the different approaches. Finally, we use numerical applications to evaluate the performance of the approaches under a single architectural framework. Our key insights are that support for buffering the state of multiple speculative tasks and versions per processor is more complexity-effective than support for lazily merging the state of tasks with main memory. Moreover, both supports can be gainfully combined and, in large machines, their effect is nearly fully additive. Finally, the more complex support for storing future state in the main memory can boost performance when buffers are under pressure, but hurts performance when squashes are frequent.


Objective To evaluate ocular involvement in a cohort of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients of a tertiary referral center and to compare the results with the existing literature. Methods Patients underwent a complete ophthalmological evaluation, including visual acuity, slit-lamp examination, fluorescein staining, Schirmer-I test, Goldmann applanation tonometry, fundoscopy, 10-2 automated threshold visual fields, fundus autofluorescence and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography to screen for hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) macular toxicity. Results A total of 161 patients (16 men and 145 women) were enrolled in this study. The mean age was 47.6 years and the mean disease duration was 11.5 years. Fifty patients (31.1%) had at least one ocular manifestation of SLE. The most frequent manifestation was dry eye syndrome (12.4%), immediately followed by cataracts (11.2%) and HCQ macular toxicity (11.2%). Among patients with HCQ maculopathy, two presented with an atypical spectral-domain optical coherence tomography pattern. Five patients (3.1%) presented with glaucoma, two patients (1.2%) presented with SLE retinopathy while only one presented with lupus choroidopathy (0.6%). Conclusions Compared with previous studies, we conclude there has been a significant reduction in disease-related ocular complications, particularly those associated with poor systemic disease control. On the other hand, drug and age-related complications are assuming a prominent role in the ophthalmic care of these patients.


The development of embedded software encompasses a wide range of best practices and development methodologies. For quality-critical projects intended for highly reliable applications, delivery of high quality software is an absolute requirement. In these situations, development and test teams must complete code reviews, perform unit and regression test, and testing on the target system. But is it enough? What if a critical defect escapes to software deployment and then to production? Formal methods based mathematical techniques may alleviate some of the doubt. Application of formal methods based code verification may provide precision in guiding software engineering teams to know which parts of code will not fail and isolate those aspects of code that will fail or most likely to fail. This paper will discuss the practical application of these techniques for the verification of software. As part of the application of this improvement process, the paper will explore how these techniques enable the creation of high quality embedded software.


While International Humanitarian, Refugee and Human Rights Law are frequently resorted to in the search for remedies for human rights violations, the Public International Law remedy of Diplomatic Protection is often forgotten, perhaps because there are few cases fitting the legal requirements for that remedy. The Venezuelan expulsions and property confiscations in 2015 and 2017 of Colombian residents without due process and, frequently, with violence may provide a useful example of an appropriate case for Diplomatic Protection arising within the context of a forced expulsion of an identifiable nationality. The following article, result of a research project regarding international law enforceability, reviews the current law on Diplomatic Protection and, within the context of a factual survey of the treatment of Colombian nationals by Venezuela, undertakes an analysis as to whether the facts of the case in fact give rise to a remedy of Diplomatic Protection. Effectively, the article argues in favour of the availability of this remedy as an option for the Colombian government.


Wedge-shaped lymphoid depletion and sinus distention is described in the pole of an intramammary lymph node. The origin of the lesion appears to be traumatic venous thrombosis. Topographically the lesion differs from spontaneous venous infarction of lymph nodes, and resembles segmented infarction due to small arterial lesions. The usually localised trauma of fine-needle aspiration appears to account for its distinctive microanatomical distribution.


Free energy simulations are a powerful tool to study molecular recognition. The most rigorous variants can provide in depth understanding for a particular system, but are not suited for high throughput application to large libraries of compounds. Related, but less expensive methods are increasingly popular, including continuum electrostatic methods like PBSA ("Poisson-Boltzmann Surface Area") and Linear Response or Linear Interaction Energy methods (LRA, LIE). Here, we review the theoretical background of these methods and provide a unified framework. We focus on the electrostatic contributions to the binding free energy, analyzing nonpolar contributions more briefly. The methods reviewed introduce a multi-step pathway for ligand unbinding, with distinct steps that uncharge the bound ligand, then recharge the unbound ligand. They assume that the system responds to the charging/uncharging in a linear way. With this approximation, the free energy can be described by its one or two first derivatives with respect to a progress variable. The methods can then be classified according to which states of the system are actually simulated and the number of free energy derivatives (one or two) that are employed. The analysis should help clarify the relations between several important free energy methods and the approximations they make. It can suggest new ways to test them, and provide routes for their improvement.


A commonly used null model for species association among forest trees is a well-mixed community (WMC). A WMC represents a non-spatial, or spatially implicit, model, in which species form nearest-neighbor pairs at a rate equal to the product of their community proportions. WMC models assume that the outcome of random dispersal and demographic processes is complete spatial randomness (CSR) in the species ' spatial distributions. Yet, stochastic dispersal processes often lead to spatial autocorrelation (SAC) in tree species densities, giving rise to clustering, segregation, and other nonrandom patterns. Although methods exist to account for SAC in spatially-explicit models, its impact on non-spatial models often remains unaccounted for. To investigate the potential for SAC to bias tests based upon non-spatial models, we developed a spatially-heterogeneous (SH) modelling approach that incorporates measured levels of SAC. Using the mapped locations of individuals in a tropical tree community, we tested the hypothesis that the identity of nearest-neighbors represents a random draw from neighborhood species pools. Correlograms of Moran ' s I confi rmed that, for 50 of 51 dominant species, stem density was signifi cantly autocorrelated over distances ranging from 50 to 200 m. Th e observed patterns of SAC were consistent with dispersal limitation, with most species occurring in distinct patches. For nearly all of the 106 species in the community, the frequency of pairwise association was statistically indistinguishable from that projected by the null models. However, model comparisons revealed that non-spatial models more strongly underestimated observed species-pair frequencies, particularly for conspecifi c pairs. Overall, the CSR models projected more signifi cant facilitative interactions than did SH models, yielding a more liberal test of niche diff erences. Our results underscore the importance of accounting for stochastic spatial processes in tests of association, regardless of whether spatial or non-spatial models are employed.


The high resolution of modern DNA arrays has the implification of unintended coincidental detection of gene deletions predisposing to late-onset neurological and oncological disorders. Here, we report the case of an 18-year-old girl with mild intellectual disability, facial dysmorphisms, and a microdeletion of approximately 6.3 Mb on 22q12.1q12.3 including NF2, the gene for neurofibromatosis type 2, and CHEK2, a modifier gene for breast cancer. Subsequent magnetic resonance imaging of the brain showed she had already developed bilateral vestibular schwannomas. The challenge of DNA arrays and the consequences for genetic counselling and informed consent will be discussed in the light of this unique case with a microdeletion including both a high risk and a moderate risk cancer predisposition gene.


RPSL-01 type photosensitive resin for Stereolithography was prepared with 3,4-epoxycyclohexylmethyl-3',4'-epoxycyclohexanecarboxylate (UVR 6110), bisphenol A type epoxy diacrylate (EA-612), tripropylene glycol diacrylate (TPGDA), pentaerythritol triacrylate(PETA), triethylene glycol divinyl ether (DVE-3), benzil dimethyl ketal (Irgacure651) and a mixture of triarylsulfonium hexafluoroantimonate salts (UVI-6976) as raw materials. Some properties of the photosensitive resin were investigated. The viscosity of the photosensitive resin at 30°C was 425mPa.S, The glass transition temperature (Tg ) of the UV-cured specimen was 47°C, and the weight loss of the UV-cured specimen at 200°C was less than 5%. The photosensitive resin and its UV-cured specimen were also characterized by infrared (IR).


Exposure to toxic elements is a significant threat to public and individual health worldwide. Toxic elements such as heavy metals are associated with increased mortality and morbidity in both men and women and are a substantial contributor to neurological deficits and developmental delay in children. Analysis of skeletal material yields important information regarding exposure to toxic elements in a given population. This project has investigated toxic element exposure in 215 adults living in urban South Africa who died between 1960 and 1999. Exposure to toxic elements, particularly exposure to lead, has significant impacts on human health, even at very low levels. To date, little research has been conducted on human exposure to toxic elements in adult urban South Africans and a clear gap exists regarding toxic element exposure rates during the latter half of the 20th century. Among the primary aims of this research is to address this gap in knowledge and to quantify human exposure to these elements during the apartheid era. Bone element concentration was analysed by ICP-MS to determine the concentration of six elements that are toxic to humans: lead, cadmium, manganese, arsenic, antimony and vanadium. The results of this research demonstrate clear racial divisions in toxic element exposure in all but one element investigated. In the case of lead and cadmium, white males in the sampled population show significantly higher bone element concentrations than either black males or black females. It is surmised that apartheid-era separation of racial groups in regards to residence, occupation and movement within the urban landscape are partly, if not significantly, responsible for these differences in toxic element exposure. Lead exposure is strongly associated with exposure to traffic in urban Pretoria and Johannesburg, which is evident in both the limited environmental data available and the present study. Designated residential areas for white individuals were situated in and adjacent to the central business districts of both cities and are the areas associated with high traffic. Black residential areas were located on the urban periphery, often near industrial areas and mine dumps. The result is a lead exposure pattern by which white individuals in the sampled population yield double the bone lead concentration of black individuals. The wide divide in socioeconomic strata between the black and white population also factors significantly and is an additional result of apartheid policy. For arsenic and antimony, black individuals, particularly females, show significantly higher bone element concentration than white individuals. These elements are strongly associated with acid mine drainage, a form of pollution which results from mining activity. The close proximity of black residential areas to mining activities and the heavy reliance on ii contaminated surface water is likely responsible for higher exposure rates to these elements in the black population. This research has established that rates of exposure to toxic elements in urban Transvaal were moderate considering the level of industrial and mining activity in the region and the notably lax environmental regulations in place during the latter half of the 20th century. Despite this, bone element levels, particularly that of lead, cadmium and manganese are within ranges documented to cause negative impacts on human health. It is highly likely, given the bone element concentrations reported here, that these elements caused significant and negative health effects in the sampled population and were a clear threat to overall public health in urban South Africans.


Nearly all countries have seed laws and technical regulations to govern their formal seed system, run by formal public organisations and private seed companies, while the role of the farmers' seed system has been marginalised especially in developed countries. Local traditional varieties that are largely taken care of and nurtured by farmers' seed system have also been excluded from the formal seed system. Nowadays, however, it is quite common to see locally-sourced vegetables on supermarket shelves, while an increasing number of consumers visit farmers' market and become aware of local traditional vegetables available only through such channels. It is in this context that many local governments, public agricultural experimental stations and even private seed companies are becoming interested in the use and management of local traditional varieties of vegetables in Japan. The objective of this paper is to elucidate some characteristics of and factors behind the condition, potentiality and limitations of farmers' seed systems vis-a-vis the expected role of public experimental stations and locally-based seed companies, especially when it comes to the use and management of local traditional vegetables and their genetic resources in Japan. This paper is based on our case studies, in which we conducted in some interviews with relevant local actors in addition to literature and statistical surveys.


Toll like receptors (TLRs) function as pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs) and play key roles in the recognition of microbial components or endogenous ligands induced during inflammatory response. Studies on TLR-deficient mice have indicated TLRs' involvement in multiple pathologic conditions, and targeting of either the TLRs themselves or the signals they generate is proving to be of great interest to researchers as evidenced by increased research findings among immunologists, pharmacologist, and pharmaceutical scientists on TLRs. As animal models, cellular and molecular mechanisms on TLR mediated disease pathogenesis are made available, drug intervention strategies and early stage clinical studies can be planned and initiated to seek clinical proof for justifying TLRs and their associated signaling pathway/molecules as therapeutic targets. Moreover, a key functional output from TLRs is the generation of inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and IL-6, which are excellent targets for inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.

 Key words: TLR, PRR, NF-κB, agonist, antagonist, drug discovery.


This study investigated whether the effectiveness of an error management approach to training negotiation knowledge and skill depended on individual differences in conscientiousness, extraversion, and openness to experience. Participants were randomly assigned to two training programs that incorporated key elements of an error management and behavioral modeling approach to training, and were trained in the complex interpersonal skill of negotiation. At the end of training, declarative knowledge acquisition, procedural knowledge acquisition, declarative knowledge retention, and transfer performance were assessed at different points in time. Results suggested that the effectiveness of the error management training program was dependent on individual levels of conscientiousness and extraversion. For several learning outcomes, the performance of highly conscientious and extraverted individuals was superior in the error management condition, while the performance of less conscientious and introverted individuals was superior in the behavioral modeling condition. The implications of these findings, and suggestions for future research, are discussed.


Introduction: The Ukrainian civil war and associate Russian intervention are linked to the European Union's (EU) foreign relations with Ukraine. Whether the EU's policy in Ukraine can be said to be a success or not, it is certainly having an impact on world affairs. Despite this increasing impact of EU foreign policy, most analyses of it view EU foreign policy as a tool of the larger member states. In this paper, we examine one aspect of EU foreign policy, the distribution of foreign aid. We argue that rather than being driven by the greater powers within the EU, EU foreign aid policy is driven by the unanimity voting of Council of Ministers. We further argue that the EU's foreign policy decisions will therefore be constrained by the preferences of those member state governments with the most restrictive criteria for judging the appropriateness of a foreign aid recipient. Finally, we argue that this restrictive criterion is human rights. Applying a combination of factor analysis and regression data set of foreign aid receipts by over 150 countries between 1981 and 2001, we examine the factors associated with EU foreign aid disbursement. We find that far from being a tool of the larger member states, EU foreign aid policy is most similar to the foreign aid policies of the smaller Nordic members, Ireland and the Netherlands. Finally, we find measures of the human rights records of potential recipients significantly predict the amount of aid the EU disburses to those countries.
The remainder of this paper is divided into several sections. First, we examine the current research on foreign aid with particular attention to the foreign policy of the EU. Second, we discuss the institutional politics of EU foreign aid decision making. We then explain our data collection and methodological approaches. Finally, we discuss the results of our factor analysis and regression models.


Bangladesh has been experiencing increased temperature and change in precipitation regime, which might adversely affect the important ecosystems in the country differentially. The river flows and groundwater recharge over space and time are determined by changes in temperature, evaporation and crucially precipitation. These again have a spatio-temporal dimension. This geospatial modeling research aimed at investigating spatial patterns and changing trends of temperature and rainfall within the geographical boundary of Bangladesh. This would facilitate better understanding the change pattern and their probable impacts on the ecosystem. The southeastern region, which is one of the most important forest ecosystem zones in the country, is experiencing early onset and withdrawal of rain but increasing trends in total rainfall except in the Monsoon season. This means that the region is experiencing a lower number of rainy days. However, total rainfall has not changed significantly. The differential between maximum and minimum showed an increasing trend. This changing pattern in average max and min temperature along with precipitation might cause a situation in which the species that are growing now may shift to suitable habitats elsewhere in the future. Consequently, the biodiversity, watersheds and fisheries, productivity of land, agriculture and food security in the region will be affected by these observed changes in climate.


Semi-arid Namibia is marginal for agricultural production. Low soil fertility combined with low and variable rainfall restrict the livelihoods of smallholder farmers who often struggle to produce enough food. Although historically, communities have adopted a number of coping mechanisms, climate change threatens to further reduce agricultural production. There are many additional options available to smallholder farmers to adapt to climate change, but they are not necessarily adopting these measures despite having noticed increasing temperatures and declining rainfall. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in three villages in Onesi constituency to examine what agricultural practices smallholder crop farmers use, perception of changes in their yields, their perspective on future yields and whether they are planning on changing their agricultural practices. The results suggest that to sustain the livelihoods of rural communities in north-central Namibia, support is needed from local and regional authorities, as well as traditional and religious leaders to assist with enhancing access to information, enabling information sharing on adaptation options, and increasing awareness on climate change, its impacts and what can be done about it. In addition to this, implementation of the adaptation action also requires demonstration sites and building capacity to enable the development of self-help groups.


The bronchoscopic appearance of a patient who developed acute respiratory distress following the insertion of a pulsion endo-oesophageal tube is described. Intubation of the lower thoracic oesophagus causes cardio-oesophageal incompetence, which is considered important in causing aspiration pneumonia. The selection of a suitably sized tube is important as a possible means of preventing tracheobronchial compression.


Light manipulation to reduce the plant parasitic nematodes abundance on coffee nursery. Plant parasitic nematode problem on monoculture coffee can be caused not only by the suitable hosts but also by the environmental changes, such as soil water content and soil temperature. A semi-field experiment was conducted in Sumberjaya, West Lampung on MaySeptember 2007 with the aim to study the effect of shading levels and fertilizer levels of coffee nursery on plant parasitic nematodes abundance. The results showed that the shading level treatment on coffee nursery significantly affected the abundance of plant parasitic nematodes but did not affect the free-living nematode abundance. The relationship between the plant parasitic nematode abundance with the shading level is polynomial with the highest nematode abundance (500 individual/ 300 ml of soil) was under 40% shading level. The increase in shading level indirectly affected the increase in plant parasitic nematode abundance through the increas in of soil water content. Inorganic N, P and K fertilizer at the recommended level for coffee nursery increased the abundance of plant parasitic nematodes from 216 to 282 individual/300 ml of soil. The interaction between the shading level and fertilizer did not significantly affect the plant parasitic nematode abundance.


I noticed a number of individuals with a distinctive coppery-red skin colour and a similar hair colour. These appeared to be healthy Africans, normal apart from colour, and showed no signs of skin or eye disease. This condition struck me as being similar to albinism, and I wondered whether it was genetically related to albinism-possibly occurring in some heterozygotes. It would be interesting to hear whether there is a known or suggested genetic basis for this " red albinism." So far as I recollect, the iris colour of the " red " individuals was not noticeably different from the brown of the normal Africans, while that of the albinos was a blue-grey with some brown streaks. " Healthy " albino skin appeared unpigmented, but deep brown or black pigmentation sometimes occurred in raised lesions, which looked as though they might be going to develop into epitheliomata, on exposed areas of skin.-I am, etc.,


Bundle adjustment is a key component in practically all available Structure from Motion systems. While it is crucial for achieving accurate reconstruction, convergence to the right solution hinges on good initialization. The recently introduced factorization-based pOSE methods formulate a surrogate for the bundle adjustment error without reliance on good initialization. In this paper, we show that pOSE has an undesirable penalization of large depths. To address this we propose expOSE which has an exponential regularization that is negligible for positive depths. To achieve efficient inference we use a quadratic approximation that allows an iterative solution with VarPro. Furthermore, we extend the method with radial distortion robustness by decomposing the Object Space Error into radial and tangential components. Experimental results confirm that the proposed method is robust to initialization and improves reconstruction quality compared to state-of-the-art methods even without bundle adjustment refinement.1


[in Russian]
In the given article I will focus on the theoretical contribution of Roland Barthes to Film Theory and more broadly, to the contemporary studies of Visual Culture. In my view, there are three main aspects of Barthes' theory which are most interesting for film scholars. Firstly, his work contributed significantly to the formation of Film Semiotics in France and elsewhere (from the 1960s till now). Secondly, the model of textual analysis (l'analyse textuelle) that Barthes elaborated and applied to the literary texts of Balzac, Poe and other writers has played a crucial role in the formation of film analysis as a particular mode of reading film as a text. Thirdly, highly nuanced and inventive vocabulary, which Roland Barthes applied to the interpretation of cinematic images, is particularly suitable when we deal with the uncoded, open, evanescent, elusive, ineffable meanings and with the phenomenalisation of the insignificant in a cinematic text. In other words, elaborating such concepts as «third meaning», textual analysis, punctum, «le filmique», «traumatic units of cinema» and others, Roland Barthes gives us a conceptual toolkit that allows for the analysis of that what I would refer to as «the poetics of the unspeakable», that, on the one hand, has to do with the affective power of cinema, and on the other, relates to the specificity of a cinematic image as such.


"Writing Processes and Structures" teaches effective paragraph writing skills by introducing students to the rhetorical modes of description, narration, process, comparison and contrast, and persuasion. Models work with ESL and Generation 1.5 students. The multitude of activities and assignments cultivate vocabulary development and grammar skills.The first chapter introduces students to the basic skills necessary for successful academic writing by reviewing Microsoft Word, grammar, vocabulary, sentence types and their punctuation, journal-writing, and the peer review process.Each chapter of "Writing Processes and Structures" includes an introduction to the type of paragraph mode and a reading in the appropriate style.Student models are provided in an appendix.


In fifteen years, Synthetic Biology (SB) has moved from proof-of-concept designs to several flagship achievements. Standardisation efforts are still under way, basic engineering concepts such as modularity and orthogonality are still controversial in biology, and making predictions from computer models is still unreliable. A deep characterization in the pattern of re-use of biological blocks in SB has not been attempted to date. We have compared the topological organisation of two different technological networks, one associated to a standard, large-scale software repository and the second provided by the Registry of Standard Biological Parts (RSBP). Our results strongly suggest that software engineering, and not industrial engineering, is the closest complex system to SB. In both cases, combining standard or quasi-standard components assembly with tinkering may not be at odds with success.


Federated Averaging (FedAvg) remains the most popular algorithm for Federated Learning (FL) optimization due to its simple implementation, stateless nature, and privacy guarantees combined with secure aggregation. Recent work has sought to generalize the vanilla averaging in FedAvg to a generalized gradient descent step by treating client updates as pseudo-gradients and using a server step size. While the use of a server step size has been shown to provide performance improvement theoretically, the practical benefit of the server step size has not been seen in most existing works. In this work, we present FedExP, a method to adaptively determine the server step size in FL based on dynamically varying pseudo-gradients throughout the FL process. We begin by considering the overparameterized convex regime, where we reveal an interesting similarity between FedAvg and the Projection Onto Convex Sets (POCS) algorithm. We then show how FedExP can be motivated as a novel extension to the extrapolation mechanism that is used to speed up POCS. Our theoretical analysis later also discusses the implications of FedExP in underparameterized and non-convex settings. Experimental results show that FedExP consistently converges faster than FedAvg and competing baselines on a range of realistic FL datasets.