ABSTRACT Language development research suggests a universal tendency for children to be under- informative in narrating motion events by omitting components such as Path, Manner or Ground. However, this assumption has not been tested for children acquiring sign language. Due to the affordances of the visual-spatial modality of sign languages for iconic expression, signing children might omit event components less frequently than speaking children. Here we analysed motion event descriptions elicited from deaf children (4–10 years) acquiring Turkish Sign Language (TİD) and their Turkish-speaking peers. While children omitted all types of event components more often than adults, signing children and adults encoded more Path and Manner in TİD than their peers in Turkish. These results provide more evidence for a general universal tendency for children to omit event components as well as a modality bias for sign languages to encode both Manner and Path more frequently than spoken languages.


Abstract. The Archaeological Park of Pompeii promotes the most advanced methodologies in preservation, conservation, research, and the promotion of public use of the site. The Great Project Pompeii (GPP), as is evident, has intervened 'strategically' on the entire site: on the one hand stabilising the Regiones, on the other hand mitigating the hydrogeological risk of the plateaus and securing the excavation fronts; in addition the GPP has improved accessibility levels. Coping with environmental risks (seismic, volcanic and hydrogeological) is one of the main challenges of the Archaeological Park. First, seismic and volcanic phenomena constitute a major issue in the Pompeii area, embodied by the dormant Mt. Vesuvius. Second, the marked difference in height between the level of the ancient town and that of the unexcavated area, spanning about 22 ha, exerts a strong pressure over the ancient structures and may imply a serious danger of landslides in case of hazard events (seismic and volcanic phenomena or heavy rainfall). These dangers seriously jeopardise the protection of ancient structures and wall-paintings, with subsequent risks to the world cultural heritage site. For this reason, an urgent program of conservation, maintenance, and restoration has been undertaken as part of the Great Pompeii Project. The computerisation of archaeological data is among the most current topics of interest for the management of Cultural Heritage. The Information System (GPP-IS), created with the Plan of the Knowledge of the Great Pompeii Project (GPP), has allowed the creation of a unique knowledge tool for the entire city of Pompeii.


OBJECTIVE
To identify any gender differences in the outcomes of concurrent platinum-based chemotherapy and thoracic radiotherapy for unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

METHODS
A comparative retrospective review of the clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes between female and male NSCLC patients receiving chemoradiotherapy.

RESULTS
Of a total of 204 patients, 44 (22%) were females and 160 (78%) were males. There was no difference in age, body weight loss, performance status or disease stage between the sexes, whereas never-smokers and adenocarcinoma were more common in female patients (55% vs. 3%, P < 0.001, and 73% vs. 55%, P = 0.034, respectively). Full cycles of chemotherapy and radiotherapy at a total dose of 60 Gy were administered to approximately 70% and >80% of the patients, respectively, of both sexes. Grade 3-4 neutropenia was observed in 64% of the female patients and 63% of the male patients. Severe esophagitis was encountered in <10% of the patients, irrespective of the sex. The response rate was higher in the female than in the male patients (93% vs. 79%, P = 0.028), but the median progression-free survival did not differ between the sexes. The median survival time in the female and male patients was 22.3 and 24.3 months, respectively (P = 0.64).

CONCLUSIONS
This study failed to show any gender differences in the survival or toxicity among patients treated by concurrent chemoradiotherapy. These results contrast with the better survival in female patients undergoing surgery for localized disease or chemotherapy for metastatic disease.


The ability to capture, store, and manage massive amounts of data is changing virtually every aspect of science, technology, and medicine. This new 'data age' calls for innovative methods to mine and interact with information. VisuaLyzer is a platform designed to identify and investigate meaningful relationships between variables within large datasets through rapid, dynamic, and intelligent data exploration. VisuaLyzer uses four key steps in its approach: 1. Data management: Enabling rapid and robust loading, managing, combining, and altering of multiple databases using a customized database management system. 2. Exploratory Data Analysis: Applying existing and novel statistics and machine learning algorithms to identify and quantify all potential associations among variables across datasets, in a model-independent manner. 3. Rapid, Dynamic Visualization: Using novel methods for visualizing and understanding trends through intuitive, dynamic, real-time visualizations that allow for the simultaneous analysis of up to ten variables. 4. Intelligent Hypothesis Generation: Using computer-identified correlations, together with human intuition gathered through human interaction with visualizations, to intelligently and automatically generate hypotheses about data. VisuaLyzer's power to simultaneously analyze and visualize massive amounts of data has important applications in the realm of epidemiology, where there are many large complex datasets collected from around the world, and an important need to elicit potential disease-defining factors from within these datasets. Researchers can use VisuaLyzer to identify variables that may directly, or indirectly, influence disease emergence, characteristics, and interactions, representing a fundamental first step toward a new approach to data exploration. As a result, the CDC, the Clinton Foundation, and the Harvard School of Public Health have employed VisuaLyzer as a means of investigating the dynamics of disease transmission. Thesis Supervisor: Pardis Sabeti Assistant Professor, Harvard University Department of Evolutionary and Organism Biology Associate Member, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard


Events such as the credit and banking crisis alongside general global corporate social responsibility and sustainability concerns have led to questions as to the legitimacy and purpose of business in society. Many are now calling for a new approach, one that eschews the profit orientated exploitative business practices of the past for a new model of 'responsible management'. Indeed, many business organisations are already moving beyond social and environmental compliance and fundamentally rethinking the role their business should play in light of broader societal changes (Barkemeyer, Holt, Preuss, & Tsang, 2011). In addition to this business leaders themselves are increasingly aware of the need to embrace the principles of sustainable development (Elkington, 1997; Porter & Kramer, 2006). There is then a recognition that far from a niche area of business, sustainability and sustainable development are considered global megatrends in the 21st century which result in profound implications for corporations interactions with society and the natural environment (KPMG, 2012). Despite the evolution of knowledge on responsible management, there is still the important question of how sustainable development is operationalised in a business context.


Modern legal experts often underestimate the importance of the crime scene examination. However, even when a crime scene is examined by a coroner the goal of the investigative procedure is not always achieved as in Russian investigative practice the detailed examination is often mistaken for the expertise. In order to study the problems of the investigative examination the author has carried out a thorough analysis of the major stages of the crime scene examination method development in Criminal Procedure and Criminalistics


This paper presents the result of a project to facilitate discharge summary preparation in small hospitals at low cost. Using an eye diseases hospital with twelve beds as an example, an integrated system for discharge summary preparation on a microcomputer platform was developed. The integrated system eliminated redundant data entry by a pull-type approach that automatically retrieved pertinent information from pre-existing records for inclusion in the discharge summary. Abbreviated and full versions of the discharge summary were generated with very little interactive time required of the physician or record clerk. The microcomputer implementation is described in this paper to illustrate the functionality and ease of this integrated system.


The VFA, also known as short-chain fatty acids, are produced in the gastrointestinal tract by microbial fermentation of carbohydrates and endogenous substrates, such as mucus. This can be of great advantage to the animal, since no digestive enzymes exist for breaking down cellulose or other complex carbohydrates. The VFA are produced in the largest amounts in herbivorous animal species and especially in the forestomach of ruminants. The VFA, however, also are produced in the lower digestive tract of humans and all animal species, and intestinal fermentation resembles that occurring in the rumen. The principal VFA in either the rumen or large intestine are acetate, propionate, and butyrate and are produced in a ratio varying from approximately 75:15:10 to 40:40:20. Absorption of VFA at their site of production is rapid, and large quantities are metabolized by the ruminal or large intestinal epithelium before reaching the portal blood. Most of the butyrate is converted to ketone bodies or CO2 by the epithelial cells, and nearly all of the remainder is removed by the liver. Propionate is similarly removed by the liver but is largely converted to glucose. Although species differences exist, acetate is used principally by peripheral tissues, especially fat and muscle. Considerable energy is obtained from VFA in herbivorous species, and far more research has been conducted on ruminants than on other species. Significant VFA, however, are now known to be produced in omnivorous species, such as pigs and humans. Current estimates are that VFA contribute approximately 70% to the caloric requirements of ruminants, such as sheep and cattle, approximately 10% for humans, and approximately 20-30% for several other omnivorous or herbivorous animals. The amount of fiber in the diet undoubtedly affects the amount of VFA produced, and thus the contribution of VFA to the energy needs of the body could become considerably greater as the dietary fiber increases. Pigs and some species of monkey most closely resemble humans, and current research should be directed toward examining the fermentation processes and VFA metabolism in those species. In addition to the energetic or nutritional contributions of VFA to the body, the VFA may indirectly influence cholesterol synthesis and even help regulate insulin or glucagon secretion. In addition, VFA production and absorption have a very significant effect on epithelial cell growth, blood flow, and the normal secretory and absorptive functions of the large intestine, cecum, and rumen. The absorption of VFA and sodium, for example, seem to be interdependent, and release of bicarbonate usually occurs during VFA absorption.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


Bacteria adsorbed in low numbers to alfalfa or clover root surfaces were counted after incubation of seedlings in mineral solution with very dilute inocula (less than 105 bacteria per ml) of an antibiotic-resistant strain under defined conditions. After specified washing, bacteria which remained adsorbed to roots were selectively quantitated by culturing the roots embedded in yeast extract-mannitol-antibiotic agar and counting the microcolonies along the root surface; the range was from about 1 bacterium per root (estimated as the most probable number) to 50 bacteria per cm of root length (by direct counting). This simple procedure can be used with any pair of small-rooted plant and antibiotic-resistant bacterium, requires bacterial concentrations comparable to those frequently found in soils, and yields macroscopic localization and distribution data for adsorbed bacteria over the root surface. The number of adsorbed bacteria was proportional to the size of the inoculum. One of every four Rhizobium meliloti cells adsorbed in very low numbers to alfalfa roots resulted in the formation of a nodule. Overall adsorption of various symbiotic and nonsymbiotic bacterial strains to alfalfa and clover roots did not reflect the specificities of these legumes for their respective microsymbionts, R. meliloti and R. trifolii.


The Fanconi-Bickel syndrome is characterized by tubular dysfunction, impaired metabolism of glucose and galactose and glycogenosis. Up to now the data of nineteen patients have been reported. In the following case firstly an abnormal body composition is described measuring the concentration of Potassium-40 with a Whole Body Radiation Counter. Before therapy an increased value of total body cell mass but no value of total body fat is measured. After therapy body weight increased while cell mass decreased and a value of fat had been observed. Concerning renal parameters a 60 fold elevation of the beta 2-microglobulin-clearance is noted.


Abstract Background Limited data exist regarding the impact of human bocavirus (BoV) in hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients. We examined incidence and disease spectrum of BoV respiratory tract infection (RTI) in HCT recipients. Methods In a longitudinal surveillance study of viral RTIs among allogeneic HCT recipients, pre-HCT and weekly post-HCT nasal washes and symptom surveys were collected through day 100, then every 3 months, and whenever respiratory symptoms occurred through 1-year post-HCT. Samples were tested by multiplex semi-quantitative PCR for RSV, parainfluenza virus 1–4, influenza A/B, adenovirus, human metapneumovirus, rhinovirus, coronavirus, and BoV. Plasma samples from BoV+ subjects were analyzed by PCR. In addition, we conducted a retrospective review of HCT recipients with BoV detected in bronchoalveolar lavage or lung biopsy. Results Among 469 patients in the prospective cohort, 21 distinct BoV RTIs (3 pre-HCT and 18 post-HCT) were observed by 1-year post-HCT in 19 patients (median 42 years old, range 0–67) without apparent seasonality. BoV was more frequently detected in the latter half of the first 100 days post-HCT (Figure 1). The frequencies of respiratory symptoms in patients with BoV detected did not appear to be higher than those without any virus detected, with the exception of watery eyes (P < 0.01) (Figure 2). Univariable models among patients with BoV RTI post-HCT showed higher peak viral load in nasal samples (P = 0.04) and presence of respiratory copathogens (P = 0.03) were associated with presence of respiratory symptoms; however, BoV detection in plasma was not (P = 0.8). Retrospective review identified 6 allogeneic HCT recipients (range 1–64 years old) with BoV detected in lower respiratory tract specimens [incidence rate of 0.4% (9/2,385) per sample tested]. Although all 6 cases presented with hypoxemia, 4 had significant respiratory copathogens or concomitant conditions that contributed to respiratory compromise. No death was attributed mainly to BoV lower RTI. Conclusion BoV is infrequently detected in respiratory tract in HCT recipients. Our studies did not demonstrate convincing evidence that BoV is a significant pathogen in either upper or lower respiratory tracts. Watery eyes were associated with BoV detection. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.


The relation between the intensity of competition and R&D investment has received a lot of attention, both in the theoretical and in the empirical literature. Nevertheless, no consensus on the sign of the effect of competition on innovation has emerged. This survey of the literature identifies sources of confusion in the theoretical debate. My discussion is mainly based on a unified model that simplifies the comparison of different results. This model is also applied to show which factors work in favor of a positive relation between competition and innovation.


Education inequality in Indonesia tends to experience a downward trend which indicates that the education distribution is more equally distributed from year to year. this phenomenon should lead to a reduction in income inequality. However, income inequality in Indonesia has increased compared to 9 years ago. This study intends to look at the human capital inequality condition in provinces in Indonesia and analyze the effect of human capital inequality on income inequality. The Gini coefficient concept is used to measure human capital inequality and income inequality. The annual panel data covered 34 provinces in Indonesia from 2015 – 2019. The analytical methods used dynamic panel data regression using the Generalized Method of Moment (GMM) Arellano-Bond approach. The results indicate income inequality with a lag of 1 year, literacy rate, and trade openness have a negative and significant effect on income inequality. Furthermore, the human capital inequality and the average years of schooling have a positive and significant effect on income inequality. So, to reduce income inequality, policymakers are advised to minimize human capital inequality, especially in the education sector by paying attention to conditions in priority provinces.


An extension of the Legendre transform to non-convex functions with vanishing Hessian as a mix of envelope and general solutions of the Clairaut equation is proposed. Applying this to systems with constraints, the procedure of finding a Hamiltonian for a degenerate Lagrangian is just that of solving a corresponding Clairaut equation with a subsequent application of the proposed Legendre-Clairaut transformation. In this way the unconstrained version of Hamiltonian equations is obtained. The Legendre-Clairaut transformation presented is involutive. We demonstrate the origin of the Dirac primary constraints, along with their explicit form, and this is done without using the Lagrange multiplier method.


This paper focuses on detection tasks in information extraction, where positive instances are sparsely distributed and models are usually evaluated using F-measure on positive classes. These characteristics often result in deficient performance of neural network based detection models. In this paper, we propose adaptive scaling, an algorithm which can handle the positive sparsity problem and directly optimize over F-measure via dynamic cost-sensitive learning. To this end, we borrow the idea of marginal utility from economics and propose a theoretical framework for instance importance measuring without introducing any additional hyper-parameters. Experiments show that our algorithm leads to a more effective and stable training of neural network based detection models.


Background: The practice of physical activity appropriate to individual conditions and with proper education, brings physical, psychological and social benefits. Objectives: To investigate the main reasons for the adherence and the abandonment of the practice of physical activity. Method: The present work consists of a review study of a propositional type (reflection journal writing) on the reasons of adherence and abandonment to the practice of physical activity. Results: The results showed that among the reasons cited for adherence to physical exercise are the search for: health, aesthetics/physical appearance, socialization, medical order, improvement of physical fitness and quality of life, leisure, well-being, control of corporal weight, competition, pleasure and satisfaction in the practice of exercise, among others. On the other hand, among the reasons for abandonment are: lack of time, laziness, gym distant from the home or work, high cost, influence of the family or media, and work routine. Conclusion: Through the findings, it can be concluded that there is a need for attention by physical education professionals, in addition to the use of efficient strategies to motivate students, with the purpose of getting them to adhere the practice of physical activity and, with that, less people will give up the regular practice of systematized physical activities.


Correct antisaccade (AS) performance requires inhibition of a reflexive glance to a peripheral visual cue and generation of a saccade to its mirror image location. Patients with schizophrenia make an increased proportion of AS errors which are associated with prefrontal cortex (PFC) dysfunction. It is uncertain whether this relationship is specific to schizophrenia, or if decreased PFC activity is associated with increased AS errors in non-clinical samples. This study examined brain activation in two samples of healthy undergraduates who were selected based on good and poor AS performance. AS generation was associated with robust activity in the well-defined saccade circuitry that included bilateral PFC. Poor performers, however, had decreased BOLD activation in areas known to support inhibition and working memory. These data suggest that healthy people who show compromised inhibitory control may be more likely to show evidence of disregulation of PFC-mediated circuitry under conditions of increased task


The bonding between two different materials or between same materials is a quite popular method. Unlike fastener joints, it avoids undesirable stress concentrations and doesn't demand an intrusive application to ensure the good performance of the joint. However, depending on the configuration of the adhesively bonded joint, its performance responds differently and the choice (if possible to make) on the best configuration, i.e. the configuration that originates the highest strength and/or stiffness, may be hard to make. Within this context, several configurations of aluminium-to-aluminium bonded joints unstrengthened and strengthened with fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) were modelled using a commercial finite element code. The linearity and nonlinearity of the FRP composite and the aluminium were considered, respectively, and the adhesively bonded joints were subjected to a regular displacement that intended to simulate a tensioning load. Also, the nonlinearities of the interfaces were considered in the form of nonlinear cohesive adhesive laws. The fracture Modes I and II were defined trough a bond-slip relation with a bi-linear shape and the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion is used for the coupling of the cohesive adhesive laws of the interface when the debonding process of the bonded joint configuration implies the interaction between both fracture modes, i.e. the joint is under a mixed-mode (Mode I+II) situation. The results are presented and discussed and the configurations of the bonded joints are all compared through bond stress distributions and load-slip responses. The study herein presented is, therefore, a contribution to the analysis of the structural integrity of bonded joints between FRP composites and aluminium substrates, helping also on the choice of the most adequate bonded joint configuration and corresponding reinforcement to be used and applied in practice.


This paper presents a new type of drill grinder based on a special universal joint. The special universal joint is composed of a parallel mechanism with three legs as the inputs. One can rotate as a spindle; other two legs can drive a moving platform and make a drill point get an accurate position in workspace. Due to the simple mechanical structure comparing the grinder with the existing conventional CNC cutting tool grinders, it should be easy for the grinder to manufacture at a low cost. In addition, inverse kinematic equations of the special type of universal joint are derived.


Background: The Family Stress Model suggests that socioeconomic status (SES) and family supports (e.g., social supports, community supports and resources) are key predictors of child health. However, it is recognized that there is a gap in the literature applying this knowledge to young children. In this study, a modified version, where there was only a focus on three components of the Family Stress Model is applied to test the main and moderating effects among these variables and their ability to predict overall health in toddlers (ages 12-24 months). Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze and identify key findings from the Toddler Development Instrument (TDI) data regarding the associations between economic hardship (household income), social supports (access to family supports) and child health, using a modified Family Stress Model. Methods: Binary logistic regression was used to perform analysis on 803 surveys collected from participating parents of toddlers aged 12-24 months as part of the TDI pilot project data collected through the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Data were collected from families across British Columbia, Canada at family and community centers, using convenience sampling. Results: Results showed that SES (household income) and access to family supports was significantly associated with child health. Additionally, access to family supports mediated the relationship between household income and child health. Moderating effects of access to family supports on the relationship of household income and child health were not found to be significant. Conclusions: The study findings support the Family Stress Model and add evidence to the literature that SES and access to family supports are predictors of child health. Attention to these predictors can help researchers, policy makers and providers prioritize areas of support for families with young children.


Due to the prevalence of mobile devices, mobile search becomes a more convenient way than desktop search. Different from the traditional desktop search, mobile visual search needs more consideration for the limited resources on mobile devices (e.g., bandwidth, computing power, and memory consumption). The state-of-the-art approaches show that the bag-of-words (BoW) model is robust for image and video retrieval; however, the large vocabulary tree might not be able to be loaded on the mobile device. We observe that recent works mainly focus on designing compact feature representations on mobile devices for bandwidth-limited network (e.g., 3G) and directly adopt feature matching on remote servers (cloud). However, the compact (binary) representation might fail to retrieve target objects (images and videos). Based on the hashed binary codes, we propose a dehashing process that reconstructs BoW by leveraging the computing power of remote servers. To mitigate the information loss from binary codes, we further utilize contextual information (e.g., GPS) to reconstruct a context-aware BoW for better retrieval results. Experiment results show that the proposed method can achieve competitive retrieval accuracy as BoW while only transmitting few bits from mobile devices.


Aims: to establish the proportion of patients with treated primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) who progressed to blindness, and identify factors that may have contributed to progression. To establish the proportion of POAG patients who achieved eligibility for blind or partial sight registration hut who were not registered. Methods: a retrospective, cross-sectional, longitudinal follow-up, cohort study of patients with POAG attending the Leicester Royal Infirmary in 1982. Results: 258 patients were followed up for a mean of 11.2 years. Four point three percent (11/258) o f patients were blind at the diagnosis of POAG. At the end of follow-up 34.5% (89/258) were blind, 17.4% (45/89) were blind from POAG alone and 17.1% (44/89) were blind from other causes, either alone or in combination with POAG. Regression analysis identified the visual field in the better eye at diagnosis (p< 0.00005), the mean follow-up intraocular pressure in the better eye (p< 0.005) and the age at diagnosis o f POAG (p< 0.002) as being risk factors for progression to blindness. Odds ratios (OR) for progression to blindness from all causes revealed an OR=0.53 (95%CI;0.31,0.90) for visual acuity better than or equal to 6/18 in the better eye at diagnosis, OR=0.18 (95%CI;0.07,0.43) for early visual field defect in the better eye at diagnosis and OR=0.40 (95%CI;0.21,0.77) for early visual field defect in the worst eye at diagnosis. For patients aged between 65-74 years it was estimated that patients with POAG were >2 .5 times more likely to become blind than the age matched general population and for those > 75 years patients with POAG were >1.8 times likely to become blind. Fifty-one of the 90 patients who were eligible for blind or partial sight registration were not registered during the follow-up period. Conclusion: despite treatment over a third of patients with POAG progressed to blindness during their follow-up period.


High performance computing (HPC) clouds are becoming an alternative to on-premise clusters for executing scientific applications and business analytics services. Most research efforts in HPC cloud aim to understand the cost benefit of moving resource-intensive applications from on-premise environments to public cloud platforms. Industry trends show that hybrid environments are the natural path to get the best of the on-premise and cloud resources—steady (and sensitive) workloads can run on on-premise resources and peak demand can leverage remote resources in a pay-as-you-go manner. Nevertheless, there are plenty of questions to be answered in HPC cloud, which range from how to extract the best performance of an unknown underlying platform to what services are essential to make its usage easier. Moreover, the discussion on the right pricing and contractual models to fit small and large users is relevant for the sustainability of HPC clouds. This article brings a survey and taxonomy of efforts in HPC cloud and a vision on what we believe is ahead of us, including a set of research challenges that, once tackled, can help advance businesses and scientific discoveries. This becomes particularly relevant due to the fast increasing wave of new HPC applications coming from big data and artificial intelligence.


Grain refinement processing by severe deformation, combined equal-channel angular extrusion (ECAE) processing and conventional tube extrusion, is applied to AZ31 magnesium alloy. By a combination of ECAE processing and tube extrusion, a fabricated tube, with outer and inner diameters of 2 mm and 1 mm, respectively, has fine, homogeneous, and equiaxed grain structure with an average grain size of 1.5m. Tensile test results indicate that the fine-grained tubes exhibited a superplasticity potential m value of 0.55.The maximum elongation (688%) is obtained at a temperature of 673K. Furthermore, the tubes fabricated by combined ECAE/extrusion process is applied to dieless drawing process without using any tool and die.As a result, dieless drawing limit is enhanced due to high m value achieved by combined ECAE/Extrusion process. From these results, the effectiveness of new grain refinement processing for fabricating fine-grained tubes and its application for dieless drawing process to fabricate the fine tubes was demonstrated experimentally.


: 14C-urea entry into the hamster seminiferous tubule (SNT) and cauda epididymidal tubule was observed in intact males and in animals vasectomized for 2 weeks and for 4 months. 14C-urea entry rate and plateau level were significantly increased 4 months postvasectomy. 14C-urea entry into the cauda epididymidis was significantly altered 2 weeks postvasectomy. 2, 4,-dinitrophenol significantly increased 14C-urea concentration in the SNT. This is compatible with the presence of an outward directed energy dependent movement of urea in the hamster SNT. Increasing 14C-urea concentrations in the postvasectomy SNT may be attributable to a failure or inhibition of this physiologic activity.


Mitochondria are one of the hallmarks of eukaryotic cells, exporting ATP in exchange for cytosolic ADP using ADP/ATP carriers (AAC) located in the inner mitochondrial membrane. In contrast, several evolutionarily important anaerobic eukaryotes lack mitochondria but contain hydrogenosomes, peculiar organelles of controversial ancestry that also supply ATP but, like some fermentative bacteria, make molecular hydrogen in the process. We have now identified genes from two species of the hydrogenosome‐containing fungus Neocallimastix that have three‐fold sequence repeats and signature motifs that, along with phylogenetic analysis, identify them as AACs. When expressed in a mitochondrial AAC‐ deficient yeast strain, the hydrogenosomal protein was correctly targeted to the yeast mitochondria inner membrane and yielded mitochondria able to perform ADP/ATP exchange. Characteristic inhibitors of mitochondrial AACs blocked adenine nucleotide exchange by the Neocallimastix protein. Thus, our data demonstrate that fungal hydrogenosomes and yeast mitochondria use the same pathway for ADP/ATP exchange. These experiments provide some of the strongest evidence yet that yeast mitochondria and Neocallimastix hydrogenosomes are but two manifestations of the same fundamental organelle.


Hydromulching is a new mulch product which has positive effects on soil moisture conservation and the inhibition of evaporation. However, current research on its soil moisture conservation effect has mainly adopted the field fixed-point observation method, rather than revealing the soil moisture conservation mechanism from the microstructure of the hydromulching. This paper applied spectrum analysis technology to observe the structure and micromorphological features of hydromulching, which will be able to reveal the mechanism of soil moisture conservation. Three types of hydromulching, based on laboratory preparation, were used to analyze the mechanism of soil moisture, using the infrared spectrometer (FTIR) and environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM). The results showed that −OH generates intermolecular hydrogen bonds between carboxymethylcellulose sodium (CMC) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA); the hydrogen bonds were formatted between the molecules of the two components, strengthening their compatibility, which increased the effectiveness of the hydromulching and created a dense mesh structure. ESEM observation results showed that preparation 19s hydromulching coverage had good effects, while preparations 2 and 3 performed poorly. Therefore, we can conclude that hydromulching effectively cements soil particles. Then it can generate the soil membrane structure to reduce evaporation and improve soil moisture conservation function.


Abstract In this paper we contribute to the strategy and OCB literature by empirically exploring how middle managers as strategic actors in product-market strategy making are enabled or constrained in the strategy process. We explore the role of organizationally targeted organizational citizenship behaviour (OCBO) as a conduit for strategy effectiveness. This is a departure from most OCB studies which concentrate on organizational effectiveness. We assess the mediating role of social and extrinsic rewards as organizational structural processes underlying the OCBO-strategy effectiveness relationship. Our results reveal that while OCBO has no direct influence on strategy effectiveness, participation as a form of social reward partially mediates the OCBO strategy effectiveness relationship. However, the negative mediation effect reveals that excessive participation reduces strategy effectiveness. In terms of extrinsic reward practices, process rewards partially and positively mediate the relationship. Focusing on OCBO our results contribute to the call for more nuanced studies into OCB relationships and performance and to the recent debate surrounding whether certain OCB behaviours are perceived as rewarded. We highlight that whilst OCBO is not in itself an important precondition for fostering effective strategy performance, organizational structural processes in the form of reward practices can foster beneficial OCBO which supports strategy effectiveness.


We define VR marketing as the application of virtual reality technology to any aspect of marketing. Throughout practice and literature, VR is employed to improve either or both the utility and experientiality of aspects of the marketing value chain.With the advent of the internet in the 1990s, marketing was revolutionized in terms of its information propagation efficiency. Today, pervasively across the entire value chain, marketing is facing yet another revolution: Virtual Reality (VR). While in the 1990s, the internet made marketing hugely efficient, and it reduced the experiential nature of marketing that exists, e.g., in bricks-and-mortar marketing. The potential of the current wave of virtual reality in marketing is seen to stem from combining the efficiency of digital platforms with the immersiveness, experientiality and multisensory nature of physical" marketing environments. However, while the narrative of the potential of VR in marketing may seem as intuitively appealing, there is still a lack of coherent understanding as to whether these benefits have been realized in VR marketing. Therefore, we firstly seek to define VR marketing, and secondly, to review the expanding literature related to it. In particular, we review in which areas of marketing VR has been researched, how it has been researched, which kinds of technologies have been used, and which theories this corpus of literature draws from and contributes to. Moreover, we review the effects of VR marketing on consumer experience and behavior that the extant literature has been able to tease out.Next, we examine VR marketing in four different marketing domains, namely marketing research, product innovation, advertising and retailing, which represent aspects of value determination, value creation, value communication and value delivery during the marketing value chain. Virtual reality marketing is used to improve both the utility and experientiality of aspects of the marketing value chain.Furthermore, we examine the trends of related theories in the relevant research, and find that virtual reality is viewed either as a kind of media that highlights products' attributes and improves the consumer learning process or as a way to reshape shopping environments in the computer-based virtual world which can influence consumer affection. We can also realize that researchers have recently begun to integrate more values realized by VR marketing into their research frameworks. Based on this, we propose a generally conceptual framework for future VR marketing research.According to the current body of literature, virtual reality technology shows considerable promise for the areas of marketing. However, current research still lacks in-depth insights as to how virtual reality works in marketing, and which factors can influence its marketing success. Given these findings, we offer a detailed discussion of the future agenda for VR marketing research.


Although rare, melanomas do occur in children and adolescents. Pediatricians should be aware of the clinical features of melanoma and the risk factors for developing this malignancy. Children at high risk for melanoma should have at least annual cutaneous examinations in search of suspicious lesions. If a lesion is suspected of being a melanoma, it should be removed surgically and submitted for pathologic examination. Education of parents and children about the deleterious effects of ultraviolet light affords a means of counteracting the increasing incidence of melanoma at the grassroots level. The use of sunscreens, hats, and other protective clothing and the judicious timing of daily solar exposure should serve to prevent sunburning, limit tanning, and decrease the incidence of melanoma and other more common cutaneous malignancies, such as basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.


Machine learning systems are becoming increasingly ubiquitous. These systems's adoption has been expanding, accelerating the shift towards a more algorithmic society, meaning that algorithmically informed decisions have greater potential for significant social impact. However, most of these accurate decision support systems remain complex black boxes, meaning their internal logic and inner workings are hidden to the user and even experts cannot fully understand the rationale behind their predictions. Moreover, new regulations and highly regulated domains have made the audit and verifiability of decisions mandatory, increasing the demand for the ability to question, understand, and trust machine learning systems, for which interpretability is indispensable. The research community has recognized this interpretability problem and focused on developing both interpretable models and explanation methods over the past few years. However, the emergence of these methods shows there is no consensus on how to assess the explanation quality. Which are the most suitable metrics to assess the quality of an explanation? The aim of this article is to provide a review of the current state of the research field on machine learning interpretability while focusing on the societal impact and on the developed methods and metrics. Furthermore, a complete literature review is presented in order to identify future directions of work on this field.


We report on lessons and insights concerning an interview‐based, qualitative research thesis undertaken by an honours year university student in actuarial studies, who had no previous experience with qualitative research. Motivations and the need for research of this nature are provided in depth. Observations are presented on key areas of the research process, from the perspective of both research student and supervisors. This informs future students who may be considering qualitative research, who have not previously engaged in this approach. It also informs supervisors in predominantly quantitative disciplines who may be unfamiliar with some of the nuances of interview‐based approaches.


The strategy for monitoring HIV/AIDS in China has evolved with the epidemic. The national HIV/AIDS surveillance system was established in 1985 and sentinel surveillance started in 1995. Initially, 42 sentinel sites were established to monitor the epidemic among certain high-risk groups, including drug users, female sex workers, STD clinic attendees and long-distance truck drivers in epidemic areas. In the last decade the programme has been considerably expanded. Target groups now also include pregnant women, men who have sex with men (MSM), clients of female sex workers and tuberculosis (TB) patients. By the end of 2006, 393 national and 370 provincial sites report to the National Centre for AIDS/Sexually transmitted disease Control and Prevention. In 2004, a nationwide HIV testing campaign was launched among certain high risk groups, including former plasma donors and injecting drug users. Routine testing in health care settings and detention centres was introduced in 2005. Behavioural surveillance began in 2004 and there were already 159 sites in 27 provinces by the end of 2006. In addition a number of epidemiological surveys have been undertaken among various groups to augment surveillance data. The combination of these comprehensive strategies is used to monitor the HIV/AIDS epidemic and guide policy decision-making. The Chinese experience illustrates how surveillance systems need to be dynamic in order to monitor trends in HIV over time.


Summary A propeller low noise design procedure based on boundary integral equation is presented. The aerodynamic field is computed via a potential-based boundary element method for lifting body while the aeroacoustic emitted field is calculated on the basis of the Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings equation. Families of airfoils sections are aerodynamically processed to select the ones that meet the requested performance. Successively, the airfoil sections characterized by the lowest noise emission, among the previously selected ones, are chosen to built the propeller blade. Eventually the whole propeller aeroacoustic performances are analyzed.


The stability of a low-copy-number plasmid, pHSG415, in Escherichia coli, was investigated in batch and continuous culture. The plasmid was unstable in batch culture, but was significantly stabilized by growth in continuous culture with phosphate, nitrogen or potassium limitation. However, the plasmid was very unstable when grown in continuous culture with sulphate limitation. These results contrast with those obtained with multicopy plasmids such as pBR322, which is particularly unstable in carbon- or phosphate-limited continuous culture. The effect of growth rate on the stability of E. coli(pHSG415) grown in continuous culture with glucose limitation was also investigated. The plasmid was significantly more stable in cells grown at higher growth rates. The segregational instability (R) of the plasmid and the difference in growth rate between plasmid-free and plasmid-bearing cells (dmu) were calculated for each condition using the method of Cooper et al. (accompanying paper: Journal of General Microbiology 133, 1871-1880). It was found that the primary cause of the loss of pHSG415 from the cell population was the segregational instability of the plasmid.


Background: On December 26, 2004, the Indian Ocean Tsunami affected 6 provinces of Southern Thailand and caused 5,078 deaths, 8,457 injured and 3,716 missing. The National disease surveillance was interrupted. Post-disaster had many epidemic prone diseases and there was no preparedness plan for this event. The objectives of the surveillance was to 1) identify epidemic prone disease and act as an effective early warning system and 2) initiate immediate investigations and timely interventions. Objective: The purpose is to describe the surveillance system that was implemented and findings from the implementation of the surveillance system. System establishment and implementation: The system covered all affected areas in 20 districts of 6 provinces. For 6 provinces, there were 5 teams of Surveillance and Rapid Response Team (SRRT) that were well trained. Each team composed of medical epidemiologists and health professionals from local, regional and central level. The data collecting sites included public and private medical facilities, shelters for displaced people, forensic identification centers and medical laboratories. The definitions of diseases were based on clinical criteria applied by local physicians. The definition of the outbreaks depended on the diseases and clusters of cases, time and place distribution. Logistics were supported by central and regional level. Laboratory testing was supported by regional laboratory centers and National Institute of Health. The data collecting forms were designed as aggregated data. Data were reported daily via E-mail, facsimile and telephone to local and central level. There was no routine surveillance data at that time because the system was directly and indirectly affected from tsunami. Results: There were 24 diseases of six syndromes under surveillance. During 6 weeks of system establishment, the system reported 4,816 cases. The most common of which was diarrhea (68%), followed by wound infections (8%) and pneumonia (5%), respectively. 11 deaths and 7 outbreaks were reported. Conclusion: The surveillance system achieved all objectives. Individual records should be implemented instead, data quality should be improved and long-term outcomes should be followed up. The public health significance of the study is the surveillance provide the suggestion for the active disease surveillance and the public health preparedness plan.


Background One quarter of the global population is of menstruating age, yet menstruation is shrouded in discrimination and taboos. Disability also carries stigma, so disabled people may face layers of discrimination when they are menstruating. The objective of the review is to assess the menstrual hygiene requirements of disabled people, the barriers they face, and the available interventions to help them manage their menstruation hygienically and with dignity. Methods Eligible studies, gathered across all countries, were identified by conducting searches across four databases (MEDLINE, PubMed, EMBASE, Global Health) in May 2017, with alerts set on each database to highlight new titles added until April 2018. Eligible studies incorporated analyses relevant to menstruating disabled people and/or how their carers provide support during their menstrual cycle. Results The 22 studies included were published since 1976; the majority after 2010 (n = 12; 55%). One study was a quasi-experiment; all others were observational. Most studies (n = 15; 68%) were from high income countries and most (n = 17; 77%) focused on people with intellectual impairments, so the review findings focus on this group and their carers. Outcomes investigated include choice and preference of menstrual product, ability to manage menstrual hygiene and coping strategies applied. Barriers faced included a lack of standardised guidance for professional carers; a lack of menstruation training, information and support provided to people with intellectual impairments and their carers; a lack of understanding of severity of symptoms experienced by people with intellectual impairments, the high cost of menstrual products and lack of appropriate options for people with physical impairments. Few interventions were found, and strategies for menstrual hygiene management applied by carers of persons with intellectual impairments include limiting the disabled person's movements when menstruating and suppressing their menstruation. Conclusions Little evidence was identified on the requirements of disabled people and their carers in managing their menstruation, and only one intervention, but a range of barriers were identified. This gap in evidence is important, as the consequences of failing to meet menstrual hygiene needs of disabled people includes shame, social isolation, and even sterilisation. Systematic review registration PROSPERO CRD42018095497.


Autocorrelograms exhibit tree-like structures whose spines are located at a delay of 1/F0. This paper exploits the dendritic autocorrelogram structure for the identification of spectro-temporal regions dominated by a single periodic sound source in monaural acoustic mixtures. Each frame of the mixture is first segmented into different sound sources in the autocorrelogram domain. Local pitch estimates are formed for each source and used as a cue for temporal integration. A confidence score is computed for each time-frequency pixel in the grouped regions to determine its probability of belonging to the group. The system is evaluated using simultaneous speech in a coherence measuring experiment and also employed within an ASR system where it produces improved results for the Interspeech 2006 Speech Separation Challenge. Index Terms: speech separation, correlogram, multipitch tracking.


The forward-looking nature of option market data allows one to derive economically-based and model-free risk measures. This article proposes an extensive analysis of the performances of option-implied VaR and CVaR, and compare them with classical risk measures for the S&P500 Index. Delivering good results both at short and long time horizons, the proposed option-implied risk metrics emerge as a convenient alternative to the existing risk measures.


Practice-based commissioning Richard Ma raises some very interesting points in his commentary about practice-based commissioning (PBC) and its impact on sexual health services in this issue of the Journal.1 In my view, he is right to encourage sexual health providers to start thinking now about the opportunities that the new arrangements may provide for developing a more integrated service that encompasses contraception, abortion and STI provision in a community setting. A major barrier to doing so is the 1967 Abortion Act, which states that abortions can only take place in NHS hospitals or in licensed premises. However, a creative collaboration with a local acute trust may overcome this difficulty, as is already the case in some places. While PBC does present opportunities for new partnerships and improved patient pathways, there are also risks associated with it. For example, some GP practices do not see the need for dedicated contraceptive services, and with the increased influence that general practice will have on the shape of services this may mean that community contraceptive clinics are no longer commissioned to provide services. Where this happens, as is highly likely in some areas, there will be a major loss of expertise, which will have far reaching consequences for contraceptive services not only now but in the future. It will destroy the three-level model for sexual health services that is the basis of the National Strategy for Sexual Health and HIV. The already greatly stretched training capacity, which is unable to meet current needs, will be further reduced. And professionals providing Level 1 and 2 services will no longer have the support they need from family planning consultants and specialist family planning nurses. Above all, many women will no longer have access to a full range of contraceptive methods because their general practice does not provide them. When the Government's proposals for changing the emphasis of primary care trusts (PCTs) away from providing services to commissioning were first announced, the indication was that PCTs would no longer provide any services at all. This created major concerns for sexual health services because of the lack of alternative providers (other than for some specific services in some parts of the country) and fears about fragmentation of services. The Government has now clarified the situation: PCTs will continue to employ clinical staff and any decisions about divestment of services will be made locally by the PCT. Such decisions will be taken in the light of the White Paper on health outside hospitals. We can only hope that the White Paper will create an environment in which the networks and collaboration between different components of a comprehensive sexual health service can flourish. PCTs have a vital role in ensuring the health and well-being of their populations, and sexual health services are vital to improving health and reducing health inequalities. As PBC is implemented, the partnership between general practice and PCTs will be crucial in ensuring that adequate resources are allocated to improving and developing sexual health services. Above all, we need to maintain the pressure on PCTs to give sexual health the priority it deserves.


ABSTRACT. This article examines the parallels between the developing Pacific Basin and the historical Mediterranean Basin. Humankind's expanding reach in transportation and communication technologies now makes it possible to integrate a basin the size of the Pacific. The Mediterranean provides some insight into the processes involved. Topics include questions of hegemony, "mirror cities" that interact with each other across the basins, and the dynamic tension between cosmopolitanism and localism. Keywords: hegemony, Mediterranean, mirror cities, Pacific, postmodern Hellenism. The arrival of the "Pacific Century" has been proclaimed repeatedly in the popular press and the academy alike. A variety of factors contribute to the current wave of enthusiasm for and interest in the Pacific. United States population movements to the West Coast, with its Pacific orientation, have accelerated since World War II. The rise of Japan as an economic superpower, the dynamism of countries such as South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore (referred to in the 1980s as the "Asian Tigers" because of their aggressive economic policies), and, most recently, the emergence of China as a major player in the international economy are heralded as harbingers of an integrated, Pacific-centered society and economy. The concept of "integration" is a slippery one, subject to a variety of interpretations. One useful definition is that proposed by Jerry Bentley, who describes it as "a historical process that unfolds when interactions influence the development of societies by bringing about divisions of labor and facilitating commercial, biological, and cultural exchanges" (Bentley 1998, 4). Based on these criteria, the Pacific Basin does seem to be experiencing integration on a grand scale. Products designed by a firm in Silicon Valley can be manufactured immediately in its offshore facilities in coastal China or Malaysia. Multilateral direct and indirect investments have become widespread throughout the basin. Cultural integration has accompanied economic integration. Peru now has a president of Japanese extraction, and in the United States the governor of the state of Washington is American-born Chinese. In 1980, for the first time, the value of transpacific commerce outweighed that of transatlantic commerce. The 1987 stock market crash and recovery hinged as heavily on traders in Tokyo and Hong Kong as it did on their counterparts in New York and London. Although the Asian financial crisis dampened the enthusiasm of some commentators (Warner, Engardio, and Peterson 1999), long-term trends reveal rising levels of production, consumption, and trade throughout the Pacific world. Is a new cultural and economic synthesis in the making? Historical precedents exist for the integration of sea and ocean basins. The Atlantic Ocean saw the emergence of a cohesive economic system based on the exchange of slaves, cash, and commodities as early as the sixteenth century (Gilroy 1993; Conniff and Davis 1994; Curtin 1998). Even earlier, the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean Basin were scenes of significant cultural and economic interaction (Chaudhuri 1985; Hall 1985; Hourani 1995; Wang 1998). Of all the world's seas and oceans, the one with the longest history of human interaction and cross-cultural exchange is the Mediterranean. Recent evidence suggests that the Mediterranean witnessed large-scale trade, migration, and interaction as early as the third millennium B.C.E. (Rowlands, Larsen, and Kristiansen 1987; Gasson 1991). Mediterranean integration reached its zenith under the Roman Empire, when it experienced political unification for the first and last time (Pounds 1973; Smith 1978). Even after the Roman Empire, the Mediterranean remained a vibrant venue of cultural and economic interaction (Semple 1931; Braudel 1976). The longevity of the Mediterranean's history of integration makes it the most appropriate candidate for comparison with the emerging Pacific in spite of the vast difference in physical size. …


Background: Cultured spinal motor neurons are a valuable tool to study basic mechanisms of development, axon growth and pathfinding, and, importantly, to analyze the pathomechanisms underlying motor neuron diseases. However, the application of this cell culture model is limited by the lack of efficient gene transfer techniques which are available for other neurons. To address this problem, we have established magnetofection as a novel method for the simple and efficient transfection of mouse embryonic motor neurons. This technique allows for the study of the effects of gene expression and silencing on the development and survival of motor neurons. Results: We found that magnetofection, a novel transfection technology based on the delivery of DNA-coated magnetic nanobeads, can be used to transfect primary motor neurons. Therefore, in order to use this method as a new tool for studying the localization and transport of axonal proteins, we optimized conditions and determined parameters for efficient transfection rates of >45% while minimizing toxic effects on survival and morphology. To demonstrate the potential of this method, we have used transfection with plasmids encoding fluorescent fusionproteins to show for the first time that the spinal muscular atrophy-disease protein Smn is actively transported along axons of live primary motor neurons, supporting an axon-specific role for Smn that is different from its canonical function in mRNA splicing. We were also able to show the suitability of magnetofection for gene knockdown with shRNA-based constructs by significantly reducing Smn levels in both cell bodies and axons, opening new opportunities for the study of the function of axonal proteins in motor neurons. Conclusions: In this study we have established an optimized magnetofection protocol as a novel transfection method for primary motor neurons that is simple, efficient and non-toxic. We anticipate that this novel approach will have a broad applicability in the study of motor neuron development, axonal trafficking, and molecular mechanisms of motor neuron diseases.


Insoluble residues produced in Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTP) as by products are known as sewage sludge (SS). Land application of SS, particularly in agricultural lands, is becoming an alternative disposal method in Fiji. However, currently there is no legislative framework governing its use. SS together with its high nutrient and organic matter contents, constitutes some undesired pollutants such as heavy metals, which may limit its extensive use. The focus of this study therefore was to determine the total concentrations of Pb, Zn, Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni and Mn in the SS produced at the Kinoya WWTP (Fiji) and in the non-fertile soil amended with the SS at 20, 40, 60, 80% application rates and in the control (100% Soil). The bioavailable heavy metals were also determined as it depicts the true extent of metal contamination. The treatment mixtures were then used to cultivate cabbage plants in which the total heavy metal uptake was investigated. Total Zn (695.6 mg/kg) was present in the highest amounts in the 100% SS (control), followed by Pb (370.9 mg/kg), Mn (35.0 mg/kg), Cu (65.5 mg/kg), Cr (20.5 mg/kg) and finally Cd (13.5 mg/kg) and hence a similar trend was seen in all treatment mixtures. The potential mobility of sludgeborne heavy metals can be classified as Ni > Cu > Cd > Zn > Mn > Cr > Pb. Total metal uptake in plant leaves and stems showed only the bioavailable metals Cu, Cd, Zn and Mn, with maximum uptake occurring in the leaves. Ni, despite being highly mobile was not detected, due to minute concentrations in the SS treatments. Optimum growth occurred in the 20 and 40% SS treatments. However maximum Cu and Mn uptake occurred in the 40% SS treatment thereby making the 20% treatment the most feasible. Furthermore the total and bioavailable metal concentrations observed were within the safe and permitted limits of the EEC and USEPA legislations.


In this article, I elucidate the idea of a poetics of teaching and outline its value to scholars and teachers who seek a deeper understanding of the practice. A poetics of teaching draws together aesthetic, intellectual, and moral dimensions of the work that are often treated separately, if treated at all, in both research and in the classroom. In so doing, a poetics clarifies our picture of what the work offers to the men and women who take up the role. A poetics of teaching calls attention to how teaching can enrich the life of the teacher, even as he or she seeks to deepen and to broaden students' knowledge, understandings, and outlooks. I draw upon aspects of art, of inquiry, and of metaphor to help illuminate these educational values.


We consider the problem of listwise learning-to-rank (LTR) on data with \textit{partitioned preference}, where a set of items are sliced into ordered and disjoint partitions, but the ranking of items within a partition is unknown. The Plackett-Luce (PL) model has been widely used in listwise LTR methods. However, given $N$ items with $M$ partitions, calculating the likelihood of data with partitioned preference under the PL model has a time complexity of $O(N+S!)$, where $S$ is the maximum size of the top $M-1$ partitions. This computational challenge restrains existing PL-based listwise LTR methods to only a special case of partitioned preference, \textit{top-$K$ ranking}, where the exact order of the top $K$ items is known. In this paper, we exploit a random utility model formulation of the PL model and propose an efficient approach through numerical integration for calculating the likelihood. This numerical approach reduces the aforementioned time complexity to $O(N+MS)$, which allows training deep-neural-network-based ranking models with a large output space. We demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms well-known LTR baselines and remains scalable through both simulation experiments and applications to real-world eXtreme Multi-Label (XML) classification tasks. The proposed method also achieves state-of-the-art performance on XML datasets with relatively large numbers of labels per sample.


Introduction: Quail egg has been used traditionally in the treatment of many ailments. Despite the wide speculations of its involvement in the treatment of liver diseases, very little scientific evidence exist to support this claim. This work investigated the hepatoprotective effect of quail egg against carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4 ) induced liver damage in albino rats. Materials and Methods: The rats were divided into five groups of five rats per group. Animals of group A (positive control) were fed with vehicle (distilled water) on the first four days and with vehicle and CCl 4 on the fifth, sixth and seventh day. Animals of group B (negative control) were given only vehicle for seven days. Animals of groups C, D and E were respectively administered with 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight of quail egg for the first four days and with vehicle, quail egg and CCl 4 for the fifth, sixth and seventh day. Animals were subsequently anaesthetized, and blood samples were taken for the estimation of albumin, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), total protein (TP) and bilirubin. The liver was isolated for histopathological studies. Results: The levels of ALT, ALP and TP were significantly affected (p < 0.05) in CCl 4 fed groups, indicating liver injury. The effects were reduced significantly (p < 0.05) after treatment of rats with quail egg. Furthermore, histopathological studies of the liver tissues also supported the hepatoprotective activity of quail egg- photomicrographs of treated groups showed mild reduction in vacuolarisation/ballooning degeneration of the hepatocytes. Conclusion: Quail egg showed some potentials of protecting the liver from damage by stabilising the levels of ALP, ALT and TP and reducing the degeneration of the hepatocytes. Thus, this finding has provided information that suggests utilising quail egg for treatment of liver dysfunction.


Objective: The aim of this study is to extend our knowledge about uncertainty in fertility intentions from a life course perspective. We want to find out if life course markers such as economic circumstances, relationship status, family size, and the so-called "biological clock" (getting older) influence uncertainty in fertility intentions. Uncertainty in fertility intentions is the state in which individuals are not sure whether they will have (more) children. Background: Determining what drives uncertainty in fertility intentions may lead to a better understanding of fertility decision-making and its outcomes. Method: We use German panel data (German Family Panel, pairfam) for three birth cohorts (1971-73, 1981-83, 1991-93), and employ multinomial fixed-effects logit models as well as bivariate analyses based on waves 1 to 11. Results: Uncertainty in fertility intentions is volatile across an individual's life course, serving as a transitional phase between certainly intending and not intending to have any (more) children. Approaching the end of the reproductive life span (getting older), separating from a partner, having two or more children, and, for men, subjective economic fears increase the odds of being uncertain. Conclusion: By showing that uncertainty in fertility intentions is a volatile concept and that relevant life course markers shape this volatility, we provide new insights into the process of fertility decision-making.


Analysis of Journalism Photo of Sinabung Mountain Disaster (Study On SINDOnews.com News Site) was analyzed by using Pierce semiotics that was about sign, object, and interpretant. Data sources were primary data sources (photographs) and secondary data sources (literature that supports primary data such as dictionaries, internet, theses, books). The method used in this study is a qualitative research method that is descriptive analysis, ie research that provides an objective picture, with Pierce analysis of photojournalism. Of the total images posted since April 2, 2015 to May 5, 2015. This study chose 11 representative journalistic photos. Photo journalism classified from the category of preaching photo before Mount Sinabung erupted, when the volcano erupted, the impact of the eruption of Mount Sinabung and the response from the Sinabung disaster. The conclusion of the research showed that 1. From every area rubric, most of the news published was spot news. This can be seen from the rubric of North Sumatera about Sinabung mountain disaster. 2. From the results of Pierce's semiotics analysis on the SINDOnews.com news site about Sinabung mountain disaster, obtained that each photo displayed must have their respective elements, especially for the caption element, should be more.


The present work concerns the examination of management options for VLLW drums [1] with ion exchange resin waste from the Greek Research Reactor (GRR-1). According to the general clearance criterion [2, 3], after cementation, 75 % of the VLLW could be cleared and for the remaining 25 % the summation formula result is lower than 1.6. The proposed management option for the total amount of the VLLW resin is the spread of the cemented resin, before thickening, over the ground around the interim storage facilities, inside the controlled area, for pavement construction. Additionally, a quantity of the cemented waste will be used for preparation of blocks for quality and homogeneity examination of the waste form.


We present the results of a comparison made between standard charge-coupled devices (CCDs) and low-light-level (LLL) CCDs in the framework of pyramid wavefront sensing for astronomical adaptive optics (AO) systems on 8 m class telescopes. This comparison is based on detailed end-to-end numerical simulations of the first-light AO system of the Large Binocular Telescope, a relevant example of a pyramid-based AO system. While the model used for simulating the standard CCD is the usual well-established one, mainly based on the consideration of Poisson photon noise and Gaussian readout noise (RON), the model used for the LLLCCD is not only made through the simplistic consideration of a subelectron equivalent RON, but also through the establishment of a gamma distribution. Moreover, an additional dark current component, also resulting from the peculiar architecture of LLLCCDs, is considered. The results obtained clearly show a gain of roughly 0.8 magnitude when considering K-band Strehl ratios ranging from 15% to 60%, at least in the particular case study chosen (Fried parameter characterizing the turbulent atmosphere above the telescope r0=15 cm and low light levels).


This paper provides a simulated moments estimator (SME) of the parameters of dynamic models in which the state vector follows a time-homogeneous Markov process. Conditions are provided for both weak and strong consistency as well as asymptotic normality. Various tradeoff's among the regularity conditions underlying the large sample properties of the SME are discussed in the context of an asset pricing model.


How do I enrol? You must first arrange a supervisor and a project. Once you have reached an agreement with your supervisor, please complete a Special Permission form (available from the Student Support Office in Physics). This must be signed by the Senior Physics Coordinator (Tim Bedding, Room 558, firstname.lastname@example.com) and then taken to the Science Faculty Office (Carslaw) to allow you to enrol.


When a ductile material with a crack is loaded in tension, the deformation energy builds up around the crack tip and it is understood that at a certain critical condition voids are formed ahead of the crack tip. The crack extension occurs by coalescence of voids with the crack tip. The "characteristic distance" (Lc) defined as the distance b/w the crack tip & the void responsible for eventual coalescence with the crack tip. Nucleation of these voids is generally associated with the presence of second phase particles or grain boundaries in the vicinity of the crack tip. Although approximate, Lc assumes a special significance since it links the fracture toughness to the microscopic mechanism considered responsible for ductile fracture. The knowledge of the "characteristic distance" is also crucial for designing the size of mesh in the finite element simulations of material crack growth using damage mechanics principles. There is not much work (experimental as well as numerical) available in the literature related to the dependency of "characteristic distance" on the fracture specimen geometry. The present research work is an attempt to understand numerically, the geometry dependency of "characteristic distance" using three-dimensional FEM analysis. The variation of "characteristic distance" parameter due to the change of temperature across the fracture specimen thickness was also studied. The work also studied the variation of "characteristic distance", due to the change in fracture specimen thickness. Finally, the ASTM requirement of fracture specimen thickness criteria is evaluated for the "characteristic distance" fracture parameter. "Characteristic distance" is found to vary across the fracture specimen thickness. It is dependent on fracture specimen thickness and it converges after a specified thickness of fracture specimen. "Characteristic distance" value is also dependent on the temperature of ductile material. In Armco iron material, it is found to decrease with the increase in temperature. Keywords— J-integral, CTOD, SIF (K), Energy Release Rate (G), Characteristic Distance (lc)


In this work we report a new class of ultra-thin film devices based on n-n van der Waals (vdW) heteroj unctions of MoS<inf>2</inf> and VO<inf>2</inf>, which show remarkable tunable characteristics. The favorable band alignment combined with the sharp and clean vdW interface determines a tunable diode-like characteristic with a rectification ratio larger than 103. Moreover, the heterojunction can be turned into a Schottky rectifier with higher on-current by triggering the VO2 insulator to metal transition (IMT), by either applying a sufficiently large voltage or increasing the temperature above 68 °C. The proposed devices are photosensitive with linear photoresponse and temperature tunable photoresponsivity values larger than 1 in the 500/650 nm wavelength range. We finally report the first ever field-effect transistor based on gated MoS<inf>2</inf>/VO<inf>2</inf> heterojunctions, which is a true low power FET exploiting a phase change material where the electrostatic doping effect of the gate on the junction results in a subthreshold slope (SS) of 130 mV/dec at room temperature, I<inf>ON</inf>/I<inf>OFF</inf> > 103 and I<inf>oFF</inf> < 5 pA/μm at Vd = 1.5V.


CD28, initially detected on human T lymphocytes with the help of antibodies, and CTLA-4, obtained by reverse genetics through its preferential expression in mouse activated T cells, are both single-V domain members of the Ig superfamily. Early work showed a relationship between these two molecules, which we wished to further document, in particular because of the growing realization of the functional importance of CD28 in some T cell activation pathways. Isolation and analysis of the mouse CTLA-4 gene and further analysis of the human CTLA-4 gene showed that both of these and the human CD28 gene share the same overall intron/exon organization. The nucleic acid sequence homology of the exons was found to extend across both molecules and species, whereas the 5' and 3' flanking regions exhibited homology across species but not between molecules. Message expression of human CTLA-4 was only detected in activated T cells and, thus, shares with that of mouse CTLA-4 and of mouse and human CD28 a lymphoid tissue distribution, although apparently broader for the latter. Two main human CTLA-4 transcripts of about 1.8 and 0.8 kb were detected, the smaller of which may derive, as reported for human CD28, from the use of an alternate degenerated polyadenylation signal sequence. The nucleic acid sequence data allowed a direct comparison of the four putative complete protein sequences of CD28 and CTLA-4 in the mouse and the human, showing striking homologies, especially in some stretches (such as a MYPPPY hexamer in the hinge region) conserved across molecules and across species. The mouse CD28 gene was localized to chromosome 1 band C by in situ hybridization with three different radioactive probes, indicating, together with previous data, that the CD28 and CTLA-4 genes map to the same chromosomal region in both the mouse and the human. Thus, CD28 and CTLA-4 were found to be strikingly similar in most respects, in terms of structure, sequence, expression, and gene location, furthermore in two species, strongly suggesting that their genes are the direct products of a duplication event and raising the possibility of functional homologies between the corresponding proteins.


To expedite the commercialization of coated conductors, a robust stacking architecture of the wires must be developed and the performance of the critical currents improved. More importantly, the manufacturability, or large-scale delivery, and the capability of sustaining production at a high rate must be considered. The products of three companies, American Superconductor, Superpower Inc., and SuNAM Co., Ltd, were selected because these companies have announced commercial-grade production lines and delivered a significant amounts of wires to the open market that meet the standards demanded by power devices. X-ray diffraction patterns were used to verify the structural properties and the phase formation in the wires, and transmission electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy was used to investigate the microstructure and composition of the conductors. In addition, Raman scattering spectroscopy was used for the analysis of the phase formation and for the elucidation of secondary phases in the superconducting layers. The field dependence of the critical current was also studied to compare the transport characteristics under relatively low and medium magnetic field at 77 K and 60 K. Pinning forces were obtained from the field dependence of transport properties and pinning characteristics were investigated. The theoretical and experimental analyses were combined together using the Dew-Hughes formula to extract the scaling exponents and estimate the irreversibility lines of the fields. The results showed that the three conductors possess pinning mechanisms that originate from core pinning with a surface pinning geometry. It is remarkable that the wires discussed in this paper exhibit very similar pinning characteristics even though they have different characteristics in terms of chemical composition, microstructure, stacking architectures, and distribution of parasitic phases.


Spike–frequency adaptation is a prominent feature of spiking neurons. Using a Hodgkin–Huxley–type model, we studied adaptation originating from the Na,K–ATPase electrogenic pump and its evolution in presence of a medium–duration calcium–dependent potassium channel. We found that the Na,K–ATPase induces spike–frequency adaptation with a time constant of up to a few seconds and interacts with the calcium–dependent potassium current through the output frequency, yielding a very typical pattern of instantaneous frequencies. Because channels responsible for spike–frequency adaptation can interact with each other, our results suggest that their meaningful time courses and parameters can be difficult to measure experimentally. To circumvent this problem, we developed a simple phenomenological model that captures the interaction between currents and allows the direct evaluation of the underlying biophysical parameters directly from the frequency vs. current curves. Finally, we found that for weak stimulations, the pump induces phasic spiking and linearly converts the stimulus amplitude in a finite number of spikes acting like an inhibitory spike–counter. Our results point to the importance of considering interacting currents involved in spike–frequency adaptation collectively rather than as isolated elements and underscore the importance of sodium as a messenger for long–term signal integration in neurons. Within this context, we propose that the Na,K–ATPase plays an important role and show how to recover relevant biological parameters from adapting channels using simple electrophysiological measurements.


Paclitaxel‐coated balloons have demonstrated improved efficacy compared with uncoated percutaneous transluminal angioplasty for femoropopliteal artery disease. While applying a long balloon, twisting of the balloon can be occurred. We reported two cases with twisting of the Ranger drug‐coated balloon for treating superficial femoral artery.


This paper presents a control scheme for obtaining high manoeuvrability of underwater robot manipulators mounted on a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). The motions of an underwater manipulator can affect the attitude and position of the ROV which should remain stationary in seabed operation. To compensate for the dynamic effect of the underwater manipulator on the ROV, the force-torque (F/T) information between the manipulator and the vehicle is used to regulate the states of the ROV. When an F/T sensor is practically unavailable, a disturbance observer can fill the role of the F/T sensor. This paper proposes a disturbance observer for estimating the interaction forces between the ROV and the manipulator. A two-link manipulator mounted on an ROV is considered and numerical simulations are performed to demonstrate the improvement on the manoeuvrability of the proposed controller.


The microwave permittivity of multi-walled carbon nanotubes blended in paraffin wax has been studied in the frequency range from 2 to 18GHz. The dissipaton factors of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes are high at the microwave frequencies. The microwave permittivity of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes and paraffin wax (or other dielectric materials) composites can be tailored by the content of the carbon nanotubes. And ε′, ε″and tgδ of the composites increase with the volume filling factor (v) of the carbon nanotubes. The ε′ and ε″ of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes decrease with frequency in the frequency range from 2 to18 GHz. This property is very good for broadband radar absorbing materials. The classical effective medium functions can not effectively model the microwave permittivities of the composites containing multi-walled carbon nanotubes. The ε′ and ε″ can be effectively modeled using second-order polynomials (ε′, ε″=Av2+Bv+C). The high ε″ and dissipation factor tgδ (ε″/ε′) of multi-walled carbon nanotubes are due to the dielectric relaxation. The carbon nanotubes composites would be a good candidate for microwave absorbing material electromagnetic interface (EMI) shielding material.


Isaac Artenstein (b. 1954, San Diego) studied painting and photography at UCLA, and film and video production at Cal Arts. He wrote and directed the feature film Break of Dawn (1990, historical drama), which premiered at Sundance and was later shown on Telemundo and the BBC. He produced the romantic comedy Love Always (1996) which aired on the Lifetime Channel, the thriller Bloody Proof (2000) for Univision, and the social satire A Day Without A Mexican (2004). Artenstein has also directed and/or produced a number of award-winning documentaries, including Diana Kennedy: Cuisines of Mexico (1981) and Ballad of an Unsung Hero (1983; about radio pioneer Pedro J. Gonzalez), as well as In the Name of the People (1985; about the civil war in El Salvador), narrated by Martin Sheen. He has taught film production and directing at the University of Southern California and the University of California at San Diego, and was a founding member of the Border Arts Workshop in San Diego. Currently, Artenstein is developing a feature film based on his 1991 play Under a Brilliant Sky, about the photographers Tina Modotti and Edward Weston. His new documentary Tijuana Jews had its premiere at the San Diego Jewish Film Festival in February 2005.


This report presents a study which focused on the extent to which the senses tactile, auditory, olfactory, and taste in user interfaces could deliberately enhance the user experience. A lot of knowledge is already at our disposal of how to design with visual stimuli, but less is known about other senses. Hence, we focused on other senses by omitted visual aspect from analysis. When multiple senses are addressed properly in design, the user experience will likely be improved. After all, in everyday live we use all of our senses all of the time, to create a total experience of the world.
We examined literature that considers how an experience is formed. Subsequently, we explored ways to predict a user experience by involving senses in user interfaces. If a designer can predict an user experience, he can also design a product based on that prediction, which allows him to form products that might deliver the same desirable user experience for many different people.
When the design route is laid out and the desirable user experience is chosen, the designer can start choosing senses and stimuli to compose his product. In this report we present an overview of the reviewed four senses in relation to emotional experience and efficiency. The section on emotional experience elucidates how we experience different stimuli. We examined likes and dislikes of these stimuli and extents to which these stimuli will be experienced the same way by different people. The section on efficiency explains how these different stimuli can be efficiently integrated in an user interface, by questioning what kind of information they should send to the user. Designers could use this overview to help them choose stimuli that evoke the adequate user experience.
After completion of literature study, knowledge was applied to explore results in a real design case. To do so, we created two scenario's. The first scenario was based on efficiency, in which we designed a remote control to navigate through a film menu. As a result, the concept ' The Sense Remote' was designed, witch allowed to navigate without getting any deliberate visual feedback. The second scenario was based on the emotional experience, in which we searched for basic core stimuli that could evoke certain emotions. For this scenario we designed a core stimuli model, in which the core stimuli are devided by the emotion they could evoke. Additionally, two moodboards were made that included core stimuli. Each moodboard should evoke a feeling or emotion, when sensing it.
The efficiency and emotional experience are treated separately in this paper for the sake of clarity. However, in reality these two parts are often not separate at all as they often strongly interact and a product always contains both. The separated knowledge of efficiency and emotional experience might help to configure different stimuli in designs, depending on the desired user experience. Eventually both parts will have to be considered in design and optimally integrated with other sensory stimuli where the visual stimuli will find his place as well. By doing so, the right combination will assumedly improve the ultimate user experience.


The novel virus removal membrane BMM and the commercially available filter PLANOVA™ based on this system provide results both reproducible and predictable for virus removal based on a sieving mechanism. The BMM shows good removability of most viruses, including human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis B and C and other microorganisms. In addition, immune complexes can be removed efficiently with a good protein permeability. Although BMM has already been shown to be effective in the field of drug manufacture, the combination of virus removal using BMM with virus inactivation offers opportunities for the wider clinical application of BMM, including blood transfusion. Biomedical Reviews 1996; 6: 95-109.


A new species of caprellid amphipod of the genus Paracaprella is described and illustrated in detail. All the material reported was collected from coral rubble samples from the Arrecife Tuxpan/Lobos Protected Natural Area, off Veracruz State, Mexico, WSW Gulf of Mexico. The new species is characterized by large eyes; article 2 of peduncle of antenna 2 with a distoventral process; body dorsally setose; large subrectangular projection on the anteroventral margin of pereonite 2; basis of gnathopod 2 elongate and thin with a proximal knob on posterior margin, propodus longer than broad, with a robust grasping spine, and a large and robust tooth distally; and pereopods 5, 6 and 7 with several long plumose setae. The new species increases the numbers of Paracaprella species recorded around the world to 8, and the caprellid species from the Gulf of Mexico to 16. All caprellid amphipod species documented from this gulf inhabit the coastal zone and six in the deep sea. In addition, the number of caprellid species decreases along the bathymetric gradient: 15 species on the littoral zone, 6 on the continental shelf, 5 on the continental slope, and 3 on the abyssal plain.


High precision, high coverage DNA-based diet analysis tools allow greater insight into the food web interactions of cryptic taxa. We used DNA faecal-metabarcoding to look for unrecorded taxa within the diet of a generalist centrally-placed predator, the little penguin Eudyptula minor. We examined 208 scats from 106 breeding pairs throughout August-February in a large colony at Phillip Island, Australia. While we confirmed a largely piscivorous diet, we also recovered DNA sequences from gelatinous and crustaceous plankton groups that have not previously been detected in the little penguin diet using other diet analysis methods. Gelatinous plankton, including salps, appendicularians, scyphozoans and hydrozoans were present in 76 % of samples and represented 25 % of all sequences. DNA recovered from minute copepods and appendicularians may indicate links between trophic levels through secondary predation. Percentage Frequency of Occurrence (%FOO) demonstrated that little penguin diet composition changed over months and stages (incubation, guard and post guard) of the breeding season (month: χ2 = 201.91, df = NA, p < 0.01; stage: χ2 = 33.221, df = NA, p = 0.015). Relative Read Abundance (RRA) uncovered variations in the relative abundance of taxa in the diet over months and stages (month: F = 53.18, df = 59, p < 0.001; stage: F = 66.56, df = 29, p < 0.001). The diet became progressively fish-focussed over months of the season and stages, while salps were only present in four out of six months, with a peak in September. Based on their prevalence in this dataset, in this year of very high breeding success (2.15 chicks per pair), salps may constitute a food source for this largely piscivorous generalist. Our work highlights how DNA metabarcoding can improve our understanding of the trophic role of gelatinous plankton and other cryptic taxa.


Although activation of a sea urchin egg by sperm leads to three phases of membrane conductance increase in the egg, the mechanism by which the sperm causes these conductance changes is not known. We used the loose patch clamp technique to localize the conductance changes in voltage clamped eggs. A patch of the egg's membrane was isolated from the bath by pressing the loose patch clamp pipette against the egg surface. Sperm added to the bath attached to the surface of the egg in a region other than at the isolated membrane patch. During phase 1 of the activation current, no changes of the membrane conductance were detected. At the time of, and subsequent to the onset of phase 2, large currents recorded between the interior of the patch pipette and the bath were attributed to changes of the seal resistance between the surface of the egg and the pipette. A local change of membrane conductance was observed during phase 2 despite the changes of seal resistance. During phase 2, the large amplitude and short duration of the local membrane conductance increase relative to the membrane, conductance increase for the whole egg during phase 2 indicated that the conductance increase occurred over the entire surface of the egg, but not simultaneously. The time when the peak conductance for the membrane patch occurred, relative to the time of onset for phase 2 in the whole egg, depended on the distance, measured in a straight line, between the site of sperm attachment and the tip of the pipette. These data indicate that the localized conductance increase progressed over the surface of the egg from the site of sperm attachment to the opposite pole of the egg. It is proposed that the local conductance increase, the cortical reaction, and the change of seal resistance are all evoked by a common cytoplasmic message that progresses throughout the cytoplasm of the egg from the site of sperm attachment to the opposite pole of the egg.


Technical evaluation and subsequently devising an appraisal and development strategy of a structural cum stratigraphic reservoir based on a discovery well only is always challenging. The reservoir under discussion was discovered as a structurally bounded trap and the appraisal wells were drilled on NW-SE direction along with the main bounding fault based on this understanding. However, presence of hydrocarbon below the spill point, anomalous sand thickness, lateral facies and reservoir quality variations observed in few of the wells indicated stratigraphic component in the field. Further complexity was added when the deepest tested gas was assigned on the structural map which showed extension of the hydrocarbon play outside the block boundary where the area was under different operating company that later drilled multiple wells near the block boundary. Therefore, it was critical to estimate correct initial gas in-place and percentage distribution of hydrocarbon across the lease boundaries.
 Figure 1 Well location map for the studied field

 The objective of this paper is to present workflow that integrates multiple dataset to understand the field's hydrocarbon filling mechanism. Detailed geophysical and Petrophysical work has been carried out, which includes building of sequence stratigraphic framework, preparation of seismic attribute maps, understanding of the depositional setting for all the individual sand units encountered in all the wells, rock quality assessment (core and log methods with integration of capillary pressure curves), free water level (FWL) assessment, permeability modelling using machine learning approach (NN), pore throat radius estimation to relate hydrocarbon filling mechanism and saturation-height function modelling to build consistent 1D water saturation model.

 Comprehensive dataset has been acquired to evaluate the potential of the field that covers 3D seismic for the entire field, biostratigraphic analysis for seven (7) well, conventional logs in twelve (12) wells and advance measurements like Elemental Capture Spectroscopy and high-resolution resistivity images in five (5) wells. Core analysis data also acquired in five (5) different wells including routine core analysis, capillary pressure measurements using high pressure mercury injections, pore throat radius, relative permeability measurements (Centrifuge), formation resistivity factor measurements and sedimentological analysis (XRD & thin section) to overcome the challenges and defining the uncertainty associated with initial gas in-place.

 Sequence based boundaries were defined to correlate individual sand bodies using the core data, image logs, elastic logs, seismic transacts and attribute maps for understanding the depositional setting. Lat-er these correlations were used to build a consistent petrophysical model including VCL estimation from Gamma/Neutron-Density/Sonic Density methods which was validated with ECS/XRD data. Porosity model was developed and validated from the core porosity followed by variable "m" estimation from the porosity/m relationship using the SCAL data. Later on, the consistent water saturation (Sw) models were built for all the studied wells. Permeability models were built using Neural Network (NN) where core-based permeability used for calibration and the model was tested qualitatively with the mobility and the well test permeability. For the validation of Sw from the logs, capillary pressure-based flow units were built using FZI/RQI, Winland & BVW (log) methods to define flow units defined through the core data. It was observed that the Winland R35 method-based pore throat radius had good correlation with the Sw log. FWL from MDT to estimate the height of the gas column, Skelt Harrison equation to capture the shape of the capillary pressure curve and Swi from the Centrifuge analysis were used to calibrate MICP end point which helped in building consistent Saturation-height functions. Results showed good to excellent match from the modeled Sw (Pc) vs Sw(log).


This research aims to screen and to identify marine bacteria able to degrade Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs). 7 bacterial isolates were screened for the ability to degrade 6 PAHs (phenanthrene, naphthalene, dibenzothiophene, fluorene, phenothiazine, and pyrene). This screening step was conducted by sublimation method, in which the color change or clear zone appearance was used as an qualitative indicator to show the capability of the selected isolate to degrade PAHs. Two bacterial isolates, designated as LBF-1-0102 and LBF1-0103, showed capability in degradating the PAHs tested. In particular, the isolate LBF-1-102 was potential in degrading phenanthrene, naphthalene, dibenzothiphene, fluorene, phenothiazine, and pyrene.The isolate LBF-1-0103  showed the ability in degrading 2 (two) PAHs, i.e. dibenzothiophene and  fluorene. Based on partial 16S rDNA analysis, LBF-1-0102 and LBF-1-0103 were identified as Pseudomonas balerica and Brachybacterium sp., respectively.