STUDY OBJECTIVES
The mechanisms linking sleep disordered breathing with impairment of sleep and bone metabolism/architecture are poorly understood. Here, we explored the role of the neuropeptide orexin, a respiratory homeostasis modulator, in growth retardation induced in an upper airway obstructed (AO) rat model.

METHODS
The tracheae of 22-day-old rats were narrowed; AO and sham-control animals were monitored for 5 to 7 w. Growth parameters, food intake, sleep/wake activity, and serum hormones were measured. After euthanasia, growth plate (GP) histology, morphometry, orexin receptors (OXR), and related mediators were analyzed. The effect of dual orexin receptor antagonist (almorexant 300 mg/kg) on sleep and GP histology were also investigated.

RESULTS
The AO group slept 32% less; the time spent in slow wave and paradoxical sleep during light period and slow wave activity was reduced. The AO group gained 46% less body weight compared to the control group, despite elevated food intake; plasma ghrelin increased by 275% and leptin level decreased by 44%. The impediment of bone elongation and bone mass was followed by a 200% increase in OX1R and 38% reduction of local GP ghrelin proteins and growth hormone secretagogue receptor 1a. Sry-related transcription factor nine (Sox9), a molecule mediating cartilage ossification, was downregulated and the level of transcription factor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma was upregulated, explaining the bone architecture abnormalities. Administration of almorexant restored sleep and improved GP width in AO animals.

CONCLUSIONS
In AO animals, enhanced expression of orexin and OX1R plays a role in respiratory induced sleep and growth abnormalities.


The main purpose of this study was to examine the probable effects of perception of politics on impression management behaviors of hotel employees in Izmir, Turkey. For this study, a total number of 205 usable questionnaires were collected from employees working in five star hotels in Izmir city center. The hypothesized relationships were tested using SPSS 17 version. The results indicated that organizational politics perception of employees was an important determinant of impression management behaviors. This research is thought to make useful contributions to the current knowledge base by investigating the direct effect of perception of organizational politics on impression management behaviors since it is predicted that politics perception of employees have potential to paralyze the organizational climate and can affect the relationship both between employees and between employees and managers.


Modern development processes and issue trackers often use the notion of features to manage a software system. Features allow communicating system characteristics across stakeholders and keeping an overview understanding---especially important for systems that exist in many different variants. However, maintaining, evolving or reusing features (e.g., propagating across variants, or integrating into a platform) requires knowing their locations to prevent extensive feature-location recovery. We advocate the use of embedded annotations, added directly into software assets by the developers during development. To support this process and provide immediate benefits to developers when using such annotations, we present the open-source tool FeatureDashboard. It extracts and visualizes features and their locations using different views and metrics. As such, it encourages developers recording features and their locations early, to prevent feature identification and location efforts, as well as it supports system comprehension.


Calmodulin is a small Ca2+-binding protein that acts to transduce second messenger signals into a wide array of cellular responses. Plant calmodulins share many structural and functional features with their homologs from animals and yeast, but the expression of multiple protein isoforms appears to be a distinctive feature of higher plants. Calmodulin acts by binding to short peptide sequences within target proteins, thereby inducing structural changes, which alters their activities in response to changes in intracellular Ca2+ concentration. The spectrum of plant calmodulin-binding proteins shares some overlap with that found in animals, but a growing number of calmodulin-regulated proteins in plants appear to be unique. Ca2+-binding and enzymatic activation properties of calmodulin are discussed emphasizing the functional linkages between these processes and the diverse pathways that are dependent on Ca2+ signaling.


Three-dimensional image surface reconstruction with cross-sectional images is a kind of significant model built upon the two-dimensional image in the digital image processing. It reconstructs the three-dimensional shape of the workpiece with a sequence of cross-sectional images. The three-dimensional image surface reconstruction method derived from computed tomography images is focused in this article. Based on a sequence of cross-sectional images, this article proposes an approach to establish three-dimensional image surface reconstruction model. The main work includes: (1) describing three-dimensional surface reconstruction; (2) providing edge detection algorithms to quantify trust and a description for experiences; (3) evolving the implementation of 3-D image surface reconstruction with a sequence of cross-sectional images. A simulation is conducted to verify the rationality and validity of the approach at the end of the article.


The current cycle slip detection methods of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) were mostly proposed on the basis of assuming the ionospheric delay varying smoothly over time. However, these methods can be invalid during active ionospheric periods, e.g., high Kp index value and scintillations, due to the significant increase of the ionospheric delay. In order to detect cycle slips during high ionospheric activities successfully, this paper proposes a method based on two modified Hatch–Melbourne–Wübbena combinations. The measurement noise in the Hatch–Melbourne–Wübbena combination is minimized by employing the optimally selected combined signals, while the ionospheric delay is detrended using a smoothing technique. The difference between the time-differenced ambiguity of the combined signal and this estimated ionospheric trend is adopted as the detection value, which can be free from ionospheric effect and hold the high precision of the combined signal. Five threshold determination methods are proposed and compared to decide the cycle slip from the magnitude aspect. This proposed method is tested with triple-frequency Global Navigation Satellite System observations collected under high ionospheric activities. Results show that the proposed method can correctly detect and fix cycle slips under disturbed ionosphere.


Reducing the time delay in initiating thrombolytic therapy in acute myocardial infarction is critical in maximising the functional and survival benefit. We analysed 120 consecutive admissions for thrombolytic therapy to the Coronary Care Unit. The total delay was divided into prehospital, in-hospital and Coronary Care Unit stages, and the median delays were found to be 130, 70, and 15 minutes, respectively. The delay was significantly longer in patients who sought prehospital medical advice, and when the diagnosis was not made at the emergency treatment unit. Educating at-risk groups and modifying the admission system may help to minimise these delays, while the establishment of an emergency ambulance service with well-trained crew would also improve the prognosis after acute myocardial infarction in Sri Lanka.


A method for designing and training artificial neural network based on genetic algorithm(NNDT) was presented.NNDT trains both architectures and weights of networks simultaneously.The problem that the one-to-one relationship between the topology and the encoding can not be kept was solved effectively.Heuristic method was used to constraint the probability of topology mutation and the trend of the choice of the kind of mutation.Also,the niching mechanism was used to protect the mutation of network topologies.The experiments results show the efficiency and rapidity of NNDT.


This paper introduces a novel reconfigurable parallel mechanism (RPM) consisting of two PRU limbs (P denotes a prismatic joint, R denotes a revolute joint, U denotes a universal joint) and one PUU limb. The proposed RPM can evolve into two distinct configurations from the switch configuration, in which one configuration has one rotational degree of freedom (DOF) and two translational DOFs, and the other configuration has two rotational DOFs and one translational DOF. Firstly, the DOFs of the RPM in each configuration are analyzed using screw theory. Then, position modelling for the RPM is carried out. Inverse position solutions and forward position solutions are derived. Further, performance evaluation and optimization are conducted using the motion/force transmission method. Finally, a prototype is developed, and preliminary experiments are carried out. The proposed RPM has the potential to be used in applications with multi task requirements.


Human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) is a glycoprotein hormone consisting of two noncovalently bonded subunits, alpha and beta. The hormone can be dissociated and reassociated. Whereas the individual subunits do not show any receptor binding activity, the reconstituted molecule is almost fully active. The amino acid and carbohydrate sequences in hCG-alpha and hCG-beta are described. There are in all seven carbohydrate units, four complex asparagine-linked and three serine-linked short oligosaccharide chains. The sequential removal of monosaccharides from the carbohydrate moiety of the hormone results in derivatives that bind to the cell surface receptors but inhibit the hCG-induced accumulation of cAMP. The derivatives, however, still are able to produce steroidogenesis maximally. The data raise the possibility of other mediator(s) of the hormone action in addition to cAMP. The hCG/LH (luteinizing hormone) receptor has been labeled by the incorporation of N-acetyl-D-1-[14C] glucosamine and also by the selective incorporation of 125I or 131I. Using 131I-labeled bovine corpus luteal plasma membranes, a method for the purification of the receptor to homogeneity has been developed. The purified receptor has properties similar to the membrane-bound receptor. Availability of the purified receptor offers newer approaches to the study of molecular mechanisms of polypeptide hormone action.


The tet-off system has been widely used to create transgenic models of neurological disorders including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's, and prion disease. The utility of this system lies in the assumption that the tetracycline transactivator (TTA) acts as an inert control element and does not contribute to phenotypes under study. Here we report that neuronal expression of TTA can affect hippocampal cytoarchitecture and behavior in a strain-dependent manner. While studying neurodegeneration in two tet-off Alzheimer's disease models, we unexpectedly discovered neuronal loss within the dentate gyrus of single transgenic TTA controls. Granule neurons appeared most sensitive to TTA exposure during postnatal development, and doxycycline treatment during this period was neuroprotective. TTA-induced degeneration could be rescued by moving the transgene onto a congenic C57BL/6J background and recurred on reintroduction of either CBA or C3H/He backgrounds. Quantitative trait analysis of B6C3 F2 TTA mice identified a region on Chromosome 14 that contains a major modifier of the neurodegenerative phenotype. Although B6 mice were resistant to degeneration, they were not ideal for cognitive testing. F1 offspring of TTA C57BL/6J and 129X1/SvJ, FVB/NJ, or DBA/1J showed improved spatial learning, but TTA expression caused subtle differences in contextual fear conditioning on two of these backgrounds, indicating that strain and genotype can interact independently under different behavioral settings. All model systems have limitations that should be recognized and mitigated where possible; our findings stress the importance of mapping the effects caused by TTA alone when working with tet-off models.


In this paper I want to discuss a couple of anthropomorphic/animistic examples of how agency can be delegated to things as a productive strategy in a context of making. The first example is two texts by Clarice Lispector, The Passion According to G.H (1964) and her posthumous (and incomplete) novel A Breath of Life, and the second is Louis Kahn and his work on the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Ahmedabad. The examples are used in order to discuss anthropomorphism/animism as seen from a relational ontology of material agency, where a certain part of an assemblage is deliberately made into a critical and transformative mediator. It is also suggested that such an animistic moment can be seen as particular and sometimes productive strategy for the unfolding and refolding of different spaces into each other. Finally, animism will be discussed, alongside hybridization and singularisation, as a specific strategy of spatial production.


We propose a non-permanent add-on that enables plenoptic imaging with standard cameras. Our design is based on a physical copying mechanism that multiplies a sensor image into a number of identical copies that still carry the plenoptic information of interest. Via different optical filters, we can then recover the desired information. A minor modification of the design also allows for aperture sub-sampling and, hence, light-field imaging. As the filters in our design are exchangeable, a reconfiguration for different imaging purposes is possible. We show in a prototype setup that high dynamic range, multispectral, polarization, and light-field imaging can be achieved with our design.


In most chemical processes only some measurements are available online while other measurements are available infrequently and often with long delays. Multirate state estimation can optimally combine these different classes of measurements to improve the estimation quality compared to the fast measurements alone. The following new aspects of multirate state estimation are discussed in this paper: Firstly, we discuss the behaviour of variable and fixed structure estimation schemes and conclude that a fixed structure is preferable. Secondly, the moving horizon state estimator is extended to the multirate case in a fashion that corresponds to the fixed structure state estimation scheme. Finally, a performance gauge is proposed which measures the maximal improvements that can be obtained by using additional noisy slow measurements. The theoretical findings are supported by a simulation example.


The power of a systematic review is only as good as the question being posed. In his review of the risk of hypertension in children with multicystic kidney disease (MCKD), Narchi misses the wider context.1 There may be more than one relationship between the diagnosis of MCKD and blood pressure (BP). Perhaps the component in the mind of the author is that a multicystic dysplastic kidney might in itself be a cause of hypertension. This seems unlikely if the affected kidney is non-functioning and contains no renal elements. His review supports this presumption, although exceptions are clearly reported.2 The majority of non-functioning multicystic dysplastic kidneys involute, so that a proportion of individuals who had MCKD originally are diagnosed later as having unilateral renal agenesis (RA), technically a misnomer in this case. It would make more sense to widen the enquiry to include this category.

An important consideration is the role of the contralateral kidney in the regulation of BP in these patients. Firstly, the contralateral kidney will prove to be radiologically abnormal in about a quarter of cases of MCKD or RA. Coarse focal scarring, hydronephrosis, or hypoplasia would be expected to have an impact on BP depending on the nature of the abnormality.

Radiologically normal solitary kidneys can also predispose to hypertension. Although they are significantly larger than normal paired kidneys and their complement of nephrons is unknown, there are good reasons to …


The insulation of apparatus in the power system is often broken by the very fast transient over voltage (VFTO), which cause from the operation of disconnector in gas insulate substation (GIS). In this paper, a new idea for the suppressing VFTO by ferrite is put forward, and the characteristic of ferrite is analyzed. The effect of suppressing VFTO by the ferrite is tested and simulated. The particular request of the ferrite parameters is discussed. A method for the estimating the size of ferrite is advanced.


This thesis deals with the use of variable speed wind turbines. Different wind turbine generator topologies are described. In particular, the reduced variable speed turbine, which uses a doubly fed induction generator, is covered. An overview of the power electronic inverters of interest to the field of wind energy is given and a topology for a laboratory model is selected. The discipline of Pulse Width Modulation is presented. The vector control principles of induction machines and grid connected inverters are derived. Having the stator connected directly to the grid it is given that the flux level in the machine, is nearly constant. This means that changes in either the flux or torque producing current in the rotor circuit are limited by the transient time constant of the machine. A 40 kW laboratory model with a doubly fed induction generator and a 3-level neutral point clamped back to back power converter is constructed. Adaptive active filters are used to reduce harmonics and slip harmonics in the stator current. The filters are implemented in both inverters. The active filters reduce the stator harmonics by 20-30 dB. The filters can reduce the slip harmonics at variable speed.


Objective: To review the frequency as well as the pros and cons of telephone and video-enabled telemedicine during the first 9 months of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic as experienced by safety net providers across New York State (NYS). Methods: Analysis of visits to 36 community health centers (CHCs) in NYS by modality (telephone vs video) from February to November 2020. Semi-structured interviews with 25 primary care, behavioral health, and pediatric providers from 8 CHCs. Findings: In the week following the NYS stay-at-home order, video and telephone visits rose from 3.4 and 0% of total visits to 14.9 and 22.3%. At its peak, more than 60% of visits were conducted via telemedicine (April 2020) before tapering off to about 30% of visits (August 2020). Providers expressed a strong preference for video visits, particularly for situations when visual assessments were needed. Yet, more visits were conducted over telephone than video at all points throughout the pandemic. Video-specific advantages included enhanced ability to engage patients and use of visual cues to get a comprehensive look into the patient's life, including social supports, hygiene, and medication adherence. Telephone presented unique benefits, including greater privacy, feasibility, and ease of use that make it critical to engage with key populations and as a backup for when video was not an option. Conclusions: Despite challenges, providers reported positive experiences delivering care remotely using both telephone and video during the COVID-19 pandemic and believe both modalities are critical for enabling access to care in the safety net. ( J Am Board Fam Med 2021;34:1103–1114.)


Biney Richmond, age thirteen, learns to adjust to a severe hearing loss which has become progressively worse since she was a small child. She relies on her emerging talents as a graphic artist and the support of her family and friends to achieve this adjustment, although those around her often seem more of a hindrance than a help to her as she tries to assert her independence. Hodges presents realistic information about the difficulties of using a hearing aid and the frustrations with having to depend on speechreading. In spite of these difficulties, her heroine finds the inner resources to learn to accept her situation and use it to help others. Hodges' plot line is resolved satisfactorily. Her protagonist achieves personal growth. I recommend this book to school librarians and teachers for their pre-teen and teenage readers.


Current classifications of pulmonary hypertension have contributed a great deal to our understanding of pulmonary vascular disease, facilitated drug trials, and improved our understanding of congenital heart disease in adult survivors. However, these classifications are not applicable readily to pediatric disease. The classification system that we propose is based firmly in clinical practice. The specific aims of this new system are to improve diagnostic strategies, to promote appropriate clinical investigation, to improve our understanding of disease pathogenesis, physiology and epidemiology, and to guide the development of human disease models in laboratory and animal studies. It should be also an educational resource. We emphasize the concepts of perinatal maladaptation, maldevelopment and pulmonary hypoplasia as causative factors in pediatric pulmonary hypertension. We highlight the importance of genetic, chromosomal and multiple congenital malformation syndromes in the presentation of pediatric pulmonary hypertension. We divide pediatric pulmonary hypertensive vascular disease into 10 broad categories.


The existence of National Parks Conservation Forest Halimun Salak Mountain at Bogor and Sukabumi is in separable from the efforts in the cultivation of forest communities and forest management. At this time TNGHS forests that are managed and utilized by the community forest conservation TNGHS begin to deteriorate because of illegal logging, gold mining exploration in the offense of illegal use of management zones and the number of illegal land use, due to lack of public understanding on the utilization and conservation TNGHS forest. Still a lack of information dissemination in the utilization and conservation of forest conservation for TNGHS forest communities, forest workers and less effective in conveying the message of forest management information indicates there has been a decline in the quality of public participation in forest conservation TNGHS utilize and conserve the forest because of a lack of understanding and knowledge society conservation of forest management procedures TNGHS.


Abstract Noise pollution poses a significant obstacle to vocal communication. Songbirds rely on acoustic signals for mate choice and territory defense, and masking of these signals can have negative fitness consequences. Prior investigations reveal that birds mitigate the negative effects of acoustic masking by increasing their signal amplitude or by singing with higher minimum frequencies. In this study, we evaluate the responses of male Pacific Wrens (Troglodytes pacificus) to natural ambient noise (ocean surf) and anthropogenic noise (highway traffic) in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, B.C., Canada. Pacific Wrens, known for their complex songs, are specialists of old-growth forest. We hypothesized that Pacific Wrens would compensate for the effects of ambient noise in their environments through modifications to their songs that enhanced their transmission properties. Recognizing that longer, higher frequency, and more complex signals propagate better in noisy environments, we predicted that Pacific Wrens would increase the length of their songs, the length of the syllables within their songs, the number of syllables per song, and the minimum frequency of their songs. Recordings of 52 territorial Pacific Wrens showed that proximity to highway traffic noise had a significant effect on song duration but no significant effect on any of the other measured variables. Pacific Wrens that were recorded near the shoreline, however, sang songs with longer syllables, and higher intra-individual variation in song duration. Number of syllables, syllable minimum frequency, and song duration did not vary with distance from the shoreline. We conclude that natural and anthropogenic noise sources influence the singing behavior of Pacific Wrens.


Poster presented at the 6th International Conference on Synchrotron Radiation in Polymer Science, held in Madrid (Spain) on September 7-10th, 2015.


An omnidirectional image (ODI) enables viewers to look in every direction from a fixed point through a head-mounted display providing an immersive experience compared to that of a standard image. Designing immersive virtual reality systems with ODIs is challenging as they require high resolution content. In this paper, we study super-resolution for ODIs and propose an improved generative adversarial network based model which is optimized to handle the artifacts obtained in the spherical observational space. Specifically, we propose to use a fast PatchGAN discriminator, as it needs fewer parameters and improves the super-resolution at a fine scale. We also explore the generative models with adversarial learning by introducing a spherical-content specific loss function, called 360-SS. To train and test the performance of our proposed model we prepare a dataset of 4500 ODIs. Our results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed method and identify new challenges in ODI super-resolution for future investigations.


The work of the Welfare Warriors Research Collaborative (WWRC), a participatory action research (PAR) project that looks at how low income lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and gender nonconforming (LG-BTGNC) people survive and resist violence and discrimination in New York City, raises the question of what it means to make conscientization, or critical consciousness, a core feature of PAR. Guishard's (2009) reconceptualization of conscientization as "moments of consciousness" provides a new way of looking at what seemed to be missing from WWRC's process and analysis. According to Guishard, rather than a singular awakening, critical consciousness emerges continually through interactions with others and the social context. Analysis of the WWRC's process demonstrates that PAR researchers doing "PAR deep" (Fine, 2008)—research in which community members share in all aspects of design, method, analysis and product development—should have an agenda for developing critical consciousness, just as they would have agendas for participation, for action, and for research.


Anesthesia experiences outside of the operating room Introduction And Aim: Thanks to technological developments, invasive and non-invasive diagnostic and therapeutic procedures have been done at the outside of the operating room. In this manner, to provide anesthesia at the outside of the operating room, anesthesia teams have been found. In this study, we aimed to report our anesthesia teams' experiences. Materials And Methods: We reviewed the procedures that was experienced at outside the operating room from October 2010 to April 2012 retrospectively. 3583 Patients who required anesthesia at the outside of the operating room included the study, and their sexes, ages, ASA status, procedures, and anesthesia complications were recorded. Results: Patients' sex ratio male/female 1671/1912; ranged in age from 20 day to 91 years; with the mean age 48,52±28,4. ASA status were, ASA I 1958, ASA II 1296, ASA III 318, ASA IV 11. Anesthesia procedures were for 1837 colonoscopy, 536 gastroscopy, 131 ERCP endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, 811 MRI magnetic resonance imaging, 62 CTI computerized tomography imaging, 234 ECT electroconvulsive therapy, 106 RT radiotherapy, 40 angiographic aneurysm embolization, 9 angiographic venous sampling, 43 carotis stent, and 63 other radiologic interventions. For sedation; 1960 Patient received propofol + alfentanil, 740 only propofol, 544 propofol + fentanyl, 115 ketofol, 65 midazolam+ketamin 83 dexmedetomidine. For electroconvulsive therapies, 90 patient received etomidate + succinyl choline, 144 propofol + succinyl choline. 40 patient received general anesthesia for embolisation procedures. There are no major complication occured except one patient experienced intracranial hemorrhage during colonoscopy. In minor complications; 12 patient experienced respiratory depression, 41 bradycardia, 144 oxygen desaturaion, 191 prolonged recovery from anesthesia, 8 vomiting. Conclusion: Anesthesia procedures at the outside of the operating room are frequently used in all medical interventions and at all ages. Remote locations from operating room, inadequate equipment and monitors,not enough space in the working environment, providing anesthesia outside the operating room is challenging and requires expertise and skill. The secret of success in anesthesia in remote locations is the skilled anesthesiologist with the appropriate equipment and drugs, along with adequate backup facilities. Anesthesia procedures at the outside of the operating room are guarding the patients safety and welfare, minimising physical discomfort and pain, providing physicians' comfort.


Background ALK fusions are targetable drivers in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, patients with NSCLC harboring ALK rearrangements without a fusion partner identified in DNA have also been shown to respond to ALK inhibitors. We aimed to characterize complex ALK variants that may predict sensitivity to multiple approved ALK inhibitors. Methods Comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) of DNA isolated from formalin‐fixed paraffin‐embedded (FFPE) tumor tissue or blood-based circulating tumor DNA was performed for 39,159 NSCLC patients during routine clinical care. For a subset of cases, RNA sequencing was performed, and prior ALK test results and clinical treatment information were collected from treating physicians. Results We queried the Foundation Medicine NSCLC database and identified ALK internal inversions, as well as internal deletions, as the sole ALK rearrangements in 6 (0.02%) and 3 (0.01%) of cases, respectively. In cases with ALK internal inversions, RNA testing identified an EML4-ALK fusion in 2/2 cases evaluated, and 3/3 patients treated with ALK inhibitors had durable responses. A single patient with an ALK internal deletion and clinical data available responded to multiple ALK inhibitors. RNA data available for a subset of non-NSCLC cases suggest that ALK internal deletions removing a portion of the N-terminus are drivers themselves and do not result in ALK fusions. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) results were inconsistent for both classes of DNA events. Conclusion Rare internal inversions of ALK appear to be indicative of ALK fusions, which can be detected in RNA, and response to ALK inhibitors in patients with NSCLC. In contrast, ALK internal deletions are not associated with ALK fusions in RNA but likely represent targetable drivers themselves. These data suggest that CGP of DNA should be supplemented with immunohistochemistry or RNA-based testing to further resolve these events and match patients to effective therapies.


Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is the reason for approximately 1% of global mortality. ETS exposure can happen either as inhalation of direct cigarette smoke (second-hand smoke) or its associated residue particles (third-hand smoke), especially when living with a smoker in the same family. This study investigated the association between the urinary cotinine levels, as biomarkers of exposure to tobacco smoke, of smokers and those exposed to second-hand and third-hand smoke while living in the same family, through a Korean nationwide survey. Direct assessment of ETS exposure and its lifetime effect on human health is practically difficult. Therefore, this study evaluated the internal estimated daily intake (I-EDI) of nicotine and equivalent smoked cigarette per day (CPD). The carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic inhalation risks of ETS exposure were assessed by considering the calculated equivalent CPD and composition of cigarette smoke of high-selling cigarette brands in South Korea. The results show that there is a statistically significant positive correlation between the cotinine levels of smokers and those of the non-smokers living in the same family. The risk assessment results yielded that hazard index (HI) and total excess lifetime cancer risk (ECR) for both second-hand and third-hand smoke exposure can exceed 1 and 1 × 10−6, respectively, especially in women and children. In the composition of the cigarette smoke, 1,3-butadiene and acrolein substances had the highest contribution to HI and ECR. Consequently, the provision of appropriate plans for smoking cessation as a strategy for the prevention of ETS exposure to women and children is deemed necessary.


The PhD thesis: Engendering the Nation: Women, state oppression and political violence in post-war Greece (1946-1974), addresses the gendered characteristics of political violence during the 1946-1974 period in Greece. The phenomenon of political violence and state oppression against politically active women is analysed through the prism of nationalist ideology, both as a legitimising mechanism for the continuation of abuse and terrorisation, but also as a vehicle for re-appropriating gender roles, power hierarchies, sexual stereotypes and social norms. Research focuses on (1) the gender-specific ways women were persecuted, incarcerated and abused and the causes of this gender-based violence; (2) the ways in which the nationalist, official discourse made use of gender characteristics in order to enact this type of abuse and oppression. Accordingly, the phenomenon of political violence against women dissidents is examined through the main analytical categories of gender and nationalism.

This thesis provides a history and analysis of political violence against women in the Greek Civil War (1946-1949), the period of weak democracy (1950-1967) and the military dictatorship (1967-1974), respectively. The overall aim of the research is to bring forward the downplayed gendered characteristics of state-perpetuated violence and repression, and analyse them within the nationalist ideology and the ascribed traditional gender roles through which the oppressive mechanisms were institutionalised and authorised. In this respect, the experience of women as political detainees is reconstructed through an analysis of the sites and practices of political violence, terror and torture as operated and implemented by the state and its agents. PhD research draws on gender studies and discourse analysis and seeks to situate the Greek case within a feminist critique that emphasises the politics of gender and the dominant discourse of nationalism.


Parallel, distributed and network-based computing is a continuosly evolving field, driven by progress in microprocessor architecture and interconnection technology, as well as by the needs of computing- and data-intensive applications in science and engineering, and, more recently, in business. This field is currently undergoing a significant change, because of the development of multicore and manycore processors, GPUs, and FPGAs, which are the new building blocks of parallel architectures. At the other end of the parallel and distributed computing scenario, computational grids are far from being a mature infrastructure and are evolving toward cloud computing, to get a higher level of virtualization. The availability of programming models, algorithms and software tools capable of harnessing the processing power offered by the new technologies is a key issue to make them usable by application developers. This special issue provides a view of the efforts carried out in this direction. Barlas introduces an optimization approach for reducing data communication and load imbalance in medical image matching on Grids. Binzenhofer et al. present a distributed and scalable algorithm to monitor a p2p network. Cesario and Talia discuss the use of data mining models and services on Grid systems for analysis of large data repositories. Danelutto et al. describe a performance model for component-based applications with stream communication semantics running on Grids. Danese et al. describe a FPGA-based coprocessor to accelerate double precision floating point operations in high-performance applications. Gross and Marquardt introduce a graphical editor providing abstractions from base technology for user-friendly configuration of Ubiquitous Computing environments. The papers collected here are selected extended versions of papers presented at PDP 2007, the Fifteenth Euromicro Conference on Parallel, Distributed and Network-based Processing, held in Naples, Italy, in February 2007. The conference was organized by the Institute for High-Performance Computing and Networking (ICAR) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR) in collaboration with the Second University of Naples, the University of Naples Parthenope and the University of Naples Federico II. We thank the editors of Scalable Computing: Practice and Experience for providing us the opportunity of publishing this issue, the authors for their contributions, and the referees for their precious help in selecting good-quality papers. Pasqua D'Ambra Institute for High-Performance Computing and Networking (ICAR), CNR Naples, Italy firstname.lastname@example.com Daniela di Serafino Department of Mathematics, Second University of Naples Caserta, Italy firstname.lastname@example.com Mario Rosario Guarracino Institute for High-Performance Computing and Networking (ICAR), CNR Naples, Italy email@example.com Francesca Perla Department of Statistics and Mathematics for Economic Research, University of Naples Parthenope Naples, Italy firstname.lastname@example.com


Narcolepsy is a chronic neurological disorder with significant impact on health-related quality of life. The disorder is often misunderstood, and considerably under-diagnosed. Research over the last ten years has made significant progress in identifying the causes and devising management solutions for this condition. Narcolepsy's complexity can make the disorder challenging for the individual to manage, requiring neuroscience nurses to be knowledgeable about the condition and its optimal management. This article is the first part of two, focusing on narcolepsy, offering a definition of the disorder, the pathophysiological process of the condition, and how this is manifested in the individual. The second part will focus on diagnosis and management of the condition


Executive Summary This report sheds light on the possible effects of climate change on development and security in the Central Sahel, namely in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. It examines the interactions between climatic stresses, food security, and conflict risk, by highlighting the region's key socio-economic and political conditions, and how these could shape future vulnerability to the effects of global warming. It further discusses existing measures and policies and how these could be improved to increase the region's resilience to climate- related challenges. Climate variability is a key issue in the Central Sahel, owing to a heavy reliance on rainfed agriculture, pastoralism and other climate- sensitive livelihoods. Yet, its effects need to be understood in a wider social and political context.


What exactly is a 'concept'? What do 'understanding' and 'meaning' actually signifiy? What happens when a student follows a course on a scientific discipline, such as learning object-oriented programming in Java? This research finds a basis for answering these questions. It uses ideas of metaphor and other conceptual blends in conceptual integration networks (CIN) drawn from cognitive science as a theoretical base, and uses interviews with students to relate theory to reality. It analyses students' discourse into aspects of mental spaces and frames, and identifies how concepts are held in terms of metaphor and blend. A similar analysis is applied to textbooks and other teaching material, and students' ideas are contrasted with those of a professor. Centrally, it is shown that much of the language used is non-literal. The data is consistent with the use of CINs as a way of modelling concept development. The findings are used as a way of designing and assessing course design and content, applicable across a wide range of scientific and technical disciplines.


This report deals with the effects of two adaptational variables upon the human electroretinogram. First, further investigation of a temporal increase in electroretinogram amplitude during light adaptation is reported. The effects of red and white test flashes were compared at several adaptation levels. The temporal increase was found only for high luminance adaptation levels and only for white test flashes. Second, the effects of constant luminance test flashes upon a wide range of adaptation levels were investigated. It was found that increasing levels of light adaptation produced decreases in the amplitudes of the components of the electroretinogram. Long latency components were affected by lower levels of light adaptation and to a greater extent than short latency components. The results are considered in relation to the duplicity theory and to the resting potential of the eye.


To the Editor:— The difficulties of getting sufficient light for the taking of clinical photographs of dermatologic interest, which is feasible for office use, led me to try the air cooled mercury quartz lamp, which has become a fixture in almost all dermatologists' offices. My success has far exceeded expectations. I have not found any source of light which approaches it in intensity, and, except for the wearing of the protective goggles, gives as much ease of manipulation and is as free from objectionable features. Speed of exposure, which is a necessary factor for good photographs, is assured with the lamp. The lens may be stopped down, which aids in giving depth to the picture. There is no attendant explosion, and no smoke to upset the office or to make further stay in the room impossible for more pictures or other purposes. (If a smoke bag is used, light is


The abalone industry in South Africa is known as one of the largest in the world. The country produced 1000 tons in 2008 (DEAT, 2008). Most of the abalone farms are located in the Western Cape Province due to the suitable environmental conditions and established infrastructure. The growth of abalone aquaculture is expected to continue. However, access to suitable coastal land and the dependence on wild harvest of seaweed may restrict further development around main nodes of abalone farming. The government has proposed the development of the Namaqualand Mariculture Park (NMP) in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. The NMP concept involves the development of complementary marine aquaculture activities sharing common infrastructure, where access to coastal land and good quality seawater is guaranteed. The running costs of the Mariculture Park will be met by charging the tenant aquaculture operations a monthly rent. The NMP could support a diverse number of mariculture operations but for the short term only an abalone land-based grow-out farm would be established. The current project evaluated the feasibility of abalone farming as the first aquaculture venture to be established in the NMP. In order to do this, a 120 ton production model was developed and the results used as input for the profitability model. The results from the production model estimated that 70.000 spat needs to be purchased monthly to sustain the 120 tonne annual production of the farm. The main result from the profitability model, the Net Present Value (NPV) for the two cash flow series was negative R 37 million and negative R 30 million, respectively. The Internal Rate of Return was less than the Marginal Attractive Rate assumed for the current project, indicating that abalone farming with the current assumptions is not a profitable venture. Sensitivity analysis indicated that the abalone farm is most sensitive to variations in the sales price and the quantity of abalone sold. This is important as revenue earned must cover the cost incurred by production. Relating this to the assumptions used for the current project, dried abalone requires larger animals than those usually grown on the majority of abalone farms producing live animals. Abalone farming is capital intensive and the longer production period for the current study leads to even higher production costs. High production costs have been cited as one of the main reasons for the poor economic performance of abalone aquaculture. The models can now be used to explore alternative production strategies taking into account variables that have a noticeable effect on profitability of abalone farming.


The comparative study covers the features of formation, thermal stability of structure and mechanical properties of heat- resistant Ni and Fe based alloys obtained using additive technologies (AT) by direct metal laser sintering, selective laser melting. It is found that alloys obtained by direct metal laser sintering have a cellular structure formed with small pores up to 200 nm in size, in contrast to alloys obtained by selective laser melting having elements with a globular and lamellar morphology and not completely melted areas as well as large pores about 5 μm in size. The study reveals a possible effect of nanophase hardening due to the presence of nanosized particles of chromium silicides in the material. A comparative analysis of the mechanical properties of studied materials is carried out. It is shown that the iron-based alloys have higher strength and lower ductility compared to nickel alloys. All studied samples obtained by selective laser melting demonstrate higher strength characteristics in comparison with alloys obtained by laser metal deposition. As a result of short-term annealing at a temperature of 900–1000 °C for 1 h leads to a significant reduction in the plasticity and strength of iron-based AT alloys during tensile and compression tests at room and elevated temperatures. During compression tests at t = 900 °C, iron-and nickel-based alloys obtained by laser metal deposition have similar strength characteristics. Unlike iron-based alloys, additional annealing of nickel-based AT alloys has virtually no impact on its strength properties.


In the web of life, we are all interconnected. This connectivity extends beyond the human domain and towards systems much larger than ourselves—the whole of the Earth's species. As this paper illustrates, this connectivity with non-human life is innate, and deepening that connection to nature has positive influences on our well-being and optimal functioning, above and beyond the mere utilitarian value that our environment affords. Whether looking at nature through a window or being fully immersed, wild spaces are good for our mental and physical health, our likelihood to engage in ecological behaviors, and our personal and community resiliency and well-being. Initiatives that recognize the importance of wild spaces also build powerful, positive, sustainable communities. When positive psychology notions of well-being are more systems-based and nature-inclusive, we get a deeper and more holistic understanding of our own psychology. We are also better prepared for a world in which all of life—humans today and future generations, as well as plants, animals, and planetary processes—can flourish regeneratively. From an examination of the individual to a reflection of our interdependence with the whole of the world, positive psychology has the potential to unmask a complete picture of all it means to be alive and thriving.


A major current issue in medicinal chemistry is the design of small peptide analogues resistant to proteolysis and able to adopt preferential conformations, while preserving the selectivity and efficiency of natural peptides. Whereas the introduction of one aza-Gly in peptides has proven numerous biological and structural interest, the conformational effect of sequential aza-Gly or aza-amino acids bearing side chains has not been investigated. In this work, experimental NMR and X-ray data together with in silico conformational studies reveal that the introduction of two consecutive aza-amino acids in pseudotripeptides induces the formation of stable hydrogen-bonded β-turn structures. Notably, this stabilization effect relies on the presence of side chains on aza-amino acids, as more flexible conformations are observed with aza-Gly residues. Remarkably, a longer aza/aza/α/aza/aza/α pseudohexapeptide containing substituted aza-amino acids adopts repeated β-turns conformations which interconvert with a fully helical structure mimicking a 310 helix.


Most tutorials in video games do not consider the skill level of the player when deciding what information to present. This makes many tutorials either tedious for experienced players or not informative enough for players who are new to the given genre. With Talin, implemented as an asset in the Unity game engine, we make it possible to create a mastery model of an individual player's skill levels by operationalizing Dan Cook's skill atom theory. We propose that using this mastery model opens up a new design space when it comes to designing tutorials. We show an example tutorial implementation with Talin assembled using only graphical components provided by our framework, without the need of writing any code. The dynamic tutorial implementation results in the player receiving information only when they need it, whenever they need it. While the novice player is given all the information they need to learn the system, the expert player is not bogged down by tooltip pop-ups regarding mechanics they have already mastered.


Art, science, mathematics, technology, engineering and medicine became concentrated in silos around the time of the reformation. This both accelerated the disciplines whilst holding back the benefits to be gained from their linking. Today they are coming back together as a much-required force for innovation and understanding at a time when we are being progressively overtaken by vast amounts of data. This in turn demands complex combinations of modelling and visualisation to engender understanding, establish confidence and aid decision-making.


7865 follow-up examinations were performed on 420 patients who had had surgery for carcinoma of the breast; there were 2755 radiographs of the chest, 2660 sonographic examinations of the upper abdomen and 2450 contralateral mammograms. The most common findings were metastases seen on the chest radiographs during the 13-24 and 25-60 months intervals in 4.7% of cases. The incidence increased with initially higher tumour stages and in ductal carcinomas. Sonography of the upper abdomen showed 4.3% of liver involvement, mostly between the second and fifth year; this was independent of tumour stage or the histology of the primary tumour. Positive mammography of the contralateral breast was found in 3% within the first three months after surgery. A contralateral carcinoma was more common in case of lobular primary tumours. There was no direct correlation with the initial tumour stage. We evaluated the routine use of these imaging procedures as part of the follow up of carcinoma of the breast in relation to the additional cost.


In an area on Gardiner River, a flow of rhyolite followed a small valley previously eroded in a basaltic surface. Remarkable contact effects were produced. In many places the rhyolite penetrated deeply into the basalt as complex networks of veins and dike-like bodies, which ramify through the basalt in intricate patterns. Corrosive action of the rhyolite upon the basaltic surface carried away material bodily and effected changes in the original channel. The composition of the basalt near contacts was greatly modified. Basaltic constituents were removed and rhyolitic constituents were substituted in such a manner that the compositions of altered rocks lie on straight lines between basalt and rhyolite. The facts of occurrence are clear. In attempting to explain them it has seemed necessary to attribute properties to the rhyolitic magma somewhat at variance with those usually postulated.


The widely used implementation of wall heat flux partitioning during subcooled flow nucleate boiling has a number of limitations when it is applied on a local cell basis as is done in CFD codes. The main limitations reported generally have their origin in the bulk formulation of the proposed submodels being transferred to a local balance at the cell near the wall whose volume and flow conditions strongly differ from those employed in the experimental calibration of the model imposed. Several models developed for nucleate boiling are based on a so-called wall heat flux partitioning strategy that consists of a modification of the convective heat transfer law at the wall to include evaporation. However, it is known that the local movement of the subcooled liquid to replace the volume of vapour represents an enormous contribution to heat flux enhancement, a process that is known as quenching. Therefore, when a 3D, local formulation of a wall heat flux partitioning boiling submodel is implemented at the cell scale in a CFD code, it must take into account that most of the available correlations and the physical phenomenon itself are strongly connected with regions of the fluid that are quite distant from the wall, normally around 0.5 mm. The numerical structure of CFD codes is not suitable for a non-local formulation. Therefore, this study attempts to address these limitations to implement a flux partitioning boiling model at the local cell scale but employs distant properties of the fluid for bulk conditions and heat exchange. This method has been validated in several geometries, allowing parallelisation and full grid size and shape versatility. The results obtained when applied to an EGR cooler indicate an important improvement with respect to other models, and the results obtained are more


NK cells express MHC class I-specific receptors that inhibit tumor killing. In mice, these receptors belong to the highly polymorphic Ly-49 family, which are type II integral membrane proteins homologous to C-type lectins. In contrast, human killer inhibitory receptors (KIR) are type I transmembrane proteins that display minimal allelism and belong to the Ig superfamily. These structural differences suggested that each species evolved distinct receptors to subserve the same function. In this report, however, we show that mouse NK and LAK cells and NK cell clones express full-length transcripts for gp49B1, an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif (ITIM)-containing type I transmembrane protein belonging to the Ig superfamily, and displaying minimal allelism by Southern and sequence analysis. By flow cytometry, gp49B1 is expressed on all NK cells. Therefore, we have established that gp49B1, a structural homologue of human KIR, is expressed on mouse NK cells. This strongly suggests that NK cells express two structurally distinct types of inhibitory receptors and that these receptors may act as coreceptors in mediating inhibition.


This paper presents a parallel approach to improve the time complexity problem associated with sequential algorithms. An image steganography algorithm in transform domain is considered for implementation. Image steganography is a technique to hide secret message in an image. With the parallel implementation, large message can be hidden in large image since it does not take much processing time. It is implemented on GPU systems. Parallel programming is done using OpenCL in CUDA cores from NVIDIA. The speed-up improvement obtained is very good with reasonably good output signal quality, when large amount of data is processed.


The authors are developing an experimental technology for simulating severe accident (SA) conditions using simulant fuel material (ZrO2) that would contribute, not only to Fukushima Daiichi (1 F) decommissioning, but also to enhance the safety of worldwide existing and future nuclear power plants through clarification of accident progression behavior. Nontransfer (NTR) type plasma, which has been in practical use with a large torch capacity as high as 2 MW, has the potential to heat subject materials to very high-temperatures without selecting the target to be heated. When simulating 1 F with SA code (Severe Core Damage Analysis Package (SCDAP), Methods for Estimation of Leakages and Consequences of Releases (MELCOR) and Modular Accident Analysis Program (MAAP)), the target of this core-material-melting and relocation (CMMR) experiment was to confirm that NTR plasma has a sufficient heating performance realizing large temperature gradients (>2000 K/m) expected under 1 F conditions. The authors selected NTR-type plasma-heating technology that has the advantage of continuous heating in addition to its high-temperature level. A prototype large-scale experiment (1 m × 0.3 m dia.), called CMMR-0, was conducted in 2016, in which a large temperature gradient was realized and basic characteristics of a heated test assembly were studied. However, the maximum temperature was limited in this test by the instability of the plasma torch under low-oxygen concentrations. It was clarified through this test that an improvement in plasma-heating technology was necessary to heat the large-scale test assembly. The CMMR-1/-2 experiments were carried out in 2017 with a test assembly similar to CMMR-0, applying the improved technology (higher heating power and controlled oxygen concentration). In these two tests, heating history was different, resulting in similar physical responses with more pronounced material melting and relocation in the CMMR-2 experiment. The CMMR-2 experiment was selected from the perspective of establishing an experimental technology. The CMMR-2 experiment adopted a 30-min heating period, wherein the power was increased to a level where a large temperature gradient was expected at the lower part of the core under actual 1 F accident conditions. Most of the control blade and channel box migrated from the original position. After heating, the simulated fuel assembly was measured by X-ray-computed tomography (CT) technology and by electron probe micro-analyzer (EPMA). CT pictures and elemental mapping demonstrated its excellent performance with rather good precision. Based on these results, an excellent perspective, in terms of applicability of the NTR-type plasma-heating technology to the SA experimental study, was obtained.


In this study, we aim to understand the origins of human intuitions about Euclidean geometry by simulating geometric concepts acquisition with unsupervised learning in hierarchical generative models. Specifically, we build a deep neural network that learns a hierarchical generative model of sensory inputs. The results show that hidden layer activities can support the categorization of different geometric objects and distinguish among various spatial relationships between geometric figures. Specifically, hidden layer activities can be decoded to compare line orientations, detect right triangles, and judge whether two triangles are similar or not. We further analyze the response profiles of hidden layers units and find some units resembling parietal neurons in the brain. Using unsupervised deep learning, the current modeling work provides a possible explanation of how Euclidean geometrical intuitions might emerge from daily visual experience, which has significant implications for cognitive psychology and computational neuroscience.


This paper presents the results of two field experiments on local accountability in primary health care in Uganda. Efforts to stimulate beneficiary control, coupled with the provision of report cards on staff performance, resulted in significant improvements in health care delivery and health outcomes in both the short and the longer run. Efforts to stimulate beneficiary control without providing information on performance had no impact on quality of care or health outcomes. The paper shows that informed users are more likely to identify and challenge (mis)behavior by providers and as a result turn their focus to issues that they can manage locally.


Abstract. Application of plant residues as soil amendment may represent a valuable recycling strategy that affects carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling in soil–plant systems. The amount and rate of nutrient release from plant residues depend on their quality characteristics and biochemical composition. A laboratory incubation experiment was conducted for 120 days under controlled conditions (25 °C and 58% water-filled pore space) to quantify initial biochemical composition and N mineralization of leguminous and non-leguminous plant residues, i.e., the roots, shoots and leaves of Glycine max, Trifolium repens, Zea mays, Populus euramericana, Robinia pseudoacacia and Elaeagnus umbellata, incorporated into the soil at the rate of 200 mg residue N kg−1 soil. The diverse plant residues showed a wide variation in total N, C, lignin, polyphenols and C / N ratio with higher polyphenol content in the leaves and higher lignin content in the roots. The shoot of Glycine max and the shoot and root of Trifolium repens displayed continuous mineralization by releasing a maximum of 109.8, 74.8 and 72.5 mg N kg−1 and representing a 55, 37 and 36% recovery of N that had been released from these added resources. The roots of Glycine max and Zea mays and the shoot of Zea mays showed continuous negative values throughout the incubation. After an initial immobilization, leaves of Populus euramericana, Robinia pseudoacacia and Elaeagnus umbellata exhibited net mineralization by releasing a maximum of 31.8, 63.1 and 65.1 mg N kg−1, respectively, and representing a 16, 32 and 33% N recovery, respectively. Nitrogen mineralization from all the treatments was positively correlated with the initial residue N contents (r = 0.89; p l 0.01) and negatively correlated with lignin content (r = −0.84; p ≤ 0.01), C / N ratio (r = −0.69; p ≤ 0.05), lignin / N ratio (r = −0.68; p ≤ 0.05), polyphenol / N ratio (r = −0.73; p ≤ 0.05) and (lignin + polyphenol) : N ratio (r = −0.70; p ≤ 0.05) indicating a significant role of residue chemical composition and quality in regulating N transformations and cycling in soil. The present study indicates that incorporation of plant residues strongly modifies the mineralization–immobilization turnover (MIT) of soil that can be taken into account to develop synchronization between net N mineralization and crop demand in order to maximize N delivery and minimize N losses.


Gibberellic acid is registered and recommended in California for certain uses (particularly in delaying rind and fruit maturity) on navel oranges and lemons. Favorable responses have also been obtained on limes and mandarins, but our present knowledge is insufficient to warrant registration or recommendation for use on these fruits. So far, we do not know how to take advantage of the delayed softening and aging of Valencia orange and grapefruit rind tissue without obtaining considerable regreening. The influence of GA3 on retention of young fruit has potential value, but no practical method has yet been devised to avoid phytotoxic responses.


The formation and growth of intermetallic compounds (IMC) play a critical role in the solder joint reliability. In this study, joint assembly of high lead Sn-95Pb/Ni-Cu was employed to study the interfacial reaction and related IMC formation after aging at 150degC for 168, 500, 1000, 2000, and 3000 hrs, respectively. Special effort was focused on the investigation near the edge of solder joints. Field-emission SEM and electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA) were used to evaluate the interfacial morphology and the compositions of IMC, respectively. For joints aged for 168 hrs, (Cu,Ni)6Sn5  and (Ni,Cu)3Sn4 IMCs were observed. However, another IMC (Cu,Ni)3Sn was revealed after more than 500 hrs aging. The elemental redistribution near the edge of the solder joint was further probed by the X-ray color mapping technique in EPMA. In combination of the quantitative analysis for IMC in various region of the joint, the measured compositions could be mapped onto the ternary isotherm of Sn-Ni-Cu to elucidate the phase transformation among various types of IMCs. On the basis of the elemental redistribution of Sn, Ni, and Cu under various periods of aging, the kinetics process of related IMC formation was formulated. Series of diffusion paths were then constructed, which, in turn, provided an effective approach in the interpretation of the phase transformation in related IMCs


A central goal of visual recognition is to understand objects and scenes from a single image. 2D recognition has witnessed tremendous progress thanks to large-scale learning and general-purpose representations. Comparatively, 3D poses new challenges stemming from occlusions not depicted in the image. Prior works try to overcome these by inferring from multiple views or rely on scarce CAD models and category-specific priors which hinder scaling to novel settings. In this work, we explore single-view 3D reconstruction by learning generalizable representations inspired by advances in self-supervised learning. We introduce a simple framework that operates on 3D points of single objects or whole scenes coupled with category-agnostic large-scale training from diverse RGB-D videos. Our model, Multiview Compressive Coding (MCC), learns to compress the input appearance and geometry to predict the 3D structure by querying a 3D-aware decoder. MCC's generality and efficiency allow it to learn from large-scale and diverse data sources with strong generalization to novel objects imagined by DALLE2 or captured in-the-wild with an iPhone.


Using a highly original blend of history, social analysis, and cultural criticism, this remarkably enlightening volume offers the first examination to date of the history of science education in America. It reveals the profound impact science has had upon the changing theory, debate, and practice of schooling from the pre-revolutionary era through the recent conflicts of the 1980s and 1990s. Although a number of excellent studies have dealt with the separate topics of American science and American education, no single volume has yet explored the deep and lasting connections between these two essential influences on the national culture. With a great deal of attention now being turned to the subject of curriculum reform--much of it either aimed at science education itself or else guided by ideas and philosophies that emerged in the past under the rubric of the "scientific"--the need for this book has become particularly acute.


Several recent studies have reported an inter-individual correlation between regional GABA concentration, as measured by MRS, and the amplitude of the functional blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) response in the same region. In this study, we set out to investigate whether this coupling generalizes across cortex. In 18 healthy participants, we performed edited MRS measurements of GABA and BOLD-fMRI experiments using regionally related activation paradigms. Regions and tasks were the: occipital cortex with a visual grating stimulus; auditory cortex with a white noise stimulus; sensorimotor cortex with a finger-tapping task; frontal eye field with a saccade task; and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex with a working memory task. In contrast to the prior literature, no correlation between GABA concentration and BOLD activation was detected in any region. The origin of this discrepancy is not clear. Subtle differences in study design or insufficient power may cause differing results; these and other potential reasons for the discrepant results are discussed. This negative result, although it should be interpreted with caution, has a larger sample size than prior positive results, and suggests that the relationship between GABA and the BOLD response may be more complex than previously thought.


The advance in reaction time research by employing electromyography technique that has made it possible to divide the reaction time (RT) into the motor (MT) and premotor (PMT) have resulted in new findings. The present research we conducted to examine the effect of response complexity and limb weight change on electromyography records of simple and discriminative RT of young and elderly men. The participants included 14 young and 14 older adults. They performed arm flexion with or without added weight to a target at 60 cm distance away upon hearing simple or discriminative signals. The results of ANOVA-repeated measures indicated that there was a significant main effect for the three factors including the number of stimuli (p=0/001), the limb weight (p=0/001) and response complexity (p=0/001) on PMT. It was concluded that the variables that have affected RT have also effect on the PMT but may not affect MT. These delay in activating the involved muscles to prevent fall is the result of elderly people increased age and overweight.


We outline a proof that teleportation with a single particle is, in principle, just as reliable as with two particles. We thereby hope to dispel the skepticism surrounding single-photon entanglement as a valid resource in quantum information. A deterministic Bell-state analyzer is proposed which uses only classical resources, namely, coherent states, a Kerr nonlinearity, and a two-level atom.


Presents our experience in developing a methodology and tool at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for software-implemented fault injection (SWIFI) into a parallel-processing supercomputer which is being designed for use in next-generation space exploration missions. The fault injector uses software-based strategies to emulate the effects of radiation-induced transients occurring in the system hardware components. JPL's SWIFI tool set, which is called JIFI (JPL's Implementation of a Fault Injector), is being used in conjunction with an appropriate system fault model to evaluate candidate hardware and software fault tolerance architectures, to determine the sensitivity of applications to faults, and to measure the effectiveness of fault detection, isolation and recovery strategies. JIFI has been validated to inject faults into user-specified CPU registers and memory regions with a uniform random distribution in location and time. Together with verifiers, classifiers and run scripts, JIFI enables massive fault injection campaigns and statistical data analysis.


Throughout the developing nervous system, competition between axons causes the permanent removal of some synaptic connections. In mouse neuromuscular junctions at birth, terminal branches of different axons are intermingled. However, during the several weeks after birth, these branches progressively segregated into nonoverlapping compartments before the complete withdrawal of all but one axon. Segregation was caused by selective branch atrophy, detachment, and withdrawal; the axon branches that were nearest to the competitor's branches were removed before the more distant branches were removed. This progression suggests that the signals that mediate the competitive removal of synapses must decrease in potency over short distances.


Developing from existing research in the field of hate studies, this article outlines a new approach to understanding repeated experiences of hate by perpetrators who live in close proximity as neighbours to those victimised. Building on previous work, a conceptual argument is made drawing parallels between what we call 'hate relationships' and coercive control in domestically abusive relationships. Empirical data from a hate crime advocacy service in the North East of England evidences these parallels through consideration of the home as central to the hate experienced and the cumulative impact of a pattern of hate-motivated behaviours. As with coercive control, our analysis shows that the apparent inaction of help providers exacerbates hate relationships and their impacts. We argue that the current reliance on a criminal justice system, incident-based, approach to understanding and responding to repeat reporting of hate incidents is inadequate. Rather, an approach identifying hate relationships and intervening early in a hate relationship might better preempt escalation and provide possibilities for those victimised to remain in their own homes.


Abstract. Since the beginning of investigation in the horse genome in the early nineties, there has been a great progress, especially during the last five years. At the beginning the exploration of monogenic hereditary diseases was one of the main aims, and the causal mutations of several diseases in the horse have been unravelled. The inheritance of coat colours has been explored very detailed, and there exist gene tests for different coat colours. Information about coat colours and inherited diseases is very important for the breeders and helps avoiding the appearance of lethal genetic factors or undesirable diseases. The most important achievements of horse genome analysis were well-developed linkage, radiation hybrid and cytogenetic genome maps including more than 2950 loci. These maps support comparative analysis of equine hereditary diseases. The present known gene mutations for five diseases in horses have human homologs. Studies on multifactorial diseases such as osteochondrosis and navicular bone disease and on fertility and temperament are underway. At the moment, the whole equine genome is sequenced as it has been done for the human genome and also for other animal genomes. Horse breeding will greatly benefit from identification of QTL for multifactorial traits and gene mutations for congenital anomalies, diseases and performance traits.


Alternative splicing of pre-messenger ribonucleic acid (pre-mRNA) allows the generation of different mRNAs from the same gene. Evolution of alternative splicing affecting translated regions of mRNAs permits the synthesis of different proteins from a single gene, significantly increasing the diversity of the protein repertoire.

Keywords:

spliceosome;
splice site;
donor site;
acceptor site;
branch site


This document gives an overview of the most relevant design aspects of the lightweight medium access control (LMAC) protocol [16] for wireless sensor networks (WSNs). These aspects include selfconfiguring and localized operation of the protocol, time synchronization in multi-hop networks, network setup and strategies to reduce latency.
The main goal in designing a MAC protocol for WSNs is to minimize energy waste - due to collisions of messages and idle listening - , while limiting latency and loss of data throughput. It is shown that the LMAC protocol performs well on energy-efficiency and delivery ratio [19] and can
ensure a long-lived, self-configuring network of battery-powered wireless sensors.
The protocol is based upon scheduled access, in which each node periodically gets a time slot, during which it is allowed to transmit. The protocol does not depend on central managers to assign time slots to nodes.
WSNs are assumed to be multi-hop networks, which allows for spatial reuse of time slots, just like frequency reuse in GSM cells. In this document, we present a distributed algorithm that allows nodes to find unoccupied time slots, which can be used without causing collision or interference to other nodes. Each node takes one time slot in control to
carry out its data transmissions. Latency is affected by the actual choice of controlled time slot. We present time slot choosing strategies, which ensure a low latency for the most common data traffic in WSNs: reporting of sensor readings to central sinks.


Recently an increasing focus has been observed on the learner-centred approaches for their role in preparing more independent and skilful graduates. Of these active learning styles, self-regulated learning has received greater attention in higher education. In this context, it is highly important to examine current state of self-regulated learning adopted by students, along with examining the gender differences and the nature of discipline in adopting self-regulated learning. Considering this situation, the prime objective of the study was to map the link between students' self-regulated learning and their academic achievement in their related disciplines, and on basis of their gender. Using the descriptive design, a quantitative survey was used to collect the data from 300 students of two public sector universities of Pakistan. A questionnaire was adopted to collect data from students to measure their level of adopted self-regulated learning and CGPA. Simple linear regression and t-test and ANOVA were applied to reach to certain results. Our findings rejected the main hypothesis that there is no impact of self-regulated learning on students' academic achievement. Likewise, this study could not identify the difference in view of adopting self-regulated learning strategies by male and female students at higher education. However, in view of measuring SRL at faculty level, students from the faculty of science adopted self-regulated learning strategies to some extent. Next to concrete discussion in relation to these findings limitations and directions for future researches were stressed.


Type I collagen is the most prevalent member of the fibril forming family of collagens in higher vertebrates and its heterotrimeric form is comprised of two α1(I) chains and one α2(I) polypeptide chain. The functional importance of having two distinct chain types in type I collagen is largely undefined. The existence of a mouse model with a Cola-2 gene mutation (termed oim) that results in non-functional proα2(I) chains presents a unique opportunity to explore changes in collagen structure resulting from the complete (oim/oim mice) and partial (oim/+ mice) loss of functional α2(I) chains. Tail tendon is a tissue with a well-defined, hierarchical organization of type I collagen. X-ray diffraction studies on oim/oim versus control tendons indicate that the total absence of α2(I) chains results in a decrease in the order of axial packing and a loss of crystalline lateral packing. This suggests that the non-equivalence of three chains is an important determinant of lateral interactions between adjacent molecules and may be involved in the long-range axial order in type I collagen-containing tissues. Both homotrimeric and heterotrimeric type I collagen molecules are found in heterozygous oim mice and these appear to be present in the same co-polymeric fibrils, preventing crystalline lateral packing. In addition to these changes at a fibrillar level, the absence of the α2(I) chain results in an increased enzymatic susceptibility at one site. The oim/oim mice are observed to have reduced body size and smaller tendon bundles, which may be a consequence of these molecular and fibrillar changes in collagen. Furthermore, it is likely that a similar alteration in the molecular packing of collagen in bone fibrils contributes to the osteopenia and decreased bone strength in mice with the oim mutation that are also characteristic of human osteogenesis imperfecta.


As multicore and many-core architectures evolve, their memory systems are becoming increasingly more complex. To bridge the latency and bandwidth gap between the processor and memory, they often use a mix of multilevel private/shared caches that are either blocking or nonblocking and are connected by high-speed network-on-chip. Moreover, they also incorporate hardware and software prefetching and simultaneous multithreading (SMT) to hide memory latency. On such multi- and many-core systems, to incorporate various memory optimization schemes using compiler optimizations and performance tuning techniques, it is crucial to have microarchitectural details of the target memory system. Unfortunately, such details are often unavailable from vendors, especially for newly released processors. In this article, we propose a novel microbenchmarking methodology based on short elapsed-time events (SETEs) to obtain comprehensive memory microarchitectural details in multi- and many-core processors. This approach requires detailed analysis of potential interfering factors that could affect the intended behavior of such memory systems. We lay out effective guidelines to control and mitigate those interfering factors. Taking the impact of SMT into consideration, our proposed methodology not only can measure traditional cache/memory latency and off-chip bandwidth but also can uncover the details of software and hardware prefetching units not attempted in previous studies. Using the newly released Intel Xeon Phi many-core processor (with in-order cores) as an example, we show how we can use a set of microbenchmarks to determine various microarchitectural features of its memory system (many are undocumented from vendors). To demonstrate the portability and validate the correctness of such a methodology, we use the well-documented Intel Sandy Bridge multicore processor (with out-of-order cores) as another example, where most data are available and can be validated. Moreover, to illustrate the usefulness of the measured data, we do a multistage coordinated data prefetching case study on both Xeon Phi and Sandy Bridge and show that by using the measured data, we can achieve 1.3X and 1.08X performance speedup, respectively, compared to the state-of-the-art Intel ICC compiler. We believe that these measurements also provide useful insights into memory optimization, analysis, and modeling of such multicore and many-core architectures.


PURPOSE
To evaluate retrospectively the computed tomographic (CT) findings in immunocompetent patients with pulmonary cryptococcosis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Institutional review board approval was obtained with a waiver of informed consent, and the study complied with requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Chest CT scans of 10 immunocompetent patients with clinically proved pulmonary cryptococcosis were retrospectively reviewed by four reviewers in consensus. Criterion for diagnosis of pulmonary cryptococcosis was (a) the histopathologic presence of the organism at lung biopsy or (b) a positive culture of a respiratory specimen or positive serum cryptococcal antigen test with clinical or radiographic evidence of active pulmonary infection. Patients included six women and four men ranging in age from 46 to 73 years (mean, 59 years). Scans were evaluated for nodules, masses, areas of ground-glass attenuation or of hazy increased attenuation, areas of consolidation, areas of cavitation, pleural effusions, linear opacities, septal thickening, lymphadenopathy, extent of parenchymal involvement, and distribution.

RESULTS
The most common CT finding was pulmonary nodules (n = 9). Multiple nodules (n = 7) were more common than solitary nodules (n = 2). Nodules most commonly occupied less than 10% of the pulmonary parenchyma (n = 7), measured less than 10 mm in diameter (n = 7), and had middle and upper lung predominance (n = 6). The majority of the nodules were well defined with smooth margins (n = 7). Multiple nodules were usually bilaterally distributed (n = 5). Masses (n = 2), lymphadenopathy (n = 2), areas of consolidation (n = 2), areas of hazy increased attenuation (n = 1), pleural effusion (n = 1), and areas of cavitation (n = 1) were uncommon.

CONCLUSION
CT most commonly demonstrated pulmonary nodules in immunocompetent patients with pulmonary cryptococcosis. The nodules were most often multiple, small, well defined, and smoothly marginated with middle and upper lung predominance.


We propose extensions of penalized spline generalized additive models for analyzing space-time regression data and study them from a Bayesian per- spective. Non-linear effects of continuous covariates and time trends are modelled through Bayesian versions of penalized splines, while correlated spatial effects follow a Markov random field prior. This allows to treat all functions and effects within a unified general framework by assigning appropriate priors with different forms and degrees of smoothness. Inference can be performed either with full (FB) or empiri- cal Bayes (EB) posterior analysis. FB inference using MCMC techniques is a slight extension of previous work. For EB inference, a computationally efficient solution is developed on the basis of a generalized linear mixed model representation. The second approach can be viewed as posterior mode estimation and is closely related to penalized likelihood estimation in a frequentist setting. Variance components, corresponding to inverse smoothing parameters, are then estimated by marginal likelihood. We carefully compare both inferential procedures in simulation studies and illustrate them through data applications. The methodology is available in the open domain statistical package BayesX and as an S-plus/R function.


Abstract Using a snow/atmosphere coupled model, the evolution of the surface and near-surface snow temperature is modeled at Dome C, Antarctica, during the period 20–30 January 2010. Firstly, the detailed multilayer snow model Crocus is run in stand-alone mode, with meteorological input forcing data provided by local meteorological observations. The snow model is able to simulate the evolution of surface temperature with good accuracy. It reproduces the observed downward propagation of the diurnal heatwave into the upper 50 cm of the snowpack reasonably well. Secondly, a fully coupled 3-D snow/atmosphere simulation is performed with the AROME regional meteorological model, for which the standard single-layer snow parameterization is replaced by Crocus. In spite of a poor simulation of clouds, the surface and near-surface snow temperatures are correctly simulated, showing neither significant bias nor drifts during the simulation period. The model reproduces particularly well the average decrease of the diurnal amplitude of air temperature from the surface to the top of the 45 m instrumented tower. This study highlights the potential of snow/atmosphere coupled models over the Antarctic plateau and the need to improve cloud microphysics and data assimilation over polar regions.


This thesis investigates 'the doing' of the Swedish social insurance program Activity Compensation (AC). AC is an example of disability policies in Western welfare states. These policies have two goals: to ensure financial security and to promote social participation. In 2003 AC replaced Early Retirement Pension for persons aged 19 to 29 years and who, for medical reasons, have reduced work capacity.Three features characterize AC. Young adults are differentiated in a separate system. For them, benefits are time-limited. Benefits include an established right to participate in activities.Doing AC is studied bottom-up. Interviews with two actor groups have provided the empirical base: 1) persons accorded AC and medically certified to have an anxiety and/or a depression diagnosis and 2) the respective administrator(s) at the Swedish Social Insurance Agency. National legislative preparatory texts and legal documents complete the data.The conclusions of this study are three-fold addressing goal displacement and non-contact. Firstly, a discursive change in respect to the denotation of social participation within the politics of principle has appeared throughout OECD countries over the last decennium. This goal displacement obscures the goal of economic security emphasizing the profitability of work. AC explicitly manifests this change in establishing a right to activity participation for beneficiaries. This displacement is without full impact in the politics of practice when actors' experience of doing AC is examined. Financial security remains the foremost goal in the local politics of practice mirroring the initial function of safeguard for those with reduced work capacity due to certified illness.Relating to this lexical displacement, the study concludes that social participation is revealed as a goal to be realized in a specific form, salaried employment, within a distinct arena, the labor market. Values such as life-quality are neglected as regulatory efforts to get persons on the track to work have been underscored.Finally, the prescribed contact between the insured young adults and their administrator(s) is not consistently present. This contact is a necessary condition for the intended planning of activities to take place. When non-contact prevails, the established regulatory right to participate in activities can not materialize.


eMarketing: The Essential Guide to Online Marketing by Rob Stokes, a marketing guru and CEO of Quirk eMarketing, Sarah Blake, and his team of QuirkStars, consolidates 11 years of real marketing experience doing online marketing at Quirk into a full length textbook that draws on both academic theory and practical experience. It is intended for third and fourth year marketing students, this textbook covers all of the important aspects of online marketing, including chapters on each of the following areas: * Search Engine Marketing * Affiliate Marketing * Web Analytics and Conversion Optimisation * Web Development * Online Copywriting * Online Advertising * WebPR * Online Reputation Management * Pay Per Click Advertising * Viral Marketing * Social Media Marketing * Search Engine Optimisation * eMarketing Strategy * Market Research * Mobile Marketing * Crowdsourcing * Customer Relationship Management It also features a glossary and index as well as summaries, learning objectives and discussion points for each chapter. This eMarketing textbook offers students information that is highly applicable with examples to which they can easily relate. It is a must-have guide for each and every undergraduate and post-graduate marketing student as well as anyone working in the digital or traditional marketing sphere.


Ketamine, an N-methyl-d-aspartate antagonist, blunts central pain sensitization at sub-anesthetic doses (0.3 mg/kg or less) and has been studied extensively as an adjunct for perioperative analgesia. At sub-anesthetic doses, ketamine has a minimal physiologic impact though it is associated with a low incidence of mild psychomimetic symptoms as well as nystagmus and double vision. Contraindications to its use do exist and due to ketamine's metabolism, caution should be exercised in patients with renal or hepatic dysfunction. Sub-anesthetic ketamine improves pain scores and reduces perioperative opioid consumption in a broad range of surgical procedures. In addition, there is evidence that ketamine may be useful in patients with opioid tolerance and for preventing chronic postsurgical pain.


Turbo-prop trainer aircraft are designed to offer a cost
effective alternative to military jet training aircraft. As
a design objective of such aircraft, the Military Specifications
of handling qualities applicable to jet trainer
aircraft should be satisfied. However, in line with the
philosophy of low purchase and maintenance costs, the added
complexity of a hydraulic power boost system for the control
surfaces cannot be accepted.
The objective of this work was to optimise the roll control
system so as to achieve an optimum of ergonomic design
combined with the performance goals of the military specifications, using purely aerodynamic means of
balance.
Relevant British and American civilian and military specifications
and simulator studies have been reviewed to select
the detailed design objectives of the study. The American
Mil. Specs. were selected as a baseline, with modifications
derived from the results of simulator experiments.
A Baseline Aircraft was selected on which to apply the
optimisation. The highest performance turbo-prop trainer of
the time was selected.
A mathematical model of the roll response was derived for
the extrapolation of flight test data and to allow an
evaluation and optimisation of the critical aileron
parameters. A description of the model and comparison to
flight test results is given in the text.
Literature was searched to examine the availability of
information for the aerodynamicist to conduct such an
optimisation. The results were disappointing, showing that
very little work had been conducted on aileron design since
the late 1940's and that the work of that time was not
entirely relevant to today's requirements. Because the
literature search was not conclusive, further flight tests
had to be conducted on the Baseline Aircraft to investigate
different forms of aerodynamic balance. The performance of
the ailerons and some of the problems encountered in their
usage are reported in this thesis and forms a data bank from
which to conduct the optimisation.
Finally, a selection process is conducted to size the
aileron to satisfy the performance goals and to select the
best aerodynamic balance to achieve the ergonomic goals.
The achieved performance is summarised and compared with the
original design goals. It is concluded that the optimised
aileron is capable of achieving the design goals over the
major portion of the design envelope.
The design optimisation process is not limited to turbo-prop
aircraft but can be applied to any high performance aircraft
with reversible controls.


Increased protein synthesis is a requirement for malignant growth, and as a result, translation has become a pharmaceutical target for cancer. The initiation of cap-dependent translation is enzymatically driven by the eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF)4A, an ATP-powered DEAD-box RNA-helicase that unwinds the messenger RNA secondary structure upstream of the start codon, enabling translation of downstream genes. A screen for inhibitors of eIF4A ATPase activity produced an intriguing hit that, surprisingly, was not ATP-competitive. A medicinal chemistry campaign produced the novel eIF4A inhibitor 28, which decreased BJAB Burkitt lymphoma cell viability. Biochemical and cellular studies, molecular docking, and functional assays uncovered that 28 is an RNA-competitive, ATP-uncompetitive inhibitor that engages a novel pocket in the RNA groove of eIF4A and inhibits unwinding activity by interfering with proper RNA binding and suppressing ATP hydrolysis. Inhibition of eIF4A through this unique mechanism may offer new strategies for targeting this promising intersection point of many oncogenic pathways.


A distributed system always runs on top of a computer network and cannot be separated from it. In many cases this network consists of hundreds or thousands of computers and processing nodes. An effective distributed system simulator needs to simulate the underlying network. Unfortunately a great majority of existing simulation tools are pure network simulators. Even though they are very effective for designing, and evaluating computer networks, they could not be used to simulate a distributed application like a web service based application. Many components in a distributed system are complex servers and software applications running on top of all network layers. Network simulators cannot simulate them. A higher-level simulator is required to simulate their behavior. This work introduces an agent-based simulation model that integrates the simulation of a computer network and higher-level components of a distributed application. The distributed nature of agents makes them suitable to model and simulate distributed architectures including computer networks and distributed systems. To evaluate this approach the behavior of a replicated web service application will be simulated to show how effectively multi- agent-systems could be used to simulate the behavior of a distributed system.


The diel vertical migration (DVM) of three genera of the stomiid subfamily Malacosteinae (Photostomias, Aristostomias and Malacosteus) was analysed from capture records of nearly 300 specimens in the Atlantic Ocean. To account for broad temporal and geographic scales encountered in this study, local time of capture was transformed to a corrected time representing position in a solar day. Species of Photostomias and Aristostomias undertake asynchronous DVMs characterized by a residence in the mesopelagic zone during the day and separate migrating and non-migrating subpopulations at night. Species of Photostomias displayed an asynchronous DVM pattern characterized by a residence in the lower mesopelagic zone (>500 m) during the day and a segregated distribution at night. Specimens of Photostomias guernei captured at night in the mesopelagic were nearly identical in size to those captured in the epipelagic; however, day epipelagic specimens were stratified by size. In species of Aristostomias, few specimens were caught in the mesopelagic zone during the day and only small specimens were captured in the mesopelagic zone at night, indicating that sampling depth may not have been adequate to capture the bulk of mesopelagic daytime residents and the entire size range of the non-migrating nighttime residents. In contrast, Malacosteus niger was distributed below 600 m, did not regularly migrate to the epipelagic zone and was stratified across the 700 m isobath. From these data, relationships between DVM patterns, morphology and foraging ecology are inferred and biases and applications of this method are discussed. # 2008 The Author


Positioning in indoor environment is one of the most important and interesting topic in navigation system that still present numerous open problems to investigate. Many researchers are attempting to investigate on technologies able to reach valid location in an indoor space, where the well-known GNSS positioning systems are not able to operate. Among the many solutions proposed for location-based services, several wireless communications technologies have the potential to be employed for indoor positioning. In this paper, an Ultrawideband (UWB) indoor positioning commercial system is presented which exploits two-way time of flight (TWTF) to compute range measurements. These measurements are used in multi-lateration method to compute the position of a trans-receiver (TAG). Firstly, the calibration results have been shown, comparing the internal IMU sensor of UWB system with a mass-market one, using the angles measured thanks to the total station as reference. Secondly, we also have statically analysed the positioning and the ranging capabilities of the system in a favourable environment, as an indoor office room. The average 3D accuracy obtained from the test is 100 ± 25mm. Also the ranging measurements has been analysed as the raw data from which the Pozyx® inner algorithm starts to compute the positions. It has been demonstrated that the range accuracy is about 320 ± 30mm. After these first tests, the system has also been tested in a harsh environment in a narrow corridor where a horizontal accuracy of about 87.4 mm is obtained with a maximum ranging error of ±225 mm. The system and algorithms tested in this report gave almost similar performances in both environments.