The primary question in this dissertation concerns the relationship between transitional justice policies and democratic consolidation. It is often assumed that transitional justice will have a positive impact on consolidation, but this is rarely examined or empirically tested. The goals of this dissertation are twofold, to contribute to the empirical investigation of transitional justice effects and to refine our understanding of how these effects happen. Accordingly, among the aspects of transitional justice policies investigated here are initial policy choice and intensity, as well as variation in the policies' procedural characteristics. Using evidence from criminal prosecution and political screening policies in post-communist Germany and Poland, this dissertation first argues that a wide range of transitional justice policies is compatible with democratic consolidation. Second, in developing a framework for how to study the effects of transitional justice policies it assesses the roles of intensity versus procedural variables (including the criteria for evaluation and institutional capacity). Their effects are disaggregated into three categories: membership, educational, and symbolic. Evidence from Germany and Poland shows that variations in these three categories of effects were more the result of procedural factors than of the intensity of transitional justice. More specifically, high intensity of criminal trials and screening is necessary but not sufficient to produce extensive punishments and/or dismissals. Variations in intensity establish the range of potential exclusions, but the actual magnitude and distribution of membership effects is determined by the criteria used for evaluating subjects and the capacity of implementing institutions. Moreover, criteria and institutional capacity consistent with democratic rule of law norms are likely to reduce the magnitude of exclusions. Intensity is not strongly related to educational effects, in particular the release of new information about the past regime, which are shaped instead by procedural factors. Intensity is one of several possible influences on symbolic effects of transitional justice policies, but only in combination with procedural variables, particularly criteria for evaluation and institutional capacity. In short, transitional justice policies have multifaceted and indirect effects that, within broad limits set by intensity, are likely to be determined by variations in the process of implementation


Traditional iteration-based full-waveform inversion (FWI) methods encounter serious challenges if the initial velocity model is far from the true model or if the observed data are lacking low-frequency content. As such, the optimization algorithm may be trapped in local minima and fail to go to a global optimal model. In addition, the traditional FWI method requires long-offset data to update the deep structure of a velocity model with diving waves. To overcome the disadvantages of traditional FWI under these circumstances, we have developed a reflection intensity waveform inversion method. This method aims to minimize the seismic intensity differences between the modeled reflection data and field data. Our method is less dependent on the starting model, and long-offset data are no longer required. The wave intensity, proportional to the square of the original data amplitude, can have a low-frequency band and a higher frequency band, even for waveforms without initial low-frequency content. Our multiscale intensity inversion starts from the low-frequency information in the intensity data, and it can largely avoid the cycle-skipping problem. Synthetic and field data examples demonstrate that our method is able to overcome cycle skipping in handling data with no low-frequency information.


This paper presents a palynological examination of surface soil samples procured from butterfly mud puddling locations in northeast India and its comparison with forest surface samples from the immediate vicinity. The modern palynodata from different sites reflect a close similarity in the types and frequency of the pollen grains. However, the diversity of pollen taxa in butterfly mud puddle samples was comparatively higher than the forest surface samples. The pollen recovered in both the butterfly mud puddle location and forest surface samples reflects an evergreen forest composed of Dillenia, Elaeocarpus, Litsea, and Syzygium which exactly displays the current vegetation. The presence of cerealia, along with Brassicaceae, and Hibiscus in the butterfly mud puddle samples is suggestive of the human activity in the vicinity. However, the abundance of Lantana and Melastoma pollen in the mud puddle sediments is a strong indication of the conversion of forest vegetation in to open habitat, because these plants are correlated with human occupation. The extra-regional taxa, especially Rhododendron, in the mud puddle sediments are significant and strongly suggestive of butterfly migration from higher altitudes. Evergreen elements, along with ferns and fungal remains, in the palynoassemblage are strongly indicative of high rainfall under warm and humid climatic conditions. Thus, the main aim of this observation was to identify the potential of butterfly mud puddle samples and its comparison with other surface pollen traps in order to strengthen the relationship between modern pollen and vegetation in floristically rich areas of Assam, northeast India. The palynodata from the butterfly mud puddle locations is a useful source of palynological observation which should be considered in future palynological research.


This paper explores the shifting values and fragilities of museum biological specimens as they have recently become enrolled in the Barcoding of Life Initiative (BOLI); a global techno-scientific project which seeks to provide the 'barcode' to 'anyone anywhere' as a ubiquitous species naming device for all species on the planet. The reliance of BOLI upon museum collections for the industrialized high throughput sequencing necessary to rapidly accumulate DNA barcodes, I argue, positions museum specimens in a newly configured relationship with a 'global populace' assumed to require instantaneous species information. I discuss how museum specimens, as scientific, epistemic objects are sites of evolving and contested meaning as alternative approaches to the potential (classificatory and possibly commercial value) of DNA barcodes continue to be negotiated within the taxonomic community. As such they are sites of lively and ever-emerging forms of material culture in natural history museums as they speak for multiple natural orders.


This chapter provides an analysis of the ways in which one teacher education program addressed the issue of sustainability. The Bachelor of Technology Education is an undergraduate teacher training program at Griffith University, Australia, that provides opportunities for students to study technical, pedagogical, design and graphics courses. Throughout the four-year program, students are involved in developing their technical and pedagogical skills, designing and making products, and developing teaching resources for their future employment. Since 2004 a number of courses within the program have been re-designed and re-structured to focus on different elements of education for sustainability (ES). In this paper I analyse some achievements within this program which include: across-course approaches; links to communities outside the university; effective/practical approaches to sustainability issues; and relationships between research and teaching. To develop coherent leaning experiences these achievements have been planned on the basis of a theoretical analysis of what education for sustainability means for the technology education area. A curriculum development framework was created that was based on general considerations such as the ways sustainability could be conceptualised, the nature of knowledge, 'eight sustainability principles' for the university and particular issues specific to the area of technology education such as ES aims for technology education and principles of sustainable design. On the basis of student surveys the conclusion is made that due to the coherent approach adopted, visible results in students' learning and attitudes and program development were achieved.


We witness an unprecedented proliferation of knowledge graphs that record millions of heterogeneous entities and their diverse relationships. While knowledge graphs are structure-flexible and content-rich, it is difficult to query them. The challenge lies in the gap between their overwhelming complexity and the limited database knowledge of non-professional users. If writing structured queries over "simple" tables is difficult, it gets even harder to query complex knowledge graphs. As an initial step toward improving the usability of knowledge graphs, we propose to query such data by example entity tuples, without requiring users to write complex graph queries. Our system, GQBE (Graph Query By Example), is a proof of concept to show the possibility of this querying paradigm working in practice. The proposed framework automatically derives a hidden query graph based on input query tuples and finds approximate matching answer graphs to obtain a ranked list of top-k answer tuples. It also makes provisions for users to give feedback on the presented top-k answer tuples. The feedback is used to refine the query graph to better capture the user intent. We conducted initial experiments on the real-world Freebase dataset, and observed appealing accuracy and efficiency. Our proposal of querying by example tuples provides a complementary approach to the existing keyword-based and query-graph-based methods, facilitating user-friendly graph querying. To the best of our knowledge, GQBE is among the first few emerging systems to query knowledge graphs by example entity tuples.


The main organizations involved in standardization of laboratory medicine are described. At the international level these are mainly: ISO, IEC, WHO, ICSH, IFCC and COWS/WASP, while at the European level CEN, CENELEC and BCR are involved in standardization activities in Europe. At the present the European Commission is preparing a directive on in vitro diagnostic. This document will rely, for its implementation, on standards prepared by CEN/CENELEC.


Decreasing dimensions of integrated circuit devices is leading to increased importance of microscale heat transfer effects and the failure of Fourier's law in predicting sub-micron heat conduction. In compact transistors, large electric fields near the drain side create hot spots whose dimensions are smaller than the phonon mean free path in the medium. Under these conditions, the phonon Boltzmann equation (BTE) needs to be solved in order to resolve the non-local thermal conduction phenomena. In this paper, the problem of an unsteady heat source of size comparable to or smaller than the phonon mean free path is considered. The unsteady 2-D phonon Boltzmann transport equation in the relaxation time approximation is solved using a finite volume method. The interaction of the heat-up time constant with the phonon residence time in the hotspot and also its interaction with the time scales associated with scattering processes are studied. The results are useful in assessing the peak temperatures during unsteady operation in microelectronic devices.


The cellular events leading to clinical manifestations of acute (less than 30 minutes) ischemia are discussed, with emphasis on the role of early extracellular K + accumulation and its effect on sodium current kinetics, which causes changes in excitability, conduction, and refractory periods. These are the cellular phenomena responsible for ST elevation, reentry, and enhanced automaticity, which characterize the early clinical events in ischemia. During this early period, A TP levels are normal and calcium metabolism appears normal.


'Had we lived, I should have had a tale to tell...which would have stirred the heart of every Englishman. These rough notes and our bodies must tell the tale' Robert Falcon Scott's 'message to the public' c. 29 March 1912 Through Beau Riffenburgh's narrative and the perfectly composed images of Herbert Ponting, With Scott to the Pole tells the story of the triumph and tragedy of Scott's 1910-13 expedition to the South Pole. Along with four companions, the explorer reached the pole only to be bitterly disappointed to discover the Norwegian flag planted there by Roald Amundsen. Scott and his men could no longer hope to secure the first attainment of the South Pole for the British Empire, and their despondency shows in the photographs that survived them. Yet with grit and courage they started on the 800 mile return from the pole. A harrowing time ensued. By the time they were within 11 miles of a depot which would have saved them they had already lost two members of the expedition, and it was at this point that Scott and his remaining two companions were overcome by a blizzard and died. With Scott to the Pole is a fitting tribute not only to Ponting 's spell-binding aesthetic vision, but also to a magnificent story of adventure and heroism.


The silverleaf whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Genn.) biotype B has become a serious problem for soybean cultivation because it can significantly reduce soybean productivity. The use of soybean cultivars resistant to whitefly attack is an important strategy in an integrated pest management (IPM) program. This study evaluated the preference for oviposition and colonization by B. tabaci biotype B on different soybean genotypes. In the free-choice test, the genotypes studied were 'IAC 17' and 'IAC 19' as the standards for resistance and 'IAC Holambra Stwart' as the standard for susceptibility, as well as BABR01-0492, BABR01-0173, BABR01-1259, BABR01-1576, BABR99-4021HC, BABR99-4021HP, 'Barreiras', 'Conquista', 'Corisco', 'BRS Gralha', PI274454, PI227687, and PI171451. In the no-choice test, the four best genotypes selected in the free-choice test, in addition to the susceptible and resistant standards were evaluated. Our data indicated 'Barreiras' as the most resistant genotype against B. tabaci biotype B. 'BRS Gralha', which was the least attractive to whitefly adults in the free-choice test, did not show resistance to insect attack when they were confined in cages in the no-choice test. Despite the high number of eggs observed, BABR01-1576 and BABR99-4021HC showed a reduced number of nymphs, indicating antibiosis. The genotypes with a high level of resistance can be used as a tool against B. tabaci in IPM or as a source of resistance in plant-breeding programs.


Dense SnO2 based ceramics are widely used. In this paper, 95SnO2-5MnO2 ceramics were prepared by pressureless sintering in air at different temperatures. Phase compositions and microstructures are examined by XRD, SEM and EDX, respectively. The SEM results show that different morphologies exist at the SnO2 grain boundary of ceramic, which compose of manganese oxidation, testified by EDX. The different manganese oxides phases, found by XRD, are the source of oxygen concentration at the grain boundary during heating and oxygen dissipation when cooling. However, solid solutions of Mn, Sn and O are not observed. The density of 95SnO2-5MnO2 ceramics decreases with increasing the sintering temperature, due to the evaporation of SnO and decreasing concentration of oxygen at grain boundary in the cooling process. Densification of the ceramic is promoted with inhibiting the decomposition of SnO2 by increasing oxygen concentration in the heating process, but it is limited by the dissipation of oxygen at the grain boundary in the cooling process.


Collecting duct (CD)-specific knockout (KO) of endothelin-1 (ET-1) causes hypertension, impaired ability to excrete a Na load, and enhanced CD sensitivity to the hydrosmotic effects of vasopressin (AVP). CD express the two known ET receptors, ET(A) and ET(B); in the current study, the role of the CD ET(A) receptor in mediating ET-1 actions on this nephron segment was evaluated. The ET(A) receptor gene was selectively disrupted in CD (CD ET(A) KO). CD ET(A) KO mice had no differences in systemic blood pressure, Na or K excretion, and plasma aldosterone or renin activity in response to a normal- or a high-Na diet compared with controls. During normal water intake, urinary osmolality (Uosm), plasma Na concentration, and plasma osmolality were not affected, but plasma AVP concentration was increased in CD ET(A) KO animals (0.57 +/- 0.25 pg/ml in controls and 1.30 +/- 0.29 pg/ml in CD ET(A) KO mice). CD ET(A) KO mice had a modestly enhanced ability to excrete an acute, but not a chronic, water load. DDAVP infusion increased Uosm similarly; however, CD ET(A) KO mice had a more rapid subsequent fall in Uosm during sustained DDAVP administration. CD suspensions from CD ET(A) KO mice had a 30-40% reduction in AVP- and forskolin-stimulated cAMP accumulation. These data indicate that CD ET(A) KO decreases renal sensitivity to the urinary concentrating effects of AVP and suggest that activation of the ET(A) receptor downregulates ET-1 inhibition of AVP actions in the CD. Furthermore, the CD ET(A) receptor does not appear to be involved in modulation of systemic blood pressure or renal Na excretion under physiological conditions.


This paper studies the propagation effect in a closed lambda-type three-level atomic system with Doppler broadening. It is shown that, Doppler broadening due to atomic motion and propagation effect associated with driving field depletion along the active medium decreases obviously the gain and output of the lasing without inversion (LWI); the relative phase between the probe and driving fields has a remarkable modulation role to the propagation effect on LWI when Doppler broadening presents; by choosing suitable value of the relative phase, we can get the largest gain and output of LWI.


The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the development of integrated marketing communications, corporate communication strategy and its alignment with overall corporate strategy in Croatian companies. In addition, in Croatian business environment, particularly in the period of economic crisis, companies try to reduce their costs which results in neglecting the communication function. There is also the eternal scientific question regarding the effects of investment in the marketing and communication functions. Therefore, this question will be discussed in this paper by observing the correlation between integrated marketing communications and organizational performances reached by observed companies. It is presumed that there is a positive relationship between higher levels of developed integrated marketing communications and organizational performance which the observed companies achieved. This survey was conducted on 500 companies with the highest value added rank in the Republic of Croatia in the year 2009 (according to the Institute for Business Intelligence).


To fully understand the performance of tidal stream turbines for the development of ocean renewable energy, a range of computational models is required. We review and compare results from several models of horizontal axis turbines at different spatial scales. Models under review include blade element momentum theory (BEMT), blade element actuator disk, Reynolds averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) CFD (BEM-CFD), blade-resolved moving reference frame and coastal models based on the shallow water equations. To evaluate the BEMT, a comparison is made to experiments with three different rotors. We demonstrate that, apart from the near-field wake, there are similarities in the results between the BEM-CFD approach and a coastal area model using a simplified turbine fence at a headland case.


Multidrug resistance caused by the overexpression of ABC drug transporters is a major obstacle in clinical cancer chemotherapy. For several years, it appeared that direct inhibition of ABC transporters would be the cheapest and most efficient way to combat this problem. Unfortunately, progress in finding a potent, selective inhibitor to modulate ABC transporters and restore drug sensitivity in multidrug-resistant cancer cells has been slow and challenging. Candidate drugs should ideally be selective, potent and relatively non-toxic. Many researchers in recent years have turned their attention to utilizing natural products as the building blocks for the development of the next generation of inhibitors, especially after the disappointing results obtained from inhibitors of the first three generations at the clinical trial stage. The first step is to discover natural substances (distinct from the first three generation inhibitors) that are potent, selective and relatively non-toxic in order to be used clinically. Here, we present a brief overview of the prospect of using natural products to modulate the function of ABC drug transporters clinically and their impact on human physiology and pharmacology.


NAND flash memory is a preferred storage media for various platforms ranging from embedded systems to enterprise-scale systems. Flash devices do not have any mechanical moving parts and provide low-latency access. They also require less power compared to rotating media. Unlike hard disks, flash devices use out-of-update operations and they require a garbage collection (GC) process to reclaim invalid pages to create free blocks. This GC process is a major cause of performance degradation when running concurrently with other I/O operations as internal bandwidth is consumed to reclaim these invalid pages. The invocation of the GC process is generally governed by a low watermark on free blocks and other internal device metrics that different workloads meet at different intervals. This results in I/O performance that is highly dependent on workload characteristics. In this paper, we examine the GC process and propose a semi-preemptive GC scheme that can preempt on-going GC processing and service pending I/O requests in the queue. Moreover, we further enhance flash performance by pipelining internal GC operations and merge them with pending I/O requests whenever possible. Our experimental evaluation of this semi-preemptive GC sheme with realistic workloads demonstrate both improved performance and reduced performance variability. Write-dominant workloads show up to a 66.56% improvement in average response time with a 83.30% reduced variance in response time compared to the non-preemptive GC scheme.


To cope with the intractability of answering Conjunctive Queries (CQs) and solving Constraint Satisfaction Problems (CSPs), several notions of hypergraph decompositions have been proposed—giving rise to different notions of width, noticeably, plain, generalized, and fractional hypertree width (hw, ghw, and fhw). Given the increasing interest in using such decomposition methods in practice, a publicly accessible repository of decomposition software, as well as a large set of benchmarks, and a web-accessible workbench for inserting, analyzing, and retrieving hypergraphs are called for. We address this need by providing (i) concrete implementations of hypergraph decompositions (including new practical algorithms), (ii) a new, comprehensive benchmark of hypergraphs stemming from disparate CQ and CSP collections, and (iii) HyperBench, our new web-interface for accessing the benchmark and the results of our analyses. In addition, we describe a number of actual experiments we carried out with this new infrastructure.


Recently we have witnessed a welcomed increase in the amount of empirical evaluation of Software Engineering methods and concepts. It is hoped that this increase will lead to establishing Software Engineering as a well-deened subject with a sound scientiically proven underpinning rather than a topic based upon unsubstantiated theories and personal belief. For this to happen the empirical work must be of the highest standard. Unfortunately producing meaningful empirical evaluations is a highly hazardous activity, full of uncertainties and often unseen diiculties. Any researcher can overlook or neglect a seemingly innocuous factor, which in fact invalidates all of the work. More serious is that large sections of the communuity can overlook essential experimental design guidelines, which bring into question the validity of much of the work undertaken to date. In this paper, the authors address one such factor-Statistical Power Analysis. It is believed and will be demonstrated that any body of research undertaken without considering statistical power as a fundamental design parameter is potentially fatally awed. Unfortunately the authors are unaware of much Software Engineering research which takes this parameter into account. In addition to introducing Statistical Power, the paper will attempt to demonstrate the potential Daly is now with the Fraunhofer Institut 1 diiculties of applying it to the design of Software Engineering experiments and concludes with a discussion of what the authors believe is the most viable method of incorporating the evaluation of statistical power within the experimental design process.


We derive the exact third-order analytic solution of the matter density fluctuation in the proper-time hypersurface in a ΛCDM universe, accounting for the explicit time-dependence and clarifying the relation to the initial condition. Furthermore, we compare our analytic solution to the previous calculation in the comoving gauge, and to the standard Newtonian perturbation theory by providing Fourier kernels for the relativistic effects. Our results provide an essential ingredient for a complete description of galaxy bias in the relativistic context.


We propose a coarse-grained simulation model for segment interactions of entangled polymers in a primitive chain network (PCN) model. We express interactions between two segments in a PCN by a pairwise Gaussian soft-core potential. We show that our pairwise interaction model can improve several properties at small length or short time scales. The short range parts of the radial distribution functions by our model are qualitatively different from one of the original PCN model, which implies the short-range effective repulsive interaction. Such a short-range repulsive interaction affects several statistical quantities. We also show that some properties seem to be rather unphysical, which may be due to artifacts of the model. We discuss origins for this problem and possible ways to improve the model.


Power-efficient multipliers are essential for low-power signal processing hardware and embedded digital system since they have high switching activity and contain large node capacitances, resulting in large power dissipation. This paper presents an adiabatic Booth array multiplier based on PAL-2N circuits. It is composed of Booth encoders, a multiplier array containing partial product generators and 1-bit (half and full) adders, and a final carry-lookahead adder. Full-custom layouts are drawn. The energy and functional simulations have been performed using the net-list extracted from their layouts. The simulation results show that the adiabatic Booth array multiplier attains large energy savings, compared with its counterpart without the booth encoder.


The piece of investigation was carried out to study the water as well as locked soil of sangwi reservoir of khargone, M.P. India. The change in physico chemical parameters of water such as water temperature, ph, turbidity, transparency, total hardness, Ca hardness, Mg hardness, alkalinity, chloride content, electrical conductivity, colour were analyzed in a period of MarchApril 2013.As above the physico chemical parameters of locked soil such as ph, colour, temperature, grain seize, specific gravity, moisture content, elasticity and plasticity were analyzed in above period. Sangwi reservoir, a small inland reservoir located in Village Sangwi, Teh Kasrawad District Khargone, Madhya Pradesh, India. . The nutrients including are in sufficient quantities for the growth of aquatic animals in the reservoir. The above study indicated that the reservoir is under the category of mesotrophic water body slightly inclined towards eutrophication. Therefore, the conservation and management of this water body is very much required. The result indicated that physico chemical parameters of reservoir water and locked soil were within the permissible limits and can be used for domestic and irrigation purpose.


The magnetoimpedance (MI) effect in magnetically soft Fe89.8Ni1.5Si5.2B3C0.5 metallic glass ribbons is studied in this paper. As soft magnetic properties were determined by field induced anisotropy (and therefore by magnetic domain structure), ribbon samples were annealed under tensile stress in order to enhance induction of transverse anisotropy and to improve magnetoimpedance effect. Stress-annealing (SA) technique up to 420 0C/475 MPa/30 min. was used for tailoring electrical resistivity (ρ) and magnetic permeability (μ), i.e. two material properties that in classical skin effect determine the penetration depth δm and therefore have influence on MIeffect. The critical frequency of about 600 kHz was observed as the point with the initial increase of MI. Significant improvement of MI-response reaching the value Z/Z ≈ 25 %, after annealing at 420 0C, was recorded at driving frequency 4 MHz. The highest MI-element sensitivity was found for low magnetic field intensity where values of about 12 % / kA/m were attained.


The Regional Network for Equity in Health in Southern Africa (EQUINET) and Oxfam GB with government and civil society partners have since early 2003 initiated a programme of research and analysis in support of policy and advocacy focusing on HIV/AIDS and equity in health sector responses. The programme has held and reported on an expert review panel, has initiated country research in four southern African countries on equity in health sector responses (Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania and South Africa), and with support from DfID regional analyses of specific health equity concerns related to HIV/AIDS, covering issues such as health personnel, nutritional interventions, and gender equity in health sector responses(see www.equinetafrica.org). A, EQUINET/Oxfam GB workshop was held at the ICASA conference with support from UNAIDS and DfID giving feedback on the work done in the programme. It presented evidence gathered from country case studies from Malawi, Zimbabwe and South Africa and from the SADC region from work on nutrition and HIV/AIDS. It used this evidence to explore options for safeguarding equity AND improving access to treatment and for strengthening equity in health sector responses to AIDS from global to national level. The workshop was facilitated by D McCoy for EQUINET/Oxfam GB. This report summarises the proceedings of the workshop. It was prepared by D McCoy and edited by the EQUINET secretariat at TARSC.


The paper proposes a new homogeneous observer for finite-dimensional projections of quadratic homogeneous hyperbolic PDEs. The design relies upon new sufficient conditions for fixed-time convergence of observer's gain, described as a solution of a non-linear homogeneous matrix differential equations, towards an ellipsoid in the space of symmetric non-negative matrices. Convergence of the observer is analyzed, and a numerical convergence test is proposed: numerical experiments confirm the test on ODEs obtained by finite-difference discretization of Burgers-Hopf equation.


This research employs the narrative of mental suffering as a prism through which to study Chinese migration in France. It provides new analytical angles and new perspectives on the paradoxical existence and conditions of the migrants, and traces the social links between individuals and societies, objectivity and subjectivity, the real and the imaginary.

The ethnographic survey in this study is situated in the context of the transformation of Chinese society over the last forty years. Dr. Wang deconstructs the stereotypes of Chinese people, demonstrates the dynamics of social mobilities and heterogeneous living conditions of Chinese migrants, who experience and narrate happiness as well as pain, joy as well as sorrow, and hope as well as despair.

The transversal approach used to analyse the heterogeneity within an ethnic group will be of interest to scholars of migration studies in general.


Manual error annotation of learner corpora is time-consuming and error-prone, whereas existing automatic techniques cannot reliably detect and correct all types of error. This paper shows that the two methods can successfully complement each other: automatic detection and partial correction of trivial errors relieves the human annotator from the laborious task of incessantly marking up oft-committed mistakes and enables him or her to focus on errors which cannot or cannot yet be handled mechanically, thus enabling more consistent annotation with considerably less manual time and effort expended.


As most malware is infectious, anti-analysis and packing techniques supported by commercial protectors are conventionally applied to hinder analysis. When analyzing to detect and block such protected malware, it is necessary to do so in a virtual environment to prevent infection. In terms of packing, it is necessary to analyze using dynamic binary instrumentation (DBI), a dynamic analysis tool, which is advantageous for unpacking because DBI inserts code at run time and analyzes it dynamically. However, malware terminates on its own when it detects a virtual environment or DBI due to anti-analysis techniques. Therefore, it is necessary to also bypass anti-VM and anti-DBI techniques in order to successfully analyze malware in a virtual environment using DBI. It is very difficult for analysts to bypass anti-VM and anti-DBI techniques that are used in commercial protectors because analysts generally have little information on what methods are used or how to even bypass these techniques. In this paper, we suggest guidelines to aid in easy analysis of malware protected by anti-VM and anti-DBI techniques supported by commercial protectors. We analyzed the techniques used by five of the most common commercial protectors, and herein present how to bypass anti-VM and anti-DBI techniques supported by commercial protectors via a detailed algorithm analysis. We performed a bypass experiment after applying each commercial protector to 1573 executable files containing vulnerabilities provided by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). To our knowledge, this is the first empirical study to suggest detailed bypassing algorithms for anti-VM and anti-DBI techniques used in commercial protectors.


This paper proposes and empirically implements a framework for analyzing industry competition and the degree of joint profit maximization of merging firms in differentiated product industries. Using pre- and post-merger industry data, I am able to separate merging firms' intra-organizational pricing considerations from industry pricing considerations. The insights of the paper shed light on a long-standing debate in the theoretical literature about the consequences of organizational integration. Moreover, I propose a novel approach to directly estimate industry conduct that relies on ownership changes and input price variation. I apply my framework using data from the ready-to-eat cereal industry, covering the 1993 Post-Nabisco merger. My results show an increasing degree of joint profit maximization of the merged entities over the first two years after the merger, eventually leading to almost full maximization of joint profits. I find that between 14.3 and 25.6 percent of industry markups can be attributed to cooperative industry behavior, while the remaining markup is due to product differentiation of multi-product firms.


The use of design methods and approaches in the context of mental health to explore experiences and develop interventions is an emerging field. However, the value of participatory and co-design approaches are becoming increasingly recognised in wider health and care research.

In this presentation we illustrate the elements of our Design Innovation process through a project that aimed to understand the landscape of mental health services in Scotland towards identifying preferable forms of support and opportunities for digital interventions, from the perspectives of people, families, carers and service providers.

We propose that the design and development of technology for mental health must be situated within the wider landscape of health, social care and wellbeing systems and services; with a holistic understanding of the wider 'cultural' aspects involved including practices, processes, mindsets and behaviours. It is only by recognising these wider factors across the design journey and involving people throughout the process that we can meaningfully integrate technology to enhance our care interactions and experiences.

We conclude that the way in which we design and deploy technology in the context of mental health needs a collective, integrated approach to ensure that innovation is person-led and driven by needs, choice and aspirations for care.


The sero-reactivity of 82 schistosomiasis infected patients were studied by the use of the CIEP, IHA and ELISA tests using S. mansoni adult worm antigen (AWA) and soluble egg antigen (SEA). CIEP with (AWA) showed a progressive sensitivity decreased with advance of S. mansoni infection, and increased in sensitivity by (SEA). The test was more sensitive in the early cases of S. haematobium infection by (AWA), while by (SEA) it was more sensitive in the late cases. There was no difference in sensitivity of the test with either antigens in mixed bilharzial infection. IHAT with (AWA) showed high sensitivity in the different stages of S. mansoni infection, but sensitivity decreased with the progress of clinical status of S. mansoni if (SEA) was utilized. The test with (AWA) was slightly more sensitive in the early cases of S. haematobium than the late cases, while the same high sensitivity was given by the test with (SEA) in both groups. Also IHAT with (AWA) was more sensitive for the diagnosis of mixed bilharzial infection than with (SEA). ELISA test with (SEA) showed a progressive increase in sensitivity with the advance of S. mansoni. Also the test with (SEA) was more sensitive than with (AWA); and for the diagnosis of cases of mixed bilharzial infection, while S. haematobium infected cases showed a lower sensitivity than S. mansoni or mixed bilharzial infection cases, if the ELISA test is performed with either antigens.


Ayvacik district of Canakkale province was hit by four moderate size earthquakes on 6 February 2017 03:51 M w 5.2, 6 February 2017 10:58 M w 5.1, 7 February 2017 02:24 M w 5.2, 12 February 2017 13:48 M w 5.3. Centroid moment tensor solutions for 60 events with moment magnitudes (M w ) between 3.4 and 5.3 are computed by applying a waveform inversion method on data from the Turkish and Greek broadband seismic networks. The time span of data covers the period between 1 January and 28 February 2017. The mainshock is a shallow focus normal event with strike-slip component at a depth of 10 km. Focal depths of aftershocks range from 3 to 24 km. The seismic moment (M o ) of the mainshock is estimated as 7.62 × 10 16 Nm. The calculated rupture duration of the Ayvacik mainshock is 3 s. The focal mechanisms of the aftershocks are mainly normal faulting with a minor strike-slip component. The geometry of focal mechanisms reveals a normal faulting regime with NE-SW trending direction of T -axis in the entire activated region. We perform stress tensor inversion to acquire more accurate picture for the regional stress field. The stress tensor inversion results indicate a predominant normal stress regime with a WNW-ESE oriented maximum horizontal compressive stress (S H ). With respect the newly determined focal mechanisms, the effect of the propagation of the North Anatolian Fault into Aegean Sea is very clearly pronounced. According to the double-difference relocation algorithm for the 2017 Ayvacik seismic sequence, ten clusters are revealed. In order to find these clusters, we use HypoDD software. According to the relative relocations from HypoDD, we define 10 clusters along the five profiles. The aftershock activity in the observation period between 1 January and 28 February 2017 extends from W to E direction. Seismic cross-sections indicate that a complex pattern of the hypocenter distribution with the ruptured segments. The western cluster is associated with a fault plane trending mainly N- S and dipping vertical, while the eastern is related to a fault plane trending NE-SW and dipping towards NW. The best constrained focal depths operate in the approximate depth range from 3 to 24 km. Coulomb stress analysis is performed to calculate the cumulative effect of all the earthquakes of the swarm and correlate it with the activated region. Positive lobes with stress more than 3 bars are obtained, these values are large enough to trigger failure towards NW-SE of the swarm activity.


Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer are linked because both airflow obstruction and emphysema, on computer tomography, are independent risk factors for lung cancer. However, the local risk of malignancy relative to development of regional emphysema has not yet been defined. Specifically, it is not known if primary lung cancers are associated with regions of worse emphysema within individual patients. Methods: We performed a database analysis evaluating the association between the degree of regional emphysema as scored on computer tomography and development of primary lung cancer. We also studied the association between regional emphysema and benign lung nodules. We assembled two distinct cohorts using the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Lung Tissue Research Consortium database, hypothesizing that lung malignancy will preferentially locate in the regions of the most severe emphysema. Results: In the Lung Tissue Research Consortium database, 624 cases met criteria for the malignant nodule cohort and 64 were included in the benign nodule cohort. When comparing location of a malignant nodule to other lung regions within the same person, the odds of having a more severe emphysema score in the location of lung cancer was 1.342 (95% confidence interval 1.112–1.620; p = 0.0022). When comparing location of a benign nodule to other lung regions within the same person, the odds of having a more severe emphysema score in the location of the benign nodule was 1.118 (95% confidence interval 0.725–1.725; p = 0.6137). Conclusions: Primary lung cancers are associated with areas of worse regional emphysema.


The paper considers an access control model and proposes extensions to it to deal with authentication and revocation. The model is then applied to represent access control policy in a mental health system. In the first part of the paper, extensions to the schematic protection model (SPM) are presented. The authentication and revocation extensions are independent of one another in the sense that each one affects a different part of the decision algorithm. The extensions comprise a modification of the syntax to be able to represent the new concepts and, more importantly, a modification of the decision algorithm for the safety problem to take these changes into account. We introduce the concept of conditional tickets and use it to provide authentication. Apart from this, we have found this concept to be useful in modeling systems. Hence we have separated this (syntactical) issue from the definition of the new algorithm. The second part considers the access policy for a mental health application. We have used the extensions of SPM to model part of this access policy. Even with our extensions, SPM still remains a monotonic model, where rights can be removed only in very special cases, and this makes it impossible to represent all the aspects of the problem. Other than to serve as an example for the extensions we propose, the paper also helps to separate aspects of this access control policy which are inherently monotonic from parts which are defined in a non-monotonic way, but can still be represented in a monotonic model.


(35 minutes v 195 minutes respectively), a finding which might be explained by the differences in absorption of apomorphine from the two preparations. These preliminary results suggest that apomorphine is effective when administered rectally as an enema and may be the chosen method for rapid relief of "off period" symptoms when other routes may be unavailable due to adverse effects or the patients' difficulty in applying subcutaneous or intranasal apomorphine. We advise regular proctoscopy when treatment is frequent or prolonged. T VAN LAAR ENH JANSEN Department of Neurology, The Netherlands AWG ESSINK WJ RUTTEN C NEEF Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Hospital Medisch Spectrum Twente, Enschede


l WNT-7a induces axonal spreading and branching in developing cerebellar granule neurons. This effect is mediated through the inhibition of GSK-3β, a serine/threonine kinase and a component of the WNT pathway. Lithium, an inhibitor of GSK-3 β, mimics WNT7a in granule cells. Here we examined further the effect of GSK-3β inhibition on cytoskeletal re-organisation. Lithium induces axonal spreading and increases growth cone area and perimeter. This effect is associated with the absence or reduction of stable microtubules in spread areas. Lithium induces the loss of a phosphorylated form of MAP-1B, a microtubule associated protein involved in axonal outgrowth. Down-regulation of the phosphorylated MAP1B, MAP-1B-P, from axonal processes occurs before axona remodelling is evident. In vitro phosphorylation assays show that MAP-1B-P is generated by direct phosphorylation of MAP-1B by GSK-3β. WNT-7a, like lithium, also leads to loss of MAP-1B-P from spread axons and growth cones. Our data suggest that WNT-7a and lithium induce changes in microtubule dynamics by inhibiting GSK-3β which in turn lead to changes in the phosphorylation of MAP-1B. These findings suggest a novel role for GSK-3β and WNTs in axonal remodelling and identify MAP-1B as a new target for GSK-3β and WNT.


BACKGROUND
Many reports investigated the effects of vitamin E succinate (VES) on cell growth inhibition and apoptosis in SGC-7901 cells, but the mechanisms are still unclear. This study assessed the effects of VES-induced oxidative stress on apoptosis in SGC-7901 cells and further explored its mechanism.

MATERIAL/METHODS
Cell growth and survival were detected by the MTT assay. Apoptosis was examined by DAPI fluorescence and an Annexin V-FITC apoptosis detection kit. The fluorescent probe CMXRos was used to analyze mitochondrial transmembrane potential by confocal microscopy. Accumulation of intracellular ROS was detected with DCFH-DA. DNA damage was evaluated by the comet assay in SGC-7901 cells. The total GSH concentration was detected by a total glutathione quantification kit. The expression level of Bcl-2 in response to VES treatment was determined by Western blot analysis.

RESULTS
The results showed that VES induced growth inhibition and apoptosis in SGC-7901 cells as assessed by the MTT assay and apoptosis detection method. VES also induced a concentration-dependent generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and a concentration-dependent depletion of glutathione (GSH) in the cells. Mannitol, an inhibitor of mitochondrial oxidative damage, prevented ROS generation, GSH depletion, and apoptosis in response to VES in SGC-7901 cells.

CONCLUSIONS
VES abrogated the generation of intracellular ROS and the induction of apoptosis. The results indicate that VES induced apoptosis in SGC-7901 cells and this involved mitochondria, likely through mitochondrial- derived ROS.


From the date of its founding in 1820 Port Elizabeth has suffered from the lack of a reliable water supply. For forty years after the British settlers landed the little port struggled with wells, springs and other sources which were inevitably insufficient, but despite the efforts of officials and entrepreneurs, there was no sign of a permanent solution. By 1862 the Town Council was desperate and offered prizes for the best proposals for the supply of potable water to the town. The second prize of fifty guineas was won by Robert Pinchin, an engineer and surveyor, who believed that it would be possible to bring water to the town from the upper reaches of the Van Stadens River through the steep and formidable Van Stadens gorge. But the Council was unimpressed; they felt that the scheme could not be taken seriously as it would be too expensive and too difficult to construct.


Throughout the last decade, cognitive radio systems received a lot of consideration for spectrum optimization and create huge opportunities for interesting research in a wide range of applications. Spectrum access and sharing tasks are widely studied for static nodes; hence, we combine, in this paper, multi-agent negotiation for spectrum sharing with user"s mobility. We deploy primary and cognitive radio (CR) agents on primary and secondary users, respectively and we define a novel negotiation mechanism in order to allow mobile CR users to access the appropriate spectrum band with negotiated price and duration. Our proposal takes into account users" needs and environment constraints. We define two alternatives of negotiation according to the CR users" requirements. Simulation results show that our approach, in both cases, improves the overall spectrum utilization, minimizes the number of spectrum handovers and conserves the continuity of service during user"s mobility. In addition, our approach improves CR users" utility while guaranteeing the primary user"s satisfaction.


Background/Aims: In adults, plasma exchange (PE) has been shown to be an efficient treatment for severe relapses of acute inflammatory CNS demyelinating diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of this treatment in pediatric patients. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed a single-center cohort of pediatric patients with inflammatory CNS demyelinating disorders who underwent apheresis between 2007 and 2011. Results: Ten patients (mean age: 11.6 ± 3.4 years) with an acute relapse of multiple sclerosis (n = 5), neuromyelitis optica (n = 2) or acute disseminated encephalomyelitis were included. All received methylprednisolone prior to treatment with either PE (n = 5) or immunoadsorption (n = 5). Apheresis-related side effects were either self-limiting or easily managed. EDSS (Expanded Disability Status Scale) improved in 7 of 8 patients during apheresis and in all patients within 30 days from a median of 7.5 to 1 (p < 0.01). The visual acuity initially worsened during the procedure in 3 of 7 affected eyes (mean 0.09), but improved in all at follow-up (mean: 0.5; p = 0.008). Conclusions: Apheresis was well tolerated and associated with a favorable outcome in all pediatric patients similar to reports in adults.


Among the most important responsibilities of a hospital's employees' health service is the prevention or prompt identification of infectious illnesses among staff members. Infections constitute a major health hazard of hospital employment and, both intrinsically or as a consequence of subsequent transmission to hospitalized patients, can have devastating consequences. The risks associated with tuberculosis, viral hepatitis, rubella, herpes, meningococcal disease, and scabies are generally acknowledged and methods of control have been suggested. In addition, immunizations against diphtheria and influenza have been advised under certain circumstances. Respiratory syncytial virus and pertussis probably account for some upper respiratory tract illnesses among personnel and may lead to serious morbidity in pediatric patients. Laboratory-acquired infections can be diverse and exotic. Control measures should include surveillance, appropriate immunizations, epidemiologic investigation coordinated with infection control, antibiotic prophylaxis when indicated and environmental safeguards.


Abstract Early Pennsylvanian sediment dispersal across the Laurentian supercontinent reflects the growth of the Appalachian–Ouachita Orogen that was formed by its collision with Gondwana. Occupying a key position within the Laurentian foreland of the Appalachian–Ouachita Orogen, the middle Bloyd sandstone member of the Bloyd Formation (Early Pennsylvanian) preserves evidence of Morrowan-age fluvio-deltaic depocenters in the southern Laurentian continental margin. The middle Bloyd sandstone provides direct constraints on provenance and dispersal paths of detritus shed from the Appalachian–Ouachita Orogen and other sediment sources on the North American craton during the Early Pennsylvanian. Eight outcrop samples of the middle Bloyd sandstone were collected and analyzed by U-Pb laser ablation ICP-MS detrital-zircon geochronology, producing a total of 850 concordant individual detrital-zircon ages with age ranging from 3.15 Ga to 374 Ma. Detrital-zircon age spectra of the eight middle Bloyd sandstone samples are characterized by a prominent Grenvillian age group (∼ 1350–900 Ma) with two discrete age peaks at ∼ 1070 and ∼ 1169 Ma. The remaining zircon fractions are interpreted as being sourced from the Archean Superior Province (> ∼ 2500 Ma), the Penokean and Trans-Hudson Proterozoic terranes (∼ 1900–1800 Ma), the Yavapai–Mazatzal terrane (∼ 1800–1600 Ma), the Granite–Rhyolite Province (∼ 1600–1350 Ma), and a minor Paleozoic age population (∼ 500–350 Ma) that likely reflects mixed Appalachian and Gondwanan sources. Overall, detrital-zircon age populations of the middle Bloyd sandstone share great similarity with Lower Pennsylvanian sandstones from the Michigan Basin and the central and southern Appalachian foreland, except that the Bloyd sandstone shows greater enrichment in the Yavapai–Mazatzal age population. These new age data provide additional constraints on multiple dispersal paths for fundamentally Laurentian-derived sediment that are ultimately directed southward toward the Ouachita foreland shelf during the Early Pennsylvanian. The Early Pennsylvanian (Morrowan) sediment dispersal in this part of Laurentia was accomplished by a regional-scale drainage system that integrated intracratonic and Appalachian–Ouachita foreland basin depocenters, all recording a recycled orogenic provenance. The new detrital-zircon data indicate that the middle Bloyd sandstone also incorporated significant contributions from Precambrian-age basement uplifts, possibly Ancestral Rocky Mountain uplifts to the west, indicating a complex geography of the Laurentian supercontinent at this time.


: Background: We aimed to provide a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials assessing the effect of oral vitamin supplementation on symptoms and disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), spondyloarthritis (SpA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Methods: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials including patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases were performed using MEDLINE, EMBASE and abstracts from recent international rheumatology congresses. Studies were reviewed in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. We analysed clinical outcomes according to each type of vitamin supplementation. Results. The initial search yielded 606 articles. Of these, 13 studies were included in the qualitative synthesis: eight studied vitamin D supplementation, two assessed vitamin E supplementation, two folic acid, and one vitamin K, all of them on RA patients. No studies on SpA or PsA were selected. Oral vitamin supplementations were not associated with a reduction in RA activity (DAS-28 or pain) or RA flares. Conclusions: Despite their beneficial effects, the effects of vitamin supplementation on RA activity, if any, seem to be limited. Evidence on their efficacy on SpA or PsA activity is lacking. However, folic acid supplementation should be suggested to prevent methotrexate-related side effects, and vitamin D should be given to patients with vitamin D deficiency to prevent musculo-skeletal complications.


In recent industry, self-driving vehicles are very actively researched because they are considered as a new industrial power in most countries. In self-driving vehicles, many different fields should be researched at the same time. The research of road database for self-driving vehicles should not be indispensable in those fields. In order to design the road database for self-driving vehicles, the conventional road database should be enhanced in many sides, because it is designed as auxiliary equipment under assumption that a human is driving the vehicle. While the conventional road database are focused on the accumulation of static data, the road database for self-driving vehicles must include dynamic data such as roads that may be temporarily closed because of repairing. This paper proposes the design of a road database for self-driving vehicle so that it includes dynamic data as well as static data on roads. In order to provide a generality and scalability of road database, we design the database by using the well-known Entity-Relationship Model. In order to simplify the database, we also use the abstracting method and then extracted 6 entities and 10 relationships. From these entities and relationship, the entity-relationship diagram is also proposed.


We study the origin of the temperature-induced Mott transition in Ca2RuO4. As a method we use the local-density approximationþ dynamical mean-field theory. We show the following. (i) The Mott transition is driven by the change in structure from long to short c-axis layered perovskite (L-Pbca ! S-Pbca); it occurs together with orbital order, which follows, rather than produces, the structural transition. (ii) In the metallic L-Pbca phase the orbital polarization is 0. (iii) In the insulating S-Pbca phase the lower energy orbital, xy, is full. (iv) The spin-flip and pair-hopping Coulomb terms reduce the effective masses in the metallic phase. Our results indicate that a similar scenario applies to Ca2 xSrxRuO4 (x 0:2). In the metallic x 0:5 structures electrons are progressively transferred to the xz=yz bands with increasing x; however, we find no orbital-selective Mott transition down to 300 K.


In this review, we briefly describe work devoted in recent years towards the effective control of morphology, structure and optical properties of ZnO nanostructures, with particular focus on cost effective and simple methods for ZnO nanowires (NWs) fabrication. For the vapor transport technique, we describe in detail mechanisms for growth precursors generation, their transport in inert and forming gas, as well as their reactions on different pretreated substrates and corresponding growth mechanisms. As for low temperature synthesis methods, three techniques are outlined: sol-gel, solvothermal and electrophoretic deposition, with emphasis on effective morphology, structure and optical properties control. In this context, we discuss recent attempts to understand the role of solvent and alkaline agents used during solvothermal synthesis of ZnO nanostructures on their morphology and photoluminescence properties. Recent success of electrophoretic deposition of ZnO nanoparticles on pre-patterned silicon substrates in the form of NWs and NW bunches is highlighted over many previous attempts to fabricate ZnO NWs with inconvenient sacrificial templates. Finally, we present a critical discussion on the current understanding of passivation mechanisms of ZnO NW surfaces by MgO shells.


In this paper, different modeling approaches representing the behavior of supercapacitors are presented. A hybrid modeling approach is developed to improve the characterization of classical supercapacitor models proposed in the literature. This approach uses various representations (frequency and temporal results) of the same cycling test to extract easily and with a good precision the parameters of the models. Then, it is applied for studying the ageing of this component, which mainly depends on the temperature and cycling process.


IntroductionSupporting standardized approaches to common tasks is an important component of quality research using linked administrative data. Standard concept definitions and classifications are vital for ensuring accuracy and consistency in definitions between projects, and improving efficiency and quality. Other leading organizations have published online standard definitions of concepts and classifications.
Objectives and ApproachWe developed a comprehensive concept dictionary using a standardized definition template of key components including data sources, codes, scale or range of values, validation details, limitations, SAS code and formats, related concepts, and MeSH terms. A web-based application (built on the Microsoft SharePoint platform) was developed to offer the latest web content authoring capabilities, and advanced search mechanisms enabling the user to search concepts by MeSH terms and key words. It also allowed for navigating concepts through category navigation including clickable categories and sub-categories. Entries will be reviewed annually to ensure the content remains up-to-date.
ResultsTo date, ten concepts, with accompanying codes, have been published on the concept dictionary with another ten currently undergoing editorial review. These concepts span a variety of topics such as injuries, mental health and addictions-related outpatient services, and annual physical exams. New concepts written by content experts and reviewed by an editorial committee will be added on an on-going basis; thirty concepts are currently under development.
Conclusion/ImplicationsDevelopment of a concept dictionary provides standardized definitions, algorithms and codes to ensure consistency and quality of research and analysis across multiple projects. Future aims include expansion of the internal organizational site to an external site through collaboration with key stakeholders.


The work contained within this thesis describes the development of confocal laser scanning methods as applied to the study of blood vessel structure and receptor distribution. Prior to the start of the project there were no suitable techniques available for the study of 3D structure and spatial distribution of receptors which therefore necessitated the development of novel methods. The first phase of the work employed fluorescent DNA stains which provided an increased contrast and an ability to identify all cell types, number, orientation and viability within a living vascular wall. This nuclear staining method was then extended by introducing confocal analysis of myograph mounted arterial segments. The confocal method was successful in detecting areas of apparently disorganised smooth muscle cells within the wall of SHR basilar arteries. In addition, CLSM detected changes in the media of human arteries taken from cases of critical limb ischaemia and in the adventitia of mouse tail artery where the aib-adrenoceptor had been deleted. Structural studies of the vascular wall required the use of image analysis methods for quantification and feature extraction. This required the development of novel methods specific for, CLSM-derived, 3D volumes of vascular structure. A semi-automated thresholding and segmentation algorithm (IMTS) was developed and tested. The imaging and segmentation phase of the research aided in the identification of problems associated with quantification of 3D volumetric structures. Fluorescent-ligands can be used to identify high affinity binding sites within cells. A significant proportion of this thesis describes the development of fluorescence- binding using CLSM and image analysis. The results document the developmental work leading up to the construction of the first 'specific' binding curve to be performed on a single living cell. This paves the way for ligand-binding-type experiments on cells dissociated from biopsies or other small tissue samples. Overall, the project has established the use of confocal microscopy for the study of blood vessel structure, function and receptor distribution. This thesis describes the key steps in the development of the techniques and hopefully serves as a guide to those interested in using confocal based methods for the study of blood vessels.


Background Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is characterized by chronically inflamed airways, and inflammation even increases during pulmonary exacerbations. These adverse events have an important influence on the well-being, quality of life, and lung function of patients with CF. Prediction of exacerbations by inflammatory markers in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) combined with early treatment may prevent these pulmonary exacerbations and may improve the prognosis. Aim To investigate the diagnostic accuracy of a set of inflammatory markers in EBC to predict pulmonary exacerbations in children with CF. Methods In this one-year prospective observational study, 49 children with CF were included. During study visits with an interval of 2 months, a symptom questionnaire was completed, EBC was collected, and lung function measurements were performed. The acidity of EBC was measured directly after collection. Inflammatory markers interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), and macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) were measured using high sensitivity bead based flow immunoassays. Pulmonary exacerbations were recorded during the study and were defined in two ways. The predictive power of inflammatory markers and the other covariates was assessed using conditionally specified models and a receiver operating characteristic curve (SAS version 9.2). In addition, k-nearest neighbors (KNN) algorithm was applied (SAS version 9.2). Results Sixty-five percent of the children had one or more exacerbations during the study. The conditionally specified models showed an overall correct prediction rate of 55%. The area under the curve (AUC) was equal to 0.62. The results obtained with the KNN algorithm were very similar. Conclusion Although there is some evidence indicating that the predictors outperform random guessing, the general diagnostic accuracy of EBC acidity and the EBC inflammatory markers IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α and MIF is low. At present it is not possible to predict pulmonary exacerbations in children with CF with the chosen biomarkers and the method of EBC analysis. The biochemical measurements of EBC markers should be improved and other techniques should be considered.


In many applications, top-k query is an important operation to return a set of interesting points in a potentially huge data space. It is analyzed in this paper that the existing algorithms cannot process top-k query on massive data efficiently. This paper proposes a novel table-scan-based T2S algorithm to efficiently compute top-k results on massive data. T2S first constructs the presorted table, whose tuples are arranged in the order of the round-robin retrieval on the sorted lists. T2S maintains only fixed number of tuples to compute results. The early termination checking for T2S is presented in this paper, along with the analysis of scan depth. The selective retrieval is devised to skip the tuples in the presorted table which are not top-k results. The theoretical analysis proves that selective retrieval can reduce the number of the retrieved tuples significantly. The construction and incremental-update/batchprocessing methods for the used structures are proposed in this paper. The extensive experimental results, conducted on synthetic and real-life data sets, show that T2S has a significant advantage over the existing algorithms.


Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) are synthetic materials that mimic the behavior of natural antibodies while exhibiting far greater stability than their natural counterparts. Although potentially very useful as recognition elements in chemical sensors, a major obstacle to their widespread application has been the difficulty in preparing MIPs in the thin-film format that is necessary for coupling them to interrogative transducers. This paper offers a solution to this problem by presenting a straightforward approach to the in situ synthesis of MIP films with good control of thickness and porosity. Spin coating is used to spread a pre-polymerization mixture, which is polymerized in situ with UV light. A key aspect of this process is the reaction-induced phase separation between the rapidly polymerizing acrylate monomers and a sacrificial linear polymer porogen. We studied the degree of phase separation and the ability of the films to rebind the target analyte as functions of the concentration and molecular weight of the polymer porogen, the volatility of the nonreactive solvent, and the spin rate used during polymerization. The current focus is on producing films with thicknesses ranging from approximately 1 micron to 10s of microns; however, the technique can easily be adapted to prepare films as thin as 10s of nanometers, enabling their use as recognition elements for a wide variety of chemical sensing platforms.


The issue of e-learning as an advanced system for training and educating mass people using information and communication technologies (ICTs) has been received an increasing level of interest in recent years in most of the western countries. In spite of socio-economic constraints, ICTs are rapidly expanding in the developing countries, and thus offering a new scope for the use of e-learning for the promotion of distance education. In Bangladesh, e-learning was first introduced as early as 1960s as a Radiobroadcast followed by a pilot project School Broadcasting Program (SBP) in 1980s and then expanded by the establishment of the National Institute of Educational Media and Technology (NIEMT), which was later transformed into Bangladesh Institute of Distance Education (BIDE) in 1985. The significant progress has been done after the establishment of the Bangladesh Open University (BOU) in 1992 as the first and only national distance learning university. Within a decade of its establishment, enrollment of BOU students have reached nearly 400 thousands, and thus enlisted it as one of the mega-universities. BOU has been offering a variety of formal and non-formal academic programs from certificate to Masters levels using print, TV and radio broadcasts, audio-cassettes and face to face tutorials as the media of delivering its academic courses. Considering the rapid expansion of computer and internet in Bangladesh after 1998s, it is now appropriate time to consider inclusion of some interactive ICTs i.e. e-learning in delivering course materials of BOU or other institutes to promote distance education in Bangladesh. In this paper, we discuss the current situation and future prospects for e-learning in Bangladesh considering the current trend of ICTs expansion in the country.


Maximum releasable capacity and internal resistance are often used as the health indicators (HIs) of a lithium-ion battery for degradation modeling and estimation of remaining useful life (RUL). However, the maximum releasable capacity is usually difficult to estimate in online applications due to complex operating conditions in the field. Moreover, measuring the internal resistance is too expensive to be implemented on-line. In this paper, an HI extraction and optimization framework requiring only the operating parameters of lithium-ion batteries is proposed for battery degradation modeling and RUL estimation. The framework carries out raw HI extraction, transformation, correlation analysis, and verification and evaluation to achieve HI enhancement. In particular, the Box-Cox transformation is adopted to improve the correlation between the extracted HI and the battery's actual degradation state. To estimate the battery's RUL using the enhanced HI, an optimized relevance vector-machine algorithm is utilized, which can be performed in a flexible and agile way. Experimental studies using two different industrial testing data sets illustrate the high efficiency and adaptability of the proposed framework in lithium-ion battery degradation modeling and RUL estimation.


The art of textile hangings is considered one of the most important fine arts that the people with fine artistic thinking realize its real value. It is one of the richest, oldest and most famous types of visual arts which are value increased  over time because of their artistic and aesthetic values to complete the design of interior architecture and beautify public buildings and homes. It adds the aesthetic touch to the place and showcases and reflect the ideology of the era which the internal architecture is based on to design the place (1) .. Thus we can say that the textile hanging is one of the visual arts which by observing its development we can discover more about the era when it is created and so we can say that the hanging is an era mirror. The research deals with the possibility of combining more than one technique for the creation of textile hanging with a contemporary modern design, in order to enrich the art of textile hangings with the era spirit. The combination between the  gobelin technique using mechanical jacquard and the semi-hand tuft technique by incorporating more than one yarn material with different colors and thickness In one gun blow, which gives millions of different results with simple changes, to take advantage of the potentials of both techniques to clarify the researcher's vision.


Beginning with "Beowulf," the monsters in English fiction represent the uncontrollable forces of the unconscious operating in similar narrative landscapes and plots. An archetypal narrative dynamic occurs in "Beowulf," "Clarissa," "Frankenstein," "Wuthering Heights" and "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," a pattern of opposition between a house of order and a house of the outsider (the dwelling of the monster), with journeys, spying and existential conflict between the two. These shared elements of form reflect a common concern with the incursions of the unconscious into the structures of civilized social life. The monster is humanized in the novel, after his initial appearance as Grendel, but he retains his original character, setting, movements and aggressions. This study shows how this outsider figure is represented on a typical landscape and how he figures in various fictional worlds. The perspective thus opened provides new insights into narrative form and into consciousness of the unconscious in fiction.


This research aims to know the influence of seed soaking time with young coconut water on the growth of seedlings of cocoa ( Theobroma cacao L.). This research has been carried out in the laboratories of the University Faculty of agriculture of Riau at Binawidya Panam 12.5 km kelurahan Simpang baru , kecamatan tampan, began from February until may 2013. This study used a Randomized Complete Design (RAL) consisting of 5 treatments (0, 6, 12, 18and 24) and three replicates. The parameters observed that high seeds, number of leaves, leaf area and stem diameter. Research results showed the cocoa seed soaking with influential real young coconut water to the seeds and leaves are wide, but has no effect against the real amount of leaf and stem diameter. Cocoa seed soaking treatment with young coconut water for 6 hours provides the best results against higher seeds parameter, the number of leaves and broad leaves. Cocoa seed soaking treatment with young coconut water for 18 hours, giving greater influence. Keywords : PGR, cacao seedling


Frequent detection of serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma (STIC) among BRCA1/2 mutation carriers undergoing risk-reducing surgery prompted the hypothesis that many adnexal high-grade serous carcinomas (HGSCs) arise from the fallopian tube, rather than the ovary, as supposed. The changing paradigm has important implications for HGSC prevention. Most data related to the frequency of STIC are derived from case series and estimates vary widely. Therefore, we analyzed population-based data from 10 523 surgeries including salpingectomy (Jan 2014-Dec 2016) that were examined using the "Sectioning and Extensively Examining the Fimbria" protocol, which optimizes STIC detection. Overall, STIC was detected in 40 (0.38%) specimens, including 32 diagnosed with concurrent gynecologic cancer. STIC was detected in 8 (<0.01%) of 9392 cases with benign diagnoses. We conclude that the relative rarity of STIC diagnoses in routine pathology practice has critical implications for research aiming to elucidate the pathogenesis of HGSC and developing prevention strategies.


Seven out of ten of the adolescents included in the study had experienced unsafe sex with a new partner. Afterwards, 48 % worried about STD and 31 % worried about pregnancy.Teenagers calculate the risk of contracting STD from the looks and the reputation of a new partner.Young women and men agree, that both share responsibility for the use of condoms, but more often the young women initiate the use of condoms.Many participants found it more embarrassing to buy condoms than to use them.The participants hoped for improved education in schools and less expensive condoms. The adolescents possessed good knowledge concerning how to protect themselves, but changes in attitudes are needed. School and youth clinics play important roles in this process.


Taxane and platinum drugs are important agents in the treatment of cancer and have shown activity against a variety of tumors, including ovarian, breast, and lung cancer, either as single agents or in combination with other chemotherapy drugs. However, a serious and prevalent side effect of taxane (docetaxel and all formulations/derivatives of paclitaxel) and platinum (cisplatin, carboplatin, and oxaliplatin) agents is dose-limiting chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). CIPN can result in treatment delays, dose modifications, and, in severe cases, discontinuation of chemotherapy. Consequently, effective treatments for CIPN are needed. Dimesna (BNP7787; Tavocept TM; disodium 2,2′-dithio-bis-ethanesulfonate) is an investigational drug that is undergoing international clinical development as a treatment that is coadministered with first-line taxane and platinum combination chemotherapy in patients with inoperable advanced primary adenocarcinoma of the lung. BNP7787 is currently being developed with the objective of increasing the survival of cancer patients receiving taxane- and/or cisplatin-based chemotherapy. Additional data indicate that BNP7787 may also protect against common and serious chemotherapy-induced toxicities, including chemotherapy-induced anemia, nausea, emesis, nephrotoxicity, and neuropathy, without interfering with antitumor activity of the chemotherapeutic agent(s). Studies herein show that BNP7787 prevents aberrant microtubule protein (MTP) polymerization that is caused by exposure of MTP to paclitaxel or cisplatin. BNP7787 modulates paclitaxel-induced hyperpolymerization of MTP in a dose-dependent manner, and mesna, an in vivo metabolite of BNP7787, protects against time-dependent cisplatin-induced inactivation of MTP. We propose that interactions between BNP7787 and MTP may play a role in BNP7787-mediated protection against CIPN. Mol Cancer Ther; 9(9); 2558–67. ©2010 AACR.


Determining the appropriate level of irrigation for turfgrasses is vital to the health of the turfgrass and the conservation of water. The linear gradient irrigation system (LGIS) allows long-term assessment of turf performance under continuous irrigation gradients from excess to no irrigation. The objectives of this study were to: 1) evaluate the minimum irrigation requirements and relative drought resistance of 'Rebel II' tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.), 'Meyer' zoysiagrass ( Zoysia japonica Steud.), 'Tifway' bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.), 'Prairie' buffalograss ( Buchloe dactyloides (Nutt.) Engelm), and 'Nortam' St. Augustinegrass ( Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walt.) Kuntze); and 2) evaluate the long-term effects of irrigation levels on turf persistence, weed invasion, and disease incidence for the five selected turfgrasses under field conditions. Turf was sodded under LGIS with an irrigation gradient ranging from 120% Class A pan evaporation (Ep) to natural precipitation, along a 20-m turf area. Evaluation during the summers of 1993-96 indicated that grasses differed in drought resistance and persistence under variable irrigation regimes. Irrigation (Ep) required to maintain acceptable turf quality for respective grasses was 'Rebel II' (67%), 'Meyer' (68%), 'Nortam' (44%), 'Tifway' (35%), and 'Prairie' (26%). Higher dollar spot ( Sclerotinia homoeocarpa Bennett) infection was observed at 115% Ep irrigation regime in 'Tifway' bermudagrass, whereas gray leaf spot (Pyricularia grisea (Hebert) Barr) was observed only at 10% Ep irrigation regime in St. Augustinegrass plots. An outbreak of brown patch ( Rhizoctonia solani Kuehn.) occurred in Sept. 1996 in St. Augustinegrass plots receiving irrigation at >80% Ep.


Abstract This paper uses administrative data to analyze a large and 8-year long employer payroll tax rate cut in Sweden for young workers aged 26 or less. We replicate previous results documenting that during the earlier years of the reform, it raised youth employment among the treated workers, driven by labor demand (as workers' take-home wages did not respond). First, drawing on additional years of data, this paper then documents that the longer-run effects during the reform are twice as large as the medium-run effects. Second, we document novel labor-demand-driven "hysteresis" from this policy – i.e. persistent employment effects even after the subsidy no longer applies – along two dimensions. Over the lifecycle, employment effects persist even after workers age out of eligibility. Three years after the repeal, employment remains elevated at the maximal reform level in the formerly subsidized ages. These hysteresis effects more than double the direct employment effects of the reform. Discrimination against young workers in job posting fell during the reform and does not bounce back after repeal, potentially explaining our results.


Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of wind turbine blades is critical to improve the reliability of wind turbines. A health monitoring algorithm was developed that utilizes energy harvesters as sensors. An accumulated energy sensor is described in which an energy harvester mounted on the surface of the wind turbine blade converts low frequency vibrational strain energy from the blade to electrical charge, that is subsequently stored to power an RF transmitter. The premise of this sensing approach is that the timing of data output from the RF transmitter, which is tied to the charging time, is indicative of the structural health. The time between data transmission pulses will be reduced if the blade stiffness decreases. The SHM algorithm compares data transmission time for the three blades to identify the onset of blade damage. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the algorithm, an expected energy harvester signal transmission rate is established from blade strain data from a 2.5 MW wind turbine. The transmission rates for the three blades are compared to establish a threshold for "healthy" blades. Simulated damage corresponding to approximately 20% increase in harvested energy can be detected by the SHM algorithm.


Recent years have seen a growing interest in agricultural research for development (R4D) initiatives designed to address the need to make more effective use of research investments in the development process. While there remains some ambiguity about the precise nature of R4D, it is nevertheless clear that a shift to this approach is going to require considerable institutional change in research practice. This chapter presents a brief case study of the experiences of a group of Australian, African and international agricultural research organizations which, together, initiated an explicit R4D programme. A key feature of this case study is the contestation that arises in the journey to R4D, with different points of view and patterns of practice vying for legitimacy and prominence. Contestation and negotiation is always a feature of bringing new practices into use and reflects that institutions are continuously 'in the making'. Orchestrating 'conversations' with key R4D stakeholders about emerging modalities of research, and fuelling these conversations with evidence of the impact of new practices, would help progress the institutional change process needed to sustain a more effective deployment of research in the development process.


Based on surveys of buildings passing through ground fissures, failure and deformation characteristics of buildings are analyzed. Failure models of buildings under the influence of Xi'an ground fissures are proposed. By means of the simulations on PLASIX, taking for the f6 of ground fissures in Xi'an city, the variations of stress field and displacement field of the overlying soil layer which the normal fault qualitative ground fissures lead to are studied. It separately calculated out of the variation of the features of deformation, when brick masonry, block masonry and stone masonry act as solely material of the building. The total, vertical and horizontal deformation of buildings built of stone masonry are the largest and brick masonry's deformations are the smallest. It is suggested that materials with small gravity density should be used for building materials.


Background: Lignocaine is a local anaesthetic of moderate potency and duration with good penetrative power and rapid onset of action carbonated lignocaine has remarkable penetrative power, rapid onset of action a high incidence of motor block and a reduced incidence of missed segments (When used for epidural anaesthesia) when compared to hydrochloride of lignocaine. Subjects and Methods: Seventy five (75) patients belonging to ASA grade 1 & 2 scheduled for general surgical, orthopaedic surgical, ENT, gynaecological surgical producers were studied. Results: The age of the patients varied from 10 to 60 years. In our study, the heart rate in controls (Group A) before induction was 86+/-10 rose to 93+/-12 and 107+/-13 after induction and after laryngoscopy + ETI respectively. The changes seen after endotracheal intubation alone was statistically very highly significant (<0.001). In Group B, the pre induction heart rate was 94+/-17, which increased to 99+/-13, after induction.This increase not significant (P>0.05). There was an increases of 15 at laryngoscopy + ETI which was very highly significant (P<0.001). Conclusion: In Group C, the pre induction heart rate of 96+/-15 increased to 97+/-11 at induction and to 108+/-15 following endotracheal intubation.


OBJECTIVE
To examine the association between gang involvement and female adolescents' health.

METHODS
African American adolescent females (N = 522) completed a survey that assessed their history of gang involvement and health behaviors and provided specimens that were analyzed for marijuana use and sexually transmitted diseases.

RESULTS
In logistic regression analyses, adolescents with a history of gang involvement were more likely to have been expelled from school (odds ratio [OR]: 3.6), be a binge drinker (OR: 3.3), have a positive toxicologic test for marijuana (OR: 2.6), have been in 3 or more fights in the past 6 months (OR: 3.8), have a nonmonogamous partner (OR: 2.4), and test positive for Trichomonas vaginalis (OR: 2.2) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (OR: 3.6).

CONCLUSION
This study extends the current research on risk behaviors associated with gang involvement to include biological markers for substance use and sexual health outcomes, namely, marijuana use and sexually transmitted diseases.


We propose a new parametric 3D snake with cylindrical topology. Its construction is based on interpolatory basis functions which facilitates user-interaction because the control points of the snake directly lie on the surface of the deformable cylinder. We prove that the basis functions exactly reproduce a cylinder and propose a new parametrization as a tensor-product spline surface. We provide explicit formulas for the energy function based on Green's theorem that speed up the computation of the optimization algorithm. We have implemented the proposed framework as a freely available open-source plugin for the bioimaging platform Icy. Its utility has been tested on phantom data as well as on real 3D data to segment the spinal cord and the descending aorta.


The dynamic response of a finite Bernoulli-Euler beam resting on a tensionless Pasternak foundation and subjected to a concentrated harmonic load is investigated in this study. This load may be applied at the center of the beam, or it may be offset from the center. Since the elastic foundation is assumed to be tensionless, the beam may lift off the foundation, resulting in contact and non-contact regions in the system. An analytical/numerical solution is obtained from the governing equations of the contact and non-contact regions to determine the coordinates of the lift-off points. Although there is no nonlinear term in the equations, the problem appears to be nonlinear since the contact regions are not known in advance. Due to that nonlinearity, the essentials of the problem (the coordinates of the lift-off points) are calculated numerically using the Newton-Raphson technique. The results, which represent the symmetric and asymmetric responses of the beam, are presented graphically in this work. They illustrate the effects of the forcing frequency and the beam length on the extent of the contact regions and displacements.


For models trained on-premise but deployed in a distributed fashion across multiple entities, we demonstrate that minimizing distance correlation between sensitive data such as faces and intermediary representations enables prediction while preventing reconstruction attacks. Leakage (measured using distance correlation between input and intermediate representations) is the risk associated with the reconstruction of raw face data from intermediary representations that are communicated in a distributed setting. We demonstrate on face datasets that our method is resilient to reconstruction attacks during distributed inference while maintaining information required to sustain good classification accuracy. We share modular code for performing NoPeek-Infer at http://tiny.cc/nopeek along with corresponding trained models for benchmarking attack techniques.


As the name historical social topography implies it comprehends the ancient location and distribution of particular groups and layers of inhabitants in a settlement. It is important since ethnic, religious and occupational groups are able either to impose particular characters of settlement structure, or significantly influence their location and ground use. Several social data of a Christian tithe list made for the diocese of Bacs in the year 1522, and a defter (i.e. a Turkish tax list) from 1546 were placed on the medieval map of Szeged previously reconstructed by the author - resulting in an extremely rich social topographic picture of a large medieval peasant market town. It can be observed that the well-heeled intelligentsia and the wealthy burgesses, - priests, judges, schoolmasters etc, and the craftsmen of privileged trades such as goldsmiths, and the vineyard owners - lived near the centres, mainly in the fortified Palank or around the churches in Felsovaros and Alsovaros. It is obvious
that those, whose trades were connected with agriculture or animal husbandry, lived on the outskirts, making use of good transportation and storage possibilities there. The fine manufacturers and the ones working with great value were clustering in certain areas, probably as a consequence of the guild system. The processed and mapped 411 data of 403 tax payers cover more than a quarter of the 1574 listed households.


The authors measured resting ventilation, the ventilatory response to added CO2, the VD/VT ratio, the rate of carbon dioxide output, and arterial PCO2 in four healthy volunteers, awake and anesthetized with, in order (I) enflurane 0.4 MAC with nitrous oxide 70 per cent, (II) enflurane 1.1 MAC with nitrous oxide 70 per cent, and (III) enflurane 1.1 MAC alone. Enflurane 1.1 MAC reduced ventilation and the response to added CO2 markedly, increased the VD/VT radio, reduced rate of CO2 output, and elevated values of PaCO2 from 41 +/- 1 to 65 +/- 3 mmHg (mean +/- SEM). Enflurane 1.1 MAC with nitrous oxide 70 per cent had similar effects. Enflurane 1.1 MAC with nitrous oxide 70 per cent had similar effects. Enflurane 0.4 MAC with nitrous oxide 70 per cent caused much smaller changes in each measured respiratory variable, increasing PaCO2 values to only 49 +/- 1 mmHg. The results indicate that enflurane 1.1 MAC alone is too potent a depressant of alveolar ventilation to permit spontaneous breathing, but that the "equi-anesthetic" enflurane 0.4 MAC with nitrous oxide 70 per cent may not be. The magnitude of the beneficial respiratory effects of substituting nitrous oxide for an equivalent amount of vapor is substantially greater with enflurane than with either halothane or isoflurane.


The
growing demand for chromium coated aluminium components especially for the
automotive industry is due to their favourable physical properties (density,
strength to weight ratio etc.). However, their frequent use under harsh
environmental conditions renders them corrosion sensitive and consequently they
need to be protected. An approach that has been applied in industry is to
directly electroplate nickel onto aluminium substrate prior to a top metallic
finish; however, in components with complex geometry, certain areas could
become exposed to corrosion attack due to poor surface coverage during plating.
In this study, a modified electroless nickel undercoat was applied to
pre-treated aluminium alloys prior to duplex nickel and chromium plating with a
view to enhance corrosion resistance, improve coating adherence and durability,
and overall, to achieve substrate protection. Hexavalent and trivalent chromium
were applied to pre-treated Al 1050 and Al 6061 following electroless nickel
deposition, and plating performance was assessed by surface and corrosion
techniques, while durability was measured by scratch, adhesion and hardness
tests. Overall, while chromium plating with an electroless nickel undercoat did
not improve corrosion resistance or hardness of the materials, it provided an
additional protective layer for the substrate with a potential for longer term
durability.


The wire-driven flexible robot with multiple bending sections is an efficient approach for the minimally invasive surgery and diagnosis. It can function properly in the complicated and restrained environment. One drawback of this technology is that the real-time positional and shape information cannot be well estimated. In order to settle this limitation, we proposed a novel shape estimation method for a wire-driven flexible robot with multiple bending sections in this paper. Each bending section can be controlled independently to deform as an arc with different curvatures. This method is based on the positional and the directional information of limited specific joints on the robot, which can be estimated with an effective positioning method, such as electromagnetic tracking method. The number and the position of these specific joints are only determined by the number of sections. Based on the positional and the directional information, as well as the curve length information, the shape reconstruction algorithm can be carried out by fitting multiple quadratic Bézier curves. Real-time shape sensing platform is built to verify the proposed method. Experimental results show that the method works well and the mean position error is 1.7 mm.


The Aristolochia bracteata is well known for its antiarthritis properties in Indian system of medicine and folk medicine. The objective of the present study was to evaluate its folk claim in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and propose a probable mechanism of action. Anti arthritic activity was evaluated using Freund's complete adjuvant in rats, the course of treatment was followed for over and 4 weeks post inoculation period using health parameters, clinical and behavioral methods of study. Estimation of blood Hb, ESR and change in body weight were considered as health parameters and clinical observations included paw edema volume, thermal hyperalgesia, radiological and histomarphological analysis and exploratory behavior was studied in behavioral observations. The results indicates that, regular treatment of adjuvant in- duced arthritic rats with A. bracteata extracts improves ESR, Hb value and also restores body weight. Significant (P<0.01) inhibitory effect was observed with A. bracteata extract on Freund's complete adjuvant induced paw edema throughout the study (P<0.001). The latency to thermal stimuli and inhibitory effect on xylene induced ear edema was significantly (P<0.05) affected by oral treatment of A. bracteata, irrespective of solvent used for extraction. Treatment of FCA induced rats with A. bracteata extracts shown (P<0.05) increase in pain threshold, weight bearing ability, ambulation and also de- cline in scratching, defecation and urination, were observed as a sign of improvement in behavioral condition. The results obtained in this study showed promising effect on FCA modulated health status, clinical observations and behavioral changes.


Sexual selection is responsible for the evolution of many elaborate traits, but sexual trait evolution could be influenced by opposing natural selection as well as genetic constraints. As such, the evolution of sexual traits could depend heavily on the environment if trait expression and attractiveness vary between environments. Here, male Drosophila simulans were reared across a range of diets and temperatures, and we examined differences between these environments in terms of (i) the expression of male cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) and (ii) which male CHC profiles were most attractive to females. Temperature had a strong effect on male CHC expression, whereas the effect of diet was weaker. Male CHCs were subject to complex patterns of directional, quadratic and correlational sexual selection, and we found differences between environments in the combination of male CHCs that were most attractive to females, with clearer differences between diets than between temperatures. We also show that genetic covariance between environments is likely to cause a constraint on independent CHC evolution between environments. Our results demonstrate that even across the narrow range of environmental variation studied here, predicting the outcome of sexual selection can be extremely complicated, suggesting that studies ignoring multiple traits or environments may provide an over‐simplified view of the evolution of sexual traits.